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EDUCATION

Ph.D., History, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, August 2015
M.A., History, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, December 2009
M.A., Museum Studies, New York University, New York, May 2007
B.A., History, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, May 2005

ACADEMIC EMPLOYMENT

Associate Professor, Department of History, Trinity University, August 2021-present
Director, Museum Studies Minor, Trinity University, February 2020-present
Assistant Professor, Department of History, Trinity University, August 2015 – 2021

PUBLICATIONS

Book

To Bring the Good News to All Nations: Evangelical Influence on Human Rights and U.S. Foreign Relations (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2020)

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles

A Rationale for Aid: Moral Language in the Debates over the Mutual Security Act, 1951–1961, Federal History no. 16 (April 2024).

“Ambassadors for the Kingdom of God or for America? Christian Nationalism, the Christian Right, and the Contra War,” Religions 7, no. 12 (December 2016): 151 (1-16).

“To Support a ‘Brother in Christ’: Evangelical Groups and U.S.-Guatemalan Relations during the Ríos Montt Regime,” Diplomatic History 39, no. 4 (September 2015): 689-719.

“Religious Rhetoric and the Evolution of George W. Bush’s Political Philosophy,” Journal of American Studies 48, no. 4 (November 2014): 975-998.

Chapters in Edited Volumes

“Earthquakes, Famines, and Hurricanes: Natural Disasters and Humanitarian Aid in Evangelical Missionary Strategy,” in Missionary Interests: Protestant and Mormon Missions in the 19th and 20th Centuries, eds. David Golding and Christopher Cannon Jones (Cornell University Press, 2024).

“Evangelical Empire: Christian Nationalism and U.S. Foreign Policy in a Post-Colonial World,” in Global Faith, Worldly Power, eds. Axel Schäfer, Melani McAlister, and John Corrigan (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2022).

“Human Rights and U.S. Foreign Relations,” in The Routledge History of U.S. Foreign Relations, edited by Tyson Reeder (NY: Routledge, 2022).

“Between Values and Action: Religious Rhetoric, Human Rights, and Reagan’s Foreign Policy,” in  The Reagan Moment: America and the World in the 1980s, eds. William Inboden, Jonathan Hunt, and Simon Miles (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2021).

“Defending the Unreached and Unknown: American Evangelicals and International Religious Liberty,” in An Unfamiliar America: Essays in American Studies, eds. Ari Helo and Mikko Saikku, (NY: Routledge, 2020).

“Religious History Objects in Museums,” in Religion in Museums: Today and Tomorrow, eds. Gretchen Buggeln, Crispin Paine, and S. Brent Plate (London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017).

Essays & Peer-Reviewed Research Encyclopedia Entries

“American Evangelicals in Guatemala,” in Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History, edited by William Beezley (November 2022).

“‘Red’s Dream’ and the Cuban Missile Crisis,” in Voices & Visions (October 2018).

“Race and Protestantism in America,” in Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion in America, edited by John Corrigan and Edward Blum. Oxford University Press. (November 2017).

“An Outpouring of the Spirit: A Historiography of Recent works on Religion and U.S. Foreign Relations,” Passport: The Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations Review 48, no. 2 (September 2017): 25-31.

“Jackie Doll and the Pickled Peppers – When they Drop the Atomic Bomb,” in Voices & Visions (June 2017).

“Building a Brighter Future,” Passport: The Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations Review 46, no. 2 (September 2015): 28-29 (with Amanda Demmer).

Work in Progress

The Routledge History of U.S. Religion and Politics, eds. Lauren Turek and Cara Burnidge (under contract with Routledge).

Winning Hearts, Minds, and Security: The Politics of Foreign Aid in Twentieth Century America (manuscript in progress)

Religion and American Exceptionalism, in American Exceptionalism and U.S. Foreign Policy, eds. Richard W. Maass and Hilde Eliassen Restad (under contract with Georgetown University Press). 

Reconstructing Trinity University: Racial Violence at Our Roots (1869-1902),
eds. Sarah Beth Kaufman, Lauren Turek, and Marco Robinson (volume in development).

Telling Trinity’s Story: Memory and Myth-Making on Campus, in Reconstructing Trinity University: Racial Violence at Our Roots (1869-1902),eds. Sarah Beth Kaufman, Lauren Turek, and Marco Robinson (with Colleen Hoelscher).

Public Scholarship

Christian Nationalism Is Tailor-Made for Illiberal Authoritarians, invited essay for World Politics Review, (31 January 2023).

U.S. Evangelicals Are a Foreign Policy Force to Be Reckoned With, invited essay for World Politics Review (8 November 2022).

The Religious Activism Behind U.S. Refugee Policy, invited essay for Religion & Politics (3 August 2021).

Rethinking How the United States Projects its Values, invited essay for the “Rethinking U.S. Policy on International Religious Freedom” Berkley Forum, Georgetown University Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, & World Affairs (19 January 2021).

The Rhetoric of Religious Freedom in Conservative Christian Activism, post on the Cornell University Press Authors’ Blog (May 2020).

Is the Religious Right Waning? invited post on The Christian Century’s Then and Now blog (26 October 2016).

Do Christian Refugees Matter More? invited post on The Christian Century’s Then and Now blog (24 February 2016).

