Would You Like to Earn a Degree in Military History?

Final examination week is over at my school, Rogers State University! I don’t often deviate from the main topic of this blog, but work has been so much on my mind that I decided to feature my own employer for today. 

Rogers State University is one of the few institutions in the country that offers a bachelor’s degree in military history. Partly, this degree hearkens back to the days of the Oklahoma Military Academy, one of our predecessor schools, that operated in Claremore from 1919-1971. The Oklahoma Military Academy had more than 2,500 alumni that served in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War; 109 former cadets were killed or mortally wounded while serving our country. Surveys also indicated a high level of interest  in a military history degree in our region, so after much work, our degree in military history was created approximately three years ago.

 

The following is a quote from a flyer developed about the degree:

“The required core courses provide an understanding of military history and vital topics such as the changing technology of war, the relationship between war and society, and the role that religion and cultural conflict play in war and international conflicts. Courses in research methods equip students to discover, analyze and apply ideas and information. Elective classes provide in-depth study of international relations, military conflicts, and U. S. foreign policy. The program is designed to provide students with the training necessary to embark on a career in the academic field of military history, the professional armed forces, law, public administration, journalism, education, security, intelligence, or government.”

Some of the specific courses that are offered as part of the degree program are Introduction to Military History; War and Society; War, Ethics, and Religion; War and Technology; Readings in Military Leadership/Strategy; Revolutionary America, 1763-1783; The Civil War; World War II: The European Theater; World War II: The Pacific Theater; The Vietnam Conflict as well as others. Although some of the courses are offered online, this is primarily a residential program at this time.

For further information, to download the degree plan, and to read testimonials about the degree from prominent scholars, check out the webpage for the Department of History and Political Science. Perhaps I’ll see you in one of my courses some day!

Greetings

Welcome to my blog about the Civil War in the Trans-Mississippi! By “Trans-Mississippi,” I mean the war west of the Mississippi River. Not only am I a native Trans-Mississippian, but I also reside here as well. My name is Jane Johansson, and I work as an associate professor of history at Rogers State University. The main campus is located in Claremore, Oklahoma, but I work seventeen miles east of there at a branch campus in Pryor. This part of northeastern Oklahoma saw quite a bit of campaigning during the war—most of the fighting in the Indian Territory occurred along or near the Military Road (also known as the Texas Road). This roughly parallels U. S. highway 69 today.

My graduate degrees were earned south of the Red River at the University of North Texas. I had the good fortune to have Dr. Richard Lowe as my advisor. He encouraged me to study a Texas unit for my dissertation, and this resulted in a study of the 28^th Texas Cavalry. After graduating, I revised my dissertation into Peculiar Honor: A History of the 28^th Texas Cavalry, 1862-1865 that was published by the University of Arkansas Press in 1998. I followed this up by editing the letters of Captain Theophilus Perry of the 28^th Texas Cavalry and his wife, Harriet. In 2000, this was published as Widows by the Thousand: The Civil War Correspondence of Theophilus and Harriet Perry, 1862-1864. More about those books at another time!

This is my first experience at blogging so with some trepidation I am throwing my words out in cyberspace.