Adam A. Blackler

Adam A. Blackler is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Wyoming, specializing in modern Germany and southern Africa with emphasis on transnational dimensions of imperial occupation and colonial violence in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. His research extends to the Weimar Republic, Holocaust & Genocide Studies, and international human rights.

Dr. Blackler's scholarly work centers on German colonialism in Southwest Africa (Namibia), examining settler colonialism, indigenous resistance, and the evolution of imperial violence including the Herero and Nama genocide. He analyzes connections between colonial policies and later Nazi-era atrocities while exploring themes of national identity, racial ideology, and human rights violations. His interdisciplinary approach bridges historical analysis with contemporary relevance in democratic resilience and genocide prevention.

His publications span monographs, peer-reviewed articles, and digital scholarship addressing German colonial history's enduring legacies. Recent works critically examine the Reichstag fire's implications for democratic collapse and draw parallels between historical events like child separation policies in German Southwest Africa and modern human rights issues.

Dr. Blackler has received multiple prestigious awards:

• University of Wyoming’s Extraordinary Merit in Research Award (2022)
• Extraordinary Merit in Teaching Award (2024)
• John “Jack” P. Ellbogen Meritorious Classroom Teaching Award (2024)

He has successfully advised MA students, several of whom advanced to PhD programs at UNC-Chapel Hill, University of Kansas, and Boston College. His research has been funded by:

• National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
• Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD)
• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM)
• Holocaust Educational Foundation (HEF)
• Flittie Sabbatical Award
• Center for Global Studies and Engagement (CGS)
• College of Arts and Sciences
• Wyoming Institute for Humanities Research (WIHR)

During his 2024-2025 sabbatical, Dr. Blackler conducted archival research across Germany, Namibia, and South Africa while holding visiting positions at Freie Universität Berlin and Ernst-Abbe-Hochschule Jena.