Instructor: Samuel Brenner

Samuel Brenner

Sam is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of History at Brown University, where he studies modern United States history, United States foreign policy, and twentieth-century American-Russian/Soviet relations  Sam's dissertation, which he is writing under the direction of Professor James T. Patterson, is focused on the growth and development of ultra-Conservative organizations, such as the John Birch Society and the Christian Anti-Communism Crusade, between 1950 and 1990; it is tentatively entitled Shouting at the Rain: The Growth and Development of Extremist Right-Wing Anti-Communist Organizations in the Era of Modern American Conservatism.  Although he studies the far right, Sam is neither a member of the John Birch Society nor a conservative.  Sam holds a B.A. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, with dual concentrations in History and Philosophy (2000), an A.M. (Master of Arts) in History from Brown University (2001), and a second A.M. (in Political Science) from Brown University (2003).  Sam has served as both secretary and co-president of the Brown University Graduate Student Council (GSC), served on the Faculty Committee on Student Life, and continues to serve on the Brown College Curriculum Council.  At Brown Sam has worked as a Teaching Assistant for Professors James Patterson, Omer Bartov, Charles Neu, and Gordon Wood; he has also taught History 141 - United States to 1877 and History 142 - United States from 1877 to Today at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston and in Providence, Rhode Island.  Sam has worked for The Princeton Review of Rhode Island and the National Student Leadership Conference, and continues to work for Fidelity Investments.  He is the editor of two high-school level history books through Greenhaven Press: Dwight David Eisenhower: Presidents and Their Decisions and Vietnam: Living Through the Cold War.  He is is currently finishing a third project on war crimes during the Vietnam conflict.  Sam can be reached by email at Samuel_Brenner at Brown.edu or by phone at (401) 339-1546.