Current Appointment
Associate Director, Urban Tree Foundation
Instructor, College of the Sequoias, Visalia California
Education
Ohio University
Ph.D. in American History—2004 (Comprehensive Exams Passed June 2001, Degree conferred August 2004)
Dissertation
“Political Pundits, Conventional Wisdom, and Presidential Reputation, 1945-1963.” Dissertation directed by Alonzo Hamby with Chester Pach, Jr.
Major Fields
20th Century U.S. Political History, directed by Alonzo Hamby
U.S. Intellectual/Cultural History, directed by Charles C. Alexander
Minor Fields
History of the Soviet Union, directed by Steven M. Miner
20th Century European Intellectual History, directed by Jeffrey Herf
California State University Fresno
M.A. in American History—1997
Thesis
“Eisenhower Versus History,” Thesis directed by Robert Dinkin
California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo
B.A. in History—1996
Awards
University of Northern Colorado, Honoree, 2005 Housing & Residence Life Academic Recognition Celebration
University of Northern Colorado, Faculty Research Grant, 2005
University of Northern Colorado, History Department Travel Grant, 2004
Ohio University Phi Kappa Tau Faculty Teaching Award, 2003
Ohio University Graduate Associate Outstanding Teaching Award, 200-2001
Publications
Review Essays
“The Perils and Promise of Popular History,” review of Michael Korda, Ulysses S. Grant: The Unlikely Hero (Eminent Lives, 2004), Josiah Bunting, Ulysses S. Grant (Times Books, 2004), and James M. Perry, Touched with Fire: Five Presidents and the Civil War Battles that Made Them (PublicAffairs, 2003) in Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era (July 2006)
“President Ulysses S. Grant,” review of Michael Korda, Ulysses S. Grant: The Unlikely Hero (Eminent Lives, 2004), Josiah Bunting, Ulysses S. Grant (Times Books, 2004) in online Claremont Review of Books (Summer 2005)
“In the Shadow of William McKinley,” review of Lewis Gould, The Modern American Presidency (University Press of Kansas, 2003), H. Wayne Morgan, William McKinley and his America (Kent State University Press, 2003), Kevin Phillips, William McKinley (Times Books, 2003), Eric Rauchway, Murdering McKinley (Hill & Wang, 2003), Phillip Weeks, Buckeye Presidents (Kent State University Press, 2003) in Claremont Review of Books (Summer 2004)
Book Reviews
Andrew E. Busch, Reagan's Victory: The Presidential Election of 1980 and the Rise of the Right (University Press of Kansas, 2005) in History: Reviews of New Books
Phillip Weeks ed., Buckeye Presidents: Ohioans in the White House (Kent State University Press, 2003) in History: Reviews of New Books (Winter 2003)
Nicole C. Rae, Colton C. Campbell, Impeaching Clinton: Partisan Strife on Capitol Hill (University Press of Kansas, 2004) in History: Reviews of New Books (Spring 2004)
David Potash and Donald F. Anderson eds., The Collected Works of William Howard Taft: Popular Government and the Anti-Trust Act and the Supreme Court (Collected Works of William Howard Taft, Vol., 5) (Ohio University Press, 2003) in Ohio Valley History (Summer 2004)
Presentations
"Journalism, Civil Rights, and the Presidency: 1945-1968" at the Organization of American Historians Annual Meeting, New York, New York, March 2008
“The Economics of Democracy,” and “Democracy and Foreign Policy,” (two, two-day lectures) at the Colorado Institute for Historical Study, Greeley and Colorado Springs, Colorado, July and August 2006
“The Politics of 1968,” at Sage Ridge Second Annual F. Kevin Simon Symposium on American History, Reno, Nevada, April 2006
“Eisenhower and the Pundits: Elite Opinion and the Middle-American President,” at The 27th Annual Mid-America Conference on History, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, September 2005
“Kennedy and the Pundits: Elite Journalists and Presidential Reputation,” conference on The Kennedy Legacy: A Forty Year Perspective, Chestnut Hill College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 2003
Professional Experience
Chapman University College, South San Joaquin Valley
September 2007-June 2008
Classes Taught
Spring 2008
- Modern World History
- History of the Vietnam Conflict
- Social Movements in the Sixties
- The Holocaust
Fall 2007
- Social Movements in the Sixties
