Greetings and welcome to my homepage. This site has been created to give a little background on myself and to help me stay organized. Please feel free to browse my bio, cv, or lists of projects and resources. If you'd like to contact me, my email is below.

Daniel J Watkins
Graduate Student in European History
University of Florida Department of History

Academic Biography

My academic career began after graduating from St. Edward's School (Vero Beach, FL) in 2001. I enrolled at the University of Florida for my undergraduate studies and pursued a degree in Religion. About two years into my studies, however, I realized that I was far ahead of schedule with my Religion major; so, I decided to double major in Religion and History. During the final four semesters of my undergraduate work, I took classes in European history, religion, and even music. This culminated in my senior thesis on the notable composer, Claude Debussy, and the culture of the Parisian avant-garde at the fin de siecle. In spring 2005 I graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in both Religion and History.

After my undergraduate work, I moved to Los Angeles, California in order to pursue an M.A. in Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary. Upon taking courses in church history during my first semester, however, I realized that my passion was more for the academic study of history and religion than for a career in ecclesiastical service. I began to apply to other M.A. programs in history while also preparing myself with coursework at the University of California Santa Barbara. By fall 2006 I had returned to the University of Florida in order to pursue an M.A. in Early Modern European history.

I am now in my final semester at the University of Florida. Over the past two years I have gotten the chance to do significant research in Paris (thanks to a FLAS grant), complete a fair amount of graduate course work, and even publish a few minor encyclopedia articles and essays. In spring 2008 I should complete my major work on Pierre de l'Estoile, a sixteenth-century French humanist, and earn my degree. I've applied to a number of Ph.D. programs and hope to hear from them in the near future.