CuRRICULUM VITAE
Interests
Critical security studies, History, History of the British Empire, Ethics, Organized Violence, Aggression and Evolutionary Psychology, 20th Century Military Strategy, Theater technology, Gender dynamics of military experience, Veterans advocacy, and American identity.
Playwright-Performer, 2009 -
Education
Ph.D. in Government and Interdisciplinary Studies, Spring 2020.
MA in Government, University of Texas at Austin, Spring 2012.
BA with High Honors in English and Government, University of Texas at Austin, 2010.
Summary of Achievements
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, 2011-2014. $32,000 stipend for three years, plus up to $10,000 in tuition payments for three years.
TISTA Tech Academic Leadership Award for co-founding Texas Veterans Voices, an NEH funded program that explores military experience through communal readings, May 2020.
Residency and Commission at Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin. Oct 2013 and May 2014.
Travel grant for research on Orde Wingate. British Studies Program, July 2013.
Travel grant for research on Orde Wingate. Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies and TIGER Lab, July 2013.
Open-pool admittance to the Great Plains Theatre Conference for "Westhusing in the House of Atreus," Spring 2013.
Open-pool admittance to the Cohen New Works Festival for "The Priceless Slave," Spring 2013.
Bruton Prestige Award, 2011-2013, $1,000 per year from the University of Texas Graduate School for scholastic achievement.
Open-pool student at the Institute for Qualitative and Multi-Method Research, 2012.
George H. Mitchell Co-Op Award for Outstanding Achievement, 2010. $20,000 awarded to most outstanding undergraduate researcher and student at the University of Texas at Austin. Awarded for writing and producing the play "American Volunteers."
Dean’s Distinguished Graduate, 2010. Selected by the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas at Austin.
Dylan Thomas Prize, long-list, 2010. Achieved the long-list for one of the largest literary prizes in the world for writers under the age of thirty.
Rapoport-King Thesis Scholarship, University of Texas at Austin, 2009-2010. $2,500.
H. M. Macdonald Memorial Scholarship, University of Texas at Austin, 2009-2010.
Roy L. Crane Literary Prize, 2009. Awarded at the University of Texas for the unpublished novel manuscript of "American Volunteers." $2,500.
Bronze Star, 2008. Meritorious service in Iraq with the United States Army.
Combat Infantry Badge, 2004. Military badge awarded for service as a U.S. Army infantryman in combat conditions.
Ranger Tab, 2003. Military badge awarded for completing the U.S. Army Ranger School.
Expert Infantry Badge, 2002. Military badge awarded for demonstrating technical expertise in infantry skills.
Professional Fields of Interest
History, psychological analysis and anthropology, with a particular interest in aggression, organized violence, and individual differences. Empirical references include the Second World War, special operations soldiers, the 'war on drugs,' terrorism, unconventional warfare, and cross-cultural analysis.
Theater, especially the use of Early Modern dramatic methods and technologies to critique and reconsider 21st century political and social outcomes.
Biography and life-writing.
Human development in political thought.
Previous Positions
Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge of Operations, Baghdad Provincial Reconstruction Team, U.S. Army, March 2007 - February 2008.
Team Sergeant, 325th Civil Affairs Brigade, U.S. Army, January 2007 - April 2008.
Airborne Infantry Team Leader, 1/501st PIR, U.S. Army, January 2003 - January 2005.
Airborne Infantry Soldier, 82nd Airborne and 1/501 PIR, U.S. Army, January 2001 - December 2002.
Political Publications
John M. Meyer (2022) '"Nor doth this wood lack worlds of company:” the American Performance of Shakespeare and the White-Washing of Political Geography," Multicultural Shakespeare, vol. 26 (41), 119-146, DOI: 10.18778/2083-8530.26.08. Peer-reviewed.
John M. Meyer (2017) "The Royal Indian Navy Mutiny of 1946: Nationalist Competition and Civil-Military Relations in Postwar India," The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 45:1, 46-69, DOI: 10.1080/03086534.2016.1262645. Peer-reviewed.
Peter Molin and J.M. Meyer (2021) "'Yossarian Bleated Faintly': Catch-22 and military experience in the New Millennium." Critical Insights: Catch-22, edited by Laura Nicosia and James F. Nicosia. Ipswich: Salem Press (2021).
"Letter From Iraq." Democratiya Book Review, 2007.
