Graduate Student Biographies

Through the efforts of its Graduate Student Representative, the Society is trying to help its graduate students make connections and network with each other and with more established scholars in the field. This list of graduate student biographies, which includes information on theses/dissertations, is one way for the rest of the Society to know what our rising members are working on.

If you are interested in having your information posted here, send your full name, school affiliation, advisor, fields of study, thesis/dissertation title, a brief 250-word bio of either the student or the project, an optional web site and an optional email to J.D.PITT@tcu.edu. Participants must be members of the Society.

Thesis/dissertation titles in progress follow each name.

  • Omobolanle Joseph Akinniyi - "Beyond Victimhood: Biafran Women, the Homefront and the Burden of War in Biafra"
  • Kate Alfin - "'An Exceptional Situation:' Race, Sex, and the U.S. Army in Liberia, 1942-1946"
  • Melissa A. Amateis
  • Michael A. Anderson
  • Tracy L. Barnett - “Armed, Drunk, and Dangerous: White Paramilitary Violence in the Civil War Era South”
  • Steve Beckman - "Marshal Boufflers and the Art of Command in the Grand Siècle"
  • Micah Bellamy - "Becoming Men, Consequently: From "Contraband" to Men Through Naval Service in the American Civil War"
  • Brandon S. Bernick - "The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend: The U.S. Army’s Partnership with Reinhard Gehlen 1945-1955”
  • Christopher Bishop - "Why He Fights: The Forgotten Crusaders of Operation Barbarossa"
  • Ryan Booth - "Crossed Arrows: The US Indian Scouts, 1866-1947"
  • Delynn Burrell - "Chaplain Prisoners of War: The Lives and Ministries of Father Peter Whelan and Isaac W.K. Handy"
  • Carole Butcher - "A Brave and Gallant Man: William Henry Young and Young’s Scouts"
  • David Byrd - "Recovered Memories: Bringing the Air Force Archive Into the Digital Age - Attributes Correlated with Improved Performance in Textually Digitizing Analog Documents"
  • Anthony Cade - "Crescent of the Union: The Louisiana Native Guards and the Transformation of African American Society during the American Civil War"
  • Sam Canter - "Offset Strategies and the American Approach to Military Competition Against Nuclear Powers"
  • Jacian Carr - "Poro War:  Secret Societies, Spirit Possessions and the Exercise of Violence during the First Liberian Civil War, 1989-1996"
  • Tommy Carr
  • Jonathan Carroll - "'God's Work in Hell': Intervening in Somalia, 1992-1995"
  • Bonnie Cherry - “'Little Kingdoms': Administrative Power and the Legalized Securitization of Indian Country"
  • Meg Corner - "War for a World: US Special Forces and the Montagnards of Vietnam's Central Highlands"
  • Serena Covkin - "Armed for Citizenship: War and Women's Rights in Twentieth-Century America"
  • Barbara Crouch - "In the Name of Freedom: Remembering Black Women in the Women’s Army Corps"
  • Matthew Crum - "Unbecoming Romans"
  • Anne-Lisa Dall'Agnola - "Harmed Forces. S’engager par corps dans les armées française et américaine aujourd’hui." [Harmed Forces. Engaging one’s body through military service in France and the United States nowadays ] (working title)
  • Arnel P. David - "Prototyping Warfare: Developing a 21st Century 'System of Expedients'"
  • John DeLee - "Henry Knox and the Development of the United States Indian Policy"
  • Steve Dieter - "Five Days in May, and Beyond: Canada, Britain, and the defence of the Caribbean in the Second World War"
  • John "Kip" DiEugenio
  • Sarah Duncan
  • Patrick R. Eaton - "Conventional Commanders in an Unconventional War: The U.S. Army and Vietnam 1965-1973"
  • Kimberly Ann Enderle
  • Darrell E. Fawley, III
  • Kelley Fincher - "'All Personnel Profit'?: Domestic Labor of Military Families in the Post War and Cold War Eras"
  • Marco P. Fiorito
  • Matthew A. Frakes - "Rogue States: The Making of America’s Global War on Terror, 1980–1994"
  • Allen Frazier
  • Elizabeth Gardner - "The Libyan Arab Force: Lines of Communication from behind the lines to gendarmerie during the North African Campaign from 1940-1943."
