Teaching

Dope: A History of America’s War on Drugs (First Year Seminar)
This first year seminar explores the histories of drug and alcohol prohibitions, from opium bans in San Francisco in the late 19th Century, to nationwide Prohibition in the 1920s and 1930s, to the modern war on drugs and mass incarceration.

Introduction to Digital Humanities (First Year Seminar)
This first year seminar introduces undergraduate students to digital humanities: the suite of solutions to the problems posed by new data sets in the humanities. Students explore key concepts, gain a working knowledge of digital tools, examine existing DH projects, and create their own.

Historical Approaches to American Studies (AMST 202)
This course introduces undergraduates to American Studies through histories of the present–student-led explorations of the histories of topics of pressing current interest.

photo by Megan May

Historical Analysis of the American South (AMST 210)
This course explores the peoples, religions, traditions, sites, and histories of the American south, from the Jews of Memphis, to the boxer Jack Johnson, to the swamps of North Carolina, to Popeye’s Chicken.

Crimes and Punishments (AMST 278)
From the witches of Salem to welfare queens, from the stocks to the prison-industrial complex, from Blackbeard the pirate to Freeway Rick Ross, this course explores crime, punishment, and deviance through a historical lens.

HIST/FOLK 670: Introduction to Oral History
Theoretical engagement with and practical experience with oral history.

Incarceration in America (AMST 714)
History, theory, futures on America’s unique problem.

Digital American Studies (AMST 840)
This graduate course offers students a broad survey of digital concepts, methodologies, and tools.

Digital Humanities Practicum (AMST 850)
This graduate course introduces students to a suite of digital problem-solving tools as they design their own digital projects over the course of the semester.