Hello! My name is Rachael Davis and I am a first-year History PhD student at American University. I am from Charlotte, North Carolina and received my bachelor’s degree in Political Science and History at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. All throughout my undergraduate career, I mainly studied the early American Supreme Court. However, my life changed after I read Melissa Faye Greene’s The Temple Bombing, a book on southern Jews, white supremacists and civil rights activism. Since then, I have been reading as much as I can on American Jewish history, southern Jewish women and Black-Jewish relations from the founding of America to present. I hope to write my dissertation on southern Jewish women and their involvement in the desegregation of schools in their communities, as well as the divergent experiences of racism and antisemitism in the twentieth-century South.
In the future, I hope to become a professor of American Jewish history, write books (historical and fiction) and focus on making history as accessible and approachable as possible. I would love to explore different mediums, such as podcasts, documentaries, video games and more! I believe this class will help me gain the skill set to interact with a plethora of digital tools and sources, as well as help me get the ball rolling on some digital projects I have been drafting in my head! There are so many important and enthralling stories on southern Jewish women throughout history — they should not be confined to ink and paper!
I am obsessed with technology and social media, but I really only know how to work with iMovie and Adobe Premiere Pro. I am very eager to learn more about the other platforms we will be using this semester, especially Audacity and HistoryPin.
Lastly, I do not have too much free time, but when I do, I love to read fiction novels and memoirs, watch The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel for the 100th time, play Animal Crossing and eat baked goods, especially chocolate chip cookies. I cannot wait to get to know you and learn with you this semester! 🙂