Scholarship

 

ARTICLES – SCHOLARLY JOURNALS & ANTHOLOGIES

• “War Crossings: The American GI as Transatlantic Traveler during the Second World War,” in Birgit Braasch and Claudia Muller, eds., Off Shore: Perspectives on Atlantic Pleasure Travel since the 19th Century.  Zurich: LIT, 2020: 129-160.
• “An Amazing Collection: American GIs and Their Souvenirs of World War II,” in Frank Jacob and Kenneth Pearl, eds., War and Memorials: The Second World War and Beyond. Paderborn: Ferdinand Schoningh, 2019: 105-148. [Distributed in the North America by Brill].
• “More Than a Union: The Teaching Assistants Association and Its 1970 Strike Against the University of Wisconsin,” Michigan Historical Review 25:1 (Spring 1999): 103-124.
• “‘No Blood for Oil’: Protesting the Persian Gulf War in Madison, Wisconsin,” Journal for the Study of Peace and Conflict, 1998-1999 Annual Edition: 36-49.
• “Assuming the White Man’s Burden: The Seizure of the Philippines, 1898-1902,” Philippine Studies 43:4 (Fourth Quarter, 1995): 607-622.
• “Politics, Community, Education: A Brief History of Veterans Organizations in Wisconsin and America,” Wisconsin Academy Review 40:3 (Summer 1994): 4-9 [Richard H. Zeitlin, co-author].

 

ARTICLES – DICTIONARIES & ENCYCLOPEDIAS

• “AMVETS,” in Peter Karsten, ed., in The Encyclopedia of War and American Society, (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2005): 42-43.
• “Meir, Golda,” in Reina Pennington and Robin Higham, eds., Amazons to Fighter Pilots: A Biographical Dictionary of Military Women, (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2003), Vol. I: 299-301.
• “Nuclear and Atomic Weapons,” in Spencer C. Tucker, ed., Encyclopedia of American Military History, (New York: Facts on File, 2003), Vol. II: 635-637.
• “Pacifism and War Resistance,” in Spencer C. Tucker, ed., Encyclopedia of American Military History, (New York: Facts on File, 2003), Vol. III: 647-648.
•  “World War II, Course of U.S. Involvement, Pacific,” in Spencer C. Tucker, ed., Encyclopedia of American Military History, (New York: Facts on File, 2003), Vol. III: 954-959.
•  “Zablocki, Clement J.” in American National Biography, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), Vol. 24: 205-206.

 

