Email: Steven.Collins@unt.edu
Dissertation title: Neither Fish nor Flesh: The Burden of Being German American
Major Professor: Dr. Richard McCaslin
Specialty Areas: I specialize in German American and German Texan studies as well as the 1953 uprising in East Germany.
I am a U.S. Army veteran and a Ph.D. candidate (ABD) with a M.A. in History from the University of North Texas (2017) and a B.A. in Business from the University of Maryland (1999). During the 1990s, I lived in Germany where I worked in a school and office furniture factory, V/S Möbel. My work at V/S allowed me to travel Germany extensively and help with the refurbishing of the schools in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). I specialize in German American/Texan culture in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and the use of Stasi intelligence during the 1953 uprising in the GDR.
Additional information:
Conference Papers and Presentations:
- 2015. Collins, Steven. "A Society Divided." University of Alabama, GHA Conference on Power and Struggle. Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
- 2017. Collins, Steven. "The Politicization of Stasi Intelligence and the 1953 Uprising in East Germany." University of Alabama, GHA Conference on Power and Struggle. Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
- 2018. Collins, Steven. "Gertrude Helmecke." Summer Lecture Series. Lake Dallas, Texas.
Publications:
- "Intelligence and the Uprising in East Germany 1953: An Example of Political Intelligence," M.A. Thesis (Summer 2017)
- "William Cunningham Edwards." The Handbook of Texas (July 2018).
- "Dr. Gertrude Helmecke: A Young German Woman's Life in Denton Texas, 1916-17." Southwestern Historical Quarterly Vol. CXXII, No. 3 (January 2019): 300-325.
Professional Affiliations and Memberships:
- American Historical Association
- Texas State Historical Association
- Phi Alpha Theta, Honor Society
Research Experience:
- March 2014 | Stanford University-Hoover Institute | John O. Koehler papers
- March 2015 | BStU (Stasi) Archives in Berlin, Germany | East German Intelligence
- April 2016 | BStU (Stasi) Archives in Berlin, Germany | East German Intelligence
- January 2018 | Texas Women's University | Gertrude Helmecke letters
- May 2019 | University of Cincinnati | Carl Helmecke and the Helmecke family collections
- September 2019 | Western Colorado University | Carl Helmecke papers
Teaching Experience:
- Adjunct Instructor U.S. History | North Central Texas College | Gainesville, Texas | 2018-Present
- HIST 1301 U.S. History I | U.S. History to 1865
- HIST 1302 U.S. History II | U.S. History Since 1865