Graduate Students
| Ph.D. Students | M.A. Students |
Ph.D. Students
Fields: 18th and 19th century American-Canadian religious history; American-Canadian literary history
Advisor: Scott See
Education: B.A., University of Maine-Machias; M.A., University of Maine-Orono
Dissertation topic/title: The Freewill and Free Christian Baptist Movements in Maine and New Brunswick
Abigail Davis
Fields: Environmental History, History of Science & Technology, Intellectual History, Maine History, Historical Geography, Medieval Pilgrimage History
Advisor: Richard Judd
Education: B.A., Western State College (CO); M.A., University of Maine-Orono
Dissertation topic/title: An environmental, intellectual and cultural history of the Appalachian Trail. I examine evolving ideas of the Trail from its inception in 1921 through the passage of the 1968 National Trails System Act.
Charles Deshaies
Fields: Canadian-American history
Advisor: Scott See
Education: B.A., SUNY-Potsdam; M.A., SUNY-Empire State
Dissertation topic/title: The Failure of Democratic Socialism to take root in Quebec, 1930-1970
Notes of Interest: Chuck is very active with UMaine’s Club Canada and the Canadian-American Center. Chuck is also an avid baseball fan, and is a supporter of the Washington Nationals, formerly the Montreal Expos.
Jordan Fike
Fields: Colonial America
Advisor: Liam Riordan
Education: B.A., M.A., Arkansas State University
Dissertation topic/title: undecided
Terri Garner
Fields: 19th century U.S. history; women’s history
Advisor: Marli Weiner
Education: B.A., Chatham College, M.A., University of Colorado-Denver
Dissertation topic/title: “Northern Women during the Civil War: Did it Really Matter?”
Notes of Interest: Terry was recently named as the Director of the William J. Clinton Library in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Robert Gee
Fields: Environmental history
Advisor: Richard Judd
Education: B.A., Colby College; M.A., University of New Hampshire
Dissertation topic/title: Atlantic Borderlands and International Resource Management in the Early Industrial Fishery
Presentations: Rob has presented his research at the History of Marine Animal Populations summer meeting at the University of Southern Denmark in 2001, the American Society for Environmental History annual conference in Victoria, British Columbia, in 2004, and in Tallahassee, Florida in 2009, the Alice R. Stewart Lecture Series at the University of Maine, and the New England Historical Association conference in 2009.
Notes of Interest: Rob has been an adjunct instructor of history at Southern New Hampshire University and Hesser College in Manchester, New Hampshire, and is a Registered Maine Guide with Coastal Kayaking in Bar Harbor, Maine.
John Hall
Fields: Colonial U.S.
Advisor: Liam Riordan
Education: B.A., University of Maine-Farmington; M.A., University of Southern Maine
Dissertation topic/title: John’s dissertation examines the uses of literacy in Colonial America.
Robert Hodges
Fields: Revolutionary America, 1765-1815
Advisor: Liam Riordan
Education: B.A., Rutgers University; M.A., Rutgers University
Dissertation topic/title: Robert’s dissertation will be a comparative examination of the primary and secondary educational systems of Massachusetts and Loyalist New Brunswick, from 1784-1815. He will explore the role of morality within the educational experience, as well as how education helped foster a sense of national identity.
Presentations: As a master’s student, Robert presented a paper entitled “A Violation of Trust: Abraham Lincoln and the Restored Government of Virginia” at the 19th Annual Mid-America Conference on History in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Awards: Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant, 2009, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Maine
Notes of Interest: Robert enjoys long walks along the beach, going to baseball games (Philadelphia Phillies and Toronto Blue Jays), cooking, pet dogs, wolves, and watching movies starring Christian Bale (the worlds greatest actor).
