Degree: Doctor of Philosophy, History
Hometown: Pass Christian, Mississippi
Teaching Philosophy: Teaching is a calling to me. I care about showing how history is happening all around us and I care about my students. Teaching is a way to show students that their voices are important and valued.
Research Overview: My dissertation shows how the Women’s Army Corps mobilized postwar gender norms and used its power as an institution to instill them. The WAC used its ideal to reconcile the concepts of soldier and woman to allay the American public’s fears about servicewomen. The WAC ideal constrained servicewomen and protected them. It dictated what kind of woman the WAC desired and how she should behave while in and out of uniform. In this way, the WAC ideal presented a a narrow version of acceptable femininity.