I am an assistant professor of history at Sam Houston State University. A native of Shreveport, Louisiana, I received my M.A. (1998) and Ph.D. (2004) from the State University of New York at Buffalo, under the guidance of Richard E. Ellis, Michael H. Frisch, and Tamara Plakins Thornton. For the 2009-2010 academic year I served as Visiting Fulbright Professor at the Institute for American Studies at Northeast Normal University in Changchun, Jilin Province, China. I teach courses in early American history and American constitutional and legal history at Sam.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Email: thc001@shsu.edu
Phone: 936-294-4804
Fax: 936.294.3938
Office: Academic Building IV #473
Department of History
SHSU Box 2239
Sam Houston State University
Huntsville, TX 77341-2239
EDUCATION
Ph.D., History, State University of New York at Buffalo, 2004M.A., History, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1998
B.A., History, Birmingham-Southern College, 1994
B.S., Political Science-Sociology, Birmingham-Southern College, 1994
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
Sam Houston State University, Assistant Professor 2005 to Present
Visiting Fulbright Professor, Northeast Normal Univeristy, Jilin, China, 2009-2010
Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Nebraska at Kearney, 2003-2005
Adjunct Instructor, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1999-2001
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Gibbons v. Ogden, Law, and Society in the Early Republic (Athens: Ohio University Press, Sept. 2009).
“Contesting Commerce: Gibbons v. Ogden, Steam Power, and Social Change,” in Journal of Supreme Court History 34 (March 2009), 55-73.
“Frontier Framers: Constitution Making in Nineteenth Century Nebraska,” in The History of Nebraska Law (Athens: Ohio University Press, 2008), ed. Alan Gless, 11-27.
"Gibbons v. Ogden" in Milestone Documents in American History (Schlager Group, 2008), ed. Paul Finkelman, 434-463.
"Martin v. Hunter's Lessee" in Milestone Documents in American History (Schlager Group, 2008), ed. Paul Finkelman, 512-539.
“From Centerpiece to Center Stage: Kelly Ingram Park, Segregation, and Civil Rights in Birmingham, Alabama” in the Southern Historian 18 (Spring 1997): 5-28.
RESEARCH AND TEACHING INTERESTS
My primary research areas lie in American history to 1877 and American legal and constitutional history. As a teacher, I have also broad ranging interests in modern American history, Latin American history, American religious history, Native American history, and historiography. Currently I am actively engaged in learning Chinese history, culture, and basic language skills. Courses I have taught include:
Survey Level:
American History to 1877
American History from 1877
Western Civilization to 1500
Western Civilization from 1500
Upper Division Level:
American Constitutional History to 1860
American Constitutional History from 1860
Early America to 1783
Revolutionary America, 1750-1800
America in Mid-Passage, 1784-1877
American Thought and Culture, 1620-1865
American Religious History
Atlantic World, 1400-1865
Pre-Contact America: Mayans, Aztecs, Incas
American Indian History
History of the Modern Middle East
Historiography
Directed Readings
Independent Study
Graduate Level:
Colonial and Revolutionary America
Revolutionary America
Early National America, 1780-1860
American Constitutional and Legal History to 1865
American Thought and Culture
Turning Points in American History
FELLOWSHIPS, GRANTS AND AWARDS
CHSS Excellence in Research Award, Sam Houston State University, 2008, 2010
Fulbright Teaching Fellowship, American History, People’s Republic of China, 2009
Major Grant for Media Projects (Co-Participant), Humanities Texas, 2009
Library Research Grant, Princeton University, 2007
Faculty Enhancement Grant, Sam Houston State University, 2006
College of Arts and Sciences Dissertation Writing Fellowship, SUNY at Buffalo, 2002
Larry J. Hackman Research Award, New York State Archives, 2001, 2002
Gilder Lehrman Dissertation Fellowship, Gilder Lehrman Institute, 2001
Mark Diamond Research Grant, Graduate Student Association, SUNY at Buffalo, 2001
Clements-DeGolyer Research Grant, Southern Methodist University, 2001
Lockwood Dissertation Fellowship, SUNY at Buffalo, 1999, 2001
Young Scholars Fellowship, Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, 1994
Click here for my curriculum vitae.