Faith Childress

Faith Childress, Ph.D., joined Rockhurst University in 2000 after living and studying in South Carolina, Utah and Turkey. She earned a Ph.D. in history from the University of Utah in 2001.

Childress is a professor in the Department of History and specializes in the modern Middle East, teaching elective courses such as Modern Middle East, Colonialism, Nationalism, Decolonization, Global Exploration, Modern South Asia, and introductory courses in World Civilizations. She has traveled in India and Jordan as a participant in an NEH National Summer Institute in India and Teaching about Islam and the Middle East, a seminar sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges. 

Childress' research interests include the role of education and nation-building in interwar Turkey, as well as the experiences of American Protestant missionaries in Turkey and Iran. Her publications include "Taking Side Roads: Researching Mid-Level Elites as Turkish Social History," in Towards Social History of Modern Turkey: Essays in Theory and Practice (Libra Kitap, 2011) and "Creating the New Woman in Early Republican Turkey: The Contributions of the American Collegiate Institute and the American College for Girls," in Middle East Studies (2008).

She is a past recipient of Rockhurst University's Teaching Excellence Award and the Harry B. Kies Award for Distinguished Service.