Graduate Student Profiles

Dackerie Bowes, Ph.D. Student, Early Modern 

Dackerie Bowes is a historian of early modern Iberia and colonial Latin America. She completed undergraduate degrees in Spain at SLU-Madrid, where she studied history, psychology, Ibero-American studies, and Spanish. She then began her PhD at SLU-St. Louis, where she researches the Inquisition, the intersection of visual and material histories, the curation of spaces and identities, and fashion. Her current research employs fashion to investigate non-linear spaces of correlation, histories of innovation, attitudes, and labor, and the utility of fashion in rituals and festivals. 

In March 2025, the Center for Iberian Historical Studies invited her to return to Madrid and attend a research symposium featuring eight seminars with prominent scholars and four research training sessions in Spanish libraries, archives, and museums. She is the Graduate Student Association Representative for the Department of History and Student Representative for the College of Arts and Sciences on SLU President Dr. Edward Feser’s Strategic Research and Scholarship Planning Team. For 2026, she is on track to complete her comprehensive examinations and reach PhD candidacy, present at SLU’s Thirteenth Annual Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies, and apply to research fellowships for the following year. Dackerie is grateful to work under Dr. Fabien Montcher and be an affiliate of the CIHS.

Abner Chacon, Ph.D. Candidate, Medieval

Abner Chacon is a Ph.D. candidate in medieval history. His research focuses on the ecclesiastical, institutional, and legal history of medieval Europe with special interest in pre-modern legal cultures and the development of medieval canon law. He completed his B.A. and M.A. at the University of Toronto where his M.A. thesis examined the influence of Roman law and ecclesiastical law on the leges barbarorum. Abner is under the guidance of Professors Atria Larson and Steven Schoenig, S.J., and is investigating the intersection and melding of law and culture in hagiographical and other writings from the late antique and early medieval period in his dissertation. He has presented his research at the 2023 and 2025 International Medieval Congress (Leeds) and the Seventeenth International Congress of Medieval Canon Law (2024). He is coeditor of the Proceedings of the Sixteenth International Congress of Medieval Canon Law (CUA Press, forthcoming) and a member of Iuris Canonici Medii Aevi Consociatio (ICMAC).

Emmaleigh Calhoun, Ph.D. Student, Medieval

Emmaleigh Calhoun is an M.A./Ph.D. student in medieval European history. Under the guidance of Thomas Finan, Ph.D., she studies the intersection of ecclesiastical history and craftwork in 12th- and 13th-century Gaelic Ireland. She holds a B.A. in anthropology from Emory University and an M.Sc. in experimental archaeology from University College Dublin. 

Kay Hart Daly, M.A./Ph.D. Student, Medieval

Kay Hart Daly is a M.A./Ph.D. student with a focus on the intellectual and cultural history of the medieval Mediterranean. Their research centers around the reception of the mytho-histories of the classical past, and how that past was used to understand, contextualize, and justify in-group identity and cross-cultural contact. Kay holds a B.A. in English literature from Denison University. Prior to coming to SLU, they worked as a full-stack web developer. Their past in building data-driven, interactive websites has made them interested in the challenges and potential of translating historical knowledge into modern data forms.

Brent Gordon, S.J., Ph.D. Student, Early Modern

Brent works with Charles Parker, Ph.D. on European empires and their overseas missions during the early modern period. His research interests include the early Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the interplay of empires, Catholic missionary activities, and intellectual exchanges in the 16th and 17th centuries. His dissertation, tentatively titled "Porters, Architects, Helpers: The Development of Jesuit Temporal Coadjutors in the Early Modern World," focuses on the incorporation of lay brothers in the Jesuits and the roles they played in global missionary efforts. He has a B.A. in Classics and Religion and a M.A. in History of Religion, both from Florida State University, as well as a BPhil from St. John's College Seminary. Brent is a vowed religious brother in the Society of Jesus. 

Deirdre Klena, Ph.D. Student, Early Modern

Deirdre Klena is a Ph.D. student in early modern European history working under Dr. Fabien Montcher.
She received her B.A. from UCLA in 2021, an M.A. in History and Literature from Columbia University

in 2022, and a Masters in History from the EHESS in Paris in 2024. Her research interests include 16th-
and 17th-century Italian visual and material culture, with a special focus on interactions between religion,

space, healing, and art. She is also interested in connections between Italy and the Iberian world. She has
presented at numerous conferences, including the 2024 Annual Graduate Conference in European History
at the European University Institute in Florence and the “On Land and Across the Sea: Boccaccio’s Other
Wor(l)ds. Junctions and Interweavings” conference at UCLA in 2025. She is pursuing a dissertation topic
that will focus on a comparative study of Italian and Iberian spaces of spiritual and physical healing.

