Education
PhD, English Language and Literature, University of Chicago, June 2013
MA, English Language and Literature, University of Chicago, June 2006
MFA, Creative Writing, University of Michigan, April 2002
BA, Cinema and English, Denison University, summa cum laude, May 2000
Recent Work experience
Director of Exhibitions, Chicago History Museum, 2022-current
Director of Exhibitions, Newberry Library, 2020-2022
Director of Programs and Exhibitions, Illinois Humanities, 2015-2020
Assistant Curator, Chicago Authored, Chicago History Museum, 2015-2016
Programs Coordinator, The Arts Club of Chicago, 2014-2015
Exhibition Consultant, Opening the Vaults: Wonders of the 1893 World’s Fair, The Field Museum, 2013
Festival Programmer, Let’s Get Working: Chicago Celebrates Studs Terkel, University of Chicago, 2013-2014
Preceptor, Master of Arts Program in the Humanities, University of Chicago, 2012-2014
Instructor, American literature and creative writing, University of Chicago, 2009-2014
Select independent Lectures, Tours, Reenactments
- “Poets, Prophets, & Propagandists,” site specific performance, City of Chicago, June 2020
- “Collective Thought: Chicago Clubs and their Patrons, 1880 to 1920,” panel discussion, Newberry Library, October 2018
- “Everyone’s Picasso: Celebrating 50 Years of a Chicago Icon,” participatory restaging, City of Chicago, August 2017
- “Art Lovers, Art Workers: Celebrating 100 Years of the Arts Club of Chicago,” three participatory reenactments, The Arts Club of Chicago, 2016
- “Camp Douglas Day(s),” public history workshops, Chicago Park District, 2015
- “The 160th Anniversary Lager Beer Riot,” reenactment, Benton House, April 2015
- “Earth’s Choicest Products,” audio tour, “A Proximity of Consciousness: Art and Social Action,” SAIC Sullivan Galleries, September 2014
- “From Semis to Startups: Exploring the Changing Industrial Landscape of Fulton Market and Randolph Street,” walking tour, Gallery 400, July 2014
- “Chicago in Seven Tours,” lecture and tour, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, March 2014
- “The Pit,” reenactment, Chicago Architecture Foundation, October 2013
- “Studs’ Place,” reenactment, The Hideout, Propeller Fund, November 2012
- “Crime of the Century,” walking tour, Chicago Humanities Festival, October 2012
- “Field Trip Day: Wicker Park,” walking tour and reenactment, Atlas Obscura, September 2012
- “Studs Terkel 100th Birthday Party,” public event, Newberry Library, May 2012
- “Behind the Scenes with the Mediums,” reenactment, Chicago Cultural Center, May 2012
- “The World Finder,” installation and performance, Gallery 400, January 2012
- “The Great Chicago Fire,” commentator, Mysteries at the Museum, The Travel Channel, 2011
- “Whitechapel Club,” installation and reenactment, Printers Ball, July 2011
- “125th Anniversary Full-Scale Haymarket Reenactment,” reenactment, April 2011
- “1915 Hunger March,” reenactment, The Jane Addams Hull House Museum, March 2011
Honors
Individual Artist Program grant, Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, $4,000, 2015
Propeller Fund grant, Gallery 400, $2,000, 2013
Graduate Scholar-in-Residence, Newberry Library, 2011-2012
Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship, University of Chicago, 2010-2011
Jacob K. Javits Fellowship, 2006-2010
Century Fellowship, full tuition, University of Chicago, 2005-2010
Ohio Arts Council Fellowship, for fiction, $5,000, 2003
Recent Publications
“Past Imperfect, or the Pleasures and Perils of the Reenactment,” essay, Journal of American Studies, Cambridge UP, 2018
“The Ragged Edge of Nonentity,” essay, The Oxford Handbook of Jack London, Oxford UP, 2017
“Introduction,” The Rise and Fall of the Dill Pickle Club, book, Charles Kerr Co., 2013
Chicago by Day and Night, introduction and annotation to the 1893 edition, Northwestern UP, 2013
“‘A Monstrous Doctrine’: Chicago’s Lager Beer Riot,” essay, Mash Tun, 2012
“The Mysteries and Natural Wonders of Bridgeport,” essay, Lumpen, 2012
“Back Page,” a series of twelve short essays, Poetry, 2012
“The Past as Public Space,” essay, Phonebook 3, 2011
Select Press Recognition
“Chicago’s Dill Pickle Club,” WBEZ, February 2, 2019
“5 Big Moments in Illinois History,” WBEZ, December 4, 2018
“The Arts Section,” WDCB, August 6th, 2017
“Best Popular Historian,” The Chicago Reader, June 26, 2014
“Your Ticket to the White City,” WBEZ, October 23, 2013
“Chicago By Day and Night,” Chicago Tonight, WTTW, June 17, 2013
“Love of Chicago History Fuels Paul Durica,” Chicago Tribune, March 8, 2013
“Interview,” Chicago Weekly, February 21, 2013
“Chicago’s Cultural Plan: Can We Democratize Culture?” WBEZ, July 17, 2012
“A Tourist’s Guide for Your City’s Mundane, Obscure Attractions,” The Atlantic Cities, May 31, 2012
“The Bomber Remains Anonymous: Reenacting the Haymarket Riot,” Bad at Sports, May 4, 2011
“At Unemployment Rally, Marchers Recreate 1915 Hunger Protest,” The Huffington Post, March 8, 2011
“Interview,” The Onion AV-Club, March 3, 2011
“Battle of the Halsted Viaduct,” Vice, May 12, 2010
“Pilsen Railroad Strike Will Be Reenacted,” Chicago News Cooperative, The New York Times, May 2, 2010