College of the Sequoias
September 2007-Present
Classes Taught
Fall 2008
- US History to 1865
- US History since 1865
Summer 2008
- US History to 1865
- Western Civilization since 1648
Spring 2008
- US History to 1865
- US History since 1865
Fall 2007
- US History to 1865
- US History since 1865
Service
- Judge, History Day
- Volunteer, Honor Society
Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia: Lecturer in History
August 2006-August 2007
Classes Taught
Summer 2007
- U.S. in the 1970s
- U.S. Foreign Policy
Spring 2007
- World History Since 1600
Fall 2006
- World History to 1600, Survey course
University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado: Coordinator, Director, and Instructor, AP U.S. History Program Summer Institute
October 2004-July 2006
University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado: Lecturer in History
August 2004-August 2006
Service
- Member, Undergraduate Committee
- Advisor, Phi Alpha Theta and History Club
- Webmaster, UNC History Club Weblog
- Director, Senior Honors Thesis
- Mentor, McNair Scholar Program
Classes Taught
Spring 2006
- U.S. since 1877, Survey course
- U.S. in the 1970s, Lecture course
- American Cultural History, Lecture course
Fall 2005
- U.S. to 1877, Survey courses (two sections)
- Modern America, Lecture course
- The 1950s, Undergraduate (senior) seminar
Spring 2005
- U.S. to 1877, Survey course
- U.S. since 1877, Survey course
- 20th Century Liberalism and Conservatism in the U.S., Lecture course
- 20th Century U.S. Diplomatic History, Lecture course
Fall 2004
- U.S. to 1877, Survey course
- U.S. since 1877, Survey course
- U.S. in the 1960s, Lecture course
- Modern America Since 1914, Lecture course
Advanced Placement U.S. History Exam, Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas
Reader
June 2006
June 2005
Ohio University, Athens, Ohio: Instructor of Record
Classes Taught
Spring 2004
- U.S. History to 1865, Survey course
- U.S. in World War II, Lecture course
Winter 2004
- Presidential History Through Film, Lecture course
- U.S. History Since 1865, Survey course
Fall 2003
- U.S. History Since 1865, Survey course
- Cold War History Through Film, Lecture course
Summer 2003
- U.S. History Since 1865, Survey course
- 20th Century U.S. Presidents, Seminar course
Spring 2003
- U.S. History to 1865, Survey course
- 20th Century U.S. Presidents, Seminar course
Winter 2003
- America: 1929-1945, Seminar course
- U.S. History Since 1865, Survey course
Marietta College, Marietta, Ohio: Instructor
Classes Taught
Fall 2002
- U.S. History from Revolution to Reconstruction, Survey courses (3 sections)
Ohio University, Athens, Ohio: Teacher of Record
Classes Taught
Summer 2002
- U.S. in the 1960s, Lecture course
- U.S. History 1945-Present, Lecture course
Spring 2002
- U.S. History 1900-Present, Survey course
Ohio University, Athens, Ohio: Graduate Teaching Assistant
Discussion Leader/Grader
Winter 2002
- African History Through Film, with Dr. Walter Hawthorne
Ohio University, Zanesville, Ohio: Instructor
Classes Taught
Fall 2001
- History of Western Civilization, 1450-1700, Survey course
Ohio University, Athens, Ohio: Graduate Teaching Assistant
Discussion Leader/Grader
Fall 2001
- 20th Century US History, with Dr. Chester Pach, Jr.
Fall 2000-Spring 2001
- History of Western Civilization, 1450-1700, with Dr. Richard Harvey
Spring 2000
- Native American History, with Dr. Katherine Jellison
Winter 2000
- Hitler and his Nazis, with Dr. Robert Whealey
Fall 1999
- History of the 1960s, with Dr. Katherine Jellison
Spring 1999
- Native American History, with Dr. Katherine Jellison
Winter 1999
- History of Western Civilization (Cultural), with Dr. Phillip Bebb
Fall 1998
- History of Espionage, with Dr. Alan Booth
Ohio University, Athens, Ohio: Assistant Coordinator of the Ohio University American History Contest
Fall 1999
- With Dr. Marvin Fletcher
Golden West High School, Visalia, California
Classes Taught
Spring 1998
- Civics (English as a Second Language)
- Economics
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California
Research Assistant
Summer 1996
- For Dr. John Snetsinger
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California
Teaching Assistant
Spring 1996
- History of American Thought, with Dr. David Harlan