Specializing in race, slavery, and empire, Dr. Christa Dierksheide is the author of Amelioration and Empire (2014), Beyond Jefferson (2024), and Jefferson’s Wolf (2026, with Nicholas Guyatt). Her research explores state formation, slavery, and freedom in the U.S. and the Atlantic world from the 18th to 19th centuries.

In addition to academic writing, Dr. Dierksheide has curated public history projects at Monticello, including Sally Hemings: A Life and Mulberry Row: Landscape of Slavery. As Director of the Center for the Study of the Age of Jefferson at UVA, she supports research, fellowships, and public programming on Jefferson and the early republic.

At UVA, Dr. Dierksheide teaches courses on Jefferson, public history, slavery, and early American law and works closely with graduate students studying the revolutionary and early national periods.

Connie López teaches fifth-grade social studies at the University School of Nashville, an independent K–12 school in Tennessee. With over 20 years of experience in education, she has also taught at the second, third, and seventh-grade levels. Connie is dedicated to creating learner-centered, experiential experiences that are multimodal and grounded in culturally responsive practices. Her instruction is rooted in evidence-informed strategies, and she intentionally designs curriculum to cultivate a problem-solving mindset to spark curiosity. Connie has earned several honors, including PBS LearningMedia Digital Innovator, Humanities Tennessee Outstanding Educator, and Gilder Lehrman Teacher of the Year for Tennessee. 

Justin Emrich, an American history teacher from central Ohio with twenty-five years of experience, was named the Gilder Lehrman Institute’s Ohio History Teacher of the Year in 2016. Over the past six years, he has served as a master teacher for the Institute and actively led and participated in both in-person and online seminars on the Civil Rights Movement, Abraham Lincoln, Native American history and various other topics across the country. Additionally, he contributes to multiple teacher advisory committees for national organizations. Justin remains passionate about history education’s role in helping students understand the past and present and contribute to a better future.