Richard I. Jobs, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
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Education
2002: Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) in History at Rutgers University.
Major in Modern Europe. Minor in Twentieth Century Social Theory.
1994: Master of Arts (MA) in History at Murray State University.
Thesis: "Dissension on the Left: Communist Student Groups in the Events of
May 1968."
1991: Bachelor of Arts (BA) in History and Speech Communication at Murray State University.
Summa Cum Laude
Research Interests
| In 2002, I received my doctorate from Rutgers University where my training focused on the social, political, and cultural history of modern Europe with an emphasis on France and a minor field in twentieth-century European social and critical theory. I am the recipient of several fellowships including the Bourse Chateaubriand awarded by the French government. Currently, I am completing my book “Riding the New Wave: Youth and the Rejuvenation of France After World |  |
| War II,” which examines how the discursive concept of youth and the social reality of young people served as a means of cultural reconstruction in France during the Fourth Republic (1944-1958). This is a history of how and why the meaning and role of youth changed in French society between the end of the war and the advent of the 1960s. The significance of my research is that I use age as an analytic tool comparable to race, class, or gender that explores the meaning of categories like “youth” and “adult.” More broadly, my research offers a French case study to explore the dynamic relationship between age-based social groups in the West immediately after World War II. | |
Presently, I am editing a collection of essays with Pat McDevitt of the University of Buffalo entitled “Kith and Kin: New Perspectives on the History of Human Relations in the West.” Also, I am in the early stages of my next large project, “Backpack Ambassadors: Youth, Travel, and European Integration” which I intend to be a short monograph suitable for classroom use to teach the process of postwar integration in Western Europe through a socio-cultural history of youth and travel—hostel systems, Eurail passes, music tours, concerts and clubbing, summer work programs, social and political movements, EU initiatives, exchange programs, and so on.
Publications and Professional Work
Select Publications
Riding the New Wave: Youth and the Rejuvenation of France After the Second World War. Stanford University Press, 2007.
“Where the Hell are the People?” co-author with Patrick F. McDevitt, Journal of Social History Vol. 39, No. 2 (Winter 2005).
Co-editor with Patrick F. McDevitt, “Kith and Kin: Personal Relationships and Cultural Practice” special issue Journal of Social History Vol. 39, No. 2 (Winter 2005).
“Building Community and Reconstructing Citizenship in the Youth and Culture Houses of Postwar France” Young: Nordic Journal of Youth Research Vol. 12, No. 3 (August 2004).
“Tarzan Under Attack: Youth, Comics, and Cultural Reconstruction in Postwar France.” French Historical Studies Vol. 26, No. 4 (Fall 2003).
*Winner of the 2003 Koren Prize for the best article in French history of any time period in any American, Canadian or European Journal. Awarded by the Society for French Historical Studies.
