Annual War Studies Symposium

The Military History Center is committed to excellence in all fields of Military History and all eras of warfare. The Center aims to ensure that UNT students as well as local, national, and international constituencies interested in Military History are thoroughly educated on the importance and centrality of military history as well as the complexity of war: its origins, conduct, termination, and impact on combatants and civilians alike. The Annual War Studies Symposium is dedicated to fulfilling that mission. Educating the public plays an important role in the mission of the Military History Center. The Annual War Studies Symposium will serve as a source of inspiration and continuing public education by bringing the history of warfare in all of its facets to North Texas. As many universities have turned their backs on Military History as a result of the post-Vietnam revulsion with war and military affairs, the University of North Texas is committed to increasing the profile of its military history program, which is anchored by the Military History Center. The Military History Center has a long and proud history of bringing the world's best military historians together for enlightening public discussions and lectures. Please join us.

The 5th War Studies Symposium was held on Monday, 1 May 2023 at the Embassy Suites in Denton. The theme of the Symposium was: "Death of the Luftwaffe: The Air War over Germany" was presented by Dr. s. Michael Pavelec, Professor and Director of Research, US Air Command and Staff College.

Dr. Pavelec received his Ph.D. in 2004 from the Ohio State University. He specializes in 20th Century military history, airpower, and diplomacy. His first academic position was as an assistant professor of history at Hawaii Pacific University, where after a year he became the program chair for diplomatic and military studies. He has taught at the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies (SAASS) of the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell AFB since 2011. He is the author or editor of five books and has published numerous articles and book chapters on airpower, technology, space, and cyber warfare. He has been the subject matter expert for well- known history shows such as Nazi Megastructures: Battle Ready (2019), What on Earth? (2015) and Nazi Mega Weapons (2013). He is the author of five monographs on air power.

The 4th War Studies Symposium was held on Thursday, April 28, 2022 at the Embassy Suites in Denton at 11 AM. The topic of the Symposium, "More Than Strength and Honor: Uncovering the Roman Army with Archaeology," was presented by Dr. Lee L. Brice, Professor of History and Distinguished Faculty at Western Illinois University.

Dr. Brice joined the Department in Fall 2003 after receiving his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has been recognized by WIU as an award-winning teacher, having won an award for Outstanding FYE Teaching and the College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Faculty Award for Undergraduate Research Mentoring. His specialized areas of research are Mutiny and Indiscipline in Macedonian and Roman militaries and also Greek coinage, especially of Corinth. Dr. Brice has published seven books on ancient history including most recently New Approaches to Greek and Roman Warfare (Wiley 2020) and People and Institutions in the Roman Empire (Brill 2020, coedited with Andrea Gatzke and Matthew Trundle), as well as articles and chapters on Corinthian coinage, Greek and Roman military history, Teaching History, and the Roman army on film. He is series editor of Warfare in the Ancient Mediterranean World (Brill), senior editor of the journal Research Perspectives in Ancient History, and a member of the Journal of Military History advisory board. In 2014 and 2018, he was selected as a Gertrude Smith Professor at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, the oldest American foreign research institute. In 2017, he was selected to be a 2017-2018 Elizabeth A. Whitehead Distinguished Scholar at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens. Also in 2018, he was Senior Fellow at the Australian Center for Ancient Numismatic Studies, Gale Distinguished Lecturer at Macquarie University in Sydney Australia as well as Distinguished Visiting Lecturer at Auckland University in Auckland. Most recently, he was selected in 2019 to be the Distinguished Faculty Lecturer at WIU and deliver the 2020 lecture, "The Colts of Corinth Revisited: A Numismatic Study."

The MHC held the 3rd War Studies Symposium on Wednesday, 25 April 2018 from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm at the SpringHill Suites Marriott Denton (1434 Centre Place Dr.). The title of the talk was: "The Washington War: FDR's Inner Circle and the Politics of Power that Won World War II." Our guest speaker was Dr. James G. Lacey, who serves as Professor and Director for War, Policy, and Strategy as well as Political Economy at the Marine Corps War College. Prior to his appointment to the War College in June 2010, he spent six years at the Institute for Defense Analyses in Washington D.C. A widely published senior analyst, Dr. Lacey worked on a number of projects concerning the economics of war, the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, strategic communications, and long-term US strategic policy. He was an active duty military officer for twelve years, serving in the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, and United States Army Europe Headquarters. He retired from the Army Reserves in 2005 after 24 years of service. Dr. Lacey has extensive experience in several Wall Street firms focusing on "capital market operations." He is a successful professional journalist with columns in National Review, The Weekly Standard, Foreign Affairs, New York Post, and New York Sun for almost two years. He was a journalist with Time Magazine and was an embedded reporter with the 101st Airborne Division during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He has extensively published in financial, military and opinion journals. In addition, Dr. Lacey has taught graduate level courses in Military History and Global Issues at Georgetown and Johns Hopkins Universities. He has also lectured and conducted seminars at numerous academic and policy institutions across the United States. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from The Citadel and a Ph.D. in Military History from Leeds University. His dissertation focused on the economic underpinnings of U.S. strategy in the Second World War. His book publications include: Iraqi Perspective Project (2006); Takedown - The 3rd Infantry Division's 21-Day Assault on Baghdad (2007); Terrorist Perspective Project (2008); Global Jihad (2008); Cannons of Jihad (2008); Pershing (2008); The Making of Peace(2009); Keep from All Thoughtful Men (2011); The Making of Grand Strategy (2011); The First Clash: The Greco-Persian Wars (2011); The Moment of Battle (2013); Great Strategic Rivalries (editor, 2016); The Washington War(2018); and The Gods of War (2018). Dr. Lacey is also the author of over one-hundred articles and studies on history, strategy, economics, global events, etc. He regularly publishes in Military History Magazine, Military History Quarterly, and the Journal of Military History.

