DEDRA MCDONALD BIRZER
Dr. Dedra McDonald Birzer is a lecturer in history at Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Michigan. Since completed her doctoral work in the history of the American West and in Latin American history at the University of New Mexico in 2000, and has taught at Hillsdale College since then. Her courses include History of the American West, Colonial Latin American History, Modern Latin American History, History of the American Family, Classical Logic and Rhetoric, The Literary Genius of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Western Heritage, and American Heritage. Prior to 200O, Dr. Birzer taught at St. Edwards University in Austin, Texas, and at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She is currently under contract for a book on Rose Wilder Lane and her cohort of public intellectual women. Dr. Birzer has published essays in the Ignatius Critical Editions of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Jane Eyre, and Wuthering Heights; articles in the scholarly journals American Indian Quarterly and Colonial Latin American Historical Review, and has contributions in several anthologies on the history of the American West. She has written entries for a number of specialized encyclopedias in print and online, including The Black Past, the New Catholic Encyclopedia, and Dictionary of American Biography. She writes book reviews for National Review and a number of academic journals, has recorded book discussions on Willa Cather’s My Antonia and Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House series with National Review’s Great Books Podcasts, and has recently published an article on National Review Online, lamenting the removal of Wilder’s name from the American Library Association award celebrating lasting contributions to children’s literature. Dr. Birzer is married to Dr. Bradley J. Birzer and mother of seven children.
