About Us

We are both Nebraska natives and have been married for five years. Brittney graduated with her Masters degree in nursing from the University of Tennessee in 2010, and will begin working as a nurse practitioner once we return from Europe.  She specialized in family practice and is most interested in helping and educating patients about cardiac conditions, weight-management strategies, and nutrition.  Jordan is currently working on a PhD in Modern European History at the University of Tennessee, and hopes to finish in 2112-13. His dissertation investigates the relationship between democracy, nationalism, and authoritarianism in interwar Latvia, especially during the dictatorial regime of Kārlis Ulmanis. His other scholarly interests include most notably modern Central and East European history, nationalism studies, and political and intellectual history. Beyond our professional lives, we enjoy spending time with family and friends, traveling, savoring culinary and vinicultural experiences, debating aesthetics, hiking, and reading.

A bit about our blog: “The Crooked Timber of Humanity” was created with the intention of documenting and sharing our experiences in Riga and the rest of Europe, as Jordan works on conducting research for his doctoral dissertation. The title of our blog, “The Crooked Timber of Humanity,” seemed apt for a number of reasons. First and foremost, we are interested, both on a professional and personal level, in the human story, in mankind’s attempt to understand the human body and the world and our often fallible yet well-intentioned attempts at managing both. And that is what the line in its entirety (“Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made”) signifies — mankind’s paradoxical nature. The second reason the title seems to fit is that the phrase  was originally penned by the notable German philosopher, Immanuel Kant, who had a great many of his works published in Riga. Finally, one of Jordan’s favorite historians, the late Isaiah Berlin, published a collection of essays under the title “The Crooked Timber of Humanity.” And, of all places, Berlin was born and raised in Riga before his family eventually emigrated to Britain. Thus, given our interests and our new home in Riga, the phrase seemed like a natural fit.

Disclaimer: Our time in Latvia is being funded by a Fulbright award funded by the U.S. Congress and administered by the U.S. Department of State and the Institute of International Education (IIE). Consequently, readers should be clear that our statements and sentiments in no way represent those of the U.S. government, IIE, or the University of Tennessee.