Guillaume de SyonVisiting Scholar of History

Biography

- Albright College, Reading, PA: Professor of History, July 2009-Present; Associate Professor of History, July 2001-July 2009; Assistant Professor of History, July 1995-July 2001. 

- Sciences Po, The Institute of Political Studies, Paris, France: Visiting Professor, February 2019.

- Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA: History Department Research Associate/Visiting Scholar in History, July 1998- present. 

- Praeger Publishers, Westport, CT, Series Editor for “Moving Through History: Transportation and Society,” 2004-2009. 

- Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Princeton University Press, Boston, MA: Research Consultant, 1994-2000.

Education 

- Boston University, Boston, MA
Ph.D. in Modern European History with Minor Field in Asian History, January 1994. 

- George Washington University, Washington, DC
M.A. in International Affairs, with Concentrations in Comparative Politics and Asian Studies, May 1989. 

-Tufts University, Medford, MA
B.A. in Political Science and German Literature, May 1987. 

- East China Normal University, Shanghai, P.R.C.
Certificate of Study in Law and Trade Program, Summer 1986. 

- Institut Florimont, Geneva, Switzerland
Certificat de Maturité fédérale, September 1983.

Research

- Modern Germany/Holocaust 

- Modern France 

- History of Technology and Mobility / aviation 

- European Popular Culture

Publications

Monograph and Textbook

Zeppelin! Germany and the Airship, 1900-1939. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002; South Korean edition, 2005; paperback edition, 2007.

Science and Technology in Modern European Life. Greenwood Daily Life Series. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2008.

Articles and Book Chapters

“Dialoguing speed and new standards. The Concorde prototypes and the establishment of a new culture of safety,” Ferrum 93 (2024): 104-111.

“Une fusée en plastique : la pratique participative dans la culture populaire spatiale,” Sociétés et Représentations 57 (Spring 2024): 155-172.

“’No Sir, It’s an American Aircraft:’ Selling the A300 to the American public in the 1970s,” Nacelles 11 (2022.)

“Rushing to Suit Up: French Aviation’s Adjustment to Wartime, 1914-1916,” in Maude Bass-Krueger and Sophie Kurkdjian, eds., Fashion, Dress and Society During WWI. London, UK: Bloomsbury, 2021.

“France: Light at the end of the Tunnel?,” in Amit Gupta, ed., AIR FORCES: The Next Generation. Havant, UK: Howgate Publishing, 2020.

“‘Curse you Red Baron!’: World War I Aviation’s Impact on Popular Visions of Flight,” in Derek Mallett, ed., Monumental Conflicts: Twentieth Century Wars and the Evolution of Popular Memory. London, UK: Routledge, 2018.

“Airships of Wood, Airships of Aluminum: The Peculiarities of a German Debate,” in Florence Hachez-Leroy and Patrick Fridenson, eds., L’aluminium, matière à création, XIXe-XXIe siècles. Tours, France: Presses Universitaires François-Rabelais, 2017.

“Flying Dialogues: Hergé’s Use of Aviation from Quick & Flupke to Tintin,” in Joe Sutliff Sanders, ed., The Comics of Hergé: When the Lines Are Not So Clear. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2016.

“Albert Einstein et Romain Rolland: Les occasions manquées,” in Landry Charrier, ed., Centenaire d’"Au-dessus de la mêlée" de Romain Rolland. Regards sur un texte de combat. Dijon, France: Editions universitaires de Dijon, 2015.

“‘He Has to Be Good. The Airline Won't Settle for Less': Gender, Age, and the Trope of the Male Pilot in Advertising," in Bob Batchelor and Norma Jones, eds., Aging Heroes: Growing Old in Popular Culture. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015.

“‘Si ma cuisine m’était comptée’: Paris Match and the Salon des arts ménagers during the Fourth Republic," in Anca Lasc, Georgina Downey and Mark Taylor eds., Designing the French Interior: Modernity, Design and Media, 1770-1970. London, UK: Bloomsbury, 2015.