Michelle LeMaster

Michelle LeMaster serves as Associate Professor in the History Department at Lehigh University and directs the Lawrence Henry Gipson Institute for Eighteen Century Studies. Her academic leadership spans both departmental teaching and specialized institute direction.

Her educational foundation includes a Ph.D. and M.A. from The Johns Hopkins University and a B.A. from Western Washington University, establishing her expertise in historical methodologies.

Professor LeMaster's research centers on European-Native relations in colonial North American Southeast (17th-18th centuries), employing ethnohistorical and Native American and Indigenous Studies frameworks. She examines cultural attitudes toward violence through the Tuscarora War lens, analyzing how Indian slave trade, global commerce, and land encroachment shaped regional violence cultures. Her work intersects Colonial British America, Atlantic World systems, and Women/Gender/Sexuality Studies with particular focus on Native American agency.

Her publications reveal consistent focus on Southeastern Native experiences: recent works analyze gender dynamics in pre-Removal Native South, Carolina frontier warfare masculinity, and Indigenous legal strategies in colonial courts. These contributions demonstrate methodological innovation in ethnohistorical approaches.

Scientific recognition includes:

• R.D.W. Connor Award for "In the ‘Scolding Houses’: Indians and the Law in Eastern North Carolina, 1684-1760"

As Gipson Institute director, she advances 18th-century scholarship through institutional leadership. Her teaching portfolio spans foundational courses like Revolutionary America and specialized seminars including Colonial America (Native America focus), Women and Gender in the U.S., and The Capstone Experience, reflecting her commitment to integrating research with undergraduate and graduate education across historical subfields.