Both M.A. and Ph.D. graduates from the History Department have achieved considerable professional success after earning their degrees.
Ph.D. Placement and Employment
The department's Ph.D. graduates have been highly successful at securing professional employment. Many have found academic positions at such institutions as the University of Virginia, Kenyon College, McNeese State University, Beloit College, Clayton State University, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the University of Calgary, Gonzaga University, the University of Tennessee at Martin, Finlandia University, the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, Arkansas Tech University, Hiram College, Belmont University, Gannon University, Grove City College, the University of Wisconsin, Washington County, Lakeland College, the University of Wisconsin, Richland, and several campuses of Ohio University. Others have found professional employment at the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the U.S. Command and General Staff College, the Harry S. Truman Library, and other U.S. government agencies. Of the 42 Ph.D. graduates in the past decade for whom the department has placement information, 41 have secured professional employment in either continuing or term positions.
Ph.D.s since 2012
2012
Kevin Grimm, “Symbol of Modernity: Ghana, African Americans, and the Eisenhower Administration,” Director: Chester Pach
- Associate Professor, Regent University, Virginia Beach, VA
2013
Sony Karsono, "Indonesia's New Order, 1966-1998: Its Social and Intellectual Origins," Director: William Frederick
- Associate Professor, Hankuk University, South Korea
Jeremy Robert Hatfield, "For God and Country: The Religious Right, the Reagan Administration and the Cold War," Director: Chester Pach
Stephen Todd Pfeffer, "Hostile Takeover: The New Right Insurgent Movement, Ronald Reagan, and the Republican Party, 1977-1984," Director: Chester Pach
- Academic Analytics, Wake Forest, NC
David Prentice, "Getting out: Melvin Laird and the origins of Vietnamization," Director: Chester Pach
2014
Jared Bibler, "We live to struggle, we struggle to triumph: The Revolutionary Organization of the People in Arms and radical nationalism in Guatemala," Director: Patrick Barr-Melej
Gerald Goodwin, "Race in the crucible of war: African American soldiers and race relations in the 'Nam,'" Director: Chester Pach
Laura Seddelmeyer, "On the edge of Asia: Australian grand strategy and the English-speaking alliance, 1967-1980," Director: John Brobst
- Associate Professor, Lycoming College, Williamsport, PA
2015
Matthew Jacobs, "A 'Psychological Offensive': United States Public Diplomacy, Revolutionary Cuba, and the Contest for Latin American Hearts and Minds during the 1960s," Director: Chester Pach
2016
Tyler Esno, "Trading with the Enemy: U.S. Economic Policies and the End of the Cold War," Director: Chester Pach
- Assistant Director, Prospect Development, University of Pittsburgh
Sebasitan Hurtado-Torres, "The Gathering storm: The United States, Eduardo Frei's Revolution in Liberty, and the Polarization of Chilean Politics, 1964-1970," Director: Patrick Barr-Melej
- Associate Professor, Universidad San Sebastian, Chile
2017
Jasper Verschoor, "'More than Planners, Less than Utopians': 1960s Futurism and Post-Industrial Theory," Director: Kevin Mattson
- Adjunct Faculty, North Seattle College
Steven Wills, "Replacing the Maritime Strategy: The Change in Naval Strategy from 1989 to 1994," Director: Ingo Trauschweizer
- Center for Maritime Strategy, Washington, DC
Brad Eidahl, "Writing the Opposition: Power, Coercion, Legitimacy, and the Press in Pinochet's Chile," Director: Patrick Barr-Melej
2018
Seth Givens, "Cold War Capital: The United States, the European Allies, and the Fight for Berlin, 1945-1994," Director: Ingo Trauschweizer
- Historian, Marine Corps History Division, Quantico, VA
Luke Griffin, “Green Cheese and the Moon: Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and the Euromissiles”
- Professor, New Mexico Junior College
