Damon Akins will spend the 2024-25 academic year teaching at Occidental College in Los Angeles. He'll also doing research for a new book at The Huntington Library.
Damon will teach two classes at Occidental. He’ll also have an office at the Huntington Library, a renowned research library in nearby San Marino.
Damon Akins, Lincoln Financial Professor of History, will spend the 2024-25 academic year in the Los Angeles area at Occidental College and the Huntington Library as the Ray Billington Visiting Professor in History.
Damon will teach two classes at Occidental, a liberal arts college — one each in the fall and spring semesters. He’ll also have an office at the Huntington Library, a renowned research library in nearby San Marino.
Damon says the professorship “feels like it's honoring a commitment to teaching and to scholarship, the two are so closely related. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to research at the Huntington but I’m also thrilled to have the opportunity to teach at Occidental.”
Damon’s research at the Huntington will focus on his current book project, which grew out of We are the Land: A History of Native California, a 2021 book he co-authored that examines the Indigenous people who shaped the history of California before American settlers arrived.
His new research explores the transformation of las Californias (Alta and Baja) during the Mexican period (1821-48) by looking beyond the missions into the lives of people across the region.
Damon will teach a three-week course at Guilford in April before moving to Occidental in August.
At Guilford, Damon teaches on Native America, California and the American West. Having joined the faculty in 2007, he became a full professor in 2021 and has served as clerk of the Faculty and chair of the History Department. He was awarded an endowed professorship in February.