David Benac
Western Michigan University
1903 W Michigan Ave
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5334 USA
![David Benac](https://files.wmich.edu/s3fs-public/styles/directory_portrait/public/portraits/Benac.jpg?h=534b6fa4&itok=yRtO3G8J)
- Ph.D., History, University of Missouri, 2003
- M.A., Public history: Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, 1997
- B.A., History: Michigan State University, 1995
- The American environmental movement of the late-twentieth century.
- The heritage and history of the timber industry in culture and landscape, especially in the Pacific Northwest.
Dr. David Benac is associate professor of history, Public History Coordinator, and history internship supervisor at Western Michigan University.
Courses he teaches include:
- HIST 3105: The United States in the Global Era
- HIST 3180: American Environmental History
- HIST 3404: Introduction to Public History
- HIST 4010: The American Environmental Movement
- HIST 4080: Museum Studies
- HIST 4100: Historic Preservation
- HIST 5150: Heritage Tourism
- HIST 6250: Topics in Cultural Resources Management
- HIST 6440: Material Culture
- HIST 6730: Research Seminar in Public History
Benac advises graduate students in environmental and public history, including cultural resources management, environmental movements, heritage tourism, historic preservation, and oral history.
His research, at the intersection of environmental and public history, investigates how individuals and communities develop cultural ties to environments (built, natural, and landscape) and how these connections emerge in grassroots activism.
Recent public history projects and publications:
- Conflict in the Ozarks: Hill Folk, Industrialists, and Government in the Courtois Hills. Kirksville, MO: Truman State University Press, 2010.
- Criffield-Whiteley House, Dowagiac, Michigan. National Register of Historic Places. September 23, 2016.
- “The Value of a Historical Landscape: Heritage and Nature at Bridal Veil.” Oregon Historical Quarterly. Vol. 116, no. 4. Winter 2015.
- “The New Orleans Lakefront: Created Land and Planned Development.” Journal of Urban History. May 2015.