SCHOLARLY CONFERENCE PAPERS

• “GI Joe in Paradise: The American Soldier as Traveler in the Pacific during World War II,” Oceanic Popular Culture Association Annual Meeting, Honolulu, Hawaii, May 26, 2018.
• “War Crossings: The American Soldier as Transatlantic Traveler during World War II,” Popular Culture Association International Meeting, Reykjavik, Iceland, July 23, 2015.
• “The American GI and Souvenir Collecting during World War II,” Popular Culture Association International Meeting, Warsaw, Poland, July 23, 2013.
• “Badgers Abroad: How Wisconsin Troops Saw the World during World War II,” Midwest Popular Culture Association Annual Meeting, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, October 16, 2011.
• “G.I. Joe Sees the World: American Troops as Travelers during World War II,” Popular Culture Association International Meeting, Turku, Finland, July 29, 2009.
• “Submarines in the Heartland: Manitowoc, Wisconsin and World War II,” Popular Culture Association National Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana, April 12, 2009.
• “Farm Boy, Soldier, Travel Writer: The Letters of a World War II G.I. from Wisconsin as Travel Literature,” Popular Culture Association National Meeting, San Francisco, California, March 20, 2008.
• “Coping with the ‘Veteran Problem’: World War II Veterans in American Popular Culture,” The Veteran in American Society Conference, Knoxville, Tennessee, November 13, 2001
• “The Limits of Generosity: The Battle for a World War II Veterans’ Bonus in Wisconsin,” American Historical Association – Pacific Coast Branch Meeting, Park City, Utah, August 5, 2000.
• “How to Be a Civilian: Readjustment Advice for World War II Veterans and Their Families,” Siena College World War II Conference, Loudonville, New York, May 30, 1997.
• “‘No Blood For Oil’: Protesting the Persian Gulf War in Madison, Wisconsin,” Popular Culture Association National Meeting, San Antonio, Texas, March 28, 1997.
• “More Than a Union: The Teaching Assistants Association and Its 1970 Strike Against the University of Wisconsin,” Northern Great Plains History Conference, La Crosse, Wisconsin, September 21, 1996.
• “The Veteran in World History Before the First World War,” Company of Military Historians Old Northwest Territory Area Chapter Meeting, Madison, Wisconsin, October 28, 1995.
• “Voyage dans la Lune: Race, Culture, and the Portrayal of New France in French Literature, 1534-1763,” North East Popular Culture Association Annual Conference, Worcester, Massachusetts, October 7, 1995 (Paula Hartwig Van Ells, co-author).
• “World War II and Its Impact on Wisconsin’s County Veterans Service Officers,” Society for Military History National Meeting, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, May 13, 1995.
• “The Wisconsin American Legion and the Creation of the County Veterans Service Officer, 1919-1942,” Northern Great Plains History Conference, St. Paul, Minnesota, September 29, 1994.
• “‘America, Please Take Notice!!!’: German Americans and German Fascism in Wisconsin, 1933-1945,” Midwest Graduate Seminar in German Studies, Chicago, Illinois, May 22, 1993.
• “Wisconsin’s German-Americans and the Fascist Threat of the 1930s and 1940s,” University of Wisconsin-Madison Honors Symposium, Madison, Wisconsin, April 21, 1990.

 

INVITED PUBLIC LECTURES (including virtual)

• “Red Arrow across the Pacific: The 32nd Infantry Division during World War II,” Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Center, Superior Wisconsin, July 17, 2025.
• “The History of the 32nd Infantry Division during World war II,” The Highground Veterans Memorial Park, Neillsville, Wisconsin, July 16, 2025.
• “The Red Arrow Division during World War II: Some Waupaca County Perspectives,” Waupaca Historical Society, Waupaca, Wisconsin, July 10, 2025.
• “Red Arrow across the Pacific: Buna and Beyond,” Cedarburg Public Library, Cedarburg, Wisconsin, July 9, 2025.
• “The 32nd Infantry Division during World War II,” History Sandwiched In Lecture Series, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin, July 8, 2025 [Included in PBS Wisconsin’s University Place series].
• “Book Talk with Mark D. Van Ells,” Wisconsin Veterans Museum, Madison, Wisconsin, December 9, 2024 [Event co-sponsored by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press].
• “The Golden Age of the Postcard,” Bernards Township Public Library, Basking Ridge, New Jersey, June 23, 2022.
• “Wisconsin’s German Americans and the Fascist Threat of the 1930s,” University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, October 18, 2021 [Event sponsored by the University of Missouri School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures; the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany; and Time to Act].
• “The Golden Age of the Postcard,” New Canaan Public Library, New Canaan, Connecticut, September 18, 2021.
• “America and World War I: A Traveler’s Guide,” New Canaan Public Library, New Canaan, Connecticut, January 12, 2020.
• “A Talk on the Pelham Bay Naval Training Station, ” City Island Nautical Museum, Bronx, New York, November 11, 2018.
• “Doughboy Battlefields,” Arlington Public Library – Central Library, Arlington, Virginia, April 28, 2018 [Event Sponsored by the Arlington Sister Cities Association].
• “Pelham Bay Naval Training Center, 1918,” East Bronx Historical Society, Bronx, New York, April 18, 2018.
• “Heaven, Hell, or Hoboken: the US Army Port of Embarkation in in Hoboken during World War I,” Hoboken Historical Museum, Hoboken, New Jersey, May 7, 2017.“
• Following the Doughboy: A Journey through the First World War,” Snyder Academy, Elizabeth, New Jersey, April 3, 2017.
• “America and World War I: A Traveler’s Guide,” Governor’s Island National Monument, New York, New York, September 17, 2016 [Part of “NYC Doughboy Day,” an event sponsored by the US World War I Centennial Commission].
• “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and World War II Veterans,” New York Military Affairs Symposium Lecture Series, New York, New York, October 6, 2006.

