Military History
Convenor: Joseph Glatthaar
Program Description
Military history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is part of a collaborative program with Duke. Graduate students in History pursue a normal course of study and receive their graduate degree at one University or the other. Those concentrating in Military History, or offering Military History as a field of study, work with the Military History faculty at both Universities and take core courses. Participating faculty further collaborate on qualifying examinations and the supervision of theses and dissertations. Students at UNC admitted in the military history field will offer military history as their primary field, and then follow the field requirements related to a geographical field such as U.S. History, European History, Global History, or the like. Other arrangements of the fields are possible upon consultation with their advisor.
Graduate Program
Four core courses provide students of military history a fundamental grounding in the field. Courses may be taught cooperatively, depending on faculty availability. The first three (Hist 717, 951, 952) are required and are offered annually.
Introduction to Military History (Hist 717)
An examination of major and emerging works in military history, theory, and the study of war and military affairs. Reading ranges across several disciplines and genres, including sociology and political science, biography, and war and battle narratives.
Research Seminar in Military History (2 semesters, Hist 951, Hist 952)
A two semester introduction to research in the field that should result in a major research product. During the first semester of the seminar (taken in the spring of the first year) students will alternate reading classic texts in military history (Clausewitz, Thucydides, Mao, and etc.) with discussions of project conceptualization and research strategies. Students choose a topic that may serve as all or part of a thesis or dissertation. Papers are researched, written, and critiqued in the first semester, then revised to publishable standards in the second semester.
Colloquium in World Military History (Hist 718)
The literature on warfare from ancient times to the present, with concentration on the European experience. The course approaches war and military institutions broadly, as social as well as political and economic constructs, which can be understood only in their full cultural context.
Colloquium in American Military History (Hist 860)
The literature on the American military experience, from colonial times to the present, emphasizing different approaches to war, military institutions, leadership, and civil-military relations in the broader context of American history.
Both departments offer other courses in military history and related fields, such as the history of technology, foreign affairs and international relations, and various national histories, which will be of interest to students concentrating in military history.
Click here for information about Comprehensive Exams in Military History.
Faculty
| William L. Barney | Professor | Columbia | Social and political history of nineteenth-century America |
| Christopher R. Browning | Frank Porter Graham D.P. | Wisconsin | Comparative genocide, holocaust studies, Modern German history |
| Karen Hagemann | James G. Kenan D.P. | Hamburg, Berlin | History of gender, nations and nationalisms in a comparative perspective, Modern German and European history, Modern German and European history of military and war (18-20 C.); cultural and gender history of the the nation, the military, and warwomen's and gender history, social and cultural history, military history; German and European women's and gender history (18-20 C.), history of masculinities, social and cultural history, history nation, military and war. |
| Richard Kohn | Professor | Wisconsin | U.S. military history, civil-military relations |
| Wayne E. Lee | Associate Professor | Duke | Early modern military history, Colonial and Native America, British empire |
| Roger W. Lotchin | Professor | Chicago | Urban political history, l800 to the present; the American West, Military |
| W. James McCoy | Associate Professor | Yale | Ancient history particularly Greek |
| Terence V. McIntosh | Associate Professor | Yale | Economic and social history; early modern Europe, Early Modern European economic and social history |
| Fred Naiden | Assistant Professor | Harvard | Ancient Greece, especially social history; Ancient history |
Faculty at Duke
- Dirk Bonker
History of militarism, warfare, and empire in modern Europe and the U.S. - Kristin Neuschel
Early Modern Europe. - Alex Roland
Military history, history of technology.
Faculty from other disciplines at the two universities also participate in the program. Students are encouraged to offer one of their required fields from a related discipline.
Graduate Students
(This list includes both graduate students formally pursuing a degree in Military History and graduate students interested in Military History, while nevertheless working primarily in another major field.)
Local Resources
Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are located 9 miles apart in the Piedmont area of central North Carolina. They border on the Research Triangle Park, as does their sister institution, North Carolina State in Raleigh. The combined library collections of the three schools include approximately 13 million volumes and 120,000 serial subscriptions. Online computerized catalogs and reciprocal borrowing arrangements make it convenient to locate and use resources at any of the libraries. The three schools also anchor the Triangle Institute for Security Studies (TISS), an interdisciplinary study and research organization that serves the entire Southeastern United States. TISS sponsors meetings and conferences, coordinates regional activities, and conducts outreach to minorities and women on issues of national and international security. TISS symposia held periodically have established a national reputation for substance and liveliness.
Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill both support active undergraduate programs in military history. UNC's program is part of the Curriculum in Peace, War, and Defense, an undergraduate major that offers an array of courses on topics in national security and provides as well an opportunity for graduate students to obtain teaching experience.