History Grad Profiles

WHERE GRADS GO
Students are prepared for graduate programs, for professional programs, and for the workplace. Read below to find out what a few of our graduates have been doing.

Abigail Sargent, Class of 2013

M.A. Fordham University, Medieval Studies, 2015
Ph.D. Program, Princeton University, 2015-Present

Abigail Sargent studied premodern history at Gordon, writing her senior honors thesis on Anglo-Saxon female monasticism. The history department, the Jerusalem Athens Forum, and a year abroad at Oxford convinced her that she was hopelessly in love with medieval history. She completed a masters in Medieval Studies at Fordham University in 2015, shifting her focus to medieval social and economic history. Her M.A. thesis investigated the development of local laws governing land inheritance among unfree English peasants. She is now pursuing a Ph.D. at Princeton University.
“I’m incredibly lucky to be able to pursue history in an academic setting. It always amazes me how each historical research topic, and each new course, bring to light new ways that humans have lived out their humanity (some of which are strange, from our perspective, but some of which are startlingly familiar). I’m excited to see where the Ph.D. takes me, and hope I’ll be able to use it to introduce other people to the delight of rediscovering the past.”

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.

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 a 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."