Faculty and Staff
Department Chair | Dept. Administrative Aide | Full-time Faculty | Part-time Faculty
Department Chair
Email: joseph.stumpf@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-7280
Office Location: Rockville Campus, HU-274
Biography
Associate Professor Joseph Stumpf is a native of Chapel Hill, North Carolina and a devoted Tar Heel. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Classics at UNC-Chapel Hill with a specialty in Classical Archaeology, a Master’s at the University of British Columbia, also in Classical Archaeology, and a PhD from the University of Missouri at Columbia, awarded in Art History and Archaeology, with his dissertation written on the socio-economic phenomenon of tourism in the ancient world, especially in Greece under the Roman Empire. Professor Stumpf has studied abroad on fellowship in both Greece and in Jordan and has extensive archaeological experience derived from work in North Carolina, Arizona, Italy, Jordan and Greece. He has taught as an adjunct professor at The George Washington University and Howard University and at Montgomery College in both the Art Department and the History and Political Science Department. He was hired as a full time member of the History and Political Science faculty in 2005, specializing in ancient and medieval western history.
Courses offered by Professor Stumpf include HS 116 (World Civilization to AD 1500), HS 120 (History of Technology and Western Civilization), HS 151 (Western History from the Fall of Rome to the 17th Century) and HS 186 (Ancient Western History).
Thematic research interests include the history of travel, tourism and pilgrimage, and military, technological and religious history. Area interests include the Classical Civilizations of Greece and Rome, as well as the Ancient Near East.
Department Administrative Aide
Email: michele.craig@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-2324
Office Location: Rockville Campus, HU-270
Full-time Faculty
History
Email: lee.annis@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-7281
Office Location: Rockville Campus, HU-265
Biography
Professor James Lee Annis joined Montgomery College in 1986 and has taught at all three campuses. He grew up in Rockville, attended Montgomery County Public Schools, graduated from Hanover College (IN) and received his M.A. He received his PhD from Ball State University in 1985. He is the author of Howard Baker: Conciliator in an Age of Crisis and with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Tennessee Senators, 1911-2001: Portraits of Leadership in a Century of Change. His next book, Big Jim Eastland: The Godfather of Mississippi, is scheduled for publication in 2016 by the University Press of Mississippi. He also completed the Eastland Book in 2016.
Email: sadegh.foghani@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-2347
Office Location: Rockville Campus, HU 273
Biography
Sadegh Foghani obtained his PhD in History from the University of South Carolina in 2018. He taught courses in world history, history of science, history of technology, and history of Islamic societies at Auburn University and the University of South Carolina before coming to Montgomery College in 2020. Dr. Foghani received his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Tehran, his Master of Science Degree in Science and Technology Studies from the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, and his Master of Arts Degree in History from Iowa State University.Dr. Foghani has conducted research in France, Iran, California, Missouri, and Mexico. His doctoral dissertation explores the development of reproductive biomedicine, stem cell, and animal biotechnology since the early 1990s in Iran. When he was conducting his dissertation research, he found many revealing stories involving Iranian STEM workers who live(d) outside Iran. These stories encouraged him to study the diasporic community of Iranian STEM professionals. In 2016, he traveled to Paris and Nantes to investigate the life and career of Mehdi Bazargan, who was the first prime minister of post-revolutionary Iran. Dr. Foghani’s research investigates the role that Bazargan’s engineering background, French education, and American Pragmatism played in the formation of his religious and political thought. As a post-doctoral residential fellow, Dr. Foghani conducted research at Linda Hall Library in Kansas City in 2019, where he studied American Pragmatism and Charles S. Peirce Papers.
Email: jorge.fujigaki@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-7287
Office Location: Rockville Campus, HU-277
Biography
Professor Jorge Hernandez-Fujigaki holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Chicago. He has taught college-level courses in the fields of U.S. History, Latin American and Latino History at several American universities -- Northeastern Illinois University, Wayne State University and Michigan State University. He was also an Associate Professor at the College of Border Studies (Colegio de la Frontera Norte) in Tijuana, Mexico, a premier research institution devoted to the analysis of the most critical U.S.-Mexico binational issues, i.e., illegal immigration, trade, and identity. He joined MC three years ago, where he has taught courses on U.S. history, Afro-American history and Latin American history.
Email: sylvea.hollis@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-2345
Office Location: Rockville Campus, HU 276
Biography
Associate Professor Sylvea Hollis earned a Ph.D. in US History, with a concentration in African American History from the University of Iowa. As a graduate student they developed and taught their own courses in African American History; created civically engaged programming with the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies; and earned a graduate certificate in Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies. At Montgomery College, Hollis teaches courses in African History, African American History, Early US History, Public History, and Gender and Women's Studies.Before coming to Montgomery College in the fall of 2020, Hollis was an NPS-Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow and taught courses in gender and sexuality in the American Studies Department at The George Washington University. They earned a MA in History Museum Studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program (SUNY-Oneonta) and has extensive experience in the field of public history, working with the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, American Alliance of Museums, and the National Park Service.
Dr. Hollis currently runs a blognew window that explores the intersections of archives, humanities, and teaching.
