accomplishments
EDUCATION
Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL December 2000
Ph.D., United States Public Policy History
Additional Specialization: African American History
Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL December 1992
Masters in Art, Major: History
Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ December 1985
Bachelors of Art, Major: Psychology
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Elgin Community College August 2021-present
Professor II
Northern Seminary January 2018-Present
Adjunct Professor
Benedictine University, Lisle, IL August 2005 – 2021
Professor
Chair August 2005-2015; and 2019-2021
Associate Professor of History August 1995 – 2000
Assistant Professor of History 1993 – May 1995
Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL August 1991 – Dec. 1992
Teaching Assistant
East Aurora School District 131, Aurora, IL August 1990- Dec. 1992
Substitute Teacher
ACADEMIC AWARDS
· Benedictine University Distinguished Faculty Award (Service) April 2019
· Benedictine University Judith Ann Whinfrey Faculty Leadership Award April 2015
· Benedictine University Distinguished Faculty (service) April 2010
· Lilly Foundation Scholars Seminar: June 2005
· Herbert Hoover Presidential Library Research Grant June 1997
· Illinois Consortium Educational Opportunity Fellowship, at the State of Illinois August 1994
· Carter G. Woodson Fellowship, Northern Illinois University August 1992
· Rhoten A. Smith Scholarship, Northern Illinois University August 1991
PUBLICATIONS
Author and Project Director for the Department of Education’s UISFL Title VI Award 2014, “Developing a Middle East Studies Concentration within a Global Studies Major.”
Author and Project Director for the Department of Education’s UISFL Title VI Award 2009, “Developing a China Studies Concentration within a Global Studies Major.”
Black Face, White Utopia: Reflections on African Americans in Advertising in Utopian Images and Narratives in Advertising: Dreams for Sale Luigi Manca ed. (New York: Lexington Books, 2012)
Book Review of The Life of Herbert Hoover: Imperfect Visionary, by Kendrick A. Clements, in Journal of American History (2011) 98 (1): 235-236.
Book Review of The Life of Herbert Hoover: Fighting Quaker, 1928–1933. By Glen Jeansonne, in Journal of American History (2013) 100 (2): 563.
Herbert Hoover, Unemployment and the Public Sphere: A Conceptual History, 1919 – 1933. (Lanham: University Press of America, 2005)
Albert Camus’ The Plague: Finding Meaning in a Post-Modern World in Patrick T Flynn ed. Substance, Judgment and Evaluation: Seeking the Worth of a Liberal Arts, Core Text Education (Lanham: University Press of America, 2010)
PRESENTATIONS (Brief Selection)
Elgin Community College M.A.G.I.C.
Black History IS American History, the Story of Rock and Roll April 2024
Elgin Community College Bill Pelz Global Speaker Series
Understanding the History and Politics of the Gaza Conflict February 2024
Elgin Community College Bill Pelz Global Speaker Series
A Brief History and Analysis of the war in Ukraine October 2023
Elgin Community College Bill Pelz Global Speaker Series
“Political Pawns: Global Migration and the Case of Migrant Bussing” October 2022
Fox Valley Citizens for Peace and Justice
“What Does the United States Owe Pakistan: Global Environmental Justice” October 2022
Elgin Community College Bill Pelz Global Speaker Series
“Afghanistan, ‘The Graveyard of Empires’ Lessons Learned November 2021
AsiaNetwork National Conference
“Teaching the Vietnam War with an Emphasis on Moral Trauma” April 2022
Elgin Community College M.A.G.I.C.
“The Moynihan Report and the Legacy of the ‘Broken Black Family” February 2021
Axia Insurance Company
“Why are We Saying Radical Inclusion Now February 2021
Illinois Math and Science Academy
“Why We Can’t Wait: The Need for Radical Inclusion Now” February 2021
City Of Elgin Community Conversation
The New Jim Crow January 2021
Elgin Community College M.A.G.I.C.
“Why are THESE not Monuments” June 2020
Illinois Math and Science Academy
“Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community” February 2018
Society of Philosophy and History of Education
“Teaching Vietnam: Pedagogy and Historical Memory” October 2020
Northern Seminary, Faith Leaders Symposium August 2018
“Re-thinking the Language of Racial Re-Conciliation: Teaching Love, Building Community.”
AsiaNetwork National Conference
“Shall I Conjure Ghosts? Vietnam Veterans and the Choice of Return” April 2017
City of Elgin: Black History Family Festival Keynote
“Talking Race, Building Community: The Challenge of Re-Segregation in Education” February 2017
Elgin Community College,
“The Ghetto is NOT Organic: Poverty, Race and Housing in Chicago” February 2017
East Aurora School District 131
Curriculum writer and Director, “STEM, Through History, Reading
and Art” Summer enrichment program for 6-12 year olds August 2016
Elgin Community College
“The New American Slavery: The Prison Industrial Complex and the Nihilistic Threat,” February 2017
Elgin Community School District U-46 November 2015
Race, Education, and Prisons: Connections and Solutions
Two day Workshop
City of Elgin Martin Luther King Jr.. City Breakfast January 2015
Where DO We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?
AsiaNetwork Conference April 2014
Moving Spirits: Modernity and Animism in Vietnam
AsiaNetwork Annual Conference April 2013
Vietnam in the Era of Doi Moi: A Personal Reflection
Benedictine Pedagogy Conference May 2012
Conversatio: Transformational Teaching for the Public Good
Using the Radical Pedagogy of the Rule of St. Benedict
Midwest Culturally Inclusive Conference September 2011
Plenary Speaker
Mothership Connection: Love, Soul, Music and Revolution
Benedictine Pedagogy Conference May 2010
Benedictine University’s Faith and Reason Symposium:
The Search for Transformation from the Local to the Institutional to the Global
Association for the Study of African American Life and History Conference September 2010
The Nihilistic Threat and the Political Economy of the Prison Industrial Complex
Memberships
· President of the Board, Study Circles Illinois
· Board Member AsiaNetwork
· Organization of American Historians
· American Studies Association
· Global Studies Association- North America
· Fox Valley Ministerial Alliance
· DuPage County NAACP, Chair Criminal Justice Committee
· Quad-County Urban League
· Phi Alpha Theta, The National History Honor Society, Chapter Advisor
· Northern Illinois Jobs with Justice, Advisory board