Dillon R.F. Knackstedt, Ph.D. Student, Medieval

Dillon R.F. Knackstedt is a Ph.D. candidate researching medieval legal and cultural history under Damian Smith. His dissertation project, “Founding the Fourth Estate,” centers on the origins and judicial thought of the Parlement of Paris during the reign of Louis IX, emphasizing its role in conserving a decentralized legal order. He earned an M.A. in History at Western Michigan University (2019) and a B.A. from Franciscan University of Steubenville (2017). He’s received grants from the Newberry Library, the Knoedler Research Fund, the CUA Institute for Human Ecology, and the Metropolitan Sewer District to support various projects and presentations. He currently works in the Vatican Film Library cataloging microfilms.

Courtney Knight, Ph.D. Student, Medieval

Courtney Knight studies medieval and early modern Spanish cultural, intellectual and gender history. Her research interests include popular belief, medicine and science, and cross-cultural and interfaith relations. Courtney received her B.A. from Loras College ('21), of Des Moines, Iowa, where she majored in history, Spanish and biology. 

Natalie Krauss, Ph.D. Student, Medieval

Natalie Krauss is a 4th year Ph.D. student working under the supervision of Dr. Thomas Finan. Her research focuses on the intersection of religion and cultural transformation in early medieval Northern Europe, with particular attention to the Christianization of Viking populations and the development of religious life within Anglo- and Hiberno-Norse communities. Her academic interests include Viking conversion to Christianity, the formation and experience of religious diasporas among Norse populations, and the role of popular Christian practice in and around Viking settlements. She especially interested in how Christian belief and practice took shape outside official ecclesiastical structures and how these forms of worship reflected broader social and cultural shifts. Her dissertation examines the development of early Christian spaces in and around Viking Dublin and investigates their relationship within the wider ecclesiastical framework of early medieval Ireland. Through archaeological, textual, and comparative analysis, this project seeks to better understand the integration of Norse communities into the religious landscape of the Ireland during the early Middle Ages. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in both History and English from the University of Missouri–St. Louis (2023). 

Nathan Van Aken, Ph.D. Student, Early Modern

Nathan Van Aken is a graduate candidate who is interested in religious minorities in Spain in the 16th and 17th centuries, with special focus on their lives, labor, and movement. Nathan holds a B.A. In history from Utah Valley University and an M.A. In history from Western Washington University where he wrote his thesis titled "Heresy in the Home: Morisca Women and the Spanish Inquisition," which investigated the way in which several women navigated their pseudo-clerical roles in their community under the threat of the Inquisition. His dissertation will examine moriscos from the Kingdom of Aragon and the ways in which their movement and labor tied them to minority communities throughout Spain.

Mattheis Lorimor, Ph.D. Student, Late Antique and Medieval

Mattheis Lorimor is a third year Ph.D. student in late antique and medieval history studying under Atria Larson, Ph.D., and Douglas Boin, Ph.D. Mattheis’ research focuses on local pastoral care in the Merovingian kingdoms and Carolingian Empire with a particular interest in the pastoral manuals and other manuscripts produced for local religious leaders as part of the early Carolingian religious reforms. In pursuing this research interest, Mattheis utilizes paleography, codicology, and material cultural approaches. Mattheis holds a B.A. in history and theology from Elmhurst College and an M.Div. and M.A. in Christian education from Princeton Theological Seminary. He has also completed a graduate certificate in spoken Latin through the University of Kentucky.

Brandie Robb, Ph.D. Student, American 

Brandie Robb is a PhD student focusing on 19th and 20th century United States. In 2023, Brandie graduated from Missouri State University with her B.S. in Anthropology, and in 2025 with her M.A. in History. Brandie’s research focuses on disability and eugenics, with a particular interest in the history of intellectual and developmental disability in the twentieth century.

Brandie is currently planning to focus her dissertation on the transnational eugenics movement in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. She is interested in how social, cultural, and religious influence adapted eugenic thought into a culture specific movement, such as the result of Catholic opposition in the United States. 

Brandie presented her Masters Thesis, “From the Battlefield to the Asylum: The Social Construction of Disability in Italy, 1900 – 1950,” in “Three Minute Thesis” at Missouri State University in 2024.  Additionally, she participated in the podcast, “Talking History.” 

Carmen Roskos, M.A. Student, Early Modern and Modern

Carmen Roskos is an M.A. student in the world history program. Her research interests include how national theater develops history, and national identity formation. Carmen holds a B.A. in history from the College of Saint Benedict and was trained as a stage manager.