Book Reviews and Review Essays

Review of Catastrophic Diplomacy: US Foreign Disaster Assistance in the American Century. By Julia Irwin. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2024. 359 pp. H-Diplo (forthcoming, 2024).

Review of The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink. By William Inboden. New York: Dutton, 2022. 593 pp. The Strategy Bridge (October 2023).

Review of Before the Religious Right: Liberal Protestants, Human Rights, and the Polarization of the United States. By Gene Zubovich. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2022. 408pp. International Bulletin of Mission Research 47, no. 2 (April 2023).

Review of Rotary International and the Selling of American Capitalism. By Brendan Goff. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2021. 456pp. Journal of American History 109, no. 3 (December 2022).

A “Punk Rock World” or A Punk Rock Nation? Roundtable review essay on We’re Not Here to Entertain: Punk Rock, Ronald Reagan, and the Real Culture War of 1980s America. By Kevin Mattson. NY: Oxford University Press, 2020. 388pp. U.S. Intellectual History Society blog (22 August 2022).

Introduction, Roundtable Review of Reagan’s Gun-Toting Nuns: The Catholic Conflict over Cold War Human Rights Policy in Central America. By Theresa Keeley. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2020. 352 pp. H-Diplo (7 June 2021).

Review of A Companion to U.S. Foreign Relations: Colonial Era to the Present. Edited by Christopher R. W. Dietrich. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2020. 1184pp. Passport: The Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations Review (April 2021).

Review of God’s Internationalists: World Vision and the Age of Evangelical Humanitarianism, by David P. King. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2019. 360pp. The Journal of Presbyterian History (Fall/Winter 2020).

Zionism and Christian Zionism in Modern American Foreign Relations, Multi-book review essay. H-Diplo (15 October 2020).

Review of Faith and Foreign Affairs in the American Century, by Mark Thomas Edwards. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2019. 183pp. Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture (September 2020).

Review of Thunder from the Right: Ezra Taft Benson in Mormonism and Politics, edited by Matthew L. Harris. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2019. Mormon Studies Review 7, no. 1 (January 2020).

Review of Michael Cangemi, “Ambassador Frank Ortiz and Guatemala’s ‘Killer President,’ 1976–1980,” Diplomatic History 42, no. 4 (September 2018). H-Diplo Article Review (26 March 2019).

Review of North American Churches and the Cold War, edited by Paul Mojzes. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2018. Reading Religion. (20 March 2019).

Review of These Truths: A History of the United States, by Jill Lepore. NY: W. W. Norton & Company, 2018. The University Bookman (24 February 2019).

Review of From Selma to Moscow: How Human Rights Activists Transformed U.S. Foreign Policy, by Sarah B. Snyder. NY: Columbia University Press, 2018. H-Diplo 20, no. 8 (22 October 2018).

Review of For God and Globe: Christian Internationalism in the United States between the Great War and the Cold War, by Michael G. Thompson. Journal of Politics, Religion and Ideology 18, no. 4 (December 2017).

Review of A Peaceful Conquest: Woodrow Wilson, Religion, and the New World Order, by Cara Lea Burnidge. The Montréal Review (August 2017).

Domestic Publics and Twentieth Century U.S. Foreign Relations, Reviews in American History 45, no. 1 (March 2017): 151-58.

Review of “Reagan’s Real Catholics vs. Tip O’Neill’s Maryknoll Nuns: Gender, Intra-Catholic Conflict, and the Contras,” by Theresa Keeley. H-Diplo 670, (5 January 2017).

Review of Democracy Promotion, National Security and Strategy: Foreign Policy Under the Reagan Administration, by Robert Pee. H-Diplo, ISSF Roundtable 8, no. 14 (24 May 2016).

Review of Evangelicals and American Foreign Policy, by Mark R. Amstutz. Politics and Religion 6, no. 4 (December 2013): 881-884.

FELLOWSHIPS, GRANTS, AND AWARDS

Capacity Building Grant, University of Northern Iowa (co-PI with Cara Burnidge), 2023

Congressional Research Grant, The Dirksen Congressional Center, 2022

Early Career Faculty Award for Distinguished Research & Teaching, Trinity University, 2021

Trinity University Mellon Initiative Summer Institute Fellowship, 2021

Trinity Tomorrow Award, Trinity University, 2020

Summer Research Stipend, Trinity University, 2020

Mellon Initiative Humanities/Arts Lab Development Grant, 2019

Trinity University Mellon Initiative Summer Institute Fellowship (summer research institute with undergraduates at Trinity University), 2019

Hugh Davis Graham Award, Institute for Political History, 2016

Summer Research Stipend, Trinity University, 2016

Fellow, The “Tocqueville Oscillation”: The Intersection of Domestic Politics and Foreign Policy Summer Institute, Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, 2015

Postdoctoral Fellowship in International Security and U.S. Foreign Policy, Dickey Center for International Understanding, Dartmouth College, 2015 (Declined)

Postdoctoral Fellowship, The Center for Presidential History, Southern Methodist University, 2015 (Declined)

Dissertation Completion Fellowship, John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics, Washington University, 2014-2015

Doctoral Fellowship, Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, University of Virginia, 2013-2014

