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Phone Number
607-431-4883
Department
History
Areas of Expertise

US History, Business History, Labor History, Political Economy

Education
Ph.D., University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

Melanie Sheehan

Assistant Professor of History

Melanie Sheehan is a historian of business, labor and political economy with a focus on the twentieth century United States. Her current book project examines how U.S. labor union leaders understood and attempted to influence policies promoting international trade and investment after World War II. The project traces how and why union leaders who had advocated for trade liberalization in the late 1940s and 1950s became disillusioned with the process of globalization by the 1970s and 1980s. Prior to joining the faculty at Hartwick College, she held postdoctoral fellowships at Kenyon College and Harvard Business School.

Recent courses taught:

  • Global History, 1750-Present
  • Baseball and American Life
  • Europe and the World Wars

Publications:
“The AFL-CIO, the US Balance of Payments, and the End of the Post-World War II Liberal Order, 1965-1973,” Enterprise and Society (2023): 1-24. DOI: 10.1017/eso.2023.31.