Current Graduate Students

Below is a compilation of our current Graduate Students in History, including short biographies, CV's and contact information. Graduate students are listed in alphabetical order by last name. A full list of graduate students is linked at the bottom of the page.

Krysti Carlson-Goering is a Doctoral Candidate in History, with particular emphases in United States History, Gender & Labor History, History of Science and Technology, Women & Technology, Mass Media History. View her full CV.

Email: krystic@ksu.edu

 

Lisa Caitlin Highsmith is a Doctoral Candidate at Kansas State University who studies the commercialization of death in nineteenth-century America, Spiritualism, and the role of print media in the emerging funeral industry. Additionally, Ms. Highsmith is the Collections Manager & Registrar for the Museum of Art + Light, set to open in 2024. Previous degrees include an M.A. in Physical Anthropology from Texas Tech University, where she studied degenerative joint disease in skeletons from the St. Nicholas Cemetery in Limassol, Cyprus (2015), and a B.A. in History from Angelo State University (2012). View her full CV.

Email: lchighsm@ksu.edu

Melanie Highsmith is a doctoral student at Kansas State University who studies 19th century conceptions of health and wellness, and construction of asylums. Previous degrees include two M.A. degrees from Texas Tech University in History (2018) and Physical Anthropology (2015) as well as a B.A. in History from Angelo State University (2012). Ms. Highsmith is the Curator of Education and Design at the Riley County Historical Museum. View her full CV.

Email: mhighsmi@ksu.edu

Scott E. McIntosh is a doctoral student at Kansas State University researching Soviet policy regarding the Vietnam War, 1954-1968. Additionally, Mr. McIntosh sits on the Exhibits Committee at the Museum of World Treasures in Wichita and the Editorial Board at The Air Commando Journal. Before pursuing a terminal degree, he headed the Business and Strategic Intelligence curriculum at Newman University (Wichita) and retired as a Foreign Area Officer (Russia/Eurasia) from the United States Air Force. Previous degrees include an M.A. in International Relations and National Security Studies from Naval Postgraduate School (2004), where he studied Russian urban warfare in Chechnya, as well as B.A.s in Russian and East European Studies and Slavic Languages and Literatures from the University of Kansas (1993). View his full CV.

Email: snsmcintosh@ksu.edu

Bryant Macfarlane is a doctoral student researching the co-creation of military society and vertical flight technology. Prior to coming to Kansas State, he completed his MA in History at Southern New Hampshire University in 2019, BA in History at Thomas Edison State University in 2015. He is a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Department of History with experience in instructing courses in the History of Technology, American History, Race and US Foreign Relations, and the Vietnam War. View his full CV.

Email: bmacf002@ksu.edu

Hannah Palsa is a PhD student at Kansas State University in their history department. Her titled "We love dogs, but we love our soldiers more": Dogs for Defense, Inc., and the American Public in World War II, examines the Dogs for Defense, Inc., organization that formed during World War II and convinced pet owners to donate their pets to the military through the use of crafted government propaganda. She received her BA from Purdue University in History in 2014, and her MA in History with a concentration in Public History from Northern Illinois University in 2018.

She began her museum career as a docent at the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site in Indianapolis, IN in 2012 and gave tours until 2016. Currently, she’s employed as a graduate student curatorial assistant at the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, Chapman Center for Rural Studies, and the K-State Historic Costume and Textile Museum, all of which are located on the grounds of Kansas State University. She is owned by a happy little cat named Charlie. View her full CV.

Email: hepalsa@ksu.edu

Damon Penner is a current PhD student in the Kansas State Department of History. He was born and raised in Newton, Kansas. Damon graduated with his BA in History from Wichita State University in December of 2020 and his MA in American History from Kansas State University in August of 2023. Throughout his collegiate career he has interned at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, Harvey County Historic Museum and Archives, and the Fort Riley museums. In addition, he was selected to accompany an archaeological expedition sponsored by Wichita State University and some of his work was incorporated into the renovated exhibits in the Fort Riley museums. Damon has presented his research at various conferences across the Midwest. Although he wrote his master’s thesis on the impact of logistics upon U.S. Army military government in the Southwest during the Mexican-American War, his PhD research will center on the American Civil War’s Trans-Mississippi Theater. View his full CV.

Email: dcpenner@ksu.edu

Michael Santana is a doctoral candidate at Kansas State University whose research focus is US and Spanish counterinsurgency and military action in the Greater Caribbean Basin during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Originally from Miami, FL, he attended the Citadel Military College of South Carolina, earning B.A. in History and Spanish. After graduating in 2015, he returned home, and earned his M.A. in History from Florida International University while teaching full time at a local middle school. Currently ABD and working as a full-time History teacher back in Miami, FL, his dissertation focuses on the social and cultural makeup of the United States and Cuba, with special attention towards the interplay between the militaries of hegemonic powers and smaller states. View his full CV.

Email: msantana15@ksu.edu

Paxton Stover is a doctoral student and graduate teaching assistant at Kansas State University, where his research focuses on US Military History and US-Asian relations in the 20th Century. Originally from Springdale, Arkansas, he graduated from the University of Arkansas in 2019 with a BA in history, and the University of Central Missouri with a MA in history in 2021. View his full CV.

Email: plstover@ksu.edu

Zane A. Whitney Jr. is a PhD student at Kansas State University. Zane is a Graduate Fellow with the Second World War Research Group, North American Region. At Kansas State University, he currently serves as the Graduate Student Council President (2024-2025). He holds an MA in World War II Studies from Arizona State University and a BA in History also from ASU. His last time on a college campus was 2010 when he graduated with a BFA in Performance from Stephen F. Austin State University. He is a military historian focusing on a unique commando unit of the Second World War. He is also interested in the history of memory, particularly to how nations commemorate WWII. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and twin sons. View his full CV.

Email: zwhitney@ksu.edu

See a full listing of our Graduate Students.