Jack Marchbanks, "Pride and Protest in Letters and Song: Jazz Artists and Writers during the Civil Rights Movement, 1955-1965," Director: Kevin Mattson
- Director, Ohio Department of Transportation, 2019-24
Lance Poston, Deconstructing Sodom and Gomorrah: a Historical Analysis of the Mythology of Black Homophobia,” Director: Katherine Jellison
- Chief of Staff, School of Nursing, University of Virginia
2019
Adam Givens, “The Business of Airmobility: US Army aviation, the Helicopter Industry, and Innovation During the Cold War,” Director: Ingo Trauschweizer
- RAND Corporation, Washington, DC
Phimmasone Rattanasengchanh, “Thai Hearts and Minds: the Public Diplomacy and Public Relations Programs of the United States Information Service and Thai Ministry of Interior”
- Assistant Professor, Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, TX
2020
Robert Venosa, “Freedom Will Win -- If Free Men Act!: Liberal Internationalism in an Illiberal Age, 1936-1956,” Director: John Brobst
Alexander Lovelace, “Total Coverage, How the Media Shaped Command Decisions during World War II,” Director: Ingo Trauschweizer
- 2020, Scholar in Residence, Ohio University
Anne Allman Huddleston, “The Lost Legacy of Liberal Feminism,” Director: Katherine Jellison
2021
Aaron Brown, “Building a Barrier: the 1970s and the Making of the Modern U.S.-Mexico Border” Director: Patrick Barr-Melej
2022
Kyle Balzer, “The Revivalists: James R. Schlesinger, the Nuclear Warfighting Strategists, and Competitive Strategies for Great-Power Competition,” Director: Ingo Trauschweizer
- Jeanne Kirkpatrick Fellow, American Enterprise Institute, Washington, DC
Fred Coventry, “The Origins of Anglo-American 'Escape and Evasion': MI9, MIS-X, and the Evolution of Escape and Evasion Training during World War II and the Early Cold War,” Director: John Brobst
- Lecturer, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN
2023
Cameron Dunbar, “The Chance of New Greatness: Ted Heath and Britain's Entry Into the European Communities,” Director: John Brobst
- Program Coordinator, Contemporary History Institute, Ohio University
Andrew Howard, “Fixing the "Happy Valley": British Sentimentality and Their Intervention in Kashmir, 1885-1925,” Director: John Brobst
- Lecturer, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
Mike Fitzpatrick, “Planning World War Three: How the German Army Shaped American Doctrine After the Vietnam War,” Director: Ingo Trauschweizer
- DPAA Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
2024
Michelle Mayhew-Shears, “The Promise of Food: the U.S. Government, the Voluntary Agencies, and Food for Peace in the Andes, 1954-1974,” Director: Chester Pach
2025
Sana Saidykhan, “‘The Only Good Crocodile Is a Dead One’: Contradictions in Conservation Policies and Agricultural Activities in the Gambia, 1938 -1965,” Director: Assan Sarr
- Visiting Assistant Professor, Boston College
Harrison Fender, “The Maritime Strategy Ashore: Amphibious Operations, Intelligence, and the Security of NATO’s Littoral,” Director: John Brobst
- Post-Doctoral Fellow, U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD
Shalon Van Tine, “Gen X: A Cultural History of America's Other Lost Generation,” Director: Kevin Mattson
M.A. Placement and Employment
Many of the department's M.A. graduates enter Ph.D. programs in history. Some stay at Ohio University; others have secured admission to excellent institutions, including Brandeis University, the University of California at Irvine, the University of California at Santa Barbara, the University of Colorado at Boulder, the University of Delaware, Harvard University, the University of Maryland, College Park, Michigan State University, Ohio State University, the University of Akron, Temple University, the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Yale University.
Some students use their academic training to gain professional employment in a variety of nonacademic settings. During the past decade, our M.A. graduates have found employment at the American Bar Association, the American Enterprise Institute, and the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives.
