Ralph F. Young is an American historian. He is the author of the popular textbook ''Dissent in America: Voices that Shaped a Nation'' and teaches history at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

Biography

Young grew up outside New York City and attended

Houghton College Houghton University is a private Christian liberal arts college in Houghton, New York. Houghton was founded in 1883 by Willard J. Houghton and is affiliated with the Wesleyan Church.

. He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

. Young's dissertation was about Puritans in the 1600s and their impact on England. He protested the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. Young taught at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

and

Bremen University The University of Bremen (German: ''Universität Bremen'') is a public university in Bremen, Germany, with approximately 23,500 people from 115 countries. It is one of 11 institutions which were successful in the category "Institutional Strategi ...

in Germany for several years. After moving back to the United States, he owned a bookstore in Philadelphia and began writing novels. One of his novels won the Suntory Prize for suspense fiction. In 1996, he became an adjunct professor at

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...

. In 2000, Young was hired as a full-time instructor at Temple University. At Temple, Young created the popular teach-ins, during which students and professors examine current issues in light of historical events. He invited an Iraq War veteran to a teach-in in 2004 and Temple students discussed the nature of terrorism with him. His writings have appeared in numerous publications like ''

New England Quarterly ''The New England Quarterly'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal consisting of articles on New England's cultural, literary, political, and social history. The journal contains essays, interpretations of traditional texts, essay reviews and book r ...

'', ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'', and the

History News Network History News Network (HNN) at George Washington University is a platform for historians writing about current events. History History News Network (HNN) is a non-profit corporation registered in Washington DC. HNN was founded by Richard Shenkman ...

. ''Dissent in America'' was first published in 2006. In it, Young argues that dissent is central to American history. He supported the

Occupy movement The Occupy movement was an international populist socio-political movement that expressed opposition to social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of "real democracy" around the world. It aimed primarily to advance social and econo ...

. "In all protest movements," Young said, "everybody's got their own reasons for being there. But economic injustice, that involves thousands. This person's issue will be a lost mortgage; this one's is no jobs. These protesters want the government to listen. 'We are screaming in pain and all the government listens to is Wall Street,' they're saying. Under that umbrella comes many other things."

Selected publications

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References

External links

Ralph Young: Department of History
at Temple University {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Ralph F. American historians Temple University faculty Living people Year of birth missing (living people)