Freelance Historian

I have always been fascinated by how we understand the Past. What do we do with History? How do we experience it? How do we make it, ourselves?

As a Historian, I have taught at every level from Middle and High School students, to University grads, to Lifelong learners. 

I share my passions in person, online, and around the world as a Resident Historian with Viking Ocean Cruises. Anytime I can get my hands dirty, and talk about history where it actually happened, I’m where I’m supposed to be. During the pandemic, I also participated in the live-streaming educational programming, Vikingtv.

I volunteer as an instructor with OLLI Mason in Virginia, where I offer courses on heritage and history, as well as narrative nonfiction writing and memoir. I also teach classes at the Newberry Library in Chicago and lead tours of the Art Institute of Chicago, where I used to teach.

My personal research interests lie in understanding how we use and interpret the Past to define the Present, from international exhibitions to world heritage projects. My dissertation, “Exhibiting Ireland: Irish Villages, Pavilions, Cottages, and Castles at International Exhibitions, 1853-1939,” stands at the forefront of new scholarship investigating the intersections of Ireland, the British Empire, and modernity through the visual culture of world’s fairs.