Following my rural & bucolic upbringing in the Ozarks, I subsequently performed military service abroad. Upon my return, I began my academic journey studying Confucianism, rhetoric, and pedagogy in Portland, Oregon. After which, my family and I lived abroad in both Beijing and Taipei studying Mandarin, teaching, learning, translating, and exploring East Asia for a few more years. 

We later moved back to North America and I pursued additional training in modern Chinese political history & IR theory in Washington, D.C. At the same time, I worked as a researcher at a think tank, investigating environmental impacts of the Belt and Road Initiative. When the COVID lock down began, I decided to leave D.C. and returned to teaching as a university lecturer in Colorado while I applied to PhD programs. 

Presently, I am researching and teaching Modern Chinese history in the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa's Department of History. I plan to complete my dissertation in the next few years, then look for a permanent university teaching position. In my work, I leverage world/global history, global intellectual/conceptual history, historical institutionalism, area studies, and global studies methods.