Brian Digre

I teach classes on modern Africa, the modern Middle East, the world in the 20th century, and the senior seminar for International and Global Studies. My passionate interest in Africa began in 1978 as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching English and history at a rural high school in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At Elon, that interest has continued as I have led annual January study-abroad classes in Africa for over 20 years, primarily to Ghana as well as recently to Tanzania and Ethiopia.

My service at Elon has included being project director of two significant U.S. Department of Education grants: the first to develop African and International Studies, and the second to establish a Middle East Studies minor. I served as coordinator of the International Studies major from its creation in 1995 until 2014. My research and writing interests include Africa during the First World War, Syria under the French League of Nations Mandate, and the United Nations and African independence movements.