Flinn Scholar Class of 2000
Arizona State University
Associate Professor of History, University of Nevada, Reno
Q: Can you share a little about your current role and what excites you most about your work?
I’m currently an Associate Professor of History at the University of Nevada, Reno. I get to spend my time researching, teaching, and writing about the history of Latin America and the Cold War. I love getting to discover new ways to think about the past and how it affects the world we live in today. I especially like working on a part of the world that is so important to us here in the United States, yet so often neglected in our classrooms and media.
Q: How did being a Flinn Scholar shape your academic or career path?
The Flinn Scholarship helped open the world to me. The travel opportunities that it offered cemented my passion for learning and living abroad. My second summer at ASU, the Flinn Scholarship paid for a summer study abroad program in Mexico, Chile, and Costa Rica—three countries I had never visited before. I loved Chile so much that I decided to return for a full semester (also paid for by the Flinn!); then, while I was there, I crossed over the Andes to Argentina, and fell in love with that country, too. After I graduated, I spent a year in Argentina teaching English on a Fulbright Fellowship before starting graduate school. The Flinn Scholarship basically set me on a path of visiting countries, becoming fascinated with them, and scheming to find ways to return and keep exploring.
Q: What’s one piece of advice you’d give to current Scholars or recent alumni?
Get to know your professors! We’re nice! Come to office hours and talk with us about your hopes and dreams. It’s much easier for your professors to help you achieve your goals when you give us a chance to know you as a person outside the classroom.
Q: Is there a project, achievement, or experience you’re especially proud of?
There are two things I’m currently most proud of: my new book, and my kids. I’ve been working on my second book for over a decade, and I’m so excited that it is coming out this fall. The title is “The Fate of the Americas: The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Hemispheric Cold War,” and it’s a completely new way of looking at the history of one of the most important events of the 20th century. My book is the first hemispheric history of the missile crisis, looking at how governments and everyday people across the Americas caused, participated in, and were affected by it. And in case you are wondering, yes, it was a very convenient excuse to travel all over Latin America doing research!
I’m also the proud mother of two children. I know this is supposed to focus on our professional careers, but if I’m being honest, parenting is way harder than anything I do as a historian. I spent years and years in school learning how to think and read and write but had no preparation for parenthood. It’s the hardest and most rewarding thing I do every day.
Q: How do you stay connected with the Flinn community today?
Since there aren’t a lot of other Flinn alumni running around Northern Nevada, I mostly stay in touch through the newsletter. I love reading about all the exciting and amazing things that members of the Flinn community are accomplishing!
Q: Looking back, what’s one lesson from your time as a Flinn Scholar that has stayed with you?
Get involved. Being present and participating are the keys to success—and the keys to an interesting life.
Q: What impact do you hope to make in your field or community in the coming years?
I hope to help as many people as possible understand the importance of Latin America to our history and our lives today. I would love it if people outside the field of Latin American history, and even outside the academy, picked up my book, read it, and thought: “Huh, I never realized how closely connected we all are.”
I also hope to use my knowledge of the past to inform current political discussions. One of my proudest moments last year was when the American Historical Association invited me to brief the U.S. Congress on the history of U.S. military alliances. I hope to find more opportunities like that in the coming years, because there are so many ways that we can draw lessons from the past to guide our future.
Q: What’s one unexpected skill you picked up during college that you still use today?
I got really into ballroom dancing in college, and I still get some opportunities to bust out my salsa moves when I travel!
Q: What’s the most surprising way your Flinn experience has popped up in your life post-college?
I was pleasantly surprised when I was invited to serve for a few years on the Flinn Scholars Alumni Council. That was a really interesting way to get a behind-the-scenes look at all the work that the Foundation does on behalf of current scholars and alumni.
Q: If you had to describe your career path using only a movie title, what would it be?
“The NeverEnding Story,” because there are endless ways to learn about and from the past. Also, I love a good story.