Emmanuel Destenay

(MENAFN- The Conversation)

• Sorbonne Université

Profile Articles

Emmanuel received his PhD in Contemporary History from Sorbonne University in 2014. His doctoral research was funded by the Institute for Strategic Research of the French Ministry of Defence and examined the experiences of demobilisation of Irish veterans of the First World War. His thesis received the 2015 PhD Prize from the Irish Foundation of France. He held Research Fellowships at Oxford University (2011-2012), Stanford University (2015), and University College Dublin (2016-2019).

He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and a fully-qualified teacher in English, French and History. He has received several awards from professional achievements (2015, 2016) and a Students' Teaching Award (2015) from Exeter University.

He has written several articles in international refereed journals. His most recent articles appeared in the Journal for British Studies (2021), Rural History. Economy, Society, Culture (2022), and Modern American History.

His first monograph entitled Shadows from the Trenches. Veterans of the Great War and the Irish Revolution (1918-1923) was published by University College Dublin Press (2021). Thanks to this first single-authored book, he was elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (FRHistS) in 2021. His book was rewarded with the Honorable mention, James S. Donnelly, Sr., Prize for Books in Humanities and Social Sciences at the annual American Conference for Irish Studies, 2022. His second monograph Divergent Destinies. Conscription, US Intervention and the Transformation of Ireland (1914-1918) appeared in 2022. It was published by Bloomsbury Academic.

His third monograph entitled America's French Orphans: Mobilization, Humanitarianism, and the Protection of France (1914-1921) has been published by Cambridge University Press. It tracks the mobilization of American men, women, and children in adopting French orphans during and in the aftermath of World War I.

His fourth monograph, Uncle Sam's Little Soldiers, will be released in 2026. It will be published by Cambridge University Press. By blending social, cultural, political, and childhood history, Uncle Sam's Little Soldiers brings to light the unparalleled contribution American children made to protect the nation. Most importantly, it reveals why Americans believed children had to be mobilized and how American youth answered Uncle Sam's call.

Emmanuel is interested in US neutrality and how Americans mobilized to assist civilian populations in Europe during the Great War.

Experience

• 2019–present Research fellow, Sorbonne University
• 2017–2019 Postdoctoral research fellow, University College Dublin
• 2015–2015 Visiting assistant professor, Stanford University

Education

• 2014 Sorbonne University, PhD in Contemporary History
• 2009 King's College London, MA in European Studies
• 2009 Université de Picardie Jules Verne, MPhil in War Studies
• 2008 Université de Picardie Jules Verne, MPhil in British and American Literature and Civilization

Publications

• 2026 Uncle Sam's Little Soldiers: Patriotism, Mobilization, and the Americanization of Children, 1914-1918, Cambridge University Press
• 2024 America's Franch Orphans: Mobilization, Humanitarianism and the Protection of France (1914-1921), Cambridge University Press
• 2022 Divergent Destinies: Conscription, US Intervention, and the Transformation of Ireland (1914-1918), Bloomsbury Academic
• 2021 Shadows from the Trenches: Veterans of the Great War and the Irish Revolution (1919-1923), University College Dublin Press

Grants and Contracts

• 2016 Postdoctoral Research Fellow Role: Postdoctoral Research Fellow Funding Source: University College Dublin
• 2015 Visiting Junior Scholar Role: Visiting Junior Scholar Funding Source: Stanford University
• 2011 Besse Scholarship Role: Besse Scholar Funding Source: Oxford University
• 2009 PhD Fellowship Role: PhD Candidate Funding Source: Sorbonne University

Professional Memberships

• American Historical Association
• Organization of American Historians

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