Amy J. Rutenberg

I got a super fun package in the mail today. If anyone else would like to get the same package, use code 24 Rutenberg at Kansaspress.ku.edu for a 30% discount. #milhist 🗃️

Dr. Craig Thurtell was the department chair and APUSH teacher at the school where I started my career. He was an amazing teacher and excellent mentor. Because he did his job so well, he wasn’t able to turn his dissertation into a boo -until now. I am so delighted for him. Congratulations, Craig! 🗃️🗺️

My little babies also safely arrived. My sincerest thanks to my co-editors and to all our contributors #milwelfhist

Always nice to get a package with the culmination of a few years’ work. Military historians, come for the fun cover, stay for the opportunity to rethink who your work is in conversation with. 🗃️ @paulhuddie.bsky.social @emmahuddlestone.bsky.social @milwelfhist.bsky.social

The new school year is almost upon us, but summer isn’t quite done, & neither are the summer #ScholarSunday threads! Here’s my 290th of public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, share widely, & enjoy, all! 🗃️ +

Thanks for sharing @herreramilhist.bsky.social! I’m proud to get this work out there, even if I need a better term than “military peace activism.” 😂🗃️ #milhist

For those not aware, social media feeds across the military are being shuttered or evaluated so that messaging can be more standardized. This message, from the official feed of the Department of War [sic], was approved. Let that sink in www.facebook.com/share/v/1LGf...

Military history and adjacent folks, public access to DTIC has been discontinued. This is an incredible loss to anyone who studies the US military 🗃️ @modamhist.bsky.social @oah.org @afssage.bsky.social @warontherocks.bsky.social @taskandpurpose.com #milhist

I will also say this. There is a real, authentic cohort of poor and working class people in higher education. They can speak to the complexities of being in and not of a class position without making broad, provocative generalizations. One day, someone should publish those people.

Numbers update: The history class I’m about to teach this semester has a 10% larger enrollment and university tuition is also 10% higher than two years ago. My class will generate about $160,000 of revenue for the university. My pay will be under $7K or approximately 4%. Humanities fund uni sport

“The Save Our Signs archive is this really valuable resource of a snapshot in time of what was happening in our country, and it can be used as a tool that people can use to try to understand the kind of censorship that was happening.” 🗃️ www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

This came across my FB feed for whatever reason, and in all seriousness, WTAF?

Can't get numb to this: The United States is stuck in a war it started, cannot end, and may further escalate to no avail, having dismantled its diplomatic apparatus, depleted its military stockpile, and destroyed its credibility. A historic strategic mistake harming millions in many different ways.

Four weeks away from home left an overwhelming pile of mail to sort upon homecoming. But this was a serious bright spot in the chaos. I struggled like hell to write my chapter, but I ended up with something I’m really proud of - and the company my chapter keeps cannot be beat. 🗃️

For the record, Army studies going all the way back to the 1950s(!) showed that LGB personnel neither undermined unit cohesion nor posed a security risk, not that lawmakers listened. Emotions are a powerful drug, especially, apparently, for male decision makers. taskandpurpose.com/news/ranger-...

This whole thing is pregnant with meaning (and yes, I said what I said). www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

#OtD 14 Jul 1966 3 US GIs refused an order to deploy to Vietnam and became the Fort Hood Three, the highest-profile US refuseniks to date. They were court-martialled and jailed but they helped spark an anti-war GI movement. More info in our podcast: workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e10-...

Fireworks and storm clouds. Happy 250th, America.

I'm honored to be a (small) part of this wonderful volume along with Emma, Anndal, and esp Paul. It connects often siloed fields & ideas. It’s pricey, but have your library get it & use of the idea of "Military Welfare History" in your work & join @milwelfhist.bsky.social 🗃️

I'm super biased, but this is a banger of a book (as academic edited collections go, anyway). Check out the amazing scholars who contributed to it and the nice thing reviewers have said here: kansaspress.ku.edu/9780700643530/. And while you're there, consider pre-ordering with the discount below. 🗃️

There is something visceral in the memories these evoke.

