Graduate Students | University of Houston

Current Graduate Students

Miranda Ruzinsky Selected for Gilda Slifka Internship Program

Miranda Ruzinsky has been selected for the Gilda Slifka Internship Program at the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute at Brandeis University for summer 2025.
Fadi Kafeety Holds Prestigious Fellowship in Jordan

Fadi Kafeety was awarded a doctoral fellowship for 2024-25 by the American Center of Research from the Council of American Overseas Research Centers for a research year in Amman.
John O. King Award Goes to Dmitrii Blyshko

Dmitrii Blyshko (Right) won the 2025 John O. King Award for outstanding graduate student in History, which he received from Director of Graduate Studies Dr. Raúl A. Ramos.
Heather Butina-Sutton Presents Research in Princeton Roundtable

Heather Butina-Sutton was an invited speaker at the History and Legacy of Black Entrepreneurship Spring Roundtable at Princeton University.
Valeria González Wins Lydia Mendoza Fellowship

Valeria González won a Lydia Mendoza Fellow from the UH Center for Mexican American and Latino/a Studies. This image comes from her featured interview in “Provost Profiles” from 2024.
“Public Historians at Work” Features Research by James Burke

James Burke co-wrote and recorded, with Austin Lee (MA ’25), “Stories from the Third Ward: War and the Third Ward,” an episode of the podcast “Public Historians at Work” from the Center for Public History
Marquel Sennet Speaks at Gregory School

Marquel Sennet spoke about Black media at The African American Library at the Gregory School as part of “Words of Defiance: How Black Newspapers Amplified Labor Justice and Social Change” for Black History Month 2025.
Asher González-Ortiz to Participate in Paleography Institute
Asher González-Ortiz studies sixteenth-century scripts during the academic year 2025-2026 with the Spanish Paleography Institute through the organization Sin Barcos. (Photo credit Biblioteca Nacional de España)
Graduate Students Co-Organize Conference

Muthuvel Deivendran (R) and Katherine Truax (L) helped plan and run the inaugural Health is Politics Conference in 2024, which brought scholars from around the world to UH.

