Research
Careful attention to sources, context, and the small details that open onto larger histories.
About Heather
A life in pursuit of the stories that shape our world.
Heather Salter is a historian, author, and professor at Northeastern University whose work brings the texture and complexity of the past into focus for contemporary readers. She holds a Ph.D. in History from Duke University and is the author of three monographs and five co-authored or co-edited books including, most recently, The Shanghai Agents: The Soviet Plot to Start a Revolution in Interwar China (2026). Her early travels overseas inspired a lifetime interest in people who fought against colonialism, which later translated to a career researching, writing, and teaching about it. She has also published under the name Heather Streets-Salter and Heather Streets.
Biography
History begins with attention.
Heather’s writing is guided by a simple conviction: the past is most revealing when we look closely at the people, places, and records that have shaped it.
Across research, teaching, and public conversation, she draws connections between archival evidence and the larger questions that continue to animate our shared life.
Her work
Research, teaching, and writing in conversation.
Teaching
An invitation to ask better questions and to see historical inquiry as a living practice.
Writing
Narrative scholarship that welcomes curious readers into the pleasures of historical discovery.