Laurie Stoff
Dr. Stoff is an historian who specializes in Russian, East European, and women's and gender history and studies, and the history of war and society. She is currently a Teaching Professor and member of the core faculty in Barrett, the Honors College, as well as serving as Assistant Director of the Office of National Scholarship Advisement. Prior to coming to ASU, Stoff was Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, and held the William Y. Thompson Endowed Professorship, in the Department of History at Louisiana Tech University. She was also the co-founder of the Gender Studies program at Louisiana Tech and the recipient of the F. Jay Taylor Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award.
Stoff’s research focuses on the intersections of gender and war, specifically, Russian women and World War I. Her first book, "They Fought for the Motherland: Russia's Women Soldiers in World War I and the Revolution" (University Press of Kansas, 2006), examines the experiences of the women who served as combatants during the First World War in Russia and has recently been translated into Russian by Academic Studies Press (Они сражались за Родину. Русские женщины-солдаты в Первую мировую войну и революцию). Her second book, "Russia's Sisters of Mercy and the Great War: More than Binding Men's Wounds" (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2015) analyzes the participation of women in medical services during that conflict. This book was awarded the Best Book in Slavic Studies by the Southern Conference of Slavic Studies and the Smith Award for Best Book in European History by the Southern Historical Association. As part of the international editorial team for the multi-volume project "Russia's Great War and Revolution," she served as the lead editor of a new book, "Military Affairs in Russia's Great War and Revolution, 1914-22 Book 1: Military Experiences," published by Slavica (Indiana University) in 2019, which explores the frontline experiences of various participants in the war. Her most recent publications include the edited and annotated volume Surgeon Grow: An American in the Russian Fighting (Bloomington: Slavic Publishers of Indiana University, 2022) and several chapters in collected volumes on women and war and the Russian Revolution.
- Ph.D. History, University of Kansas
- M.A. History, University of Kansas
- B.A. History, The George Washington University
Dr. Stoff’s research focuses on the intersections of gender and war, specifically, Russian women and the Great War. Her first book, They Fought for the Motherland: Russia's Women Soldiers in World War I and the Revolution (University Press of Kansas, 2006), examines the experiences of the women who served as combatants during the First World War in Russia. Her second book, Russia's Sisters of Mercy and the Great War: More than Binding Men's Wounds (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2015) analyzes the participation of women in medical services during that conflict. This book has been awarded the Best Book in Slavic Studies by the Southern Conference of Slavic Studies and the Smith Award for Best Book in European History by the Southern Historical Association. As part of the international editorial team for the multi-volume project Russia's Great War and Revolution, she is lead editor for a volume exploring the frontline experiences of various participants in the war entitled Military Experience, which has just been published by Slavica Publishers of Indiana University. Her most recent publications include Surgeon Grow: An American in the Russian Fighting (Bloomington: Slavic Publishers of Indiana University, 2022), the memoir of an American doctor embedded with Russian troops during WWI, which sh edited, annotated, and introduced as well as several chapters for collections on women and war and the Russian Revolution.
Books:
Surgeon Grow: An American in the Russian Fighting. Edited, annotated, and introduced. Bloomington: Slavic Publishers (Indiana University), 2022.
Military Affairs in Russia’s Great War and Revolution, 1914–22, Book 1: Military Experiences. Lead editor, with Anthony Heywood, Boris Kolonitskii, and John Steinberg. Russia's Great War and Revolution Series. Bloomington: Slavica Publishers (Indiana University), 2019.
Russia’s Sisters of Mercy and the Great War: More than Binding Men’s Wounds. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2015. Winner of the Best Book in Slavic Studies, Southern Conference on Slavic Studies, 2017, and the Smith Award for Best Book in European History, Southern Historical Society, 2016.
They Fought for the Motherland: Russia’s Women Soldiers in World War I and Revolution. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2006. Special selection of the History Book Club, 2007.
The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union. Editor and contributor. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2006: Book introduction, chapter introductions, document introductions.
The History of Spain. Editor and contributor. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2004: Book introduction, chapter introductions, document introductions.
