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PhD Student Profiles

Marga Andersen, ABD

Fields:
Britain, Modern European and Public History, History.
Dissertation:
Like Lions After Slumber: Challenges to Britishness by Jewish and Irish Immigrants in Late-Victorian London. 
Faculty Advisors
Laura Beers, Andrew Demshuk, Lisa Leff
Email Address:
ma3204a@american.edu
Laura Auketayeva

Laura Auketayeva

Fields:
Holocaust Studies, Modern Jewish History, Soviet History, European History.
Advisors:
Lisa Leff.
Education:
BA '15 History/International Relations, Boston University;
MA '17 History, SUNY.
Research Interests:
The Holocaust, the Soviet Union, Jewish youth, Refugee Studies, Women's and Gender History.
Email:
la7457a@american.edu

Michael T. Barry, Jr. 

Fields:
Modern American, African American, Modern Middle East, Digital and Oral History
Faculty Advisor:
Ibram X. Kendi
Education
BA in History and Africana Studies, College of the Holy Cross, 2014; MA in American and Middle Eastern History, Providence College, 2016.
Research Interests
Islam in American, History of Racism and Islamophobia, African American and Muslim American Intellectual History, Civil Rights and Social Justice, Malcolm X, the Nation of Islam, the Moorish Science Temple of America, Popular Culture and Film, Veterans' Affairs.
Email
mb6368a@american.edu
Paul Behringer

Paul Behringer

Fields
Diplomatic History, Russia, Japan
Dissertation
The US and Japanese Interventions in the Russian Far East
Faculty Advisors
Max Paul Friedman, Eric Lohr, Justin Jacobs
Education
BA in history and East Asian studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, MA in international relations, University of Chicago.
Research Interests
Connecting US Diplomatic history to the history of Russia and Japan, particularly in Northeast Asia, through transnational, borderlands, imperial, and international relations theory approaches.
Email
pb1169a@student.american.edu

DONELLE BOOSE, ABD

Faculty Advisor:
Theresa Runstedtler
Faculty Committee:
Theresa Runstedtler, Mary Ellen-Curtin and Daniel Kerr
Dissertation Title:
Black Power and the Organizing Tradition: Working Women of Washington, DC, 1965-1990.
Fields:
U.S. History, African American History, Public History
Email Address:
db7136a@student.american.edu
Rebecca Brenner

Rebecca Brenner

Fields:
Early U.S., Recent U.S., Public History
Faculty Advisor:
Gautham Rao
Education:
BA History and Philosophy double major, Mount Holyoke College;
MA Public History concentration, American University
Research Interests:
 Early U.S. political and intellectual history
Email:
rb5078@student.american.edu

Andrew Chatfield

Fields:
US Diplomatic History
Faculty Advisors:
Max Friedman, Peter Kuznick and Aparna Vaidik
Education:
BA, University of Colorado; MA, Boston University
Research Interests:
War of 1898/Spanish-American War, Progressivism, WWI, Wilsonianism, Anticolonialism, Anti-Imperialism, WWII.
Dissertation Title:
American Support for India's Self-Determination from 1915-1920: Progressives, Radicals and Anti-Imperialists. 
Email Address:
ac5668a@student.american.edu
Jayne Cosson

Jayne Cosson

Field:
European, Ottoman, World History
Dissertation:
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: The Origins of Think Tank Influence in US Foreign Policy
Faculty Advisor:
Eric Lohr
Education:
BA international studies, Ohio State University. MEd secondary social studies, Georgia State University. MA history, American University. ABD history, American University.
Research Interests:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, US foreign policy, the international peace movement 1890-1920, World War I, the League of Nations.
Email:
jc2013a@student.american.edu
 