Charles H. Lagerbom
Fields: American History, Maine History
Advisor: Richard Judd
Education: B.A., Kansas State University; M.A., University of Maine
Dissertation topic/title: The Connections Between Maine and the Polar Regions: Historical, Economic, Scientific & Cultural
Publications: The Fifth Man: Life of H.R. Bowers (Caedmon of Whitby, 1999)
Edward Martin
Fields: 19th Century U.S. History, Maritime History
Advisor: Liam Riordan
Education: M.A. Boston College
Tom McCord
Fields: 20th century U.S., urban history, history of technology
Advisor: Howard P. Segal
Education: M.A. University of Maine; B.A. Western Kentucky University
Dissertation topic/title: “Soul of a City: Memory, Modernism, and Urban Renewal in Bangor, Maine.”
Katherine O’Flaherty
Fields: Immigration and Refugee History, 20th Century U.S. History, American Popular Culture
Advisor: Elizabeth McKillen
Education: B.A., Felician College (NJ); M.A., Fairleigh Dickinson University (NJ)
Dissertation topic/title: “Well Founded Fear: A Social and Legislative History of the Refugee Act of 1980″
Presentations: Katherine presented her work in a poster session at the American Historical Association’s annual conference in 2008 and 2009, American Society for Environmental History in 2009.
Notes of Interest: Katherine is also pursuing an Ed.D in Higher Education Leadership at the University of Maine. Her research interests include History of Higher Education, distance education, and graduate education in the humanities. Her dissertation research will examine the discipline of history in the liberal arts curriculum.
Joshua Parda
Fields: U.S. environmental history
Advisor: Richard Judd
Education: B.A., Eastern Connecticut State University
Thesis topic: The relationship between religion (specifically Christianity) and the American environmental movement.
Notes of Interest: Josh is co-founder of a movement to replace the Black Bear mascot of the University of Maine with Rufus the Rottweiler.
John Paton
Fields: International History, U.S.-Latin American Relations
Advisor: Elizabeth McKillen
Education: B.A., University of Southern Maine; M.A., University of Southern Maine
Dissertation topic/title: Popular opposition to U.S. intervention in the Dominican Republic
Presentations: Norlands Humanities Conference, 2008
Micah Pawling
Fields: Native American history, Canadian history, American history, and Environmental history
Advisor: Jacques Ferland
Education: B.A., University of Delaware; M.A., University of Maine
Dissertation topic/title: Nineteenth-century Wabanaki Petitions to Maine, New Brunswick, and Quebec
Presentations: Micah has a long list of presentations, some of the highlights of which include papers presented at the 1999, 2000, and 2002 Annual Meetings of the American Society for Ethnohistory, the 2001 Association of Canadian Studies in the United States, the 2003 Canadian Historical Association, the 2004 Tenth Annual Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture Conference, and in 2007 at the preliminary meeting for the Passamaquoddy First Nation recognition in Canada.
Publications: With John Bear Mitchell, “Maine Indian Claims Settlement Acts of 1980,” in Treaties with American Indians: An Encyclopedia of Rights, Conflicts, and Sovereignty (2008); edited with an introduction, Wabanaki Homeland and the New State of Maine: The 1820 Journal and Plans of Survey of Joseph Treat (2007); with David Sanger and Donald G. Soctomah, “Passamaquoddy Homeland and Language: The Importance of Place,” in Cross-Cultural Collaboration: Native Peoples and Archaeology in the Northeastern United States (2006); multiple atlas plates in The Historical Atlas of Maine (forthcoming 2009). Micah has also written a number of book reviews appearing in Maine History and North American Archaeologist.
Notes of Interest: Micah enjoys running, hiking, canoeing, boating, and antiques.
Larry Stallings
Fields: U.S. history; environmental history
Advisor: Richard Judd
Education: B.A., Clemson University; M.A., Wake Forest University
Dissertation topic/title: Wabanaki and river life
Notes of Interest: Originally from South Carolina, Larry enjoys the outdoors especially kayaking, hiking and fly-fishing.
Stefano Tijerina
Fields: Canadian history, Latin American history (with a focus on Colombia)
Advisor: Scott See
Education: B.A., Clark University (MA); M.A., Universidad de los Andes (Bogota, Colombia); MPA, University of Maine-Orono
Dissertation topic/title: Stefano’s dissertation will examine 20th century Canadian-Colombian relations, particularly the impact if economic and development aid and the role of Canada in Colombia’s transition from import substitution industrialization to neo-liberalism.
