Accelerate Faculty

John Savagian is a professor of History and the History program director at Alverno College. He has taught numerous courses at the college since 1999, including courses on the Civil War, global indigenous people, the Gilded Age, American slavery and the Cold War.

Savagian is also an expert on the design and implementation of outcomes-based curriculum. He has given numerous presentations across the country, and has consulted with several high schools and colleges in the United States, as well as abroad. In the spring of 2012, he was a visiting fellow at the Teaching and Learning Centre of Lingnan University, Hong Kong, where he directed faculty efforts to create learning outcomes. Most recently he has been working with American Historical Association on its national initiative to redesign history curriculum.

Savagian has done several interviews for print and broadcast. In May 2011, he did a live in-studio interview with FOX 6 on the death of Osama bin Laden and its significance within a historical context. In the spring of 2020, Savagian appeared on CBS 58 to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to past pandemics. He also gave a webinar on the topic.

Savagian earned his Bachelor of Science in History and Political Science from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, where he also earned his Master of Arts in Teaching with an emphasis on Native American History. He earned his PhD in American History from Marquette University. Savagian belongs to the American Historical Association, the Wisconsin Historical Society and the Milwaukee County Historical Society. He is also a past board chair of the Wisconsin Humanities.