Current Ph.D. Students
This page is intended to give a sense of the range and focus of graduate student research in our department. Current dissertation
titles for Ph.D. students are provisional. You may write to current students via email or care of the Department of History, Herter Hall,
University of Massachusetts, 161 Presidents Drive, Amherst, MA 01003-9312.
Jump to a page:
Current Ph.D. Students |
Current M.A. Students |
Recent Ph.D. Recipients |
Current Public History Students
Yveline Alexis:
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Fields: Caribbean and Diaspora, U.S./Latin American Relations, Civil and Women's Rights Movements
Faculty: Lowell Gudmundson, Jane Rausch,
Bernie Jones, and
Education: B.A., History and Africana Studies, Cornell University.
Interests: Diasporic Identities; Race and Resistance in Lat-Am/Carib; Women and Politics.
Email: yalexis@history.umass.edu
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Maria Abunnasr:
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Fields: 19th C Middle Eastern History, 19th C U.S. History, American Missionary Movement
Advisors: Mary Wilson, Joyce Berkman,
and David Glassberg
Education: B.A., Political Science, Drew University (1988), M.A., Art History, American University (1991)
Interests: My interests are Middle East and American history - more specifically the interactions between
the two in the 19th Century by way of the American Missionary Movement and especially the various roles that American
women played there. I am also very interested in Public History and the role it plays in making history more meaningful
and engaging to the wider world. In terms of personal interests, I am passionate about travelling, exploring,
discovering, and experiencing what the world has to offer.
Email: maabunnasr@acs.edu.lb
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Carrie Barske-Saussy (ABD):
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Fields: Early American, U.S. Women, and British Women
Advisors: Joyce Berkman, Marla Miller,
and Margaret Hunt
Education: B.A., History and Women’s Studies, University of the South (2002), M.A., History/Public History, Northeastern University (2003).
Interests: Historic Preservation, Courtship and Marriage, Rural History, hiking, kayaking, traveling.
Ambitions: To work in the fields of Historic Preservation and higher education.
Email: cbarske@yahoo.com
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Beth Behn (ABD):
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Fields: U.S. Labor History, U.S. Women’s History, Ancient Rome
Advisors: Bruce Laurie, Joyce
Berkman and Carlin Barton
Education: B.S., International and Strategic History, United States Military Academy (1994),
M.A., U.S. History, University of Massacchusetts Amherst (2004)
Interests and Ambitions: I am an active-duty Army officer currently teaching in the History
Department at the United States Military Academy, but scheduled to attend Command and General Staff College at
Fort Leavenworth, KS beginning in August 2007. My doctoral research focuses on Woodrow Wilson and the Woman
Suffrage Movement.
Email: Beth.Behn@usma.edu
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Christopher Benning:
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Fields: Public History, Global/Diplomatic History, Modern U.S. History
Advisors: David Glassberg
Education: B.A., Amherst College, M.A., The Johns Hopkins University
Interests: The history of the museum (museum as artifact), the built environment,
monuments and memorials; war and public memory; the Spanish-American War/War of 1898.
Ambitions: Teaching, research and writing history, and museum work.
Email: christopher_wb@hotmail.com
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Brian Bixby (ABD):
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Fields: 19th C. & 20th C. U.S. Cultural, Latin America post-independence
Advisors: David Glassberg, Heather Cox Richardson,
Mario De Pillis (emeritus), and H. Martin Wobst (Anthropology)
Thesis Title: "Seeking Shakers: Two Centuries of Visitors to Shaker Villages"
Education: A.B., Philosophy, Harvard University (1980), M.A., Historical Studies and Sociology, New School for Social Research (1998)
Tourism and historical commemoration; the philosophy of history and its relation to the social sciences; perforce the sociology of academia.
Ambitions: Make a scholarly contribution to our knowledge of history, help the public become better at reasoning historically,
write a good book "for all times"
Email: bixby@history.umass.edu
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Janiece Blackmon:
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Fields: African American and Gender
Advisors:
Education: B.A. University of Maryland, Eastern Shore, Sociology (2006), M.A. Virginia Tech, History (2008)
Interests:
Ambitions:
Email: jblackmo@history.umass.edu |
Brian Comfort
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Fields: 19th and 20th Century U.S. cultural history
Faculty: Chris Appy
Education: B.A. Connecticut College; M.A. in journalism University of Colorado; M.A. in American studies University of Massachusetts Boston
Interests: I am particularly interested in post-World War II popular culture and how ideas of race, class and gender intersect in cultural production and reception.
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Andrew Dausch:
Julie DeChantal
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Fields: 20th Century US, Women's History (Canada/US/UK), Mexico/Latin
America
Advisors: Laura L. Lovett, José Angel Hernandez
Thesis Title:
Education: BA (2005), MA History, Université de Montréal
Interests and Ambitions: Relationships between race, gender and nation building;
race, resistance and the development of popular culture in the
Northern urban areas; the history of exclusion; migrations &
ethnicity; feminist theory.
