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Modern US History: Diplomatic, Social Protest, Nuclear Weapons/Arms Control
Graduate Student
B.A., Political Science, UC San Diego; M.A., History (distinction), CSU-Northridge
Office: HSSB 3215 Hours:
Advisor: Nelson Lichtenstein
“[I]n a world where children are still not safe from starvation or bombs, should not the historian thrust himself and his writing into history, on behalf of goals in which he deeply believes? Are we historians not humans first, and scholars because of that?” –Howard Zinn, The Politics of History (more...)
One can approach the profession of history from a dispassionate standpoint. We can write dead history–history with no values, no help for the present or future. I have chosen not to go this route. Broadly speaking, I study U.S. history. My research interests revolve around two areas: what the profession calls (politely) “diplomatic history” and the other, what some call "Peace History" or "Social Protest." Stripping away the language of academia, I study US imperialism and its interactions with dissidents. I am interested in how ordinary people resist empire and the ways in which dissent can shape the course of foreign policy (and history more broadly). It is my philosophy that our present struggles to form a better society, be it for a living wage or the end of nuclear proliferation, can best be understood from studying the successes--and failures--of the past. Therefore, I study history with the very modest goal of changing the world!
My BA was in Political Science (UCSD), I have an MA (with distinction) from CSU-Northridge where I studied under Thomas R. Maddux. My dissertation focuses on the Reagan administration and the Nuclear Freeze movement. My research illuminates the way in which the anti-nuclear fervor of the 1980s was reflected throughout American society: politically, socially, culturally, theologically. I argue that this movement had such a profound effect that it forced the administration to either co-opt it or continue to face a political backlash with potential electoral repercussions.
Outside of my primary fields, since arriving at UCSB, my research interests have expanded to include the history of science and technology. I am specifically interested in the relationship between the government and science, and the role of scientists as activists (for or against animal testing and nuclear weapons) as well as how social movements interact with technology.
My professional involvement in the field has been diverse and continues to expand. I have written and presented papers on the Chicago demonstrations of 1968, Ronald Reagan and the Nuclear Freeze movement, as well as a historiographical biography on Howard Zinn. I am an active member of Historians Against the War, and a member of several other professional historical organizations. I served two terms as the administrative assistant for the Center for Cold War Studies and International History. In addition to maintaining both the website and the email list, I helped organize the Ninth Annual UCSB-GWU-LSE International Graduate Conference on the Cold War (April 2011).
I welcome emails from all walks of life. Former students are also more than welcome to get in touch. Cheers!
Dissertation Title- Bed Time For The Bomb: Ronald Reagan and the Antinuclear Revolution of the 1980s
Teaching Fields- U.S. History
Colonial - present (including but not limited to): revolution, the constitution, gilded age, progressive era, Cold War, civil rights, social movements, labor, radicalism
- U.S. Foreign Relations/Diplomatic History
Revolution - Present; U.S. Aggression in Latin America since 1898; U.S. and the Middle East; Global Cold War
- American Political Thought and Philosophy
Revolution to Civil War; Civil War to Civil Rights; Political Ideologies; American Government, Law, and the Constitution; Modern Political Philosophy
- History of Science
Scientists as activists; history of nuclear weapons; science and the Cold War; history of technology
- Modern World History
1914 - present
Teaching Assistantships- Film and Media Studies 101B: History of Cinema: Advent of Sound
UCSB, Chuck Wolfe, Winter 2010
- History 17A: The American People (Colonial through Jacksonian Era)
UCSB, Patricia Cohen, Fall 2010
- History 17B: The American People (Sectional Crisis through Progressivism)
UCSB, Carol Feinberg, Summer 2011
- History 17C: The American People (World War I to the Present)
UCSB, Laura Kalman, Winter 2009; Carol Feinberg, Summer 2010
- History 110: World History to 1500
CSU-Northridge, Bob Tomlinson, Spring 2007
- History 345: War and Film
CSU-Northridge, Bob Tomlinson, Fall 2007
Publications- “Preserving Disorder: The Chicago Demonstrations of 1968.”
Journal of Illinois History, Winter 2010
Awards- John Coleman Award
UCSB, 2011. Best paper in Cold War History, "Three Megatons of Peace: The Revolutionary MX Missile and the Meaning of Survival in the Atomic Age"
- Interdisciplinary Humanities Center Graduate Collaborative Research Grant
For organizing the Ninth Annual UCSB-GWU-LSE Cold War History Conference
- History Associates Fellowship,
UCSB, 2010
- William E. Nida Scholarship
UCSB, Fall 2008
- Best Graduate Paper runner-up, “Rebel With A Cause: The Life and Times of Howard Zinn”
2007 Phi Alpha Theta Southern California Regional Conference
Papers Presented- “Tear Gas, Mace, Batons, Yippies, and a Pig for President: The Chicago Demonstrations of 1968.”
Ninth Annual Conference of Illinois History, Springfield, Illinois, October 18, 2007.
- “An American Abroad: Europe Through the Eyes of Mark Twain.”
Twelfth Annual Research and Creative Works Symposium, Cal State Northridge, November 30, 2007.
- "History and Activism: A Historiographical look at the Life and Times of Howard Zinn."
Historians Against the War/Peace History Conference, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, April 11 - 13, 2008.
- "Bedtime for the Bomb: Ronald Reagan and the Nuclear Freeze Movement."
Grand Hyatt Regency, Denver, Colorado, Southwest Social Science Conference, April 17, 2009.
- "'A Force to Be Reckoned With': The Antinuclear Revolution and the Reagan Administration, 1980 - 1984."
UCSB-GWU-LSE Cold War Conference, George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, April 22-24, 2010.
Readerships- History 166C: United States in the Twentieth Century (The Long 1960s)
Laura Kalman, Fall 2009
- Japan 165: Japanese Popular Culture
Sabine Fruhstuck, Spring 2010
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