The JCB Welcomes New Research Associates
The JCB has hired two Research Associates who will work collaboratively on designated topics relevant to the library’s collections and mission, conducting research and producing both general audience and scholarly publications. Associated with the JCB’s initiative 2026 and Beyond, the Research Associates will undertake directed research and produce public-facing and scholarly work on histories and legacies of religions and freedom in the early Americas with an emphasis on the eighteenth century.
Brittany Erwin is a scholar of the Early Modern Spanish world, working at the crossroads of social and political history in Spanish South America, including Peru, Río de la Plata, and Chile, through the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries. Her research explores ceremony, ritual, and identity in the Spanish Empire. She completed her PhD at the University of Texas at Austin in 2023, and has received support from the Institute for Historical Studies, the Fulbright Commission of Spain, the Tinker Foundation, and the Digital Writing and Research Lab at the University of Texas, among other sources. Brittany’s recent article, “‘An unthinkable novelty’: ceremonies, contests for power, and the creation of the viceroyalty of Río de la Plata” (Colonial Latin American Review, 2025), won Honorable Mention in the Rocky Mountain Council of Latin American Studies Article Prize. Through her public history projects and collaboration with local archives and museums, she remains committed to making histories of the Early Modern world more accessible to students and the wider community.
Dan Howlett earned his Ph.D. in History from George Mason University in 2025. His research focuses on religion and disability in early America. His current project, Innocent Blood and Hearts of Stone: Disability, Religion, and the Salem Witchcraft Trials, looks at how perpetrators of the witchcraft accusations used evidence of demonic affiliation while victims referenced their body to prove their innocence and faith to illustrate a divide in New England Puritanism. Howlett previously taught classes at GMU, The George Washington University, and the University of Richmond.
At GMU, he also spent several years as a Graduate Research Assistant and Graduate Affiliate at the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. He worked as the lead of the transcription team for Death By Numbers, a project creating a dataset of the London Bills of Mortality. His digital portfolio includes data-driven work and digital public history. He currently moderates the forum AskHistorians, a text-based Q&A subreddit with 2.7 million subscribers. In this role, he coordinates the Ask Me Anything series where guest scholars invite users to ask questions about their work. The series surpassed 10 million views in 2025.
In his spare time, he visits cemeteries and fences, previously volunteering as a coach for the GW Fencing Club and serving three terms on the board of the United States Association of Collegiete Fencing Clubs.
The JCB is thrilled to welcome both Brittany and Daniel!