I am an interdisciplinary scholar with a focus on contemporary American culture.

Much of my current scholarship focuses on contemporary American theatre.  With Gabriel Diego Hernández and Rachel Elmer, I am the author of “‘Eyes Open, Arms Open, Mind Open, Heart Open’:  Identity, Place, Parenthood, and the Preservation of Puerto Rican-ness in Gabriel Diego Hernández and Rachel Elmer’s Quarter Rican,” which will be published in David Davila, Teddy Alexis Rodriguez, and Daphne Sicre, eds., Routledge Companion to New Latine & Caribbean Musical Theatre.  My chapter “‘I Wanted You to See Me in My Uniform’:  Larry, Queerness, and Reflections of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ in Fat Ham,” appears in Valerie Clayman Pye and Danielle Rosvally, eds., Mad Hard:  Fat Ham and the Question of Cultural Reclamation, part of the Macmillan Reproducing Shakespeare Series (2026).  At present, I am writing a study and analysis of Gavin Creel’s musical Walk on Through:  Confessions of a Museum Novice.

I am also writing a study of the U. S. Army General Philip Sheridan statue in Christopher Park, part of the Stonewall National Monument, in New York City.

My scholarship also appears in short form in The New York Public Library’s Jefferson Market Library Zine, including “Six Trees,” (September 11th 25th Anniversary Edition, 2026), and “Rainbow Bison,” (Summer 2026).

I am the author of Sea Change at Annapolis:  The United States Naval Academy, 1949-2000 (2006) and am the co-author of the successful National Register of Historic Places Nomination for the Van Gelder Recording Studio and Home in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey (2022).  My scholarship has also been published in The Encyclopedia of Military Science, The New Georgia Encyclopedia, The International Journal of Naval History, The Georgia Historical Quarterly, and the online journal Tropics of Meta.  My University of Georgia-focused scholarship includes my Masters thesis, “‘Tomorrow We Fly’:  A History of the United States Navy Pre-Flight School on the Campus of the University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia,” (1994) and a state historic marker, “United States Navy Pre-Flight School,” located on the North Campus.

At the university, I serve as the Faculty Advisor for Exit 245 Men's Acappella, the Kinetix Breakdance Club, and the Skate Club.  I am a founding member of the Hispanic Caucus, and I am a member of the Native American & Indigenous Working Group.

I serve as the Chair of the Historic Preservation Committee of the Bergen County Historical Society in New Jersey, and I serve on the Dunkerhook African American Community Advising Board, a collaborative archaeological and historic preservation project with Montclair State University.

Courses Taught:

AMST 200, Introduction to American Studies

IDLS 381/ ENVT 300/ HON 300, Environmental Thought and Activism

IDLS 382, Contemporary United States

IDLS 385/ HON 300/ UNST 300, The Unfinished Journey of People of Color in the U. S.

IDLS 486, Independent Scholars and General Studies Internship and Field Experience

Education:

Ph.D. University of Arizona

M.A. & A. B. University of Georgia

M.A. Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce

Areas of Expertise:

• cultural, landscape, and historic preservation
• surfing and environmental activism
• American identity, place, culture, and theater
• S. Naval Academy