Biographies of Current Graduate Students

Graduate students in the Department of History are pursuing path-breaking research, winning regional and national awards, and attending the most prestigious conferences in their fields. [If you are interesting in adding your name to our growing list of graduate student bios, please contact HGS president, Tim Hemmis.

Chad Boykin
Chad Boykin is a native of Mobile, Alabama and received his Bachelor’s Degree in both History and Theology, with a minor in Philosophy, from Spring Hill College in May of 2009. During his undergraduate tenure, Chad received both the Howard Smith and the Ron Drago Awards for excellence in the field of History. He is a first year Master’s student with a research emphasis on the relationship between the church and society in medieval England. More specifically, Chad’s research focuses on the influence of penitential literature (e.g., penitential handbooks, poetry, and homilies) in late Anglo-Saxon society.

Denise Carlin
Denise is a second year M.A. student focusing on Medieval European History with a secondary concentration in War and Society. She received her B.A. in History, with a double minor in Spanish and World Politics, from Lycoming College. Her thesis in progress, "The Limits Of Convivencia: Economic Legislation of Religious Minorities In Twelfth- And Thirteenth-Century Spain," is a micro-examination of secular economic legislation in Aragon and Castile. She argues that laws promulgated a society in both regions that places Christians on top, Jews in the middle, and Muslims at the bottom. Yet strict religious isolation and discrimination against Jews and Muslims waivered in economic legislation and practices. Ultimately, a pan-Christian understanding and treatment of religious minorities demonstrated that economic advantages triumphed the ideology of separation. Her research interests include the politics and culture produced by a multi- and inter-faith population in Spain during the 12th and 13th centuries, specifically the role of Muslims and Jews.

Shane Hand
MA; History, and Library & Information Science
Shane has BA from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa and an AS from Jefferson State Community College, Birmingham, AL. His research interests include: Late 19th and early 20th century U.S. History, including the history of capitalism and the socio-economic impacts of a "free market.

Matthew Monroe
Matt is a native of Starkville, Mississippi. After graduating from Mississippi State University I was honored to take the trek down south to Hattiesburg. My research and discussion interests include the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, the New South, and African American Culture and History. My MA thesis work focuses upon reinterpreting the civil rights struggle in Jackson, Mississippi.

Cassandra Pittman
Cassandra is a first year M.A. student studying U.S. History. She graduated from Mississippi State University in 2010 with a B.A. in History with minors in Gender Studies, Philosophy, and Religion. Her current research concerns Southern women's health care in the 20th century, with particular focus on menstruation and education.

Angela M. Riotto
Angela Riotto is a native of Pottsville, PA and received her B.A. from Juniata College, Huntingdon, PA, in history, politics, and geology (2010). Her thesis was a study of the Australian penal colony at Port Jackson, entitled “To Plant a Settlement at the Antipodes: An Analysis of the Australia Penal Colony at Port Jackson,” which combined both historical and geological methodologies. She is first year M.A. student studying American History with a minor in War and Society with an emphasis on pre-industrial warfare, specifically the American Civil War. Her current M.A. thesis topic is a comparative memory study of General Grant during the raids on Jackson, MS during the Vicksburg Campaign of 1863 and the Wilderness and Spotsylvania campaigns of 1864.

Robert Sutton
(B.S., Secondary Education, Social Studies & M.Ed. Special Education – University of Southern Mississippi) M.S. American History. Research interests are the Early American colonial period, especially the participation of African Americans in the American Revolution and during the years of the early Republic. Currently teach AP US History, AP US Government, US History 1877 to present, and American Military History, full-time at Oak Grove High School in Hattiesburg, MS.

L.B. Wilson III
L.B. is an MA Candidate in War and Society. A Mobile, Alabama native, Mr. Wilson is an Iraq War veteran and holds an MA in Education as well as a BA in History. Prior to his studies at USM, he was a secondary school teacher in Boston, Massachusetts. His current research is on the Irish Republican Army’s contribution to the intelligence war between Germany and Britain during World War II, a topic he will be presenting a paper on at Mississippi State in the spring.

Tim Young
Tim is a first year M.A. student focusing on American History with a minor in War and Society. His research interests include 19th century America, specifically the Civil War Era. His focus at present is Regimental Histories in the Confederate Army. He received his B.A. in
Political Science with a minor in History from the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina.

