About
My interests center on technology in the history of business and industry, and I especially concentrate on the relations between government and industry. My current research focuses on U.S. patent policy from 1900-1950, an era shaped by big business, two world wars, and the Great Depression. Comparative history is an excellent way to see how different cultural values and institutions influence similar developments in different places and times, and I use comparative history extensively in my teaching and research. In a related vein, I am also very interested in the flow of technological ideas and expertise across national borders, primarily in U.S. and European history since 1800. Courses I teach regularly include HIST 285 (Technology in Comparative Perspective), HIST 315 (History of Capitalism), HIST 316 (American Business History), HIST 235 (The Great War), HIST 296 (Research Methods in History), and also HIST 202 & 203 (U.S. History).