Student Fellows

Sarah earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Missouri University of Science and Technology (2013) in Rolla Missouri and her Master of Arts from Western Kentucky University (2015) in Bowling Green, Kentucky. She is currently pursuing her Doctorate in American History at UNTwhere she is a Teaching Fellow for the History Department. She is also an Adjunct Professor teaching history at Brookhaven College in Farmer’s Branch, Texas.

Although raised mostly on World War II and Civil War history, Sarah did her undergraduate senior project on the reactions of American soldiers in World War I to the new weaponry introduced in that war. She continued this research into her graduate program. Her Master’s thesis is titled “American Soldiers’ Reactions to Weaponry and Warfare in World War I” and analyzes how the US Army integrated the new weapons and adapted to the tactics that came with fighting on the Western Front, emphasizing the experiences of the lower echelons. She has presented her research at various conferences such as the Society of Military History Annual Meeting. Sarah’s dissertation will examine the American Army in the First World War at the Battle of St. Mihiel This work will analyze how the soldiers took the lessons learned from previous battles working alongside their allies and how they applied them to operate as an independent army. Her doctoral advisor is Dr. Alexander Mendoza. Dr. Richard McCaslin Dr. Michael Wise, and Dr. Nancy Stockdale also serve on the committee and she plans to graduate with her PhD in 2022.

Sarah is originally from Waldorf, Maryland. She first discovered her love of history by visiting nearby Revolutionary and Civil War sites as well as volunteering at the U.S. Army Center for Military History. Here in Texas, she has worked with volunteer organizations to visit ill children as their favorite characters. Sarah likes to express her creativity through various crafts and writing fiction which she hopes to one day publish alongside her historical works.

Kristie earned her Bachelor of Science – Secondary Education in Social Studies degree from Fayetteville State University (2008) in Fayetteville, North Carolina. She earned her Master of Arts in Teaching from Columbia College (2012) in Columbia, Missouri. She also earned graduate credit hours in History from Midwestern State University (2020) in Wichita Falls, Texas. Kristie is currently a Doctoral student in European History and a Teaching Assistant at the University of North Texas. She has taught AP United States and European History in public schools for fourteen years, serving for eight years in the Lewisville Independent School District, is also an Adjunct-Professor of History at Collin College in Frisco, Texas.

The focus of Kristie’s doctoral research is a study of Désirée Clary Bernadotte, the first fiancée of Napoleon Bonaparte and the wife of Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte. Her husband’s election to the role of Crown Prince of Sweden and later King of Sweden propelled Désirée the rank of Queen. Désirée turned to Paris and continued to live in France, hosting salons for political dissidents and activists. Desirée’s life is largely misunderstood and through research at the Swedish National Archives, Kristie intends to uncover the truth about her political role between France and Sweden during the Napoleonic Wars.

Kristie is originally from Malden, Missouri. After spending her childhood on military bases and traveling to Europe as a teenager, Kristie developed an interest in European History. Her career goals are focused on spreading that love of history to students. She has served as a sponsor for the EurChallenge competition and History Club in North Carolina and established a thriving Model UN Team in The Colony, Texas. Kristie also serves as a Question Leader and/or Table Leader for the College Board European History exam.

Nicholas Kramer is a current PhD student, Teaching Assistant, and Student Fellow of the Military History Center at the University of North Texas. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in History in 2019 from St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York where he also played four years of college football. In 2021, he obtained a master’s degree in History from the University of North Texas.

Nick’s main area of research is the French Revolution and Napoleonic military history. He is currently under the guidance of Dr. Michael V. Leggiere. Nick’s dissertation focuses on the military career of Marshal Louis Nicolas Davout.

Nick is originally from Farmington, Pennsylvania, a small town one hour south of Pittsburgh. He and his dad are diehard Pittsburgh Steeler fans and attend one game every year. Nick is also an avid golfer.

Joe earned his Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of Dallas, were he studied Islamic history and its impact on Western Civilization. He continued at the same institution for his Master of Humanities, focusing his work on the interactions of Byzantium and the Islamic world. From there too, he earned a Master of Arts in theology, in which he explored the theological interactions between Christianity and Islam. In the UNT doctoral program, he has continued his focus on Byzantium and the Islamic world, especially in matters of military borrowing and emulation. This is his first academic year as a Teaching Assistant at UNT but he has taught before as an adjunct at the University of Dallas in 2018 and 2019. Joe is working under the direction of Dr. Christopher Fuhrmann, MHC Teaching Fellow. Joe’s doctoral dissertation will examine the eminent role of Sicily’s Muslims in the Norman kingdom of the eleventh century, especially the soldiery for which the kingdom became well-known.

