Newswise — ROLLA, Mo. – Saturday, June 28, 2014, marks the 100th anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, an event that triggered the start of World War I.
Five historians from Missouri University of Science and Technology with expertise in areas related to World War I are available to share their perspectives with the media. Topics range from the U.S. military experience and the role of women during the war to the treatment of German-Americans in the U.S. and the history of technology.
Topics include:
Combat experience, U.S. involvement:Dr. John C. McManus, professor of history and political science at Missouri S&T, is an expert in U.S. military history and has written 11 books on the subject. He is available to discuss the causes of the war, the realities of the combat experience and the U.S. involvement in the war, both on the battlefield and on the home front.
History of military technology:Dr. Jeff Schramm, associate professor of history and political science, is an expert in the history of technology. He is available to discuss the use of technology during World War I, the first war to widely employ the use of chemical weapons. Schramm can also discuss the use of technologies like aviation, tanks and submarines, as well as the larger technological context before, during and after the war.
Treatment of Germans in the U.S.:Dr. Petra DeWitt, assistant teaching professor of history and political science at Missouri S&T, specializes in migration and ethnic history and is available to speak about the treatment of Americans of German descent during World War I. In 2012 she published “Degrees of Allegiance: Harassment and Loyalty in Missouri's Germany-American Community during World War I,” which won the Missouri Book Award.
Role of women, political climate in Britain:Dr. Kathleen Sheppard, assistant professor of history and political science at Missouri S&T, is an expert in the history of science and in early 20th century Britain. She is available to discuss the political climate in Great Britain at the start of the war, as well as wartime science and the role of women during the war, both in Britain and in the U.S.
War in France:Dr. Shannon Fogg, associate professor of history and political science and Missouri S&T, teaches a course on gender and World War I and specializes in the history of Modern France with an emphasis on the social history of war in the 20th century. She is available to discuss French battlefields as well as daily life in France during the war.
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