Copyrights, Then and Now.
Questions that motivate my academic research -- questions of the political and economic stakes of information access, questions of how we communicate and commodify ideas across local, national, and global lines, questions of how the principles and the practices of artistic and scientific innovation feature in multiple forms of mapping -- directly intersect with my work in the present day landscape of digital media, and in public history.
My role as the social media editor for the Journal of the Early Republic and its online platform, The Panorama is a bridge between the academic study of Early American history and how its disseminated in twenty-first century communication. I also engaged with this type of work as the former reviews editor for SHARP News, the quarterly digital publication for the Society of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing, a position I held between February of 2020 and 2024.
I'm similarly involved with multiple digital humanities and public history efforts, particularly those that involve pedagogy. For several years, I contributed to the websites, The Junto and Teaching United States History, and served as a chapter editor for the online, open access textbook, The American Yawp. I've been an on-camera subject expert for the BBC Two television series, Great American Railways as well as other video documentaries and podcasts, and for the Gilder Lehman Institute and Pace University Masters in History program. I also recently contributed to the new C-Span series, a collaboration with the Library of Congress, “Great Books in American History.” I frequently partner with pre k-12 and museum educators on events and talks, and with revolutionary commemoration initiatives at the National Park Service (NPS). I also collaborate with an interdisciplinary group of colleagues at Iona on a “Data Science for Future Presidents” working group.
Here is a sample of our work, which won the 2015 American Historical Association poster prize. If you'd like more information, reach out to us anytime, and check out Micki's extraordinary DH portfolio at her website.
Inspired by the collaborative opportunities that DH supports, I am working with my colleagues and friends, Dr. John Blanton and Micki Kaufman, on an exploration of William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England. We've presented this ongoing project at several institutions, and have also led a workshop on digital history to masters students. Published in August of 2020, I co-organized a special issue of the journal, New York History, with editors Devin Lander, New York State Historian, Dr. Jennifer Lemak, Chief Curator of History, New York State Museum, and my colleague at Iona, Dr. Michael Crowder, ITPS Public Historian.
Combing digital history with present-day topics, I am thrilled to be a co-editor for the forthcoming collection for Cornell University Press with Dr. Mark Boonshoft and Dr. Ben Wright called American Revolutions in the Digital Age. American Revolutions in the Digital Age will be available both in print and digitally open-access in August of 2024. It’s open-access availability was made possible via a subvention from Iona University and the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation. Please reach out if you’d like further details about the book or to incorporate it into your classrooms!
There are many other exciting projects underway at the ITPS. I have served as an administrator and director for more than six years, managing extensive budget, grant, and fellowship opportunities while orienting the ITPS’ strategic plan around digital humanities, public history, and archival studies. To continue and expand those efforts, in the spring of 2024 I facilitated a one-million dollar donation from renowned philanthropist and book collector, Sid Lapidus. I am incredibly grateful to Ruth and Sid for their immense generosity, support, and friendship. For some highlights of our progress, check out the gallery below or please visit the ITPS research portal at http://theitps.org/!