PhD

Patricia Michelle Buzard Boyett
Patricia Michelle Buzard Boyett is a Ph. D. candidate at the University of Southern Mississippi. Her training in her major field, US history and in her minor fields, war and society, and criminal justice, particularly emphasized African American history, racial and social justice, the American South, the Vietnam War, and terrorism. Her dissertation, “Race and Justice in Mississippi’s Central Piney Woods, 1808-2008,” argues that the Central Piney Woods, more than any other region of Mississippi, became the pivotal theater in the war for racial justice, leading the transformation of the state away from racial absolutism and toward black liberation. She received her Masters of Arts at the University of Southern Mississippi. Her thesis examined the Klan murder of Vernon F. Dahmer in Forrest County, Mississippi. She earned her undergraduate degree in history from Mississippi Valley State University where she was honored as the valedictorian and the Best History Student. She also received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theater from Arizona State University. As a visiting instructor at the University of Southern Mississippi, she particularly enjoyed teaching an honors world history course that examined oppression of the “other” and the revolts of the oppressed; and a senior-level course analyzing terrorism in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. During her graduate work, she has received several research and writing fellowships from the history department and the graduate school. She also received the RAND Gulf States Policy Institute Dissertation Scholarship Award for 2007-2008.

Ted Butler
Butler research and teaching interests include Southern history, African-American history, Reconstruction, and the Gilded Age. He is currently writing his dissertation, "Other Southerners: A Collective Biography of Mississippi Scalawags" under the direction of Dr. William Scarborough. He has published encyclopedia articles on the scalawags and Upton Sinclair. Ted has received numerous academic awards and research grants including the USM History Department's Phi Alpha Theta Award (2006) and the history department's Jay Washam Dissertation Award (2007).

Colin M. Colbourn
Colin received his Bachelors degree in History from Ball State University in 2007 with a minor in Anthropology. In the summers of 2006, 2007, and 2009 Colin interned with the U.S. Marine Corps History Division at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. While working on his Masters Degree at the University of Southern Mississippi, Colin explored U.S. History and Military Culture. Colin’s thesis and dissertation combine social and institutional history in an analysis of the U.S. Marine Corps’s employment of public relations from the turn of the twentieth century through the Commandancy of Major General John A. Lejeune. During his time at Southern Miss, Colin has traveled to Italy on a battlefield tour funded by the Cantigny First Division Foundation and served as chair and co-organizer of the 2009 International Security and Internal Safety Conference. After receiving his M.A., Colin started coursework for his Ph.D. at Southern Mississippi in August 2009.

Joseph Cates
Joseph Cates is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of History focusing on cultural and intellectual U.S. history with a transnational prospective, minoring in European history and women’s history. He received his B.A. in history from Auburn University-Montgomery in 2000 and his M.A. in history from USM in December 2002, with a major field of study in U.S. military history and a minor field in European history. As a graduate assistant at USM, he has served as a teaching assistant and as an instructor for both World History I and II and has also taught US History since 1877. He received the Graduate Teaching Award for the History Department for the 2007-08 academic year and a department travel grant in 2006 to travel to Italy to conduct research for his dissertation. His dissertation, American Society in Italy: Nineteenth Century American Visitors and the Society They Established in Italy, analyzes the community of Americans in Italy during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The dissertation examines the reasons for American travelers going to Italy, and particularly how the unique social structure of Americans in Italy, especially with American expatriates living there, made Italy a cultural tourist destination for Americans abroad.

Michael Doidge
Michael is a PhD candidate currently researching his dissertation "An Army Worth Fighting For: Doctrinal, Strategic, and Bureaucratic Transformation in the U.S. Army from 1946 to 1964." The work argues that the Army's post-World War II relationship to national security policy was the primary driving force behind the sweeping transformations it underwent during the early Cold War. A 2008 fellow at the West Point Summer Seminar in Military History, Michael was also recently awarded travel grants to the Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, and John F. Kennedy Presidential Libraries, a George Marshall/Baruch Fellowship from the George Marshall Foundation, the Harry J. Carman Fellowship, the Matthew B. Ridgway research grant, and the U. S. Army Center of Military History Dissertation Fellowship.

In addition to working on his dissertation, Michael co-edited with Professor Andrew Wiest Triumph Revisited: Historians Battle for the Vietnam War, which examines the current state of Vietnam War historiography. Published by Routledge Press, the book was released
in April of 2010. He may be contacted at doidge.michael@gmail.com.

