Ph.D., History, University of Rochester, Rochester, N.Y.
Dissertation: “The Growing Divide: British and South African Parliamentary Attitudes to Racial Policy, 1945-1948.” Advisor: Professor Stewart Weaver.
Annual Fellowship in the Ph.D. program, Salomone Prize, Elwitt Memorial Prize. Coursework in European History (Modern, Early Modern, and Medieval), African History (especially Southern Africa, Colonial and post-Colonial), World History, Politics/Political Theory.
Fall 2002-present, Alfred State College: Successfully taught 6 classes, including Western Civilization Since 1648, International Relations, Africa and the West, The World at War: 20th Century Military History, Cross-Cultural Encounters, and Minority Cultures. Normal teaching load has been 2-3 preparations and 4-5 classes per semester (there are usually 30+ students per class). The student population includes many ethnic minority students, international students, and non-traditional students. I have continuously refined my teaching methodologies, including increasing my use of active learning, discussion, and group work to involve students more vigorously in the learning process. All classes stress critical thinking, writing, class participation, and online learning as important skills, in addition to fostering the acquisition of content knowledge. My classes also employ a mixture of lecture, discussion, student presentations, guest speakers, video presentations, and online exercises to maintain students’ engagement in the course.
Spring 2017: I will teach online for the first time. I am working with Ellen Sidey to master Blackboard and plan my course.
Fall 2011-present: Service as a “Teacher/Scholar” at Alfred State College, an honor that conveys a reduced teaching load of four courses per semester.
Fall 2012: For the second time, my reflections on my experiences with online learning were published in a Pearson booklet entitled “Learning in Action: Humanities and Social Sciences -- A Report on MyLab Efficacy.”
Spring 2012: Prepared and taught for the first time an upper-level course entitled “The World at War: 20th Century Military History.” The course has been granted permanent approval.
Spring 2009: I taught an independent study course on “The Bahamas in World History.”
Spring 2005: I taught for the first time a new course of my own design called “Africa and the West,” which covers many aspects of the political, military, diplomatic, social/cultural, and economic relationship between Sub-Saharan Africa and the West from 1500 to the present.
Spring 2004: Trained in the use of “Blackboard.”
Fall 1999, University of Rochester: After an extensive training program, including a 5-credit Pedagogy course and a teaching practicum, taught two sections of the Freshman Writing Course.
Fall 1998, University of Rochester: Teaching assistant/discussion leader for Professor Celia Applegate.
See below.
Writing, Research, and Professional Growth:
(See also SUMMARY LIST OF PUBLICATIONS, last page)
Engagement in an ongoing program of research and writing. Papers/articles/books recently written/submitted/published include:
December 2016: Signed a contract with Routledge to publish my Western Civilization textbook.
Spring 2015-present: Researched and wrote a paper, entitled “Free and Fair? Rhodesians Reflect on the Elections of 1979 and 1980,” which was presented at the June 2015 International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences in Split, Croatia. The paper has been turned into a journal article and submitted to The African Historical Review.
Fall 2013: Publication of an article, “The Strange Death of ‘Zimbabwe-Rhodesia’: The Question of British Recognition of the Muzorewa Regime in Rhodesian Public Opinion, 1979,” in the South African Historical Journal. Previously, the article was delivered in slightly different form as a paper at the conferences of the African Studies Association (November 2012) and the Southern African Historical Society (June 2013).
May 2013: Self-publication of my historical novel, Jewel of the East, in both printed and e-book forms. The novel is set in 18th century India and features British imperialism and race relations as important themes. I have promoted the book in the print media, on the radio, and via paid advertisements.
May 2010: Published “The Fork in the Road? British Reactions to the Election of An Apartheid Government in South Africa, May 1948” in Historia: The Journal of the Historical Association of South Africa.
Published a revised and updated version of my dissertation in 2009 with Verlag Dr. Müller. The book is entitled The Dawning of Apartheid: Debating Racial Policy in the British and South African Parliaments, 1945-1948.
Custom published a preliminary edition of my textbook, The Essential Guide to Western Civilization, with Pearson in 2008. I was then under contract with Oxford University Press for several years. Now I am under contract with Routledge.
“Certain Destiny: the Presentist Obsession with ‘Apartheid’ in South African History,” published in Historia, Vol. 49, No. 2, November 2004.