Robert J. Huskey Travel Fellowship, University of Virginia, 2013, 2014

Summer Travel Grant, University of Virginia Corcoran Department of History, 2013

Torrey M. Johnson Research Grant, Billy Graham Center Archives, Wheaton, IL, 2013

Raven Society, University of Virginia, Inducted Spring 2013

Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation Fellowship, University of Virginia, 2012-2013

Fellow, The Institute of the Humanities and Global Cultures, University of Virginia, 2012-2013

Gelfand-Rappaport Dissertation Fellowship, Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, 2012

The Albert J. Beveridge Grant for Research in the History of the Western Hemisphere, American Historical Association, 2012

The Buckner W. Clay Endowment for the Humanities Summer Research Grant, The Institute of the Humanities and Global Cultures, University of Virginia, 2012

Society of Fellows Summer Research Grant, University of Virginia Society of Fellows, 2012

Junior Fellow, Society of Fellows, University of Virginia, 2011-2012

Pre-Dissertation Travel Grant, University of Virginia Corcoran Department of History, 2010

Member, Golden Key International Honour Society, 2010

Clark Memorial Travel Fellowship, Vassar College History Department, 2004

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

Panels Organized

Locating the Protestant Establishment in Twentieth-Century American Foreign Relations Roundtable, the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations annual conference, Arlington, VA, June 15-17, 2023.

Religion and Foreign Relations: “Good Works” in Progress and the State of the Field, the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations annual conference, virtual, June 17-20, 2021.

Cold War Neighbors: North American Ideals and Visions of the Soviet Menace. 17th Biennial Maple Leaf & Eagle Conference, Helsinki, Finland, May 16-18, 2018.

Human Rights as a Language of Power in American Foreign Relations Roundtable, co-organized with Amanda Demmer. Organization of American Historians Annual meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 6-9, 2017.

Human Rights and U.S. Foreign Policy in the Reagan Years, co-organized with Simon Miles. The Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations annual conference, San Diego, CA, June 23-25, 2016.

Beyond the Cold War: American Non-State Actors, Democratization, and the Soviet Transformation, co-organized with Katherine Geoghegan, The Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations annual conference, Lexington, KY, June 19-21, 2015.

Papers and Presentations

War, Morality, and Presidential Leadership Roundtable, to be presented at the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations annual conference, Toronto, Canada, June 13-15, 2024.

U.S. Evangelical Internationalism and Democratic Imperialism After the Cold War, to be presented at “The Unfinished Past? Challenges for Mission and Ecumenism in East-Central Europe Today and in the Recent Past” conference, J. Selye University, Komárno, Slovakia, May 23-24 (virtual presentation).

Creative Spark: The Learning about Learning Exhibit Public History Lightning Talk, San Antonio Archives Bazaar, San Antonio, TX, October 7, 2023.

Locating the Protestant Establishment in Twentieth-Century American Foreign Relations Roundtable, the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations annual conference, Arlington, VA, June 15-17, 2023.

Creating the San Antonio Female College Exhibit: Digital Public History in the Undergraduate Classroom, the Public History Extravaganza, St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, TX, April 24, 2023.

Playing Field: The Trinity University Women’s Intercollegiate Athletics History Project, the Public History Extravaganza, St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, TX, April 24, 2023.

New Interpretations of Reagan Foreign Relations Roundtable, the American Historical Association annual meeting, Philadelphia, PA, January 5-8, 2023.

A Rationale for Aid: Moral Language in the Debates over the Mutual Security Act, the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations annual conference, New Orleans, LA, June 16-18, 2022.

Christian Nationalism and Reagan’s Covert Wars in Central America, the Conference on Faith & History biennial meeting, Baylor University, Waco, TX, March 30-April 2, 2022.

Was There a Reagan Revolution in U.S. Foreign Policy? Roundtable, the International Studies Association Annual Convention, Nashville, TN, March 28-April 2, 2022.

Whose Violence Counts? Borders, Persecution, and Bias in Latinx and Latin American Christianities Roundtable, to be presented at the American Society for Church History annual meeting, New Orleans, LA, January 6-9, 2022 (panel canceled due to pandemic).

The Congressional Black Caucus and the Politics of Foreign Aid, to be presented at the American Historical Association annual meeting, Seattle, WA, January 7-10, 2021 (conference canceled due to pandemic).

A Rationale for Aid: Moral Language in the Debates over the Mutual Security Act, the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations annual conference, New Orleans, LA, June 18-20, 2020 (conference canceled due to pandemic).

Defining American Religion in a Global Age Roundtable, the Organization of American Historians annual meeting, Washington, D.C., April 2-5, 2020 (conference canceled due to pandemic).

Nationalism and Christian Worship Roundtable, the American Society of Church History winter meeting, New York, NY, January 3-6, 2020.

Earthquakes, Famines, and Hurricanes: Natural Disasters and Humanitarian Aid in Pentecostal Missionary Strategy, the Church History Library Missions Symposium, Salt Lake City, UT, November 7-8, 2019.

Spiritual Conquest: Evangelical Internationalism and U.S.-Central American Relations in the Reagan Era, “Religion in American Politics and Diplomacy” seminar at the American Studies Foundation International Forum for Young Scholars, Chuo University Surugadai Memorial Hall, Tokyo, Japan, July 20-21, 2019.