The 2nd War Studies Symposium was held on Thursday, 25 May 2017 at the Cavanaugh Flight Museum at 11:00 am. The theme of the Symposium was: "1967- Make or Break Year in the Vietnam War" presented by our esteemed speaker, Dr. Andrew Wiest, Professor of History and Co-Director of the Center for the Study of War and Society at the University of Southern Mississippi.

After attending the University of Southern Mississippi for his undergraduate and masters degrees, Dr. Wiest went on to receive his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, Chicago. Specializing in the study of World War I and Vietnam, Dr. Wiest has served as a Visiting Senior Lecturer at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst in the United Kingdom and as a Visiting Professor in the Department of Warfighting Strategy at the United States Air Force Air War College. In 2011-2012, Dr. Wiest held the Charles W. Moorman Distinguished Alumni Professorship in the Humanities. His 2007 book, Vietnam's Forgotten Army: Heroism and Betrayal in the ARVN, New York University Press, won the Society for Military History's 2009 Distinguished Book Award. He is also the author of Vietnam: A View from the Front Lines, Osprey Press, 2013; The Boys of '67: Charlie Company's War in Vietnam, Osprey Press, 2012; Haig: The Evolution of a Commander, Potomac Press, 2005; and Passchendaele and the Royal Navy, Greenwood Press, 1995. His other works include Triumph Revisited: Historians Battle for the Vietnam War (co-edited with Michael Doidge), Routledge Press, 2010; America and the Vietnam War: Re-Examining the Culture and History of a Generation (co-edited with Glenn Robins and Mary Kathryn Barbier), Routledge Press, 2009; Rolling Thunder in a Gentle Land: The Vietnam War Revisited, Osprey Press, 2006; War in the Age of Technology: Myriad Faces of Modern Armed Combat (co-edited with Geoffrey Jensen) New York University Press, 2001. Since 1992, Dr. Wiest has been active in international education, leading a study abroad program to London and Normandy most summers, and developing the award-winning Vietnam Study Abroad Program. Dr. Wiest has presented his research at conferences and at invited talks both nationally and internationally. National Geographic Channel and Lou Reda Productions based their Emmy-nominated documentary Brothers in War on Dr. Wiest's book The Boys of '67, with Wiest serving as lead historical advisor to the project. He also served as lead historical advisor to the Lou Reda production of Vietnam in HD, has appeared on several documentaries for the History Channel, Granada Television and Lucasfilms, and has served as a commentator on military events for national news outlets including CNN, the BBC, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The Inaugural War Studies Symposium was held on 20 April 2016 in Denton. Brigadier General (Ret.) Dr. Robert A. Doughty presented:

"The Battle of Verdun: Fresh Perspectives on the 100th Anniversary of the Great War"

General Doughty served as Professor and Head of the Department of History at the United States Military Academy from 1985 to 2005. He retired in July 2005 after forty years of service in the U.S. Army. General Doughty graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1965 and received his Ph.D. from Kansas University in 1979. Following his commissioning as an Armor officer, Bob served with distinction in a variety of command and staff positions, including two assignments in Germany and a combat tour in Vietnam. His awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, and Combat Infantry Badge. In the late 1970s, he served as an instructor at the Command and General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth and was instrumental in establishing the Combat Studies Institute. Bob returned to West Point in 1981 as an Academy Professor in the Department of History and served as the chief of the European History Division. He became the Deputy Head in 1984 and the Head the following year. Under Bob's leadership the Department of History developed one of the finest undergraduate history programs in the nation. In 1995-96, he held the Harold Keith Johnson Chair of Military History at the U.S. Army Military History Institute. In 2009, he presented the Harmon Memorial Lecture in Military History at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. He is the author of numerous articles and four books and has co-authored a military history textbook. His book, The Seeds of Disaster: The Development of French Army Doctrine, 1919-1939, won the American Historical Association's Paul Birdsall Prize in 1986 while his book, Pyrrhic Victory: French Strategy and Operations in the Great War, won the New York Military Affairs Symposium's 2005 Arthur Godzeit Book Award followed by the Western Front Association's 2006 Norman B. Tomlinson, Jr. Book Prize and the Society for Military History's 2006 Samuel Eliot Morison Prize as well as the Society's 2007 Distinguished Book Award. Born in Tullos, Louisiana, he and his wife of forty-two years, Diane, live in Natchitoches, Louisiana.