John Baesler
Professor of History
Department of History
Arts & Behavioral Sciences
Academic and Student Affairs
SVSU Main Campus
Gilbertson Hall-North Wing 203
989-964-4381
jbaesler@svsu.edu
Biography
A citizen of Germany, I received my undergraduate degree in history and philosophy at Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg in 2001 and my Ph.D. in U.S. History and Cultural History at Indiana University-Bloomington in 2009.
I joined the faculty at SVSU as an assistant professor of history in 2009 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2014.
Education
Indiana University
Teaching Interests
I am a historian of U.S. foreign relations, with a particular emphasis on American Cold War ideology, espionage, and technology. At SVSU I teach the history of U.S. foreign relations in the 20th century (H316, H317), the Vietnam War (H329), and a world history course on the history of espionage in the twentieth century (H383).
I have given papers at academic conferences in the United States, Germany, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. I have published articles and reviews in English and German.
Research
In May 2018 I published a book titled Clearer than Truth: The Polygraph and the American Cold War with the University of Massachusetts Press.
I am currently researching the social history of the American military presence in West Germany during the Cold War.