Kenneth Faunce

Dr. Kenneth Faunce is a Professor in the Department of History at Washington State University (WSU), where he has served since 2001. He is a core faculty member of the Roots of Contemporary Issues (RCI) program, contributing to its design and piloting several courses. His teaching spans a wide range of historical topics, including U.S. history, military history, and global drug trade studies.

Dr. Faunce holds a Ph.D. in History & Historical Archaeology from the University of Idaho (2000), along with Master’s degrees in History and Anthropology from New Mexico State University (1992). Before joining WSU, he worked as a historian and archaeologist at Fort Bliss, Texas.

His research focuses on 19th- and 20th-century U.S. history, with emphases on globalization, gender studies, race/ethnicity, and the history of drugs. He co-authored Heavy Traffic: The Global Drug Trade in Historical Perspective (Oxford University Press, 2020) with fellow RCI faculty.

Dr. Faunce has been honored with numerous teaching awards, including the President’s Distinguished Teaching Award (2022) and the Richard Law Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award (2016). He actively participates in university initiatives such as the Common Reading Program and First Year Focus/Living Communities.