Brian Kennedy

Brian Kennedy is a PhD Candidate in Modern U.S. History, with minor fields in Diplomatic History and Immigration, Ethnicity, and Race. He received an M.A. from The Ohio State University and a B.A. from Brandeis University. Broadly concerned with the interaction between domestic and international events, his research focuses on the ways in which ethnic and religious identities shaped the ways that Americans responded to international events and, in turn, how international events altered perceptions of local events. His dissertation, tentatively titled "A Divisive Decade: How Foreign Events and Cultural Conflicts Divided Americans during the 1930s" analyzes three cities (Boston, Detroit, and San Francisco) during the 1930s and analyzes the response of white ethnics to the international and domestic crises of that crucial decade.

The recipient of various academic fellowships, his work has been supported by the Bentley Historical Library, the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Franklin Roosevelt Presidential Library, and the Ohio State History Department.