Jason C. Engle
Jason is in his second year of PhD study, specializing Modern European History (under the direction of Dr. Michael Neiberg) with a minor field in War and Society and Social History. His current research interests include the Austro-Hungarian Empire during the First World War and is examining the world view or mentalité of its conscript and reserve enlistees and field-grade officers. He is also interested in the residual effects of the Great War on First Republic politics, particularly as it relates to Austro-fascism. Jason received his master’s degree in Military History from Norwich University (Northfield, VT) in 2008 and his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Union College (Barbourville, KY) in 1997 and worked as an application developer for Nationwide Insurance and JPMorgan Chase before deciding to pursue his doctorate. Jason has several forthcoming encyclopedia articles including entries in America’s Heroes: Medal of Honor Recipients from the Civil War to Iraq, Atrocities, Massacres, and War Crimes: An Encyclopedia, and Germany at War as well as a book review for Army History. When not reading books, writing papers, or grading, Jason enjoys traveling, spending time with his wife and son, and watching football. He may be contacted at: jasonengle@hotmail.com

John Donellan Fitzmorris III
Mr. Fitzmorris is in his fourth year in the Ph. D. War and Society Program. A graduate of Louisiana State University in 1989, Mr. Fitzmorris currently holds a Masters Degree in Religious Studies from Loyola University and a Masters in History from the University of New Orleans where he was awarded the George F. Windell Prize for Outstanding Thesis in History, titled: "We Had Lost Our Humanity: Combat Veterans and the Stress of Battle in the Second World War."

The father of one daughter (Madeleine Rose Fitzmorris) and a resident of New Orleans, Mr. Fitzmorris was a high school and middle school teacher, coach, and principal for eighteen years before returning to school to finish his Doctorate. In the War and Society Program, he has begun work on a dissertation that will examine the role of Chaplains who served during the Vietnam War. He has conducted research at the U.S. Army Chaplains' School and Archives at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina and has made the USM Study Abroad trip to Vietnam in the summer of 2009.

He currently serves as Historian for the Ancient Order of Hibernians in New Orleans, an organization for Irish Catholic men; the Knights of Columbus; the Irish Channel St. Patrick's Club; and an advisor to both the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America.

Wesley Tyler French
B.A.- American Studies, 2004
Millsaps College- Jackson, MS
M.A.- U.S. History, 2006
University of Southern Mississippi- Hattiesburg, MS

Wesley Tyler French is a Doctoral candidate and Graduate Assistant in the U.S. History Program with an emphasis on Contemporary U.S. Cultural History. The majority of his current research focuses on conceptualizations of racial identity in twentieth century media (particularly film). Wesley is currently working on a dissertation project under the direction of Dr. Curtis Austin. His dissertation research focuses on shifting depictions of black culture in American film from the late 1960s to the end of the twentieth century, primarily emphasizing the rise and fall of a black filmmaker renaissance in the 1980s and 1990s. Over the past several years, he has presented his research at a number of regional and national academic conferences. Wesley's work has also been featured in several publications, including Oral History Review and The Encyclopedia of American Counterculture.

Timothy C. Hemmis
BA History, 2006, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania
MA Social Sciences-History, 2008, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania
Thesis: Obstacle to Progress: The Legacy of Pontiac’s Rebellion
Email: Timothy.hemmis@eagle.usm.edu

Timothy C. Hemmis was born and raised in Chautauqua, New York. He attended Edinboro University, where he worked at the Fort Le Boeuf Museum in Waterford, PA. Currently he is a PhD candidate studying early American frontier history, especially focusing on eighteenth century urban development. His tentative dissertation title is "Outside the Palisade: Military-Civilian Urban Development in the Northern Borderlands, 1701-1815.” He is examining the relationship between the military and urban planning of the frontier settlements of Pittsburgh and Detroit. He is working under the direction of Dr. Kyle Zelner (William & Mary, 2003 PhD). Additionally, Mr. Hemmis has presented at several academic conferences, including the Society for Military History, and has published several articles including one in the upcoming The Encyclopedia of War entitled “The Mohawk-Mahican War, 1624-1628.”

Wesley Joyner
Wesley is a proud native of Hopewell, Virginia. Several years after receiving his B.A. in History in 2002 from the University of Virginia, he decided to pursue a career in teaching and writing history. In 2007, Wesley earned his M.A. in History from Virginia Commonwealth University. While at VCU, his Master’s Thesis focused on Peter Francisco, a famous, yet oft-forgotten Revolutionary War hero whose unique life experiences as a slave, soldier, and citizen reflected on both the limits of early American republicanism and the popular memory of Revolutionary War veterans. Wesley is currently an ABD doctoral candidate with the University of Southern Mississippi specializing in the Era of the American Revolution. Since passing his comprehensive exams in the spring of 2010, Wesley has been working on his dissertation, “Second Families of Virginia,” which focuses on the emergence and influence of professionals (i.e. merchants, lawyers, doctors, soldiers, and manufacturers) in colonial and Revolutionary Virginia. When Wesley is not reading, researching, or writing he can often be found rooting for his beloved Wahoos, complaining about the general public’s lack of historical knowledge, espousing the superiority of his home state, or simply thinking, the latter of which is his self proclaimed favorite hobby.