“Affirmative Action versus Non-Racialism in the New South Africa,” published in Fall 2004 in African Issues, issued by the African Studies Association. In 2007, this article was translated and republished in the Italian book, La societa di tutti.
“Restoration By Stages: The Debate over the House of Lords During the Reign of Richard Cromwell, 1658-1659,” published in Parliaments, Estates and Representation, Volume 24, November 2004.
2005-present: Wrote and extensively revised a two-volume Western Civilization textbook, initially for Pearson, and then for Oxford University Press, and now for Routledge.
Fall 2011-present: Service as a “Teacher/Scholar” at Alfred State College, an honor that conveys a reduced teaching load of four courses per semester.
September-October 2016: Chaired and commented on a panel at the annual conference of the New York State Association of European Historians. I continue to serve on the Executive Committee.
October 2015: Chaired and commented on a panel at the annual conference of the New York State Association of European Historians. I was also elected to serve on the Executive Committee. I previously served in 2005-2008.
Spring 2015: Received the ASC Faculty Scholarship Grant to support my attendance as a paper presenter at the International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences in Split, Croatia in June 2015.
Fall 2014: Attended the annual conference of the New York State Association of European Historians.
Summer 2013: Attended the conference of the Southern African Historical Society in Gaborone, Botswana, and traveled extensively throughout South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. My experiences were shared with my students and with the wider Alfred State community.
Fall 2012: Applied for and received the ASC Faculty Scholarship Grant and the Academic Affairs Professional Development Fund Grant, both related to my scholarly endeavors and the presentation of my research at major conferences.
Spring 2012: Prepared and taught for the first time an upper-level course entitled “The World at War: 20th Century Military History.” The course has been granted permanent approval.
September 2010-August 2011: Received a sabbatical from Alfred State College to facilitate the completion of my Western Civilization textbook.
July 2011: Submitted an Application for a Fulbright Scholarship to teach and conduct an oral history research project in and around Durban, South Africa in 2012-2013.
September 2010: Chaired a panel at the annual conference of the New York State Association of European Historians.
June 2010: Submitted an application for a Fulbright Scholarship to support an oral history research project in Durban, South Africa in 2011-2012.
July 2009: Served as the external examiner at a Master’s Thesis Defense at the University of Rochester.
July 2009: Submitted an application for a Fulbright Scholarship to support an oral history research project in Durban, South Africa in 2010-11.
May 2009: Submitted a proposal for a paper to be presented at the annual conference of the International Studies Association in New Orleans in February 2010. Proposal was accepted, but I could not attend due to financial constraints.
September 2007: Chaired a panel at the annual conference of the New York State Association of European Historians. I served on the Executive Committee of the organization from 2005-2008.
September 2006: Chaired a panel at the annual conference of the New York State Association of European Historians.
April 2006: Signed a contract with FOLIO Literary Agency to represent me and my historical novel, set in 18th century India, entitled Jewel of the East.
December 2005: Signed a contract with Longman Publishers (which subsequently merged with Pearson) to write a two-volume survey text entitled, The Essential Guide to Western Civilization. In the Fall of 2006, I received a one-course teaching load reduction to facilitate work on the textbook.
November 2005: Chaired a panel and presented a paper at the annual conference of the African Studies Association in Washington, D.C. The paper was entitled, “The Fork in the Road? British Reactions to the Election of an Apartheid Government in South Africa, May 1948.”
October 2005: Attended annual conference of the New York State Association of European Historians.
2005: Nominated by Alfred State College to attend an annual dinner hosted by the SUNY Research Foundation.
January 2005: Reviewed a Western Civilization text for Longman Publishers.
October 2004: Presented a paper at the conference of the New York State Association of European Historians in Rochester, New York on the topic of the debate over the restoration of the House of Lords in 1658-59.
2004: My short story set in contemporary Iraq, entitled “Iraqi Freedom: A Mystery,” was submitted to several literary journals for their consideration.
Visited Europe, May/June 2004, and completed successful archival research at the National Archives in London and the Labour History Archive and Study Centre in Manchester.
September 2003: Presented a paper at the conference of the New York State Association of European Historians, held in Oswego, New York.
October 2002: Served as a colloquium participant at the conference of the Society for Empirical Ethics, held in Cazenovia, New York.
Fall 2002: published a letter to the editor in the Natal Witness in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.
Researched, wrote, and revised a dissertation, completed in 2001, entitled, “The Growing Divide: British and South African Parliamentary Attitudes to Racial Policy, 1945-1948.”
