Nathan Orgill

Dr. Nathan N. Orgill completed a BA and MA in history at Fresno State, as well as a Ph.D. in history at Duke University. At Duke, his research focused on German public-relations policy in the late Kaiserreich and European international history before World War I. He taught history, Latin and humanities in Central California before joining the faculty at GGC in 2009 as assistant professor of history. He was subsequently promoted to associate professor of history in 2015 and to professor of history in 2021. He served as the Chair of Faculty for the history program from 2018 to 2022. In 2022, he was promoted to History and Geography Department Chair.

He regularly teaches survey courses in European, world and American history, as well as upper-level courses for history majors – including "Revolutionary Europe" (HIST 3335), "Modern Germany" (HIST 3340), and "World War II" (HIST 4388). Orgill has recently introduced role-playing games in all his courses, using “Reacting to the Past” pedagogy to deepen student learning.

• Doctorate – history – Duke University
• Master's – history – Fresno State
• Bachelor's – history – Fresno State

• European international military history (1815-present)
• Modern Europe (esp. Central Europe and Germany)
• The World Wars
• Journalism history

Selected Publications

• Rumors of the Great War: The British Press and Anglo-German Relations during the July Crisis. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books/Rowman and Littlefield, 2019.
• “Reawakening the Nation: British Journalists and the Interwar Debate on the Origins of the First World War.” In Bingham, Adrian, ed. Writing the First World War after 1918. London: Routledge, 2018.
• “Belgian Crisis of 1831,” “Bismarck, Otto von,” “Congress of Vienna,” “Russo-Japanese War,” and “Splendid Isolation.” In Martel, Gordon, ed. The Encyclopedia of Diplomacy. 4 Vols. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2018.
• “‘Different Points of View’: The Daily Telegraph Affair as a Transnational Media Event,” The Historian 78, no. 2 (2016): 213-257.
• “Reawakening the Nation: British Journalists and the Interwar Debate on the Origins of the First World War.” Journalism Studies 17, no. 4 (2016): 517-531.
• “Between Coercion and Conciliation: Franco-German Relations in the Bismarck Era.” In Germond, Carine, and Henning Türk, eds. A History of Franco-German Relations in Europe: From Hereditary Enemies to Partners. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008, 49-59.

Professional Service

• Program Committee, European History Section, Southern Historical Association (2019-2022)
• Book Reviews Editor, H-German (2014-2017)

• VPASA Research Leave, Georgia Gwinnett College (2017)
• Travel Grant, 4th Annual College and University Educators Workshop, Council on Foreign Relations, New York (2015)
• VPASA Research Seed Fund Award, Georgia Gwinnett College (2014 & 2010)
• Jack and Anita Hess Fellow, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (2013)
• Russell F. Weigley Award for the Most Promising Paper in Military History, Barnes Club Conference, Temple University (2005)
• Fellowship to attend the third annual Vienna Circle Conference on Scientific World Conceptions, University of Vienna (2002)
• University-wide Outstanding Master’s Thesis Award, Fresno State (2002)