Associate professor Kelly Hammond has been awarded the 2024 Faculty Distinguished Achievement Rising Teaching Award (Alumni Association) and the Fulbright College Outstanding Teacher Award. 

Hammond joined the Department of History in 2015 after receiving her Ph.D. in East Asian history from Georgetown University. She was appointed as the associate director of International and Global Studies in 2022. 

"Hammond is a stellar instructor who bridges theory and practice, not only within the confines of Old Main but also beyond them, through the various study abroad programs she organizes and executes and the theses projects she oversees," said Ryan Calabretta-Sajder, director of International and Global Studies Program. "She is a true teacher-scholar, bringing her research into the classroom." 

In Fulbright College, Hammond teaches a wide variety of courses about modern East Asia. Hammond led an intersession study abroad course with Dr. Kim Sexton supported by the Honors College. The course explored Japan's unique transition to modernity, and students visited Nara, Kyoto, Hiroshima and Tokyo, among other exciting places. Hammond also received a $30,000 curriculum development grant to design a course called "Nuclear Asia: From Hiroshima to Fukushima." In the course, which she has taught twice now, students learn about the legacies of nuclear detonations, nuclear proliferation, nuclear security and nuclear power throughout Asia. 

Hammond said, "I'm passionate about bridging my own research with the needs and interests of our students. I enjoy giving the students an opportunity to expand their horizons with courses that focus on East Asia." 

Hammond's research focuses on Muslims in China in the 20th century. Her first book, China's Muslims and Japan's Empire: Centering Islam in World War II (UNC Press, 2020), tackles issues of wartime ethnopolitics in East Asia. She is currently working on a biography of a Chinese Muslim general named Bai Chongxi (1893-1966). 

"Dr. Hammond's teaching represents some of the best in the History Department's approach to the academic and intellectual enrichment of our students," said Caree Branton, chair of the History Department. "She brings her research with the real-world examples of state departments, military officials and other folks tackling real-world problems into the classroom, which not only makes gaining knowledge about important issues exciting but also meaningful to students." 

Hammond is also committed to connecting with the community beyond academia. She is part of the Public Intellectual Program run by the National Committee on US-China Relations. Her public-facing work has been published by news and policy outlets like ChinaFile, CNN, The Caravan, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, The Conversation and NewLines, and she appears regularly on podcasts. She also serves as the associate editor for modern China at The Journal of Asian Studies, and she is a board member of Twentieth-Century China. Through her ongoing outreach, Hammond hopes to help connect students in Arkansas with the broader community of scholars working on topics concerning Asia and international studies.