Presentations: Stefano has presented papers at the University of Maine’s Women in the Curriculum series, as well as for the university’s Socialist and Marxist Lecture Series, including a paper entitled “Opportunism in American Foreign Policy: The Assassination of Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, April 9, 1948″ in 2006.
David Turpie
Fields: U.S. foreign relations; southern history; African American history
Advisor: Elizabeth McKillen
Education: B.A., University of Tennessee-Knoxville; M.A., University of Memphis
Dissertation topic/title: “The Road to Reunion? Southern Opposition to War and U.S. Imperialism, 1898-1916″
Publications: “From Broadway to Hollywood: The Image of the 1939 University of Tennessee Football Team and the Americanization of the South,” Journal of Sport History (Spring 2008). David has had several entries on the Sikh Wars published in The Encyclopedia of the Age of Imperialism, 1800-1914, which was published by Greenwood Press in 2008, and has also written five chapters for a forthcoming book entitled Conflicts in American History: Early National Period and Expansion, 1790-1850.
Notes of Interest: David is co-founder of a movement to replace the Black Bear mascot of the University of Maine with Rufus the Rottweiler.
Jennie Woodard
Fields: 20th century U.S. history; popular culture, especially fashion
Advisor: Nathan Godfried
Education: B.A., University of Maine-Orono; M.A., University of Maine-Orono
Dissertation topic/title: Jennie’s dissertation is a biography of Elizabeth Hawes, a labor activist and fashion commentator.
Presentations: Jennie presented a paper entitled “From Superwoman to Supergirl: The Construct of Teenage Girls ‘Having It All’ in Buffy the Vampire Slayer” at the 2008 Popular Culture Association’s conference in San Francisco.
Notes of Interest: Jennie recently published a children’s novel called Mardelia and the Princess of Thean.
Helen York
Fields: Media history
Advisor: Nathan Godfried
Education: BFA, Kent State University; MFA, Ohio State University
M.A. Students
Fields: Post-World War II Foreign Policy, Popular Culture, History of Education
Advisor: Elizabeth McKillen
Education: B.S., Indiana University; M.S., Indiana University
Thesis Topic: The experience and implications of Herman B. Wells’ work in Germany following World War II
Publications: Currently working on 10 entries in the ABL-CLIOs encyclopedia project, Movies and American Culture
Notes of Interest: Lucas is from Indiana, or as he likes to call it, “The Motherland.” Having worked professionally in the field of Student Affairs at Indiana University, University of Maryland – College Park, and University of Alaska – Anchorage, Lucas has a passion for the academic and leadership development of college students. I am always willing to chat history, movies, politics, sports or whatever is on your mind. Please feel free to contact me at lucas.calhoun@umit.maine.edu
Linda Costelloe
Fields: Women’s history; women’s studies; and the women’s foreign mission movement
Advisor: Marli Weiner
Education: B.A., California State University, Northridge
Thesis topic: Linda’s thesis examines the interactions between Congregational female missionaries from Maine, the women abroad with whom they worked and the Woman’s Board of Mission members in Maine.
James Francis
Fields: Native American history, environmental history, Maine history
Advisor: Richard Judd
Education: B.A, University of Maine
Thesis topic: James is studying the connection between Wabanaki people and the landscape in Maine and the Maritimes
Publications: “Burnt Harvest, Penobscot People and Fire,”Maine History (October 2008).
Notes of Interest: James is a member of the Penobscot Nation and is the Tribal Historian. He isalso a photographer, graphic artist and fiction writer.
Tim Garrity
Fields: American History; Maine History
Advisor: Richard Judd
Education: B.S., Southern Illinois University; M.H.S.A., George Washington University
Thesis Title/Topic: Finding History on the Blue Hill Way (The Blue Hill Way is a proposed 100-mile recreational trail that would encircle the Blue Hill Penninsula)
Notes of Interest: Tim is intrigued at the sight of an old truck melting away in the woods. How did it get there? Who owned it? What kind of truck is that? This curiosity about the landscape was increased when he and his wife Lynn hiked the Dingle Way in Ireland. They came back from that trip thinking that a similar long-distance trail could be created on the coast of Maine.
