Oct. 5, 2025

SP/FS BONUS: Catastrophic Diplomacy (Dr. Julia Irwin)

Show Notes

Dr. Julia Irwin is the leading scholar writing about the history and impact of US disaster relief. In this fascinating conversation, she shares some entertaining and little-known stories to outline the evolution of American aid and the implications of American disengagement from disaster efforts around the world. (Note: This episode is a companion piece to SP/FS #8 with Warren Acuncius.)

Julia Irwin is the T. Harry Williams Professor of History at Louisiana State University. She earned her Ph.D. in History, with a concentration in the History of Medicine and Science, from Yale University. Her research focuses on the place of humanitarian assistance in 20 th century U.S. foreign relations and international history. Her first book, Making the World Safe: The American Red Cross and a Nation’s Humanitarian Awakening (Oxford University Press, 2013) is a history of U.S. international relief efforts during the First World War era. Her second book,
Catastrophic Diplomacy: U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance in the American Century (University of North Carolina Press, 2024), is a history of U.S. foreign disaster assistance and emergency relief during the 20 th century. She is currently writing Humanitarianism: A Very Short Introduction, a sweeping overview of the history of international humanitarianism over the last three centuries (forthcoming with Oxford University Press). She is a founding co-editor of the book series InterConnections: The Global 20 th Century, published by University of North Carolina Press, and a founding co-editor of Journal of Disaster Studies, published by University of Pennsylvania Press.

To learn more about Julia Irwin’s research, please visit her website HERE.