The Kingdom of God and the Borders of American Diplomacy Roundtable, Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations annual conference, Arlington, VA, June 20-22, 2019.

Religion Matters Roundtable, the Remaking American Political History Conference, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, June 6-7, 2019. [Click here for C-SPAN video of the roundtable presentation.]

“Airwave Internationalism: Missionary Radio and Global Evangelical Activism,” the American Historical Association annual meeting, Chicago, IL, January 3-6, 2019.

“Partnership or Paternalism? American Evangelical Missionaries Reckon with the Rise of Indigenous Churches,” the American Society of Church History winter meeting, Chicago, IL, January 3-6, 2019.

Six Shooters: A Digital Frontiers Lightning Round, the Western History Association annual conference, San Antonio, TX, October 17-20, 2018.

“Evangelical Empire: Christian Nationalism and U.S. Foreign Policy in a Post-Colonial World,” Global Faith and Worldly Power: Evangelical Encounters with American Empire international colloquium, Obama Institute for Transnational American Studies, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany, October 11-14, 2018.

Transnational Approaches to Evangelicalism and Foreign Policy Roundtable, Global Faith and Worldly Power: Evangelical Encounters with American Empire international colloquium, Obama Institute for Transnational American Studies, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany, October 11-14, 2018.

New Perspectives on American Internationalism Roundtable, Conference on Faith & History biennial meeting, Grand Rapids, MI, October 4-6, 2018.

“The “Voice of Salvation”: Missionary Radio as Spiritual Warfare behind the Iron and Bamboo Curtains.” The Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations annual conference, Philadelphia, PA, June 21-23, 2018.

“To Free Georgi Vins: U.S.-Canadian Baptists and the Fight for International Religious Liberty.” The 17th Biennial Maple Leaf & Eagle Conference, Helsinki, Finland, May 16-18, 2018.

Author/Manuscript Presenter, Lone Star National Security Forum, College Station, TX, April 20-22, 2018.

Museums and the Public Understanding of Religion: Sacred Art, History, and Science on Display Roundtable. The American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, November 18-21, 2017.

Annuit Coeptis: Forms of Civil Religion in the Midst of Crisis, 1953–2012 Roundtable. Society for U.S. Intellectual History annual conference, Dallas, TX, October 26-29, 2017.

Human Rights as a Language of Power in American Foreign Relations Roundtable. Organization of American Historians Annual meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 6-9, 2017.

“Between Values and Action: Religious Rhetoric, Human Rights, and Reagan’s Foreign Policy.” “Above and Beyond the Cold War: Ronald Reagan and the Transformation of Global Politics in the 1980s” conference, Clements Center for National Security, Austin, TX, January 19-21, 2017. [Click here for video of the presentation].

“Sanctioning Apartheid: The Reagan Administration, the Religious Right, and the Challenge of U.S.–South African Relations.” The Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations annual conference, San Diego, CA, June 23-25, 2016.

“Evangelical Foreign Policy Lobbying and the Rhetoric of Religious Freedom during the Reagan Administration.” Policy History Conference, Nashville, TN, June 1-4, 2016.

Christian Nationalism in American History Roundtable. The Society for U.S. Intellectual History annual conference, Washington, D.C., October 15-18, 2015.

“Salvation for the Suffering Church: Transnational Evangelical Activism and the Fight for Religious Liberty in the Socialist Republic of Romania.” The Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations annual conference, Arlington, VA, June 25-27, 2015.

“’Project Christian Bridge’: U.S. Evangelical Groups and Religious Change in the Commonwealth of Independent States.” The Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations 2014 Annual Meeting, Lexington, KY. June 19-21, 2014. Panel co-organizer.

“To Support a ‘Brother in Christ’: Evangelical Groups and U.S.-Guatemalan Relations during the Ríos Montt Regime.” Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations 2013 Annual Meeting, Arlington, VA. June 20-22, 2013.

“Demarcating Human Dignity: Christian Interest Groups, Human Rights Discourse, and Human Rights Policy in the Reagan Era.” 4th Roger Williams University Conference on Religion and the State, Roger Williams University, Bristol, RI. April 12-14, 2013.

“Kingdom or Empire? Billy Graham, the Congress on World Evangelization and the Theological Politics of Christian Missions in the 1970s.” Annual Harvard Graduate Student Conference on International History (ConIH), Cambridge, Massachusetts. March 8-9, 2012.

“Kingdom or Empire? Billy Graham, the Congress on World Evangelization and the Theological Politics of Christian Missions in the 1970s.” Northeastern University Annual Graduate History Conference, “Empires and Technologies in World History,” Boston, Massachusetts. March 24-25, 2012.

Panels as Chair or Commentator

Chair, Conservatism, Militarism, and 20th-Century Ideological Networks, the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations annual conference, Arlington, VA, June 15-17.

Chair and Commentator, American Evangelicalism in Transnational Context from the Cold War to Today, to be presented at the Organization of American Historians Conference, Los Angeles, CA, March 30-April 2, 2023.

Chair, Intersections of American Politics and International Affairs in the Cold War, the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations annual conference, New Orleans, LA, June 16-18, 2022.

Chair, Lightning Round: The Cold War, the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations annual conference virtual session, June 10-11, 2022.

Invited Commentator, “Cold War Crusades: New Directions,” Global Religion and American World-Making Symposium, the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, April 9-10, 2022.