Dec. 2000-Jan. 2001: Completed a research trip to Great Britain and South Africa.
May 2001: Published an opinion piece on the Kosovo conflict in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
1999: Helped edit Chivalry and Violence in Medieval Europe by Professor Richard Kaeuper at the University of Rochester.
1998-2013: Wrote a novel, entitled Jewel of the East, set in 18th century India.
1998: Wrote and Presented Second-Year Paper at the University of Rochester, entitled “Restoration by Stages: The Debate over the House of Lords during the Reign of Richard Cromwell, 1658-1659.”
Fall 2002-present: Participated fully in departmental activities, Professional Development activities, search committees, assessment, and student advisement.
Fall 2016: Began service on three College-wide committees: the Study Abroad Committee, the Promotion and Continuing Appointment Committee, and the Nominations, Elections, and Governance Committee.
Fall 2016: Chairman of the departmental Symposium Committee. We hosted a forum on the 2016 Presidential election.
Fall 2016: Service on a Search Committee for a new tenure-track Assistant Professor of Sociology.
Spring 2016-present: Supervision of an intern to help promote my novel Jewel of the East.
Spring 2016-present: Involvement in a local organization called the Friends of Long Point in Livingston County.
2015-2016: Served on a Search Committee that hired a new Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice/Sociology, and continued my service as Chairman of the department’s Social Science Curriculum Committee, helping to administer the Social Science Assessment Test for the second time to incoming freshmen in the Social Science program. The Committee also designed a Psychology minor.
Fall 2014-Spring 2015: Served as Chairman of the department's Symposium Commitee and of the Social Science Curriculum Committee. Helped to organize a symposium on the controversy surrounding the film The Interview, with Prof. Brian Quinn as speaker, and helped to organize the roll-out of the department's new Social Science Assessment Test.
March 2014: Made a presentation as part of Alfred University's Bergren Forum.
Fall 2013: Made a Presentation in the New Horizons series about my recent trip to southern Africa.
Fall 2013: Gave a short talk about my experiences traveling in southern Africa in summer 2013 to Prof. Cobb's “Global Topics Seminar.”
Fall 2013: As head of the departmental Social Science Curriculum Committee, coordinated the effort to create a pre- and post-test to evaluate students' attainment of several program learning outcomes.
Spring 2013-Spring 2016: Service on Budget and Planning Committee of Faculty Senate
Spring 2013: Attended a reception for representatives of the SUNY Research Foundation.
Spring 2013: Prepared an exhibit about my research activities for display during Professional Development Week.
Spring 2013: Attended a dinner as well as the Russell Lecture at Alfred University. The lecture was entitled: “Looking for Fascism in all the Wrong Places,” and the speaker was Dr. William Irvine of York University.
October 2012: In connection with the Ashraf Symposium, I moderated a debate focused on the Presidential election.
Summer 2012-present: Served in a leadership capacity in a community organization called “Tree Creations.” Tree Creations is building a network of treehouses in my hometown of Geneseo, NY for the public to use and enjoy.
2012-present: Service as a Board Member for the Genesee Volley Tennis and Croquet Club.
2011-2012: Service on a Search Committee for a new sociologist/anthropologist in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
2011-2012: Served as advisor to the Alfred State Political Alliance.
August 2009: Gave a talk in the “Smooth Transitions” series at Alfred State College. The talk concerned how high school teachers can better prepare their students for college-level history classes.
Fall 2008: Agreed to serve as Faculty Advisor to the “Alfred Medieval Club.”
Fall 2008: As Chairman of the Departmental Promotion and Tenure Committee, prepared letters in support of two candidates for promotion to the rank of Professor.
Fall 2008: Wrote several election-related articles for the Tor Echo at Alfred State College.
Spring 2008: Chaired departmental workload committee.
2007-2008: Chairman of the Symposium Committee.
Spring 2007: Membership in an Ad Hoc Committee studying the Mission and Vision of SUNY’s Colleges of Technology.
February 2006: Served as editor of the department’s newsletter, The Social Register.
2003-2006: Served as a Faculty Senator. I also served on the Academic Affairs Committee.
Fall 2003: I offered a Minority Issues Lecture Series.
Past leadership role in Rochester Young Professionals, which provides social, networking, and volunteering opportunities to young people in the Greater Rochester area.
Hobbies include travel, tennis, croquet, hiking, and reading/writing.