History

Molly Wood, Ph.D.

Molly WoodProfessor
Modern U.S. and Diplomatic History
mwood@wittenberg.edu
(937) 327-7844
Hollenbeck Hall 314

Dr. Wood came to Wittenberg in August 1999 after completing a post-doctoral appointment at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C. Born in Washington, D.C., she was raised in Richmond, VA, earned a B.A. in history from the University of Virginia, a master's degree in history from the University of Richmond and her Ph.D. in history from the University of South Carolina. She teaches courses in U.S. history, U.S. foreign relations and International Studies, and Latin American history. She serves as academic advisor to history majors and to history majors who will take the Integrated Social Studies track to become teachers. She also serves as the Director of the Wittenberg Honors.

Academic Background

  • Ph.D. University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C.
  • M.A. University of Richmond, Richmond, V.A.
  • B.A. University of Virginia, Charlottesville, V.A.

Awards, Recognition and Leadership Positions

  • Ohio Academy of History Distinguished Service Award, Spring 2015.
  • Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations Teaching Committee, 2011 - 2015 and 2014 - 2017.
  • President, Ohio Academy of History 2012 - 2013
  • Essay titled, "Diplomatic Wives: The Politics of Domesticity and the "Social Game" in the U.S. Foreign Service, 1905-1941," voted one of the ten best essays in American history and reprinted in The Best American History Essays, 2007. Jacqueline Jones, ed. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007).
  • Elected to Ohio Academy of History Executive Council Spring 2007.
  • Franklin and Eleanor Library Association Grant (Awarded Spring 2006).
  • Edith and Frank Matthies Award, Wittenberg University, Spring 2005.
  • Herbert Hoover Presidential Library Travel Grant, Summer 2005.
  • Freeman Foundation Travel Grant (travel to Vietnam), Summer 2004.

Selected Publications

  • Diplomatic Relations: The Informal Politics of Representation: The U.S. Foreign Service, 1890 - 1940. Submitted to Cornell University Press. 2018.
  • “’Spanning the Globe to Bring you the Constant Variety of Sports’: Teaching the U.S. and the World in the Cold War,” Journal of American History (March 2017).
  • “Gender and American Foreign Relations,” in The Routledge Handbook of Gender, War and the U.S. Military. Kara Vuic Dixon, ed. (Routledge 201 7 ).
  • “Teaching Fear and Anxiety in the Cold War, 1945 - 1989,” in Understanding and Teaching the Cold War: Essays and Resources, edited by Matthew Masur (University of Wisconsin Press, 2017).
  • “Teaching US Foreign Relations using Film as a Primary Source,” co-author with Carol Adams, Justin Hart, Matt Loayza, and Richard Werking. Passport: The Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations Review (April 2016)
  • “Wives, Clerks and ‘Lady Diplomats’: The Gendered Politics of Diplomacy and Representation in the U.S. Foreign Service, 1900 - 1940.” European Journal of American Studies [online] Vol 10, no 1. 2015, document 1.6; online since March 2015. URL: http://ejas.revues.org/10562
  • “Scholars as Teachers: Thoughts on Scholarship and the Classroom,” Passport: The Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations Review (April 2015)
  • “The Informal Politics of Diplomacy” in When Private Talk Goes Public: Gossip in United States History. Kathleen Feeley and Jennifer Frost, eds. (Palgrave MacMillan, 2014.)
  • "Who was Lucile Atcherson Curtis? The First American Woman Diplomat " The American Foreign Service Journal (July 2013)
  • "Teaching the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan," Passport: The Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations Review (April 2013)
  • "'Commanding Beauty' and 'Gentle Charm': American Women and Gender in the Early Twentieth Century Foreign Service." Diplomatic History 31:3 (June 2007): 505-530
  • "Mothers, Wives, Workers and More: The Experience of American Women on the Home Front during World War I," in Personal Perspectives: World War I, Timothy Dowling, ed. (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2006): 273-296.
  • "Diplomatic Wives: The Politics of Domesticity and "the Social Game" in the U.S. Foreign Service, 1905-1941." Journal of Women's History 17:2 (June 2005): 142-165.
  • "A Diplomat's Wife in Mexico: Creating Professional, Political and National Identities in the Early Twentieth Century," Frontiers: A Journal of Women's Studies 25/3 (Winter 2005).
  • "Neither Peace Nor War: The Experience of American Diplomats in Occupied Europe," in Personal Perspectives: World War II, Timothy Dowling, ed. (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2005): 265-280.
  • "Mapping a National Campaign Strategy: Partisan Women in the Presidential Election of 1916." In We Have Come to Stay: American Women and Political Parties, 1880-1960, eds. Kristie Miller, Melanie Gustafson and Elizabeth Israels Perry. (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1999).

Research Interests

Research Interests My special areas of research interest are U.S. Foreign Relations and Diplomacy, especially the impact of gender and cultural forces on diplomacy. My current book manuscript explores and analyzes the in formal diplomacy practiced by the men and women working in American missions all over the world, with special attention to the role of protocol and social interactions. I am also researching and writing about the career of the first American female Foreign Service Officer, Lucile Atcheson Curtis. More recently I have also been publishing in the area of pedagogy, with a particular interest in teaching U.S. history and international relations history through the lens of popular culture. I present my research at national conferences such as the American Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians, and I regularly take part in the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations Annual Conference.

Other Interests/Info

Dr. Wood in the News

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