Department of History

I was raised in Northern BC and worked as a coal miner prior to attending university. Since arriving at Okanagan College in 2003, I have taught courses in Canadian, Indigenous, American, Chinese, Japanese, and World history. My research focuses on legal and penal history and my published work includes Domestic Reforms: Political Visions and Family Regulation in British Columbia, 1862-1940 (UBC Press, 2007), and (co-authored with Professor Melissa Munn, Criminology and Sociology) Disruptive Prisoners: Resistance, Reform and the New Deal (University of Toronto Press, 2021).

Credentials:
PhD, History, University of Ottawa
MA, History, UVic
BA, History and English, UVic

My primary research interests include the life and career of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, the Chinese Nationalist Movement, and China’s role in the Second World War. I enjoy teaching history, especially that of the modern world and modern China, from a non-Western perspective. Of all genres of history, I particularly enjoy military and political history. History, I believe, has always been the epitaph for the rich and powerful, and will remain so in the future.

Credentials:
PhD, History, University of British Columbia
MA, History, Southern Illinois University Carbondale
BA, History, Southern Illinois University Carbondale

As a college professor my area of specialization is Canadian military history during the Second World War.  After I graduated from Royal Military College I served as an infantry platoon commander in the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, then, following 17 years as a civilian (I was a high school teacher for most of it), I became an armoured troop leader in the British Columbia Dragoons, a reserve cavalry regiment in the Okanagan. I made lieutenant twice and captain once, retiring from the military in 2014 after 25 years of service, including 10 military parachute jumps.  The Canadian Armed Forces awarded me a Canadian Forces Decoration (CD) for honourable service.  Since 2005, I have taught courses at Okanagan College in Ancient, Medieval, Canadian, American, World, and Indigenous history.  I have also created and taught these new courses: Hist 230 Warfare and Terrorism since 1945, Hist 320 Rise of Modern Capitalism, and Hist 220 History of Space Exploration.  Okanagan College has given me a Teaching Excellence Award and a Community Impact Award.   In the Fall 2026 term I will be developing two new history courses tentatively titled: Hist 217 History of Aviation and Hist 229 Warfare and Terrorism to 1945.

Credentials:
MA, History, Carleton University
Honours History Teaching, University of Toronto
Teacher Education, Social Studies, University of British Columbia
BA, History, Royal Military College
Royal Roads Military College