 

REVIEWS – BOOKS

• “Review of S. Patrick Allie, St. Louis and the Great War, in Annals of Iowa 77:4 (Fall 2019), 414.
• “Review of Richard C. Holl, Committed to Victory: The Kentucky Home Front during World War II,” in Global Military Studies Review 1:2 (May 2018), 30-34.
• “Review of Larry Minear, Through Veterans’ Eyes: The Iraq and Afghanistan Experience,” in Journal of Military History 75:2 (April 2011), pp. 668-670.
• “Review of William C. Pencak, Encyclopedia of the American Veteran, Volume 1 A-P and Volume 2 Q-Z, in Journal of Military History 74:2 (April 2010), pp. 579-581.
• “Review of Max J. Skidmore,  Moose Crossing: Portland to Portland on the Theodore Roosevelt International Highway,” in Journal of American Culture 31:4 (December 2008): 398-399.
• “Review of Abigail Van Slyck, A Manufactured Wilderness: Summer Camps and the Shaping of American Youth,” in Journal of Popular Culture 40:5 (October 2007): 908-910.
• “Review of Naoko Shibusawa, America’s Geisha Ally: Reimagining the Japanese Enemy, in NEPCA News, October 2007: 4-5.
• “Review of Paul Dickson and Thomas B. Allen, The Bonus Army: An American Epic,” in Armed Forces and Society 33:3 (April 2007): 449-451.
•  “Review of Steve Fraser, Every Man A Speculator: A History of Wall Street in American Life,” in NEPCA News, October 2006: 5-6.
•  “Review of Michael Gambone, The Greatest Generation Comes Home,” in Journal of Military History 70:3 (July 2006): 874-875.
• “Review of Alastair Gordon, Naked Airport: A Cultural History of the World’s Most Revolutionary Structure,” in NEPCA News, October 2005: 6-7.
• “Review of Eugenio Corti, The Last Soldiers of the King: Wartime Italy, 1943-1945,” H-War, H-Net, April 2005.
• “Review of William C. Davis, A Taste for War: A Culinary History of the Blue and the Gray,” in Journal of Popular Culture 38:2 (November 2004): 448-450.
• “Review of Herman Graham III, The Brothers’ Vietnam War: Black Power, Manhood, and the Military Experience,” in Journal of Military History, 68:2 (April 2004): 653-654.
• “Review of Michael C.C. Adams, Echoes of War: A Thousand Years of Military History in Popular Culture,” in Journal of Popular Culture 37:3 (February 2004): 539-540.
• “Review of James Anderson Slover, Minister to the Cherokees: A Civil War Autobiography, Barbara Cloud, ed.,” in Journal of America’s Military Past 30:1 (Winter 2004): 109-110.
•  “Review of Nancy Gentile Ford, Americans All!: Foreign-born Soldiers in World War I,” in Journal of America’s Military Past 29:1 (Spring/Summer 2002): 91-92.
• “Review of Jerry Lembcke, The Spitting Image: Myth, Memory, and the Legacy of Vietnam,” Journal of Military History 65:2 (April 2001): 574-575.
• “Review of John Resch, Suffering Soldiers: Revolutionary War Veterans, Moral Sentiment, and Political Culture in the Early Republic,” H-PCAACA, H-Net, March 2001.
• “Review of Andrew E. Hunt, The Turning: A History of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War,” Journal of Military History 64:4 (October 2000): 1217-1218.
• “Review of Eric Zolov, Refried Elvis: The Rise of the Mexican Counterculture,” H-PCAACA, H-Net Reviews, May, 2000.
• “Review of Margot A. Henrikson, Dr. Strangelove’s America: Society and Culture in the Atomic Age,” Journal of American Culture 22:1 (Spring 1999): 103.
• “Review of Calvin L. Christman, ed., Lost in the Victory: Reflections of American War Orphans of World War II,” H-Minerva, H-Net Reviews, November, 1998.
• “Review of Ron Robin, The Barbed-Wire College: Reeducating German POWs in the United States during World War II,” H-Urban, H-Net Reviews, June 1997.
• “Review of Mark T. Hooker, The Military Uses of Literature: Fiction and the Armed Forces in the Soviet Union,” H-War, H-Net Reviews, August 1996.
• “Review of Jim Cullen, The Civil War in Popular Culture: A Reusable Past,”  Journal of American Culture 19:2 (Summer 1996): 137-138.
• “Review of Thomas P. Lowry, The Story the Soldiers Wouldn’t Tell: Sex in the Civil War,” Journal of American Culture 19:2 (Summer 1996): 140-141.
• “Review of Robert C. Doyle, Voices from Captivity: Interpreting the American POW Narrative,” H-PCAACA, H-Net Reviews, June 1996.
• “Review of Kerry A. Trask, The Fire Within: A Civil War Narrative from Wisconsin,” H-PCAACA, H-Net Reviews, April 1996.
• “Review of Dennis R. Moore, editor, The Papers of James S. Anderson,” Voyageur 12:2 (Winter/Spring 1996): 60.
• “Review of Charles C. Bradley, Aleutian Echoes,” Wisconsin Academy Review 42:1 (Winter 1995-1996): 45.
• “Review of Charles M. Robinson III, The Court Martial of Lieutenant Henry Flipper,” Military History of the West 25:2 (Fall 1995): 209-210.
•  “Review of George E. Sweet, The Wisconsin American Legion: A History, 1919-1992,” Voyageur 11:2 (Winter/Spring 1995): 57-58.