Series of articles on the causes and features of my deployments to Iraq, Austin-American Statesman newspaper, 2007-2008.
Artistic Productions and Publications
"In the First Version of the Story." Classical Inquiries. Harvard: Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies, August 2021.
"Aftershock/La Réplica," world-premiere at the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican-American Cultural Center, November 2019.
"Dionysus in America," world-premiere at The VORTEX, October 2019.
"Thou Shalt Not," world-premiere at the Assembly Hall of the Church of Saint John the Evangelist, New Brunswick, New Jersey, September 2019.
"Bride of the Gulf," world-premiere at C Venues, Edinburgh Fringe 2018.
"Our Trojan War," contributing writer and member of the ensemble in Aquila Theatre's spring 2017 production at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and U. S. National Tour.
"Brides Look Forward," a short play written and produced for the Basra to Boston Project at Fort Pointe Theatre Channel.
"Philoctetes," lead role of Neoptolemus in Aquila Theatre's spring 2016 production at 29 Jay Street, Brooklyn, New York.
"Cryptomnesia." Commissioned and produced by the Department of Theatre Arts at Lawrence University. May 2014.
"The Priceless Slave: An Advanced Southern Comedy." Produced as a workshop production at the Cohen New Works Festival Presented by the University Co-Op. March 2013.
"Ancient Greeks: Modern Lives." A National Endowement for the Humanities project with the Aquila Theatre Company; performances at the White House in Washington D.C. and at the University of Texas at Austin. 2011.
"La Frontera de la Ansiedad Política." A short play written and produced for the 2011 Frontera Fest in Austin, Texas.
"Aeschylus' Agamemnon, translated by Peter Meineck." Produced for the 2011 Frontera Fest in Austin, Texas.
"American Volunteers," a play written and produced for the 2010 Frontera Fest in Austin, Texas, with an additional staged reading at the University of Texas in May 2010. Directed by Allison Hammond.
"Macbeth," "Twelfth Night," "Richard III," "Cymbeline," "Henry VI part I", "Much Ado about Nothing" performed through the Shakespeare at Winedale program at the University of Texas at Austin. 2009-2010.
"Othello," "Tempest," "King Lear," "Midsummer Night's Dream" performed through the organization Spirit of Shakespeare at the University of Texas at Austin. 2009-2011.
Verse published in the journals Analecta, Hothouse, and Spire.
Professional Papers and Invited Lectures
"'Nor doth this wood lack worlds of company': the American performance of Shakespeare and the white-washing of political geography." European Shakespeare Research Association, June 2021. British, Irish, and Empire Studies Program at University Texas of Austin, October 2021.
"Biography as process-tracing for studying complex instances of organized violence," Midwest Political Science Association, April 2021.
"Adoption of Wingate's 'Gideon Force' in Abyssinia" Southern Political Science Association paper, 2019.
"Which Is More Predominant in Human Social Behavior: Conflict, Cooperation, or Consensus?" Masters thesis and 2012 Midwest Political Science Association paper.
"Why I Use Early Modern Techniques when Creating Modern Drama: The Necessity of a Political Theater in Capitalist America," at the Blackfriars Conference, October 18-23 2011.
“The Consequences of Federalism in Iraq, 2003-2009,” at the Western Political Science Association. April 21-23 2011.
"Provincial Reconstruction Teams and Civil-Military Operations in Baghdad," at the Command and General Staff College, U.S. Army, Fort Leavenworth, KS. May 2008.
Language Competence
English, native speaker.
Spanish, near-fluent speaking and reading proficiency.
Methods Training
Responsible Conduct of Research, January 2014.
Great Plains Theatre Conference, May 2013
Caridad Svich drama workshops, May 2012-July 2013
Institute for Qualitative and Multi-Method Research, 2012. Ethnography, Process Tracing, Archival Research.
UT Summer Statistics Institute, May 2012.
UT Summer Statistics Institute, May 2011.
Spanish Classes, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, June 2011.
Statistical Methods in Political Science, Fall 2010.
Minor in Spanish, UT Austin, Spring 2010.
Research Methods in Political Science, Fall 2009.
The Nature of Scholastic Inquiry, Spring 2009.
Professional Associations
American Political Science Association, 2010 -
American Historical Association, 2019 -
Midwest Political Science Association, 2012 -