Ann Ostendorf

Dr. Ann Ostendorf is a Professor of History at Gonzaga University, specializing in the histories of the Roma (Gypsy) diasporas in the Atlantic World. Her research spans colonial Chesapeake, French and Spanish Louisiana, and 19th-century United States, with a focus on

• cultural history
• race and ethnicity studies
• early Native American history
• lower Mississippi River region
• Romani American experiences

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Her recent publications include articles in Romani Studies, Critical Romani Studies, and Early American Studies, with a forthcoming co-edited collection The Romani Atlantic (Cambridge University Press, 2025). She received a Fulbright Visiting Lecturer position at University of Tokyo and Japan Women's University (2019/2020). Her book Sounds American (2011) examines music cultures in the lower Mississippi River Valley.

Dr. Ostendorf teaches courses on

• United States History I
• Historical Methods
• Indigenous Early America
• Early American Republic
• US During Civil War and Reconstruction
• History of American Cultures and Ideas
• History of Race in America
• Senior Thesis Seminar

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Her scholarly activities include a digital history project with the United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR) called Romani Memory Map for the Americas (2024-2025), and she has published extensively on the intersections of Romani people with American history through journals like

• American Music
• Maryland Historical Magazine
• Journal of Gypsy Studies
• Early American Studies

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Scientific Awards:

• Louisiana Historical Association’s Glenn R. Conrad Prize
• Fulbright Visiting Lecturer (2019/2020)

Research Interests: Dr. Ostendorf’s work connects Romani American experiences with broader narratives of race, empire, and cultural identity formation. She advocates for microhistorical approaches to amplify marginalized voices in colonial records and demonstrates how Romani histories reshape understandings of American national identity.