Ralph F. Young is an American historian. He is the author of the popular textbook ''Dissent in America: Voices that Shaped a Nation'' and teaches history at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

Biography

Young grew up outside New York City and attended

Houghton College Houghton University is a Private university, private Christian liberal arts college in Houghton, New York, United States. Houghton was founded in 1883 by Willard J. Houghton and is affiliated with the Wesleyan Church.Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

. Young's dissertation was about Puritans in the 1600s and their impact on England. He protested the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. Young taught at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

and

Bremen University The University of Bremen () is a public university in Bremen, Germany, with approximately 18,400 students from 117 countries. Its 12 faculties offer more than 100 degree programs. The University of Bremen has been among the top 50 European rese ...

in Germany for several years. After moving back to the United States, he owned a bookstore in Philadelphia and began writing novels. One of his novels won the Suntory Prize for suspense fiction. In 1996, he became an adjunct professor at

Penn 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 Pennsyl ...

. In 2000, Young was hired as a full-time instructor at Temple University. At Temple, Young created the popular teach-ins, during which students and professors examine current issues in light of historical events. He invited an Iraq War veteran to a teach-in in 2004 and Temple students discussed the nature of terrorism with him. His writings have appeared in numerous publications like ''

New England Quarterly ''The New England Quarterly'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal consisting of articles on New England's cultural, literary, political, and social history. The journal contains essays, interpretations of traditional texts, essay reviews, and book ...

'', ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'', and the

History News Network History News Network (HNN) is an online platform for historians to comment on current events, and to place today's news into a historical perspective. HNN is hosted by the University of Richmond. History History News Network (HNN) is a non-profi ...

. ''Dissent in America'' was first published in 2006. In it, Young argues that dissent is central to American history. In 2015, "Dissent: The History of An American Idea" was published. He supported the

Occupy movement The Occupy movement was an international populist Social movement, socio-political movement that expressed opposition to Social equality, social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of real democracy around the world. It aimed primar ...

. "In all protest movements," Young said, "everybody's got their own reasons for being there. But economic injustice, that involves thousands. This person's issue will be a lost mortgage; this one's is no jobs. These protesters want the government to listen. 'We are screaming in pain and all the government listens to is Wall Street,' they're saying. Under that umbrella comes many other things."

Selected publications

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References

External links

Ralph Young: Department of History
at Temple University {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Ralph F. American historians Temple University faculty Living people Houghton University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)