Keely Stauter-Halsted

Keely Stauter-Halsted is a Professor and the Hejna Family Chair in the History of Poland at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), based in the Department of History within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She specializes in modern East-Central European history with a focus on Poland, gender, migration, and nationalism.

Her PhD from the University of Michigan (not explicitly dated, but career timeline suggests 1990s) led to academic roles at the University of Northern Iowa (1993) and Michigan State University (1994–2010) before joining UIC. At UIC, she spearheaded the Polish Studies initiative, which includes study abroad programs in Cracow and annual workshops like the “Midwest Historians of East-Central Europe.”

Her research explores marginalized groups’ engagement with state power in Poland, including peasants, prostitutes, and refugees. Key works include The Nation in the Village (2001), examining peasant nationalism, and The Devil’s Chain (2015), analyzing prostitution’s social dynamics. Current work focuses on post-WWI Polish population management and citizenship.

Her publications span migration, gender, and bio-political control, with awards including the Orbis Prize (2002) and AHA Joan Kelly Prize (2015). She advises graduate students on Eastern European topics requiring language proficiency in East European languages.