Education

• Ph.D., History, The College of William and Mary, 2002
• M.A., History, The College of William and Mary, 1992
• B.A. with Honors, History and Economics, Bucknell University, 1991

Academic Positions

• 2020-Current - (Full) Professor of History, Virginia State University
• 2009-2020 - Associate Professor of History, Virginia State University
• 2004-2009 - Assistant Professor of History, Virginia State University
• 2003-2004 - Post-Doctoral Fellow, Program in Early American Economy and Society at the
• Library Company of Philadelphia
• 2001-2003 - Visiting Assistant Professor of History, Bucknell University
• 1999- 2000 - Writing Preceptor, The College of William and Mary

Classes Regularly Offered:

• Survey of U.S. History to 1865
• Survey of U.S. History since 1865
• Early Atlantic World
• Colonial America
• American Revolution and Early Republic
• First Nations in Early America
• History of Virginia
• History of the American Holiday
• American Constitutional History
• American Immigration History
• American Sports History
• History of the American Holiday
• Philosophy and Theory of History
• Historical Methods & Historiography
• Senior Seminar

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles (total of 7):

• “The Cultural Economy of the Manufacturing Revolution: Cultural Identification and Economic Realities in Early Republic Baltimore,” Journal of the Early Republic, 40 (Fall 2020): 497-540.
• “Unsettling the Law: Donald Trump’s Declaration on Birthright Citizenship, the Claremont Thesis, and Jim Crow Constitutionalism,” Virginia Social Science Journal, 53 (Fall 2019): 36-48.
• “Neo-Mercantilism, American Style: The Virginia Port Bill of 1784 and the Madisonian Origins of U.S. Free Trade Ideology.” Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, 127, no. 2 (Summer 2019): 99-127.
• “The Origins of Mob Town: Social Division and Racial Conflict in the Baltimore Riots of 1812,” Maryland Historical Magazine, 104, no. 3 (Fall 2009): 272-301; republished in Special Issue: The War of 1812 in the Maryland Historical Magazine, Maryland Historical Magazine, 107, no. 1 (Spring 2012): 7-37.
• “Certain Victims of an International Contagion: The Panic of 1797 and the Hard Times of the Late 1790s in Baltimore,” Journal of the Early Republic, 25 (Winter 2005): 565-613.
• “Unforeseen Troubles: Baltimore’s Atlantic Trade and the Commercial Frustrations of the Confederation Period,” Maryland Historical Magazine, 98 (Winter 2003): 410-441.
• Book Reviews: nine reviews published in Journal of the Early Republic, Journal of Southern History, Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Maryland Historical Magazine, The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, The History Teacher

Media Presentations

• “Profiting from Immorality” (radio interview) on With Good Reason Radio, as part of their “1619, Past and Present” Series, May-June 2018. Accessible at https://www.withgoodreasonradio.org/episode/1619-past-and-present/

Conference Papers (total of 27); recent papers include:

• “The Triumphs and Travails of the Learning Cycle,” Virginia Social Science Association annual conference, Virginia State University, Petersburg, VA, 2020 (canceled due to the Covid19 pandemic).
• “Unsettling the Law: Donald Trump’s Declaration on Birthright Citizenship, the Claremont Thesis, and Jim Crow Constitutionalism,” Virginia Social Science Association annual conference, Longwood University, Farmville, VA, 2019.
• “Inequality, Injustice, and the Class System: An Overview of the Claremont Thesis,” Seventh Annual Conference on Social Injustice: Modernization and Globalization, Virginia State University, Petersburg, VA, 2019.
• “Teaching a New Dog Some Old Tricks: Credit and Commercial Networks in the Early National Backcountry.”
  • Virginia Consortium of Early Americanists annual conference, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, 2016.
  • Southern Historical Association annual conference, Atlanta, GA, 2014.

Professional Academic Service

• Peer reviewer/referee for the Virginia Social Sciences Journal, Journal of the Early Republic, and Maryland Historical Magazine.

Current and Ongoing Academic Service at VSU

• Member, Faculty Emeritus Committee, 2020-23
• Chair, Grade Appeals Committee, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2014-
• Secretary, Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, Faculty Senate, 2021-
• Member, Pay Equity and Salary Committee, Faculty Senate, 2018-
• Chair, Curriculum Committee, Department of History and Philosophy, 2018-
• Coordinator for Assessment and Accreditation, Department of History and Philosophy, 2016-

Past Leadership Roles in Academic Service at VSU

• Chaired 3 position searches in the Department of History and Philosophy.
• Chaired 5 Promotion and Tenure Committees in three academic departments.
• Co-Chair, Opening Conference Committee, 2017-18.
• Lead Narrative Writer, SACSCOC Accreditation, 2016-18.
• Co-Chair, Graduate History Program Committee, 2005-17.
• Chair, Pay Equity Task Force, 2011-15.
• Vice-Chair, Faculty Senate, 2009-2011.
• Steering Committee member, Institute for the Study of Race Relations, 2005-09.
• Co-Chair, Strategic Planning Committee, 2009-10.
• Faculty Advisor, History Club, 2004-09.