Articles/Book Chapters:
“Saving Russia: Women’s Contributions to Russia’s World War I Effort,” in Sandra Trudgen Dawson and Nupur Chaudhuri, eds. Women, Children, and the Collective Face of Conflict in Europe, 1900-1950 (Wilmington, DE: Vernon Press) forthcoming, 2023.
“The Clothes Make the Woman: Russian Women in Uniform,” in Barton Hacker and Margaret Vining, eds., Cutting a New Pattern: Uniformed Women in the Great War. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institute, 2020.
“The Military Revolution and War Experience,” in Daniel Orlovsky, ed., A Companion to the Russian Revolution. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2020.
“Russia’s Sisters of Mercy of World War I: Wartime Nursing Experiences,” in Laurie Stoff, Anthony Heywood, Boris Kolonitskii, and John Steinberg, eds. Military Affairs in Russia’s Great War and Revolution, 1914–22, Book 1: Military Experiences. Lead editor, with Anthony Heywood, Boris Kolonitskii, and John Steinberg. Russia's Great War and Revolution Series. Bloomington: Slavica Publishers (Indiana University), 2019.
“Russia’s Women Soldiers of the Great War,” in Laurie Stoff, Anthony Heywood, Boris Kolonitskii, and John Steinberg, eds. Military Affairs in Russia’s Great War and Revolution, 1914–22, Book 1: Military Experiences. Lead editor, with Anthony Heywood, Boris Kolonitskii, and John Steinberg. Russia's Great War and Revolution Series. Bloomington: Slavica Publishers (Indiana University), 2019.
“Surgeon Grow: An American in the Russian Fighting,” Journal of Russian American Studies, Vol. 3, No. 1 (2019): 49-66.
“Женщины-солдаты России на фронтах Великой войны,” Русский Сборник: Россия и Война: Международный научный сборник в честь 75-летия Брюса Меннинга Vol. XXVI. Мoscow: Modest Kolerov, 2018: 672-706.
“The Sounds, Odors, and Textures of Russian Wartime Nursing,” in Tricia Starks and Matthew Romaniello, eds. Russian History through the Senses: From 1700 to the Present. New York: Bloomsbury Academic Publishing, 2016: 117-140.
“The ‘Myth of the War Experience’ and Russian Wartime Nursing in World War I,” Aspasia, The International Yearbook of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern European Women's and Gender History, Vol. 6 (2012): 96-116.
“They Fought for Russia: Female Soldiers of the First World War,” in Gerard J. DeGroot and Corinna Peniston-Bird, eds. A Soldier and a Woman: Sexual Integration in the Military. London: Longman (Pearson Education, Ltd.), 2000: 66-82.
Public Talks and Invited Lectures:
Russia’s Sisters of Mercy and the Great War,” National World War I Museum, Kansas City, KS, August 6, 2022.
“Breaking Boundaries: Russia’s Women Soldiers in World War I” Arizona Center for History Education, Phoenix, AZ (online) March 3, 2021
“Experiences of the ‘Front’: New Interpretations,” Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, University of Kansas, March 5, 2019
“Russian Women on the Frontlines: The World War I Experience,” Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO, February 7, 2019
“Russian Women Soldiers of the Great War: Breaking Boundaries,” Truman Library Institute Teachers’ Conference, Independence, MO, July 18, 2018
“American Women and the Russian Revolution,” Flagler College, St. Augustine, FL, January 24, 2018
“Wartime Nursing in Russia and Vietnam: A Comparison,” Arizona Military Museum, Papago Park Military Reservation, Phoenix, AZ, Nov. 8, 2017
“The October Revolution and the Dilemma of Gender,” Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C., Oct. 23, 2017
“The Russian Revolutions 100 Years Later: Its Meaning in 21st America,” Revolution: Meanings, Origins, Memories Series, Melikian Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, Feb. 17, 2017
“Women of the Russian Revolution,” Spirit of the Senses Salon, Paradise Valley, AZ, Feb. 4, 2017
“Viceland’s States of Undress: Russia,” Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, AZ, Jan. 12, 2017
“Russia’s Sisters of Mercy and the Great War: More than Binding Men’s Wounds,” Melikian Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, April 14, 2016
“Russian Women on the Frontlines: The World War I Experience,” Office for Veterans Military and Academic Engagement & Barrett, the Honors College, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, March 2, 2016
“Russian Women in the First World War,” Canadian War Museum, Ottawa, Canada, Nov. 5, 2015
“Russia’s Sisters of Mercy and the Great War: More than Binding Men’s Wounds,” University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, Nov. 2, 2015
“Feminism in Eastern Europe and Russia,” Woman as Hero, Forum on Global Feminisms, Arizona State University, Feb. 18, 2015
