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"The World is a book and those who do not travel read only one page"
St. Augustine of Hippo
The Basics
I was born and raised in Iowa, which a wise teacher once
told me was where God lived and the Angels sing. Having spent a
little time away from Iowa, I can tell you that this statement is so
true. My passion in life is Church History and have wanted to be a
Church historian for as long as I can remember. My other passions
in life are traveling, Chicago Cubs baseball, the Iowa Hawkeyes and
reading historical books.
Academic Institutions
St. Ambrose University
In 2004, I graduated from St. Ambrose University
magma cum laude with a B.A. in History, Philosophy and Theology.
I was a Resident Advisor (RA) for Hayes Hall and served on many
organizations like the the Chapel Renovation Committee and the
Presidential Advisory Committee. Also, I worked in the
International Studies Office under the guidance of Professor Jon
Stauff.
It was at St. Ambrose University under the guidance
of great historians (Reverend George McDaniel and Professor Stauff)
that I was able to truly appreciate the importance history plays in
society. These men were able to demonstrate the importance of
viewing history as not some abstract "thing" from the past, but as a
constantly evolving phenomena.
University of Limerick
In December of 2006 I graduated with First Class
Honors from the University of Limerick with my MA in History.
My coursework focus was on Modern European History primarily dealing
with history of the family and migration.
The largest component of my
course was researching and writing a dissertation. My
dissertation is titled, The
Foundation of Carlow College (1785): Ireland's Oldest Third Level
Institution. Essentially I looked at the foundation
of Carlow College and period of time with which it was founded.
From this, interesting and new material gave a radically different
picture of 18th and 19th Century Irish Catholicism. Carlow
College is an institution that is both historically important not
only with regards to Irish Catholicism but American Catholicism as
it produced many important priests/bishops in America like the
"Founder of American Catholicism" Bishop John England.
Related Research
Other research that I have conducted over the years
primarily deal with Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic
Church. I was able to conduct research into the early years of
the parish focusing on the life of Reverend Antoine Lebel. It
is this research that I have worked on with regards to Father Lebel
and early French-Canadian immigrants, that I hope to one day pursue
a PhD.
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