Jeff Nichols, Ph.D
He/Him/His
FULL-TIME FacultyProfessor
History
Phone: 801.832.2392
Email: jnichols@westminsteru.edu
Office Location: Foster Hall 417
Office Hours: MW 2:00–4:00 p.m.
Degrees:
Ph.D. University of Utah
B.A. SUNY College Geneseo
About
I'm originally from upstate New York, and completed my undergraduate education at the State University of New York at Geneseo (just south of Rochester). I grew up playing around on Lake George and the edges of the mighty Adirondack State Park. After graduation I served as an anti-submarine warfare officer in the U.S. Navy, stationed in the Pacific. The Navy sent me to teach ROTC at the University of Utah and I fell in love with the place. I began teaching at Westminster in 1995.
Interests
I am committed to helping students develop their passion for stories of the past and practice the skills to share those stories. Much of my training and past work has been in the social and cultural history of Utah and the 19th/early 20th century American West. In the last several years I have become more drawn to environmental history, especially in the Moab area and around the Wasatch Mountains and the Great Salt Lake. We've been taking the study of history into the field, both in local archives and around the American West, Latin America, and Europe. I also teach in the Honors College, Gender Studies, Environmental Studies, and Spanish and Latin American Studies.
Areas of Expertise
Politics and current events, nineteenth century American West, Gilded Age, Progressive Era, Prostitution in Salt Lake City, Environmental history