Publications:
“The Rhetoric of Freedom: Remembering Slavery during the Semiquincentennial of the American Revolution,” (The Public Historian, forthcoming in February 2024)
“’I like to say I’m from Birmingham’: John Rhoden’s Memory(s) of Home,” in Determined to Be: Sculptures of John Rhoden, edited by Brittany Webb (University of Washington Press, forthcoming in February 2024)
Second Author with Tondra Loder-Jackson, “Fantasizing Education for Liberation in Jim Crow Birmingham: Angela Davis’s Formative Years and Intertwined Legacy with Pioneer Educator and Prison Abolitionist Carrie A. Tuggle,” in #BlackEducatorsMatter: The Experiences of Black Teachers in an Anti-Black World, edited by Dr. Darrius Stanley (Harvard Education Press, forthcoming February 2024)
"The African American History Survey as an Intellectual Product," new windowBlack Perspectives: African American Intellectual History Society--December 23, 2022
Email: michelle.moran@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-7276
Office Location: Rockville Campus, HU-267
Biography
Professor Michelle Moran earned a Ph.D. in history and a graduate certificate in women’s studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She taught courses in U.S. history, gender and sexuality, medical history, and U.S. foreign relations at the University of Nevada in Reno before coming to Montgomery College in 2007. Since arriving at the college, she has offered classes in the history of the United States, the 20th-century world, and western women. Dr. Moran is the author of Colonizing Leprosy: Imperialism and the Politics of Public Health in the United States (University of North Carolina Press).
Email: john.riedl@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-7284
Office Location: Rockville Campus, HU-275
Biography
Professor John Riedl grew up moving between Maryland and Virginia and earned an associate’s degree from Virginia Western Community College. He transferred to the University of Virginia, where he earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, and, in 2006, his Ph.D. Before joining the History and Political Science Department at MC in 2006, Professor Riedl was an Assistant Professor at St. Louis Community College, where he taught for five years. Here at MC, he teaches courses in U. S. History, African-American History, and Civil Rights in America. He is also developing a Learning Community course with a colleague in Sociology, which will hopefully be offered in Spring 2009.
Professor Riedl’s dissertation, Language and Racial Identity in Nineteenth-Century America, analyzed the uses of racial language in the contested debate over the identity of people of African descent. He is currently revising it to be submitted for publication. Professor Riedl’s research and teaching interests include slavery, race relations, civil rights, Native American history and labor history.
Political Science
Email: aram.hessami@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-7277
Office Location: Rockville Campus, HU-266
Biography
Associate Professor Aram Hessami escaped from his native country of Iran right after the Ayatollah’s return in 1979. After staying in Athens, Greece for a while, he came to the United States and has lived here since that time. He earned his Associate Degree in Social Sciences from Montgomery College in Rockville in 1981. He then went on to the George Washington University where he received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Philosophy and Political Science in 1983 and 1991. In 1993, he earned his Doctorate in Political Science from the George Washington University. Dr. Hessami’s post graduate concentration was on Political Theory: Western Political Thought, Marxist Studies, and Philosophy of Social Sciences. His dissertation, “Postmodern Thinking and Democracy,” critically examines the political aspects of post-modern philosophies of Derrida, Foucault, Lytorad, and Rorty.
Dr. Hessami became a full-time faculty with the Department of History and Political Science in 2004 here in Rockville. Prior to this, he taught as adjunct professor of Political Science from 2000 to 2004. He was also an affiliate of the George Washington Sino-Soviet Institute for several years. He has taught a variety of courses in both the political Science and the Philosophy Department: Introduction to Political Science, Introduction to Philosophy, American Government, International Relations, Understanding Terrorism, Political Ideologies, Morality and Contemporary Law, & Western Political Thought. His research interest is in the field of Political Theory and Comparative Politics concentrating on the political aspect of globalization and democratic theories. He enjoys tennis, basketball, backgammon, and chess.
Email: gregory.sember@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-4165
Office Location: Rockville Campus, CS-104
Biography
Associate Professor Gregory Sember completed his undergraduate studies at East Carolina University and his . His studies involved a strong dose of American politics and United States History. He teaches Political Science in some form for close to seven years with experiences in Wyoming, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, & now Maryland. His political experiences include working in two state capitals, lobbying, & volunteering with several interest groups. This semester he will be teaching American Government & Introduction to Political Science. If you are interested in a discussion-based course demonstrating the relevance of government and politics to "real life," I suggest you register for one of his courses.
Email: nathan.zook@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-7286
Office Location: Rockville Campus, HU-263
Biography
Professor Nathan Zook holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Indiana University. His dissertation was on the impact of human rights groups on U.S. foreign policy toward Cuba, Iraq, and South Africa. He has taught courses on Terrorism, International Relations, American Government, Religion and Politics, Comparative Politics, and Political Activism at Towson University, the University of Tennessee, and the University of Wisconsin – Rock County. He joined Montgomery College in 2007 and has been active in developing online courses. His current research interests involve religion and politics, political social movements, and U.S. policy toward Israel. Professor Zook has traveled extensively in more than 30 countries and is the coordinator for the International Studies program at Montgomery College.
