Currently
I am an Associate Professor of History and Director of the School of History and Social Sciences at Louisiana Tech University. As a scholar I research and write about twentieth century America through the interlocking themes of policy, gender, war, the military, and society. My writing has appeared in American Quarterly, The Washington Post, the Journal of Women’s History, and the Journal of Policy History. I teach courses on Cold War cultures, war and American society; youth, sexuality, and gender; women’s history; the history of food; world history; and recent U.S. history.
My book project, “A Family Affair: Military Service in America After Vietnam,” is a history of family policies in the Army and Marine Corps, exploring how military institutions and policies shape rights, obligations, and the meaning of citizenship in the United States.
Education
I earned my PhD from Temple University in American history. I successfully defended my dissertation, “A Family Affair: Military Service in the Postwar Era,” in July 2017. This manuscript examined military family policies in the Army and Marine Corps through the lens of gender, asking how policymakers crafted policy in a changing society.
I am also a trained public historian. While completing an MA at the University of Utah, I learned the craft of oral history at the American West Center, the West’s premier public history research institution. While at the Center, I served as assistant director and I was also lead oral historian on several projects, including Outdoor Recreation and Saving the Legacy: An Oral History of Utah’s Veterans. Later on at Temple, I had the pleasure of serving as the Allen F. Davis Fellow in Public History at the Philadelphia History Museum.
Background
Before academia, I served from 2000-2006 as an infantryman in the United States Marine Corps. I am a combat veteran of the Iraq War. In addition to my time in uniform, I have done stints as a paper boy, buss-boy, burger flipper, golf course grounds maintainer, cemetery lawn mower, artificial turf installer, long-and-short-haul trucker, barista, Uber driver, and adjunct professor. Born and raised in the suburbs of Salt Lake City, Utah, I have lived for varying stretches of my life in southern California, the PNW, Philadelphia, and now northern Louisiana. When I am not teaching, I avoid writing by honing my cooking skills, getting lost in the wilderness, and road tripping with my family.
Find Me Here
Here are a few other places you can find my face, ideas, and influence on the internet:
To see my cyber security curriculum work, check out cyber.org.
Follow along with my adventures over at the Waggonner Center here.
I taught Cold War history and strategic thinking at LTRI as part of a joint endeavor between LaTech and Air Force Global Strike Command to provide instructional workshops to senior Air Force Officers.
You can see some of my oral history interviews here. The rest are archived here.
I’m now on Bluesky: @johnworsencroft.bsky.social
My Instagram game is strong. Follow me @jworsey
John Worsencroft 