Bio
I'm a historian and writer based from Lexington, Kentucky. After calling Washington, DC home for 16 great years, my family returned to the Bluegrass.
I'm trained as a cultural and social historian of the modern Middle East, and I like to use small, personal stories to illuminate a bigger picture. I write mainly about the places I know best (Morocco, Kentucky, DC, and the Outer Banks), but I'm open to pitches and ideas from anywhere.
I'm currently working on two book projects: a novel about a college rock band who makes it big(gish) and attempts a reunion tour, and a social history of tea and sugar in modern Morocco (a project that came out of my doctoral dissertation).
I did my B.A. at Carleton College, my M.A. at the George Washington University, and a PhD in History at Georgetown. I served as the Senior Assistant Dean for Research and Special Initiatives at the Elliott School of International Affairs at GW and a Professorial Lecturer in International Affairs, Middle East Studies, and Geography.
I am on the Board of Box2Box, a Lexington non-profit that supports refugees through soccer and after-school tutoring support. I am also a Fellow at the Tangier American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies. I have previously served on the Editorial Committee for the Middle East Report (MERIP). My research and writing has been supported by an ACLS/Mellon Dissertation Completion Fellowship, a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Award, and an American Institute for Maghrib Studies Fellowship.
I live in Lexington, Kentucky with my wife, Judy, our kids, Gibson and Maggie, and our cat, Arthur. We love the Beatles.
My full academic CV is here.
