Teaching

Experience

In addition to working as a teaching assistant at the University of South Dakota and University of Southern Mississippi, I taught the U.S. sequence and upper-level courses as an adjunct instructor for the University of Sioux Falls until summer 2023. In 2022 they awarded me a Part Time Faculty Honor Award for excellence in teaching.

My teaching philosophy emphasizes diversity in many forms, including the people our classes cover and the analytical approaches we apply when studying them. Consequently, my classroom focuses on the intersectionality of gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, and class to examine how Americans have historically organized themselves as a society and nation.

Furthermore, my courses focus on teaching critical thinking and writing skills not only through traditional research and writing projects but also “unessay” projects that allow students to think about history creatively and connect historical studies to their contemporary lives.

Since 2018, I have offered a variety of courses in addition to the U.S. sequence, including:

  • U.S. Women’s History

  • African American History

  • American War & Society

  • Intro to Gender Studies

  • American Civil War

  • American Wars in Film

  • Intro to Public History

  • U.S. Queer & Two Spirit History

 Sample Syllabi & Unessay Assignments

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Publications

“Increasing Diversity, Decreasing Alienation: Teaching Liberal Arts Courses to Diverse Student Bodies”

in Teaching Gradually: Practical Pedagogy for Graduate Students, by Graduate Students (Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing, 2021)

Pedagogists recognize that, unaccustomed to entertaining the perspectives of women and people of color in history, “students who see themselves as part of the dominant culture are likely to be resistant to course material which questions existing power relations and privilege” (Vogelsang & McGee, 2015). This essay engages directly with that challenge and offers several solutions to graduate student teachers for creating an inclusive classroom that emphasizes women and people of color without alienating white male students. It also presents solutions that worked for me in multiple courses with diverse student groups, beginning with my decision to structure my classes around a single, open-ended central question and holding frequent in-class discussions to answer that question from multiple intersectional points of view.

Teaching Awards & Service

  • Part-Time Faculty Honor Award

    Awarded April 2022 by the University of Sioux Falls, SD for excellence in teaching and scholarly endeavors

  • Graduate Student Connection Committee

    Member of the Society of Civil War Historians Graduate Student Connection Committee (June 2018–October 2022)

  • Graduate Student Teaching Award

    Awarded May 2019 from the Department of History, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg

  • Phi Alpha Theta Annual Student History Conference Coordinator

    At the University of South Dakota, Vermillion (August 2013–May 2015)

  • Scan of Bull Run diary pages

    Early Career Committee

    Member of the Society of Civil War Historians Early Career Committee (July 2023–April 2024)

Presentations

“Mitigating Gender Disparities in Teaching Military History”

for the Vice Presidential Panel — “Harrowing and Heroic Tales from the Front Lines of Military History: The Teaching Assistant as Teacher” — at the Society for Military History Annual Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky (March 2018)