Institute for Military History and 20th Century Studies

The Kansas State University Institute for Military History and 20th Century Studies is a national center devoted to the historical study of public policies concerning national security, international affairs, and government institutions.

A major objective of the Institute is to foster scholarly and educational alliances between Kansas State University, the Eisenhower Foundation in Abilene, Kansas, and the United States Army Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

As a leading public university, Kansas State University has a special responsibility to integrate academic learning in the literary and practical arts of history and government with application of academic scholarship to public policy in military and social sciences. The Institute for Military History and 20th Century Studies serves this broad interest through cooperative programs with federal, state, and local agencies, private associations, and public and private educational institutions. In addition to supporting academic research, the Institute will disseminate this scholarship to students of history, government officials, and the general public.

As defined by the Institute, military studies not only incorporates traditional topics such as strategy and military operations, but also encompasses broad inter-disciplinary fields associated with military history, including foreign relations, macro-economics, presidential leadership, science policy, agricultural development, institutional and social history, as they relate to national security, international relations and military preparedness. Fostering public understanding of this "new military history" is a central mission of the Institute.

The Institute's primary mission is to support scholarly programs in military studies and related fields. In this regard, the Institute will develop educational and research collaborations with other centers of military history including United States service academies, armed services history programs, university and college departments, and military history archives and museums. Secondarily the Institute seeks to develop, adapt or incorporate new media and teaching technology to strengthen its educational mission. The Department of History has extensive experience in electronic networking, distance learning and the world wide web. The Institute will become a leading innovator in developing educational technology relative to its graduate program in military history.