Lisa Namikas                  

Baton Rouge, LA 70810
lisanamikas@gmail.com

Professional Summary:

A passionate professor, an accomplished researcher and dedicated volunteer. A broad teaching background includes U.S., World, European (including Russian), African and contemporary history. Diverse professional skills include research and writing, and teaching at a variety of schools, both in classroom and online formats. Focused on quality of work, truly collaborates with colleagues, cares about student success and adapts well to new environments.

Teaching

2015-present, Professor, Baton Rouge Community College (BRCC)
2001-2015 Adjunct / Online Instructor
Taught a variety of courses in US, World, European, and African History at local and online schools, including the University of New Orleans, Louisiana State University, and Colorado State University-Global Campus.

Education

2002    Dr of Philosophy, University of Southern California (US International Relations)
1993    Master of Arts, Rutgers University—Newark, NJ (US History)
1990    Bachelor of Arts, University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada (History)

Publications– Highlights

In Progress, Book, with Hadish Mehari. Working title: Running Away from the Land of the Sun: One Eritrean’s Story of Survival. Draft of the manuscript is completed, looking for publisher.

Book, Battleground Africa: Cold War in the Congo, 1960-1965. Cold War International History Project Series. Washington, D.C., and Stanford, Calif.: Woodrow Wilson Center Press and Stanford University Press, 2013. (Winner of the 2013 Outstanding Academic Title Award, by Choice.)

Other Experience — Highlights

Editorial Board, Diplomatic History. Appointed by SHAFR Council.  2025-2027

Panelist. “Eritrea: Security, Human Rights, and Relations with the United States,” SHAFR Conference (Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations), June 13, 2024, Toronto Canada. Travel supported by Baton Rouge Community College Travel Grant.

Chair, Advisory Board, Catholic Charities, 2019-2024. Board provides guidance to the leadership of Catholic Charities and contributes to shaping strategy and fiscal stability.

Intern, Summer 2019, Danish Refugee Council, Shire Office, Ethiopia. Evaluated university tutorial program, wrote contracts for consultant work, conducted surveys and oral interviews, wrote reports, and a “Life and Study Skills” guidebook and prepared a workshop presentation for students entering university.

Volunteer, 2017- present. Catholic Charities, Mentor, ESL partner. Refugee Resettlement program, Baton Rouge, LA. Won CCUSA National Volunteer of the Year, See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki3GuOnQweU

Co-organizer, Critical Oral History 2004 Conference, “The Congo Crisis of 1960" sponsored by the Cold War International History Project [now Pubic Policy] and the Africa Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. With Sergey Mazov and Christian Ostermann. Washington, DC. See http://www.wilsoncenter.org/ article/history -through-documents-and-memory-report-cwihp-critical-oral-history- conference-the-congo