Greater Allegheny

2015-2016 Penn State Laureate visits Penn State Greater Allegheny

Carol Reardon, the 2015-16 Penn State laureate and George Winfree Professor of American History at Penn State University Park, spoke March 17 in the Student Community Center at Penn State Greater Allegheny. Credit: Patrick Mansell / Penn StateCreative Commons

Carol Reardon, the Penn State laureate for 2016, visited the Greater Allegheny campus on Thursday, March 17. She spoke with History 021 students, presented to the campus community, and met with student military veterans.Students currently taking American Civilization since 1877 (History 021) were able to interact with Reardon when she gave her talk, “Why Study War?” 

Reardon’s presentation to the campus, "From Battlefield to Boardroom: Gettysburg's Lessons for Twenty-First Century Leaders," took place at 12:15 p.m. in the Ostermayer Room in the Student Community Center.Reardon is the George Winfree Professor of American History in the College of the Liberal Arts at Penn State University Park. She is a military historian who specializes in the study of the American Civil War and the Vietnam conflict to explore how peoples and cultures define, support or oppose, or remember the causes, conduct, costs and consequences of war. As the first woman to win election to the presidency of the Society for Military History, she strongly promoted an approach to military history that expanded from its base in battle and campaign analyses to embrace a more sophisticated discourse about war that integrates all the "elements of national power" — political, diplomatic, economic, social, and cultural forces, as well as military — to promote a deeper understanding of the many ways in which armed conflict or opposition to it touches our civic and personal lives.

Established in 2008, the Penn State laureate is a full-time University faculty member in the humanities or fine arts who is assigned for one academic year to bring an enhanced level of social, cultural, artistic and human perspective and awareness to a broad array of audiences.

Last Updated April 1, 2016

Contact