Ann Lee Grimstad, PhD

I am a full-time professor of history and humanities at Mt. SAC. I teach African History, Humanities, and both World History classes.

I earned my Ph.D. in African History from the University of Florida. I have an interdisciplinary background, as well, holding a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies from the University of Virginia and a Master of Arts in African Studies from Ohio University. I have been an educator for more than twenty years, and have taught History, Humanities, Cultural Anthropology Field Studies, African Religions and Asian Religions courses at various schools in the U.S. and in Eastern and Southern Africa, and directed study abroad programs in numerous countries in Africa. I have lived, studied, taught, and worked in Kenya, Namibia, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, and have traveled to more than 15 countries in Africa. I have also traveled less extensively in England and China. My travel experiences and cross-cultural learning and teaching impact my teaching and my world view/outlook on life quite significantly.

I have also been the recipient of several awards, including a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Award. I completed my master’s degree with the aid of a Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Award, and as a participant on a Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad in Tanzania for Swahili language. From 2017-2019, I was a participant in a U.S. Department of Education Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language (UISFL) Program at the East-West Center in Honolulu, HI, and in China, whose aim it was to develop undergraduate Chinese area studies courses.