Welcome!
Born and raised in Independence, Missouri, I am an American religious historian who studies Mormons and pilgrimage in contemporary America. Currently, I am an Andrew W. Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellow in Religion at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. I began my career as a high school history teacher and completed a BSE in secondary social studies education from the University of Central Missouri (2001) as well as an MA in history from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (2004). I pursued graduate study in religious studies at The University of Iowa (PhD, 2010) where I studied under T. Dwight Bozeman. As a teacher, I have experience instructing a wide range of students, from high school sophomores to college seniors. As a researcher and writer, beyond pilgrimage studies, my interests include religion and children, millennialist movements, new religious movements, Puritans, and Native American religions.