RESEARCH & TEACHING INTERESTS
Modern American history, from the nineteenth century to the present
Race in America
Transatlantic migration
History of liberalism
Republican thought in the Transatlantic World
History of Social Democracy, from Lassalle to FDR
The politics of American industry, from the “American System” to WWII
Socio-political history of American labor
EDUCATION
Ph.D. in American History, New York University
Dissertation: “Reform in the Age of Capital: The Transatlantic Roots of the American Reform Tradition, 1828–1876”
Passed Dissertation Defense with Distinction: 9 December 2019
Committee: Thomas Bender, Barbara Fields, Eric Foner, Steven Hahn, and Andrew Sartori
Major Field: American History
Minor Field: Museum Studies
Degree Conferral: 17 January 2020
M. Phil. in American History, New York University
Degree conferral: January 2019
Institute for Constitutional Studies, “Thomas Jefferson's Democratic Constitutionalism”
with Profs. Annette Gordon-Reed and Peter Onuf
Fall 2016, New-York Historical Society
M.A., New York University,
John W. Draper MA Program in Humanities & Social Thought
Thesis: “Marx on the American Civil War: Working-Class Politics in the Age of Industrial Capitalism”
Graduated, May 2012
B.A., Visual & Critical Studies
School of the Art Institute of Chicago,
Concentration: Frankfurt School Critical Theory
Graduated, June 2008
B.F.A., Photography & Sculpture
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Dual-Degree Program
Graduated, June 2008
Dissertation defense, 9 December 2019, with Barbara Fields; Thomas Bender; me; Steven Hahn; Eric Foner; and Andrew Sartori.
AWARDS & FELLOWSHIPS
Harper-Schmidt Fellowship in the Social Sciences, University of Chicago, 2022–2026
Bernard Bellush Prize in Labor History, New York Labor History Association, 2020
Normative Orders Fellowship, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Germany 2019
Global Research Initiative Fellowship, London, UK, NYU 2018
Howard Reese Prize for Best Paper in Diplomatic History 2018
Fulbright U.S. Student Program Fellowship, Germany 2017
Global Research Initiative Fellowship, Berlin, DE, NYU 2016
Jerrold Seigel Fellowship in Intellectual and Cultural History, 2015
Global Research Initiative Fellowship, Washington DC, NYU 2014
Mellon Foundation Grant, NYU 2012
Opportunity Fellowship Program, NYU 2012
Three-year Summer Fellowship, NYU 2012
Dean’s Fellowship, NYU 2012
MacCracken Award, NYU 2008
PUBLICATIONS
Reform in the Age of Capital: The Social Question in Nineteenth-Century America, book manuscript under contract with the University of Chicago Press, August 2024, forthcoming, expected fall 2025.
“A Civil Society Divided Against Itself: The Social Question in Nineteenth-Century America,” submitted to the Journal of American History, October 2024.
“The Problem of Democracy: Political Traditions in the Revolutions of 1848,” guest contribution to the Journal of the History of Ideas online, March 2018.
“The Divided Legacy of Democracy: The Transformation of the Liberal Political Tradition in the Nineteenth Century” part of the “Challenging Democratic Revolutions” series, Age of Revolutions online, August 2018.
Other Publications
“Helplessness without history: Political education after the Millennial Left,” Platypus Review 170, October 2024. Translated and printed in the German Platypus Review as “Ohnmacht ohne Geschichte: Politische Bildung nach der Millenial Linken”
“Advancing by return? An interview with Spencer A. Leonard,” Platypus Review 164, March 2024.
“Lessons Learned from the Death of the Millennial Left,” Platypus Review 137, June 2021.
“The Cancel Wars: The Legacy of the Cultural Turn in the Age of Trump,” Platypus Review 131, November 2020.
“The Fate of the American Revolution,” Platypus Review 130, October 2020.
“Monumental History,” Cæsura, Issue 0, August 2020.
“‘On the Right Side of History:’ Taylor Swift’s Miss Americana and the Gauntlet of Cultural Liberalism,” Cæsura, May 11, 2020.
