The Modern Scholar Podcast

Join me for another inspiring conversation with Chris DeCristofaro, co-host of The Library Pros Podcast and now Assistant Director at the Half Hollow Hills Community Library in Dix Hill, New York! We talk about technology, experimentation, community engagement, and more!

Enjoy this encore presentation of Becoming Veterans with Dr. Sarah Parry Myers! Dr. Sarah Parry Myers⁠ is an Associate Professor of History at Messiah University in central Pennsylvania, where she teaches courses on 20th century United States history, gender, public history, and military history. She is the recent recipient of a Dialogues on the Experience of War grant from the National Endowment...

Kieran Hixon has over 16 years of experience offering professional development, both in-person and online, for rural libraries throughout the United States. Kieran serves nationally on committees as a rural library expert and has broad experience working in rural public libraries, and serves as Senior Rural and Small Library Consultant for the Colorado State Library. Kieran is passionate about rur...

Growing up to be a certified bookseller in Germany, and acquiring a European Master’s Degree in Literature and Publishing/Marketing, Simone Kirk never gave libraries much thought, since reading books, and having to give them back, seemed pretty cruel to this passionate reader. Her goal to work in the publishing industry in Germany was redirected with a move to Star City, Arkansas in 2004. After ar...

Welcome to Season 7 of the show, and Happy New Year! If you are just joining the show, welcome! I'm glad you are here. Plans for this season include conversations with some of my favorite people in the library profession - exciting! Today's discussion focuses on how libraries are an expanding universe of opportunity . The studies referenced in today's episode: Making Cities Stronger Economic Vital...

Dr. Stan Fisher is a captain in the U.S. Navy and an assistant professor of naval and American history at the United States Naval Academy.  Before transitioning to classroom, he accumulated over 2,500 flight hours as a Navy pilot, mainly in SH-60B & MH-60R Seahawk helicopters. He earned a commission through the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps in 1997 and has multiple deployments on frigat...

Crystal Gates is the Executive Director of the North Little Rock Public Library in Arkansas. She has a proven track record of enhancing library services, having previously led the Jackson Parish Library in Louisiana to national recognition as a 3 Star Library in 2014 and 2015. Gates holds key positions in numerous professional organizations, including serving as President of the Southeastern Libra...

Dr. Jason Lantzer serves as the Assistant Director of the Butler University Honors Program. An historian by training, his research and writing interests generally center on religion, politics, and law, with some work about Disney thrown in for good measure. He is the author of eight books, including Dwight Eisenhower & the Holocaust (DeGruyter, 2023), Mainline Christianity: The Past and Future...

Cari Dubiel is the Assistant Director of the Twinsburg Public Library in Twinsburg, Ohio and is the author of the Author's Guide to Libraries , which is the subject of our conversation today. Enjoy!

Terrence G. Peterson is Assistant Professor of History at Florida International University. He researches and teaches on France, modern Europe, and their connections to the wider world, with a particular focus on war, empire, and migration. His first book, Revolutionary Warfare: How the Algerian War Made Modern Counterinsurgency , was just published with Cornell University Press. His current work...

My guests today are Katelyn Knox and Allison van Deventer , who recognized each other as kindred spirits during grad school at UCLA. Katelyn went on to land a tenure-track job at the University of Central Arkansas and eventually published a book based on her dissertation. She developed a "Dissertation-to-Book Boot Camp" to help other authors get through the difficulties she experienced d...

Join me for a fascinating tour through the Napoleonic era this week with the professor who has made it his life's work, Dr. Alexander Mikaberidze . Alexander Mikaberidze is Professor of History and Ruth Herrin Noel Endowed Chair at Louisiana State University-Shreveport. He has written and edited over two dozen books, including the award winning The Napoleonic Wars: A Global History (2020) whic...

Welcome to Season Six of The Modern Scholar Podcast! In this episode we nerd out with our FIRST EVER repeat guest—the wonderful and creative Alycia Asai from the Civics and Coffee podcast! Alycia first appeared during Season Two, and I would encourage you all to taken a listen to that conversation here . Since that time, Alycia completed her MA in History from Sonoma State University, and in this...

Today we are celebrating EPISODE ONE HUNDRED of The Modern Scholar Podcast ! It's hard to believe we are here already, and thanks goes out to all the wonderful guests and the great conversations that have characterized this series. Today the fun continues with a brief look at how to get the most out of the academic conference experience—definitely an episode to share with your students—followe...

Join me for a little bit of a different episode this week as we mark Episode 99 with a Q&A, some brief cameos from previous guests, and a quick reminder about National Library Week coming up April 7-13!

David Johnson has been a proud Fayetteville community member for over 20 years. Originally from Little Rock, he received his undergraduate and masters degree from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville and his Master of Library Science degree from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. In 2012, he returned to the nationally recognized Fayetteville Public Library after fifteen years with Tyson F...

John Amble is the Editorial Director of the Modern War Institute at West Point and Co-Director of the Urban Warfare Project. He is also a military intelligence officer in the U.S. Army Reserve and a veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan. Before assuming his current role, John served as managing editor of War on the Rocks , a digital media outlet featuring commentary on global security, foreign affa...

M. Girard Dorsey is Professor of History, Program Coordinator of Justice Studies, and core faculty of Medical Humanities, Society, & Ethics at the University of New Hampshire, focusing on military and medical history. Under the name Marion Girard, she is author of A Strange and Formidable Weapon. Her most recent book is Holding Their Breath: How the Allies Confronted the Threat of Chemical War...

Dr. Sarah Parry Myers is an Associate Professor of History at Messiah University in central Pennsylvania, where she teaches courses on 20th century United States history, gender, public history, and military history. She is the recent recipient of a Dialogues on the Experience of War grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, focused on generating dialogue with female veterans. Sarah’s...

Steve Biernacki is the Executive Director of the South Arkansas Historical Preservation Society, following roles as Executive Director of City Connections in Little Rock, AR and various positions with the Habitat for Humanity of Central Arkansas. Steve is here to talk about the world of nonprofits and community leadership - so don't miss this conversation!

Derek Reveron is Chair and Professor of National Security Affairs at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. He specializes in strategy development, non-state security challenges, intelligence, and U.S. defense policy. He has authored or edited fourteen books. Dr. Reveron is a faculty affiliate at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University where he c...

Dr. Julia Irwin is the T. Harry Williams Professor of History at Louisiana State University, and the Co-Editor of the Journal of Disaster Studies . Her research focuses on the place of humanitarian aid in twentieth-century U.S. foreign relations, and we will be talking about her second book, Catastrophic Diplomacy: U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance in the American Century (2023) on the show today!

Dr. Kathy Peiss is the Roy F. and Jeannette P. Nichols Professor of American History (emerita) at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of Information Hunters: When Librarians, Soldiers, and Spies Banded Together in World War II Europe , published by Oxford University Press in 2020. Other books include Cheap Amusements: Working Women and Leisure in Turn-of-the-Century New York (1986),...

Michael Kilpatrick is a farmer, presenter, inventor, and leader whose mission is to help farmers apply business principles and practical solutions to grow their businesses and simplify their lives. He has managed large organic farms and businesses, consulted for industry experts, and spoken at dozens of conferences. In 2004 Michael launched a highly diversified, year-round vegetable farm with his...

Dr. Jared Tracy is the deputy command historian for the US Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he researches and publishes on the history of propaganda, psychological operations, and other facets of special operations. Dr. Tracy served six years in the Army himself, received his MA in History from Virginia Commonwealth University and his PhD in History from Kansas...