John Daley

About John L. S. Daley

The state of Kansas pays me to study history and talk about it -- something I'd do on my own time for fun even if I were still working ten hours a day six days a week at that smelly factory (corporate name deleted) back in Cleveland. And I knew all along that that's what I wanted to do. So, after the bachelor's degree and a tour with Uncle Sam (who had helped pay for the bachelor's degree) I went back to school and, with the help of the G.I. Bill and lots of caffeine, followed my dream. An indescribable feeling of isolation often comes to 35 year old students whose old friends have long since gotten paying jobs, but I can now tell you with absolute assurance that such queasiness was worth the trouble. 

I was hired to teach upper division and graduate level Civil War, Reconstruction and American military history courses, as well as the first and second halves of the introductory level American history survey. Since then, I have also developed and taught courses on World War I, World War II, the Korean and Vietnam Wars, Nazi Germany, military aviation, armored warfare, and war in film -- a neat fit, since I have research interests in each of those areas. Each of our history programs -- the B.A., History Ed. (for aspiring high school and middle school teachers) and M.A. -- is flexible enough so that credit earned in any of these courses can count toward the degree. Those of you who like history but seek a B.A. or B.S. degree in another discipline and need a minor can customize the 24-credit hour history minor to suit yourselves.  Many of my students past and present have done or are doing exactly that. If you have questions about any of these courses or programs, feel free to shoot me an email and we can talk. I'd be delighted to hear from you.

If you're worried about not being able to do anything with a history degree but teach, guess again. My B.A. graduates have found careers in systems analysis, the FBI, banking, technical writing, corporate management, police work, the military, travel bureaus and insurance, as well as more history-specific fields such as historical interpretation for national- and state parks, and archival / records work. Equally to the point, those I'm thinking of (I still keep in touch with many via social media) entered those careers without additional degrees. Why is such a broad range of opportunities available to history majors? Because in order to master historical study, one must be a problem solver. You'll do more reading than most college students, but you'll do it with an eye toward extracting what is relevant, weighing evidence, formulating a conclusion or argument, rejecting competing conclusions or arguments, making corrections to existing narratives and then expressing yourself clearly, both in writing and speaking. In short, the organized, analytical mind that you'll get from studying history will serve you in most lines of work that are worth your time and effort. And if you're pursuing further studies in law or library science, a bachelor's degree in history is an excellent point of departure. 

All of that said, many of my students have come back to pursue master's degrees in history: some because they needed another degree for promotion, some because they were going on for a doctorate, and some, who had worked for years as bankers, lawyers, or systems analysts, because they were changing careers or interested in a topic unrelated to their respective jobs. All benefited from one-on-one instruction, 100 percent placement in internships, and a degree available entirely online from a nationally ranked program.

Education

• Ph.D., Kent State University (1993)
• M.A., Kent State University (1985)
• B.A., University of Wyoming (1977)

Research Emphases

• U.S. Civil War
• Modern Military
• U.S. Diplomatic
• Modern Germany