	Amr Essam Abdelmoniem Ph.D. Student in Middle Eastern History Advisor: Hanan Hammad Major Field: Arab and Middle Eastern History Minor Field: Urban History Research Interests: Urban Mobility and Political Economy, with a particular focus on how Infrastructure and Policies shape Heritage and Urban Life in Egypt. Selected Publication in Arabic: Madina shakkalatha al-quduban: tarikh al-tanaqul fi al-Qahira, Al-Qahira mu'arrakha (edited volume), vol.1, Dar Al-Ain, Cairo, 2024. Min al-Qahira ila al-dawahi al-jadida: al-qitar wa al-nukhba wa al-madina, fi 'ard al-tariq (edited volume), Dar Al Maraya, Cairo, 2024. Undergraduate: Urban Planning Postgraduate: Architecture and Politics aeabdelmoniem@uh.edu
	Said Sultan Al Hashimi Ph.D. Candidate in Modern Arab History Advisor: David McNally Major Field: Modern Arab History Minor Field: Transnational History Research Interests: Anti-colonialism; Imperialism; Revolutions and Resistances in Oman and Arabian Peninsula Publications in Arabic: Oman: Human and Authority, A Primer to Understanding the Modern Omani Political Landscape (2014) Novels and Prison Literature in Arabic: “If the Trees Fell in Love”; “The Shadow’s Lullaby”; “What the Cell Left Behind for the Rose: The Papers of a Prisoner in 2011”; “Jasmine of Absence: Letters from Solitary Confinement”; “Omani Spring: Reading into the Contexts and Significance”; The Sacred Valley Infantries: Studies and Readings in Sufi Life in Oman Undergraduate: Political Sciences and Economics, University of Kuwait, 1999 M.A.: Strategic Studies, University of Aberdeen, 2006 ssalhash@cougarnet.uh.edu
	Rahil Asgari Ph.D. Candidate in U.S. History Advisor: Josiah Rector Major Field: U.S. History Minor Fields: Public History, Global History, Labor History, History of Medicine Research Interests: Women and Gender Studies; Historical Sociology M.A. in History, University of Tehran B.A. in History, University of Tehran rasgari@cougarnet.uh.edu
	Dmitrii Blyshko Ph.D. Candidate in European History Advisor: Alexey Golubev Major Field: European History (20th-century Russia and Europe) Minor Field: History of Science Research Interests: History of Science; History of Russia; History of Archaeology; Archaeology of Nordic Europe Undergraduate: Specialist Degree with Honors in History from Petrozavodsk State University, Russia, 2011 M.A.: Anthropology and Ethnology from European University at Saint-Petersburg, Russia, 2013 dblyshko@cougarnet.uh.edu
	James Burke Ph.D. Student in U.S. History Advisor: Todd Romero Major field: U.S. History Minor field: Public History Research Interests: Public History, Historic Preservation, Museum Studies BA: History, Oklahoma Christian University, 2021 M.A.: History, Texas A&M University - Central Texas, 2023 Jpburke2@cougarnet.uh.edu
	Heather Butina-Sutton Ph.D. Candidate in Latin America Advisor: Philip Howard Major Field: Transnational History (18th-19th century Atlantic World) Minor Field: Public History Research Interests: Black Labor and Entrepreneurship; Women and Gender Studies; African-American History; Afro-Latina/o/x History; Digital Humanities Undergraduate: Cultural Anthropology, University of Houston, 2014 hbsutton@central.uh.edu "History, as nearly no one seems to know, is not merely something to be read. And it does not refer merely, or even principally, to the past. On the contrary, the great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us, are unconsciously controlled by it in many ways, and history is literally present in all that we do." - James Baldwin
	Valerie N. Butler-Harris Ph.D. Candidate in U.S. History Advisor: David McNally Major Field: U.S. History (15th century-Modern) Minor Field: Public History Research Interests: African American History (New Negro, 1920s-1965); Civil Rights Movement (1950s-1965); Women's History: Labor History Undergraduate: Health and Physical Education, Texas Southern University, 1980 Masters: Master of Education-Educational Administration, Texas Southern University, 2000; M.A. in History, Texas Southern University, 2019 vbutlerharris11@gmail.com "Won't it be wonderful when Black history, and Native American history, and Jewish history and ALL U.S. History is taught from one book. Just U. S. history.” - Maya Angelou
	Sutanwi Chatterjee Ph.D. Student in History Research topic: Disease Control in Colonial Port cities (Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay) of India (1857-1947) Advisor: Nandini Bhattacharya Major Field: Global History with a focus on South Asia Minor Field: History of Medicine Research Interests: History of Science, Medicine, Technology, Urban History, Environmental History, Oceanic History, Economic History, and History of Cuisines M.Phil. in History, Ambedkar University, Delhi, India M.A. in History, University of Mumbai, India B.A. with Honors in History, Daulat Ram College, University of Delhi, India schaterj@cougarnet.uh.edu