“Review: The People v. O.J. Simpson,” Cæsura on May 9, 2016.
“Liberalism and Marx: An interview with Domenico Losurdo,” Platypus Review 46, May 2012.
“Two Steps Back: A reply to Chris Maisano,” Jacobin, summer issue, 2011.
“Politics of the contemporary student Left,” Platypus Review 15, September 2009
“The New School occupation and the direction of student politics: An interview with Atlee McFellin.” Platypus Review, February 2009.
“Five questions to the student Left,” Platypus Review 7, October 2008.
Review: Iran “Insights into its Religion, Politics, and Power” Platypus Review 3, March 2008.
“Marx after Marxism: An interview with Moishe Postone,” Platypus Review 3, March 2008. Translated and reprinted in French in Moishe Postone – Marx, par-delà le marxisme, Albi, Crise & Critique, coll. “Palim psao”, 2023, 463 p., pref. Clément Homs, trans. from English (United States) by Stéphane Besson, et al.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Collegiate Assistant Professor in Social Sciences Collegiate Division & Harper-Schmidt Fellow in the University of Chicago Society of Fellows, 2022–ongoing. University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Assistant Instructional Professor, “The Politics and Economics of Capitalism,” Summer Immersion Programs for Pre-College Students, University of Chicago, June–July 2024, Chicago IL
Assistant Instructional Professor in the Social Sciences Collegiate Division Core sequence, “Power, Identity, Resistance,” September 2021–June 2022. University of Chicago, Chicago, IL.
Public Lecturer, “Radical Immigrants in America” December 2017–January 2018. Jefferson Market Branch, New York Public Library, Manhattan, NY.
Adjunct Professor for “World History I”, Social Science and Cultural Studies, January – May, 2017. Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY.
Public Lecturer, “Radical Demands for Land and Freedom in New York, 1829–48” February–March, 2017. Jefferson Market Branch, New York Public Library, Manhattan, NY. Featured in Fred Wiseman’s 2017 documentary, Ex Libris: The New York Public Library.
Adjunct Professor for “World History I”, Social Science and Cultural Studies, August – December, 2016. Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY.
Adjunct Instructor for “Survey of American Civilization Since the Civil War” led by Prof. Mark Carnes. Spring 2016 semester, January–May, 2016. Barnard College, Columbia University, Manhattan, NY.
Public Lecturer, “Reconstruction: ‘America’s Unfinished Revolution,’ 150 Years Later” January–February 2016. Jefferson Market Branch, New York Public Library, Manhattan, NY.
Public Lecturer, “Reform in the Age of Capital: Radical Political Thought in the United States, 1828–1877” October – November 2015. Jefferson Market Branch, New York Public Library, Manhattan, NY.
Adjunct Instructor for “History 101: Capitalism” led by Profs. Karl Appuhn & Andrew Sartori, Fall 2015 semester, August–December, 2015. New York University, Manhattan, NY.
Course Assistant for “African-American History to 1865” led by Prof. Michele Mitchell Fall 2014 semester, August–December. New York University, Manhattan, NY.
RELATED PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Curator for Public Talks at non-for-profit space, Das Kapital. Talks are free and open to the public and include local artists, writers and thinkers. Das Kapital is a cooperative organization, founded in 2015. Neukölln, Berlin, Germany.
Instructor of English as a Second Language, including CAE & TOEFL preparation, Embassy CES, Manhattan, NY; Rennert Bilingual Language School, Manhattan, NY; GEOS Language Institute, Manhattan, NY 2007–2008.
Research Assistant for University of Chicago PhD candidate, Christopher Cutrone, dissertation: “Adorno’s Marxism: Adorno after Marx and Marx after Adorno,” 2007.
Museum Educator, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL, 2006.
Arts Youth Mentor, Street Level Youth Media, Chicago, IL, 2006.
Museum Education Intern, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 2006.
VISITING APPOINTMENT
Visiting Scholar, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Germany, October 2017–November 2018.
