Biography
Philip Nash, Ph.D., is a professor of history and international studies. He teaches a variety of topics including 20th century U.S. history, globalization, the Holocaust, Vietnam, women’s history, African American history, and World War II.
He is the author of three books, most recently Clare Boothe Luce: American Renaissance Woman (2022). At Penn State, he has earned three teaching awards, including the Penn State Alumni Association Award for Excellence in Teaching (2008). He was Fulbright Visiting Professor at the National University of Singapore in 2010.
Students in his class can expect a mix of materials, assessments, and activities. Reading can include not only textbooks but also first-person primary sources and a graphic novel. A typical week consists of lecture, videos, and group discussions, with the latter sometimes pitting group against group in a Jeopardy!-style game show.
Dr. Nash’s classes help students not only become more informed citizens, but they also prepare students for successful careers by honing the skills all employers look for, such as clear written and verbal communication, critical analysis, and effective teamwork.
Research Interests
- Women
- Gender
- US Foreign Relations
- The Cold War and the Nuclear Arms Race
Publications
Stephanie Foster and Susan A. Markham, _Feminist Foreign Policy in Theory and Practice: An Introduction, Peace and Change - January, 2025
Review of Charlotte Faucher, Propaganda, Gender, and Cultural Power: Projections and Perceptions of France in Britain, c. 1880-1944, H-Diplo/H-Net Reviews - June, 2024
The Daughters of Yalta, Hague Journal of Diplomacy - November, 2023
Nuclear Folly: A History of the Cuban Missile Crisis, New West Indian Guide - March, 2023
Clare Boothe Luce: American Renaissance Woman - 2022
American Women at the UN: From Breakthrough to Dumping Ground?, History News Network (historynewsnetwork.org) - April, 2020
Breaking Protocol: America's First Female Ambassadors, 1933-1964 - January 15, 2020
Eisenhower, Nuclear Weapons, and Arms Control - 2017
A Woman’s Place is in the Embassy: America’s First Female Chiefs of Mission, 1933-64 - 2016
Into the Dark Water: The Story of Three Officers and PT-109, Presidential Studies Quarterly - 2016
Female US Ambassadors: The Early Years, Border Crossing/The Diplomat Magazine - May, 2016
The Cuban Missile Crisis - March, 2016
Nuclear Issues - 2014
The Soviet Cuban Missile Crisis: Castro, Mikoyan, Kennedy, Khrushchev, and the Missiles of November , Journal of American History - December, 2013
Kennedy and Cuba - 2012
John F. Kennedy, The Historian - April, 2012
John F. Kennedy: World Leader, The Historian - October, 2011
A Fulbright in Singapore, Shenango Ambassador - November, 2010
A Postcard from Singapore, Shenango Ambassador - May, 2010
5 jours en août, La Revue Internationale des Livres & des Idees - March, 2010
A Classroom Simulation on Humanitarian Intervention, Passport: Newsletter of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations - January, 2010
Five Days in August, H-Diplo, H-Net Reviews - December, 2009
The End of Iraq: How American Incompetence Created a War Without End, Peace and Change - July, 2009
One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War, Journal of American History - June, 2009
Alliance for Progress, Encyclopedia of the Cold War - 2008
U.S. Army Special Forces, Encyclopedia of the Cold War - 2008
At the Borderline of Armageddon: How American Presidents Managed..., Cold War History - October, 2008
Perle Mesta, Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - 2007
109 East Palace: Robert Oppenheimer and the Secret City of Los Alamos, The Historian - April, 2007
Spying on the Bomb: American Nuclear Intelligence from Nazi Germany to Iran and North Korea, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists - September, 2006
John F. Kennedy and the Missile Gap, Journal of American History - December, 2005
The Other Missiles of October, The Most Dangerous Years: The Cold War, 1953-1975 - 2005
Ambassador Eugenie Anderson, Minnesota History - 2005
America’s First Female Chief of Mission: Ruth Bryan Owen, Minister to Denmark, 1933-36, Diplomacy and Statecraft - 2005
Carlo D'Este, Eisenhower: A Soldier's Life, Journal of American History - September, 2003
Global Feminisms Since 1945, Journal of World History - September, 2003
'A Woman’s Touch in Foreign Affairs’? The Career of Ambassador Frances E. Willis, Diplomacy and Statecraft - 2002
The U-2 Spyplane: Toward the Unknown: A New History of the Early Years, Intelligence and National Security - June, 2002
Gendering World Politics: Issues and Approaches in the Post-Cold War Era, H-Diplo, H-Net Reviews - May, 2002
Bear Any Burden? John F. Kennedy and Nuclear Weapons - 1999
The Other Missiles of October: Eisenhower, Kennedy, and the Jupiters, 1957-1963 - 1997
Jumping Jupiters: The US Search for IRBM Host Countries in NATO, 1957-59, Diplomacy and Statecraft - 1995
Nuclear Weapons in Kennedy’s Foreign Policy, Historian - 1994
