Professor Stapell teaches European and intellectual history at SUNY New Paltz. His courses range from medieval and modern European history to interdisciplinary seminars on ideas, identity, modernity, and the relationship between the individual and society. Across his teaching, he emphasizes close engagement with primary source texts, careful historical analysis, and active student participation.
He has taught in the SUNY New Paltz Honors Program since 2009, including the seminars Individual and Society and Modern Self and Society. He also created EVO201: Evolution and Human Health, an interdisciplinary course that examines the implications of evolutionary theory for human health and contemporary life.
suny new paltz Honors Program Graduation
Professor Stapell’s teaching has been recognized with the Liberal Arts & Sciences Teacher of the Year Award, the Provost’s Award for Teaching Excellence, and the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 2023, he was selected by the university president to serve as Faculty Grand Marshal for undergraduate commencement.
Before joining the full-time faculty at SUNY New Paltz, he taught at the United States Military Academy at West Point and in the Revelle Humanities Program at the University of California, San Diego.
Courses taught include:
▪ SUNY New Paltz, 2008-present
▫ Medieval Europe (online and seated course)
▫ Modern Europe since 1500 (online and seated course)
▫ Europe since 1945
▫ Spain since 1808
▫ Americanization of Europe
▫ Intellectual History of 19th Century Europe
▫ Intellectual History of 20th Century Europe
▫ Historian's Craft
▫ September 11 and Historical Memory
▫ Capstone Research Seminar: Madrid, Past and Present
▫ Capstone Research Seminar: Degeneration, Health, and Modernity
▫ Individual and Society (Honors Program first-year seminar)
▫ Modern Self and Society (Honors Program seminar)
▫ Evolutionary Studies Seminar
▫ Evolution and Human Health (online course)
▪ United States Military Academy, West Point, 2006-2008
▫ Western Civilization: Ancient Times to 1900
▫ Regional Studies in World History (Latin America focus)
▪ Revelle Humanities Writing Program, UCSD, 1998-2001, 2003
▫ Humanities 1: The Foundations of Western Civilization: Israel and Greece
▫ Humanities 2: Rome, Christianity, and the Middle Ages
▫ Humanities 3: Renaissance, Reformation, and Early Modern Europe
▫ Humanities 4: Enlightenment, Romanticism, and Revolution
▫ Humanities 5: Modern Culture
SUNY chancellor’s award for teaching excellence recipient, 2021