Dr. Alan Ball

Dr. Alan BallMarquette University

Sensenbrenner Hall, 303F

MilwaukeeWI53201United States of America(414) 288-7124alan.ball@marquette.eduPersonal Website

Curriculum Vitae

Professor

History

My books, listed below, have centered on Soviet history and, to a lesser extent, on the Cold War.

Russia’s Last Capitalists: The Nepmen, 1921-1929. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987. 

And Now My Soul Is Hardened: Abandoned Children in Soviet Russia, 1918-1930. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994.

Imagining America: Influence and Images in Twentieth-Century Russia. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003.

 Liberty’s Tears: Soviet Portraits of the “American Way of Life” During the Cold War. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.

 In recent years, I have concentrated on a long-term project devoted to statistical reporting and analysis pertaining to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Findings appear on my SCOWstats blog and seek to cast light on the justices’ voting patterns and on a diverse range of issues pertaining to the court. Posts from the blog have been cited by journalists and by Supreme Court justices in their opinions. On a lighter note, the blog also runs a law-firm fantasy league whose standings are updated frequently throughout the months when the justices file their decisions. Competition is fierce, as underperforming firms face relegation to a developmental league in the following season.

Education

Ph.D., North Carolina-Chapel Hill 1982

Courses Taught

Hist 1001 and 1002 (Western Civilization)

HIST 1701 (Russian and Soviet Images of America)

Hist 4270 (Russian History to 1861)

Hist 4271 (The Russian Revolution and the Soviet Union)

Hist 4298 (The Cold War)

Hist 4953 (America Through Russian and Soviet Eyes)

Hist 6250 (Europe in the Twentieth Century)

Hist 6525 (The Soviet Union’s Cold War)

Hist 6525 (Stalinism Through Memoirs and Literature)

Hist 6958 (Seminar in Modern Russian/Soviet History)

HOPR 4953 (Soviet Perspectives on the Cold War)

Specialization

Russia, Soviet Union

Publications

Russia's Last Capitalists: The Nepmen, 1921-1929. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987. Paperback edition 1990.

And Now My Soul Is Hardened: Abandoned Children in Soviet Russia, 1918-1930. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994. Paperback edition 1996.

Imagining America: Influence and Images in Twentieth-Century Russia. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003.

Liberty’s Tears: Soviet Portraits of the “American Way of Life” During the Cold War.  Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.