Nuisance of Decision: Jupiter Missiles and the Cuban Missile Crisis, Journal of Strategic Studies - 1991
Education
B.A., diplomacy and world affairs, Occidental College, California
M.A., law and diplomacy, Tufts University, Massachusetts
Ph.D., history, Ohio University, Ohio
Papers and Presentations
October, 2024
Lectures
J. Robert Oppenheimer: The Man and the Movie
Murrysville, PA
September, 2024
Lectures
Women in World War II
Greenville, PA
June 16, 2023
Panels
Roundtable: A Tribute to Professor Martin J. Sherwin (1937-2021)
Annual Conference
Arlington, VA
June 16, 2023
Papers and Oral Presentations
Roundtable: A Tribute to Professor Martin J. Sherwin (1937-2021)
Annual Conference
Arlington, VA
February 9, 2023
Lectures
Breaking Protocol: America's First Female Ambassadors, 1933-1964
Murrysville, PA
November 8, 2022
Webinars
Breaking Protocol: America's First Female Ambassadors, 1933-1964
Webinar
October 27, 2022
Lectures
The Cuban Missile Crisis at 60
Departments of History and Political Science Lecture Series
Indiana, PA
September 22, 2022
Lectures
Clare Boothe Luce: American Renaissance Woman
Penn State Shenango Faculty Lecture Series
Sharon, PA
April 12, 2022
Lectures
Breaking Protocol: America's First Female Ambassadors, 1933-1964
Pittsburgh, PA
November 4, 2021
Webinars
The First American Women Ambassadors
LCWINS Webinar
Zoom
September 2, 2021
Lectures
Watergate Weirdness
Nerd Nite Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA
October 9, 2020
Papers
Continuity and Change Among Female US Ambassadors, 1933-2020
Gender and Diplomacy Workshop
Zoom
June, 2020
Panels
Women and American Diplomacy in the Postwar World
Annual Conference
New Orleans, LA
March, 2020
Papers
Continuity and Change Among US Female Diplomats
Annual Conference
Honolulu, HI
February 26, 2020
Lectures
Breaking Protocol: America's First Female Ambassadors, 1933-1964
Faculty Lecture Series
February 27, 2019
Keynotes/Plenary Addresses
Myths and Misconceptions of World War II
Undergraduate History Conference
Indiana, PA
November 16, 2017
Lectures
On the Brink: Coming Close to Nuclear War
University Lecture Series
Pittsburgh, PA
March 21, 2017
Lectures
John F. Kennedy at 100
Guest Lecture Series
Indiana, PA
February 20, 2017
Lectures
John F. Kennedy at 100
Faculty Lecture Series
Sharon, PA
October 10, 2015
Lectures
Women in World War II
Meeting, College Club of Sharon
Sharpsville, PA
September 16, 2015
Lectures
The Bill of Rights
Constitution Day
Sharon, PA
April 11, 2015
Lectures
Developing a Faculty Evaluation System
University College Arts & Humanities Division Meeting
University Park, PA
December 3, 2014
Lectures
Slavery Today
Abolish Slavery Day Event
Sharon, PA
April, 2014
Attended conference
Annual Conference
Atlanta, GA
March 5, 2014
Panels
Dinh Q. Le’s Light and Belief: Sketches of Life from the Vietnam War
Pittsburgh, PA
January 13, 2014
Lectures
Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and the Civil Rights Movement
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Event
Sharon, PA
November 9, 2013
Lectures
America's Women Diplomats: The Early Years
Meeting
Sharon, PA
November 9, 2012
Lectures
Singapore and Its Economy
Meeting
October 29, 2012
Lectures
The Cuban Missile Crisis After 50 Years
Faculty Lecture Series
August 21, 2012
Lectures
Truman and the Ethics of the Bomb
Interfaith Lecture Series
Chautauqua, NY
March, 2012
Attended conference
University College Joint Division Meeting
University Park
December 9, 2011
Papers
A Woman's Place is in the Embassy: America's First Female Ambassadors
Women, Diplomacy and International Relations Since 1500
Florence, Italy
April 16, 2011
Keynotes/Plenary Addresses
Women Who Run With the Cookie-Pushers: America's First Female Ambassadors, 1933-64
Ohio University History Graduate Association Conference
Athens, OH
November 17, 2010
Lectures
Singapore Today
Faculty Research Symposium
Sharon, PA
October 16, 2010
Lectures
Internationalizing Existing Courses
Meeting the Challenges of the 21st-century Classroom
Sharon, PA
February 10, 2010
Lectures
A Woman’s Place is in the Embassy: America’s First Female Ambassadors, 1933-64
History Department Research Symposium
Singapore
June, 2009
Panel Chair
Lost in Translation: Transnational Exchange in the Cold War
Annual Conference
Fairfax, VA
June 27, 2009
Attended conference
Annual Conference
Fairfax, VA
June 27, 2009
Papers
Acid-Tongued Diplomat: Clare Boothe Luce
Annual Conference
Fairfax, VA
March, 2008
Attended conference
Conference: 'With Vision Flying': New Perspectives on Women's and Gender History
Washington, DC
April 24, 2006
Lectures
Our Woman in Copenhagen: America's First Female Ambassadors, 1933-64
Penn State Shenango Faculty Research Symposium
Sharon, PA
June, 2005
Attended conference
Annual Conference
College Park, MD
October 27, 2004
Papers
Madam Ambassador: America's First Female Chiefs of Mission, 1933-64
International Security Studies Coloquium
New Haven, CT
June 25, 2004
Papers
'Mission to the North': Florence Jaffray Harriman, Minister to Norway, 1937-41
Annual Conference
Austin, TX