Education
Ph.D., University of Maryland, 2006
M.A., Arizona State University, 1996
B.A., The University of Southern California, 1992
Teaching Interests
Modern Southeastern Europe
Modern Central Europe
Political violence, cleansing, and genocide
Nation- and state-building
Most Recent Publications
"The Final Solution in Southern and Southeastern Europe: Between Nazi Catalysts and Local Motivations" in Jonathan Friedman, ed., Routledge History of the Holocaust (New York: Routledge, January 2011), 265-277.
"Fascism to Finish the Nation: Bulgarian Fascism's Uncertain Palingenesis of the National Project," East Central Europe 37: 2-3 (Fall 2010), 280-302.
"Beyond Morality: Teaching about Ethnic Cleansing and Genocide," Perspectives on History 48:5 (May 2010), 39-40.
With Anca Glont, "Interwar Fascism and the Post-1989 Radical Right: Ideology, Opportunism and Historical Legacy in Bulgaria and Romania," Studies in Post-Communism 42:3 (Fall 2009), 551-571.
Honors & Awards
Charles H. Revson Fellow, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies
Fulbright-Hayes Fellow, Bulgaria
Boren Fellow for Bulgaria
Boren Fellow for Macedonia
Professional Affiliations
Association for the Study of Eastern European, Eurasian and Slavic Studies
American Historical Association
Southern Conference on Slavic Studies
Bulgarian Studies Association
Research Interests and potential topics for students
- Examining together state-building in Southeastern Europe. My book manuscript looks at the ways that Bulgaria from 1870 to 1960 sought to expand central state power. We'd refresh the historiography ("what's already been written") section, looking at English-language publications — students with language abilities Bulgarian, German, or Italian could play a more central role.
- Working together to examine discussions of fascist terrorism in American newspapers in the 1920s and 1930s. National Socialism, the National Fascist Party, the Arrow Cross, and the League of the Archangel Michael all used violence against political and cultural opponents to wrest them into submission. How much attention did newspapers like The Washington Post, the New York Times, or the Boston Herald give to these groups? Students with language ability in German, Italian, or Romanian would be welcome, but there's work to be done in English.
- Depictions of fascist ideology in American popular culture. How do films, comics, genre novels, and perhaps the internet define and address the nature of fascism? In particular, how do they represent the central ideas of fascism — and do they do so accurately? I'm looking to expanding previous work I've done on depictions of fascism in role-playing games, comics, and board games.