  • Nathan Grau - "France’s Forgotten Soldiers: Local Paramilitaries on the Frontlines of Decolonization, 1945-1962"
  • Patrick Grigsby - "To Grasp A Connection: E.L. Godkin and the Irish Origins of Tammany Hall"
  • Joseph Guido - "Contours of the Ogaden War”
  • Azarja Harmanny - "Iron Fist. Artillery and air power in the Indonesian war of independence, 1945-1949"
  • Charles B. Harris - "Surest Guarantee of Peace: Rhetoric, Consumer Culture, and the Popularization of American Naval Power, 1883-1909"
  • Brian Hayes
  • Scott Hedberg
  • Aaron Heft - (Untitled) 28th Division at Fismes and Fismette, August-September 1918
  • Alexi Henderson
  • Brittany Huner
  • Kara Irvin - Nazi Orientalism, Empire, and War in Eastern Europe (in progress)
  • Brianna Kirk - "No Safety for Union Men: Norfolk during Virginia's Civil War and Reconstruction, 1860-1870"
  • Nicholas Kramer - Marshal Louis-Nicolas Davout military life
  • Tristan Krause
  • Michael Lewis
  • Eduardo Libed - "The Seaport of San Juan: Military Logistical Infrastructure, 1888-1898"
  • Daniel R. Lightfoot, Sr. - "The Gettysburg Campaign And Traditional Military History: Gettysburg’s Continued Relevancy To Professional Military Education"
  • Shawn P. Liming - "Ukrainian Resistance to the Soviet Union, 1939-1955 (Working Title)"
  • Mike Loveland
  • Jessica Luepke - “Adapting to Occupation: Civil-Military Relationships and Martial Culture in America’s Early Twentieth Century”
  • Scott Madere - “Modern Problems, Ancient Answers: The Influence of Classical Antiquity on Eighteenth-century European Warfare”
  • Patrick John F. Mansujeto - "Wings of Benevolence: The Introduction of Aviation in the Philippines during the American Colonial Period, 1909-1911"
  • Pedro Panera Martínez - "Informing from Abroad: The Spanish Military Attachés in the period 1880-1921"
  • Tyler Mazda - "Military Development in Russia under Empress Elizabeth, 1741-1762"
  • Gabrielle McBath - "Comprehending Collegiate Volunteer Experiences Post-September 11, 2001: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study"
  • Christian McCall - "Hellacious Embers: The American Strategic Bombing Campaign against Japan’s Chubu Region During the Pacific War"
  • Philip McCarty - "Point of Failure: British Army Brigadiers in France and Norway, 1940"
  • Meaghan McClure - "Hans von Seeckt and the Anti-Democratization of the Reichswehr"
  • Blake McGready - "Making Nature's Nation: The Revolutionary War and Environmental Interdependence in New York, 1775-1783"
  • Justine Meberg - "The Logic of Protection: the US Army and Enemy Women in the Second Seminole War and Mexican War, 1835-1848"
  • Andrea Miles - "Black Rebels: African American Revolutionaries From North Carolina During And After The War Of Independence"
  • Sarah-Louise Miller - "Women in UK and US Naval Communications and Intelligence during the Second World War: WRNS and WAVES and the Emergence of Modern Warfare"
  • Raymond Mitchell
  • Johannes Nagel - "The U.S. Military Transformation and the Observation of the World, 1865–1905"
  • Christopher Narayanan - "Preparing case of incorporating food and agriculture security concerns into the National Security Strategy"
  • Paul G. Nauert - "Climate Crucible: American Choices in Germany, Japan, & the Making of the Great Acceleration, 1939-1953"
  • Ryan Neck
  • Laurence Merl Nelson III - (untitled) U.S. Occupation of Nicaragua, 1927-1933
  • Eamonn O'Keeffe - "British Military Music and Musicians during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1793-1815"
  • Matt Osborne - "The Piracies of John Fowke; or, How to Succeed in Regicide Without Even Trying"
  • Pete Owen - “US Marine Corps Aviation in the Second World War: It’s Effectiveness in Support of the Pacific Fleet.”
  • Srijita Pal - "The War within the War: the 1918 Influenza Pandemic on the Western Front"
  • Eileen Palma
  • Hannah Palsa - “'We love dogs but we love our soldiers more': Dogs for Defense Inc. and the American public in World War II, 1942-1945" (working title)
  • Alex Paul - "Resistance, Coercion, and Americanization: Immigrant Soldiers in the U.S. Army during World War I"
  • Andrea Pezzati
  • Nicholas J. Pisano - "Tabula Sacra: Religion, Mythology, & Cartography in Late Medieval and Renaissance Europe"
  • Jim Pomeroy
  • Manaswini Ramkumar - "Call of Duty: Military Responses to Undemocratic Leadership"
  • Alexander Reineke - "The Peacetime Army and Modern Warfare: US Army Military Discourse, Professionalization and Preparedness (1898-1941)"
  • Christopher Reith - "Flexible Air Transport: Air Force Intratheater Airlift in the Korean War, 1950-1951"
  • David Retherford - "How did combat intelligence develop in the AEF during The First World War."
