Robert J. Kodosky

Robert J. Kodosky
  • Professor of History
  • Department Chair
  • Department: History
  • Institution: West Chester University of Pennsylvania
  • Email: RKodosky@wcupa.edu

Education

  • B.S., Social Studies/Education, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, May 1989
  • Ph.D., American Military/Diplomatic History, Temple University, January 2006
  • M.A., World History, Villanova University, May 1994

Research Interests

Political ScienceUnited States diplomaticmilitary historysocial studiesWorld War I

Opportunities

Work Study Positions Available: No

Grant Funded Positions Available: No

Course-Credit Research Opportunities Available: No

Volunteer Research Positions Available: No

Biography

Dr. Kodosky (Ph.D. Temple University, 2006) joined the history department in 2002 after teaching high school social studies in Philadelphia, PA (1989-2001). He serves as the faculty advisor to the Student Veterans Group and Phi Alpha Theta (history honors). He additionally acts as the Eastern Pennsylvania regional coordinator for Phi Alpha Theta and accepted an invitation to serve on Phi Alpha Theta’s national council (2015). As a board member at the American Helicopter Museum and Education Center in West Chester, PA, Dr. Kodosky orchestrated an audio guide project for WCU students that earned the History Affiliates Award (2013). For his work with military veterans, on campus and off, including the oral history based initiative Soldiers to Scholars that he co-founded and directs, Dr. Kodosky received the Legion of Honor Humanitarian Award granted by the Four Chaplains Memorial Foundation (2014). The author of Psychological Operations American Style: The Joint United States Public Affairs Office, Vietnam and Beyond (Lexington Books, 2007), Dr. Kodosky’s scholarship also appears in the Encyclopedia of Military Science, the American Intelligence Journal, The Routledge History of Social Protest in Popular Music, the Journal of Popular Culture, History: Reviews of New Books, the Michigan War Studies Review and H-War.

Contact Information

Phone: 610-436-2288

List of Publications

  • “Psychological Warfare” in G. Kurt Piehler, ed., The Encyclopedia of Military Science (Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publishing), August 2013. “Musical Melee: Twentieth Century America’s Contested Wartime Soundtrack,” in Jonathan Friedman, editor, The Routledge History of Social Protest in Popular Music, June 2013. Review of War Time: An Idea, Its History, Its Consequences, by Mary L. Dudziak, in Humanities & Social Sciences Online, www.h-net.org, October 2012. “Holy Tet Westy!: Graphic Novels and the Vietnam War” in the Journal of Popular Culture 44:5 (October 2011). Co-author, with Charlene Mires and Seth Bruggeman, “Building a Public History Community in Philadelphia,” Public History News 31:4 (September/October 2011). Review of The Civilian and the Military: A History of the American Antimilitarist Tradition, by Arthur A. Ekirch, Jr., for History: Reviews of New Books 39:4 (Fall 2011): 109. Review of America’s Cold War: The Politics of Insecurity by Campbell Craig and Fredrik Logevall for History: Reviews of New Books 39:1 (Winter 2010): 12. Review of War Stories: False Atrocity Tales, Swift Boaters and Winter Soldiers – What Really Happened in Vietnam by Gary Kulik for History: Reviews of New Books 39:1 (Winter 2010): 15. “Veterans Share Stories that Really Matter – Just Listen,” Philadelphia Inquirer, 7 November 2010. Review of The 7th Infantry: Combat in an Age of Terror by John C. McManus in History: Reviews of New Books 36:4 (Summer 2008): 137-8. Review of A Faustian Foreign Policy from Woodrow Wilson to George W. Bush by Joan Hoff in History: Reviews of New Books 36:4 (Summer 2008): 139-40. Review of Victory in War: Foundations of Modern Military Policy by William C. Martel, in History: Reviews of New Books 36:2 (Winter 2008): 60-1. Review of The Big Red One: America’s Legendary 1st Infantry Division from World War I to Desert Storm by James Scott Wheeler, in History: Reviews of New Books 36:2 (Winter 2008): 60. Psychological Operations American Style: The Joint United States Public Affairs Office, Vietnam and Beyond (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, a division of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2007). Review of Depression, War, and Cold War: Studies in Political Economy by Robert Higgs, in History: Review of New Books, 35:3 (Spring 2007): 113. Review of Harry S. Truman and the Cold War Revisionists by Robert H. Ferrell, in History: Review of New Books, 34:3 (Spring 2006): 80. Review of Total Cold War: Eisenhower’s Secret Propaganda Battle at Home and Abroad by Kenneth Osgood, in History: Review of New Books, 34:3 (Spring 2006): 99. Review of “Cornplanter and the Fate of His Land,” lesson plan, ExplorePAhistory Project, September 2006. Review of “Pennsylvania Steel,” lesson plan, ExplorePAhistory Project, September 2006. Review of “Indians in Pennsylvania,” lesson plan, ExplorePAhistory Project, September 2006.