The College of

Arts and Sciences

Fields

American Military History, Civil War

 

Bio

I am an American military historian, with a research and teaching specialization in the U.S. Civil War. My first book, "On A Great Battlefield: The Making, Management, and Memory of Gettysburg National Military Park, 1933-2013" was published by the University of Tennessee Press in 2014. While Gettysburg is the most studied battle of the Civil War, "On A Great Battlefield" offers a pioneering interpretation that moves the discussion beyond the July 1863 battle to an exploration of the history of the battlefield landscape. My research considers the nexus of preservation, interpretation and memory at Gettysburg National Military Park from 1933, when the National Park Service acquired the battlefield, through the battle’s sesquicentennial in 2013.

 

My current book project, tentatively titled, “Meade at War” is a biography of Union general George Gordon Meade. My research on Meade affords an opportunity to explore issues of high command within a fractured and politicized Army of the Potomac and addresses questions on the nature of civil-military relations, popular opinion, the media and notions of a decisive battle.

 

In addition to classroom teaching, I am incredibly passionate about using battlefields as teaching and research tools. Among the highlights of my professional career, include my work as a seasonal interpretive park ranger at Gettysburg National Military Park for nine summers. Following that passion, I have led hundreds of Civil War battlefield tours, as well as a World War I and World War II study abroad trips.

 

Courses Taught
HIST 1483: American History to 1865
HIST 3653: Civil War & Reconstruction

HIST 3343: World War I

HIST 3663: America in the Gilded Age
HIST 3903: Senior Capstone

HIST/AMST 3843: War & Memory in America

HIST 4353: American Military History
HIST 4543: Vietnam War
HIST 4453: History & Film 
HIST 4980: World War II