~ RGVRC Affiliate Scholar ~

Christopher Strain is a professor of History & American Studies at the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College of Florida Atlantic University. His research interests include civil rights, hate crime, and violence. He is the author of four books: Pure Fire: Self-Defense as Activism in the Civil Rights Era (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2005), Burning Faith: Church Arson in the American South (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2008), Reload: Rethinking Violence in American Life (Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 2010), and The Long Sixties: America, 1955-1973 (New York: Wiley-Blackwell, 2016).

In addition to his books, he has published work in edited volumes and journals, including The American Historical Review, The Journal of American History, The Journal of Southern History, The Journal of African American History, The Journal of Civil and Human Rights, The Journal of Hate Studies, The Florida Historical Quarterly, and The Journal of Florida Studies. He has presented papers at numerous regional, national, and international conferences, including one at Centre de Recherches sur l’Histoire des Etats-Unis (CRHEU) at the University of Paris.

He was twice named Researcher of the Year at FAU, in 2011 and in 2006, when he also participated in an NEH Summer Institute at the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute at Harvard University. He has been awarded grants and fellowships from agencies such as the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the William R. Kenan Charitable Trust, the Florida Department of Education, and the Florida Humanities Council. He serves on the editorial board of The Journal of Civil and Human Rights at the University of Illinois Press. He is also founding co-director of the Kenan Social Engagement Program, a scholarship program that pairs students with nonprofit organizations while teaching them about social entrepreneurship and mentoring them in starting their own social ventures.