INVITED TALKS
"The ‘World Republic’: Radical Immigrants in Nineteenth-Century America," guest lecture for Main Currents: American History 1865–present at the University of Texas at Austin, September 2022.
“The ‘World Republic’: Radical Immigrants in Nineteenth-Century America,” a talk for the American Studies program at Bard College, New York, February, 2022.
“The International Workingmen’s Association in the United States and the ‘Social Question’ in the Nineteenth Century” at the Carolina Triangle Labor Seminar, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, March, 2021.
“Urban Labor Reform and the Fight for the Shorter Working Day” at the Global Nineteenth Century Workshop, hosted by Prof. Steven Hahn, New York University, New York, December, 2019.
“The Problem of Democracy: An On-going Crisis,” closing panel at “The Past, Present and Future of Crises,” of the “Kritiken der Krise” Conference, Goethe Univeristät, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, June, 2018.
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
Presenter, Book Proposal: Reform in the Age of Capital: The Social Question in Nineteenth-Century America, American History & Cultures Workshop, University of Chicago, February 2024, Chicago.
Presenter and Chair, “The International Workingmen’s Association and the Social Question in 19th-Century America,” in the panel “From the First to the Second International: Socialists in America, from the Civil War to World War I,” organized for the Annual Conference of the American Historical Association, January 2023, Philadelphia.
“Reform in the Age of Capital,” Weissbourd Fall Symposium, Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts, Franke Institute for the Humanities, University of Chicago, October 2022, Chicago.
“Civil Society Divided Against Itself: The Language of the Shorter-Hours Movement in Nineteenth-Century America,” presentation at the Political Theory Workshop, University of Chicago, January 2022, Chicago.
“The Erosion of ‘Citizenship Time’ and the Right to Disconnect” presentation for the Summer Academy “Sustainable Work,” organized by Centre Marc Bloch and the Research Network Working Futures, a joint project of the research center Work and Human Lifecycle in Global History (Re:work) and the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, May 2021, Berlin, Germany.
“The International Workingmen’s Association in the United States and the American Reform Tradition,” on the panel “Marxism in America: From the First International to the Crisis of the New Left” at the annual conference of the Society for United States Intellectual History (S-USIH), October 2020.
“The Divided Legacy of Revolution in 1848” at “Global History” Conference in Şehir University, Istanbul, Turkey, June, 2018 & Freie University, Berlin, Germany, June, 2018; as well as at the history research seminar hosted by Profs. Andreas Fahrmeir and Christoph Cornelißen, Goethe Universität, Frankfurt, April, 2018.
“The Memory of Revolution: 1848” presented at “Crossroads of Intellectual History” Center for International Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences, NYU, NYC. June, 2017.
“Early Industrialization and the Emergence of Working People’s Politics” presented at “Crossroads of Intellectual History” L'École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris, France. November, 2016.
“Labor Reform and Abolitionism: The Problem of Freedom in Antebellum America” presented at “Resistance and Remembrance: Collective Identities and the Uses of History,” Midwest Labor and Working-Class History (MLWCH) Colloquium, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL. March, 2014.
“Labor Reform and Abolitionism: The Problem of Freedom in Antebellum America,” Loyola University History Graduate Student Conference, Loyola University, Chicago, IL. November, 2013.
“Marx on the U.S. Civil War,” Marxist Literary Group Summer Institute on Culture and Society, Institute for the Humanities, University of Illinois at Chicago, IL. June, 2011.
“What's left of the Left? Zur Situation der radikalen Linke in den USA” Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt, Germany, August, 2011.
“The Left's Legacy & Unresolved Problems” Rethinking Marxism Conference, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA. November, 2009.
“Aliens of Extraordinary Ability: An Interdisciplinary Symposium,” Center for the Study of Race, Politics & Culture, University of Chicago, IL. May, 2005.
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
American Historical Association
Society for United States Intellectual History
American Alliance of Museums
Organization of American Historians
LANGUAGES
English & Spanish: native speaker
German: advanced reading knowledge & intermediate speaking skills (B2.2)
French: beginner reading knowledge & speaking skills (A2)