Dr. Newman joined the History Department in 1995. He teaches classes in Early American History including:
- 0610 U.S. to 1877
- 1400 Colonial America
- 1410 The American Revolution
- 1409 The Early American Republic
- 1430 The American Civil War
- 1682 Native Americans and Early American History
He also teaches classes in Public History including:
- 0760 Introduction to Public History
- 0770 Historical Documentary Film/Filmmaking
- 0775 Digital History
- 0790 Introduction to Museum Science
Dr. Newman also coordinates the Certificate in Public and Applied History and serves as the department coordinator for internships.
- BA History, York College of Pennsylvania, 1990
- MA American and British History, University of Kentucky, 1992
- PhD Early American History, University of Kentucky, 1996
- 2001 Phi Eta Sigma Freshman Honor Society Teacher of the Year
- 2003 Pi Llambda Theta Education Honor Society Educator of the Year
- 2008 History Channel History Teacher of the Year
- 2009 University of Pittsburgh's Chancellor's Award for Distinguished Public Service
- 2023 University of Pittsburgh's Partnerships of Distinction Award
Dr. Newman has published two books on Pennsylvania History, and several articles and book chapters:
Fries Rebellion: The Enduring Struggle for the American Revolution (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004).
Pennsylvania History: Essays and Documents (Pearson Education, Inc, 2010), with Dr. Jeffrey A. Davis.
“Goodwill to All Men... from the King on the throne to the beggar on the dunghill: William Penn, Roman Catholics, and Religious Toleration,” Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies 61 (October 1994): 457-79.
“Fries’ Rebellion and American Political Culture, 1798-1800,” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 119 (January/April 1995): 37-74.
“The Federalists’ Cold War: The Fries Rebellion, National Security, and the State, 1787-1800,” Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies 67 (Winter 2000): 63-104.
“Agrarian Founders: Three Rebellions as Legitimate Opposition, 1786-1799,” in Robert S. McDonald and Peter S. Onuf, eds. Revolutionary Prophecies: The Founders and America’s Future (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2021): 107-34.
He is also working on a book about Indigenous political identity in Pennsylvania prospectively titled "Declarations of Independence: The Native Mid-Atlantic Struggle for Sovereignty, 1681-1776."
He has published two pieces of this work:
"The 'Four Nations of Indians Upon the Susquehanna': Mid-Atlantic Murder, Diplomacy, and Political Identity, 1717-1723," Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies 88 (Summer 2021); 287-318.
"Red Journalism: TheAllegheny Indians, Benjamin Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette, and the Ethnic Cleansing of Pennsylvania, 1747-1764," Journalism History 45 (September 2019): 227-49.
Dr. Newman has authored and edited works of Public History including:
Eighty Years at the Mountain Playhouse: Summer Stock Lives! (Somerset, Pennsylvania: Somerset Daily American, 2019), with Kelsey Chabal.
Making Do in World War II: A Child's Memory of the White House and the War (Amazon Books, 2016).
Directory of Kentucky Historical Organizations (Frankfort, KY: Historical Confederation of Kentucky and the Kentucky Historical Society,
1992).
Other titles:
“Beginning a Useful Life: James Madison to 1780,” in Stuart Leibiger, ed., A Companion to James Madison and James Monroe (New York: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012): 21-38.
“A Matter of Consequence to Us All: Seventy-Five Years of Pennsylvania History,” Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies 75 (Summer 2008): 307-45.
“Did the Shays’ Rebellion Influence the Inspiring and Ratification of the Constitution?” History in Dispute: The American Revolution (Columbia, SC: Manly Inc., 2003).
“Was There a Conspiracy to Implement a Military Coup d’Etat Against the Central Government in 1783?” History in Dispute: The American Revolution (Columbia, SC: Manly Inc., 2003).
2017 Research Fellow American Philosophical Society
2007 History Channel "Save Our History" grant, $10,000 for making of film, "We Never Got The Welcome Home"
2005 National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow
1996 McNiel Center for Early American Studies Post-Doctoral Fellow