Joe enjoys bringing history beyond the mere text: he makes ancient and medieval military equipment and practices with various scholarly groups such as The Order of Lepanto, HAMA, and various Japanese Ko-Ryu. As a full-time teacher for Great Hearts Academy, he has helped his students relive the history they have studied in books, making it far more alive for them.

 Joe has four children and a generous wife, all of whom are incredibly supportive of many late nights of reading, writing, and grading.

Darrell is a PhD student focusing on military history, particularly modern warfare in America and Europe, particularly the Second World War. His current research and doctoral work focuses on the history of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. He is looking at why the United States military felt compelled to transition from the previous Articles of War that governed the military for 150 years. Additionally, he is studying how Congress crafted the statute, how the law was implemented, and problems with its implementation. Darrell is also interested in the American founding and American Revolution.

He earned a BA in political science at Northwestern Oklahoma State University and a law degree at the University of Oklahoma College of Law. He practiced law in Oklahoma for nearly twenty years prior to returning to academia. Since he returned to school he earned an MA at the University of North Texas. His thesis was titled “Weaponized Nature: How the Environment Saved the Allies at Bastogne, December 16 to 23, 1944.” It focused on the ways the environment helped the defending Allies and influenced the outcome of the Battle of the Bulge.

While at UNT, since 2016 Darrell has worked as a Teaching Assistant and a Teaching Fellow teaching American History 2610. Additionally, he helped to build and publish UNT's online museum “Blowout: A Community's Engagement with Fracking in Denton, TX.” Darrell is a member of the History Honors Society, Phi Alpha Theta, and the Society of Military History.

Darrell and his wife are diehard OU football fans and love to travel throughout the United States and Europe. She especially enjoys when he takes her to obscure military sites on their trips to “study at the terrain.”

Ethan Soefje is an MA student, Teaching Assistant, and Student Fellow of the Military History Center at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in History and Classical Civilizations in 2015 from Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin.

Ethan’s main interest is early modern Germany and Napoleonic military history. He is currently working on his master’s thesis under the direction of Dr. Michael V. Leggiere, on the Prussian army during the French Revolutionary Wars. His thesis seeks to challenge the traditional interpretation of the Prussian army as a force in decline before its defeat in the War of the Fourth Coalition (1806). He tests this narrative by examining the armies combat experience during the War of the Bavarian Succession (1778-79) and the War of the First Coalition (1792-97). Ethan has presented some of his work on the War of the First Coalition at the Consortium on the Revolutionary Era conference in 2020.

Ethan is originally from San Antonio, Texas. He played baseball through his sophomore year at Beloit. His current hobbies include reading, tabletop gaming, and trading card games.

Hailey Stewart earned her Bachelor of Science (2007) and Master of Arts (2013) degrees in history from Southeastern Oklahoma State University and the University of North Texas. Hailey is currently a doctoral student and Teaching Fellow at the University of North Texas.

Hailey’s main field of study is eighteenth-century British politics with an emphasis on Britain’s relationship with the continent. Her dissertation will analyze the political policy of Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales, to discern his perspective on a colonial versus continental British policy. King George I, Frederick’s grandfather, believed that the English throne was valuable in aiding the interests of Hanoverian expansion and security on the continent. Frederick’s adoption of a continental policy while also siding with the British opposition that generally supported anti-Hanoverian legislation reveals a discrepancy in his conception of politics. By evaluating this relationship, Hailey intends to reconcile the prince’s favorable attitude toward the Hanoverian connection in British politics and determine if he incorporated British colonial interests into his political ideology. Hailey’s doctoral advisor is Dr. Marilyn Morris, but she also works closely with Dr. Michael V. Leggieree the Deputy Director of the Military History Center.

Nancy Kouyoumjian Maxwell is currently a PhD candidate at the University of North Texas. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in English from California State University, Fullerton in 1976 and her Master of Science in Library Science from the University of Southern California in 1978. In 2016 she earned her Master of Arts in History from the University of North Texas. Her thesis, titled “Hungering for Independence: The Relationship Between Food and Morale in the Continental Army, 1775-1781, ” was supervised by Dr. Guy Chet (chair), Dr. Harland Hagler and Dr. F. Todd Smith.

