Steven M. Collins | Department of History

Steven M. Collins

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