Lauren Duval

Lauren Duval

Fields: 
Early American History, Atlantic World, Public History
Dissertation:
Landscapes of Allegiance: Space, Gender, and Military Occupation in the American Revolution
Faculty Advisors
: Kate Haulman
Education:
BA history '09, Colby College
Research Interests:
Women’s and Gender History, Colonial and Revolutionary America, Atlantic World.
Email: 
lauren.duval@student.american.edu
Ryan Englekirk

Ryan Englekirk

Fields:
Sports History, Baseball History, Oral History, Public History, US History
Dissertation:
The Dark Knights: The Major League Baseball Umpire-- Guardians and Protectors of Traditional American Values
Dissertation Committee:
Peter Kuznick (advisor), Eric Lohr, Daniel Kerr
Education:
BA '09, American University; MA '12, American University
Email:
ryan.englekirk@gmail.com

Jonah Estess

Fields:
Early American Republic, Political Economy, Numismatic and Monetary History, Political and Cultural History.
Faculty Advisor:
Gautham Rao.
Education:
BA in History, CUNY Brooklyn College (2017)
Research interests:
I am interested in both popular and authoritative understandings of public debt, nation building, banking, and federal monetary policy during the early American republic. I am also interested in historical memory of the American Revolution during the Antebellum and Civil War periods, particularly as it relates to currency, coinage, federal, state, local, and private monetary policy, and petitioning and grassroots democracy.  
Email:
je4529a@student.american.edu
Ruth Gabor

Ruth Gabor

Field:
Russia, Modern Europe
Faculty Advisor: 
Eric Lohr
Education:
BA international relations and Russian '13, Bucknell University
Research Interests:
Late Imperial Russia and the Soviet Union, cultural diplomacy, fashion history
Email:
rg2829a@student.american.edu
 

Laura gibson, ABD

Fields:
U.S. History, Media Studies, Digital History.
Dissertation:
"It's Love That Counts"; the History of Non-Nuclear Families in American Domestic Sitcoms.
Faculty Advisor:
Peter Kuznick
Dissertation Committee:
Gautham Rao, Mary Ellen Curtin, Theresa Runstedtler.
Education:
BA, American University, MA New York University.
Jordan Grant

Jordan Grant, ABD

Fields:
Nineteenth-Century US History, Public History, Digital History
Dissertation:
Forthcoming
Faculty Advisors:
Peter Kuznick and Kathleen Franz
Education:
BA '09, St. Mary's College of Maryland; MA '11, American University
Email Address:
jg7138a@student.american.edu

Curtis Harris, ABD

Fields:
U.S. History, Public History, Sports History.
Dissertation Title:
Hardwood Revolution: The NBA's Growth & Player Revolt, 1950-1976.
Faculty Advisor:
Eric Lohr
Education:
BA in International Studies, AU (2009); MA in Public History, AU (2014)
Research Interests:
Sports, Labor, Race, Civil Rights, Civil War and Reconstruction.
Email:
ch2775a@american.edu

Ivan Grek, ABD

Fields:
Russian History, the Cold War.
Dissertation:
Illiberal Civil Society in Russia, 1992-2000.
Faculty Advisor:
Eric Lohr
Dissertation Committee:
Eric Lohr, Anton Fedyashin, Keith Darden (AU SIS)
Research Interests:
Cold War History, modern Russian History.
Email:
ig0028a@student.american.edu
Julie Hawks

Julie Hawks

Fields:
Twentieth-Century US History, Public History, African-American History
Dissertation
Capital Investments: Engineering American Cold War Culture
Faculty Advisors:
Malgorzata J. Rymsza-Pawlowska, Kate Haulman, Katerina Vester, Max Paul Friedman
Education:
BS Mathematics, Eastern Connecticut State University; MS Library Science, Simmons College; MA Religious Studies and MA History (Public History), University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Research Interests:
Politics of memory and identity, public commemoration, material culture, racism, gender studies.
Email Address:
juliehawks@gmail.com
Mary -Allison- Jobe