Maria Girouard
Fields: Modern U.S.; environmental history; Native American history, especially in the Northeast
Advisor: Jacques Ferland
Education: B.A., University of Maine
Thesis title: “The Original Meaning and Intent of the Indian Land Claims: Perspectives from the Tribes”
Notes of Interest: Maria is from the Penobscot Nation, currently residing in Orono. She has worked for the Wabanaki Center at the University of Maine since December 2004 and is also employed by the Penobscot Indian Nation. Maria has a particular interest in environmental and social justice issues, and is affiliated with the Penobscot River Restoration Project as a project ambassador; the Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine as a steering committee member; and Maine Woods Forever as a board member.
Tom Gray
Fields: European History
Advisor: Stephen Miller
Education: B.A. European History, minor in English Literature University of Delaware, MAT Social Studies, University of Maine, Orono.
Thesis title: Tom’s particular focus is the impact of contemporary devolution movements on British cultural and national identities
Notes of Interest: Tom has been teaching U.S., World, and European History at Camden Hills Regional High School in Rockport, Maine, where he has also served as Social Studies Department Head since
Peg Kearney
Fields: Colonial New England
Advisor: Liam Riordan
Education: B.A., University of Southern Maine
Thesis topic: Peg’s thesis examines how the political upheaval of the Dominion of New England period and contributed to the social upheaval of the late 17th century Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Notes of Interest: Peg is also the manager of IT Support Services at the University of Maine.
Erja-Annukka Lipponen
Fields: European history; classical tradition
Advisor: Jay Bregman
Education: B.A.; M.A.T., University of Maine
Thesis topic: Erja’s thesis examines Neoplatonic influence in 19th century New England
Presentations: “Philothea: 19th century New England Neoplatonism?,” International Society for Neoplatonic Studies Conference, Helsinki, Finland, 2007
Notes of Interest: Erja also organizes specialty travel tours (usually with a historical theme) to international and domestic destinations. (www.eurynomejourneys.com)
Joseph R. Miller
Fields: American diplomatic and military history
Advisor: Richard Judd
Education: B.A., North Georgia College and State University
Thesis topic: Citizen militias in the Carolinas during theAmerican Revolution
Notes of Interest: Joseph served as an Infantry Officer in the 82nd Airborne for four years. He also served as a heavy artillery weapons platoon leader on two four-month rotations in Iraq for theelections. He currently teaches Sophomore Military Science, Military History and Tactics for the ROTC department.
Jenna Morency
Fields: British Imperialism
Advisor: Stephen Miller
Education: B.A., University of Maine-Farmington
Thesis topic: American citizens transported to Van Diemen’s Land
Notes of Interest: Jenna was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Australia in 2008.
Barry Morgan
Fields: Popular culture, African America
Advisor: Nathan Godfried
Education: B.A., Purdue University
Thesis topic: African American films of the 1970s
Notes of Interest: Barry is an avid film buff. He has written several screen plays and directed an independent film called Gamma. He is currenty working on a children’s novel.
William Quintana
Fields: science and technology, economic history
Advisor: Richard Judd
Education: B.S., Southern Illinois University
Thesis topic: interested in innovators and inventors fromMaine
Notes of Interest: William is an expert on the development of human-borne computing for harsh environs.
Peggy Solic
Fields: Women’s history, 20th century U.S., intellectual history
Education: B.A., Saint Mary’s College (IN)
Thesis topic: the development of Western feminist theory
Publications: “A Ten Year Retrospective Review of Catholic Educational Research,” Catholic Education: A Journal of Inquiry and Practice, Vol. 11, no. 4 (2008): 428-441 (with J. Frabutt, R. Nuzzi, and T. Hunt).
William Wentworth
Robert Woods
Fields: Early New England, particularly Maine; early Canada
Advisor: Richard Judd
Education: BBA, National University; HBA, University of Utah
Thesis topic: Queen City: Life and Lumbering in Bangor, Maine, 1830-1870