Dr. Lisa Clark Diller, PhD

Professor Diller graduated as a Southern Scholar from Southern Adventist University and received her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in Early Modern History. She enjoys reminding students that not only was the world not always the way it is now, but that humans could have made choices that would have resulted in very different outcomes. We still have choices as we make history. The trajectory of the modern world was not and is not pre-set or inevitable. Diller is passionate about teaching because she believes that education expands the heart and mind and helps people better become who they were created to be giving them the tools and perspectives and dispositions to be agents of change in their sphere of influence. Diller enjoys researching and writing on Early Modern history, including the history of England, religious toleration, state formation, and challenges to religious and political hegemony. She has presented her research at academic conferences throughout the United States, written several book reviews and articles for scholarly journals, and contributed a chapter to the volume Huguenots in History and Memory. She is currently on the executive council for the Southern Conference on British Studies, the book editor for Fide et Libertas, and a contributing editor for the Historical Society. She is currently working on a book analyzing English Catholic contributions to religions toleration in the early modern period. Diller lives in downtown Chattanooga in an old house with her husband and assorted books, plants, and animals. When she isn't at the library or her office, she is no doubt on the phone with some member of her large family, participating in a city/neighborhood event, or joining members of her church community in a service, worship, or social activity.