My past work has focused on the social and environmental history of the Rocky Mountain West. My current work focuses on human interactions with non-human animals across a broad sweep of US history. In particular, I am completing a book on the Great Horse Flu, an outbreak caused by a novel equine influenza virus that began outside of Toronto and spread throughout the northern Americas in 1872-1873.
keywords
environmental history, history of the U.S. West, Native American history, history of human-animal interactions, labor history, history education, US social history in 19th and 20th century, history of the U.S. national parks
HIST 1025 - American History since 1865
Primary Instructor
-
Fall 2019 / Spring 2023 / Spring 2024
Explores political, social and cultural changes in American life since Reconstruction. Focuses on shifting social and political relations as the U.S. changed from a nation of farmers and small-town dwellers to an urban, industrial society; the changing meaning of American identity in a society divided by ethnicity, race and class; and the emergence of the U.S. as a world power.
HIST 3020 - Historical Thinking & Writing
Primary Instructor
-
Fall 2018
The second cornerstone course for history majors centers on the essential skills all historians use. Students will advance their reading, sourcing, and research techniques, hone critical, analytical, and synthetic skills, navigate scholarly discourse, and practice historical writing. As this simultaneously satisfies the College's upper-division writing requirement, all sections involve substantial, regular, and varied writing assignments as well as instruction in methods and the revision process. All topical variations of this course are limited to a maximum of 18 students in order to focus on supporting students as they learn to write - and think - like an historian. Topics will vary by section. Recommended for sophomores or juniors, HIST 3020 may be taken concurrently with, but not prior to, HIST 1800. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours.
HIST 4117 - Colorado History
Primary Instructor
-
Summer 2018 / Summer 2019 / Summer 2020 / Summer 2021 / Fall 2021 / Fall 2023 / Fall 2024
Presents the story of the people, society, culture, and environment of Colorado from the earliest Native Americans, through the Spanish influx, the fur traders and mountain men, the gold rush, railroad builders, the cattlemen and farmers, the silver boom, the twentieth-century tourists, city-dwellers, workers and activists. Highlights the historical origins of twenty-first century institutions, problems, challenges, and opportunities. Recommended prerequisite: HIST 1015 or HIST 1025.
HIST 4217 - The American West in the 19th Century
Primary Instructor
-
Fall 2019 / Fall 2022
Explores cultural, social and political interaction in the American West during the 19th century. Themes include environmental change; conflict and syncretism across race, class, and gender lines; mythic images, and their relationship to the "Real" West. Recommended prerequisite: HIST 1015 or HIST 1025.
HIST 4806 - Special Topics in American History
Primary Instructor
-
Fall 2018 / Fall 2024
Focuses on special topics in U.S. history to provide a novel thematic, comparative, or methodological focus that cuts across usual geographical and temporal ranges within American history. Topics vary each semester. Students will engage in focused historical learning and research that spans across geographical and temporal ranges within American history. Topics may include: the History Animals in the American West, Slavery along the Atlantic Rim, Presidential Power in the Twentieth Century, the History of American Football, Immigration and Migration in the American Past, etc...
HIST 5106 - Graduate Colloquium in United States History
Primary Instructor
-
Spring 2019 / Spring 2024
Students gain an acquaintance with major works in the field and discuss current issues of interpretation and methodology. May be repeated up to 12 total credit hours.
HIST 6410 - Readings in Environmental History
Primary Instructor
-
Fall 2022
Offers historical perspective on the complex and interdependent relationship between human social and cultural institutions and the natural world. Considers interdisciplinary methodologies incorporating history, biology, geography, law, and other disciplines. Formerly HIST 6417.
HIST 6940 - Master's Candidate for Degree
Primary Instructor
-
Fall 2021 / Spring 2022 / Fall 2022 / Spring 2023 / Fall 2023
Registration intended for students preparing for a thesis defense, final examination, culminating activity, or completion of degree.
HIST 6950 - Master's Thesis
Primary Instructor
-
Fall 2021
Registration intended for students working on a master's thesis.
HIST 7415 - Graduate Seminar in Modern United States History
Primary Instructor
-
Spring 2020 / Fall 2023
Introduces students to various research approaches and methods in modern U.S. historiography and requires them to produce a substantial and original research paper using both primary and secondary sources.
