
Contact Information
Mailing:
309 Gregory Hall
810 S Wright
M/C 466
Urbana, IL 61801
Office Hours
Biography
I am a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Illinois - Urbana/Champaign with a focus on 20th century LGBTQ Youth rights.
I am interested in how LGBTQ youth have constructed identities and navigated queer spaces in response to oppression, repression, and marginalization, and the acts of resistance that they actively engaged in, both individually and collectively. My upcoming dissertation - "All We Want to Do is Love: LGBT Youth Organizing and Sexual Self Determination in the United States, 1965-1995" - will explore the activism and resistance of LGBTQ high school students during the post-World War II period, with an emphasis on the various ways they were excluded from social, cultural, and political spaces.
My masters thesis (completed in May of 2015 at Western Michigan University) is titled "Fighting for Inclusion: The Origins of Gay Liberation at the University of Michigan." I explore the ways in which a gay and lesbian community sought to create institutional acceptance in the early 1970s.
Prior to pursuing my college education, I held a variety of positions in marketing, communications, public relations, and sales. The majority of my career was spent in the music industry, mainly as an in-house talent buyer for national and regional entertainment.
Research Interests
LGBTQ Social and Political Movements
LGBTQ Youth Organizing
Modern U.S. History
Women, Gender, & Sexuality
US and the World
Research Description
My dissertation is titled "All We Want to Do is Love: LGBT Youth Organizing and Sexual Self Determination in the United States, 1970-1995."
Education
Bachelor of Science, History, Central Michigan University (2012)
Master of Arts, History, Western Michigan University (2015)
Grants
The Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History Travel Grant, Duke University
The Virginia Karnes Archives and Special Collections Travel Grant, Purdue University
The Bordin-Gillette Fellowship, Bentley Historical Library
ONE Archives Foundation LGBTQ Research Fellowship, University of Southern California
Don Kelly Research Collection Grant, Texas A&M
The Elmer L. Anderson Research Scholarship, University of Minnesota
History Department Summer Pre-Dissertation Research Travel Grant, University of Illinois
Graduate College Dissertation Travel Grant, University of Illinois
Awards and Honors
2022 Widenor Teaching Fellow, Dept. of History (University of Illinois)
2019 College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching by a Graduate Teaching Assistant (University of Illinois)
2019 John G. and Evelyn Hartman Heiligenstein Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (University of Illinois)
List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent based on ICES Scores, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2020, Spring 2021 (University of Illinois)
Graduate Teacher Certificate, Center for Innovation in Learning & Teaching, (University of Illinois)
Courses Taught
Instructor of Record
HIST101: History Now, LGBT Civil Rights from the Streets to the Supreme Court
HIST200: Intro to Historical Interpretation, "A Queer United States"
HIST203: Reacting to the Past: "US Riots, Revolutions, and Revolts" (Fall 2016, Fall 2020, Fall 2021)
HIST273: Illinois History (Summer 2021, 2022)
HIST392: The 1960s in the United States (Fall 2022)
HIST498: Capstone Writing & Research Seminar: "A Queer United States" (Spring 2022)
Teaching Assistant
HIST104: Black Music
HIST171: US History to 1877
HIST172: US History Since 1877
HIST281: Constructing Race in America