Nancy’s focus is on the American colonial and Revolutionary eras, with a special interest in social history and historical foodways. She is currently researching and writing her dissertation, which considers the tension between Continental Army and militia provincialism and the continental scope of the American Revolutionary War through the lens of food history. This investigation examines soldiers' relationships with unfamiliar foods they encountered throughout the North American colonies during that conflict. She argues that exposure to unfamiliar foods helped retain soldiers’ provincialism rather than create a sense of nationalism. Dr. Guy Chet chairs her committee, consisting of Dr. Michael Wise, Dr. Jennifer Jensen Wallach, and Dr. F. Todd Smith.

Nancy is a member of the Phi Alpha Theta history honor society, the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, the Society for Military History, the Texas Library Association, and the National Genealogical Society. She has served as Genealogy Librarian at the Grapevine Public Library since July 2001.

Nancy is originally from Waltham, Massachusetts. Her passions include researching her Armenian and Jewish roots, assisting others in genealogical research, reading extensively about the American colonial and Revolutionary eras, and recently developing an interest in the causes of World War I. She also loves spoiling her only grandchild and Ivan, her fifteen-year-old Domestic Blue cat.

Nationalism and provincialism have been examined in Revolutionary War studies but not specifically in relation to food and the Continental soldier. Nancy is hoping her dissertation will help to widen this discussion.

Christian is a PhD student and Student Fellow of the Military History Center at the University of North Texas. He earned his Bachelor of Science in History (Military) from the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York in June of 1996 and a Master of Military Studies from the United States Marine Corps University in June of 2010.

Christian’s main area of research focuses British military doctrine in the First World War. Specifically, their amphibious operations doctrine and the planning for the assault landing commonly called Gallipoli. This research will be conducted under the supervision of Dr. Geoffrey Wawro.

Beyond the First World War, Christian’s other research interests include the US Civil War, the French and Indian War, military logistics, Chinese military history, British Empire military history, and the Age of Sail Royal Navy.

The son of an Army family, he lived in several different places including Germany, Virginia, Kentucky, and Utah before completing high school in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After graduating from West Point, he was commissioned and served for twenty-six years as a logistics officer. While in the Army, he served in Germany, Kentucky, Texas, Louisiana, a NATO assignment in the United Kingdom, and multiple tours of Iraq and Afghanistan totaling four years. He served in the first regular Army combat brigade sent to Afghanistan in 2001/2002 (3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division) and participated in Operation Anaconda. As a logistics officer, he was not included in Josh Naylor’s Not a Good Day to Die. While serving as a company commander, he led his unit into Iraq as part of the initial invasion in 2003.

In his last two assignments, covering five years, Christian focused on Defense Support of Civil Authority (DSCA) and homeland defense. While in US Army North in San Antonio, Texas he deployed ten times around the country for various hurricane responses and other domestic issues. These included the military’s support to the COVID-19 response with hospital augmentation as well as establishing immunization sites. Christian retired from the Army as a colonel in 2022 after 26 years of service.

He enjoys reading (naturally), traveling around the US and Europe, spending time with his family, and attending live sports events. Christian is an avid follower of all sports teams from Pittsburgh.

Christian is married to the former Laura Anne Pattay of New York, New York. They have one daughter, Sarah, and too many cats (four).

Stephen is a PhD student and teaching fellow at the University of North Texas. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in History, with a minor in Military Science, in 2019 from Arkansas Tech University. With a thesis entitled “Military Implications of Evocatio and Devotio in Ancient Rome”, he graduated from Italy’s Università di Pavia to earn his Laurea Magistrale (equivalent to a Master’s) in “The Ancient Mediterranean World”, a dual history and archaeology program, in 2024.

Stephen’s current research has kept him within military history while moving the setting and circumstances forward several millennia to examine the First Indochina War. With a particular focus on the war’s chronological and geogrpahical peripheries, his work is supervised by Dr. Geoffrey Wawro. His additional interests include Classical antiquity and the First World War.

Prior to his post graduate studies, Stephen served nine years in the U.S. Army’s infantry and field artillery branches. Outside of the univeristy he enjoys hiking, swimming, and spending time with family.

