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Education
M.Ed. 2022 Learning Design and Technologies. Arizona State University. Tempe, AZ
Ph.D. 2012 Religious Studies, with emphasis in American Religious History and Historiography. Arizona State University. Tempe, AZ
Dissertation: “Mormons and the World’s Fair 1893: A Study of Religious and Cultural Agency and Transformation”
M.A. 2006 Religious Studies, Arizona State University. Tempe, AZ
Thesis: “Nineteenth-Century Mormonism or ‘An Unloved Child’: National Culture and the Contested Notions of Americanness and the American Kingdom of God”
B.A. 2003 History, Northern Arizona University. Flagstaff, AZ
B.A. 2003 Religious Studies, Northern Arizona University. Flagstaff, AZ
Professional Appointments
2023-present Research Fellow, University Center for Assessment, Teaching, and Technology (UCATT), University of Arizona. Tucson, AZ
2017-present Career-Track Lecturer, Dept. of Religious Studies, University of Arizona. Tucson, AZ.
2015-present Faculty Instructor, General Education Academy, Arizona Online, University of Arizona. Tucson, AZ
2015-2017 1.0 Visiting Assistant Professor, Dept. of Religious Studies, University of Arizona. Tucson, AZ
2014-2015 .5 Visiting Assistant Professor, Dept. of Religious Studies, University of Arizona. Tucson, AZ
2011-2016 Online Adjunct Faculty, Dept. of Comparative Cultural Studies, Northern Arizona University. Flagstaff, AZ
2010-2011 Instructor, Dept. of Comparative Cultural Studies, Northern Arizona University. Flagstaff, AZ
Publications and Awards
Books
2021 Co-edited with Michael Harold Paulos. The Reed Smoot Hearings: The Investigation of a Mormon Senator and the Making of an American Religion. Peer-reviewed: University of Colorado-University of Utah Press. ix-320 pp. Best Anthology Award: John Whitmer Historical Association (2022)
2019 Frontier Religion: Mormons and America, 1857-1907. University of Utah Press. ix-351 pp. Best First Book Award: Mormon History Association (2020)
Articles/Chapters
2024 “Writing Frontier Religion,” in Writing Mormon History: Historians and their Books. Edited by Joseph W. Geisner (By Invitation: Signature Books)
2023 “Frontier Violence: Making Americans and the Myth of the West (1860-1890),” in Religion and the American West: Belief, Violence, and the Resilience from 1800 to Today (By Invitation: University of New Mexico Press)
2021 “Mormonism in North America,” in Bloomsbury Religion in North America (Peer-reviewed: Bloomsbury Publishing)
2015 “Early Mormonism: A Promised Land: Early Mormon Success in America and England 1830-1850,” in World Religions: Belief, Culture, and Controversy (Peer-reviewed: ABC-CLIO)
2012 “The Dawning of a New Era: Mormonism and the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893,” in Mormons and American Popular Culture, vols. 2 Peer-reviewed: ABC-CLIO)
2009 “The Reed Smoot Hearings and the Theology of Politics: Perceiving an ‘American’ Mormon Identity.” Journal of Mormon History 35/3:118-162 (Peer-reviewed)
2008 “Appropriating the Secular: Mormonism and the World Columbian Exposition of 1893.” Journal of Mormon History 34/4:153-180 (Peer-reviewed)
Book Reviews
2016 Todd M. Kerstetter, “Inspiration and Innovation: Religion in the American West.” Reading Religion, A Publication of the American Academy of Religion. Online
2012 Reid L. Nielson, “Exhibiting Mormonism: The Latter-day Saints and the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. Religion in the American West. Online (September)
2010 Edward L. Lyman, Susan W. Payne, and S. George Ellsworth, eds. “No Place to Call Home: The 1807-1857 Life Writing of Caroline Barnes Crosby, Chronicler of Outlying Mormon Communities.” Logan: Utah State University Press, 2005. Journal of Mormon History vol. 36:4
Courses Offered
100-level
Intro to World Religion
Intro to the Study of Religion
Religion and Popular Culture
Comparative Religions
200-level
Religion in the American Experience
Religion and Film
Religion, Violence, and Terrorism
Mysticism: Abrahamic Religions
Religion and Society: Mormonism
300-level
Western Religious Traditions
Intro to Christianity
Christian Scriptures: New Testament
Ritual, Symbol, and Myth
American Religious Traditions
400/500-level
Mormonism in American History and Culture (Cross-listed with History)
Selected Presentations
2021 “Unintended Consequences: Listening and the World Parliament of Religion, 1893,” 7th World Parliament of Religion, Science, and Philosophy, MIT World Peace University, Pune, India (Online)
2019 “Speaking Truth to Power: What’s Next for Religious Institutions After #MeToo,” University of Arizona’s Humanities Festival. Tucson, AZ
2019 “Religion at the World’s Fair, 1964-65,” Western Conference for the Study of Religion, Tempe, AZ
2018 “Teaching Against the World Religion Paradigm,” Western Conference for the Study of Religion, Berkeley, CA
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