Dean

Dr. Jared Miller

Dr. Jared Miller, Dean of Division 3, Social Sciences, Humanities, Cosmetology, & Kinesiology joined Lone Star College – Kingwood in 2013 as an Assistant Professor of Psychology. Miller earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Baylor University and holds a Master of Arts in Psychology as well as a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Notre Dame.  

Dr. Miller is a passionate advocate for education and has cultivated a deep appreciation for working with students, faculty, and staff. He values the contributions of faculty and staff and understands the importance of fostering a strong sense of community within the college. By working closely with faculty members, he aims to promote innovation and enhance the quality of education. He believes in the transformative power of education and is committed to creating a nurturing and inclusive environment where students can thrive.

Email: Jared.E.Miller@lonestar.edu
Phone: 281.312.1416

Dr. Matthew Newton, Department Chair

Dr. Matthew Newton, a product of LSC-Kingwood, utilizes his wealth of experience as an assistant professor of government. Joining the faculty in 2016, Newton’s professional background includes adjunct teaching two government classes at the college and teaching classes in American government, as well as Canadian Politics and Political Methodology at other institutions.

The professor was also a dissertation fellow for the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy and an assistant election administrator for the Nacogdoches County Elections Office. Newton published a paper in 2015 on interest group contributions in state legislative elections in the United States.

“I relish the opportunity to impart enthusiasm I have for the study of government and its institutions onto students,” he said. “Having been exactly in their shoes myself as a former LSC-Kingwood student, I know how important a teacher’s enthusiasm can be for unlocking students’ passion for education and learning.”

After LSC-Kingwood, Newton earned a Bachelor of Science degree in political science from Stephen F. Austin State University and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Missouri. He is a member of the American Political Science Association, Association of Canadian Studies in the United States, and Pi Sigma Alpha (national political science honor society) Iota Epsilon Chapter at Stephen F. Austin State University.

Contact

Phone: 281.318.4349
Email: Matthew.C.Newton@LoneStar.edu
Office: LIB 202D

Thilo M. Schimmel, Ph.D., Faculty

Thilo M. Schimmel, Ph.D., history professor, joined LSC-Kingwood in 2011. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Universität Regensburg in Germany and a Master of Arts degree in American Studies from Purdue University. He earned a Ph.D. in History from the University of Illinois.

"History is the most fascinating field of inquiry I have encountered in my life and I hope to pass my enthusiasm about it to my students."

Contact

Phone: 281.312.1406
Email: Thilo.W.Schimmel@lonestar.edu
Office: CLA 200F
Website: Website

Steve Davis, Faculty

Steve Davis, history professor, is one of the founding faculty members at LSC-Kingwood, having started in the fall of 1984.  He earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Houston. He also worked on his doctoral degree in American history from the same institution.  Aside from the standard survey courses in U.S. and Texas history, Davis teaches specialized courses in the Beatles and the British Invasion and the History of Rock and Roll.  He has won teaching excellence awards both at the University of Houston and at LSC-Kingwood.

Davis is the main author of the instructor's manual to accompany the 8^th edition of America: A Narrative History by Tindall and Shi, which is one of the most adopted college history textbooks in the country. His current project is the co-authorship of a documents reader in U.S. history to be published in 2013 by W.W. Norton.

In his limited spare time, Davis is an avid distance runner who has completed eight marathons and who makes appearances a couple of times per year as rhythm guitarist in a local garage band.

Contact

Phone: 281.312.1645
Email: Steve.Davis@lonestar.edu
Office: LIB 214B
Website: Website

John Barr, Ph.D., Faculty

John Barr is a Professor of History at Lone Star College-Kingwood, Texas. Previous to his appointment at Lone Star in 2008, he taught middle school for six years and was a high school history teacher and Cross Country and Track & Field Coach at Kingwood High School for eighteen years. He was named “Teacher of the Year” by the National Honor Society in 2007 and was inducted into the Gulf Coast Track & Field Coaches and Texas Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame in 2013.  

