I grew up in a small town in the suburbs of New York City, but began my university studies in Washington, at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service. While deeply interested in a variety of humanistic and social science methodologies, I nonetheless found myself repeatedly explaining international processes and situations with reference to the past. It was a trend reinforced by a year studying at St. Peter’s College of the University of Oxford and two years working as a healthcare best practice researcher and consultant in the private sector.
I thus enrolled in the joint MA/PhD program in history at the University of Chicago. After broad studies in the fields of Western European, Central European, and African history, I specialized in the study of colonialism, migration, and education in the western Mediterranean, under the direction of Prof. Leora Auslander. My master’s thesis examined the intersection of race and French colonialism. My doctoral dissertation analyzed migrant integration in France and the western Mediterranean during the approximately thirty years between the resumption of wide-scale migration after World War II and the moratoriums on migration at the time of the First Oil Crisis. I remain thankful not only for the advice and encouragement of numerous mentors and friends in making this research possible, but also to the Mellon Foundation, the Tinker Foundation, Spain’s Ministry of Culture, and the Institut des Etudes Politiques-Paris (better known as Sciences Po), where I spent a productive year researching and teaching as a visiting doctoral fellow. During my time in Chicago, I also discovered my joy in teaching, first as a teaching assistant and a teaching intern, and later as an instructor.
Over the past decade, I have been honored to teach BA, MA, professional graduate, and PhD students in different countries, from whom I have learned tremendously.
After completing my degree in Chicago, I was awarded a Max Weber Fellowship at the European University Institute in Florence, where I collaborated with scholars in other disciplines on issues of migration and citizenship. In the summer of 2015, I was appointed Instructor of Modern and Contemporary European History at the University of Colorado Denver, and subsequently accepted a co-appointment as Instructor of International Studies. For family reasons, I returned to Europe in the late 2010s, teaching online for CU Denver and at Humboldt University in Berlin before accepting a position at Keele University in the West Midlands of Britain. There, I had the good fortune to not only teach history, but to leverage my pedagogical experiences to "teach how to teach."
It is with great pleasure that I join the Central European University's Center for Teaching and Learning in the fall of 2020. At the CEU, I have the privilege of working with a great group of colleagues and both established and emerging scholars dedicated to excellence in teaching.
Outside of the university, I am passionate about classical music, languages, and the visual arts, but also enjoy a walk in the mountains, a stroll in the city, or a bit of sports. Over the years, I have also been fortunate to have lived in several countries. From my research and professional life, I maintain a deep interest in issues of health care, migration, and education.