|
About Me |
|
Dr. Ducksworth-Lawton's Background
I am an Associate Professor in History, with a Masters in European Military
History and a Ph.D. in African American Military History from Ohio State
University. I am currently finishing a book on African American Army
soldiers in segregated units in Korea, my research area, and am starting
research on the impact of veterans, armed self defense and the abrogation of
the Second Amendment in the Civil Rights Movement.
I was an analyst for Rand Corporation, a federally funded research and
development center for the Pentagon (and am still under contract to them) as
a specialist in military culture, implementation, strategy, and technology
(computers). This gave me a bad attitude towards politicians, so expect
bipartisan sarcasm in some of the lectures. Rand and history have taught me
that in real life, sometimes people do things a. out of sheer stupidity, b.
because it was a bad day, c. they don't know why they did it, and c. sheer
fear. Logic does not always rule humans. Therefore, where there is no
logical explanation, I will not try to provide one. Since humans create
institutions, like the military, all of the problems of human foibles are
also there in the military.
I will tend to give you facts, several interpretations, and let you pick and
defend the interpretation you want. I will grade on the evidence and the
argument, not the interpretation (opinion). I do not care whether I give all
As or all Fs. You will get out of this class what you put into it.
I am aware that most people in the class do NOT have a military background
or prior military knowledge. So this week we will look at philosophy, and I
will give the new people a chance (TOMMORROW) to ask all of the questions
about rank, etc. that may confuse them. I highly recommend that the people
without prior military knowledge check the e-reserve section for the "How to
Make War" and "Dirty Little Secrets" readings. Later today I will post ranks
and structure information for Korea and Vietnam (the Leyden book gives it
for the Persian Gulf). Check in the External links and the links sections in
the "Course Documents" as well.
I tend to run a loose class at the upper division (I'm a dictator in the
lower division) so I will entertain and act on student suggestions. My focus
is on your learning. I am satisfied if you feel you can leave this class
feeling somewhat competent in this area (especially for teaching).
NOTICE: my lectures are copyright to me. DO NOT post them on the Net or
publish them. You may quote them, copy them, etc, but ask me before you
email them to a friend. There are several note services on the net, and I do
not want my notes to be sold to them.
Lectures will overview the material; the readings are not comprehensive, and
will supplement the lecture. I will have links in the lecture (most likely
to the maps). If you don't have Acrobat Reader GET IT! You can find a free
download on my "Survival" Guide in "Course Information.
|
|
