Work

Associate Professor of American Studies and History, Oklahoma State University

Faculty page: click here

Email: john.kinder@okstate.edu

Bio

Hi. I’m a writer and history professor living in Tulsa, OK. The bulk of my research has focused on the history of war and American culture. I’m specifically interested in war’s aftermath: How do nations recover from war? What kinds of traces—both visible and invisible—does war leave behind? And to what extent have Americans reconciled themselves to a future of perpetual conflict?

Thus far, my attempts to answer these questions have led down two separate paths: the study of disabled veterans and the history of zoos in wartime. Recently, I’ve started writing and teaching about animal studies more broadly, and I’m currently at work on a short “field guide” to animals in American culture.

On this site, you can learn a bit more about my research on war, animals, disability, and popular culture. You will find articles and posts related to my current book projects and classes (“War in American Culture,” “Gender in America,” “Animals in America,” etc.). You will also find interviews with scholars and activists, artworks and teaching materials, and photographs of my travels to zoos in the United States and beyond.

Book

My first book, Paying with Their Bodies: American War and the Problem of the Disabled Veteran, was published by the University of Chicago Press in March 2015.