Dr. Jeff Perry
A Tusculum University professor has been selected to participate in a seminar at Yale University this summer that will explore the Civil War and modern-day events associated with that period in U.S. history.
Dr. Jeffrey Perry, an assistant professor of history, will join 24 other full-time faculty members in history and related fields for “The Civil War in American Memory.” David Blight, Class of 1954 professor of American history at Yale and director of the university’s Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition, will lead the seminar.
The event is a partnership between the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and the Council of Independent Colleges.
“We’re proud of Dr. Perry, who is demonstrating excellent scholarship and tremendous promise at an early stage in his career,” said Dr. Madison Sowell, Tusculum’s provost and vice president of academic affairs. “He will be an outstanding representative of Tusculum and contribute thoughtfully and insightfully to the discussions at this prestigious seminar. His selection illustrates the superb caliber of faculty at Tusculum and the high quality of education our students receive.”
The institute’s website says the seminar’s primary purpose is to provide a forum for comprehending and analyzing why the slavery, Civil War and Reconstruction period is still an unending dilemma in American historical consciousness.
Seminar participants will consider secondary works on Civil War memory and discuss theoretical texts on the nature and significance of collective memory across time and culture and explore in depth the war’s 50th, 100th and 150th anniversaries. Participants will also discuss crises and debates about Civil War monuments and symbols in recent years, such as the events in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015 and in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.
Dr. Perry, a Tusculum faculty member since 2017, teaches Civil War and Reconstruction at Tusculum, and he is preparing to shift his research focus into that area. He has specialized in early American history with a concentration on the religious history of the post-Revolutionary War period. His book “Envisioning Authority in America: Church Discipline and Local Law in Kentucky: 1780-1845,” is under contract for publication with Johns Hopkins University Press.
Institutions such as the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Kentucky Historical Society and the Tennessee Historical Society have funded his research.
“I am looking forward to discussing one of the most significant periods in American history, as well as related current events, with my colleagues across the country,” Dr. Perry said. “My selection shows the high regard the education community has for Tusculum and represents a tremendous professional growth opportunity for me. Participating in this seminar will expand my knowledge of history and enable me to provide an even better learning experience for my students.”
Dr. Perry received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history from the University of South Florida and his doctorate in history from Purdue University.