Degree:
Ph.D., American University

Research Interests:

Up to this point, my research has focused on revolutionary violence and nationalism in Ireland but recently I have become more interested in the practice of historians. In part, this has grown out of my feeling that history as a discipline is hampered by a willingness to ignore many of the recent developments in philosophy and critical theory. In teaching, I try to leave as much room for individual initiative and creativity as possible. I still believe history is meant to be a reflective art and that the only true learning that comes in class comes out of the willingness of students to challenge themselves to think about the subject. History is a writing discipline and the essay is its basic form and because of this I will always, beyond the introductory level, rely on substantial take-home essays that require research and reflection.

Publications:

Book

Patrick Pearse and the Politics of Redemption: The Mind of the Easter Rising, 1916 (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University Press, 1994).

Work in Progress

"The Butcher's Bill" (historical novel)

"Irish Exceptions: The Unique Contributions of Irish Thought"

Journal Articles and Book Chapters

"Creating a University of Distinction," Oakland Journal 19 (Fall 2010).

"Patrick Pearse and the European Revolt Against Reason" in Ireland and Anglo-Irish Relations Since 1800: Critical Essays, eds. N.C. Fleming and Alan O'Day (London: Ashgate, 2007).

“The Disease of Human Consciousness,” Oakland Journal 12 (Winter 2007): 103-110.

“History, Memory, and the Teaching of Irish History” in Reading Irish Histories: Texts, Contexts and the Creation of National Memory, 1870-1922, ed. Lawrence McBride (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2003), 211-219.

“Memory and the Dark Dream of Irish History,” Oakland Journal 4 (Spring 2002): 49-59.

"Images, Icons, and the Practice of Irish History" in Images, Icons, and the Irish Nationalist Imagination, ed. Lawrence McBride (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1999), 166-176.

“The Western Spiritual Vision of the Material World” in Science and Religion, ed. Michael Sevilla (Gonic, N.H.: Odyssey Press, 1997).

“Advising Graduate Students” in Organization of American History Council of Chairs Newsletter 48 (Dec. 1995).

"Patrick Pearse and Patriotic Soteriology" in The Irish Terrorism Experience, ed. Alan O’Day and Yonah Alexander (Aldershot: Dartmouth Press, 1993), 9-28.

"Patrick Pearse and the European Revolt Against Reason," Journal of the History of Ideas 59 (1989): 625-43.

"Patrick Pearse, the Easter Rising, and Irish History," The Graduate Review (August 1989): 14-24.

Photographs, Ireland (New York: Chelsea House, 1988).

Encyclopedia and Dictionary Entries

“Sir Edward Elgar,” "Thomas Babington McCauley," "William Morris," "Daniel O'Connell" and "William Butler Yeats" in Industrialization and Imperialism (London: Ashgate Publishing, forthcoming).

“Henry Buckle” in The Dictionary of Nineteenth-Century British Philosophers (London: Thoemmes Press, 2007).

“Thomas Ashe,” "Sir Roger Casement," "Eamonn Ceannt," "Executions, 1916," "Seán Heuston," "Irish Volunteers," "Seán MacDiarmada," "Thomas MacDonagh," "Terence MacSwiney," "Patrick Pearse," "Rising, 1916" and "Austen Stack" in Encyclopedia of Ireland, ed. Brian Lalor (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003).

"Intellectual History/History of Ideas," "A.O. Lovejoy," "R.G. Collingwood," "Rudolf Bultmann" and "Theodore Moody" in Kelly Boyd, ed., Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing, vol. 1 (Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1999).

Book and film reviews published in the American Historical Review, Journal of Modern History, Journal of British Studies, Irish Literary Supplement, The Historian, Irish Historical Studies, Journal of Historical Studies, and Albion.