Christa Dierksheide
- Associate Professor, Brockman Foundation
- Jefferson Scholars Foundation Professor
Christa Dierksheide is Brockman Foundation Jefferson Scholars Foundation Professor and associate professor of history at the University of Virginia. Her first book, “Amelioration and Empire: Progress and Slavery in the Plantation Americas, 1770-1840” brought the Anglophone Caribbean and the U.S. South into the same frame, arguing that “improvement” lay at the core of both proslavery and antislavery thinking.
Her forthcoming book, “Jefferson's Generations: The Hemingses and Randolphs in America and the World, 1820-1880,” is a global history of Jefferson’s grandchildren on both sides of the color line. She is currently at work on a third book, “Jefferson's Wolf: The Struggle to End Slavery in the Founding Era,” co-authored with Nick Guyatt. Before returning to academia, she worked as the historian at the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello, where she curated or contributed to several exhibitions, including: “The Boisterous Sea of Liberty,” in 2008; “Mulberry Row: Landscape of Slavery,” in 2012; and “Sally Hemings: A Life” in 2018. She co-teaches Race and Slavery on UVA's North Grounds.
Education
- Ph.D.University of Virginia2008
- B.A.University of Virginia
Faculty in the News
Leslie Kendrick, Landmark Juul, Altria Trial Builds on Gambit That Felled Opioids (Bloomberg Law)
Michael A. Livermore, Armageddon, But With OIRA Instead of Bruce Willis (Jotwell)
Naomi R. Cahn, Julia D. Mahoney, Who Keeps the Engagement Ring After a Breakup? 2 Law Professors Explain Why You Might Rant a Pre-Nup for Your Diamond (The Conversation)
Daniel R. Ortiz, Could Trump Still Become President If He’s Charged With or Convicted of a Crime? (CBS News)