	Alexey Chernyavskiy Ph.D. Candidate in Transnational History Advisor: Alexey Golubev Major Field: Transnational History Minor Field: European History Research Interests: Soviet engagement with Africa, Asia, and Latin America during the Cold War, decision-making and military aid, anticolonialism and anti-imperialism, wars of liberation Dissertation: "Foreign Policy of the USSR in Public Opinion of Soviet Citizens, 1964–1982." Graduate degree: Candidate of Sciences in History, Moscow Region State University, Russia, 2017 Undergraduate degree: Diploma with Honors in History (summa cum laude), Moscow Region State University, Russia, 2010 achernya@cougarnet.uh.edu
	Muthuvel Deivendran Ph.D. Student in History Advisor: Pratik Chakrabarti Research Interests: Environmental History, British Colonialism, Labor History, History of Science & Technology, Coastal History, Political Anthropology Projects: Research Assistant, “Coastal Transformation and Fisher Wellbeing - Synthesized Perspectives from India and Europe” (under French Institute of Pondicherry and Madras Institute of Developmental Studies, India) funded by the European Union ─ India Platform for Social Sciences and Humanities (EqUIP); Research Intern, Tribal Research Centre, Department of Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare, Government of Tamil Nadu, India. M.A.: Anthropology, University of Madras, India, 2021 mdeivend@cougarnet.uh.edu
	Bill Ferguson Ph.D. Student in U.S. History Advisor: Raúl Ramos Major Field of Study: U.S. History Research interests: Comparative World History, Native American History, U.S. Colonialism
	Valeria González Ph.D. Candidate in U.S. History Advisor: Mark Goldberg Major Field: U.S. History Minor Field: Public History Research Interests: Latina/o/x Jews, Sephardic Jews, Digital Humanities, Public History, social history, religious history, Jewish Studies Undergraduate: History, University of Houston, 2024 vgonza53@cougarnet.uh.edu
	Asher González-Ortiz Ph.D. Student in History Advisor: Norah L. A. Gharala Major Field: Global/Transnational History with a focus on the Atlantic World Minor Field: Public History Research Interests: Early modern Europe; Social History; Gender History; the Atlantic World; cross-cultural interaction & exchange; Colonial Latin America; Native American History; Early American History B.A. in History, Sam Houston State University, 2023 aagonz43@cougarnet.uh.edu
	David Guzman Ph.D. Student in U.S. History Advisor: David McNally dguzman8@central.uh.edu
	Chase Holt Ph.D. Student in U.S. History Advisor: David McNally Research Interests: Race and capitalism in the post-Civil War South, history of white supremacy and criminal justice, labor history, US military history. M.A.: History, Arizona State University, 2023. B.A: History & Religious Studies, University of Virginia, 2007. Email: chholt@cougarnet.uh.edu Website: chasehholt.podbean.com
	Priscilla JudsonWallace Ph.D. Candidate in Global History and African American Studies Advisor: David McNally Major Field: Transnational History Minor Field: African American Studies Research Interests: Black Radical Tradition; Black Radical Intellectuals; Franz Fanon; Resistance Movements Dissertation: "Claudia Jones and the Black Radical Tradition: A Global Study" Undergraduate: History, University of Texas at El Paso judsonpriscilla@gmail.com “The function of history is not simply to teach breadwinning, or to furnish teachers for the public schools, or to be a centre of polite society; it is, above all, to be the organ of that fine adjustment between real life and the growing knowledge of life, an adjustment which forms the secret of civilization.” ―W.E.B. Du Bois
	Fadi Kafeety Ph.D. Candidate in Modern Middle East Advisor: David McNally & Abdel Razzaq Takriti (Rice University) Research Interests: Marxism; Political Economy; Revolutions and Revolutionary Thought; Tricontinentalism; History from Below; Colonialism and Imperialism Undergraduate: Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, New York University, 2017 M.A.: Middle East Studies, The Graduate Center, CUNY, 2019 Position: Assistant Director, The Arab-American Educational Foundation Center for Arab Studies (2020-2024) Awards: 2024-25 ACOR-CAORC Pre-Doctoral Fellowship (Amman, Jordan) Website FKafeety@uh.edu
	Moksh Kalra Ph.D. Student in Transnational History Advisor: Nandini Bhattacharya Major Field: Transnational History Minor Field: History of Science, Technology, Environment, and Medicine Research Interests: Histories of colonialism, environment, capitalism, disease M.A. in History, Department of History, University of Delhi, 2022 B.A. (Honors) in History, Ramjas College, University of Delhi, 2020 mkalra@cougarnet.uh.edu
	Nancy Katz Ph.D. Candidate in U.S. History Advisor: Mark Goldberg Major Field: U.S. History Minor Field: World History Research Interests: Atlantic World; Early U.S. Colonies; Crypto-Judaic Identity and Memory; U.S.–Mexico Borderlands; British Colonialism Dissertation: The Memory of Being Hidden: Crypto-Jewish Identity in the U.S.–Mexico Borderlands which explores secrecy, ritual, and memory transmission among descendants of conversos in Texas, New Mexico, and California, situating Crypto-Jewish identity within Atlantic World and borderlands frameworks. Fellowships and Awards: John L. Nau III Ph.D. Fellowship Internship: Graduate Coordinator, Cougar Initiative to Engage, Center for Public History, University of Houston (Summer 2022) Undergraduate: B.A., History, University of Houston, 2021 (Summa Cum Laude, Honors College; minors in Classical Studies, Jewish Studies, and Religious Studies) "We are not makers of history. We are made by history." -Martin Luther King, Jr.
