Andrew Donson

Andrew Donson is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, with a dual appointment in the History Department and the Program in German and Scandinavian Studies. His research focuses on politics, society, and culture in Germany around the First World War, particularly youth, revolutionary movements, and social transformation. He earned his PhD in History from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor and a BA in Philosophy from Cornell University.

His major works include Youth in the Fatherless Land: War Pedagogy, Nationalism, and Authority in Germany, 1914–1918 (Harvard, 2010), which won the 2007 Fraenkel Prize, and a forthcoming book manuscript The Freedoms of the November Revolution: German Society at the Birth of Democracy, 1918–1919. His research explores topics such as wartime education, post-war social policies, and cultural shifts in early 20th-century Germany.

Donson teaches courses on modern German history, European intellectual history, and the First World War. He actively incorporates Reacting to the Past (RTTP) pedagogy in his teaching, drawing from his expertise in historical educational methods. He has served as Book Review Editor for First World War Studies since 2018 and has held leadership roles in academic programs.

His awards include recognition for his scholarship on German history, and his work bridges social, cultural, and political analyses to illuminate the complexities of Weimar society. Donson’s research highlights marginalized voices such as youth, women, and laborers in revolutionary contexts, offering nuanced perspectives on democracy’s birth and challenges in early 20th-century Germany.