Current Students

Troy Buss

FIELD: Comparative world
ADVISOR: Blake Beattie
THESIS TOPIC: 
EMAIL: troy.buss@louisville.edu

Viola Diehl

FIELD: Americas/Public History

BIO:  I graduated from Hanover College in 2022 with a BA in History. I have lived around the Louisville area for almost all of my life, which has fostered a great interest in the area's local history for me. Since graduating I have been working at the Howard Steamboat Museum in Jeffersonville while also pursuing art on my own time. My main historic interests surround US history in the 18th and early 19th centuries in particular, but I almost never shy away from an opportunity to learn more outside of that.

Elijah Humble

FIELD: Americas
ADVISOR:
THESIS TOPIC:
EMAIL: elijah.humble@louisville.edu
BIO:  I’m a Henry County native, graduating from the University of Kentucky with a B.A. in journalism in 1998, with my first job as a reporter for the Shelbyville Sentinel-News. After living in Chicago for 16 years, building a career and starting a family (Marcy, Charlie and Jane), we moved back to Louisville where I worked for the Courier Journal in advertising for nearly three years before starting at the UofL College of Business, where I work in marketing. I began studying the Civil War on my own as adult, and eventually started taking classes at UofL part time. I believe studying history helps me in my career in the business world (20+ years at this point!), and I look forward to exploring more Kentucky and regional history as well as my other main interest, military history. I’m also on the board of Squallis Puppeteers and have a radio show on WXOX 97.1 ART FM.

Barry Johnson

FIELD: Americas
ADVISOR:
THESIS TOPIC:
EMAIL: barry.johnson@louisville.edu
BIO:  Dr. Barry C. Johnson, a native of Louisville, serves as the Pastor of the Southern Star Baptist Church of Louisville, Kentucky. Dr. Johnson holds the Bachelor (BM) and Masters Degrees (MM) in Music Composition from the University of Louisville, Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree in Music Composition from the University of Kentucky, Master of Theology (M.Div) and Doctor of Ministry (D.Min) degrees in Black Church Studies from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, in addition to Post-Doctoral studies at Berklee College of Music. Previous teaching assignments were at Savannah State University, Western Kentucky University, and Kentucky State University, where he retired as a Full Professor of Music. An avid musician, scholar, and composer, Dr. Johnson is the owner of TNT Productions and Recording Studios and teaches part-time at the University of Louisville in the School of Music.

Joshua Keown

FIELD: Comparative world
ADVISOR:
THESIS TOPIC: 
EMAIL: joshua.keown@louisville.edu

Garret McCorkle

FIELD: Americas
ADVISOR:
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EMAIL: garret.mccorkle@louisville.edu
BIO:  I was born and raised in Louisville before attending Centre College where I majored in History. During my time at Centre, I focused on Antebellum Southern history with a focus on Kentucky, race, gender, education, and violence. After graduating in 2020, I joined the Teach Kentucky program and became a teacher at Lyman T. Johnson Traditional Middle School where I taught while working on my Masters degree in Teaching, which I received in 2022. I am currently facilitating a student-led project, along with the Justice Now Learning Hubs, to create a children’s book detailing the lives and accomplishments of Kentucky social justice leaders from the past and present. This work titled Giants of the Bluegrass will be published with the help of the University Press of Kentucky. I hope to use my time at the University of Louisville to continue my research on the social history of the Antebellum Southern United States while developing my writing and research skills to better serve public education.

Wesley Miller

FIELD: Comparative World
ADVISOR:
THESIS TOPIC: 
EMAIL: wesley.miller@louisville.edu

BIO:  I just graduated with my BA in History from Campbellsville University in 2022. I am from Mount Washington and I'm coming back to Louisville for my MA. My area of focus is Medieval history, but I have a diverse interest range of financial history, colonialism, and film history. My end goal is to become a history professor with a Medieval specialty and intend to increase interest in the area.

M. Daniel Morgan

FIELD: Comparative world
ADVISOR:
THESIS TOPIC: 
EMAIL: mdmorg01@louisville.edu
BIO:  Greetings! I am glad to be studying history at UofL. I was born and raised in Danville, KY before earning my BA in history from George Washington University where I also ran for the cross-country team. I earned my MA in secondary education from the University of Kentucky. I have taught in public Kentucky high schools for ten years, the last seven at the Academy @ Shawnee in Louisville's west end. I am now pursuing my second MA to further facilitate my students' education. I live with my wife, Bethany, and our two-year-old daughter, Eleanor in the Upper Highlands where we are converting the yard into urban farm space. I still enjoy running along with hiking, bicycling, reading, playing games, and advocating for democracy.

Troy Plumer

FIELD: Americas/Public History
ADVISOR:
THESIS TOPIC: 
EMAIL: troy.plumer@louisville.edu
BIO:  Interdepartmental B.A. Political Science & Religious Studies, Indiana University, 1989. Past mentee/body-person to Herman B Wells (President/Chancellor, Indiana University). 5th gen. farmer/rancher prior to leaving for Uni. Areas of interest include but most decidedly are not limited to: History of Progressivism in the U.S., Civil Rights & Labor movements, public radio, long-distance motorcycling, historical re-enactor/actor, writer, Social Studies oriented trade books/graphic novels, boardgames for fun and re-enactment/education, diary keeping, all things Star Trek. Devotee of Dr. Heather Cox Richardson’s work in public outreach/democracy advocacy via the study and articulation of U.S. History with a concentration on the use of social media. Since 2013, I’ve worked for the University of Louisville, Ekstrom Library as a Tier 1 I.T. staffer in the Office of Libraries Technology.

Emily Tingle

FIELD: Public History
ADVISOR:
THESIS TOPIC:
EMAIL: emily.tingle@louisville.edu
BIO:  I graduated from the University of Louisville in Spring 2019 with a Bachelors in History and a minor in archaeology. I’m interested in museum studies but I also have a strong interest in the history of antiquity, specifically the Greco- Roman conquest of Egypt. I would love to somehow find a way to combine the two for my thesis topic.

Chad White

FIELD: Comparative World/Medieval History
ADVISOR: 
THESIS TOPIC: 
EMAIL: chad.white@louisville.edu
BIO:  After serving in the U.S. Military for 12 years, I decided to go back to school. I graduated from U of L with a BA in History, and then spent a year in York, England at the Centre for Medieval Studies. I’ve studied Latin, Old, English, and Old Norse languages. My main focus thus far has been Anglo-Saxon and Viking History with emphasis on warfare, gender and sexuality, and society and culture. I am also the Department of History’s Administrative Associate.