Hello. I’m a historian who studies democracy and social movements in the United States and India. Here you can learn about my books, my teaching, and my own history. You can also learn about LEAP, a program that uses storytelling to empower high school students to become agents of positive change.

I’ve included links to guitar and ukulele music, a recipe for homemade almond milk (courtesy of Gandhi), and my favorite childhood family portrait. Hope you find something meaningful here. If you have questions, thoughts, or your own recipes to share, feel free to contact me.

My newest book, coming soon in Spring 2027:

Seven Who Survived is a collective biography of seven famous people–including Gandhi, Kafka, Georgia O’Keeffe, and the Norwegian painter Edvard Munch–who survived near-fatal illness and  transformed their grief and suffering into empathy and ultimately resilience. To be published by Penn Press in Spring 2027.

My most recent published book:

Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay: The Art of Freedom (HarperCollins India)

The Art of Freedom: Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay and the Making of Modern India (The University of Pittsburgh Press)

My previous book, Brothers: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Race, is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Temple University Press.