Event Details - Guest Lecture

The History Department at MSU Billings presents a guest lecture by visiting scholar Dr. Friederike Brühöfener, an assistant professor of modern European history at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, on Monday, April 25, at 2:30 p.m., in the Women’s and Gender Studies Center.

Her topic, “Against the ‘triumph of militarism and the perversion of true soldiering’: (Re)defining Military Service in West Germany in the 1950s,” will explore how the Federal Republic of Germany established a new armed forces. In particular, she will analyze how both understandings of the past and perceived natural differences between the sexes informed the West German debate on military service. 

The lecture is free and open to the public. A reception will follow the lecture.

Assistant Professor of History and Director of the Women’s and Gender Studies Center, Dr. Jennifer Lynn, notes that this is a “fantastic opportunity to demonstrate MSUB’s engagement with the larger academic community and provide students with the opportunity to meet scholars who can shed light on current events.”

Brühöfener will also visit two courses during her visit. She will discuss current German politics with a seminar class, HSTR 326: Contemporary Europe. In HSTR 102: Western Civilization II, she will discuss Germany’s role in the refugee crisis that is currently facing Europe.

As a German scholar, Brühöfener can offer students a unique perspective on international events and issues, Lynn said. Her research has been published in journals such as “Central European History” and she is currently working on a monograph, “Forging Armies and Men: Military Masculinity, Politics and Society in East and West Germany, 1945-1989.” She has presented her work in Europe and the United States.