I earned my B.A. in History at San Diego State University and received my Ph. D. from the University of California, San Diego in 2000. I am currently an Associate Professor at SDSU and a historian of the modern American West (late 19th and 20th centuries), particularly California and the Pacific coast states. My book, Class and Gender Politics in  Progressive Era Seattle (University of Nevada Press, 2008) explores class and gender politics in the urban Northwest.  I have also published "’A Test of Chiffon Politics’: Gender Politics in Seattle, 1897-1917," Pacific Historical Review (November 2000) and "Racism and Temperance: The Politics of Class and Gender in Late 19th-Century Seattle" Pacific Northwest Quarterly (Spring 2004).  My current research examines Pacific Coast expositions.  I am also interested in the cultural history of the 20^th-century United States, in particular, science fiction film in the Cold War era, Star Trek, and politically-oriented music from the 1960s and 70s. My most recent publications are a chapter entitled, "Terrorizing Space: Star Trek, Terrorism, and History" in Star Trek and History (Wiley, April 2013) and an article entitled "To Boldly Go Where No History Teacher Has Gone Before" in The History Teacher (August, 2013). My current project, Fairs of the Far West: Pacific Coast Expositions and the Selling of a New West is currently under consideration for publication. Since Spring 2015 semester I also serve as the Director of SDSU's International Business Program.

Star Trek, Culture, and History