Work
I'm an archaeologist and anthropologist focusing on cultural heritage: how people today use the material remains of the past. I'm interested in how heritage—museums, memorials, archaeological and historic sites, artifacts, even human remains—is part of politics, development, diplomatic relationships, and the dynamics of peace and conflict. My research has taken me to Rwanda, Germany, and the US Virgin Islands, using a wide range of qualitative methods.
Currently, I'm a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies at Aarhus University, Denmark. Here, I work in the project Enduring Materialities of Colonialism, which focuses on the social and material afterlives of Danish colonialism on St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. My research looks at development, property ownership, and rights to heritage. In my previous postdoc at Linnaeus University (Sweden), I was a member of the UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures and researched how Rwanda and Germany's diplomatic relationship mobilizes cultural heritage, especially human remains.
I also worked as a research associate in the program on Understanding Violent Conflict at the Social Science Research Council. Here I investigated topics such as rural radicalism across Africa, China’s engagements in Africa, and cultural heritage in armed conflict. I synthesized research from across the social science spectrum, including political science, anthropology, peace and conflict studies, and more. I wrote reports, literature reviews, and policy papers for scholars, policymakers, philanthropists, and even the United Nations.
Education
I received my PhD in Anthropology, with a focus on Archaeology, from Stanford University in 2019. My dissertation project examined the politics of heritage after conflict and colonialism in Rwanda.
I also hold an MA in Cultural Heritage Management with Distinction from the University of York (2012), an MA in Anthropology (Stanford, 2014), and a BA in Archaeology and French Studies with High Honors from Wesleyan University (2008).
Communication
I publish widely in academic journals such as Anthropological Quarterly and the Journal of Eastern African Studies, general-audience websites like Longreads, and magazines like SAPIENS. I also write literary essays, which have appeared in The Kenyon Review and The Rumpus and won an award from the Society for Humanistic Anthropology.
As an editor, I curated a series of essays on cultural heritage and violent conflict for Items: Insights from the Social Sciences. I work with the Journal of Social Archaeology as an editorial assistant, and I'm also a freelance developmental editor and copyeditor for academic books and articles in the social sciences and humanities.
More on my publications; literary writing; and editing work.
CV
Complete CV, with information about grants and awards, presentations, teaching, museum experience, languages, and more.