Email: julied@history.umass.edu |
Christopher Fobare:
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Fields: The Civil War & Reconstruction, Modern China
Advisors: Heather Cox Richardson, Stephen Platt
Education: B.A., Utica College (2006), M.A., University of Massachusetts, Amherst (2008).
Interests: The political, economic and social history of the Civil War and Reconstruction. My research deals with the social and political consequences that resulted from Republican efforts to reconstruct American society in their image of a free labor nation after the Civil War.
Ambitions: Receive a Ph.D., teach at the college level and write.
Email: cfobare@history.umass.edu |
Harry Franqui-Rivera (ABD):
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Fields: History of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, Latin America (National Period), U.S. Military/Diplomatic History (Twentieth-Century)
Advisors: Jane Rausch, Lowell Gudmundson, Agustin Lao-Montes, John Higginson, Guillermo Irizarry
Dissertation Title: Fighting for the Nation: Native Military Units and Modern Puerto Rican National Identities, 1868-1952
Education: B.A., History, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus (1999), M.A., American Military/Diplomatic History, Temple University (2002)
Interests: Creation of national identities, nationalism as a political instrument, nation-building projects. I’m currently examining the military as tool for Nation-building in the circum Caribbean, especially since 1898. I’m particularly interested in the military and political mobilization of rural sectors and other subaltern groups of Puerto Rican society as this island transitioned from Spanish to U.S. imperial rule, specifically as this shift occurs via patterns of inclusion-exclusion within the military and the various forms of citizenship and national identities that subsequently transformed into socio-economic and political enfranchisement and choices.
I examine the role of the U.S. military as a tool for the “Americanization” of the Island on the one hand and as part of a Creole decolonization strategy on the other. In essence, I juxtapose the metropolis and the Creole elites’ attempts to build “modern” individuals and nations via military training, with the subaltern groups’ reactions and challenges to these campaigns. As a culture-homogenizing agent associated with progress, modernity, and masculinity, all part of a broader metropolitan Nation-Building project in the circum-Caribbean, the military gives us many clues to understanding this area’s cultural and socio-political history.
Email: hfranqui@hotmail.com
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Kimberly Fuller
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Fields: 19th/20th Century US, Public History, Britain
Advisors:Laura L. Lovett
Education: BA History, Marist College, 2006; MA History, Syracuse University, 2008
Interests: Gender and sexuality, specifically male gender roles and masculinity. I am also interested the history of sex education and the changing social ideas about sexuality and sexual practices.
Ambitions: I would like to work on public policy, particularly in the areas of sex education and AIDS prevention. I would also like to teach college-level history, especially courses on the history of sexuality, and I hope to publish extensively.
Email: fuller@history.umass.edu |
Gary Garrison:
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Fields: U.S. Colonial, Founding, and Early Republic
Advisors: Daniel Gordon
Education: B.A., Economics, The Ohio State University (1984), J.D., Capital University Law School (1987),
LL.M., Capital University Law School (1991), M.A., History, Miami University (2005)
Interests: Early American political, intellectual, legal and constitutional history. I am particularly
interested in the problems of "excess" democracy and protection of minority and fundamental rights within democratic systems.
Ambitions: Write and teach (law school and/or university level)
Email: gar1318@aol.com
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Melanie Kourbage
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Fields: Medieval Religion; Social History of the Middle Ages; Gender
Advisors: Medieval Middle East
Education: B.A., College of William and Mary; M.A., Fordham University
Interests: My research focuses on medieval religion, specifically the
concept of miracle in hagiography, liturgy and historiography in eleventh-century France. Other interests include gender and social history of the later middle ages, and the medieval Middle East.
Email: mkourbage@history.umass.edu |
Jeffrey D. Kovach (ABD):
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Fields: Early American religion, specifically focusing on Quaker communities in New England
Advisors: Barry Levy and Joyce Berkman
Education: B.A., History, Franklin & Marshall College, (1997), M.A., History, William Paterson University (2003)
Ambitions: I hope to continue research in Quaker communities, specifically Nantucket in early 18th century.
Email: jd_kovach75@yahoo.com
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Michella Marino
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Fields: 20th Century US, US Women’s History, World History
Faculty: Chris Appy, Laura Lovett, Brian Bunk
Education: B.A. in History, Hanover College, 2004; M.A. in History, University of Louisville, 2007
Interests: I’m academically interested in women’s sports, the construction of femininity, popular culture and the WWII homefront. After the Ph.D., I hope to eventually get a tenure-track job teaching at the college-level. Outside of school, I enjoy playing and watching sports, fulfilling lost calories with pie, and reading Jane Austen spin-offs (I can’t help it!).