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Bread is too expensive, so we’ve moved to the circus and circus stage of government.

Instantly legendary thread

This semester I experimented with making my students print out their readings.I thought I’d get slammed in evals.In an anonymous survey, 24 of 25 students praised the policy. Reasons ranged from fewer headaches to easier to annotate to harder to forget to read to better retention.Long live paper. 🗃️🗺️

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I will make sure my student (who is in my class on the Vietnam War) who just got word he’s deploying knows we’re in a cease fire. Good thing he’s missing the last class where we’re discussing the War Powers Resolution. (Seriously. I couldn’t make this up)

Cover reveal! I am beyond excited for this book. Contributions from an amazing array of scholars have come together into a banger of a book. Even if it feels far away, we should all be paying attention to the assumptions that underlie systems of conscription as well as the consequences. #milhist 🗃️

This is obviously batshit on so many levels, but something particularly dystopian about the “you must skip that chapter of history” part.

@warontherocks.bsky.social is a fantastic place to get cogent commentary. But also, I’m really appreciating the cogent nature of this headline - “Regime Change in Iran, Underpants Gnomes, and the Phase II Problem” warontherocks.com/regime-chang...

Hello, I made you a feed of your cats watching the Artemis II splashdown bsky.app/profile/did:...

Coming soon! My (and friends') new book: link.springer.com/book/9783032.... Enjoy #milwelfhist #military #welfare

Teaching a course on the Vietnam War this semester has been crazy. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution the day after the bombing started; My Lai and the laws of war as the Commander in Chief threatens war crimes; and now this on the morning I’m teaching the GI Movement. 🗃️🗺️ www.npr.org/2026/04/10/n...

Beth Bailey, America’s Army Jennifer Mittelstadt, The Military Welfare State Brian Linn, Real Soldiering All top notch

Cover reveal! Due out in September 🗃️

Help #skystorians: a wonderful book came out a few years ago that connected the country music industry to the Vietnam war. I need to recommend it to a student, but for the life of me I can’t remember either the title or the author, and it’s not coming up in my scholar searches. What was it? 🗃️

Biff and Buford wish everyone a happy #lego #caturday. But who is who?

Excited for this wonderful collection to see the light of day. Fantastic work from all involved, especially @paulhuddie.bsky.social and @emmahuddlestone.bsky.social 🗃️

Happy Passover to all who celebrate. This year, may we all find ways, large and small, to bring peace and freedom to those who most need it.

Yesterday I got to enjoy @meganahamilton.bsky.social's excellent paper on learning and innovation in the SWW. Today I'm listening to @milhistcurator.bsky.social , @mhptpodcast.bsky.social and @amyjay401.bsky.social on making military history accessible and connecting people with the past #SMH2026

As always, seriously great writing from Phil Klay. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/22/o...

I read the ENTIRE Flowers in the Attic series. Child imprisonment, death, and incest. Somehow I managed to turn out okay. Let the readers read.

I’ve only been affiliated with the National Women’s History Museum for a bit, but I believe in its mission of telling (in the words of Meryl Streep) “a history that is both truthful and complete.” Also, I’m now only one degree of separation from Ms. Streep 😁) www.womenshistory.org/news/meryl-s...

Friday evening news drop: Iowa State department of history is hiring an Assistant Teaching Professor in Modern European History. 3/3 load, 3-year contract, possibility of renewal. Come be my colleague! 🗃️ isu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/IowaStateJob...

Tonight’s pinprick of hope: This is only a fraction of the standing-room crowd at a protest-song fundraiser for the Iowa Migrant Movent for Justice in central Iowa. A cross-generational crowd on a Wednesday night, no less.

Post-doc in civic education at Iowa State University. Come work with me. I have nothing to do with hiring for thisnposition, but I’d love to see someone with social studies teaching experience in it 🗺️🗃️ isu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/IowaSt...

Another awesome research and teaching resource just gone 🗃️🗺️ www.npr.org/2026/02/07/n...

This seems not great 🗃️ www.npr.org/2026/02/07/n...