My dissertation in progress, From Homemakers to Peacemakers, explores the way American women mobilized their economic and social identities as household consumers to build and participate in international movements in the years between the World Wars. Home economists, domestic scientists, consumer co-operators, and others who laid claim to identities as “expert consumers” built global networks, using their knowledge about nutrition and human need to contribute to conversations around international peace, trade, and security. This work has been funded by the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR), the Borchard Foundation, UCSB Graduate Division, and UCSB History Associates. 

Also passionate about public history, I co-authored a project with John Majewski that uses a series of “letters,” written in the guise of historical figures, to consider the choices that Lin-Manuel Miranda made in the creation and presentation of the popular contemporary musical, Hamilton. This work has been presented in multiple venues around Santa Barbara, including at the Back 2 UCSB Program held at the Santa Barbara Public Library and through UCSB’s public-facing Faculty Lecture program.