James G. Ryan

What in your life drew you to your current field of study?

A fascination with the existence of social class in a nominally democratic society.

What do you hope your students gain from studying or working with you?

An understanding of modern U.S. history and American exceptionalism---especially the glacial pace of humanistic reform.

What are you passionate about in your personal life?

Health.

Ph.D. U.S. History, University of Notre Dame, 1981
M.A. U.S. History, University of Notre Dame, 1975
M.A. History, University of Delaware, 1973
B.A. History, University of Delaware, 1970

Courses Taught

America to 1877
U.S. 1877 to the Present
America in the Gilded Age
History of Modern American Women
Twentieth Century America
The Great Depression and World War II
Andrew Johnson and impeachment
The Progressive Era
Violence in American History
Various European History and Political Science courses

Publications

2016: "Communism is Twentieth Century Americanism: The Communist Party's Americanization Campaign" in J. Bret Bennington, Zenia Sacks DaSilva, Michael D'Innocenzo, and Stanislao Pugliese, eds. The 1930s: The Reality and the Promise, (Cambridge Scholars, 2016).

2011: "Historians of American Communism Remain in Denial" in Thomas Basiuk, Sylwia Kuzma and Krystyna Mazur, eds., The American Uses of History: Essays on P Public Memory

2007: "Helen Lowry and Earl Browder: The Genealogy of a KGB Agent and her Relationship to the Chief of the CPUSA" (with John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr), American Communist History

2007: "Leadership in the Left Lane: Directions and Styles in the Communist Party of the United States, 1932-1957," in Hans Krabbendam and Wil Verhoven, eds.,Who's the B Boss? Leadership and Democratic Culture in America.

2006: Historical Dictionary of the 1940s (with Leonard Schlup), M.E. Sharpe, Inc.

2005: "A 21st Century Look at the Memphis Riots of 1866," in Zbigniew Lewicki, ed., American (Dis)Orders vol.1.

2003: Historical Dictionary of the Gilded Age (with Leonard Schlup), M.E. Sharpe, Inc.

2002: "Socialist Triumph as a Family Value: Earl Browder and Soviet Espionage," American Communist History.

1997: Earl Browder: The Failure of American Communism, U. of Alabama Press

1977: "The Memphis Riots of 1866: Terror in a Black Community during Reconstruction," J Journal of Negro History.

Presentations

2017: "The Oversized Soviet Puppet" at the Reflections of the Revolution Conference, University of Montana.

2015: "TR, FDR, and Marxian Socialism" at the Roosevelt Century: TR and FDR: An International Conference, Louisiana State University at Shreveport.

2013: "From Concealing a Separate Agenda to a Sincere Attempt at Utopia: The Communist Party during the 1940s" at the Society for Utopian Studies International Conference, Charleston, South Carolina.

2012: "America, 'Sweet Land of Liberty' (Except When It Isn't): Major Violations of Due Process from George Washington to Barack Obama," at the 1960s: Legacies Conference, University of Warsaw, Warsaw Poland.

2011: "Communism Is Twentieth Century Americanism: Earl Browder and the Communist Party's Americanization Campaign," at the 1935: The Reality and the Promise Conference, Hofstra University.

2009: "History of the American Communist Party," American Crossroads series, United States' Embassy, Almaty, Kazakhstan.

2009: "Reform Movements in American History" a 4-week course for faculty at Ablai Khan Kazakh University, Almaty, Kazakhstan.

2009: "The American Communist Party's Critique of the United States' Constitution" at the (Mis)Reading America: American Dreams, Fictions, and Illusions conference, Polish Association for American Studies, Pulaway, Poland.

2006: "Tinkering with Totalitarianism: The American Communist Party's Attempts at Liberalization, 1934--1949" at the Sixth European Social Sciences History Conference, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

2005: "America's 'Second Gilded Age' – Dire Prediction or Current Reality?" at the Conformity and Resistance in America Conference, Polish Association for American Studies.

Grants and Fellowships

Grants

2015: Untitled grant from Texas A&M University at Galveston's Department of Liberal Studies to participate in the Aging and Society Fifth Interdisciplinary Conference at the Catholic University of America. $2500.

2015: Untitled .grant from Texas A&M University at Galveston's Department of Liberal Studies to participate in the Roosevelt Century Conference at Louisiana State University at Shreveport. $2500.

2015: Untitled grant from Texas A&M University at Galveston's Department of Liberal Studies to fund research on African American history at the University of Pennsylvania. S2500.

2011: Faculty Development Leave, Texas A&M University. Full pay.

2004: Faculty Development Leave, Texas A&M University. Full pay.

1997: Scholarly and Creative Activities Research Award, Texas A&M University, $6500.

1988: Summer Research grant, Muhlenberg College. $2500.

1990: Summer Research grant, Muhlenberg College. $2500.

Numerous mini-grants of less than $2000 from Texas A&M University and Texas A&M University at Galveston since 1990.

Fellowships

2009: Fulbright Specialist, Ablay Khan Kazakh University of International Relations and World Languages, Almaty, Kazakhstan, Funding: U. S. U. S.Fulbright program, $8400.

2006: Fulbright Senior Specialist, Jan Kochinowski University, Kielce, Poland. Funding: U.S. Fulbright program, $7800.

2004: Researcher, Russian State Archive of Social and Political History, Funding: Dean's Research and Travel Grant, Texas A&M University at Galveston, $7500.

1993: "Earl Browder, American Communism, and the Question of Soviet Espionage" for research at the Russian Center for the Preservation and Study of Documents of Recent History (now the Russian State Archive of Social and Political History) Moscow, Russian Federation. Funding: $1000 from Texas A&M University and $1000 from Texas A&M University at Galveston.

Awards & Recognition

2009: Fulbright Specialist to Kazakhstan appointment.

2004: Fulbright Senior Specialist to Poland appointment.