Biography

Biography

Thomas A. Castillo is an assistant professor of history who specializes in 20th-century U.S. history, with a research focus on inequality, class, ideology, African American and immigration studies.  He earned a Ph.D. in U.S. History at the University of Maryland and currently serves as an H-Net Commons moderator on the H-Labor online network.  His publications include an award-winning article in Florida History on how early twentieth-century working class migrants to Miami fought for political and economic power and built a vibrant community.  Dr. Castillo has written numerous book reviews in such publications as Labor History, Labor: Working Class History of the Americas, and Journal of American History, among several others. His first book, Working in the Magic City: Moral Economy in the Early Twentieth Century Miami (University of Illinois Press, 2022) engages the history of work, inequality, and the production of racial difference in 20th century Miami, Florida. He is currently working on a second book on the longer history of the right to work. Dr. Castillo has also worked as a full-time academic advisor at the University of Maryland where he helped develop dynamic and transparent advising practices particularly geared in assisting first generation students in their efforts to meet the challenges of the 21st century American university. 

Education

University of Maryland, College Park – Ph.D. in U.S. History

Florida International Universty – M.A. in History

Florida International Universty – B.A. in History

Teaching Areas

U.S. History including Labor and Working Class Studies, Political Economy, African American and Immigration Studies, Social and Cultural History, Urban History, Oral History, and Modern U.S. (1865 to the present)

Research Areas  

U.S. History including Labor and Working Class Studies, Political Economy, African American and Immigration Studies, Social and Cultural History, Urban History, and Modern U.S. (1865 to the present)

Interesting Facts

-Won the Arthur W. Thompson Award in 2004 for best article on Florida History (“Miami’s Hidden Labor History,” Florida Historical Quarterly, Spring 2004)
-Dr. Castillo has held numerous jobs throughout his life, including working at a fast food restaurant, a retail store, a supermarket, as a house painter, an athletic coach, high school teacher, substitute teacher, and academic advisor
-Dr. Castillo is a first-generation student

Please click to see Dr. Castillo's latest publications. 

• "The Archaeology of Miami's Labor History" by Thomas A. Castillo in The Metropole

• Working in the Magic City: Moral Economy in Early Twentieth-Century Miami 

  The Working Class in American History Series of the University of Illinois Press

•