Christian Pinnen
Christian was born and raised near Cologne, Germany. He is a Ph.D. Candidate specializing in 18th and 19th century social history of the United States with research interest in southern borderlands, southern slavery, and southern colonial/ early national history. His Dissertation project has the working title: “Slavery and Empire: The Development of Slavery in the Natchez District, 1720-1820.” The dissertation will trace the history of slavery in Natchez and its cultural and social heritage through the rule of France, Great Britain, Spain, and the United States. Pinnen has publications in The Southern Quarterly, The Southern Historian, The Encyclopedia of African American History, theJournal of Colonialism and Colonial History and forthcoming publications in The Journal of Mississippi History and on H-French. He was awarded a scholarship from the University of Bonn, Germany to study at the University of Southern Mississippi in 2005 and he won the Phi Alpha Theta Graduate Student of the Year Award in 2008. He received the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History 2009-2010 William and Madeline Welder Smith Research Travel Award at the University of Texas at Austin and the Louisiana History Research Fellowship of the Special Collections Division of the Louisiana State University Libraries in 2009, as well as a doctoral research fellowship from the German Historical Institute in Washington, D.C. In 2010, he received the Graduate Teaching Award from the History Department at the University of Southern Mississippi. The expected completion date for his doctoral degree is December 2012.

Jason Stewart
Jason is a Ph.D. candidate specializing in the history of the Vietnam War, with an emphasis on the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. In addition to writing his dissertation, Jason is currently employed as an Oral Historian and Assistant Archivist at the Vietnam Archive at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. His dissertation work analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the South Vietnamese military and its flawed relationship with the United States through a biographical examination of controversial ARVN General Vu Van Giai. Jason is also the co-author of the book Timeline of the Vietnam War, which was published by Thunder Bay Press in 2008.

Ryan Tickle
M.A. in History from California State University-Fullerton, 2009
Thesis: "For Their Brethren Across the Sea: The African-American Protest to Abuses in the Congo Free State, 1885-1908"
B.A. in History from the University of Nebraska, 2005

While I was born and raised in Nebraska, I am arriving at USM via Orange County, CA. My research interests include: African American politics, culture, and identity formation during the turn of the twentieth century, in particular the transnational role played by world’s fairs and industrial expositions in the United States (especially the South) in each of these areas. I want to explore African American fair exhibits in depth—who guided and funded them, what was depicted, what was omitted, target audiences, etc.—to compare and contrast them with the prevailing American social and political climate, racial ideologies, and military engagements of the era. My other interests include anti-imperialism in the African Diaspora, especially Brazil, and European colonialism in Africa. In my spare time, I enjoy sipping wine, cooking, exercising (because of the cooking), painting, bird watching, and spending time with my girlfriend, Ashley. I can be contacted with any questions at ryan.tickle@eagles.usm.edu

Publications
“Gaining Ground: Displaying African-American Achievement at the 1900 Paris Exposition.” Synergy: A Journal for Graduate Student Research 1, no. 3 (Fall 2010): 67-72.
"Divided by an Ocean, United by Injustice: The African-American Fight for Human Rights in the United States and the Belgian Congo, 1880-1909.” Welebaethan Journal of History (2009): 79-93.

Robert J. Thompson III
B.A in History from Virginia Wesleyan College (Norfolk, Virginia), 2006
M.A. in History from Wilfrid Laurier University (Waterloo, Ontario), 2007
M.A. Thesis: “‘We Need You!’” The Coast Artillery Corps on the Western Front, 1917-1918

Robert is a PhD student from Alexandria, Virginia. Between 2007 and 2009, Robert taught both American and World History introductory courses as an adjunct instructor at Virginia Wesleyan College. Having lived in Australia and Canada, Robert is interested in America’s relationship with the British Commonwealth. Now at Southern Miss., Robert’s dissertation will deal with American and Australian military relations in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Besides studying history, Robert enjoys hockey, traveling and blogging.

Publications:
“Pleiku,” Viet Minh,” “Westmoreland, William.” in Encyclopedia of the Nineteen Sixties. Edited by Jim Baugess and Abbe Debolt. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, forthcoming.

Review of Allies Against The Rising Sun: The United States, the British Nations, and the Defeat of Imperial Japan. By Nicholas Evan Sarantakes. (University Press of Kansas, 2009) in Army History, forthcoming.

Rebecca Zimmer
Becky is a first year PhD student working on socio-military history. She received a BS in Biology from Elon University in 2002, and an MA in History from the University of North Carolina Wilmington in 2009. Her research interests include the common Confederate soldier of the US Civil War and company grade officers of the US Civil War. Additional interests include 19th century American society, and the socio-political struggles that led to the beginning of the US Civil War.

Department of History
http://www.usm.edu/history
601.266.4333 • history@usm.edu