Joseph E.

Esparza
Curriculum Vitae
Ph.D. Student, History (Environmental)
Montana State University
Email: josephesparza0704@gmail.com Website: https://josephesparza.weebly.com
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Education:

 Ph.D. Student, History, Montana State University, 2022-Present

Dissertation Title: “Emblems of the West, Mountains of Imagination: Whitney, Rainier, Teton,
and the Geographic Imagination of Western Mountain Landscapes” [in progress]
Co-Chairs: Mark Fiege and Michael S. Reidy

Fields: Environmental History (Major), Mountain Studies (Minor), Western U.S. History
(Minor), Concentration: Public History

Research Interests: Historical Geography, Landscape History, American West, Geographic

Imagination, Historical Place-Making and Spatial Identities, Mountain Studies, U.S. Intellectual
History, Public Interpretation of Cultural Landscapes, Digital Humanities

 M.A., History, California State University San Marcos, 2022

Master’s Thesis: “Adams in the Garden: The Environmental Thought of John Adams”
M.A. Digital Project: “The Environmental Thought of John Adams: A Digital Archive”

 B.A. summa cum laude, History; Minor: Geography, California State University San
Marcos, 2020

Publications:

Review of “Johnson, Markes E, Islands in Deep Time: Ancient Landscapes Lost and Found” in
H-Net Reviews, pending Vol number, (2024) [in progress]
“Mountain of Conquest, Mountain of Control: The Mount Whitney Landscape and the
Geography of Conquest and Control in the Range of Light,” Eastern Sierra
History Journal Vol. 5 (Fall 2024) [in progress]

Review of “Gulliford, Andrew, Bears Ears: Landscape of Refuge and Resistance” in Western
Historical Quarterly Vol. 54, No. 4 (Fall 2023)

“A Natural Arch: Ecological Imperialism, the “Crosby Effect,” and the Discourse of
Environmental History,” History in the Making Vol. 14, No. 1, (May 2021),
https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1241&context=history-in-the-making.
“Ozone Diplomacy in the Reagan Administration,” in Voices and Visions Digital History
Reader, (Fall 2020), http://vandvreader.org/ozone-diplomacy-in-the-reagan-
administration-1987/

“A Universal Message: Pope John XXIII on International Order in the Postwar World,”
Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History, Vol. 10 No. 1 (April 2020): 64-84,
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/aujh/vol10/iss1/5/.

with Greg B. Pauly. “Elgaria multicarinata (Southern Alligator Lizard) High Elevation Record,”
Herpetological Review 51. no. 1, (March 2020): 124.

Presentations:

“Modern Orogenesis: Mountains and the Human Imagination,” Panel Moderator, American
Society for Environmental History Conference, April 2024, [proposal accepted]
“Mountain of Conquest, Mountain of Control: The Mount Whitney Landscape and the
Geography of Conquest and Control in the Range of Light,” Eastern Sierra History
Conference, Cerro Coso Community College, October 2023
“The State, the Cold War, and After: West, East, and South,” Panel Moderator, 2023 WEST
Network Conference, University of Montana, May 2023

“Imaginaries of Western Mountains: Rainier, Teton, Whitney,” 2023 WEST Network

Conference, University of Montana, May 2023

“Mountain of Science, Mountain of Knowledge: Mount Rainier’s Landscape and the Scientific-
Geographic Imaginary,” Hist 505 Final Presentation, Montana State University,
May 2023

“Mountains of Imagination Rainier, Teton, Whitney, and the Geographic Imagination of Western
Mountain Landscapes, c. 1870-2010,” Minds on Mountains Conference
Workshop, Montana State University, April 2023

“Mountain of Spirit, Mountain of Beauty: The Grand Teton as Spiritual Place in the Western
Imagination,” Guest Lecture, History 102, Montana State University, February
2023

“Theistic Evolution: Faith, Science, and Life in the Universe,” Guest Lecture, History 282:
Theistic Evolution and Darwinian History Series Lecture IV, Montana State
University, December 2022

“The Human Soul and Nature in The Island of Dr. Moreau,” Guest Lecture, History 282:
Theistic Evolution and Darwinian History Series Lecture III, Montana State
University, November 2022
“The Reluctant Mr. Darwin: A Theistic Evolutionist Critique,” Guest Lecture, History 282:
Theistic Evolution and Darwinian History Series Lecture II, Montana State
University, October 2022

“Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as an Anti-Genesis Narrative of Nature and Creation,” Guest

Lecture, History 282: Theistic Evolution and Darwinian History Series Lecture I,
Montana State University, September 2022

“Unprecedented Times? COVID-19 and the Spanish Influenza in Los Angeles, CA: A Cultural,
Policy, and Constitutional Crisis,” UCI Graduate Student History Conference,
April 2021

“Assessing Wildfire Threat at Mount San Jacinto State Park, California: A GIS Spatial
Analysis,” Paper and Research Project in Geographic Information Systems, presented at
ESRI National Conference, 2020
“‘We are Not Enemies, but Friends’: The Liberal Arts and the Making of the Civic Conscience”
UCI Graduate Student History Conference, April 2021

“Postwar Internationalism and the Catholic Church: A View Through the Natural Law,”
American Historical Association-Pacific Coast Brach Conference, Portland, OR,
[Paper accepted but canceled due to COVID-19, August 2020]

“Revising Birmingham’s Jail: The Natural Law and Just War Traditions in Martin Luther King
Jr’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” CSUSM Symposium on Research,
Innovation, and Creative Activities, March 2020

