Erin N. Bush
Assistant Professor of U.S. and Digital History, Department of History, Anthropology & Philosophy, University of North Georgia.
Education
PhD, History, George Mason University (2019)
Dissertation: “Under the Guise of Protection: Sex, Race, and Eugenics in Virginia’s Reformatories for Wayward Girls, 1910-1942,” Dr. Jennifer Ritterhouse (Chair)
Graduate Certificate, Women and Gender Studies, George Mason University (2014)
MA, U.S. History and New Media, George Mason University (2005)
JBA, History and Journalism, University of Wisconsin-Madison (1997)
Research & Teaching Fields
United States History, Women’s History and Gender Studies, Crime and Punishment in U.S. History, Digital History, Research Methods
Teaching
University of North Georgia (2019-)
- History 2112: United States History II
- History 3010: Introduction to Digital History
- History 3105/6105: Gilded Age & Progressive Era
- History 4110: Crime & Punishment in U.S. History
George Mason University (2012-2018)
- History 696: Introduction to History and New Media
- History 390: The Digital Past
Publications
Refereed Journal Articles
“Immorality and Male Interference Inside a Girls Reformatory in Virginia,” Southern Cultures 25(2). 2019: 46-61.
“‘Attracted by the Khaki’: War Camps and Wayward Girls in Virginia, 1918–1920,” Current Research in Digital History, Vol. 1, 2018.
Book Reviews
Crescent City Girls: The Lives of Young Black Women in Segregated New Orleans, by LaKisha Michelle Simmons, Journal of Social History Vol. 50, Issue 3 (2017) 587-589.
Book Note of The Missouri State Penitentiary: 170 Years Behind the Walls, by Jamie Pamela Rasmussen, The Journal of Southern History Vol. 79, Issue 4 (Nov, 2013): 1033.
Review of Jeanne Winston Adler, The Affair of the Veiled Murderess: An Antebellum Scandal and Mystery at H-Law, H-Net Reviews (March, 2012).
Manuscripts in Preparation
Under the Guise of Protection: Sex, Race, and Eugenics in Virginia (book-length, in-progress)
Published Digital Projects
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt: Executions of Women in the U.S., 2012
Death in Diorama: The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death, 2011
Other Publications
“Finding the Truth in a Nutshell,” The Wellcome Collection Blog, April 17, 2015.
Presentations, Papers & Workshops
Conference Presentations & Workshops
“Making Bad Girls Good: Eugenics and the Boundaries of Progressive Child Saving in Virginia,” The Virginia Forum 2019, Farmville, Virginia, March 14-16, 2019.
“Teaching with Data: Collaborative Research in the Classroom,” Workshop Co-instructor, Getting Started in Digital History Workshop, 2019 AHA Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, January 3, 2019, with Celeste Tường Vy Sharpe and Jeri Wieringa.
“Teaching History Digitally,” Roundtable Panelist, 2018 OAH Annual Meeting, Sacramento, California, April 12-14, 2018.
“‘Attracted by the Khaki’: War Camps and Wayward Girls in Virginia, 1918–1920,” Current Research in Digital History, Arlington, Virginia, March 17, 2018.
“Beyond a Reasonable Doubt: Executions of Women in the United States,” Women’s History in the Digital World, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, March 22-23, 2013.
Invited Presentations & Media Appearances
“The Dollhouses of Death that Changed Forensic Science,” Vox Media, October 2017.
Mistress of Death Interview: Erin Bush, Death in Diorama, Fangirl Nation Magazine, July 5, 2014. http://fangirlnation.com/2014/07/05/mistress-of-death-interview-erin-bush-death-in-dioramas/
“Death in Diorama: The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death,” Lecture, Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime: Local Crimes, Mystery & Forensics, Howard County Library, November 2011.
Awards
Graduate Student Paper Award, Honorable Mention, Virginia Forum, March 2019.
Dissertation Completion Fellowship, Office of the Provost, George Mason University, 2018-2019.
Tuition Scholarship Digital Humanities Summer Institute: R, Interactive Graphics, and Data Visualization for the Humanities, June 2016.
Public History
Historian, TJ & Associates, LLC., 2008-2011
Expertise: Geo-spatial and network analysis; database creation; archival research. Listed as expert witness Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Dept. of Justice.
Docent, Atlanta History Center-Swan House, 1999-2000
Expertise: Twentieth-century South, local history, family, race, class, and gender.
Research Analyst, Murphy & Maconachy, Inc., 1997-1999
Expertise: Project management, insurance archaeology, geo-spatial analysis.
Docent, Harper’s Ferry National Historic Park, U.S. Park Service, 1997-1999
Expertise: Nineteenth-century town development, industry, and social life.
Selected Service
Member, Ida B. Wells Graduate Student Fellowship Award Committee, Coordinating Council for Women in History, 2019-2020.
Member, Graduate Committee, Southern Association of Women Historians, 2019-2020.
Member, Nominations Committee, The Association for Computers in the Humanities, 2018-2019.
Board Member, Alexandria Historical Society, 2018-2019
Reviewer, Mason Core Spring 2018 Assessment, George Mason University, Undergraduate Education.
Proposal Reviewer, Innovations in Teaching & Learning Conference 2018, George Mason. University Stearns Center for Teaching & Learning.
Peer Reviewer for The Programming Historian, 2016-2017.
Graduate Student Representative, Executive Council, Southern Association of Women Historians, 2015-2017.
Professional Memberships
American Historian Association | American Society for Legal History | Coordinating Council for Women Historians | Organization of American Historians | Society for Historians of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era | Southern Association of Women Historians | The Southern Historical Association
Professional Highlights
Eighteen years of professional experience in Internet sector as technical project/product manager, program director; built and launched digital products, tools, and mobile apps; planned feature enhancements to existing online products; managed complex technical projects through agile development cycles; formulated plans for long-term sustainability and accessibility. Led teams of 1-10 individuals and managed $1m+ budgets.
Skills
Extensive knowledge of SQLite, MySQL, PHP, HTML, CSS, Adobe Creative Cloud, Carto, TimelineJS, StoryMapJS, Basecamp, Jira, WordPress, Drupal, PowerShell, Git, R; basic knowledge of javascript, Python.