	Daniel Killian M.A. Student in Public History Advisor: Nancy Beck Young Major Field: Public History Minor Field: U.S. History Research Interests: Urban History, Houston History, Neighborhood History, Residential Segregation, Civil Rights History Undergraduate: History, University of Texas, 2023
	Riley Kramer Ph.D. Student in U.S. History Advisor: Dr. Nancy Beck Young Major Field: U.S. History (20th Century) Minor Field: World History Research Interests: U.S. and the World, American Empire, America's role in the world, specifically the FDR era Academic Education: M.S. in Logistics Management from Florida Institute of Technology (2021); B.S. in Business Administration from The Ohio State University (2015) Active Duty Army Logistics Officer since 2015 to present rkramer@cougarnet.uh.edu
	Aracely Lara M.A. Student in Public History Advisors: Mark Goldberg, Nancy Beck Young Research: Texas-based muralists, research is focused on communal healing and resistance through murals and exploring murals as a holistic method to cleanse spaces of historically traumatic events in Texas. Undergraduate: Literature and Latino Studies, University of Texas at Austin, 2021. alara32@cougarnet.uh.edu
	Andrea Ledwell Ph.D. Student in U.S. History Advisor: Linda Reed Major Field: Twentieth Century U.S. History Minor Field: European History Research Interests: Southern Studies, Civil Rights, History of Race and Slavery, History of White Supremacy, and African American Studies M.A. History, Sam Houston State University, 2025 Undergraduate: Education, Mississippi State University, 2003 Author, Pushing Forward: Mississippi’s Youngest Freedom Rider, 2019 aledwell@courgarnet.uh.edu
	Stephanie Masterson Ph.D. Student in European History Advisor: Catherine Patterson Major Field: European History Minor Field: U.S. History Research Interests: Early Modern British History, religious history, witchcraft, spirituality, and folk belief, Women and Gender Studies, Early American History, Atlantic World, Environmental History, History of Emotions, social history and cultural history Undergraduate: History, University of Houston, 2023 sfmaster@cougarnet.uh.edu
	Chase Norton Ph.D. Student in History Advisor: John Sbardellati Major Field: U.S. History Research Interests: 20th Century U.S. Political History and Conservatism Undergraduate: BA Knowledge Integration, University of Waterloo 2022 M.A.: History, University of Waterloo, 2025 Cgnorton@cougarnet.uh.edu "There's always a bigger fish."
	Jaime Miguel Ramirez M.A. Student in Latin American History Advisor: Adela Cedillo Major Field: Cold War Latin America Research Interests: Censorship, Interactions between musicians and the state during dictatorships, civil wars, and authoritarian regimes, Music history, Student movements, Rock and roll history. Undergraduate: History, University of Houston, 2024 Jmramir9@cougarnet.uh.edu
	Gabriel Rodriguez Ph.D. Student in U.S. History Advisor: Kelly Hopkins Major Field: U.S. History Minor Field: Public History Research Interests: Indigenous America, Colonial America, North American Borderlands, Cultural History M.A.: History, Bowling Green State University, 2025 B.A: History, University of Houston, 2022 Email: grodri46@cougarnet.uh.edu
	Anushka Roy Ph.D. Student in History Advisor: Pratik Chakrabarti Research Interests: History of Medicine, History of Science and Technology, Legal History, British Colonialism, Women and Gender Studies, Global History with a focus on South Asia Fellowships: Presidential Fellowship. Contact: aroy31@cougarnet.uh.edu
	Miranda Ruzinsky M.A. Student in Public History Advisor: Nancy Beck YoungResearch Interests: 20th Century U.S. History, American Jewish History, Women's History, Oral History, Digital Humanities, Project Management Public History Internships: Sharing Stories from 1977, Houston History magazine, SYRIOS, Greater Houston American Red Cross, Summer Internship in Public History and Digital Humanities (SIPHDH), Sephardic Latinx Oral History Project Fellowships and Awards: Lydia Mendoza Fellowship, Joseph A. Pratt Houston History Prize, Harris Country Society Award for Excellence B.A. in History and Spanish, Summa Cum Laude, University of Houston mmruzins@central.uh.edu
	Xavier Saldivar-Osorto Ph.D. Student in Latin American History Advisor: Philip A. Howard Major Field: Latin American History Minor Field: U.S.-Mexican Borderlands Research Interests: Digital Humanities, Oral History, Immigration, Race and Ethnicity, Mexican American History, Revolutions in Latin America, Latin America during the Cold War, Food History, and Music History. M.A.: History, University of Texas at San Antonio. 2023 B.A.: History, University of Houston-Downtown, 2021 AAS: Automotive Technology, Houston Community College. 2013 xasaldiv@cougarnet.uh.edu “The nicest thing about the rain is that it always stops. Eventually.” -Eeyore