He received his B.A. from the University of Kentucky in 1984, his M.A. from the University of Houston-Clear Lake in 1988, and doctorate from the University of Houston in the fall of 2010. 

Barr’s dissertation, "The Anti-Lincoln Tradition in American Life," won the 2011 Hay-Nicolay Dissertation Prize. It explored critics of Abraham Lincoln from the 1850s to the present. It is?now out in book form with LSU Press and is entitled Loathing Lincoln: An American Tradition from the Civil War to the Present.?Loathing Lincoln won the Jules and Frances Landry Award in 2014, an award “presented annually to the LSU Press book published during the year which, in the judgment of the Press, constitutes the most outstanding achievement in the field of southern studies.” 

Since his arrival at Lone Star – Kingwood, Barr has been named “Innovator of the Year” twice and noted as an “Outstanding Teacher” by his peers. He was a co-founder and Director of the Lone Star College Book Festival, is one of the creators of Lone Star’s “Faculty Speaker Series” and their “History Day” Program for local teachers, chairs the “Curious Minds” program which invites authors to campus, is the Dual Credit Liaison for Dual Credit Instructors for 5 local school districts, and is the lead faculty for the Honors College on the Kingwood campus.  

He teaches the survey of U.S. History courses, “Political Novels,” “The Civil War and Reconstruction,” “The Emancipators: Charles Darwin, Abraham Lincoln, and the Making of the Modern World,” and “A History of Spaceflight.” 

Barr currently serves on the Board of the Abraham Lincoln Institute. His current book projects include a volume examining Abraham Lincoln’s political career as one exemplifying Enlightenment thought and values, and another on H.L. Mencken and death.

Reviews of Loathing Lincoln

"Along with George Washington, Abraham Lincoln has stood foremost in the minds and hearts of most of his countrymen during the century and a half since Lincoln's death. But as John McKee Barr demonstrates in this revealing study, an undercurrent of anti-Lincoln loathing has always existed, serving political agendas from post-Civil War Confederates to modern neo-Confederates and libertarians who use Lincoln as a whipping boy to promote their own causes. This is an important contribution to the history and memory of the Civil War." -- James M. McPherson, author of?Battle Cry of Freedom

"Paradoxically, America's most revered president has also been its most reviled. As John McKee Barr shows in this meticulous, comprehensive survey of the anti-Lincoln tradition, detractors of the Rail-splitter have been a variegated crowd of strange bedfellows: white supremacists, Black Panthers, libertarians, neo-Confederates, agrarian romantics, Southern chauvinists, states rights advocates, and anti-imperialists, among others. Barr describes and analyzes their arguments, demonstrating that many of Lincoln's critics have overlooked (or denied) the Confederacy's central aim: to preserve (as Barr puts it) the right to own, exploit, and rape African Americans and their descendants forever." -- Michael Burlingame, Chancellor Naomi B. Lynn Distinguished Chair in Lincoln Studies, University of Illinois Springfield

"In Loathing Lincoln, John Barr focuses on the major themes and works in what might be termed the 'anti-Lincoln tradition.' The result is a fascinating excursion through the American political, intellectual, and cultural landscape. With care, balance, and often penetrating insight, the author explores an impressive array of critics from across the political spectrum. The result is a book filled with wonderful examples of anti-Lincoln argument and invective. This is a gem of scholarship that sheds great light on both the past and the present." -- George C. Rable, Charles Summersell Chair in Southern History, University of Alabama

"The struggle over Lincoln's legacy has therefore never been just about the past, but also about America's future. John McKee Barr's?Loathing Lincoln?reminds us just how uncertain that future is. For those concerned to preserve Lincoln's vision of a more just, fair, and inclusive America, the struggle to secure his legacy is far from over." -- Claremont Review of Books

"John McKee Barr has constructed a detailed, deeply analytical, and persuasively argued narrative. . . . Barr's work fairly summarizes the views of the Lincoln loathers and also devastates them." -- Christian Century