Part-time Faculty
History
Biography
1977-83 University of OxfordCompleting a D.Phil. in Modern History in 1983 was scarcely a secure route to a career. Fortunately, for university graduates the Thatcher government had created the Manpower Services Commission to provide experience for graduates, and to reduce the unemployment rolls. In October 1982 I secured a place as a curator in the commission’s scheme at the Pendle Heritage Centre. A year later I received promotion to interpretative supervisor, which I left to work as a contractor for Historic Scotland. There I researched and wrote numerous exhibits and created a still-used source book about Duff House culled from the Montcoffer Papers. As the contracts ended in 1987, I returned to the States to seek work. Six months later I started with the National Museum of the United States Navy, where I retired as managing director in September 2017. While the topic of my thesis – seventeenth century British military history – has only assisted with tiny portions of my career, the research and writing necessary for my degree has benefitted me tremendously. Alternatively, I have continued to work in the field producing a book, articles, book reviews, and dozens of entries for the New Dictionary of National Biography. Currently, I am researching and writing two books and an article on the period.
Biography
Professor Mary Furgol grew up in Fife, Scotland. She earned a Ph.D. in history at the University of Edinburgh, after completing her M.A. there with First Class Honors and graduating with distinction in history and religious studies education from Craiglockhart College of Education. Professor Furgol's dissertation focused on the problems of poor relief provision in an early industrializing society. She has taught at American University, Johns Hopkins University and Mount St. Mary's College and taught full-time at Montgomery College from 1992 to 2019. During that time she chaired the History and Political Science department for nine years, was director of the Montgomery Scholars Program from 2002 to 2019 and conducted a number of travel study tours to Scotland, Ireland and England. She has contributed to a book of critical essays on Thomas Chalmers and given several lecture series in the Smithsonian Campus on the Mall program. In 2002 she received an NEH grant on the topic of Cities in a was director of the Montgomery Scholars Program from 2002 to 2019. She has taught courses in Modern World History, European History, British History, the History of Ireland, the History of Scotland and Western Women's History, as well as running Honors seminars on Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, Victorian Women, and the History of Medicine.
Courses Taught
HIST 146DL
Biography
Andrew R. Krieger received his Ph.D. in 1983 from GeorgetownUniversity. He pursued his doctoral degree in political science
and took graduate and post-doctoral work in sociology as well.
He took further coursework in non-profit fundraising and
marketing at American University.
He worked as a consultant from 1984 -2009, specializing in the
areas of U.S. educational policy research and non-profit fund
raising and grant-writing. Among the organizations he worked
for were the National Academy of Sciences, Amnesty International,
George Washington University and several fundraising firms.
He began teaching at Montgomery College in 2009 and has taught
courses in both political science and sociology.
He received the, Outstanding Par-time Faculty Award for Scholarly
and Professional Achievements for 2018-19 and also received a
fellowship with the Global Humanities Institute at Montgomery
College. He was elected to the MC Governance Council for
Student Services and Success for 2021 -23.
During his time at MC, he has served as faculty advisor to the
student chapter of Amnesty International on campus and as
faculty advisor to the NEXIS Student Debate Club.
Biography
Michael Petty has taught at MC for over 30 years, beginning in 1989, as a PE instructor teaching a Backpacking class. In 1993, he began teaching American History and later, co-taught an Honors course entitled The American Wilderness, with then- Honors Director Diane Ganz. He developed a US Sports History class and began teaching it in the late 1990s. He has taught World History and recently, conducted tours at the Underground Railroad Experience in nearby Sandy Spring. He lives in Silver Spring and is married to noted American Girl author Valerie Tripp and they have a daughter Katherine, who is a Clinical Psychologist in Boulder, Co.
Political Science
Biography
- J.D., George Washington University Law School
- B.A., University of California
- Prosecutor/Litigator, U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division
Author:
- Fire On The Bayou: True Tales From The Civil Rights Battlefront
- Developing Issues In The Legal Status Of Women
Courses Taught
POLI 105POLI 203
In Memorium
Biography
Professor Alonzo Smith was born and grew up in Washington, D.C. and he remembered when schools and public facilities in Virginia, the District and Maryland were segregated. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University, his Master’s from Howard University, and his doctorate from UCLA. Before coming to Montgomery College, he taught in California, Nebraska, and Virginia. He had lived a total of four years in Africa, three in the Republic of the Ivory Coast, and one in Sierra Leone. Among the African nations he had visited were the Congo and South Africa. He had been employed as a social worker for the Urban League of Nebraska, and he served from 1991-92 as project director for a USAID project for war-displaced people in Sierra Leone. From 1994 to 2005 he was a program researcher and curator at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. He was one of two curators for the museum’s observance of the fiftieth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s school desegregation decision, entitled “Separate Is Not Equal: Brown v. Board of Education.” He was married, with two grown children, and lived in Rockville. Professor Smith taught African American, United States, and African history, and his research interests were in the field of recent African American history.Alonzo Smith, Prominent D.C.-Area Civil Rights Activist, Dies at 79new window