Meet the History Department's Newest Faces

David Bresnahan, Assistant Professor

I'm originally from South Jersey - close to Philadelphia - with stops along the way in Ohio, Wisconsin, Montana, and most recently Seattle (and lots of time in Kenya for research as well). My research focuses on coastal East Africa's interactions with social and economic networks of the Indian Ocean since the first millennium. I'm currently working on a project that looks at the Swahili coast and western Indian Ocean from the perspective of small-scale societies that lived along the rural fringes of the port city of Mombasa. At the U, I'm excited to have the chance to teach courses on both world and African history and I'm especially looking forward to seeing what kind of dynamics Utah's high amount of multilingualism will add to world history classes. I'm also very excited to have access to the Wasatch Mountains right outside the office! 

Cody Stephens, Visiting Assistant Professor

I am a US historian interested in the history of economic thought, intellectual history, social movements, and public policy. My research program focuses on social scientists—especially economists, but also sociologists—as political actors. I analyze the prescriptive conclusions underlying schools of social science as authors toggle between audiences of their peers, the general public, and policymakers. I am specifically interested in the intersection between theories of the “global” or “world” economy, US and Latin American transnational social movements, and US foreign policy toward Latin America. My book manuscript, under contract with the Brill Historical Materialism series, traces the transmission of economic theories of “Third World” underdevelopment from Latin America to the United States in the 1960s, reversing the more common tendency to view ideas emanating outward from the developed “core” into the underdeveloped “periphery” of the world economy.

 I teach courses on wealth and poverty, economic history of the United States and Latin America, US foreign policy, and US social movements. I have also taught US and modern world history surveys. My approach to teaching is informed by two years as an instructor of first-year composition in UCSB’s writing program. Students in my history courses practice communicating historical knowledge to a variety of academic and non-academic audiences, which I believe helps them understand the real-world value of historical literacy.

 I have spent the last twenty years in Southern California (San Diego then Santa Barbara). I am excited to be a visiting assistant professor at the University of Utah and look forward to soaking up all the charms Salt Lake City has to offer. Though I’m a California native, I have extended family in Salt Lake City. I’ve visited the city many times and always appreciate the combination of scenic beauty and cosmopolitan urban attractions. I intend to take up skiing this winter, even if only to prove the aphorism about old dogs and new tricks isn’t a universal truth.

Caitlin Tyler-Richards, Pre-Doctoral Fellow

I’m a PhD candidate in African History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I’m originally from Maryland, but have been living happily in the US West for the past 2 years or so. This past year, I was the Mellon University Press Diversity Fellow at the University of Washington Press, where I learned about acquiring books for an academic publisher. I’m excited to join the University of Utah’s History Department as a pre-doctoral fellow, and finish my dissertation on the development of literary publishing and reading culture in Nigeria post-1945. I also hope to connect with scholars interested in the digital humanities via the U's Digital Matters. Oh, and after a year in Seattle, I am looking forward to seeing the sun on a daily basis.