People
John Perry
Assistant Professor of Instruction
Contact Information and CV
Office: SOC 215
Email: jperry10@usf.edu
Curriculum Vitae
Education
Ph.D., University of Kentucky, 2021
Teaching
My classes focus on the history of the United States, the history of the United States in the world, the history of the United States in the Middle East, and Cold War history. I offer several courses on these subjects, including, 鈥淯.S. history II,鈥� 鈥淲ar and Society: the Cold War in the Third World,鈥� and 鈥淯.S. Foreign Relations.鈥� I have also taught 鈥淯nited States in the Middle East, 1945 鈥� Present鈥� 鈥淎merica鈥檚 Secret Wars,鈥� 鈥淯.S. Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq,鈥� 鈥淲ar and Society: World War I and II,鈥� 鈥淯.S. History to 1877,鈥� 鈥淗istory of Western Civilization I,鈥� and History of Western Civilization II.鈥� Furthermore, I have instructed political science courses, including, 鈥淯.S. National Government,鈥� 鈥淯.S. State and Local Government,鈥� and the sociology course, 鈥淐ontemporary Social Problems.鈥� In my classes, I emphasize local, non-state actors from the Developing World and minority populations within the United States. I focus on historical critical thought and developing students鈥� ability to craft academic arguments. I often utilize cross-disciplinary models. In my classes, issues and developments are examined not only historically but also through lenses from the fields of political science, sociology, anthropology, and/or international relations.
Research
My research investigates the U.S. government鈥檚 relationship with non-state actors of the Middle East. In my dissertation, 鈥淪tatelessness and Contested Sovereignty in the Middle East: the United States, Palestinian Refugees, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Syrian Ethnic Minorities, 1945 鈥� 1958,鈥� I explored how local, non-state groups of the region transformed the early Cold War in the Middle East. I argued that the actions of actors such as Palestinian refugees, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Syria鈥檚 Armenian and Kurd populations often defined, and redefined, the strategies, policies, alliances, aims, and objectives of the U.S. government and the regional governments of the Middle East. Far from helpless victims, I argued that these groups were primary agents of change during the early Cold War. Moreover, such actors demonstrate the significance of decolonization to the Cold War, and the Cold War to decolonization. The groups of