  • Jonathan Richie
  • Eric Romo - "The Importance of the Railroad in the American Civil War" (still narrowing down to discuss both sides or focus on one side)
  • Jerra Boatner Runnels - "Hattiesburg on the Homefront: Black Women and the Massive Remobilization of Camp Shelby during World War II"
  • Slater C. Sabo - "The Specter of Vietnam: The Use and Misuse of Historical Analogy in Operation Iraqi Freedom"
  • Heather Salazar - "'We Are Not in Anybody's Backyard, And We Are Definitely Not For Sale': Grenada's Challenge to United States' Cold War Policy"
  • Travis Salley - "Napalm Sticks to Kids: A Study of Race, Gender, and Violence in Military Marching Cadences"
  • Philip Samengo-Turner
  • Molly Sampson
  • Ryan C. Sigston
  • Jennifer Sang
  • Michael Santana - "'Yanquis', Combined American-Cuban attempts at creating a Professional Cuban Army, 1868-1922" (tentatively)
  • Matthew J. Saxton - "Loyalty or Treason: Men of Hancock at Bennington"
  • Thomas Schellhammer
  • Chris Schnupp - "Failure in Organizational Leadership: Effectiveness of the Berdan Sharpshooters"
  • David Schroeder
  • Stanley Schwartz - "From Battlefields and Campgrounds to Podiums and Paperwork: Civil War Veterans' Politics and Policymaking, 1870-1900"
  • Barry Scott - "Future of Strategic Education"
  • James Scott - “A Blazing Hell”: An Examination of the March 9, 1945, Firebombing of Tokyo
  • Mary S. Shuman
  • Olli Siitonen - "Narratives of violence – The Psychology of killing and the experiences of American soldiers in the Vietnam War"
  • Eric Spenk - "Gaming the Cold War: The Reification of American Cold War Culture by Confluence of the U.S. Military and Video Games"
  • Roland Spiller - "Adapting to an Unimagined Environment: Lessons from World War I for the British Army"
  • John Stegall
  • Gregory Stern - "Designing Victory on the Civil War’s Sea: The Development and Use of Ironclad Warships in the American Civil War, 1830-1865"
  • Bryan Strawser - "How does the alt-right perceive truth?"
  • Jessica Strazzella
  • Riley Sutherland - "In Her Possession and Keeping: Revolutionary War Widows and the Politics of Family Archives, 1820-1850"
  • James Szpajcher - "Aircrew Survival Rates in Bomber Command and the Eighth Air Force: An Investigation into the Question of Bearable Casualty Rates, 1 February 1942 – 19 April 1944"
  • Carson Teuscher - "War Without Borders: An International History of Allied Coalition Warfare in the Mediterranean, 1942–1945"
  • Kate Tietzen - "Saddam Hussein’s Security Apparatus, 1968-1980"
  • Ann "Ngoc" Tran - "War on the Waters: Race, Capital, and Diasporic Vietnamese Passages Along the U.S. Gulf Coast"
  • Brian Valimont - "Riots in the Union Resulting from the Military Draft during the U.S. Civil War"
  • Matthew Vajda - "Knowing Your Enemies: Ralph Van Deman and the Origins of American Military Intelligence, 1882-1941"
  • Ashley Vance - "Cold War Soldiering: The US Army in Germany, 1945-1960"
  • Mel Vasquez - "The Morikami Museum and Gardens: History, Culture, Functionalism, and Community Affairs"
  • Samuel Walgren - "Freedom and Coercion"
  • Richard A. Wasserman - "New Jersey’s support to The First World War and It’s Memorialization"
  • Philip Webster - "Trilateral Relations in the Vietnam War between the United States, United Kingdom and Australia"
  • John C. Wendt - "Contracting Conquest: The Development of American Civil-Military Business Relations in the Mid-Nineteenth Century, 1835-1866"
  • Megan Whittaker
  • Rob Williams - “The Airborne Mafia: Organizational Culture and Institutional Change in the U.S. Army, 1940–1965”
  • Danielle Wirsansky - "'Doing a Real Job': The Evolution in Women's Roles in British Society Through the Lens of Female Spies, 1914-1945"
  • Michael Wynd - "The Royal New Zealand Navy in the Pacific War 1941-1946: A Small Nation’s Navy in a Big War and Our Relationship to the United States Navy"
  • Trevor Yates
  • Jennifer Yip - "Of Rice and Men: Nationalist Grain Procurement and Transportation Policies in Wartime China, 1937-1945"
  • David W. Zimmer - "Nuremberg and Leadership: A Reappraisal of Claims of Hypocrisy"