"Barr's thoughtful reassessment of the anti-Lincoln tradition is thorough, tenacious, and timely. Above all,?Loathing Lincoln?opens a critical window into an increasingly potent and popular dimension of the Lincoln image that Civil War scholars have for too long preferred to keep shuttered." -- Journal of the Civil War Era

"Barr describes this loathing with exhaustive research, meticulous organization, and elegant presentation. . . . [An] excellent analysis of the perceptions of Lincoln covering a span of a century and a half. Historians coming across Lincoln criticism can look to this book to find out how detractors rose up, and why. In Lincoln scholarship, Barr's book is a signal contribution." -- Journalism History

"The author is refreshingly bold in his assessments of the motivations of the Lincoln loathers, and he turns some beautiful and humorous descriptive phrases. . . . This is a well-written and original book that helps round out any discussion of the legacy of Abraham Lincoln." -- American Historical Review

Contact

Phone: 281.312.1744
Email: John.M.Barr@lonestar.edu
Office: CLA 200J
Website: Website

Margret "Peggy" Lambert, Faculty

Margret "Peggy" Lambert, history professor, joined LSC-Kingwood more than 20 years ago. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Arts degree from the University of Houston.

Lambert has presented an array of papers during her tenure which include: "Create it and They Will Come" before the League for Innovation in 2010; "Fellowship: The Heart of a Chapter" at the Phi Theta Kappa International Convention in 1999; and "Resolving Conflicts" before the Texas Leadership Conference in 1998.

Lambert has garnered numerous awards. She was named a Minnie Piper Stevens Professor and earned The International Phi Theta Kappa: Paragon Award. Additionally, she earned the Horizon Award, the Robert Giles Distinguished Advisor Award and the Margret Mosal Leadership Award, just to name a few.

Lambert served as faculty advisor for Phi Theta Kappa for 17 years and was an advisor for the National Model United Nations. She also served as faculty member for Honors College and presented at the Lone Star College International Education Conference.

"I believe that history is the ideal discipline to enable students to reach their fullest potential: to find out who they are, to discover who they can be and to prepare themselves for their futures."

Contact

Phone: 281.312.1480
Email: Peggy.Lambert@lonestar.edu
Office: APA 123C
Website: Website

Juan Manuel Galván, Ph.D., Faculty

Juan Manuel Galván, Ph.D., assistant professor of History and Humanities, joined the LSC-Kingwood full-time faculty in 2019. He was a farmworker and a construction worker for many years before pursuing a career in academia. Galván earned an associate of art degree from Houston Community College. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts, a Master of Arts, and a Ph.D. in History from the University of Houston. His dissertation, “Historical Memory, Proto-Nationalism, and Nationalism in Mexico: Southwestern Puebla from 1519 to 1862,” focuses on the evolution of nationalist ideas among the indigenous and African populations of central Mexico.

Dr. Galván has presented his research at the Pacific Coast Branch of the Historical American Association, and at the Nueva Academia de San Juan de Letrán in Oaxaca, Mexico. In 2019, he was a panelist in “Revolución a Debate: Diálogo Internacional Sobre las Revoluciones Mexicanas” at the Universidad de Guadalajara, and gave the magisterial lecture, “¿Cómo se enseña la Historia de México en los Estados Unidos?” at the Benemérita y Centenaria Escuela Normal de Jalisco.

Dr. Galván received the Undergraduate Outstanding Achievement in History, the Center for Mexican American Studies Graduate Fellowship, and the Murray Miller Research Fellowship at the University of Houston. In 2018, he was awarded the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Excellence in Service Award at Lone Star College-Kingwood.

Contact

Phone: 281.312.1732
Email: Juan.GalvanRodriguez@lonestar.edu
Office: LIB 206K

Sandra Zito, Faculty

Contact

Phone: 281.312.8459
Email: Sandra.Zito@lonestar.edu
Office: LIB 202F

Division Staff