Thomas J. Laub
DSU Box 3264
1003 West Sunflower Road
Cleveland, MS 38733
Office: (662) 846 – 4173
Education:
PhD, 2003, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA.
• Dissertation: “The Politics of Occupation: Exploitation, Resistance, and Reprisals in
Occupied France, 1940-1944.” Directed by Stephen Schuker and Lenard Berlanstein.
• Examination fields: modern European history (general field), twentieth-century Europe
(specialty), and modern Japan (outside field).
MA, 1993, American University, Washington DC.
• MA in modern European History.
• Graduate Student Representative to the department’s governing council.
BA, 1989, St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY.
• Double-major in government and history with grade-point averages of 3.5 and 3.9 on a 4point scale in respective majors.
• Elected Phi Beta Kappa, graduated Cum Laude.
Current Position: Assistant Professor of History, Delta State University,
August 2013 – present.
Undergraduate Courses Taught at Delta State University:
History 103 (World History to 1500). Three sections, fall 2013 - fall 2015.
History 104 (World History since 1500). Three sections, spring 2014 - spring 2016.
History 400 (Historiography). One Section fall 2015
History 429 (The Holocaust). One section, spring 2015.
History 492 (Special Topics, Modern France). One section, spring 2014.
History 492 (Special Topics, Modern Japan). One section, fall 2013.
Graduate Courses Taught at Delta State University:
History 500 (Historiography). One section, fall 2015.
History 529 (The Holocaust). One section, spring 2015.
History 641 (Modern European History), One section, fall 2014
History 592 (Special Topics, Modern France). One Section, spring 2014.
History 592 (Special Topics, Modern Japan). One section, fall 2013.
Service to Delta State University:
Writing Across the Curriculum Committee, fall 2013 to present.
Library Committee, fall 2014 to present.
General Education Committee, Fall 2015 to present.
Advisor, Phi Alpha Theta, 2013 to present.
Scholarship – Books:
Laub, Thomas. After the Fall: German Policy in Occupied France 1940-1944. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2010.
• Reviewed by The American Historical Review, Francia Recensio, The English
Historical Review, The Financial Times, German History, H-German, H-France,
Instutut für Zeitgeschichte, The Journal of Military History, and Sehepunkte.
Laub, Thomas. "The Development of German Policy in Occupied France in 1941" in Alex
Kay, Jeff Rutherford, and David Stahel (eds.), Nazi Policy on the Eastern Front, 1941:
Total War, Genocide, and Radicalization. Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 2012.
• Reviewed by The Canadian Journal of History, Central European History, Das
Historisch-Politische Buch, The English Historical Review, German History, German
Studies, History, Holocaust & Genocide Studies, Journal of Contemporary History,
Journal of Military History, Journal of Slavic Military Studies, and War in History.
Scholarship – Book Reviews:
Review of Ben Shepherd, War in the Wild East: The German Army and Soviet Partisans.
Published by H-German.
Review of James Arnold, The Battle of the Bulge: Hitler's Last Gamble in the West. Westport,
Connecticut: Praeger, 2004. Published by H-German.
Review of Ken Ford, The Rhineland 1945: The Final Push into Germany (Westport,
Connecticut: Praeger, 2004). Published by H-German.
Review of James Arnold, The Battle of the Bulge: Hitler’s Last Gamble in the West
(Westport: Praeger, 2006). Published by H-German.
Scholarship - Papers Presented:
"The Laws of War and Counter-insurgency during the Twentieth Century." Paper presented at the annual
meeting of the German Studies Association, September 2014.
"Frontiers of Reason in Occupied France." Paper presented at the annual meeting of the
Society for Military History, April 2008.
"Anti-Partisan Policy in Occupied France." Paper presented at the Partisan and Anti-Partisan
Warfare in German-Occupied Europe 1939-1945 conference at Glasgow Caledonian
University in the United Kingdom, June 2007
“The German Army in France, 1940-1944.” Paper presented at the Annual Holocaust
Conference, Millersville, PA, 1997
Scholarship – Works in Progress:
“The Laws of War & “Unlawful” Combatants.” Designed for publication in a journal, this
essay examines the evolution of international laws pertaining to non-traditional
combatants (e.g. freedom fighters, terrorists, and national liberation movements) before
and after the Second World War.