Chair and Commentator, Religion and Foreign Relations: “Good Works” in Progress and the State of the Field, the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations annual conference, virtual, June 17-20, 2021.

Commentator, American Protestants in the 20th Century World, the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations annual conference, virtual, June 17-20, 2021.

Commentator, Amateur Hour: Transnational Diplomacy in the Reagan Years, the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations annual conference, New Orleans, LA, June 18-20, 2020 (conference canceled).

Chair, International Intermediaries: Missionaries and the Shaping of Global Consciousness in the Nineteenth-Century United States, the American Society of Church History winter meeting, New York, NY, January 3-6, 2020.

Commentator, Loving Thy Good Neighbor: Faith in American Foreign Relations from the Great War through the Cold War (1920-1960), Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations annual conference, Arlington, VA, June 20-22, 2019.

Chair/Commentator, New Directions in Social Christianity and American Global Consciousness, the American Society of Church History winter meeting, Chicago, IL, January 3-6, 2019.

Chair, Contesting Memory in Literature and Law, Society for U.S. Intellectual History annual conference, Dallas, TX October 26-29,2017.

CAMPUS TALKS

A Battle for the Soul of U.S. Foreign Policy: Moral Values in the Congressional Debates over Foreign Aid Spending, Trinity Faculty Research Series, Trinity University, October 11, 2023.

The Congressional Black Caucus and the Politics of Foreign Aid, Humanities Collective, Trinity University, December 6, 2022.

Panelist, Understanding Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine and the Implications for Global Stability, Trinity University, March 29, 2022.

Ender’s Game and the Long Twilight Struggle, FYE Common Learning Experience lecture, Trinity University, September 9, 2021.

Ender’s Game and the Long Twilight Struggle, FYE Common Learning Experience lecture, Trinity University, September 24, 2020.

To Bring the Good News to a “World of Strangers,” FYE Common Learning Experience lecture, Trinity University, October 31, 2019.

Ender’s Game and the Long Twilight Struggle, FYE Common Learning Experience lecture, Trinity University, September 26, 2019.

History and Historicity in The Man in the High Castle, First Year Experience Common Learning Experience lecture, Trinity University, September 27, 2018.

History and Historicity in The Man in the High Castle, First Year Experience Common Learning Experience lecture, Trinity University, September 28, 2017.

Apartheid Showdown: Christian Left, Christian Right, and the Battle over U.S.-South African Relations, Faculty Research Dinner, Trinity University, October 11, 2016.

Science Fiction in Historical Context, First Year Experience Common Learning Experience lecture, Trinity University, October 6, 2016.

“To Support a ‘Brother in Christ”: Evangelical Groups and U.S.-Guatemalan Relations during the Ríos Montt Regime, Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, University of Virginia, April 25, 2015.

PUBLIC TALKS

Evangelical Influence on U.S. Human Rights Policy and Foreign Relations, Virtual Talk, Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights, the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, October 5, 2023.

Christian Nationalism and Internationalism: How Religion Shapes (And Has Shaped) U.S. Politics and Foreign Policy, Food for Thought Lecture Series, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX, August 29, 2023.

To Bring the Good News to All Nations: Evangelical Christian Influence on Human Rights and U.S. Foreign Relations, Virtual Book Talk, Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan, July 15, 2023.

Keynote Lecture, To Bring the Good News to All Nations, Mississippi State University Symposium for History Undergraduate Research, April 20, 2023.

Christian Nationalism and Internationalism: Evangelicals and US Foreign Policy in Modern History, to be presented at the National Humanities Center Humanities in Class Webinar Series, October 4, 2022.

The Congressional Black Caucus and the Politics of Foreign Aid, New York University Tamiment Center for the United States and the Cold War Seminar, March 17.

To Bring the Good News to All Nations: Evangelical Influence on Human Rights and US Foreign Relations, Meet the Author event, Princeton Theological Seminary Overseas Ministries Study Center, November 18, 2021.

Invited Panelist, Humanitarian Corridors: A Faith-Based Response to Forced Migration, Center for the Study of Europe, Boston University, 3 November 2021.

To Bring the Good News to All Nations: Evangelical Influence on Human Rights and US Foreign Relations, Associated Colleges of the South Virtual Convocation, April 6, 2021.

To Bring the Good News to All Nations, University of Toronto International Relations Society, January 14, 2021.

Invited Speaker, Hinckley Institute of Politics Forum, University of Utah, November 18, 2020.

To Bring the Good News to All Nations, World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth webinar, September 8, 2020.

Keynote Lecture, To Bring the Good News to All Nations, Vanguard University Summer Undergraduate Research Program Symposium, July 30, 2020.

The Cornell University Press United States in the World Series Authors in Conversation: Religion and Empire, June 29, 2020.

To Bring the Good News to All Nations, History Summit Virtual Book Festival, April 25, 2020.

Keynote Lecture, Protest América: International Political Unrest in 1968, Evening for Educators Workshop, McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX, October 18, 2018.

The World of 1968: Culture, Counterculture, and Reaction, Docent Continuing Education Workshop, McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX, September 26, 2018.

Keynote Lecture, “The World of 1968: Culture, Counterculture, and Reaction,” ¡Viva la Revolución! Summer Teacher Institute, McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX, July 10, 2018.

