PhD Student
North America
Leah is a first-year PhD student at UC Berkeley. She specializes in U.S. empire, race-making, and citizenship, with a specific focus on assimilatory education in the 19th and 20th centuries in the U.S. and its territories. Her previous work has examined the relationship between Indigenous boarding schools, African chattel slavery, and discourse surrounding citizenship eligibility in the U.S. after the Civil War.
Research Interests
- U.S. empire
- race and citizenship
- education
- Native American history
- labor
Education
BA History (High Honors), University of Michigan, 2025
Awards and Fellowships (selected)
Chancellor's Fellowship, University of California, Berkeley, 2026
James A. Knight Scholarship in History Award, University of Michigan, 2025
Forty-Three Foundation Fellowship, William L. Clements Library, 2024
Literature, Science, and the Arts Honors Summer Fellowship, University of Michigan, 2024
History Academic Experience Grant, University of Michigan, 2024
Nancy Bratman Excellence in Writing Award, University of Michigan, 2023
Teaching Experience (selected)
Honors Summer Fellowship Mentor, University of Michigan LS&A, 2025
HONORS 135 Instructor, "The Paradox of Progress: Critically Examining Native American Boarding Schools," University of Michigan, 2024