Select Papers & Presentations
“Revolutionary Exchange: Youth and Travel in 1968,” May 68: Forty Years After, Paris. 2008
“Transitory Europeans: Youth and the New Age Travellers,” Society for the History of Childhood and Youth, Linköping University, Sweden. 2007
“Sex and the Cynical Girl: Françoise Sagan, the Charming Little Monster,” Society for French Historical Studies, University of Houston. 2007
“Uprising Youth: The Demands of a Nascent Social Group in Postwar France,” Social Science History Association, Portland, Oregon. 2005
“Generation Nouvelle Vague or Djebel?: Youth, Citizenship, and the Algerian War,” Western Society for French History, Colorado Springs, Colorado. 2005
“Brigitte Bardot: la femme-enfant,” Society for French Historical Studies, Stanford. 2005
“The History of Ideas in a Global Age,” invited seminar participant, Herzog August Bibliotek, Wolfenbüttel, Germany. 2004
“The Category of Youth,” featured guest on Odyssey hosted by Gretchen Helfrich, a nationally syndicated radio show produced by Chicago Public Radio. Archived April 20, 2004
“Personal Relationships and Cultural Practice,” Kith and Kin Conference, Rutgers University. 2004
“Riding the New Wave: Youth and the Rejuvenation of France After World War II” invited paper, University at Buffalo. 2004
“Family Workers and Fairy Homemakers: Young Women as the Agents of Domestic Modernization in Postwar France,” Western Society for French History Conference, University of California, Irvine. 2003
“The Maisons des jeunes et de la culture and National Identity in Postwar France,” Society for the History of Childhood and Youth biennial conference, University of Maryland-Baltimore. 2003
“Bonjour Tristesse: Bardot, Sagan, and the Sexual Cynicism of Young Women in Postwar France,” invited paper, Oregon State University. 2003
“Hostel Communities: French Youth, Travel, and the Rejuvenation of National Identity after World War II,” Society for French Historical Studies, Toronto. 2002
“French Youth and American Comics During the Fourth Republic,” France and America: Culture and Society in the Twentieth Century, University of Southampton, UK. 2001
“The Maisons des jeunes et de la culture as Popular Education Pedagogy,” Western Society for French History Conference, Butler University. 2001
“A Soldierly Citizenry: Youth, formation prémilitaire, and citizenship in postwar France,” Society for the History of Children and Youth biennial conference, Marquette University. 2001
“The Promise of Youth: Utopian Visions of a Transcendent Future in Postwar France,” Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis, Rutgers University. 2001
“Tarzan Under Attack: Comic Books, Censorship, and Youth During the Fourth Republic,” Western Society for French History Conference, UCLA. 2000
“The Maisons des jeunes et de la culture and the Rejuvenation of National Identity in post-WWII France,” New York State Association of European Historians Conference, Le Moyne College, Syracuse. 2000
“Youth as the Mental Framework of Rejuvenation in Postwar France,” Center for the Critical Analysis of Contemporary Culture conference, “In the Beginnings: Temporal, Spatial, and Textual Origins,” Rutgers University. 2000
“Regeneration: The Social Construction of Youth and France after WWII,” Social Science History Association Annual Meeting, Ft. Worth, Texas. 1999
“Bardot, Sagan and the Sexual Threat of Young Women in Postwar France,” Women & Society Conference, Marist College, Poughkeepsie, New York. 1999
“Dissension on the Left: Communist Student Groups in the Events of May 1968,” Bluegrass Symposium, University of Kentucky. 1994
Honors and Awards
Outstanding Junior Faculty Award, Pacific University, 2005
Faculty Development Award, Pacific University, 2002, 2005
William Koren, Jr. Prize for the best article in French history, Society for French Historical Studies, 2003
Fellow, Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis, 2000-2001
Research/Travel Grant, Rutgers University, 1999
Chateaubriand Fellow, French Government, 1997-1998
Excellence Fellow, Rutgers University, 1994-1997
Balfour Fellow, Sigma Chi Fraternity, 1994-1996
Best Senior Thesis, History Department, Murray State University, 1991
Courses that I teach....
At Pacific University, all faculty teach a variety of different courses. Typically, we do not use graduate teaching assistants, which means that your classes will be taught by professors and that you will have plenty of opportunites to get to know the faculty in your discipline.
Below, I have listed some of the courses that I teach. We are always developing and trying out new classes, so the list may change now and the
n. You can use the links to the left to read descriptions of the courses listed below.
| HUM | 100 | First Year Seminar |
| HIST | 102 | Western Civilization II: Renaissance to WWII |
| HIST | 232 | The Holocaust |
| HIST | 235 | Europe Since World War II |
| HIST | 237 | The Rise and Fall of European Socialism on Film |
| HIST | 333 | Imperialism and Decolonization |
| HIST | 335 | The Era of the First World War |
| HIST | 338 | The Era of the French Revolution |
| HIST | 435 | 1968: Youth & Social Change in the World |
| HIST | 490 | Senior Seminar |