I am a public historian, and my particular focus is on community engagement and the preservation and interpretation of cultural heritage. I use a cultural landscapes approach and treat preservation as a holistic process that should embrace both the layers of history and the particular needs of the community. I’ve worked a variety of projects, including National Register nominations, oral histories, interpretive plans, architectural surveys, and historic structures assessments. I’m also interested in the history of race and civil rights, postcolonial history (particularly in sub-Saharan Africa), and medical history.
I am an Associate Professor of History at Grand Valley State University, where I teach public history, museum studies, US history surveys, and methods courses. I am looking forward to developing some long-term local history projects with my colleague Matthew Daley. I’m excited about collaborating with local institutions in Grand Rapids and Western Michigan.
Prior to joining the faculty at GVSU, I developed web content for the Tennessee Historical Society. I also taught Tennessee history, US history, and Global Studies courses at Middle Tennessee State University and Motlow State Community College.
Before joining THS, I was a digital research fellow at the Center for Historic Preservation at Middle Tennessee State University, where I worked on Southern Places, the CHP’s digital archive, and wrote metadata for material collected during research trips to Selma, Alabama. Before getting my PhD, I taught high school, handled closings for a real estate agent, worked at a winery, and was a seasonal Park Ranger at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts.
In all of my free time, I practice dressage, play board games and video games, and watch Star Trek and Star Wars. I love reading and listening to audiobooks. Some recent favorites include A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers and What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher. The last movie I saw in the theater was Barbie, and it was awesome.
You can see my current CV here.
