Education

Ph.D., History, The University of Memphis, 2012

Fields of interest

Within Egyptology, my main areas of interest are family life and religion with a focus on relationships among women, men, and children; conceptions of gender/gender roles; sex and sexuality; the body and bodily experience and understanding.

Courses taught

World Civilization to 1500; Ancient Empires; Egypt of the Pharaohs; The Ancient Greek World; Women in the Ancient World; Life and Death in Ancient Egypt; Myth and Magic in Ancient Egypt; Bronze Age Aegean; Women and Power in Ancient Egypt; Sites of Power, Sites of Death in the Ancient Mediterranean;

Publications

“Advising Online Students” in Teaching and Learning History Online: A Guide for College Instructors (Routledge, 2022) with Amanda Lee Savage (University of Memphis).

Book Reviews:

Review: La mère, l'enfant et le lait en Égypte ancienne. Traditions médico-religieuses, by Richard-Alain Jean and Anne-Marie Loyrette. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 47 (2011)

Conference Presentations

"Testing for Egyptian Pregnancy," Southern Association of Medicine and History Conference, 2024, with Dr. Lewis Wall (Washington University, St. Louis).

Invited Talks

"Finding Life in Death: Reproductive Life in Ancient Egypt," Women's History Month Lecture, Longwood University, 2024.

“The Perils of Pregnancy: Reproduction in Ancient Egypt,” Women’s History Month, The University of Memphis, 2014

“Reproductive Life in Ancient Egypt,” American Association of University Women, Memphis Branch, 2012

Administration/Service

Women’s and Gender Studies Director; CAS Undergraduate Council; Undergraduate Studies Committee; HERC Director; Undergraduate Advising Director; History Internship Coordinator; History Honors Program Coordinator; History Dual Enrollment Coordinator

Honors and Awards

Faculty Advisor Award, 2021 Excellence in Academic Advising, University of Memphis

Best Dissertation Prize, History Department, University of Memphis, 2012-2013

American Dissertation Fellow, American Association of University Women (AAUW), 2011-2012

Grants

Community of Research Scholars Grant, University of Memphis, 2024-25  

Arts and Health Research Team Grant, University of Memphis, 2024-25

Arts and Health Research Team Grant, University of Memphis, 2023-24

Works in Progress

Birthing the Sun: Becoming and Mother in Ancient Egypt –This study of reproductive life during Egypt's Pharaonic era is rooted in textual and material culture from both the land of the living and the land of dead. Narrated through myth and oriented by Egyptian language/terminology, the study seeks to understand the relationship between fertility/virility and identity, the contributions of men and women to the creation and housing of the unborn child, and the experiences and rituals of pregnancy, childbirth, and the post-partum period.

Ancient Egyptian Pregnancy Test Project: Working with doctors at Washington University in St. Louis and botanists at the Missouri Botanical Garden, I’m part of a team attempting to recreate and test the efficacy of ancient Egyptian urine-based pregnancy tests in a lab setting.