History Grad Profiles

Jennifer Fry, Class of 2003  (M.A., Oxford University)
As a Pike scholar Jennifer studied art and cultural history at Gordon. She wrote a senior honors thesis on religious and cultural exchange between Byzantium and Anglo-Saxon England in the seventh century. After graduation she earned a master's degree in Byzantine Art History at Oxford University and was awarded distinction for her thesis on the physical setting of baptism in early Byzantium. She has returned to her home state of California where she is working at a gallery that sells fine art and antiques from all over the world.

"Part of my job is to do research on the artwork, which is fun because we have such a wide array of pieces. I haven't ruled out doing a Ph.D. at some point in the future, but for now I'm enjoying putting my knowledge and skills to use and having an excuse to study different kinds of art from all different periods of history."

Hiromu Nagahara, Class of 2003 (Ph.D., Harvard University)
Hiromu completed his dissertation on popular culture and censorship in modern Japan at Harvard in 2011. He has since been appointed assistant professor of Japanese history at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
 

Christine Lindner, Class of 2002 (M.A., University of Durham)
Christine completed her master's degree at the University of Durham and is currently working on her doctorate in the University of Edinburgh's Department of Islamic and Middle East Studies. Her dissertation focuses on Christianity, gender, and cultural exchanges in Ottoman Syria. Christine recently presented a paper on American perceptions of Arab women at the Middle East Studies Association's Annual Meeting in Boston.

"Through this research, I strive to delve deeper and to synthesise the methodological and theoretical insights of Post-Colonial, Feminist and Social Theories, cut with an understanding of the theological and spiritual aspects of cross-cultural relationships. Since graduating from Gordon College, I have found myself upon a path that demands the investigation onto a historical reality, one that focuses not only upon agents from the past, but one that is also inherently linked with the lived realities of the present."

Stephanie Trombley, Class of 2000 (Ph.D., University of New Hampshire)
Stephanie recently completed her Ph.D. in diplomatic history at the University of New Hampshire. She is now Assistant Professor of History in the Global Security and Intelligence Studies Department at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Arizona.

Jeff Barraclough, Class of 2003
After completing an honors thesis and concentration in Public History, Jeff graduated from Gordon with a degree in History. Since graduating, he has served as the Director of the Lawrence L. Lee Scouting Museum and as a Museum Technician at the Adams National Historic Park. Currently, Jeff is the Assistant Executive Director of the Manchester Historic Association in Manchester, NH. In this position, Jeff’s duties include maintaining the Association’s collections and archives and overseeing the exhibits at the Millyard Museum.

"Working in a museum gives me the opportunity to teach history in a non-traditional setting using collections and exhibits as educational tools. Through Gordon's history program, I received the training and experience necessary to begin my career in the museum field."

Megan MacNeil, Class of 2000 (Certif. in Museum Studies, Tufts University)
Megan graduated from Gordon with a major in history and a minor in music, then received a Certificate in Museum Studies from Tufts University in 2002. While at Gordon she began working at The Stephen Phillips House, a small, historic house museum in Salem, Massachusetts, that is a property of Historic New England. As the Registrar, she is currently responsible for maintaining the collections, keeping track of loans and insurance policies, opening and closing the house for the tourist season, and a wide variety of other tasks.

"Working in an historic house museum provides opportunities to connect with history in a tangible way. The letters, photographs, and three-dimensional objects that have been left behind can connect people (visitors and staff) with actual historical events, bringing history to life in a way that a textbook cannot."