Aaron T. Scarbrough, Ph.D. Student, American

Aaron T. Scarbrough is a M.A./Ph.D. student in American History. As an Americanist his interests include the Atlantic World, Caribbean Studies, and the American South with focus on Immigration patterns to the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries. Aaron recently began a project on Emigration from the U.S. and Ex-patriotism. Mr. Scarbrough earned his B.A. in History with a minor focus in Theology from St. Louis University. "When I considered my options SLU remained the right place for me. The faculty here excels at keeping the program at the front of digital humanities and is always on the lookout for focused research opportunities. With campuses on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean SLU has a special offering other universities cannot provide." Aaron is proud to represent the St. Louis University History Department and looks forward to a future career in academics, research, and authorship.

Matt Schumacher, Ph.D. Student, American 

Matt Schumacher is a first-year Ph.D. student at SLU. Originally from the Chicago suburbs, Matt comes to SLU after 3 years of teaching at the high school and college level. He obtained his B.A. in History from Fordham University in 2020 with a double-minor in American Studies and Latin American Studies and graduated from his M.A. program from Villanova University with a degree in American History. Matt has taught classes at various community colleges in the Chicago area, teaching subjects like American History, Western Civ, Global History, African American History, Latin American History, and the History of World War II. He has also published two book reviews in the DeVry Journal of Scholarly Research. 

Matt’s area of study for his Ph.D. is the intersection of race, gender, and politics with modern professional wrestling. He is immensely grateful for the opportunity to be at SLU and learn from amazing professors and surrounded by colleagues and classmates that encourage him to be better every day. 

Paul Smith, Ph.D. Student, Medieval

Paul Smith is a fifth-year Ph.D. student under the direction of Professor Thomas Finan. His main area of research focuses on architecture and lordly landscapes in the medieval British Isles. His dissertation examines the presence of the military-religious orders in Anglo-Norman Ireland, supported by ongoing geophysical survey work at Temple House Estate in County Sligo. Paul is also a member of the Colloque Château Gaillard.

Father John Mayo, (Archdiocese of Saint Louis) Ph.D. Student, American 

My name is Fr. John Mayo. I am a priest of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis and am currently applying to the doctoral program. I completed a Master of Arts in History at Kenrick School of Theology in 2009, writing on the history of the Northeast Deanery of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis between 1950-2005. I hope to build on this work through a dissertation looking at the life and ministry of Cardinal Joseph Ritter, who was Archbishop of Saint Louis from 1946-1967.

Jamilah Whiteside, Ph.D. Student, American

Jamilah Whiteside is a Ph.D. student with an emphasis in American history. An educator with 24 years of teaching experience, Jamilah is an active researcher in the topics of slavery in Missouri and American feminism. Her graduate work is centered around the topic of American women and their invisible contributions to early Black studies and history

Glauber Santos Wisniewski, Ph.D. Student, Medieval

Glauber Santos Wisniewski is a Ph.D. student specializing in medieval European history. Particularly interested on the history of the religious and military orders in the Iberian Peninsula, he works with Professors Damian Smith and Sam Conedera on this topic. Glauber holds a B.A. in Psychology and earned his M.A. in Medieval Studies from University of Porto (Portugal) in 2024, with a dissertation titled "Abuse and Conflict in the Portuguese Lands of the Order of Santiago (1337-1507)".

Kailen Kinsey, Ph.D. Candidate, Medieval

Kailen is a Ph.D. candidate with an emphasis in medieval history.  Her research with Thomas Finan, Ph.D., is focused on the role of queens in the complex and interconnected worlds of Irish, Viking and English royalties in the 11th century.   

Thomas Barrows, Ph.D. Candidate, Medieval

Tommy is a Ph.D. candidate in history with an emphasis in medieval. His research explores the ways in which Anglo-Norman lords constructed motte and bailery fortifications in northern Ireland, and how view-scapes and the landscape impacted the selection of construction sites. Barrows is a member of the Chateau Gaillard Castle Studies Colloque, and has published several articles related to the castles and fortifications on the Isle of Man and in Ireland. 

Amanda Watson, M.A. Student, American

I am a first year American history PhD student studying under Silvana Siddali, with a secondary concentration in world history. I hold a BA from Grand Canyon University and an MA from Eastern Washington University, both of which are in history. My research interests focus on the late-18th and 19th centuries including abolition, the American Civil War, race relations, civil rights, and the influence of religion. I particularly enjoy researching the intersection of religion and radical abolitionism in the pre-Civil War era.