Dr. William Harris

Dr. Harris – Curriculum Vitae »

Education Background

Ph.D., Cornell University
M.A., Cornell University
M.A., University of Akron
B.A., Alabama State University

Research Fields/ Areas of Specialty/Teaching

• African American History
• Civil Rights History
• History of the Antebellum South
• Race and Violence
• Southern History
• U.S. History
• 19^th Century U.S. History

About Dr. Harris

I received my B.A. from Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama before moving on to the University of Akron where I received my first M.A. in History.  While completing my M.A. and Ph.D. at Cornell University (2015) I had the honor of spending 6 years teaching in the History Department at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in the Finger Lakes region of New York before spending a year as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Slippery Rock University.  I am looking forward to continuing my career as a member of the History Department at Presbyterian College.

My historical interests are grounded in questions regarding the intersection of Race and Violence in the African American experience.  My dissertation, entitled “Community and (Dis)Order in Antebellum Mississippi: Identity and Violence in the Making of a Slave Society” examines constructions of identity and the ways in which people in antebellum Mississippi used concepts of self and the “other” to create communities and violently determine who would be included and excluded from them.  I have taught a number of courses related to U.S. History and African American History, and look forward to creating new classes related to my interests and to the interests of the students at PC.

When not teaching or writing, I devote the majority of my time to my wife, Ginia, and our two kids, BJ and Kennedy.   My favorite hobbies include travel, reading a good book, playing a round of golf, or watching my Hoosiers and Cowboys.