M.A.s since 2012 (not including those who joined our Ph.D. program)
2012
Benjamin Wollet, “Switching Tracks: the Place of Railroads in an Era of Economic and Environmental Reform, 1966-80,” Director: Paul Milazzo
- Ph.D. program, University of Delaware
Brittany Pangburn, “4-H and Civic Engagement: the Evolution of 4-H in the United States, 1980-Present,” Director: Katherine Jellison
Katherine Smyser, “To Serve the Interests of the Empire?: British Experiences with Zionism, 1917-1925,” Director: John Brobst
- Ph.D. program, University at Buffalo
Lindsay Kittle, “Gentle Warriors: U.S. Marines and Humanitarian Action During the Vietnam War,” Director: Ingo Trauschweizer
2013
Jessica Blissit, “The Amalgamation of the Personal and the Political: Frederick Douglass and the Debate over Interracial Marriage,” Director: Kevin Mattson
Andrew Koperski, “Breaking with Tradition: Jerome, the Virgin Mary, and the Troublesome ‘Brethren’ of Jesus,” Director: Jaclyn Maxwell
Rebecca Perry, “Britain in Iraq During the 1950s: Imperial Retrenchment and Informal Empire,” Director: John Brobst
- Director, Center for Social Concerns, Gannon University
Erin Todd, “Ballots Against the Backlash: Second-Wave Feminism, the Conservative Backlash Against It, and the 1992 Election,” Director: Katherine Jellison
Joseph Zielinski, “Dreams Won and Lost: Fait Accompli and the Creation of Modern Poland, 1918-1923,” Director: David Curp
- Associate Director, Student Services, Johnson School of Management, Cornell University
Paul Rellstab, “The Pueblo Reforms: Spanish Imperial Strategies & Negotiating Control in New Mexico,” Director: Mariana Dantas
Eryn Kane, “The Guardians of Civilization: Neo-Republican Motherhood in Post-World War II America,” Director: Katherine Jellison
Benjamin Wallace, “Fighting Back Against the Cold War: the American Committee on East-West Accord and the Retreat from Détente,” Director: Chester Pach
Philip Wight, “From Citizens to Consumers: the Countercultural Roots of Green Consumerism,” Director: Kevin Mattson
- Ph.D. program, Brandeis University; Assistant Professor, University of Alaska, Fairbanks
2014
Gabrielle Guillen, “Daughters of the Alcaldes: Women of Privilege in Medieval Burgos,” Director: Miriam Shadis
Caleb Greene, “Harrison County in the Secession Crisis and Civil War,” Director: Brian Schoen
2015
Guy Aldridge, “Forgotten and Unfulfilled: German Transitions in the French Occupation Zone, 1945-1949,” Director: Myrna Zakic
- Ph.D. program, University of Maryland
Jeff Mills, “No Path to Victory: MACV in Vietnam 1964-1968,” Director: Ingo Trauschweizer
2016
Andrea Howard, “The Foreign Men of สน175: the Persecution of Homosexual Foreign Men in Nazi Germany, 1937-1945,” Director: Myrna Zakic
Ian Van Dyke, “Rapture and Realignment: the New Christian Right and American Conservative Views of Israel,” Director: Kevin Mattson
2017
Jeff Shane, “The Russian Revolution in the Eyes of a Thai Royal,” Director: William Fredrick
- Southeast Asia Subject Librarian, Ohio University
2018
Joseph Ross, "Landed Republick": Squatters, Speculators, and the Early American West,” Director: Brian Schoen
- Ph.D. program, University of Missouri
2020
Rukhsana Aziz, “A Historical Reflection on the Egyptian Women's Movement, 1919-1952,” Director: Assan Sarr
James Bowman, “Anglo-French Relations in Syria: from Entente Cordiale to Sykes-Picot,” Director: John Brobst
- Portfolio Manager, Stand Together, Washington, D.C.
