I have a bachelor's degree in General Anthropology from Grinnell College, A master's degree in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and finally, a doctoral degree in Anthropological Archaeology from the University of Michigan based on archaeological research I conducted in India at the great late medieval/early modern South Indian imperial capital of Vijayanagara in its 16th-century heyday one of the largest cities in the world.

Despite the anthropological emphasis of my academic training, however, I have spent much of the past 11 years teaching as an instructor in the History Department at the University of Arkansas, where my teaching activities have focused on global surveys of ancient civilizations and courses on the history and culture of early India. In recent years, I have also extended my reach to the modern era with courses on Modern Imperialism, Colonial India, and most recently, a course on the History of Beer and Brewing.

Perhaps the most enjoyable aspects of teaching for me lie in the opportunity to share with students my fascination with investigating the immensely diverse civilizations that humans have created over the millennia and in imparting to students a sense of how we know what we think we know about these early civilizations in a manner that combines the methods and data of both history and archaeology.

In my spare time I enjoy reading (both fiction and non-fiction), listening to varied musical genres, playing the trombone, hiking, cycling, cooking South Asian dishes, and home-brewing - the last a hobby that I have pursued for over 30 years as the result of the opportunity to study abroad in England as an undergraduate.