Eric C. Rust
Office Hours (Spring 2021)
M/W 8:00am-10:00am (by recurrent Zoom invitation). Otherwise, email Dr. Rust for a Zoom appointment.
Academic Interests and Research
Renaissance, Reformation, Early Modern Europe, European Expansion, World History since 1500, World Cultures.
Research: European and German maritime and naval history, with emphasis on the World Wars, submarines.
Additional Interests: Historical demography; historiography.
Education
- Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin, 1987
- M.A., Lamar University, 1978
- B.A., Wilfrid Laurier University, 1974
Biography
Native of Lübeck, Germany. Permanent resident of the U.S. Service in the (West) German Navy, 1969-1970. Academic studies in Germany, Canada, and the U.S., 1971-1987. Baylor faculty member since 1984.
Major Publications
- Author, Naval Officers under Hitler: The Story of Crew 34 (New York: Praeger, 1991). Revised second edition: Naval Officers Under Hitler: The Men of Crew 34 (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2017).
- Translator into English and editor: Erich Topp, Fackeln über dem Atlantik: Lebensbericht eines U-Boot-Kommandanten (Bonn: Mittler, 1990); published as The Odyssey of a U-Boat Commander: Recollections of Erich Topp (New York: Praeger, 1992).
- Author/translator of 3 book chapters in Theodore P. Savas, ed., Silent Hunters: German U-Boat Commanders of WW II (Savas, 1997; Nav. Inst. Press, 2003). German: Lautlose Jäger (Berlin: Ullstein, 1999, repr. 2001). Polish: Dowodcy U-bootow w II Wojnie Swiatowej (Gdansk: Finna, 2003). Selection of Military Book Club.
- Author of book chapter in William M. McBride, ed., New Interpretations in Naval History (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1998).
- Author of two book chapters in Theodore P. Savas, ed., Hunt and Kill: U-505 and the U-Boat War in the Atlantic (New York: Savas Beatie, 2004). German: Die Jagd auf U-505 und der U-Boot-Krieg im Atlantik (Berlin: Ullstein Maritim, 2008). Selection of Military Book Club.
- Author, U-Boat Commander Oskar Kusch: Anatomy of a Nazi-Era Betrayal and Judicial Murder (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2020). German translation forthcoming.
- Author of 28 scholarly articles; 38 conference presentations; 60 book reviews in historical journals; TV appearances; consultant for BBC, PBS, History Channel, Naval Institute Press, Indiana University Press, University of Oklahoma Press, McGraw-Hill, Longman, Macmillan, National Geographic Society, Texas Education Agency, Educational Testing Service, Journal of Military History, International Journal of Naval History, International Journal of Maritime History, The Mariner's Mirror, etc.
Works in Progress
- Research and manuscript in progress, with Dr. Michael Pavillard in Las Palmas, on role of Canary Islands in World War II.
- Project on the disastrous storms and floods along the German North Sea coast in medieval and early modern times, tentatively entitled The Great Man-Drownings.
Recognitions
- Member, Graduate Faculty
- Semester-long sabbaticals: Spring/Summer 2000, Fall 2017.
- Several summer sabbaticals and University Research Council travel grants.
- Voted Centennial Professor, 2005.
Service
- Faculty Senate, 2000-2006; Senate Secretary and member of Senate Executive Committee: 2001-2006.
- Resident director, Baylor in Maastricht (semester-long study abroad program in the southern Netherlands), Fall 2005, Fall 2007, Summers 2009 to 2016.
- College of Arts and Sciences faculty representative on University Honor Council, 2006 to present. Chair: 2011-2015.
- Faculty sponsor of the Baylor Amateur Radio Club (BARC), 1985 to present.
- Honors Colloquia, 1980s to present.
- Reader and Table Leader, College Board, AP European History, 2000 to 2008.
Courses Taught at Baylor
- BIC 1324 World Cultures II
- FYS 1V99 (First Year Seminar on WW I)
- HIS 1322 Western Civilization I
- HIS 1323 Western Civilization II
- HIS 1307 World History since 1500 (Waco and Maastricht)
- HIS 1307H World History since 1500 (Honors)
- HIS 4329 Renaissance and Reformation
- HIS 4331 European Expansion, 1400-1800 (Waco and Maastricht)
- HIS 4332 Early Modern Europe (Waco and Maastricht)
- HIS 4340 Special Topics in History (Maastricht)
- HIS 4348 Independent Study in European History (Waco and Maastricht)
- HIS 5348 Readings in European History (Waco and Maastricht)
- HIS 5370 Historiography Seminar
- HIS 5V99 Thesis