“Race, Religion, and the Civil Rights Movement,” The SoL Center at University Presbyterian Church, San Antonio, TX, April 10, 2018

“The Story of Things: What Art Can Tell Us About the Past,” Circa 1900 Educator Workshop, McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX, January 14, 2017.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Associate Professor, Trinity University

HIST 1361: United States History Since Reconstruction
FYE  1600: Science Fiction
HIST 2440: U.S. Society & Politics
HIST 3392: StoryLab
HIST 3467: Oral History
HIST 3468: Public History, Memory, and Interpretation
HIST 3469: U.S. Foreign Relations
HIST 3-94: Public History Internship
HIST 4460: Religion and Politics in American History
HIST 4498: Honors Thesis

HIUS 2002: American History Since 1865 (Summer 2014)
HIUS 4501: Religion and U.S. Foreign Relations in the Twentieth Century (Spring 2013)

Teaching Assistant, University of Virginia

Genocide: Professor Jeffrey Rossman (Fall 2011, 3 sections)
Politics of Health Care in America: Professor Guian McKee (Spring 2011, 3 sections)
U.S.–Latin American Relations in the 20th Century: Professor Gerald Haines (Fall 2010, 3 sections)
Shaping the Modern World, 1944 – 1991: Professor Philip Zelikow (Spring 2010, 3 sections)
United States Society and Politics, 1945 – 2008: Professor Jennifer Burns (Fall 2009, 3 sections)
Guest Lecture, “The Iran Hostage Crisis,” 11 November 2009

Grader, University of Virginia

History of Women in America, 1865 – Present: Lecturer Allison Elias (Spring 2010)

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Non-Residential Fellow, Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society, October 2014 – August 2015

• Conducted research, wrote grant proposals and policy briefs, edited opinion essays, created Faithful Internet website, and organized stakeholders around the issue of network neutrality

Director of the Project for Technology in History Education, University of Virginia, January 2012 –May 2013

• Developed instructional technologies for history department faculty and students, designed research databases as well as course and professional websites for faculty, maintained department website

MUSEUM AND PUBLIC HISTORY EXPERIENCE

Faculty Mentor, 2021 Mellon Initiative Summer Institute, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX

• Co-directed a team of four undergraduate students to build a digital archive and exhibit for the Trinity University Women’s Intercollegiate History Project. This included training the students in public, digital, and oral history methods as well as archival practices, overseeing their archival research, and managing the creation of The Playing Field digital exhibit, interactive timeline, and archives.

Faculty Mentor, 2019 Mellon Initiative Summer Institute, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX

• Co-directed a team of four undergraduate students to develop and fabricate the exhibit 150 Years of Experiential Learning at Trinity during the summer of 2019. Trained the students in public history and oral history methods, oversaw their archival research and oral history interviews, and managed the creation of a physical and a digital exhibit as well as related marketing materials and visitor experience surveys.

Consultant, Miller Center of Public Affairs, UVa, Charlottesville, VA June 2011 – August 2011

• Developed and designed an interactive touchscreen kiosk program that acquaints visitors with the scholarship produced by Miller Center faculty and their associates.

Interim Director, Institute for Public History, UVa, Charlottesville, VA September 2010 – August 2011

• Updated and expanded the Institute for Public History website, increased Institute’s visibility on campus using social networking tools, coordinated the IPH Summer Internship program, cultivated relationships with new host organizations to create five additional paid summer internships, advertised available positions, processed applications, oversaw intern selection process, organized interviews, arranged placements for 18 interns, ran orientation meeting, monitored interns, conducted site visits, and processed final reports and evaluations from interns and host institutions.

Institute for Public History Intern, Scottsville Museum, Scottsville, VA, June 2009 – August 2009

• Developed and designed Where the River Bends: Scottsville and the James exhibit, April 2010 – present, conducted and recorded oral history interviews

Content Developer and Coordinator, Ralph Appelbaum Associates, Inc., New York, NY, 2006 – 2008

• Developed exhibit content, preliminary script outline, and concept study for Blue Ridge Music Center. Created preliminary exhibit content, film treatments, narrative walkthroughs and concept studies for the American Revolution Center, Judah L. Magnes Museum, Los Angeles State Historic Park, and Lights of Liberty program. Developed Los Angeles State Historic Park Interpretive Vision booklet for Los Angeles State Historic Park. Managed graphic production and exhibit installation, wrote exhibit content, oversaw script editing, conducted image research and acquisition, and acted as liaison between client and fabricator for the Grand Teton National Park Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center. Created and managed databases to coordinate archival NASA images and exhibit content for the Space Chase exhibit at the Adventure Science Center in Nashville, TN

Curatorial Intern, Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, NY, March 2006 – August 2006

• Assisted curator with development of Guy Gillette: Photographs and Sylvia Sleigh: Invitation to a Voyage. Assisted registrar with deinstallation of Westchester: The American Suburb and installation of Got Cow? Cattle In American Art, 1820-2000

Curatorial/Collection Care Assistant, Wilderstein Preservation, Rhinebeck, NY, January 2004 – May 2005