“They Fought for the Motherland: Russia’s Women Soldiers of the Great War,” Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, April 20, 2014
“More than Binding Men’s Wounds: Russian Nurses in World War I,” Lincoln Parish Library Historical Happenings Women’s History Month Program, Ruston, LA, March 21, 2013
“Historical and Cultural Constructions of Gender and Sexuality: Masculinity,” Department of Psychology Diversity Lunch Lecture Series, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA, Feb. 7, 2013
“Historical and Cultural Constructions of Gender and Sexuality,” Department of Psychology Diversity Lunch Lecture Series, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA, November 8, 2012
“The ‘Myth of War Experience’ and Russian Women in World War I,” Rotary Club International, Ruston, LA, Sept. 8, 2012
“The Eternal Flame of Memory: The Politics of World War II in Contemporary Russia,” History Faculty Lecture Series, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA, Nov. 8, 2011
“The Russian Wartime Nursing Experience in the First World War,” School of Nursing, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA, April 20, 2010
“Babas in Breeches and Soldiers to Boot: Russia’s Women Soldiers in the Great War,” Texas A&M University-Commerce, Commerce, TX, March 4, 2010
“Researching and Writing about Russia’s Women Soldiers of World War I,” University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA, Oct. 16, 2009
“Russia: A Glimpse of the Old and the New” Center for Professional Development, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA, Feb. 18, 2009
“Post-Soviet Russia and its Successor States,” US Air Force ROTC, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA, April 12, 2009
“Tales from the Archives: Researching in Russia,” Phi Alpha Theta History Honors Society Induction Ceremony, Ruston, LA, Jan. 29, 2009
“Russia’s Revolutionary Nature?” Lincoln Parish Public Library, Ruston, LA, March 26, 2008
“Teaching Western Civilization Survey Courses: Integration of Women and Gender,” Louisiana Historical Association Annual Meeting, Lafayette, LA, March 15, 2008
“Integrating Women, Gender, and Sexuality into Western Civilization Courses,” Annual Conference of the North Louisiana Collegium of Historical Studies, Ruston, LA, February 15, 2008
“Russia’s Women Soldiers of World War I,” Lincoln Parish Public Library, Ruston, LA, April 18, 2007
“They Fought for the Motherland,” Windows: A Bookshop, Monroe, LA, Jan. 25, 2007
“The Women’s Battalions of Death,” Norwich University, Northfield, VT, March 10, 2006
Courses
2025 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| HON 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| HON 499 | Individualized Instruction |
2025 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| HON 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| HON 499 | Individualized Instruction |
2024 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| HON 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| HON 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| HON 171 | The Human Event |
2024 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| HON 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| HON 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| HON 272 | The Human Event |
2023 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| HON 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| HON 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| HON 171 | The Human Event |
2023 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| HON 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| HON 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| HON 272 | The Human Event |
| HON 272 | The Human Event |
2022 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| HON 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| HON 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| HON 171 | The Human Event |
| HON 171 | The Human Event |
2022 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| HON 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| HON 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| HON 272 | The Human Event |
| HON 272 | The Human Event |
| HON 499 | Individualized Instruction |
2021 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| HON 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| HON 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| HON 171 | The Human Event |
| HON 171 | The Human Event |
