“But then there was a star danced, and under that was I born.” – William Shakespeare
It always pays to watch out for those of us born under dancing stars. We’re an interesting lot,or maybe just different and complex.
If you haven’t figured it out already, I’m Tanya Roth. I have a PhD in history from Washington University in St. Louis, and I’ve recently developed an obsession with Doctor Who. We all need our vices, and mine revolve around chocolate, popular culture, and my dog. Also books. Many, many, many books.
Once upon a time, you would have visited this site and found loads of details about my graduate school career. I removed all that a year ago after starting my current job. All you need to know now is that I finished my PhD in May 2011 and now teach at an independent secondary school in the greater St. Louis area. As an “Upper School Humanities Teacher,” I teach courses in both history and English. I wrote a dissertation on the integration of women into the US military, titled “Battling for Equality.” Loved the project, adored the research, but no, I’m not doing anything with it at the moment. I’m a little more focused on revising my AP US History course. In the 2012-2013 school year, I’ll also teach Ethics, Atlantic World History, and Twentieth Century World History.
If you’re here because you’re interested in my grad school experience, you’ll find several years of blog entries about my time in grad school, the work it took to finish a dissertation and PhD, and my reflections on the whole shebang. Since I started teaching full time, my writings have become more sparse – something I’m trying to fix – but tend to include reflections on life as a secondary school teacher and my life with this guy at right. Neither The Spouse (as I refer to him) nor I usually get all dressed up like this, but I figured I’d put our best images forward.
We’re thirty-something DINKs with a dog. While The Spouse is a born and bred Missourian, I spent most of my early life moving from place to place. Together, though, we’ve called the St. Louis region home for close to a decade. I’m rather fond of the place, and I’m particularly fond of the serene-looking black dog in the site banner above. (That’s Sirius, named for Sirius Black in the Harry Potter books.)
So, welcome! I try to post regularly, but that word can be pretty subjective when you think about it.
