The first presentation situates military history pedagogy within a broader crisis of public trust in expertise exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the historiographical debate over whether the rifle musket revolutionized military operations in the U.S. Civil War, this presentation argues that instructors should explicitly teach students how historical knowledge is produced and revised. By using the rifle debate, students see how historians marshal evidence, critique past interpretations, and revise their conclusions in light of new research. This lesson offers an accessible way to illuminate scholarly disagreement and show students that history is not a static body of facts but an evolving interpretation grounded in evidence.

The second presentation turns to experiential learning with staff rides. Taking students onto battlefields transforms their understanding of terrain, decision-making, and contingency. This presentation highlights incorporating battlefield visits into course work as an important tool historians can use to make military history more accessible to students ranging from non-majors to ROTC cadets. When students assume responsibility for briefing each other on details of a conflict, they move from passive learners to active interpreters. Staff rides bridge military analysis and cultural history and allow students to engage more deeply with military history which, in turn, improves learning outcomes.

The third presentation expands experiential pedagogy through a study abroad program in Germany. Focused on the legacies of World War II, the program invites students to examine how conflict and commemoration both shape and are shaped by national identity. By visiting sites connected to the rise of Nazi ideology and the Holocaust, students confront how narratives are both constructed and contested. The goal of the program seeks to shift the central question related to military conflict from “who won?” to “how do we remember, and why does it matter?”. The pedagogical benefits of this study abroad experience strengthens students’ analytical skills and challenges their understanding of military conflicts.

The final presentation explores how Civil War newspapers and soldier correspondence are central to teaching military history in upper-level courses; for instance, how digitized primary sources provide unparalleled insight into the fog of war and the interplay between battlefield events and the home front. This presentation also examines strategies for student research. Drawing on digital databases and tools such as TimelineJS, students learn to conduct original research and create public-facing digital projects. This approach not only sharpens archival skills but also prepares students for careers in public history and museums.

Together these presentations demonstrate how military history classrooms can become spaces where students interrogate evidence, test arguments, and grapple with the relationship between war and memory.