Prior to joining the Gonzaga faculty, he was a Visiting Assistant Professor of History at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. Dr. Raffety received his doctorate from Columbia University in 2003. His work focuses on seafarers' cases in U.S. federal aourts before 1861, and the ways the interaction between seamen and the courts helped shape American national identiy. His book project, "The Republic Afloat" is forthcoming from the University of Chicago Press.