2021 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| HON 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| HON 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| HON 272 | The Human Event |
| HON 272 | The Human Event |
Honors and Awards
2017 Best Book in Slavic Studies, Southern Conference on Slavic Studies, for Russia’s Sisters of
Mercy and the Great War: More than Binding Men’s Wounds
2016 Smith Award for Best Book in European History, European History Section of the Southern
Historical Society, Russia’s Sisters of Mercy and the Great War: More than Binding
Men’s Wounds
2012-2014 William Y. Thompson Endowed Professorship of History, Louisiana Tech University
2013 Louisiana Tech University College of Liberal Arts Outstanding Research Award
2012 F. Jay Taylor Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award, Louisiana Tech University
2007 Special Selection, History Book Club, They Fought for the Motherland: Russia’s Women
Soldiers in World War I and Revolution
1996 University of Kansas History Alumni Award for Outstanding M.A. Thesis
Grants and Fellowships
2017 Melikian Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Research Grant
2012-2013 Louisiana Board of Regents Support Fund Award to Louisiana Artists and Scholars
(ATLAS) Grant
2011 American Councils for International Education Title VIII Research Scholar Program Grant
2010 Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Outreach Grant
2010, 2008 Louisiana Tech University Student Organizational Grant Committee Program Grant
2009, 2007, 1996 University of Illinois Summer Research Lab Fellow
2008 Louisiana Tech University International Summer Faculty Development Grant
2007 Louisiana Tech University Summer Research Grant
1998-1999 University of Kansas College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Graduate School Dissertation
Fellowship
1997-1998 American Councils for International Education Title VIII Dissertation Research Grant
1997-1998 U.S. Department of Education Title VI Foreign Language Area Studies Fellowship
1997 University of Kansas Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Travel Grant
Lead editor, Military Affairs in Russia’s Great War and Revolution, 1914–22, Book 1: Military Experiences, with Anthony Heywood, Boris Kolonitskii, and John Steinberg. Bloomington: Slavice Publishers (Indiana University Press), forthcoming January 2019.
Surgeon Grow: An American in the Russian Fighting. Edited, annotated, and introduced. Bloomington: Slavic Publishers (Indiana University), forthcoming, 2019.
The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union. Editor and contributor. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2006: Book introduction, chapter introductions, document introductions.
The History of Spain. Editor and contributor. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2004: Book introduction, chapter introductions, document introductions.
Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies National Organization for Women
American Association of University Women Society for Military History
American Historical Association Southern Conference on Slavic Studies
Association for Women in Slavic Studies Southern Historical Association
Faculty Women’s Association, ASU Southwestern Social Sciences Association
2008-2014 Director of Graduate Studies, Department of History, Louisiana Tech University
Graduate Thesis Committees:
2014-2015 Heather Hawley, “Female Nurses and ‘Real Womanhood’ in the American Civil War”
2011-2012 Victoria Sheppard, “Discovery, Settlement, and Stability of South Arkansas Oil
Boomtowns in the 1920s”
2010-2011 Chad Shelley, “Eisenhower, Macmillan and the Second Berlin Crisis: November
1958-August 1959”
2010-2011 Brandy McKnight, “Jews, Commerce, and Legal Status in Septimania, 580-840,”
2009-2010 Emily Johnson, “Morality, Masculinity, and the Middle Class: Horatio Alger, Jr.,
and the Success Literature of Nineteenth Century America”
2009-2010 Alexes Toomes, “A Jet to Equality: John H. Johnson, African-American
Working-Class Women, and Jet Magazine, 1951-1955”
2009-2010 Jenna Steward, “The Desegregation of Louisiana Tech University, 1965-1970”
Undergraduate Honors Thesis Committees
2017-2018 Sarah Murray: “Chaos, Control, and Disgust: Emotional Knowledges of Menstrual Products”
2017-2018 (Director) D’Aundrea Walker: “Archetypes of Black Women in Contemporary American Society”
2017-2018 (Co-Director) Chiara Hommel: “A Morning in Vietnam: The Lives of Nurses Who Served”
2017-2018 Lexie Vanderveen, “To Live on a Square Foot of Space: The Barriers to a Realization
of Freedom in Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment:
2016-2017 (Director) Ariana Duarte Luna: “The Role of Implicit Gender Bias in the Courtroom”