 

REVIEWS – OTHER

• Film review.  “Review of Rise and Fall of the Borscht Belt,” in Film & History 37:1 (2007): 80.
• Film review.  “Review of Sinking the Supership,” in Film & History 36:2 (2006): 56-57.
• Museum review.  “Review of Wisconsin’s Ethnic Settlement Trail,” H-Ethnic, H-Net Reviews, July 1995.

 

MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS

• Historian. “They Also Served: Civilians at War,” Wisconsin Veterans Museum, Madison, Wisconsin, November 11, 1997 through January 1, 2001 (Michael E. Telzrow and Richard H. Zeitlin, co-historians).
• Historian. “The Civil War Watercolors of John Gaddis, 12th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment,” Wisconsin Veterans Museum, Madison, Wisconsin, September 1, 1996 through March 31, 1997.
• Historian. “Santos Zingale: Artist Turned Sailor, Works on Paper (1944-1945),” Wisconsin Veterans Museum, Madison, Wisconsin, December 7, 1995 through June 7, 1996.
• Historian. “The Rise of Veterans Organizations,” Wisconsin Veterans Museum, Madison, Wisconsin, June 6, 1993 through July 1, 1997 (Dr. Richard H. Zeitlin, senior historian).
• Historian. Permanent exhibits of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum, Madison, Wisconsin, opened June 6, 1993 (Dr. Richard H. Zeitlin, senior historian).

 

MISCELLANEOUS WORKS

• Discussion leader, “Italian Internment during World War II and the Limits of Racism,” Internment and Resistance: Confronting Mass Detention and Dehumanization, Harriet and Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Center’s National Endowment for the Humanities 2020-2021 colloquium, March 4, 2021.
• DVD commentary.  The Story of Sprawl.  Los Angeles: Planetizen Press, 2009.
• Radio segment.  “The French in Wisconsin,” part of the Wisconsin Humanities Council’s “Humanities Moments” series, aired on Wisconsin Public Radio, August 1997 (Paula Hartwig Van Ells, co-author).
• Radio segment.  “GI Bill,” part of the Wisconsin Humanities Council’s “Humanities Moments” series, aired on Wisconsin Public Radio, May 1997.
• Contract history. “Serving Those Who Served: A History of Wisconsin’s County Veterans Service Officers,” project sponsored by the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of History, completed October 1995.