Faculty Profiles

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Dr. Thomas Edgar Alter II

  • Associate Professor - History
Portrait of Dr. Thomas Edgar Alter II

Biography and education

Born: January 16, 1974 Fort Wayne, IN

B.A., History, Indiana University–Bloomington, 1996
M.A., History, Texas State University, 2008
Ph. D., History, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2016

Teaching Interests

Research Interests

  • Alter, T. E. (2023, December). Review of William C. Pratt’s After Populism: The Agrarian Left on the Northern Plains, 1900-1960. Journal of Arizona History.
  • Alter, T. E. (n.d.). Review of Greg Hall’s The Anarchist Life and Times of Jay Fox. New Mexico Historical Review.
  • Alter, T. E. (2023, May). Review of Megan Birk’s The Fundamental Institution: Poverty, Social Welfare, and Agriculture in American Poor Farms. The Journal of Southern History.
  • Alter, T. E. (2022). The Role of Independent Working-Class Political Action. LABORonline. Retrieved from https://www.lawcha.org/2022/09/26/working-class-political-action/
  • Alter, T. E. (2022, August). TFA: Know Your Rights. Advocate. Retrieved from https://www.tsta.org/news_center/advocate-magazine/
View all scholarly/creative works
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Labor and Working-Class History Association Travel Grant. 2015 - 2017
  • Award / Honor Recipient: University of Illinois at Chicago’s Graduate College Outstanding Dissertation Award, University of Illinois at Chicago. 2016
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Dean’s Scholar Award, University of Illinois at Chicago. 2015 - 2016
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Travel Grant, Grad College, University of Illinois at Chicago. 2009 - 2015
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Graduate Student Council Travel Award. 2013
View all awards
  1. Member

    Labor and Working-Class History Association/Program Committee for 2025 conference

  2. Member

    Ingram Professor Committee

  3. Member

    Western Historical Association/2026 Conference Program Committee

  4. History Club

  5. Member

    Curriculum Committee, Department of History

  6. Treasurer

    Southern Labor Studies Association

  7. View all activities