Robert McLain, Ph.D.
Professor of History
Biography
Robert McLain was born in Chillan, Chile. He was raised in mainly Mississippi, but spent some time in the oilfields for Texas with his father. He earned his undergraduate degree at Mississippi State University with an emphasis in Marketing and International Economics. His natural restlessness led him away from the business world and into a variety of jobs, including waiter, bartender, and deckhand on a Mississippi River towboat, where he luckily managed to keep life and limb intact. It was also during this time that he earned his M.A. in history from the University of Southern Mississippi (1996) and his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2003).
He specializes in the “New Imperial” history of the British Empire, emphasizing the roles of race, gender, and sexuality in ideologically undergirding and protecting colonial power, particularly in India.
Dr. McLain regularly teaches British History, History and Theory, World History, Historical Writing, and World War II.
In his spare time he enjoys camping with his family, rock climbing, and a long-suffering affair with a variety of bad football teams.
Degrees
1994, M.A. in history, University of Southern Mississippi
2003, Ph.D. , University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Research Areas
Modern Britain and India
Scholarly Work
-Gender and Violence in British India: The Road to Amritsar, 1914-1919 (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2014).
-“Strategies of Inclusion: Lajpat Rai and the Critique of the British Raj” for The Human Tradition in Modern Europe, Cora Granata and Cheryl Koos, eds.(Rowman and Littlefield, 2007).
-Book length historical context study, "Peopling the Picketwire: A History of the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site" (Army Corps of Engineers, 2007).
-"The Indian Corps on the Western Front: A Reconsideration," in War in the Age of Technology: Myriad Faces of Modern Armed Conflict, Geoffrey Jensen and Andrew Wiest, eds. (New York University Press, 2001).
He has also published numerous book reviews and has appeared on television for the History Channel