2016-2017 (Director) Emily Jay: “What Can and Should Be Done: Responding to Sex Trafficking in Russia and Ukraine”
Arizona State University, Barrett, the Honors College 2014-present
Faculty Affiliate: Melikian Center: Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies
School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies
Office of Veteran Academic and Military Engagement
Associate Professor, Louisiana Tech University, Department of History 2012-2014
William Y. Thompson Endowed Professorship in History 2012-2014
Director of Graduate Studies 2008-2014
Assistant Professor, Louisiana Tech University, Department of History 2006-2012
Lecturer, University of Vermont, Department of History 2004-2006
Assistant Director, Lorraine W. Frank Office of National Scholarship Advisement 2022-present
Barrett Faculty Senator, ASU University Senate, 2022-present
Faculty Advisor, Lorraine W. Frank Office of National Scholarship Advisement 2019-2021
Melikian Center for Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies Center Faculty 2019-present
Advisory Committee
Melikian Center for Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies Center
Post-Doctoral Fellowship Search Committee 2018
Melikian Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Center
Curriculum Committee 2018
Faculty committee, Vice Dean Search Faculty Committee, Barrett Honors College 2018
Board of Directors, Association for Women in Slavic Studies 2018-present
Chair, Association for Women in Slavic Studies Membership Committee 2017-2022
Chair, Barrett Honors College Faculty Search Committee 2016-2017
Barrett Honors College Mentor 2016-present
Barrett Honors College, Personnel Committee 2016-present
External Program Reviewer, Department of History, U.S. Military Academy, West Point 2016
Association for Women in Slavic Studies, Membership Committee 2016-present
Honors Faculty Council, Arizona State University 2015-2017
Barrett Honors College Admissions Committee 2015-present
Barrett Honors College Faculty Governance Committee, Arizona State University 2015-2016
Barrett Honors College Faculty Search Committee, Arizona State University 2015-2016
Barrett Honors College Travel/Study Abroad Committee 2015-2016
Founder and organizer, Works in Progress (WIP) Sessions, Barrett Honors College,
Arizona State University 2014-present
Barrett Honors College Promotion Committee 2014-2021
Office of National Scholarship Advisement, Arizona State University 2014-present
Faculty Women’s Association, Arizona State University 2014-present
Judge, Southern Conference of Slavic Studies, Undergraduate Paper Competition
Prize Committee 2015, 2014
Judge, Southern Conference of Slavic Studies, Graduate Paper Competition
Prize Committee 2015, 2014
Coordinator of events, “Women of Character, Courage, and Commitment,” Women’s History
Month Program, Louisiana Tech University 2014
Grant Reviewer, Wellcome Trust 2013
Faculty Advisor, Louisiana Tech University Chapter of AAUW (American Association
of University Women) 2013- 2014
Department of History Search Committee, Military History position, Louisiana
Tech University 2013
Coordinator of events, “Women Who Made History,” Women’s History Month Program
Louisiana Tech University 2012
Grant Reviewer, Canadian Social Sciences Research Council 2011
Coordinator of events, “Women’s Experience, Past & Present,” Women’s History Month
Program, Louisiana Tech University 2011
Coordinator of events, “Celebrating Women Making History,” Women’s History Month
Program, Louisiana Tech University 2010
Director of Graduate Studies, Department of History, Louisiana Tech University 2008-2014
Chair, Department of History Graduate Committee, Louisiana Tech University 2008-2014
Chair, Department of History Search Committee, Modern Europe position,
Louisiana Tech University 2008
Founder and contributing member, Gender Studies Program, Louisiana Tech University 2008-2014
Parliamentarian and Member, University Senate, Louisiana Tech University 2009-2010
College of Liberal Arts Representative, University Senate, Louisiana Tech University 2007-2010
University Behavioral Standards Committee, Louisiana Tech University 2008-2010
Coordinator of events, “Shaping the 21st Century: Focus on Russia” Program, Louisiana |
Tech University 2008
Department of History Tenure and Promotion Committee, Louisiana Tech |
University 2007- 2012
Department of History Search Committee, Middle East position, Louisiana
Tech University 2007
Administrator, Louisiana Tech University Department of History Website 2006-2014
Department of History Student Assessment Committee, Louisiana Tech University 2006-2009