Dr. Deb Rotman completed her M.A. from Western Michigan University in 1995 and earned her Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 2001. She is currently an active teacher-scholar in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Notre Dame.

Dr. Rotman has been researching the cultural landscapes of the Midwest for many years, beginning with her thesis project at WMU undertaken with a University Research Fellowship from the Office of the Vice-President of Research. Her current work is focused on the Irish Diaspora in America. Dr. Rotman seeks to understand how the Great Famine, among other significant events affect those who left Ireland as well as those who were left behind. While interested in nineteenth-century Irish immigrant experiences she is equally interested in the effect the Famine continues to have on Irish people today, including a persistent “culture of emigration” despite recent affluence.

In addition to her scholarship, Dr. Rotman has worked to increase the visibility of undergraduate research. She believes strongly that students at all academic levels have the potential to contribute to the development of research design, assist with data collection, participate in the analysis of those data, and share in the dissemination of new knowledge.