Biography:
Education
- Ph.D. in History at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, August 2005. A Price on Freedom: The Problems and Promise of the Vietnam-Era G.I. Bills. Advisor: Dr. G. Kurt Piehler.
- M.A. in History at the University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg: 1997. Repatriation through Film: The Role of the American Film Industry in Changing Public Perceptions of Vietnam Veterans from the Late 1970s Through 1990. Advisor: Dr. Neil R. McMillen.
- B.A. in History and American Studies at the University of Wales, Swansea, U.K.: 1995, with Honours.
Publications
The Politics of Neglect: The G.I. Bill and the Vietnam Generation, manuscript forthcoming, under contract with NYU Press, anticipated 2013.
"A Price on Patriotism: The Politics and Unintended Consequences of the 1966 G.I. Bill," book chapter in Stephen R. Ortiz, ed., Veterans' Policies, Veterans' Politics: New Perspectives on Veterans in the Modern United States (University of Florida Press, 2012).
"Unwilling 'soldiers in the war on brutal inflation': Congress, the Veterans, and the Fight with Gerald R. Ford over the 1974 G.I. Bill," White House Studies, Volume 7, Issue 4, pp. 313-332.
"How the G.I. Bill Failed African-American Vietnam War Veterans," The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, Number 58 (Winter 2007/08), pp. 57-61.
"Sending the Extremists to the Cornfield: Rod Serling's Crusade Against Radical Conservatism" accepted subject to revision at The Journal of Popular Culture.
"Drawing Fire: U.S. Political Cartoons of the Iran Hostage Crisis," History Studies Online Journal, special edition on The United States of America and the Greater Middle East Relations, October 2011.
Rambo (2008) film review for Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies, Volume 39.2 (Fall 2009), pp. 72-74.
"The G.I. Bills, 1945-present" and "The Veterans Administration," entries for Peter Karsten, ed. Encyclopedia of War and American Society (Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, 2005).
"John Wayne and the Image of the World War II G.I.," "Peace Protests in America, 1898 to 1945," "War Propaganda, 1898 to 1945," and "Images of Allies, 1898 to 1945," entries for Jack Resch, ed., Americans At War: Society, Culture, and the Homefront (New York: Macmillan Reference, 2004).
"Veterans Benefits" and "The Vietnam War" entries accepted for the Encyclopedia of Military Science published by SAGE, forthcoming, 2013.
Select Presentations
"A Promise Broken: Vietnam Veterans' Conceptions of Citizenship in their Fight for Post-Service Benefits," American Historical Association meeting in Boston, January 2011
"In the Political Zone: The Liberal Activism of Rod Serling," Joint Conference of the National Popular Culture and American Culture Associations in St. Louis, April 2010.
"Rambo and the Dixie Chicks: Vietnam War Movies and the Public Discourse on Patriotism After 9/11," Society for Military History Conference in Murfreesboro, TN, April 2009.
"Federal Debates over Citizenship and Military Service in the Passage of the 1966 Cold War G.I. Bill," Policy History Conference in St. Louis, May 2008.
"Learning a New Narrative: Vietnam Veterans in Higher Education," Organization of American Historians Conference in Boston, March 2004.
"The G.I. Bill and the Vietnam Veteran Homecoming Experience, 1965-1985," The Center for the Study of War and Society's 5th Annual Edgar G. Wilson Lecture, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, April 2004.