David M. Fitzsimons earned his MA and PhD in History at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. His examinations were in the history of US foreign relations, US history to 1877, US history since 1877 and film studies (particularly the America war-film genre). He also has a strong background in Political Science with special interests in political ideology, international relations and voter ignorance.
Fitzsimons received pre-doctoral fellowships for study at Harvard University and served for several years as a visiting scholar at Brown University. Working at RISD since 2007, he has offered courses on the Cold War, the Vietnam War and cinematic representations of the Vietnam War. He has delivered papers at numerous conferences, including annual meetings of the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians and the American Political Science Association. Writing awards include the annual Stuart Bernath Scholarly Article Prize from the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations.
Fitzsimons’ skills as a grant writer fully financed his graduate education and won for the Providence Public School System an $837,000 award to improve social studies teaching in its secondary schools.
Academic areas of interest
Fitzsimons’ research areas include the history of US foreign relations in all eras of American history. He encourages students interested in in-depth research on most any topic in American history to speak with him about Independent Study Projects.
Courses
Wintersession 2024 Courses
HPSS W351-101 - AMERICAN WAR FILMS IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT
LevelUndergraduate
UnitHistory, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences
Subject History, Philosophy and the Social Sciences
Period Wintersession 2024
Credits 3
FormatSeminar
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date
HPSS W351-101
AMERICAN WAR FILMS IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT
LevelUndergraduate
UnitHistory, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences
Subject History, Philosophy and the Social Sciences
Films have shaped popular perceptions of war in the United States arguably more than historians have. This raises questions such as: What is the relationship between the history presented in these films and the history as interpreted by academic historians? How do the positionalities of movie creators shape the product? How do they portray soldiers and civilians, allies and enemies? How might these movies serve as cultural artifacts offering insight into political discourses at the time of their production? Is Francois Truffaut correct that the appeals of battle make a true anti-war film virtually impossible? Prominent directors spotlighted include Stanley Kubrick, F. F. Coppola, Clint Eastwood, Spike Lee, and Kathryn Bigelow. Work involves brief lectures, screenings, discussions, a film journal, and a final project.
Elective
HPSS W351-102 - AMERICAN WAR FILMS IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT
LevelUndergraduate
UnitHistory, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences
Subject History, Philosophy and the Social Sciences
Period Wintersession 2024
Credits 3
FormatSeminar
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date
HPSS W351-102
AMERICAN WAR FILMS IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT
LevelUndergraduate
UnitHistory, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences
Subject History, Philosophy and the Social Sciences
Films have shaped popular perceptions of war in the United States arguably more than historians have. This raises questions such as: What is the relationship between the history presented in these films and the history as interpreted by academic historians? How do the positionalities of movie creators shape the product? How do they portray soldiers and civilians, allies and enemies? How might these movies serve as cultural artifacts offering insight into political discourses at the time of their production? Is Francois Truffaut correct that the appeals of battle make a true anti-war film virtually impossible? Prominent directors spotlighted include Stanley Kubrick, F. F. Coppola, Clint Eastwood, Spike Lee, and Kathryn Bigelow. Work involves brief lectures, screenings, discussions, a film journal, and a final project.
Elective
Spring 2024 Courses
HPSS S101-22 - TOPICS: HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, & THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
LevelUndergraduate
UnitHistory, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences
Subject History, Philosophy and the Social Sciences
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
FormatLecture
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date
HPSS S101-22
TOPICS: HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, & THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
LevelUndergraduate
UnitHistory, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences
Subject History, Philosophy and the Social Sciences
PeriodSpring 2024
Credits3
FormatLecture
ModeIn-Person
Start and End2024-02-15 to 2024-05-24
Times: TTH | 1:10 PM - 2:40 PMInstructor(s): David FitzsimonsLocation(s): College Building, Room 431Enrolled / Capacity: 20Status: Open
SECTION DESCRIPTION
You may register for this section if your EFS studio days are Monday/Wednesday/Friday.
The 20th-century contest for empire between capitalism and communism killed millions of persons in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, degraded the environment and risked its nuclear destruction, and led to the anti-Islamic basis of American policy since 9-11. Through the close examination of key primary and secondary sources, writing assignments, and class discussions and presentations, students will learn to think, speak, and write critically about the geopolitical, economic, cultural, ideological, and domestic forces that shape American foreign relations to this day.
Transfer and upper-level students should register for one of the evening sections.
