Rate My Professor Todd Kerstetter

Todd Kerstetter, professor of History at Northern Virginia Community College, is a leading scholar in the fields of American West history, environmental history, religion in the American West, and American Indian history. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1997, an M.A. from the same institution in 1992, and a B.A. from Duke University in 1986. Kerstetter's research focuses on the North American West during the 19th and 20th centuries, the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, and the intersections of faith, violence, and environment in western landscapes. His work examines how religious conflicts, natural disasters, and cultural dynamics shaped the region, offering insights into broader American historical themes.

Kerstetter has authored three significant books: Flood on the Tracks: Living, Dying, and the Nature of Disaster in the Elkhorn River Basin (Texas Tech University Press, 2018), Inspiration and Innovation: Religion in the American West (Wiley Blackwell, 2015), and God’s Country, Uncle Sam’s Land: Faith and Conflict in the American West (University of Illinois Press, 2006; paperback 2008). His peer-reviewed articles appear in top journals, including “Rock Music and the New West, 1980–2010” (Western Historical Quarterly, 2012), “‘That’s Just the American Way’: The Branch Davidian Tragedy and the American West” (Western Historical Quarterly, 2004), “Spin Doctors at Santee: What the Dakota Press Said—and Didn’t Say—About the Ghost Dance and Wounded Knee” (Western Historical Quarterly, 1997), and others on flooding, mobocracy, and federal responses to disasters. He has published 57 book reviews across 30 journals. Kerstetter's impact is reflected in his service on the editorial board of the Western Historical Quarterly (2012–2014) and the Plains Histories series at Texas Tech University Press, as well as chairing prize committees for the Western History Association, Texas State Historical Association, and Coalition for Western Women Historians. He has directed 10 Ph.D. dissertations and several M.A. theses on topics including religion and empire in WWII Japanese American camps, Utah’s Reconstruction, and river basin environmental history. His public lectures, such as “Living and Dying with Great Plains Rivers” and “Manifest Destiny,” have engaged diverse audiences at museums, libraries, and workshops.