“A History of Moreno Valley, CA: Pre-History-1864,” Moreno Valley Historical Association,

July 2018, March 2019

“The Pre-Industrial Past of Perris Valley, CA,” Perris Valley Historical Association, November
2018

College Teaching Experience:

Graduate Teaching Assistant, Montana State University:

HSTR 101, Western Civilization I, Fall 2023 (with recitation sections)

HSTA 102, US History II, Spring 2023 (with recitation sections and substitute lecturer)

HSTR 282, Darwinian Revolution, Fall 2022

Teaching Associate, CSU San Marcos:

HIST 131, US History II, Fall 2021 (with discussion section)

Guest Lectures:

History of Mountaineering, Fall 2023 (3 lectures), Montana State University

American History, Spring 2023 (2 lectures), Montana State University

Darwinian Revolution (3 lectures), Montana State University

Other Teaching Experience:

Public Speaking and Debate Instructor, Rose Debate Institute (Virtual), 2021-2023

Humanities Instructor, Grace Christian Academy, Murrieta, CA, 2021-2022

History Instructor, Temecula Tutor, Temecula, CA, 2021-2022

Public History Experience:

Digital Projects:
Sheyenne National Grassland Documentary Series (Editor/Writer/Interpreter), Fall/Summer
2023, https://www.youtube.com/@IvanDoigCenter/featured
The Environmental Thought of John Adams: A Digital Archive, Spring 2022,
https://wp.csusm.edu/joseph-esparza/
Lake Perris State Recreation Area Interpretive Videos, Spring 2020,
https://padlet.com/josephesparza/lake-perris-studios-1y7eyane5fafnv6f

Work Experience:
Research Assistant and Film Writer, Ivan Doig Center for the Study of the Lands and Peoples of
the American West, Interpretive Consulting for Sheyenne National Grassland, North Dakota,
Summer-Fall 2023
Park Interpretive Specialist/Interim Museum Coordinator, California State Parks: Ya’i Heki
Regional Indian Museum, Perris, CA, 2017-2020
Museum Educator, Temecula History Museum, 2019
Public History Qualifications:

History 598: Applied Public History Internship, Fall 2023

History 508: Historic Preservation Theory and Practice, Montana State University, Spring 2023

History 502: Public History Theory and Practice, Montana State University, Fall 2022

History 510: Introduction to Public History, CSU San Marcos, Fall 2021

History 502 (CSUSM): Digital History, CSU San Marcos Spring 2021

History 501 (CSUSM): Media and History, CSU San Marcos Fall 2020

“NAI Shining Star National Award and Recognition”, National Association for Interpretation,
October 2018 for recognized park and museum educational expertise:
https://www.interpnet.com/NAI/interp/Resources/Awards_Programs/Shining_Star_Award/nai/
_resources/Shining_Star.aspx?hkey=0d6e8c65-ca61-4b42-a241-bb7e07ca2e2f

Certified Interpretive Guide (CIG), the National Association for Interpretation, August 2017

Certified Interpretive Host (CIH), National Association for Interpretation, February 2019.

Other Major Projects:

“Determination of Eligibility Form,” National Register of Historic Places for Devil’s Tower:
Weissner Route, May 2023

“Historic Site Record Form” for Historic Pony Ranger Station, Beverhead-Deerlodge National
Forest, Montana, December 2022

Interpretive Curriculum Development, Natural and Cultural History at Lake Perris SRA, 2017-
2020

Other Digital Projects:

“Faces of the Past: Early American Education Giants in Art,” December 2021,
https://express.adobe.com/page/HPu3L4oaDzB7A/

“John Adams Digital History Project,” May 2021, https://adamsdhproject.weebly.com/

“Lookout for Fallout: The Impact of Domestic Nuclear Weapons Testing upon the
Environment,” Fall 2019,
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/c606e0436fd7477d8e7f8f06e2de5d71

“Once Mighty, Turned Flighty: The Demise of the American Bison,” Fall 2019,
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/1c13fca3d7494cbb90239b50c728d578
Fellowships, Accepted Seminars, Honors, and Planning Committees:

Ph.D.:

 Travel Grant, Graduate Research Enhancement Award, MSU Department of History and
Philosophy, Fall 2023
 Participant, Minds on Mountains Reading Group and Planning Committee, MSU
Department of History and Philosophy, Fall 2022-Present
 Seminar Participant, “Life in the Cosmos: A Thomistic Institute Meeting,” Thomistic
Institute October 2023
M.A.:

 CSUSM Department of History “Outstanding M.A. Thesis Award 2021-2022”

 Civitas Dei Fellow, Institute for Human Ecology, Thomistic Institute, Catholic University
of America, Washington, DC, 2021
 Seminar Participant, “Natural Law and Public Affairs,” The Witherspoon Institute,
Princeton, NJ, 2021
 CSUSM History Graduate Fellowship, CSU San Marcos, 2020-2021
 CSUSM Teaching and Learning Group, Advisory Working Group to the Department of
Undergraduate Studies, 2021-2022
B.A.:

 CSUSM Department of History, “2020 Outstanding Undergraduate of the Year”

 “Global Competency Certificate for International Awareness,” CSUSM Department of
Liberal Arts, May 2020
 Seminar Participant, “PERC Student Summer Colloquium,” The Property and
Environment Research Center, Bozeman, MT, June 2020.
 CSUSM B.A. Dean’s List: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
 Finalist, CSUSM Symposium on Undergraduate Research Competition, March 2020