I'm currently finishing a history PhD at UMass, and beginning to look for work teaching history. Since it’s difficult for prospective employers to decide what kind of teacher a new PhD would be, by just looking at the CV (which I’ve posted here), I posted a page with all the comments my students have made. It was fun typing it up -- a nice validation of the work I put into those courses.
My teaching fields are Environmental History, Latin American History, and 19th-century US History (social, cultural, economic). I think understanding the past is crucial to evaluating the present and planning for the future. And I think historians need to do a better job getting what we learn in our research out into the hands of people who need it. This is really an issue in fields like environmental history, so I’ve gone ahead and started trying to bridge that gap. Click here or on the image to see more.
I’m extremely committed to teaching and writing for the general public. A few years ago, I published an award-winning young adult novel, Outside the Box, and I’ve just recently completed an essay-writing handbook for undergrads. Click here or on the image to see more.
My interests include American Rural History, the history of Regular People and Trans-Atlantic Radicals and Freethinkers. Recently, I've consolidated some of that material into a site called history-punk.com, which advocates for a more hands-on, do-it-yourself approach to historical consciousness. I also contribute regularly to The Historical Society’s blog. For a list of my recent THS posts, click here.
Until very recently, I was spending most of my time reading for my oral exams. I’ve begun arranging what I think are the most significant texts in an “index” here, but until I complete that I'll leave the original blog pages live.
