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Megan VanGorder

Assistant Professor
History
Office
SCH Schroeder Hall 301
Office Hours
Tuesday and Thursdays, 12-1:30
  • About
  • Education
  • Research

Biography

Megan VanGorder is an Assistant Professor of History at Illinois State University.

Current Courses

HIS 290.001 History-Social Science Teaching Methodology I

HIS 290.002 History-Social Science Teaching Methodology I

HIS 300.003 Senior Seminar In History

HIS 390.001 History-Social Science Teaching Methodology II

HIS 390.002 History-Social Science Teaching Methodology II

Teaching Interests & Areas

History and Social Sciences Education, Illinois, Social Medicine, Nineteenth Century US, Women's History

Research Interests & Areas

Nineteenth Century U.S. Social Histories
Microhistories
Place-based Histories
Illinois History

PhD History

Nothern Illinois University
DeKalb, Illinois

MA History

Adams State University, Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

BA History

Illinois State University
Normal, IL

Book Review

VanGorder, M. The Sentimental State: How Women-Led Reform Built the American Welfare State by Elizabeth Garner Masarik (review). The Journal of the Civil War Era 15.3 (2025): 393-396.

Book, Authored

VanGorder, M. A Mother's Work: Mary Bickerdyke, Civil War-Era Nurse. University of North Carolina Press (2026)

Journal Article

VanGorder, M. Imagining the Past: Generative AI Prompting, Source Sets, and the TAP(E) Protocol. The History Teacher 49.1 (2025)
VanGorder, M. Special Acts of Justice: Mary Bickerdyke and the Extension of Civil War Veteran Care. Indiana Magazine of History, Indiana University Press 121.2 (2025): pp. 69-102.
VanGorder, M. Grounding History Instruction: Engaging Place and Scale through Iterative Local Inquiry Design. The Councilor, A National Journal of the Social Studies 86.1 (2023)

Other

VanGorder, M. Setting the Record Straight: Mrs. Adaline Tyler and Civil War medical advocacy. Civil War Monitor (2025)