Dr. Andrew Thomas came to Salem in 2007. He was born in Oregon, but raised in the Rocky Mountains of Utah. When Dr. Thomas was a graduate student, he taught first-year German and a few history courses at Purdue University. The students and the historical ambiance of the college attracted Dr. Thomas to Salem College. He took a visiting professor position in European history, which eventually turned into a regular position. Besides teaching upper division courses in European history, he also teaches the world history survey courses. In addition to teaching, Dr. Thomas serves as a faculty adviser for the History Honor Society (Phi Alpha Theta). When Dr. Thomas is not at Salem, he spends a lot of time with his family. His wife, Sarah Ann, is from Utah as well. Together they have three children. His family enjoys traveling, camping, cross-country skiing, back packing, sailing, and bird watching. Advice to prospective history students: “I have never regretted choosing history; I am living my passion and my dream. If history is your passion, pursue it!”Research InterestsLate medieval piety, Renaissance Humanism, Protestant and Catholic Reformations, Baroque Absolutism, and the early Enlightenment with a particular emphasis on Central Europe.PublicationsBook:A House Divided: Wittelsbach Confessional Court Cultures in the Holy Roman Empire, c. 1550-1650. Studies in Medieval and Reformation Traditions. Leiden: Brill, 2010.Book Chapter:[coauthor Charles Ingrao]. “Piety and Power: The Empresses-Consort of the High Baroque.” In Queenship in Europe 1660-1815: The Role of the Consort, ed. Clarissa Campbell Orr, 107-130. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.Articles:“Wittelsbachs, Habsburgs, and Hohenzollerns: Gender, Kinship, and Confession in the Funeral Literature for Susanna of Bavaria.” Austrian History Yearbook 48 (2017): 131-144.“Francis Daniel Pastorius and the Northern Protestant Transatlantic World.” Acta Comeniana: International Review of Comenius Studies and Early Modern Intellectual History 28 (2014): 95-126.[coauthor Charles Ingrao]. “Piety and Patronage: The Empresses-Consort of the High Baroque.” German History 20 (2002): 20-43.FavoritesFavorite BooksHarvard Classics Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s Nathan the WiseFavorite MoviesAwakeningsEnchanted AprilFavorite Quotation “Carpe Diem!”