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Brian Schoen

Associate Director for Academic and Faculty Affairs;
Associate Professor
Brian Schoen Headshot

Bio

Dr. Brian Schoen' research and teaching focuses on the early history of the United States through the Civil War and its aftermath. Schoen (pronounced SHANE) is the author of The Fragile Fabric of Union: Cotton, Federal Politics, and the Global Origins of the Civil War, which won Southern Historical Association’s Bennett. H. Wall Book Prize. He has also co-edited six books, including Continent in Crisis: The US Civil War in North America and Setting Ohio: First Peoples and Beyond, which was Ohio’s 2024 selection for the National Book Festival's “Great Read from Great Places.” Norton’s online edition of Civics Foundational Documents: Readings and Support was released in 2026. He also co-edits Ohio University’s New Approaches to Midwestern Studies book series. 

Before joining the Chase Center, Dr. Schoen was the Hamilton/Baker and Hostetler Professor of Humanities and Chair of the Department of History at Ohio University. He also has taught at Sacramento State and Georgetown, and held two Fulbright Research Chairs, including the Mary Ball Washington Chair in American History at University College, Dublin. 

He has decades of experience working with social studies teachers on professional development, including on Department of Education and NEH-funded projects. He also directed Ohio University’s Master of Social Sciences program. He holds a PhD and MA from the University of Virginia and a BA form the University of Arkansas.

 

Areas of Expertise 

  • 19th century U.S. history
  • Civil War history
  • Political economy
  • Diplomatic history
  • Midwestern history
  • Working with Primary Texts
  • Civics education for teachers

 

Courses Taught

  • American Civic Tradition
  • Capitalism and its Critics: An Intellectual History