Stephen Ortega

I am Associate Professor of History at Simmons College, Boston, and a Visiting Scholar at Harvard.

My primary teaching fields are Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and world history. I am very interested in trans-national contact between people of different places, and I spend a significant amount of time in my classes trying to help students think beyond traditional notions of geography and identity.

As the American cultural and social landscape changes, new questions are constantly being raised about what it means to be a global citizen, and I actively look to have the students think about the ways that people have defined and continue to re-define themselves. I believe that this type of inquiry helps students think broadly about the ways that history can help them think critically and creatively about both local and global challenges.