B.A. History, The College of Wooster 2004

M.A. U.S.History; World History, The University of Akron 2006

Ph.D U.S. History; Gender History, The University of Florida 2012

**Summer 2018 is my last semester at SPC. I have accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Civil War History at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, beginning August 2018. Please contact me at zombeka@uncw.edu.**

I grew up Cleveland, Ohio and moved to Florida in 2006 to pursue my Doctorate in History. I am passionate about teaching and about history and have had the opportunity to teach in many settings, including the National Park Service, St. Francis High School (Gainesville, FL), Santa Fe College, the University of Akron, and the University of Florida. I have presented numerous conference papers on crime, punishment, and imprisonment in the Civil War Era. My manuscript, Penitentiaries, Punishment, and Military Prisons: Familiar Responses to an Extraordinary Crisis during the American Civil War, will be published by Kent State University Press in June 2018. Check out my article in The Civil War Monitor for a preview: http://www.civilwarmonitor.com/front-line/oh-lord-where-art-thou-civil-war-guards-prisoners-andpunishments.

I have presented my research on imprisonment in the Civil War Era at numerous conferences and, most recently, at Catholic University in Milan, Italy. I recently published two articles online:  ""History Hides the Lies of Our Civil War": The Forgotten Battle of Pickett's Mill," on Emerging Civil War: https://emergingcivilwar.com/2016/07/07/history-hides-the-lies-of-our-civil-war-the-forgotten-battle-of-picketts-mill/. 

"Paradise Lost: Florida's Egmont Key during the Civil War," on the Journal of the Civil War Era's Muster blog: http://journalofthecivilwarera.org/2016/08/paradise-lost-floridas-egmont-key-civil-war/.  

On April 2, 2017, I appeared in TLC's celebrity genealogy show called "Who Do You Think You Are," and helped actress Jessica Biel learn about the history of her Civil War ancestor (Season 8, Episode 5). Check out the episode here: 
https://www.tlc.com/tv-shows/who-do-you-think-you-are/. 

On May 2, 2018, I appeared in a Fox 13 Tampa Bay News segment on Confederate Monuments: http://www.fox13news.com/news/local-news/tampa-bay-area-confederate-monuments. 

Publications: 

Penitentiaries, Punishment, and Military Prisons: Familiar Responses to an Extraordinary Crisis during the American Civil War, Kent State University Press, (May 2018)

Sept. 2017 “Paternalism and Imprisonment at Castle Thunder: Reinforcing Gender Norms in the Confederate Capital,” Civil War History, Vol. 63, No. 3 

Nov. 2016 Review of Lincoln’s Autocrat: The Life of Edwin Stanton by William Marvel, Journal of Southern History,
Vol. 82, No. 4

2014 Review of The Untried Life: The 29th Ohio Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War by James T. Fritsch. 
Ohio History, Vol. 121

Sept. 2013  Review: The World’s Largest Prison: The Story of Camp Lawton by John K. Derden. 
The Civil War Monitor

Fall 2013 Review: I Fear I Shall Never Leave This Island by David R. Bush. Northwest Ohio History, Vol. 81, No. 1

June 2013 “Oh Lord, Where Art Thou?: Civil War Guards, Prisoners, and Punishments,” The Civil War Monitor
http://www.civilwarmonitor.com/front-line/oh-lord-where-art-thou-civil-war-guards-prisoners-and-punishments

July 2012 Review: The Lincoln Assassination: Crime & Punishment, Myth & Memory Holzer, Symonds & Williams, eds. The Civil War Monitor

2011  “Camp Chase Prison: An Examination of Power and Resistance on the Northern Home Front, 1863,”
Ohio History Vol. 118

2011 Review: Captives in Gray: The Civil War Prisons of the Union by Roger Pickenpaugh.  Ohio History Vol. 118.1

March 2010 Review: Wars Within a War: Controversy and Conflict Over the American Civil War by Joan Waugh and Gary W. Gallagher, eds.  Virginia Magazine of History and Biography Vol. 118, No., 1

Aug. 2010 Encyclopedia of the Early Republic (M.E. Sharpe, Inc.) Entries: “Secession” and “Erie Canal”

May 2009 Encyclopedia Virginia (Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, online) Entries: “Libby Prison,” “Castle Thunder Prison,” and “Belle Isle Prison”

May 2008 Gale Daily Life: American Civil War Project (Thomson Gale) Entry: “Catholic Christianity”

March 2007 Review of Battle Scars: Gender and Sexuality in the American Civil War by Catherine
  Clinton and Nina Silber, eds. H-Net Reviews, H-CivWar

Forthcoming Publications


“Citizenship – Compulsory or Convenient: Federal Officials, Confederate Prisoners, and the Oath of Allegiance,” in Paul J. Quigley, ed., The American Civil War and the Transformation of Citizenship, LSU Press (June 2018)

“Catholics in Captivity: Priests, Prisoners, and the Living Faith in Civil War Military Prisons,” in Michael P. Gray, ed., Civil War Prisons II, Kent State University Press

Research Interests: Civil War Era punishment and imprisonment; Florida's Gulf Coast (Cedar Key to Key West) in the Civil War [Union blockade, Unionism, guerrilla warfare, martial law on Key West]; Ship Island Mississippi (military prison).

I challenge all of my students to take take charge of their education, think critically, and work hard to achieve personal goals. I encourage interactive learning in the classroom and enjoy hearing students' conclusions and thoughts about the past. When not teaching history, I enjoy reading, swimming, biking, running, and watching both Cleveland sports (Indians, Cavs, Browns) and the Gators. I'm also a certified group exercise instructor and have been teaching indoor cycling classes for the past 8 years, and want all of my students - in the classroom and on the spin bikes - to work hard and have fun!