Muamer Bećirović is currently a PhD student and teaching assistant at the University of North Texas. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Vienna, Austria, in 2020. In 2023, he received his Master of Arts in History from the same institution for his thesis, 'The Grand Strategy of Prince Metternich'. This examined how Austria established the Vienna Congress in 1814 despite being surrounded by enemies, achieving peace among Europe's great powers for decades until Metternich left office in 1848. Muamer then published a biography of the Austrian diplomat based on his thesis.

His doctoral research builds on his master's degree. He asks how it was possible for an order that was so well constructed in 1814, and which was nearly perfectly balanced, to lead to total war in 1914, with the same powers that created it ultimately destroying themselves in the resulting conflict.

Angela earned her Bachelor of Arts in History with a minor in Women and Gender Studies from Midwestern State University (2022) in Wichita Falls, Texas. She earned her Master of Arts in History from Midwestern State University (2024) in Wichita Falls, Texas. Angela is currently a PhD student in European History and a Teaching Assistant at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. Her teaching background includes being a Teaching Assistant from 2019 to 2022, being an instructor of record at Midwestern State University from 2023 to 2024.

Angela’s focus for her doctoral research is Gender in the Holocaust, with a specialization on Ravensbrück, the only women’s concentration camp. Some of Angela’s papers about Ravensbrück have covered slave labor, female perpetrators, the war crime trials, and the youth camp Uckermark. Her Master’s Thesis is titled “Gender in the Holocaust: A Comprehensive Study of the
Ravensbrück Concentration Camp 1939-1945.” Her doctoral advisor is Dr. Vojin Majstorovic. Dr. Kerry Goldmann, Dr. Kathryne Beebe, and Dr. Wesley Phelps also serve on her committee, and she plans to graduate with her PhD in 2029.

Angela has lived in Texas her entire life. Her fascination in history started in high school. She wrote her first paper about German women supporting and participating in Nazi Germany in 2020. She started researching Ravensbrück directly after that. Angela’s other research includes papers about the Nachthexen (Night Witches), who were Russian women pilots that bombed Nazi supply lines and provided food and ammunition to Soviet forces. Angela visited Ravensbrück in June 2023. She plans on visiting Ravensbrück again while working on her dissertation.

Nathaniel is a PhD candidate, Teaching Fellow, and Student Fellow of the Military History Center at the University of North Texas. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in History in May 2022 from Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant, Oklahoma.

Nathaniel’s main area of research focuses on the development, implementation, and evolution of American prisoner of war (POWs) and civilian internment policy during the Second World War. His dissertation, tentatively titled “Breaking the Waves: American Intelligence Exploitation of Captured Enemy Seamen during the Second World War,” focuses on how the United States and its allies extracted, interpreted, and disseminated intelligence products from naval POWs.

Nathaniel has also published three peer-reviewed articles on various aspects of American treatment and handling of POWs during World War II —one in the Chronicles of Oklahoma, another in the Journal of Contemporary History, and the last in Home Front Studies.

Nathaniel is originally from Hendrix, Oklahoma, a very small town eighteen miles south of Durant. Before he began his journey through higher education, Nathaniel served for six years in the Oklahoma Army National Guard as an 11C Indirect Fire Infantryman. In 2017-2018 he deployed to Kabul, Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.

In his spare time, he enjoys learning about and collecting curio and relic firearms.

Miguel is a PhD student and a Student Fellow at the Military History Center at the University of North Texas. He earned a Master of Arts in History from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. He also served as a Senior Instructor in the Department of History at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO.

Miguel’s primary research examines the German army’s application of the principles of military necessity and Auftragstaktik during the Wehrmacht’s war of annihilation against the Soviet Union. His dissertation, tentatively titled “The Interplay of Military Necessity and Auftragstaktik during the Soviet Counteroffensive in the Battle for Moscow, December 1941 to January 1942,” will examine the interaction of military necessity and Auftragstaktik.

Miguel has also published in The Journal of Military History, arguing that German field commanders continued to practice Auftragstaktik during the Soviet counteroffensive. The Society of Military History awarded his article the VanVandervortize for Outstanding Articles in Military History in 2021.

Miguel is originally from the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Southern California. He is a 20-year Air Force Veteran who served as a 13B Air Battle Manager and deployed in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. He is an avid Los Angeles Kings fan and continues to play ice hockey.