History Peer Advising Program | Department of History

The history department peer mentor program provides majors (and prospective majors) with fellow students who are experienced, knowledgeable and available to help navigate the major. Our peer advisors represent a range of different interests and trajectories through the major. Please contact them if you have any questions about the History department, regarding courses, professors, requirements, the senior essay, or any other subject.

Makda Assefa, makda.assefa@yale.edu

Monday: 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm, by appointment on zoom or in person, https://calendly.com/makda-assefa/history-peer-advising-oh

Hi everyone! My name is Makda, and I’m a junior in TD. I’m originally Ethiopian, but was born in Maryland and grew up in Nairobi, Kenya. I’m pursuing a double major in Global Affairs and History, with a concentration in Empires & Colonialism. My academic interests include postcolonial African history, genocide/ conflict studies, development in the global south (mainly Africa & Latin America) and global migration trends. Outside of the classroom I work as a Student Assistant at the Afro-American Cultural Center, and am involved in YIRA and WYBC (Radio). I have really enjoyed the history major so far, and look forward to serving as a peer advisor this year! If you have any questions about double majors, the Empires & Colonialism concentration, or just want to chat, please reach out!

Anna Bettigole, anna.bettigole@yale.edu

Tuesday: 10 am – 12 pm, by appointment on zoom, https://calendly.com/anna-bettigole-yale/history-dept-office-hours

Hi! I’m Anna, a senior in Pierson from just outside Boston. As a History major on the global track, I focus on the 20th century, especially the cultural, social, and political impacts leading up to and following World War Two. I’m also interested in African American history, specifically during the antebellum period, and do research with a professor in that topic. I’m excited to answer any questions and can’t wait to meet you all!

Eliza Daunt, eliza.daunt@yale.edu

Friday: 1 pm – 3 pm, by appointment on zoom, https://calendly.com/eliza-daunt-yale/30min

Hi everyone! My name is Eliza Daunt. I am a junior majoring in History on the Global track, and I am also pursuing a certificate in French. I enjoy taking a diverse range of classes, but my academic focus is fascist regimes in 20^th-century European history, drawing parallels between these regimes and contemporary politics. I am a Managing Editor of The Politic, Yale’s undergraduate political journal, where I have written several history-centred research articles. Most recently, the cover story on press censorship after the Guatemalan Civil War. The History department is one of my favourite things about Yale and I am really looking forward to meeting others in the major!

Isabel Kalb, isabel.kalb@yale.edu

Wednesday: 10 am – 12 pm, by appointment on zoom or in the History Department Lounge, HQ 205, https://calendly.com/isabel-kalb-yale/isabel-kalb-office-hours?month=2024-09

Hi everyone! My name is Isabel, or Izzy, Kalb. I’m a senior from right here in Connecticut (with lots of state pride), and am currently pursuing a joint B.A./M.A. in history. Within the undergrad major, I’m on the Law, Politics, and Government track and am passionate about the role history needs to play in modern policy-making. I’ve spent time working in education and immigration policy, and have focused much of my academic studies on their intersection in American history. I am just returning from an incredible semester abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where I studied human rights and social activism and spent time researching the genetic restitution process and “right to identity” for grandchildren of the Abuelas de Plazas de Mayo. I have also completed a certificate in Spanish here at Yale. Outside academics, some of my favorite activities include being a FOOT leader, a Spanish interpreter with the Yale Interpretation Network, a Soprano 1 with Something Extra A Capella, and a member of the YPU’s Progressive Party. For anyone with questions about the history major (from deciding whether or not to do it to navigating your way through it), the B.A./M.A. program, studying abroad as a history major, or anything else about life at Yale, I am SO happy to chat anytime! I look forward to meeting you!!

Will Leggat, william.leggat@yale.edu

Thursday: 3pm – 4:45 pm, by appointment on zoom, https://calendly.com/william-leggat-yale/30min?month=2024-09

Hi everyone! My name is Will, and I’m excited to be a History Peer advisor this year. I am a senior in Davenport from Brooklyn, New York, and am a History major on the Politics, Law, and Government pathway. I am also on Yale’s Undergraduate Moot Court Team, serving as one of the team’s captains this past year, and am a member of the Progressive Party of the Yale Political Union. After graduation, I’m planning to attend law school with a focus on public interest. I’m currently working on a thesis about the 1981 Hunger Strikes in Northern Ireland, and I have also taken several courses on American and Eastern European history. Outside of class, I enjoy going on long runs around New Haven. If you have any questions about the major, or want to discuss your own interests or research in history, please reach out!

Ted Shepherd, ted.shepherd@yale.edu

Tuesday: 3 pm – 4:45 pm, drop-in hours in the History Department Lounge, HQ 205

Hi everyone! My name is Ted Shepherd and I’m excited to be a peer advisor for the History Department. I’m a rising senior in Pierson College, and I’m originally from Atlanta, Georgia. I’m double-majoring in History and Global Affairs and I’ve earned the Certificate of Advanced Language Study in Russian. I enjoy learning about almost any area of History, but I’m especially interested in early American history, including the early National Period, the Civil War, and the Reconstruction Era. I love learning about our country’s experience with nation-building and re-building, especially the legal and political decisions we made along the way. I’m also Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Historical Review, where I enjoy reading and editing student publications in History. After graduation, I hope to pursue graduate studies in History so that I can continue studying early American History. I’ve loved being a history major and I’ve chosen to take just about every course not required for my distributional requirements or second major in the history department. So feel free to ask me anything!