“Hitler’s Declaration of War on the United States, December 1940.” Designed for
publication in an academic journal, this essay examines and explains Germany’s decision
to declare war on the United States in late 1940. Immediately after news of Japan’s attack
on Pearl Harbor reached Hitler, the Führer ordered German submarines to attack
American shipping, conferred with Joseph Goebbels and Herman Göring, and began to
craft a speech declaring war on the United States. With troops still at the very outskirts of
Moscow, Hitler assumed that Germany had all but destroyed the Red Army. Initial
reports of Stalin’s first counter-offensive, launched on six December, arrived in a series
of small and often contradictory report that failed to impress Nazi leaders. Unaware of
the disaster facing the Ostheer, Hitler and German Army High Command did not rush all
available reinforcements to the Eastern Front until 14 December 1941. Without reliable
and timely information, Hitler declared war on the United States, initiated the third stage
of his Stufenplan, and facilitated the demise of the Third Reich.
“The German Navy in Occupied France, 1940-1944.” This project will start out as a
conference paper and expand into a book, depending upon the availability of research
funds and records in Germany, France, and the United States. Immediately after the
Armistice in June 1940, the Kriegsmarine established a large naval base in Bordeaux in
order to conduct surface and submarine operations against Great Britain. Although this
base depended upon 30,000 French workers to service German warships and submarines,
naval leaders consistently advocated an exploitative occupation policy in France, pressed
for draconian reprisals against resistance activity, and supported Hitler and the SS over
the Military Commander in France (Army). This work will identify the the ideological
commitment of German sailors in France and explain why the Kriegsmarine, unlike their
army counterparts, pursued a patently counterproductive occupation policies in France
and supported Adolf Hitler to the bitter end of the Third Reich.
Awards:
Kent Wyatt Travel Grant to present a paper at the German Studies Association Annual
Conference.
Finalist for German Historical Institute's Fritz Stern Prize for best dissertation in 2003.
Previous Academic Experience:
Program Director, Longwood University, 2010-2011.
Advised and mentored students for the Elementary Education Licensure program.
• Scheduled classes, hired adjuncts, and supervised faculty at branch campus.
• Advised students, organized cohorts, and guided students through the licensure process.
• Recruited students and increased enrollment from four to fourteen in twelve months.
• Coordinate curriculum with fellow directors in accordance with SACS regulations.
Academic Coordinator, James Madison University, 2008 - 2010.
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Managed the JMU Outreach program in Martinsville, VA.
Recruited, advised, and mentored non-traditional students.
Scheduled classes, hired adjuncts, and supervised faculty.
Taught two classes per semester including Modern France (spring 2009), Modern
Japan (spring 2009), and World War Two (fall 2009).
Visiting Assistant Professor, Sweet Briar College, 2004-2005.
• The Twentieth-Century World, fall 2004.
• Modern Europe (1789-1991), spring 2005.
• Modern Japan (1868-1993), spring 2005.
Lecturer, Longwood University, 2003-2004.
• Western Civilization (1650-1989), fall 2003 & spring 2004.
• History of Modern Japan (1868-1989), spring 2004.
Lecturer, Longwood University.
• Western Civilization (1650-1989), fall 2001.
• Nazi Germany, fall 2001.
Instructor, University of Virginia.
• State & Society in Nazi Germany, spring 2001.
Teaching Assistant, University of Virginia.
• Western Civilization, spring 2000.
• World War Two, spring 1999.
Teaching Assistant, American University, fall 1990 to spring 1992.
• Renaissance and Revolutions. One section per semester.
Previous Professional Experience:
Research Assistant, Mental Health Policy Resource Center, Washington DC, 1992–1994.
• Analyzed numeric and textual data from state mental health programs.
• Wrote 1993 national report on the Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with
Mental Illness program for the Department of Health and Human Services. Report
submitted to the United States Congress.
Professional Associations:
• Member, the American Historical Association.
• Member, the German Studies Association.
• Member, Phi Alpha Theta.
• Member, Phi Beta Kappa