What sparked your interest in this area of research?  The book is a natural extension of my work, which focuses on plantations both in their historical context as well as their cultural history—how their use, definition and significance has evolved into what we know as “plantations” today, which are largely museums, historic sites, and tourist destinations. Could you give us a short overview of Charting the Plantation … Continue reading Charting the Plantation Landscape from Natchez to New Orleans – Q&A with Laura Kilcer

Could you give us a short overview of Complexion of Empire in Natchez: Race and Slavery in the Mississippi Borderlands?  Complexion of Empire investigates slavery and race in the borderlands of the lower Mississippi Valley. The book essentially sketches out the first century of sustained European and African contact in the region. I specifically focus on the liminal periods when the Natchez district transitioned from one empire … Continue reading Q&A with Dr. Christian Pinnen

What led you to/sparked your interest in this area of research? I’ve always had an interested in “revolutionary” eras of history. Moments when things get upended in one way or another. As an undergraduate, I was drawn to the experiences of white and Black Americans in the post-Emancipation/Jim Crow era. Understanding how Black Americans pushed the boundaries of what freedom meant and how white Americans … Continue reading Ask An Americanist: Professor Brandon Jett

What led you to/sparked your interest in this area of research?  My life project—the question that wakes me up in the middle of the night and that I plan to address with all of my future work—is studying how religion inspires people of faith to confront, or sadly too-often perpetuate, white supremacy. Exploring the abolitionist movement was an obvious starting point. Could you give us … Continue reading Ask an Americanist: Dr. Ben Wright

1. Could you give us a brief overview of your upcoming monograph The Perfecting of Nature?  The book is about the ways that antebellum authors responded to the notion that social reform might be brought about by reforming the human body itself. This idea was a common thread in many contemporary reformist discourses—it connects such various movements as dress reform, temperance, and dietary reform. One of … Continue reading Ask an Americanist: Dr. Josh Doty