	Marquel Sennet Ph.D. Student in U.S. History Advisor: Linda Reed Major Field: U.S. History (Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries) Minor Field: Public History Research Interests: African American History (Reconstruction) with a focus on the sharecropping system in Southwest Louisiana and the migration of rural Black Louisianians to Southeast Texas B.A. in Broadcast Journalism, University of North Texas M.A. in History, Grambling State University mnsennet@cougarnet.uh.edu
	Shreya Singh Ph.D. Student in History Advisor: Pratik Chakrabarti Research Interests: Environmental History; Colonial History; Migrations; Landscape Degradation; History of Science, Medicine, and Technology Internships: Research Intern, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi — Climate-Induced Migration in Marathwada; A Narration on Traditional Water Harvesting Systems in India; Research Intern, Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), New Delhi — Published: Mapping India's Historical Ties with Southeast Asia; Climate Migration and Displacement: Challenges and Responses M.A.: History, University of Delhi, India B.A.: History, University of Delhi, India
	Olabode Shadare Ph.D. Candidate in Transnational History Advisor: Dr. Kairn Klieman Major Field: Transnational History Minor Field: Public History Research Interests: Nigerian Immigrant Community in Houston; Identity, Gender, and Race; Oral History Fellowship: University of Houston Presidential Award for Graduate Study Undergraduate: History & International Relations, Osun State University, 2011 M.A.: International Relations & European-Asian Studies, Tallinn University of Technology, 2016; History, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, 2020 Personal Website omshadar@cougarnet.uh.edu
	Lisamarie Small Ph.D. Student in European History Advisor: Alexey Golubev Major field: 20th Century Russia and Europe Minor field: Transnational history Research interests: Soviet Nationality Policy, Women and Gender Studies, Russian German History M.A. Student in Russian Language and Literature, Middlebury College M.A. Russian History, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill B.A. History and Russian, Bryn Mawr College lmsmall2@cougarnet.uh.edu
	Riley Sullivan Ph.D. Student in U.S. History Advisor: Matthew Clavin Major Field: U.S. History (19th Century) Minor Field: Public History Research Interests: American Civil War, Historical Memory, War and Society, Reconstruction, and Political History. M.A. In History, Sam Houston State University, 2021. B.A in History, Sam Houston State University, 2019. resulli3@CougarNet.UH.edu
	Michael Tanner Ph.D. Student in U.S. History Advisor: Nancy Beck Young Major: U.S. History Minor: Public History Research Interest: Early 20th Century U.S. Social movements and early Civil Rights efforts. "If you want me to speak for two minutes, it will take me three weeks of preparation. If you want me to speak for thirty minutes, it will take me a week to prepare. If you want me to speak for an hour, I am ready now." - Winston Churchill
	Katherine Truax Ph.D. Student in U.S. History Advisor: Pratik Chakrabarti Major Field: History of Medicine Minor Field: Transnational History Research Interests: History of Death, Medicalization, Race, Imperialism, Policy, History of Science, Pseudoscience M.Sc. in History, University of Edinburgh, 2012 B.A in History, University of Houston, 2011 kttruax@CougarNet.UH.edu
	Seth Uzman Ph.D. Candidate in Transnational History Advisor: David McNally Major Field: Transnational History Minor Field: U.S. History Research Interests: Class formation in the 19C Greater Caribbean, 20C global intellectual history M.A.: Labor, Social Movements, and Development, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 2020 B.A.: Mathematics, Economics, Plan II, University of Texas at Austin, 2018 ssuzman@cougarnet.uh.edu “The tradition of the oppressed teaches us that the 'emergency situation' in which we live is the rule. We must arrive at a concept of history which corresponds to this.” - Walter Benjamin
	Michael Voss M.A. in Public History Advisor: Nancy Beck Young Major Field: U.S. History Research Interests: Military History, World War II, The Cold War, State History Museums Undergraduate: History major, Film minor from “Barrett, The Honors College” at Arizona State University, 2023 mkvoss@cougarnet.uh.edu
	Amelia White Ph.D. Student in U.S. History Advisor: Raúl Ramos Major Field: U.S. History Minor Field: Transnational History Research Interest: Spanish American borderlands (17th & 18th centuries), U.S. West, public history Undergraduate: Political Science, Austin College M.A.: History, University of Texas at San Antonio
	Ajanae Willis Ph.D. Candidate in U.S. History Advisor: Richard Mizelle Major Field: U.S History in the 19th and 20th Centuries Minor Field: Public History Research Interests: Environmental History/Racism; Culture and Community Building; Disaster Capitalism; Black Geographies; Medical History; Race, Disease, and Healthcare disparities; Oral History M.A. in History, North Carolina Central University, 2020 B.A in History, Elizabeth City State University, 2017 atwillis@central.uh.edu