Jackson Joseph Spielvogel is

Associate Professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. Overview In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a ...

Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

of History at

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

. His textbooks on world history,

Western civilization Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man''. Based on the correlations of ideal Body proportions">human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise ''De architectura''. image:Plato Pio-Cle ...

and

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

are widely adopted in

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

, and college history courses throughout the United States. Spielvogel holds a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

where he specialized in

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

under the supervision of

Harold J. Grimm Harold J. Grimm (1901–1983) was an academic, historian, and writer and an expert on the Reformation. Born in Saginaw in Michigan in 1901, Grimm gained his PhD at Ohio State University. Grimm's numerous posts as an educator included Profess ...

Career

As a professor at

, Spielvogel was influential in the development of university's Western civilization curricula and he authored best-selling textbooks on the subject. Throughout his teaching career, Spielvogel was widely known for his popular History 143: History of Nazism and Fascism course, which attracted thousands of students over the decades in which he taught it. His articles and reviews have appeared in journals such as the '' Morena, Journal of General Education'', ''

The Catholic Historical Review ''The Catholic Historical Review'' (CHR) is the official organ of the American Catholic Historical Association. It was established at The Catholic University of America in 1915 by Thomas Joseph Shahan and Peter Guilday and is published quarterly b ...

'', ''

Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte Archive for Reformation History (german: Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte; ARG) is a specialised international annual academic journal for the Reformation era. It is a bilingual joint publication of the German Verein für Reformationsgeschichte ...

'', ''

The American Historical Review ''The American Historical Review'' is a quarterly academic history journal and the official publication of the American Historical Association. It targets readers interested in all periods and facets of history and has often been described as the ...

'', and ''

Utopian Studies ''Utopian Studies'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes articles on utopias and utopianism. The journal is published twice a year by the Penn State University Press on behalf of the Society for Utopian Studies. The Editor is Nicole ...

''. He has also been the contributor of various chapters or articles to ''The Social History of the Reformation'', ''The Holy Roman Empire: A Dictionary Handbook'', and the ''

Simon Wiesenthal Center The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) is a Jewish human rights organization established in 1977 by Rabbi Marvin Hier. The center is known for Holocaust research and remembrance, hunting Nazi war criminals, combating anti-Semitism, tolerance educat ...

Annual of Holocaust Studies''. In addition to funding and fellowships he earned from the

Fulbright Foundation The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

and the Foundation for Reformation Research, Spielvogel won five major teaching awards at Penn State including the university's most prestigious teaching award in 1988-1989, the Penn State Teaching Fellowship.

Writings

Spielvogel is the author of several textbooks commonly used in both college history and high school AP

European History The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD 500), the Middle Ages (AD 500 to AD 1500), and the modern era (since AD 1500). The first early ...

courses, including ''Western Civilization'', and he has also adapted his historical work for elementary and middle school textbooks. His book ''Hitler and Nazi Germany'' was first published in 1987, with recent editions coauthored by David Redles. Along with William J. Duiker, he is also the co-author of ''World History'' and ''The Essential World History'', both in their ninth editions. *''Discovering Our Past: A History of the World, Early Ages'' (2018) *''The Essential World History'' (9th Edition—2020) *''Hitler and Nazi Germany: A History'' (8th Edition—2020) *''Western Civilization'' (11th Edition—2020) *''World History'' (9th Edition—2017) *''World History and Geography'' (2021)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spielvogel, Jackson J. American historians Historians of Nazism Pennsylvania State University faculty Ohio State University Graduate School alumni Living people 1939 births