Mary "Allison" Jobe

Field:
US History since Reconstruction
Faculty Advisor:
Peter Kuznick
Education:
MA history '12, American University, BA history '09, Appalachian State University
Dissertation:
"We Remember Him for His Character": The Life of James W. Ford and the Communist Party USA.
Email:
mj5318a@student.american.edu
Anna Kaplan

Anna F. Kaplan

Fields:
African American History, 19th-Century US History, Memory and Oral History, Public History
Faculty Advisor:
Daniel Kerr
Education:
BA anthropology '07, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; MA anthropology '09, Columbia University; MA, oral history '10, Columbia University
Research Interests:
I am interested in the idea of post-memory and how one generation passes its memories to the next, looking specifically at how that transfer changes the history being told. My focus is on the retelling of personally traumatic or deeply unsettling experiences in the South during the Civil Rights Era and how those individuals deal with that past in their present lives.
Email:
ak9747a@student.american.edu
Amy Langford

Amy Langford

Field:
Modern US History, Early American History, Public History
Faculty Advisors:
Peter J. Kuznik, Kate Haulman, Gautham Rao
Education:
BA history '09, University of the Pacific
Research Interests:
19th- and 20th-century Gender and Sexuality, American borders and nation-building, Borderlands, (Im)migration, Citizenship, Marriage, and Polygamy.
Email:
al7735a@student.american.edu
Jacob Levin

Jacob R. Levin

Fields:
20th Century US, Race, Jewish History, Public History
Faculty Advisor:
Peter Kuznick
Education:
BA education/history '06, University of Maryland, College Park; MA historical studies '11, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Research Interests:
Baltimore, MD history; Black-Jewish relations; Civil Rights Movement; History of the Left
Contact:
jl2461a@student.american.edu
Jeff Levin

Jeffrey Levin

Fields:
Modern Middle East, British Empire
Faculty Advisors:
Michael Brenner and Max Friedman
Education:
BA English, University of Florida; MSc, international history, London School of Economics
Research Interests:
The economic history of Palestine and modern Israel.
Email Address:
jl5117a@student.american.edu
John Little

John Little, ABD

Fields:
Disability History, Russian History, Modern European History, International Relations
Dissertation:
Disability in the Early Soviet Union
Faculty Advisor:
Eric Lohr
Education:
BA international studies and political science '99, University of Richmond; MA international relations '01, University of East Anglia
Research Interests:
My dissertation focuses on the concept of disability in the early Soviet Union. I examine the evolution of the structures associated with disability and the disabled population's acceptance or resistance to Soviet programs. More broadly, I study cultural and social issues, including disability, gender, race, and class. I continue to have a deep interest in diplomatic history, from 18th- and 19th-century Ottoman-Russian relations to the space race.
Email Address:
jl3245a@student.american.edu
Lindsay MacNeill

Lindsay MacNeill

Fields: Modern
Modern Europe, Modern Germany, Central Europe
Faculty Advisor:
Richard Breitman
Education:
MA history '13, American University; BA history and Spanish '09, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Research Interests:
Nazi Germany, the Holocaust, interwar Austria, Nazi Austria, the history of policing, international police cooperation.
Email Address:
lm1164a@student.american.edu

Alon Milwicki

Fields:
Modern America, American Extremism, particularly right wing extremist groups, white supremacists, and Neo-Nazis
Faculty Advisor:
Allan Lichtman
Education:
BA history, Boston University; MA Seton Hall University
Research Interests:
Post WWII America, Extremist groups, Racism, and Hate Studies.
Email Address:
am1537a@student.american.edu
Nathan Moore

Nathan Moore

Fields:
Twentieth Century European, British History.
Faculty Advisor:
Laura Beers
Education:
BA '13 History, George Mason University, MA '15 GMU
Research Interests:
British Communism, British-Soviet Relations, Interwar Period, Anti-Capitalism, Resistance Movements.
Email Address:
nm5090a@student.american.edu
Nguyet Nguyen

