VMI Department of History

08/27/2026

Join us on Tuesday, September 15, as the Honorable Alexander Yui, Taiwan’s Representative to the United States, discusses today’s global security challenges from the Taiwanese perspective. Open to the public!

Thank you to the Office of Global Education, the John A. Adams ‘71 Center for Military History and Strategic Analysis, and the Center for Leadership and Ethics for sponsoring the event.

08/21/2026

Earlier this week, four of our faculty members took on the first-ever [optional] Faculty/Staff VFT Challenge! MAJ Paul, MAJ Webb, COL Johnson, and COL Arndt each easily passed the test, showing that our faculty can meet the same standards our cadets are held to.

The VFT consists of one minute of sit-ups, one minute of push-ups, and a 1.5-mile run around the track.

Is our department the most athletic on Post? We think so. Congrats to all who participated!

08/06/2026

Just in time for the 250th anniversary of American independence, VMI History Major Aidan McDowell ‘27 spent a week of his summer furlough at the Library of Virginia researching complex political dynamics of Virginia’s frontier during the Revolution. With support from VMI’s Summer Undergraduate Research Institute, Aidan conducted archival research into the lives and experiences of loyalists in the backcountry to support his honors thesis. From exploring court records from trials of Tories in the region to reading sensationalized accounts of Loyalist conspiracies in the newspapers, Aidan’s project offers a new and fascinating way to think about the everyday political decisions of those who experienced the American Revolutionary era.

07/28/2026

VMI was well represented at the recent annual meeting of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic (SHEAR). LTC Boonshoft co-chaired the program committee, which organized the meeting of 60+ panels and events, and over 500 attendees. VMI sponsored hybrid access to a slate of sessions on American democracy and the Constitution.

The annual meeting also marked the official start of Boonshoft’s term as editor of the society’s journal, The Journal of the Early Republic.

MAJ Deibel also presented as part of a panel entitled “Education in Early America: A State of the Field Discussion

06/26/2026

We are thrilled to introduce Fairs, Festivals, and State–Society Relations in the Ottoman Empire, 1876–1908, by Dr. Semih Gökatalay.

Focusing on the reign of Sultan Abdülhamid II, this book examines how trade fairs and religious festivals shaped the evolving relationship between the Ottoman state and its diverse communities. Through case studies from across the empire, it highlights the role of provincial actors, public demands, political negotiation, and local power struggles in transforming public gatherings into dynamic spaces of representation, identity formation, and collective engagement.

An important contribution to the study of late Ottoman social, political, and cultural history, the book offers new insights into how fairs and festivals became performative arenas where state authority, local agency, and public participation intersected.

Congratulations, Dr. Gökatalay!

06/13/2026

06/09/2026

Check out the recap of the Olmsted trip to France in the News-Gazette! Over spring furlough, eight VMI cadets toured Normandy and Paris as a part of the Olmsted Foundation Undergraduate Program.

They visited Normandy beaches, honored fallen VMI alumni at the American Cemetery, explored Versailles, and shared meals with active-duty Olmsted Scholars studying at the Sorbonne and École de Guerre.

Link to the article, penned by VMI’s Marianne Hause: https://www.thenews-gazette.com/article/14353,commissioning-cadets-explore-la-france

05/26/2026

We are thrilled to announce that MAJ Zachary Deibel was recently named a 2026 NAEd/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellow!

The highly competitive fellowship, awarded to just 25 scholars selected from nearly 500 applicants, supports exceptional early-career researchers whose work addresses critical questions in education through funding, mentorship, and professional development.

MAJ Deibel received the fellowship in support of his book project, tentatively titled “Liberty’s Lessons: The Educational Politics of the American Revolution.” His research explores how debates over education and civic learning shaped the American Revolution, revealing how struggles over political authority were also contests over who should learn, what they should learn, and how political ideas were communicated during the founding era.

Please join us in congratulating MAJ Deibel on this outstanding achievement and national recognition!

See the press release here: https://naeducation.org/congratulations-to-the-2026-naed-spencer-fellowship-recipients/

05/19/2026

Department of History faculty gearing up for commencement. Watching our history cadets walk across the stage is one of the highlights of every year!

📸: COL Dowling

05/19/2026

Congratulations to the VMI Class of 2026! Some highlights from Commencement and Institute Awards.