Centered on the intersection of state educational policy and anticommunism during the Cold War, my current research is enhanced by my Bachelor of Arts degree in education and several years of experience teaching in the elementary, secondary, and special education classrooms. My research on anticommunist conservatism in the South and its efforts to fight federally regulated desegregation efforts following Brown vs. the Board of Education investigates both the political and social context of Louisiana state education policy and curriculum. Additionally, my research into the connections between federal desegregation efforts and US foreign policy considers how both African-American and white educators in Louisiana understood desegregation within the context of the Cold War.
My current professional development pursuits include studying methods in digital humanities, using social-media as a tool for sharing research and scholarship, and creating opportunities to engage the public in the historical process.