Mark Orsag is a professor of European and Interdisciplinary History here at Doane University. Orsag grew up near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and got his Bachelor’s from Carnegie-Mellon University, then got his Master’s from Pennsylvania State, and his Doctorate in European History from Michigan State University.
Carnegie-Mellon is a very prestigious university, often ranking in the top 50 universities in the nation, and Michigan State has a very prestigious doctoral program.
Orsag, as a seasoned historical researcher, has about 50 academic publications and presentations, with his most recent work being a book publication detailing the third-century Roman Pandemic, the Plague of Cyprian, which killed approximately 5,000 people a day.
Orsag also does active work within the community as a whole, a prime example being testifying in front of the Nebraska Legislature in criticism of the bill LB999, which was a bill to ban Delta 8, a form of marijuana, in Nebraska.
In testifying, on Feb. 1, Orsag supported the legalization of Delta 8. “If alcohol is legal, why are we deciding to ban these substances, which in many cases, are less harmful, and less addictive than alcohol, which has been proven in studies again and again,” Orsag said. “Science will always outpace regulation.”
Orsag is also an avid technical rock climber and does competitions at universities, such as UNL, and has had success within his division, often placing well. He also has done mountaineering events in Colorado and Wyoming.
Next semester, Orsag is teaching two sections of 105, Western Civilization I, Russian History, which is “very topical because of the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War,” according to Orsag. In addition to these he is also teaching his favorite class, Roman History.
