Megan Crutcher, Ph.D.

I'm a public historian and maritime archaeologist writing and teaching about how African sailors shaped the history of the Atlantic World. As an Assistant Professor of History at the University of West Florida, I teach courses in public history, the Atlantic World, and West Africa.

My research interests, broadly, lie in public history, contemporary history, historical or postmedieval archaeology, maritime archaeology, and maritime history of the Atlantic and African coasts, and I have a long-term research focus on Liberia. I also maintain professional interest and experience in conservation and collections care, museum studies, material culture studies, and heritage and memory. 

In Liberia, I am co-principal investigator and co-founder with Prince D. Kondeh of the Kru Coast Heritage Initiative (KCHI), a public history project working with communities to investigate, document, and preserve Indigenous heritage in Liberia. The KCHI team has conducted oral history, material culture studies, and archaeological excavation at the surfport town of Settra Kru in southeastern Liberia's Sinoe County. Our team's current project, "Where Trees Meet the Tide," traces the social networks and material processes of canoe construction in southeastern Liberia from the forest to the ocean. We have been funded by the Institute of Nautical Archaeology, Society for Postmedieval Archaeology, Texas A&M University, and Trinity College.

From 2025-2026, I was the Ann Plato Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of History at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. I earned my Ph.D. in Anthropology (Nautical Archaeology Program) from Texas A&M University in 2025. I hold an M.A. in Public History from Duquesne University (2020) and a B.A. in History from Grove City College.

​My interdisciplinary writing has appeared in the Journal of Maritime Archaeology, the Journal of Social History, the International Journal of Historical Archaeology, Critical African Studies, the Journal of African History, Maritime Studies, and other outlets, and has won several research awards.

I enjoy working with undergraduate and graduate students on topics related to the Atlantic World, West Africa, and maritime and coastal history. As a practicing public historian, I am also interested in projects that reimagine public history methods, especially in oral history and historic preservation, work closely with communities, and provide transformative solutions to contemporary problems. I have collaborated with international teams from several countries on a variety of projects, and am a PADI-certified Rescue Diver.