Three Richards Center affiliated graduate students successfully defended their dissertations earlier this month and earned their Ph.D. degrees. Cecily Zander earned he doctorate under the guidance of William Blair, Walter L. and Helen P. Ferree Professor Emeritus of Middle American History and Director Emeritus of the Richards Civil War Era Center. Her dissertation is titled, “Agents of Empire: The U.S. Army, The Civil War, and the Making of the American West, 1848-1872.” Emily Seitz earned her doctorate under the direction of Lori Ginzberg, professor of history and women’s studies. Her dissertation is titled, “Prescribing Pregnancy Loss: Women Physicians and the Changing Boundaries of Fetal Life in Nineteenth-Century America.” Mallory Huard also earned her doctorate under the direction of Dr. Ginzberg. Her dissertation is titled, “America’s Private Empire: Family and Commercial Imperialism in Nineteenth Century Hawai’i.”