S2E14 Susannah Ural - University of Southern Mississippi

10/04/22 • 61 min

Our guest today is the absolutely delightful Susannah Ural! Susannah J. Ural is a professor of history and co-director of the Dale Center for the Study of War & Society at the University of Southern Mississippi. She also directs USM’s Center for Digital Humanities. Susannah was previously the Charles W. Moorman Distinguished Alumni Professor of the Humanities at USM and the Blount Professor of Military History at the Dale Center. Before coming to USM, Susannah was an associate professor at Sam Houston State University. She earned her BA in History and Political Science at the University of Vermont and her MA and PhD in History at Kansas State University.

Susannah is a prolific scholar of the American Civil War. Her books include Hood’s Texas Brigade: The Soldiers and Families of the Confederacy's Most Celebrated Unit (Louisiana State University Press); Don’t Hurry Me Down to Hades: Soldiers and Families in America’s Civil War (Osprey); The Harp and the Eagle: Irish-American Volunteers and the Union Army, 1861-1865 (NYU Press). She also edited a collection of essays titled Civil War Citizens: Race, Ethnicity, and Identity in America’s Bloodiest Conflict (NYU Press), and her work has been published in the Journal of Military History, The Journal of the Civil War Era, and America’s Civil War.

Susannah was awarded the Mississippi Historical Society’s Merit Award for her work on the Beauvoir Veteran Project and the Edwin H. Simmons Award for service to the Society for Military History. In addition, she has received teaching awards from Kansas State, Sam Houston State, and USM. Susannah has been a member of the Society for Military History’s Board of Trustees since 2019. She is the former chair of the Editorial Board at The Journal of Military History and currently serves on the Editorial Board of The Journal of the Civil War Era. Her digital history work includes the fascinating Civil War and Reconstruction Governors of Mississippi Project. We could go on, but the point is that Susannah Ural is in the know when it comes to the Civil War.

We'll discuss why unit history is important, the use of digital history, Brett Favre and his current woes, quiet-time near the deer feeder in the backyard, and, of course, BBQ. Join us for a fun and interesting chat with Susannah Ural! Shout-outs to Lucky Rabbit fleamarket in Hattiesburg and Adams Nursery and Garden Center in Petal, Mississippi! And follow Susannah on Twitter @susannahjural!

Rec.: 09/23/2022

Rec.: 09/23/2022

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S2E13 Steven Trout - University of Alabama

Our guest today is the very generous and enthusiastic Steve Trout. Steve is a Professor of English at the University of Alabama - yes, the one in Tuscaloosa - where he recently stepped back from serving as Chair of that Department. Before moving to Tuscaloosa, he was Chair of the Department of English at the University of South Alabama, where he founded and co-directed the Center for the Study of War and Memory. Steve began his career at Fort Hayes State University in Kansas, serving as Chair of the Department of English and interim Dean of Graduate Studies and Research. He earned a BA and MA in English at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and then a PhD in Modern British Literature at the University of Kansas.

Steve is a prolific scholar and has contributed to broadening the military history field. He is the author of three books: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Angel Fire: War, Remembrance, and an American Tragedy (University Press of Kansas), On the Battlefield of Memory: The First World War and American Remembrance, 1919-1941 (University of Alabama Press), and Memorial Fictions: Willa Cather and the First World War (University of Alabama). He has also edited four volumes, including Portraits of Remembrance: Painting, Memory, and the First World War, with Margaret Hutchingson (University of Alabama Press). He has published more than two dozen articles and essays, and he edits the War, Memory, and Culture series for the University of Alabama Press. Steve’s many awards include the 2017 Mid-America Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Study of Midwestern Literature and the 2020 Southwest Book Award for The Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Angel Fire. We are thrilled to have Steve with us today - military history, war memory, crossing academic disciplines, and, of course, BBQ!

Rec.: 08/19/2022

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S2E15 Elizabeth Shesko - Oakland University

Our guest today is the enthusiastic Dr. Elizabeth Shesko, who is an Associate Professor of History at Oakland University in Oakland County, Michigan. Liz specializes in Latin American History with a special interest in military service and conscription in Bolivia. She received her AB in Spanish and English at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, and went on to earn a PhD in History from Duke University. After completing her PhD, Liz was a postdoctoral research associate and Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in History and Latin American Studies at Bowdoin College and also taught at an American School in Guatemala. Her first book, Conscript Nation: Coercion and Consent in the Bolivian Barracks, was published by the University of Pittsburgh Press. Her work has also appeared in edited volumes as well as the Hispanic American Historical Review and International Labor and Working-Class History.

Liz has held numerous Foreign Language and Areas Studies (FLAS) Grants for Spanish, Portuguese, and Aymara. She is a frequent presenter at the meetings of the Latin American Studies Association, and the American Historical Association, among many others.

Join us for a fascinating chat with our first Latin Americanist! Liz discusses language, working in Bolivian archives, the Chaco War, eating guinea pig, the faux pas question of Butch Cassidy's whereabouts (thanks for that, Bill!), and the future of Post-Coach K Duke basketball! And just for Liz - a shout-out to Woodpile BBQ Shack in Clawson, Michigan!

Rec.: 09/02/2022