I loved learning and going to class so much, I am still doing it! Just ask my daughter.
Originally from northern California, I earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, a Master of Arts degree in Middle East Area Studies from the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies, and a Ph.D. in Renaissance History from the University of Nevada, Reno. My research, work, and travels have taken me around the globe, from England to Kenya, from Pakistan to the Holy Land, from the Italy of my family to Cuba, and many points in between. A bit of a nomad, since 2007 I have called Carroll College and Helena, Montana, my teaching and intellectual home.
In the History Department, I am blessed to work with two excellent historians and one honorary department member who masquerades as a political scientist. Just like everyone at Carroll, my days are filled with students who challenge me to think in new and creative ways about my courses on the Middle East and Islam and pre-modern Europe. Colleagues and students alike are also tremendous sources of inspiration when my scholarly work leaves me feeling the opposite, most recently as I finished my first book, A Rich and Tantalizing Brew: A History of How Coffee Connected the World, University of Arkansas Press (2019).
The opportunity to share study abroad experiences – the Middle East twice, Ireland, and Cuba – are true moments of grace that have recently become faculty-staff joint ventures with an amazing colleague in the Global Education office. We are headed to Russia and the Ukraine this coming winter, including a day in Chernobyl – join us!
For all the times that I appreciate the anonymity of an urban center, I am now OK with being recognized at Costco, and humbled by the trust of students who want to share a triumph or lament a loss. Indeed, students, colleagues, a terrific farmer’s market, and the rediscovery of my inner gardener are evidence, in 2020, that even if it is true that no place is perfect, there are many great reasons to remain.