University of Nebraska Kearney

Courses Regularly Taught 

Current Research Interests 

• Non-Freudian Psychohistory of Hannibal and the Second Punic War
• Psychology of Zen Buddhism
• Stress Management

Previous Research Interests 

• Psychological Interpretation of the Works of H. P. Lovecraft
• Psychology of Music
• Psychology of Chess

Selected Publications 

Mosig, Y. (2011). H. P. Lovecraft: Myth maker. In S. Joshi (editor) Dissecting Cthulhu: Essays on the Cthulhu mythos. Lakeland, FL: Miskatonic River Press. 13-21.

Mosig, Y. (2010). East meets West: The non-self versus the reified self. Chapter 23 in K. Keith (editor) Cross cultural psychology: Contemporary themes and perspectives. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell. 445-456.

Mosig, Y. (2010). Review of The ghosts of Cannae: Hannibal and the darkest hour of the Roman Republic by Robert L. O'Connell. The Journal of Military History, 74:4, 1261-1263.

Mosig, Y. (2009). The Barcids at war: Historical introduction. Ancient Warfare, 3:4, 6-8. 

Mosig, Y., & Belhassen, I. (2007). Revision and reconstruction in the second Punic War: Zama-whose victory? The International Journal of the Humanities, 5(9), 175-186.

Mosig, Y., & Belhassen, I. (2006). Revision and reconstruction in the Punic Wars: Cannae revisited. The International Journal of the Humanities, 4(2), 103-110.

  Link to full text of the 2 previous articles  

Mosig, Y. (2006). Conceptions of the self in Western and Eastern psychology. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 26(1-2), 39-50.

Mosig, Y. (2003). The archetypal power of Sibelius. Sibelius Forum II. Sibelius Academy, Helsinki, Finland. 438-444.

Mosig, Y. (2009). Zen Buddhism. Chapter 17 in B. Engler Theories of personality: An introduction. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Mosig, Y. (1997). Mosig at last: A psychologist looks at H. P. Lovecraft. (Edited by S. T. Joshi). West Warwick, RI: Necronomicon Press. 

Professional Memberships 

• Association for Transpersonal Psychology
• Japan Sibelius Society
• Comitato Italiano pro Canne della Battaglia
• Society for Military History

Honors and Awards 

• Pratt Heins Award for Scholarship, 1998
• Robert Bloch Award, 1998
• Graduate Faculty Fellow, 1996

Other 

A native of Germany, Dr. Mosig lived for several years in Spain and for 15 years in Argentina before coming to the U.S. He attended Eastern New Mexico University for his undergraduate studies, and the University of Florida for his graduate work, earning a M.A. in 1969 and the Ph.D. in psychology in 1974. He has travelled extensively, is fluent in several languages, and has been a professor at UNK/KSC since 1977.

Dr. Mosig is a Zen Buddhist monk (trained under Zen Master Dainin Katagiri) and an 8th Degree Black Belt in Okinawan Karate and Kobudo (weaponry) with over 50 years of training in the martial arts (winner of five world championship titles at the U.S.K.A. World Championships/Grand Nationals: Black Belt Kumite, Heavyweight Division, in 1969 & 1970; Masters' Kata, in 1980 & 1988; Black Belt Weapons, in 1989). He has received the Robert Bloch Award from the New England Lovecraft Society for his research on H. P. Lovecraft, and the Pratt-Heins Award in Scholarship from the University of Nebraska at Kearney. He is currently conducting research on the Punic Wars and the life and personality of Hannibal Barca (247-183 B.C.E.), the great Carthaginian general who led an army (with 37 elephants) over the Alps to invade Italy and defeated the Romans in a series of battles (including the one at Cannae, on August 2, 216 B.C.E., widely regarded as the most brilliant military victory in history).

Dr. Mosig has presented his research internationally.  Among his recent presentations are: "Revision and Reconstruction in the Second Punic War: Zama-Whose Victory?" at the Fifth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities, American University of Paris, France, July 17, 2007; "Revision and Reconstruction in the Punic Wars: Cannae Revisited," at the Fourth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities, University of Carthage, Tunis, Tunisia, July 5, 2006; "Western and Eastern Conceptions of the Self," at Taraz University, Taraz, Kazakhstan, May 2002, and "The Archetypal Power of Sibelius," at the Third International Jean Sibelius Conference, Helsinki, Finland, December 9, 2000.  He has also taught workshops and seminars on Zen Meditation, Stress Management, and Martial Arts in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Spain, and Venezuela, and on H. P. Lovecraft in Italy. 

Dr. Mosig was an approved writer for History Times in the UK and contributed articles on Hannibal and the Punic Wars, including, in 2009, "A problem of sources," "A question of hatred," "Of rivers and elephants," "The Kriegsschuldfrage in the Punic Wars," "Demonizing Carthage: Propaganda wars in the Ancient Mediterranean," "Cannae: An issue of command," "Cannae: The riddle of the horse" and "Cannae: The psychology of battle," and in 2010, "Cannae aftermath: The Maharbal fallacy" and "The delights of Capua: Myth of reality?" He also writes for the British website The History Herald, contributing the following articles in 2012: "Hannibal: Challenging the Classical Record," "Hannibal and the Punic Wars: Synopsis and Historical Background," "The Mystery of Cannae: Re-examining Hannibal’s Greatest Victory," "The Magic of Cannae: Battering Ram versus Quicksand," "Cannae Aftermath: The Maharbal and Capua Myths," "Roman Imperialism and the Dogs of War: The Origins of the Ancient Conflict with Carthage," "Propaganda War in the Roman World: The Demonizing of Hannibal and the Carthaginians," "The Road to Zama: The Heroization of Scipio and the Betrayal of Massinissa," and "The Trouble with Zama: Paradox, Smoke and Mirrors in an Ancient Battlefield," and in 2013: "A Matter of Hatred: The Myth of Hannibal's Oath." These articles can be accessed online at the following link, http://www.thehistoryherald.com/Ancient-History-Civilisation/Hannibal-and-the-Punic-Wars/and his writer's page at  http://www.thehistoryherald.com/Writing-For-The-History-Herald/yozan-mosig.

Dr. Mosig has also contributed articles for the commemoration of the 2228th anniversary of the battle of Cannae to the Italian Gazzetta dell'Archeologia On Line, published by the Comitato Italiano pro Canne della Battaglia (July-August 2012). He is currently working on a book on Hannibal for Apollonia Publishers in Tunisia.

For a list of resources in Prof. Mosig's library, click on the following link:

Hannibal Research Resources