• Organized, inventoried, and re-housed archival materials, cataloged documents and objects, with digital images, using PastPerfect museum software, and worked on substantial conservation and preservation project of framed and cased photograph collection, which involved inventorying, cleaning, and re-housing 300 objects, as well as entering them into the electronic catalog with digital images

Museum Intern, Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library, Hyde Park, NY, June – August 2004 and February – May 2005

• Researched and fabricated a temporary exhibit on the 1939 Royal Visit of the King and Queen of England to the United States, created a soundtrack from FSA audio recordings of migrant workers for This Great Nation Will Endure, a gallery exhibit of photographs from the Great Depression, created two audio-visual displays using FSA “Man-on-the-Street” interviews taken in 1942 for Freedom from Fear: FDR, Commander in Chief, a gallery exhibit on World War II, assisted museum staff with preservation of 1932 campaign banner, accessioned and catalogued collection materials

Intern, Litchfield Historical Society, Litchfield, CT, June – August 2002

• Inventoried and created finding aids for new collections, including the Red Cross Collection, designed and helped install “American Art Pottery” display at the Oliver Wolcott Library

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Mellon Graduate Teaching Seminar for Excellence in the Humanities, University of Virginia, 2012 – 2013

• Certificate in Advanced Pedagogy in the Humanities. A year-long seminar focused on cross-disciplinary pedagogical training and teaching writing to undergraduates across the curriculum on the topic of “Writing Human Rights (and Wrongs).”

SERVICE

To Profession

Co-Chair, Development Committee, Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, 2023-present

Member, Code of Conduct Response Team, Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, 2023-present

Council Member, Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, 2020-2022

Member, Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations Annual Meeting Program Committee, 2020-2021

Co-chair, Ad-hoc Communications Strategy Committee, Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, 2019-2021

Member, Web committee, Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, 2018-2019

Member, Editorial board, Passport: The Newsletter of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, 2018-2020.

Article Manuscript Reviewer, Cold War History, 2024

Article Manuscript Reviewer, Cold War History, Modern American History, Religions, and Virginia Magazine, 2023

Book Manuscript Reviewer, Columbia University Press and New York University Press, 2023

Article Manuscript Reviewer, Diplomatic History, Modern American History, and Religions, 2022

Book Manuscript Reviewer, Cornell University Press, 2022.

Article Manuscript Reviewer, Diplomatic History, 2021

Book Manuscript Reviewer, Cornell University Press, Routledge, and the University of Massachusetts Press, 2021

Article Manuscript Reviewer, The Historical Journal, Review of Faith & International Affairs, Modern American History, and Religions, 2020

Book Manuscript Reviewer, Bloomsbury, 2020

Article Manuscript Reviewer, Religions and The Journal of Cold War Studies, 2019

Book Manuscript Reviewer, Oxford University Press, Routledge, and Cognella, 2019

Manuscript Reviewer, Religions, 2018

Manuscript Reviewer, Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History, 2018

Manuscript reviewer, Lexham Press, 2017

Manuscript reviewer, Routledge, 2016

Mentor, Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations annual meeting job workshop, 2016

Manuscript reviewer, Essays in History, 2010-2015

To University

First Year Experience Coordinator, 2023-present

Member, Arts, Letters, & Enterprise Program Steering Committee, 2023-present

Member, International Studies Committee, 2022-present

Coordinator of the Diplomacy, Security, War and Peace concentration, International Studies program, 2022-present

Advisory Board Member, The Humanities Collective, 2021-present

Co-Chair, Trinity University Roots Commission, 2020-present

History Department Liaison to the Trinity University Digital Transformation Task Force, 2020-present

Member, History Department Teaching Review Committee, 2019-present

Faculty Advisor, Secular Students Alliance, 2018-present

Member, History Department Communications Committee, 2017-present

Member, History Department Search Committee and Interview Committee for African American history, 2023-2024

Co-organizer, Rooting Trinity’s History: Past, Present & Future Conference, 2023-2024

Member, FYE Prize Committee, 2024

Trinity Tower Scholars Day Class, 2024

Member, FYE Prize Committee, 2023

Member, History Department Prize Committee, 2023

Trinity Tower Scholars Day Class, 2023

Member, English Department Search Committee, 2022-2023

Director, Mellon Initiative, 2021-2022

Member, History Department Assessment Committee, 2016-2022

Member, University Search Committee for Assistant Director of Career Development, 2022

Co-moderator, Undergraduate Research Opportunities panels, Tiger Take-Off, June 22, 27, 30 and July 11, 15, 2022.

Member, History Department Search Committee for Administrative Assistant, 2021

Member, University Search Committee for Director of Sponsored Programs, 2021

Co-facilitator, Working Group for the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Center, 2021

Moderator, 2021 Trinity University Policy Maker Lecture

Co-Director, Mellon Initiative, 2020

Member, Valero Alamo Bowl Scholarship Decision Committee, 2020

Member, Trinity University Education and Research Technology Committee, 2019-2020

Alternate, Trinity University Hearing Committee, 2019-2020

Member, Trinity University Roots Commission, 2018-2020

Member, Mellon Initiative Steering Committee, 2016-2020

Member, History Department Prize Committee, 2017-2019

Member, History Department Search Committee and Interview Committee for early American history, Trinity University, 2017-2018

Member, Digital Scholarship Coordinator Search Committee, Trinity University, 2017-2018

