Military Frontiers: A Graduate Symposium

Date
Friday, May 15, 2009

Location
Mershon Center for International Security Studies
1501 Neil Ave.
Columbus, OH 43201

Organizers
Robert Clemm, Sarah Douglas, Geoffrey Parker, and Peter Mansoor, Department of History

To register for this conference, please contact Sarah Douglas at militaryfrontiers@gmail.com by Wednesday, May 13, 2009.

Overview
Military Frontiers: A Graduate Symposium brings together leading graduate students engaged in national academic debate within military history.  The conference seeks to revive discussions of the successful "Theatrum Militarum" graduate conference held at Ohio State in the 1990s.

This year, discussion will focus on issues raised by emerging scholars of the "Great War."  Panelists will present on the role the United States played in providing humanitarian relief from 1914-1924 in response to war sufferings, the American military identity as presented in uncensored war testimonies gathered during the Great War, and the impact of changing military technology on leadership development of the United States military during the 20th century.

Students of military and diplomatic history, and specialists in military studies, are encouraged to attend Military Frontiers.  The symposium will examine themes on ethical and legal issues of armed conflict; ways in which war affects and is affected by race and gender; and links between war, science, and technology. 

Schedule

Friday, May 15, 2009

9 - 9:30 a.m. – Coffee and Pastries

9:30 - 9:45 a.m. – Opening Remarks
Robert Clemm, The Ohio State University
Sarah Douglas, The Ohio State University

9:45 - 10:30 a.m. – Morning Address
Peter Mansoor, Raymond E. Mason Jr. Chair in Military History, The Ohio State University, "Clio Ignored: The Failure to Learn from Military History"

10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. – Morning Session
Commentator: John Guilmartin, Professor of History, The Ohio State University
Captain Mark Hagerott, University of Maryland, "Learning to Command Men and Machines: Technology, Education, and the Transformation of the Naval Profession, 1899-1975"

Commentator: Jon Sumida, Associate Professor of History, University of Maryland
John Winters, The Ohio State University, "They Did Well: British Battleship Development in the Royal Navy, 1889-1904"

12 - 1 p.m. – Lunch

1 - 2 p.m. – Keynote Address
Rick Atkinson, Pulitzer Prize winning author and former Washington Post correspondent, "Writing the Liberation Trilogy"

2 - 3:30 p.m. – Afternoon Session One
Commentator: Geoffrey Parker, Andreas Dorpalen Professor of History, The Ohio State University
Glenn F. Williams, University of Maryland, "Dunmore’s War: No Other Motive Than the True Interest of This Country"

Commentator: Jon Sumida, Associate Professor of History, University of Maryland
Kate Epstein, The Ohio State University, "British and American Application of the Gyroscope to the Whitehead Torpedo, 1896-1902: History, Comparison, Sources"

3:30 - 4 p.m. – Break

4 - 5:30 p.m. – Afternoon Session Two
Commentator: Jennifer Siegel, Associate Professor of History, The Ohio State University
Branden Little, University of California, Berkeley, "Band of Crusaders: American Humanitarians, the Great War, and the Remaking of the World"

Commentator: Leonard Smith, Frederick B. Artz Professor of History, Oberlin College
Edward Gutiérrez, The Ohio State University, "'Sherman was Right': The Experience of AEF Soldiers in the Great War"

5:30 - 5:40 p.m. – Closing Remarks
Robert Clemm and Sarah Douglas

5:40 - 7 p.m. – Free Time
Transportation back to hotel will be provided by Ohio State graduate students

Sponsors
This conference is co-sponsored by the Mershon Center for International Security Studies, College of Humanities, Department of History, and Coca-Cola.

Robert Clemm
M.A. Candidate
Department of History
The Ohio State University

Sarah Douglas
M.A. Candidate
Department of History
The Ohio State University

Geoffrey Parker
Andreas Dorpalen Professor of History
The Ohio State University

Peter Mansoor
Raymond E. Mason Jr. Chair in Military History
The Ohio State Universit