Kate Epstein
Rutgers University-Camden
Kate Epstein is associate professor of history at Rutgers-Camden. She is currently working on her second book, which examines government secrecy, defense contracting, intellectual property, and the political economy of power projection. Her first book, Torpedo: Inventing the Military-Industrial Complex in the United States and Great Britain (Harvard University Press, 2014), examined these issues through the lens of torpedo development before World War I. In 2018-2019, she held an ACLS Frederick Burkhardt Fellowship and was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Her work has appeared in various academic journals and edited collections, as well as in the Wall Street Journal and American Interest. She teaches courses in US history, military history, diplomatic history, and historical methods.
Undergraduate Syllabus
War and the United States, 1898–Present
Cuba, World War I, World War II, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan: War has been central to modern US history. The nation currently spends about $600 billion a year on its military, or more than the next seven nations combined. Even when the United States is nominally at peace, its military power reaches across the globe. There was not a single year in the 20th century that the United States did not have forces fighting or stationed overseas.
Why did war become so important to the United States? How has the growth of US military power affected its position in the world? This course attempts to answer those questions. It begins with the United States’ first major overseas conflict, the Spanish-American War of 1898, and continues through the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We will study battles and generals, as well as the evolution of military institutions, labor markets, doctrine, technology, finance, logistics, and culture. Throughout, we will explore the relationship between Americans and their military in war and peace.