Member, Intercollegiate Athletics Committee, 2017-2018

Member, Editorial Team for the Expositor, Trinity University’s journal of undergraduate humanities research, 2016-2018

Presenter, Early Career Research Group panel for New Faculty Orientation, 2017

Member, University Search Committee for Chief Information Officer, 2017

Member, Valero Alamo Bowl Scholarship Decision Committee, 2017

Member, History Department Prize Committee, 2017

Member, History Department Phi Alpha Theta Committee, 2017

Presenter, “Nuclear Brinkmanship: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and the Cuban Missile Crisis,” Trinity in Focus, September 22, 2017

Presenter, “Using Omeka as a Platform for Collaborative Student Projects,” Collaborative for Learning and Teaching High Noon Luncheon, September 15, 2017 [Click here for video of the presentation]

Presenter, “Teaching and Technology” segment, New Faculty Orientation Workshop, August 15, 2017

Organizer and Moderator, “History Internship Workshop,” 16 November 2016

Member, Evaluation of Courses and Faculty Committee, 2016-2018

Member, History Department Search Committee and Interview Committee for Modern Chinese History, Trinity University, 2015-2016

Organizer and Moderator, “Religious Freedom And U.S. Foreign Policy: A Conversation On History, Theory, and Practice,” panel discussion, John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics, Washington University in St. Louis, March 2015

Fellowship Chair, Raven Society Council, 2013-2014

Facilitator, Diplomatic and International History Workshop, University of Virginia, 2012 – 2014

Graduate Advisory Board Member, Institute of the Humanities and Global Cultures, 2012 – 2013

Selection Committee Member, Institute for Public History Summer Internship Program, 2011 – 2013

Corcoran Department of History Representative, University of Virginia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Council, 2010 – 2012

Moderator, “Treachery and the Nation” panel, 3rd Annual Graduate Student Conference, “Treachery and Traitors,” University of Virginia, April 2010.

Planning Committee, 3rd Annual Graduate Student Conference, “Treachery and Traitors,” University of Virginia, April 2010.

President, University of Virginia Graduate History Students Association, 2009 – 2010

Peer Writing Tutor, Vassar College, 2004

Volunteer Editor, Gulliver, Vassar College, 2004

History Major’s Committee, Vassar College, 2002 – 2004

To Community

Member, Civil Rights Exhibit Subcommittee, Alamo Museum Planning Committee, 2023-present

Lead Advisor, “Religion in the American Experience” program, National Museum of American Religion, 2023-present

Advisory Board Member, The National Museum of American Religion, 2020-present

Expert Reviewer, Florida EOC U.S. History Assessment, Pearson, 2016-present

Scholar advisor for two National Museum of American Religion panels on religious liberty at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, July 1 and July 8, 2023.

Faculty Advisory Committee member, Institute of Texan Cultures, 2017-2019

Scholar Advisor, Circa 1900 6th Grade Curriculum Project, McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas, 2016-2017

Panelist, “Otherness: A panel discussion on immigration, internment, detainment and the plight of ‘others’ in America,” San Antonio Central Public Library, San Antonio, Texas, October 27, 2015.

OUTREACH ACTIVITIES

Guest Host, “The History of Christian Nationalism,” Religion in the American Experience podcast (28 November 2023)

Interview, “What Happened to Separation of Church and State?” Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness podcast (8 March 2023)

Interview, “Evangelicals and US Foreign Policy,” American Prestige podcast (27 December 2022)

Interview, “Russia, Ukraine, and Endless War,” Dissident Orthodoxy podcast (12 September 2022)

Interview, “Church & State,” The Past, The Promise, The Presidency, Season Three: The Bully Pulpit podcast (7 April 2022)

Author Talk with Secular Soapbox (19 January 2022)

Author Talk with Providence Magazine (14 January 2022)

Interview with the Public Theologians podcast (10 January 2022)

Interview with the Uncommontary podcast (14 September 2021)

The Best Books on the History of Religion in U.S. Foreign Relations, Shepherd.com (20 September 2021).

Interview with the Professor Buzzkill podcast (19 May 2021)

Interview with The UpWords podcast (17 May 2021)

Interview with The F Word: Conversations On Faith with Matt Miofsky, KTRS Radio podcast (28 March 2021)

Interview with The World, “Trump’s Last Human Rights Week,” Public Radio International (11 December 2020)

Interview with Simran Jeet Singh, “Pompeo’s Rights Commission Distilled Decades of Evangelicals’ Hopes,” Religion News Service (23 November 2020)

Interview with the Religion in the American Experience podcast (2 November 2020)

Interview with the Horns of a Dilemma podcast (4 September 2020)

Interview with the New Books Network podcast (9 June 2020)

“The Rhetoric of Religious Freedom in Conservative Christian Activism,” post on the Cornell University Press Authors’ Blog (May 2020)

“To Bring the Good News to All Nations,” post on the The Page 99 Test blog, May 10, 2020

Regular Contributor, Religion in American History blog, October 2014 – 2018

“Studies on Global Christianity and the American Foreign Policy Historian,” invited post on Religion in American History blog (27 October 2013)

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

American Association for State and Local History

American Historical Association

National Council on Public History

Organization of American Historians

Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations

LANGUAGES

French – reading knowledge

Spanish – reading knowledge