What is your favorite class to teach? Why?

This question is a difficult one. I enjoy all the classes that I teach, but if I have to choose a favorite, it would probably be “Children and Childhood in the Western World.” The course examines continuities and changes in childhood and children’s experiences from the prehistoric era down to the present day. In the class, we reflect on how viewing history from the perspective of children and through the lens of childhood can enhance and even revise traditional histories and understandings about culture, society, politics, and economics. One aspect of the course that I enjoy the most is having students reflect on their own childhood and consider what a historian fifty or one hundred years from now would make of their childhood experiences.

Tell us about your current research.

I am currently working on a project about girlhood in the British Empire. Children, and especially girls, are often not seen as important historical actors and overlooked in historical narratives, but my project aims to challenge these assumptions. I explore the variety of ways in which girls participated in the British Empire and how they supported the colonial project, both directly and indirectly, but also challenged colonial power.

What’s a fun fact about you that we might not know?

I am a fan of cricket (the sport, not the insect). I became interested in it around ten years ago and follow it avidly, sometimes staying up throughout the night to catch matches in India or Australia.

What do you do for entertainment in your “down time” (during COVID or non-COVID)?

I enjoy getting outside as much as possible. I especially like hiking and biking around the Metro Parks in the Columbus