I’m a historian of Russia and Eastern Europe who also teaches courses in modern Europe, European imperialism, and world history. I was drawn to history at an early age when listening to my great aunt’s stories about her experiences in World War I and fleeing to Siberia and China after the Russian Revolution. I became interested in Communism during the Cold War as I had personal connections on both sides of the Iron Curtain. I realized that human beings are highly adaptable and can make lives for themselves under very different political systems and economies. Today I like to follow current events while always keeping the past in mind. At McDaniel I’ve worked with individual students in Independent Study courses and on research projects through the History Department’s Senior Colloquium.
Education
- 2003
- Ph.D., Georgetown University
- 1993
- M.A., University of Notre Dame
- 1990
- M.A., Columbia University
- 1988
- B.A., Georgetown University
Research Interests
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Russia and Eastern Europe
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Nationalism and national identity
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Political ideologies
Recent Courses
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HIS 2T04: Russia since Peter the Great
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HIS 2220: Twentieth Century Europe
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HIS 2101: Cold War as Global Conflict
Selected Publications
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Review of Narys historyi Belarusi ad starazhytnastsi da kantsa XVIII stahoddzia, by Hehadz Sahanovich (Minsk, 2001). Canadian-American Slavic Studies 40 no.2 (2006): 565-567.
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“Belarusian National Historiography and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as a Belarusian State” Zeitschrift fur Osmitteleuropa-Forschung 48 (3) 1999: 383-396.
Clubs and community involvement
Faculty Advisor for Phi Alpha Theta (History Honor Society)
Faculty Member of the Honor and Conduct Board at McDaniel College
"Thank you for being a great professor. I've enjoyed every class I've taken with you."