2002-present: McNeese State University (Lake Charles, LA)
- Professor of History, Tenured (2012-present)
- Department Head (2007-present)
EDUCATION
- 2002: Ph.D. in History (Ohio University)
- 1999: M.A. in History (Ohio University)
- 1994: B.A. in Political Science (Institut d’Etudes Politiques, a.k.a. Sciences Po Paris)
BOOKS
- The Slaves Who Defeated Napoléon: Toussaint Louverture and the Haitian War of Independence (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2011). Translated as Ces esclaves qui ont vaincu Napoléon:
Toussaint Louverture et la guerre d’indépendance haïtienne (Les Perséides,
Jan. 2013).
- Haiti: The Tumultuous History (New York: Palgrave, Sept. 2010). Revised and expanded paperback edition of Paradise Lost: Haiti’s Tumultuous Journey from Pearl of the Caribbean to Third World Hot Spot (New York: Palgrave, 2005).
- Clinton in Haiti: The 1994 U.S. Invasion of Haiti (New York: Palgrave, 2004).
ARTICLES
- “Un-Silencing the Past: The Writings ofToussaint Louverture,” Slavery and Abolition 34:4 (2013), 663-672.
- “Toussaint Louverture.” Oxford Bibliographies in “Atlantic History.” Ed. Trevor Burnard. New York: Oxford University Press, 1 Oct. 2013.
- “The Haitian Revolution, History’s New Frontier: State of the Scholarshipand Archival Sources,” Slavery and Abolition 34:3 (2013), 485-507
- "French Atrocities during the Haitian War of Independence,” Journal of Genocide Research 15:2 (June 2013), 133-149.
- With Jean-Louis Donnadieu. “Toussaint Before Louverture: New Archival Findings on the Early Life of Toussaint Louverture,” William and Mary Quarterly 70:1 (January 2013), 41-78.
- “Quelle langue parlait Toussaint Louverture ? Le mémoire du Fort de Joux et les origines du kreyòl haïtien,” Annales 68:1 (Jan. 2013), 109-132.
- “War Unleashed: The Use of War Dogs during theHaitian War of Independence,” Napoleonica no. 15 2012/3 (Fall 2012), 80-105.
- “Jean-Jacques Dessalines and the Atlantic System: A Reappraisal,” William and Mary Quarterly (July 2012), 549-582.
- “Sasportas, Haiti, Jamaica, and the Failed SlaveUprising of 1799,” Caribbean Journal (31 May 2012).
- “Jean-Jacques Dessalines et l’arrestation de Toussaint Louverture,” Journal of Haitian Studies 17 :1 (Spring 2011), 123-138.
- “Trading Races: Joseph and Marie Bunel, A Diplomat and a Merchant in Revolutionary Saint-Domingue and Philadelphia,” Journal of the Early Republic 30 (Fall 2010), 351-376.
- “Birth of a Nation: The Creation of the Haitian Flag and Haiti’s French Revolutionary Heritage,” Journal of Haitian Studies 15:1-2 (Spring-Fall 2009), 135-150.
- “Haiti’s Chance,” Northwestern Journal of International Affairs 10:1 (Fall 2009).
- “Napoléon Bonaparte and the Emancipation Issue in Saint-Domingue, 1799-1803,” French Historical Studies 32:4 (Fall 2009), 587-618.
- “Rebelles with a Cause: Women in the Haitian Revolution,” Gender and History 21:1 (Apr. 2009), 60-85.
- “Black Talleyrand: Toussaint Louverture’s Secret Diplomacy with England and the United States,” William and Mary Quarterly 66:1 (Jan. 2009), 87-124.
- “The Ugly Duckling: The French Navy and the Saint-Domingue Expedition, 1801-1803,” International Journal of Naval History 7:3 (Dec. 2008).
- “Rêves d’Empire: French Plans of Expeditions in the Southern United States and the Caribbean, 1789-1809,” Louisiana History 48:4 (Fall 2007), 389-412. [Winner of the President’s Memorial Award for best article of the year in Louisiana History.]
- “In Our Own Backyard: The Clinton Administration’s Response to Foreign Policy Crises, 1991-1994,” Northwestern Journal of International Affairs 8 (Fall 2006), 39-48.
- “White Man’s Burden? The International Community’s Role in Haiti,” Northwestern Journal of International Affairs 7 (Winter 2007), 36-49.
- “Empire by Collaboration: The First French Empire’s Rise and Demise,” French History 19:4 (Dec. 2005), 482-490.
- “Liberté, Egalité, Esclavage: French Revolutionary Ideals and the Failure of the Leclerc Expedition to Saint-Domingue,” French Colonial History 6 (2005), 55-78.
- “Caribbean Genocide: Racial War in Haiti, 1802-1804,” Patterns of Prejudice 39:2 (2005), 144-167.
- “Peacekeeping, Politics, and the 1994 U.S. Intervention in Haiti,” Journal of Conflict Studies 24:1 (Summer 2004), 20-41.