Theodore Theopolos, “The Neglected Element: Prestige and British Decision-Making in the Age of Decolonization,” Director: John Brobst
2021
Fatou Janneh, “Kafoolu and Kompins: Women's Grassroots Movements in Post-Colonial Gambi,” Director: Assan Sarr
Nathan Godfrey, “Learn to Tread: Soviet and American Wartime Experience and its Effect on Armor Doctrine,” Director: Ingo Trauschweizer
Michelle Becker, “Programs of the Highest Type: University Radio and Gender Ideals in the Midwest in Postwar America,” Director: Katherine Jellison
2022
Ethan Hull, “Burden-Sharing in NATO: a Continuing Dilemma for the United States,” Director: Ingo Trauschweizer
Caleb Fouts, “The Failure of Fascist Propaganda,” Director: Myrna Zakic
- Ph.D. program, Syracuse University
Conor Fogarty, “Island of Peace in Dangerous Waters: Taiwan's Occupation of Itu Aba,” Director: Joshua Hill
- Program Manager, Cato Institute, Washington, D.C.
2023
Matt Butler, “Blood, Laughs, and Baths: Status in Roman Entertainment,” Director: Jaclyn Maxwell
Peter Roy, “Conferences, Crises, and Treaties: Canadian Foreign Policy and the British Imperial System in the 1920s” Director: John Brobst
- Ph.D. program, Syracuse University
Oliver Hanson, “Something Wicked This Way Comes: an Examination of William Perkins and the Significance of his Treatise on Witchcraft in Elizabethan England,” Director: Michele Clouse
2024
Benjamin Phillips, “Renouare Dolorem: Coming to Terms With Catastrophe in Fifth-Century Gaul,” Director: Jaclyn Maxwell
- Dean of Academics/Latin Teacher, Southeast Ohio Classical Academy
Omar Sarr, “Transformations in Rural Farming Communities: Ox-Plows, Mixed Farming Centers and Agricultural Production in The Gambia, c. 1960s-1970s,” Director: Assan Sarr
- Ph.D. program, Michigan State University
Monica Forsthoefel, “An Episcopal Anomaly: Archbishop John Baptist Purcell and the Development of American Catholic Antislavery Thought,” Director: Brian Schoen
Books by Ohio Ph.D. Alumni
During the past 10 years, Ph.D. graduates have been extremely productive scholars, publishing 35 books. Many of these books are revised versions of Ph.D. dissertations; others are second, third, or even fourth books. These publications have attracted considerable scholarly attention. Here is a sample of some recent books by Ohio University Ph.D. alumni in History:
James Waite, The End of the First Indochina War: A Global History (Routledge, 2012)
Matthew J. Flynn, Contesting History: The Bush Counterinsurgency Legacy in Iraq (Praeger, 2010)
Thomas Bruscino, A Nation Forged in War: How World War II Taught Americans to Get Along (University of Tennessee Press, 2010)
Philippe Girard, Haiti: The Tumultuous History: From Pearl of the Caribbean to Broken Nation (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010)
Robert T. Davis, U.S. Foreign Policy and National Security: Chronology and Index for the 20th Century (Praeger, 2010)
Scott Beekman, NASCAR Nation: A History of Stock Car Racing in the United States (Praeger, 2010)
Marc J. Selverstone, Constructing the Monolith: The United States, Great Britain, and International Communism , 1945-1950 (Harvard University Press, 2009) Winner of the Stuart L. Bernath Prize of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations for the best first book in the history of international relations
Derek Charles Catsam, Freedom's Main Line: The Journey of Reconciliation and the Freedom Rides (University Press of Kentucky, 2009)
Kimberly K. Little, You Must Be From the North: Southern White Women in the Memphis Civil Rights Movement (University Press of Mississippi, 2009)
Stephen R. Taaffe, Commanding Lincoln's Navy: Union Naval Leadership during the Civil War (Naval Institute Press, 2009)
Scott Kaufman, Plans Unraveled: The Foreign Policy of the Carter Administration (Northern Illinois University Press, 2008)