Megan Scallan, PhD

Dr. Megan Scallan is a curator, educator, and historian with more than twenty years of experience in museums, archives, and universities. She also partners with small businesses and private clients on projects providing high‑quality historical research, oral histories, digitizing collections, fine‑art support services, educational programming, and exhibitions.

Dr. Scallan holds a Ph.D. in Atlantic History from Florida International University; an M.A. in History from the University of Alabama in Huntsville; a Graduate Certificate in Museum Collections and Preservation Care from George Washington University; a Certificate in Women’s Entrepreneurship from Cornell University; and a B.A. in History and Art History from the University of North Florida. Her expertise includes material and visual culture; gender and sexuality; and the intersections of race and politics. She has presented in the United States and Europe, including at the American Historical Association and the Bavarian American Academy.

Scallan’s research treats objects, goods, and the built environment as historical evidence to illuminate patterns of production, exchange, and everyday life. Her M.A. thesis and Ph.D. dissertation examine how patriotic imagery, symbols, and media shape political attitudes, influence public opinion, and cultivate collective consciousness. By analyzing how images are produced, circulated, consumed, and interpreted, she shows how individuals and communities forged and sustained a shared—often diffuse—sense of national identity across regional differences and diverse cultural, ethnic, and racial backgrounds.