Taylor M. Howard

Taylor M. Howard (he/him) is a history PhD student studying modern Germany under Dr. William Gray. His previous research specialized in Cold War intelligence and East Germany’s Ministry for State Security, focusing on state security institutions and their non-state foils; at Purdue, he intends to conduct a comparative study of late Cold War German militant underground movements and state responses to those movements.

Taylor holds a BA in History from North Carolina State University, and an MA in History from the University of Georgia. He is currently completing his MPhil in International History from Trinity College Dublin. His MA research discovered the origins of Red Army Faction–Stasi collaboration and examined how détente shaped their relationship. His MPhil research examines Stasi conceptions of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and Irish National Liberation Army continental campaigns within the context of a broader Cold War international militant landscape. Across his graduate training, his work has made extensive use of German-language archival sources, including materials from the Stasi Records Archive (BStU), and has engaged with both German- and English-language historiography on Cold War intelligence and transnational underground militant networks.

In addition to his academic research, Taylor has teaching experience at both secondary and post-secondary levels, including teaching 9th grade English and serving as a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Georgia, where he received multiple departmental and graduate school teaching awards. He aspires to use the lecture hall and the classroom to bridge the gap between high-level historical scholarship and accessible education.

Prior to his academic career, he was an infantry rifleman in the United States Marine Corps.