Gregory Smithers

I am a professor of American history and Eminent Scholar (2019-2024) in the College of Humanities and Sciences at Virginia Commonwealth University. I received my Ph.D. in History from the University of California, Davis. I've taught in California, Hawaii, Scotland, and Ohio. I am currently a British Academy Global Professor, based in the Treatied Spaces research cluster at the University of Hull. .

My research and writing focuses on the histories of Indigenous people and African Americans from the eighteenth century to the present. I am particularly interested in the rich history of the Cherokee people, Indigenous history from the Mountain South to California and the Southwest Pacific, and environmental history. My work is devoted to narrating the past in ways that are publicly accessible and connect with issues of social justice, environmental sustainability, and racial and gender equity.