Class of 2001
Bachelor of Arts in History, Honours

What have you been up to since leaving Crandall?

Upon graduating from Crandall, I headed off to Queen’s University to complete a MA in European and Jewish history. After working and studying for a few years, I enrolled in the PhD program (History) at the University of Toronto, studying modern European and African history, as well as Jewish Studies. I defended my dissertation on the Salvation Army in Germany in 2015. I then taught at the University of Toronto, Lakehead University, Orillia, and the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University in Worcester, MA.

In July 2018 I began a new position at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum – truly, a dream job for me. I am a Program Officer for Programs on Ethics, Religion, and the Holocaust in the Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies. Our office works with academics, clergy, religious representatives, and interfaith groups who come to the Museum to learn about this history and the lessons it may offer people today. I plan faculty seminars and research workshops, meet with students and clergy groups, and continue my own research and writing.

How has Crandall prepared you for the future?

The history courses I took at Crandall University and the mentorship of my professors gave me a solid foundation for continuing with graduate studies. The History major is falling out of favour in many universities but Crandall has had a long tradition of graduating fine young historians who have gone to various graduate programs and careers.

My experience growing up in the Atlantic Baptist context has shaped my approach to my research on Christian minority groups in Germany in the 1930s and 40s. I have a religious literacy that is increasingly rare in my generation and I can interact easily with people from a wide array of faith traditions. Most importantly, I have a particular insider’s perspective of how religious identities and religious communities exist in larger cultural contexts. It is undoubtedly my Baptist upbringing (including my time at Crandall University) that continues to shape my intellectual queries about Christianity, politics, and conflict.