Biography

I am a Ph.D. candidate at the University of California, San Diego.  My primary research is focused on the Eastern Roman state, or Romania, especially during the period of the Macedonian Dynasty (867 to 1056). More specifically, I investigate expressions and perceptions of Romanness as an ethnic identity and the Roman representation of "others" - especially at the geographic margins of the state. I am also undertaking research on the archaeology of the Greek island of Kythera, the letter collection of the 5th century Neo-Platonist Aeneas of Gaza, and the ethnographic sections of the History of Herodotus.  

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As a teacher, it is my goal to increase the intrinsic motivation of my students, by making the pre-modern world accessible and relevant to them in a manner that encourages the development of historical empathy and the recognition of the value that this more distant past has for us in understanding the modern world.