Jessie Wilkerson is a historian of the modern United States whose research and teaching explores questions of political economy and social change in the 20th-century South and Appalachia through the histories of women, gender, and labor. Her writing engages a range of topics, from women in country music and sports to histories of labor organizing in Appalachia. 

She also fosters public history in the classroom and beyond, by collaborating with museums, organizations, and community partners, and will be leading the department’s efforts at expanding public history. 
Wilkerson has deep family roots in East Tennessee and joins the department after positions at the University of Mississippi and West Virginia University.

Megan Birk is a historian of the modern United States whose research and teaching investigates agricultural, childhood and family, and social histories of the late 19th and 20th centuries. She is the author of multiple monographs on the intersections of agriculture, social welfare, and the family, including fascinating new work on so-called “campus babies,” children who were raised for training purposes in home economics departments at land-grant universities like the University of Tennessee in the 20th century. 

Birk joins the department as the Bernadotte Schmitt Chair of Excellence, after positions at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and the University of Texas Pan-American.