Email: mmmarino@history.umass.edu |
Kathryn Lavely Merriam:
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Fields: U.S. History, Native American History (especially the Iroquois), History of Science, History of Anthropology
Advisors: Alice Nash, Sigrid Schmalzer, and Robert Cox
Education: B.A., Art History, Wellesley, M.A., History, University of Massachusetts Amherst (2006)
Interests: My research focuses on the History of Anthropology in the late 19th and early 20th century.
I am interested in the impact of ethnographic research on native people, and their unique contribution to developing
the science of anthropology. I also enjoy archival research and working with students; it is impossible to decide
which is most fulfilling.
Ambitions: My goal is to be both broad and deep in my academic expertise.
Email: kmerriam@acad.umass.edu
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Aimee E. Newell (ABD):
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Fields: 19th C U.S. History, Women's History 1700-1850, Material Culture
Advisors: Marla Miller
Thesis Title: "A Stitch in Time: Needlework and Feminine Aging in Antebellum America"
Education: B.A., American Studies, Amherst College, M.A., History, Northeastern University
Interests and Ambitions: My dissertation is in progress, and I also work full-time
as Curator of Collections at the National Heritage Museum in Lexington, MA.
Email: aimee1@charter.net
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Christopher Parcels
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Fields: Early Republic; US South and South Africa; Colonial Latin America
Advisors:Barry Levy, John Higginson, Jose Hernandez
Education: B.A., History and Psychology, Providence College (2004), M.A.,
History, Villanova University (2007)
Interests and Ambitions: Competing notions of independence and democracy in the early
republic; race, power, and violence; Reconstruction; South Africa; revolutions
of the Atlantic world
Email: cparcels@history.umass.edu |
Sandra Perot:
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Fields: Early America, Early Modern Europe (transatlantic influences on colonies), and Public History
Faculty: Marla Miller, Jennifer Heuer
Education: A.B., Princeton University, M.A., English Literature and Teaching, San Jose State University
Interests: I focus on the importance of landscape and community in visualizing history,
and more importantly, how to help the public visualize history. I spent several years teaching high school
English and American Literature, though I've always incorporated a cultural approach to teaching literature.
After becoming involved as a guide at the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst, I wanted to find out more
about what makes museums work and how to make museums successful.
Ambitions: Having spent a year in New Zealand and Australia and a year in Holland, I
always yearn for new adventures and am looking to do an international internship for my Public History
certificate. Along with traveling, I also enjoy learning Dutch, focusing on my photography, knitting
and playing with my kids.
E-mail: sperot@history.umass.edu |
Michael Shapiro (ABD):
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Fields: U.S. Cultural history, Urban history, 20th C. Latin America
Advisors: David Glassberg, Max Page,
Heather Cox Richardson, and Ethan Carr
Thesis Title: "New York's Union Square: A Landscape Shaped by Conflict"
Education: B.A., History, and B.S., Advertising, University of Texas Austin (1997), M.A., Public History, New York University (2003)
Interests: When not studying, I travel as much as possible. I am currently living in New York City to research my dissertation.
Living here is a hobby in itself. Trips to the gym and spending time with friends fill out my days.
Email: mshapiro@history.umass.edu
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Margo Shea:
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Fields: History & Memory, Urban history and Modern Ireland
Advisors: David Glassberg
Education: B.A., University of Pennsylvania (1994), M.A., History, University of Massachusetts Amherst (2004)
Interests: My dissertation, a history of community memory in the Bogside, Westmount and Creggan
neighborhoods in Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland from 1950 to the present, traces the ways one community’s
memory changed as its physical boundaries and its political, cultural and socioeconomic concerns shifted before,
during and after the modern era of sectarian conflict known as ‘the Troubles.’
Email: mmshea@history.umass.edu
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Rick Taupier:
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Fields: Central Asia
Advisors: Audrey Altstadt
Education: B.A., Philosophy, M.S., Environmental Economics, Ph.D., Regional Environmental Planning
Interests: My primary historical interests are Central Asia and more
specifically Mongolian and Tibetan cultures and the interactions among Buddhist people throughout
Central Asia. I am a former Assistant Secretary of Environmental Affairs for the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1984 to 1994) and now work as the Associate Director of the
Environmental Institute here at UMass and as a member of the graduate faculty in Regional
Planning where I teach one course each semester. I am also the president of the Manjushri
Institute of Buddhist Studies and worked intensively in northwest Russia from 1994 to 2002.
Email: taupier@tei.umass.edu
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Jen Turner (ABD):
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Fields: Colonial U.S., poverty studies
Advisors: Barry Levy, Marla Miller
Thesis Title: "The Best Poor Man’s Country and the City Upon the Hill: Pennsylvania and Masssachusetts’ Reponses to the Poor"
Education: B.A., Bates College (1999), M.A., University of Connecticut (2001).
Interests: knitting, cooking, labor unions, 1950’s girls’ literature.
Ambitions: Finish my Phd, help other grad students unionize, teach college.
Email: jaturner@history.umass.edu
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