I am a historian with expertise in the history of technology, capitalism, and the environment. My focus is the energy industries in twentieth century United States. My forthcoming book, Natural Risk, argues that the Texas response to environmental and economic hazards was shaped from the bottom-up by oil workers, contractors, engineers, and entrepreneurs who accepted a very high level of “natural” risk. This set the parameters for Texas industrialization after 1920. I am developing a second book project on electricity and renewables development in the US Southwest. I have published on the environmental and social history of energy technology in several venues. Along with articles on oil industry political economy and labor structures, I am currently working on an article tracking the linked histories of oil detection technologies and early computing. I am an editor and contributor to the 2023 volume American Energy Cinema which examines the energy industries in twentieth-century Hollywood film.
keywords
American social history, cultural history, environmental history, history of science and technology, capitalism and industrialization, digital humanities
COEN 1830 - Special Topics
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2023 / Fall 2024
Explores topics of interest in engineering. Content varies by instructor and semester. May be repeated up to 9 total credit hours.
ENES 1010 - Humanity in a Technological Age
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2020 / Spring 2021 / Fall 2021 / Spring 2022 / Fall 2022 / Fall 2023
This seminar considers what it means to be human in an increasingly technological age. Designed for engineering students, it also looks at the role of technology designers and creators in shaping the human environment. Students focus on sharpening their written and oral communication skills through a series of iterative assignments and projects. Fulfills College of Engineering writing requirement for first-year students only.
ENES 3843 - Special Topics
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2024
Explores different important themes in the humanities, check with department for specific semester topics. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours. Formerly HUEN 3843.
HIST 4800 - Special Topics in Global History
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2018
Organized around themes that change yearly, this class allows students to study and research processes, phenomena, and events of global significance in historical context. Will stress historical subjects that span multiple geographic regions of the globe. Topics could include the global history of: the arms trade; slavery; health and disease; youth culture; women's rights; genocide, the environment, migration, economic trade, warfare exploration etc... May be repeated up to 9 total credit hours.
HUEN 3843 - Special Topics
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2020
Explores different important themes in the humanities, check with department for specific semester topics. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours. Formerly HUEN 3843.
