Dr. David Stewart in front of bookshelves.

Dr. David Stewart, Professor of History

Written by Graceanne Warburton

The most striking feature of Dr. Stewart’s office is how full it is. From the floor to the ceiling, books fill the many-tiered shelves. Biographies, textbooks, and all things history decorate the professor’s workspace, interrupted only by the presence of one golden couch which sits opposite from Dr. Stewart’s chair. The atmosphere Stewart has created makes students feel invited and relaxed, while simultaneously putting them in the mindset of the professor’s passion and chosen craft: history.

Much like the office where he spends much of his time, Dr. Stewart harmonizes the casual and the professional. Students can expect engaging and organized lectures from Dr. Stewart in topics as varied as the history of Spain, the French Revolution, and military history, but all will come from a man who shows up to class dressed in a t-shirt, hoodie, and jeans.  A more obvious implication of his office, Dr. Stewart is a master of his field. He earned his B.A. in History and a B.S. in Chemistry at Eastern Nazarene College in Boston, and then moved on to Ohio State University in Columbus, where he earned both his M.A. and Ph.D. in Early Modern European History. Dr. Stewart has chased history across the globe. He conducted his dissertation research in the south of France and lived in Barcelona periodically for several years.

After teaching for one year at another university in Columbus, Dr. Stewart moved to Hillsdale College. His reasoning? He wanted to really teach. Although one would think that every college regards teaching with the utmost importance, Dr. Stewart noticed that, of all the colleges and universities he had considered, Hillsdale focused most explicitly on teaching its students. “Doing research is fun,” said Dr. Stewart, “but the primary goal of Hillsdale is to educate. That’s what matters the most.”

One of Dr. Stewart’s favorite aspects of Hillsdale College is its flexibility. He points out that students at Hillsdale have room to get creative with their education in a way unavailable to most college students. Dr. Stewart has helped students create independent studies on Canadian history, Swiss history, and even the history of organized crime in America; if a student shows interest in an area not currently listed in the course catalogue, they have the freedom to pursue it regardless. This flexibility applies to travel as well as to independent study. Dr. Stewart recounts a time when one of his students actually visited him in England over the summer so that he could research his thesis with the professor’s guidance. This is just one story, says Stewart, that displays the creative and flexible approach that the history department takes at Hillsdale.

Dr. Stewart has taught at Hillsdale for an impressive twenty-one years. He is an engaging professor whose casual demeanor and obvious expertise make him Hillsdale’s one-and-only nonchalant mastermind.


Graceanne Warburton is a freshman at Hillsdale College majoring in History, with plans to minor in either German or Journalism. She participated in forensics and theatre during her first semester, and is looking forward to picking up volunteer work at the Humane Society in the spring. She is a member of the Hillsdale College Honors Program.