History Education · Public Memory · Lived Experiences

Cody Dalton

Social studies education at the intersection of inquiry, technology, and public memory.

About

Cody Dalton is a former high school history teacher, current doctoral student, and social studies educator. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history, a master’s degree in literacy education, and he is now pursuing a Ph.D. in history and social science education. His work focuses on historical thinking, public history, student lived experiences, and the growing role of artificial intelligence in education. He has taught in both secondary and university settings, published on topics ranging from local history to social studies instruction, and remains deeply interested in how people make meaning from the past. When he is not writing, teaching, or revising a paragraph for the eighth time, he is probably hanging out with his dog, thinking about his next project, or watching the Carolina Panthers:- which have taught him patience, resilience, and the danger of getting his hopes up too early.
Get in touch!

Affiliation
Virginia Tech, School of EducationResearch Areas
Historical thinking, AI ethics in history education, public history, student lived experiences, and pedagogical decision-making.Book Project
From Homeland to Network: Transnational Diasporas Before the Modern Nation-State, Vernon Press, in contract.

Research that connects history education, public memory, and emerging technologies.

Public History and Community Memory
My public history work explores how local sites, regional stories, and preservation projects shape public memory and determine what histories remain visible.

Student Lived Experiences and Pedagogy
I study the relational work of teaching, including how educators read student needs, make daily decisions, and build classrooms that treat dignity as part of instruction.

Generative AI in History Education
I study how AI shapes historical authority, evidence use, teacher preparation, and students’ ability to evaluate claims. My work treats AI outputs as texts to source, interpret, and critique.

Historical Thinking and Curriculum
I examine how curriculum, inquiry, and classroom materials shape students’ understanding of the past. I focus on historical reasoning, perspective, and evidence-based interpretation.

Selected Publications

Public Scholarship
Dalton, C. (2025). Restoring Mabry Mill: The contested realities of historic preservation. Perspectives on History, 63(5), 15–17.Dalton, C. (2026). Down the river of time: The Dan River Queen and the challenges of local history. History News, 81(2), 20–25.

Refereed Articles and Proceedings
Dalton, C. (2026). Teaching in the shadow of machines: Thoughtfulness in Practice: AI in social studies education: Tools for thoughtful practice with generative artificial intelligence, by Christopher H. Clark & Cathryn van Kessel, New York, NY, Teachers College Press, 2025, 216 pp., $37.95 (paperback), $114.00 (hardcover), ISBN 978-0-8077-8668-0. Theory & Research in Social Education, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2026.2645016Dalton, C. (2026). Reading the plate: Menus as data for historical inquiry. In Proceedings of SITE 2026 (pp. 1465-1467). Waynesville, NC USA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/2129163/

Book in Contract
From Homeland to Network: Transnational Diasporas Before the Modern Nation-State, Vernon Press.

Book Chapters
Dalton, C. (in press). From Respectability to Authenticity: Diana Taurasi and the WNBA’s Changing Brand. In G. Munro-Cook & Ł. Muniowski (Eds.), The WNBA, gender, race and social change. Routledge.Dalton, C. (in press). Same game, different worlds: Children’s play and daily life in colonial america. In S. Roberts, C. Elfer, & V. Wilson (Eds.), Hollywood or History?: An Inquiry-Based Strategy for Using Documentaries to Teach United States History (Beginnings to Reconstruction). Emerald.Dalton, C. (in press). Go with the flow, you must: Taoism and the force. In A. Allen & D. Hicks (Eds.), Hollywood or History? An Inquiry-based Strategy for Using Film to Teach About Global Citizenship Education. Emerald.Allen, A., Dalton, C., & Hicks, D. (in press). Play, place, and power: Exploring global systems through everyday games. In A. Allen & D. Hicks (Eds.), Hollywood or History? An Inquiry-based Strategy for Using Film to Teach About Global Citizenship Education. Emerald.