Nguyet Nguyen, ABD

Fields:
History of US Foreign Relations; US history since 1865
Dissertation Title:
The World is on Our Side: People's Diplomacy during the Second Indochina War
Advisor:
Max Paul Friedman
Education:
BA international relations and journalism; MA communication
Research Interests:
US foreign relations, the Vietnam War in the Cold War.
Email:
nn9606a@student.american.edu
Terumi Rafferty-Osaki

Terumi A. Rafferty-Osaki, ABD

Fields:
20th Century American History
Dissertation:
’Strictly Masculine:’ Reforming and Performing Manhood at Tule Lake, 1942-1946
Faculty Advisors:
Max Paul Friedman
Education:
BA Boston College; MA, The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey 
Research Interests:
Asian-American, Diplomatic, and Sports History
Email Address:
tr7118a@american.edu
Maurizio Recorati

Maurizio Recordati

Fields:
Modern European History; Russian History (19th-20th centuries); Theory of Grand Strategy.
Advisor:
Eric Lohr
Education:
BA in History (University of Milan); MA in Russian & Eurasian Studies (European University at St. Petersburg).
Research Interests:
In addition to studying modern European and Russian history, I take a particular interest in strategic history and theory of grand strategy. In my dissertation, I explore Russia's foreign and military policies from the era of "Recueillement" to the Congress of Berlin (1856-1878) and re-read them from a grand-strategic perspective.
Short Bio: I have worked as Associate Director of the ENERPO Program (MA in Energy Politics in Eurasia, European University at St. Petersburg) since its founding in 2012. There I taught the graduate level Seminar on World Oil and Gas Affairs, founded the ENERPO Journal, ran the ENERPO Workshop Series, and organized annual conferences. In 2016, I taught a module on Russian grand strategic models in the 19th and 20th centuries as part of a graduate course on Russian Foreign Policy (IMARES program, EUSP). Prior to my academic experience, I interned and worked in the EU institutions, focusing mostly on energy international relations (Permanent Representation of Italy to the EU, European Parliament, among others)
Languages: Italian and French (native speaker); English, Russian, Spanish; Latin and Ancient Greek (with dictionary). 
Email:
mr5216a@student.american.edu
Nathan Sowry

Nathan Sowry

Field:
Early American History, Atlantic World, Early Modern Europe
Faculty Advisors:
Kate Haulman, Dan Kerr, Malgorzata Rymsza-Pawlowska
Education:
BA anthropology and religious studies '01, University of Pittsburgh; MA history '11, Washington State University; MLIS archives and records administration '13, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Research Interests:
Colonialism/Imperialism; Native American Studies; Acculturation, Resistance, and Identity Formation in 18th-century Great Lakes/Ohio Valley region.
Dissertation Title:
Museums, Native American Representation, and the Public: The Role of Museum Anthropology in Public History, 1873-1929
Email:
ns8804a@student.american.edu
Scott Vehstedt

Scott T. Vehstedt

Fields:
Modern US history, political history
Faculty Advisors:
Allan J. Lichtman, Max Paul Friedman and Peter Kuznick
Education:
MA American history, Brooklyn College; BA American history and political science, Stony Brook University
Research Interests:
American politics, religion, atheism, elections.
Dissertation Title:
"Let's Help Finland": The Politics of American Relief Aid in the Winter War, 1939-40
Email:
sv8991a@student.american.edu
Jason Weixelbaum

Jason Weixelbaum

Field:
Business history, 19th and 20th US History, Modern Germany, Holocaust
Dissertation:
Lawyers, Spies, and Industry: The Dulles Brothers and Transnational Business in Nazi Germany
Faculty Advisors:
Peter Kuznick (chair) Allan Lichtman, Richard Breitman, Heather Elms (Kogod)
Education:
BA history, SUNY Buffalo State College; MA modern European history, Boston College
Research Interests:
Transnational corporate development, US History, War & Genocide, Nazi Germany
Email:
jason.weixelbaum@gmail.com