- “Operation Restore Democracy?,” Journal of Haitian Studies 8:2 (Fall 2002), 70-85.
- “Credibility, Domestic Politics, and Decision-Making: William J. Clinton and Haiti, 1994-2000,” Journal of Caribbean History 36:1 (2002), 127-155.
- “Nation Building in Haiti,” in Sally Paine, ed., Nation Building, State Building, and Economic Development: Case Studies and Comparisons (New York: M. E. Sharpe, 2010), 153-166.
- “Europe and the World,” in Peter Wilson, ed., A Companion to Eighteenth Century Europe (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, forthcoming 2008).
- “Caribbean Genocide: Racial War in Haiti, 1802-1804” in Dirk Moses, ed., Colonialism and Genocide (Oxford: Routledge, 2006), 42-65.
- “The Bush Administration before September 11th,” in Yone Sugita, ed., Bush wo Saiten Suru [Evaluation of Bush’s Policies] (Tokyo: Aki Shobo, April 2004), 20-52.
- Toussaint Louverture as a Planter,” French Colonial History Society Conference (New Orleans, LA, 30 May – 2 June 2012).
- “Isaac Sasportas, Toussaint Louverture, and Jamaica’s Failed Slave Uprising of 1799,” Association of Caribbean Historians (Curacao, 13-18 May 2012).
- “The Memoir(s) of Toussaint Louverture,” Consortium on the Revolutionary Era (Baton Rouge, LA, 23-25 February 2012).
- “Emancipation in One Country: Haitian Leaders’ Views on Exporting the Haitian Slave Revolt,” Black Resistance Symposium (Tulane University, 13-15 October 2011).
- “The French Cultural Heritage in Independent Haiti,” The Francophone World and the Anglo World: Empires of Culture, c. 1700-2000 (National University of Ireland, Galway, 8-10 June 2011).
- “French Refugees from Saint-Domingue in New Orleans,” New Orleans Scottish Rite History and Research Symposium (New Orleans, 1-4 June 2011).
- “Mass Deportations of Caribbean Rebels from Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Saint-Domingue in 1802,” Association of Caribbean Historians (Puerto Rico, 16-20 May 2011).
- “Jean-Jacques Dessalines’s Role in the Capture of Toussaint Louverture and Other Haitian Revolutionaries,” Consortium on the Revolutionary Era (Tallahassee, FL, 3-5 March 2011).
- "The Relevance of Atlantic History to the Study of Louisiana and the First French Colonial Empire," Louisiana Historical Association (Lafayette, LA, 26 March 2010).
- “Toussaint Louverture and the Failure of the French Plans for a Slave Uprising in Jamaica,” Caribbean section of the American Historical Association (New York, NY, 2-5 January 2009).
- “The Ugly Duckling: The French Navy and the Saint-Domingue Expedition, 1801-1803,” Sixth International Napoleonic Congress (Ajaccio, Corsica, 7-11 July 2008).
- “Teaching World History,” Louisiana Historical Association (Lafayette, LA, 15 March 2008).
- “Would France Have Restored Slavery if it Had Won the Haitian Revolution? Saint-Domingue and the Emancipation Issue,” Consortium on the Revolutionary Era (Huntsville, AL, 1 March 2008).
- “Toussaint Louverture’s Secret Diplomacy with the United States and Great Britain, 1798-1802,” Louisiana Historical Association (Alexandria, LA, 23 March 2007).
- “Birth of a Nation: Creating the Principles of Haitian Nationhood from the Ashes of Saint-Domingue, 1803-1804,” Consortium on the Revolutionary Era (Arlington, VA, 2 March 2007).
- “Love in the Time of Malaria: Women in the Haitian Revolution,” Louisiana Historical Association (Lafayette, LA, 24 March 2006).
- “The 1804 Massacre of Haiti’s White Population,” Southwestern Historical Association (New Orleans, LA, 25 March 2005).
- “Rêves d’Empire: French Plans of Expeditions in the Southern U.S. and the Caribbean, 1789-1815,” Louisiana Historical Association (Lafayette, LA, 16 March 2005).
- “Liberté, Egalité, Esclavage: French Revolutionary Ideals and the Leclerc Expedition to St. Domingue,” French Colonial History Association (Washington, DC, 7-8 May 2004).
- “Haiti’s Contribution to the Early American Republic,” Southwestern Historical Association (Corpus Christi, TX, 19 March 2004).
- “Did Haiti Save the U.S.? Leclerc’s Expedition to Haiti and the Louisiana Purchase,” Consortium on Revolutionary Europe (University of Louisiana in Lafayette, 21 February 2003).
- “Cultural Encounters and Foreign Policy: The U.S. Intervention in Haiti,” Paul Lucas Conference in History (Indiana University, 6 April 2002).
- “Domestic Politics and Foreign Policy: The 1994 U.S. Intervention in Haiti.” MALAS Conference (Cleveland State University, 18-20 October 2001).
- “The American Character as a Source of U.S. Foreign Policy,” Cold War Conference (U. of California in Santa Barbara, 21-22 May 1999).