Manuscripts Under Review
Dalton, C. Generative artificial intelligence in secondary history education: A review of strategies, assessment, and teacher preparation. Under review at Review of Educational Research.Allen, A., Hicks, D., & Dalton, C. (under review). Francis Alÿs’s children’s games: The work of play as cultural heritage and wonder. Video Journal of Education and Pedagogy.

Teaching

Teaching Philosophy
Cody’s teaching philosophy centers on relationships, student voice, and thoughtful inquiry. He believes students learn best when they feel seen, heard, and respected as people before they are asked to perform as learners. His classroom practice emphasizes discussion, empathy, and trust as the foundation for meaningful growth. He aims to help students question claims, weigh evidence, and develop the confidence to form their own judgments. For Cody, teaching means creating a space where students can think deeply, speak honestly, and know that their ideas matter.

Higher Education Teaching and Supervision
Virginia Tech
EDCI 4724/5724: Secondary School Teaching Methods I
EDCI 4744/5744: Secondary School Teaching Methods II
EDCI 3964/5964: Field Work in History and Social Science Education
EDCI 4964/5754: Student Teaching in History and Social Science EducationSecondary Teaching
Danville Public Schools
AP Psychology
World History I
World History II
VA/US History

Presentations

Dalton, C. (May 2026). Designing for intellectual authenticity: A theoretical model for AI integration in curriculum. EdMedia + Innovate Learning. EdMedia2026 Conference. Edinburgh, Scotland.Dalton, C. (April 2026). Electric dirt and chosen families: Mapping the diasporas of queer appalachia. Southern Sociological Society. SSS2026 Conference. Jacksonville, FL.Dalton, C. (April 2026). Digital disobedience: Teaching students to resist algorithmic inequality. Southern Sociological Society. SSS2026 Conference. Jacksonville, FL.Dalton, C. (March 2026). technoMUSIC as a compass: Guiding AI use through motivation theory. Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education. SITE2026 Conference. Philadelphia, PA.Dalton, C. (March 2026). Reading the plate: Menus as data for historical inquiry. Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education. SITE2026 Conference. Philadelphia, PA.Dalton, C. (February 2026). You are (not) here: Rethinking place and perspective. International Society for the Social Studies. ISSS2026. Virtual Annual Conference.Dalton, C. (February 2026). The history huddle: A custom GPT playbook for text scaffolds. Virginia Innovative Teaching and Learning (VITAL) Conference, Virtual Virginia.Hicks, D., Dalton, C., & Allen, A. (January 2026). Chatty Geeps and the history mentor: Teaching with primary sources through custom GPTs and Chronicling America. SOURCES Conference. Orlando, FL.Hicks, D., Allen, A., Evers, S., van Hover, S., Fortune, D., Dalton, C., & Fleenor, S. (December 2025) Digital democracy detectives: OSINT tools for inquiry, civic engagement, and combating misinformation. Presentation at the National Council for the Social Studies. Washington, D.C.Allen, A., Hicks, D., van Hover, S., Evers, S., Hansen, C., Dalton, C., & Fleenor, S. (December 2025). Wicked good inquiry: AI grimoires to support historical thinking. Presentation at the National Council for the Social Studies. Washington, D.C.

Service and Leadership

Contributing to social studies education, teacher preparation, and scholarly communities.

Board of Directors, Virginia Council for History Education
University Supervisor, Virginia Tech
Editorial Review Board, AI Enhanced Learning
Reviewer, Review of Educational Research
Reviewer, Theory & Research in Social Education
Reviewer, SSEC Conference Proposals
Reviewer, NCSS Annual Conference Proposals
Reviewer, SITE Conference Proposals
Virginia SOL Item Review Committee, Virginia Department of Education
Advanced Placement Exam Reader, College Board

Contact

Research Collaboration - Invited Talks - Public History Projects

I welcome contact related to social studies education, historical thinking, teacher preparation, generative AI in history classrooms, and public-facing history work.