Peter T. DeSimone, Ph.D.
Biography
Peter T. De Simone is an Associate Professor of History and Chair of the Department of History. He is a specialist in Russian/Soviet and Eastern European History with broader specialization in European History from Antiquity to the Present and community and identity formation among religious minority communities in Europe and the United States.
He is the author of The Old Believers in Imperial Russia: Oppression, Opportunism, and Religious Identity in Tsarist Moscow (I.B. Tauris, 2018), which explores the dynamic relationship between the Rogozhskoe Old Believer community in Moscow and the tsarist state from its founding in the 18th Century and into the early 20th Century. He is currently working on research studying the formation of similar Russian Orthodox Old Believer communities in the Great Lakes and Eastern United States regions. He has also concluded several speaking engagements sharing his expertise on Russian Orthodox Old Believers historically and in the present day.
Recently, Peter also uses his expertise as a speaker or interviewee on recent and current events including keynote addresses on historical interpretations of the Russian-Ukrainian War, the January 6 Insurrection, the Holocaust and other events.
Professor De Simone received the 2017 Sigma Alpha Pi National Society of Leadership and Success Excellence in Teaching Award.
Professor De Simone teaches undergraduate and graduate level courses in European History. He enjoys working closely with his students to explore their own interests in history as well as build their analytical skills while exploring broad topics in European history including – Russian/Soviet History, the World Wars in Europe, the use and influence of propaganda, the influences of natural disasters in shaping European History, and European social history.
He received his Ph.D. (2012) and M.A. (2008) in Russian, Soviet, and European History from The Ohio State University
He received his B. A. (2005) in Russian Studies from Grand Valley State University
Area of Experise
- Russian, Soviet, and Eastern European History
- European History (Ancient, Medieval, and Modern)
- Religious and Minority Community Formation and Identity
Education
- M.A. The Ohio State University
- Ph.D. The Ohio State University
Research
- Keynote Speaker, “Maintaining the Ancient Faith in Modern Russia: The History of the Old Rite and Old Believers in Imperial Russia.” Holy Trinity Monastery “Second Saturday Series,” December 10, 2022.
- Keynote Speaker, “The Crisis in Ukraine: The History and the Portrayal of Women in a Modern Conflict.” Zonta Club of Utica, March 16, 2022.
- Keynote Speaker, “Putin’s War on Ukraine: How Did We Get Here?” Utica University Center for Historical Research special hosted talk on the Invasion of Ukraine, March 2, 2022.
- Utica University Center for Historical Research Brown Bag presentation, “Old Believers, Russian Orthodoxy, and the American Experience: Russian Orthodox Identity in the Great Lakes and Northeast.” February, 16, 2022.
- Presenter, “Creating the Myth of the ‘November Criminals’: Propaganda, Nazism, and the Lessons of the Beer Hall Putsch from 1923 to the Present.” Utica University Symposium on The January 6th Insurrection – “This is Not Who We Are,” Or Is It?” Democracy, Insurrection, and the Myth of American Exceptionalism. January 28, 2021.
- Keynote Speaker, “A Moral Obligation to Remember: Learning From and Teaching the Holocaust in the 21st Century,” Defense Finance and Accounting Services (DFAS) of Rome, NY, Holocaust Remembrance Day, “Learning from the Holocaust: The Strength of the Human Spirit,” April 11, 2018
- Keynote Speaker, Utica University Phi Alpha Theta Inductions, April 11, 2014: “‘The End of History?’ Not Quite: The Russian Origins of the Current Crisis in the Crimea.”
- Utica University History Department Brown Bag presentation, “Old Ways in Modern Russia: Defining the Russian Orthodox Old Rite on the Eve of Revolution,” November 13, 2013.
- Utica University History Department Brown Bag presentation, “Architecture and Identity: Community Boundaries of the Moscow Old Believers,” November 7, 2012.
Professional Interviews
- Guest Speaker for Dave Roos, Very Special Episodes Podcast, Forthcoming.
- Expert Analyst and Interviewee for Valona Tela, Radio Free Europe “Expose: Rusko ogledalo fašizma,” (Russian mirrors of Fascism), May 16, 2022. https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/rusija-ukrajina-rat/31848494.html?fbclid=IwAR09n3LZuHUA7MoCmr3Vj5ro1IvMuY9abNDfpxGYyoXjPTOCea3M8OXTTRU
- Expert Analyst and Interviewee for John Blake, “Putin is making the same mistakes that doomed Hitler when he invaded the Soviet Union.” CNN, April 2, 2022. https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/02/world/putin-invasion-mistakes-hitler-blake-cec/index.html
- Interview with NBC-WKTV of Utica concerning Crisis in Crimean Peninsula, March 5, 2014.
I would like to see logins and resources for:
For a general list of frequently used logins, you can also visit our logins page.