Instructor of History, Co-Chair of Humanities
St. Gregory’s University
1900 West MacArthur Drive, #9
Shawnee, Oklahoma 74804
(405) 878-5108 (home) 878-5183 (office)
wjeaton@yahoo.com
EDUCATION
Columbia University; New York City, New York - Ph.D. in History (October 2004)
Ph.D. Dissertation: " The Contest over American Democracy: British Travelers on the American Frontier and the American Response, 1815-1850”
Advisor: Elizabeth Blackmar
Dissertation Committee: Richard Bushman, Ellen Baker, Nan Rothschild, and Simon Schama
M. Phil. in History (February 2003)
Qualifying exam fields: European Intellectual History and History of Economic Thought; Great Britain, 1688-1832; French Revolution and French Social History;
American Revolution and Early Republic
Southern Methodist University; Dallas, Texas
M.A., History (December 1994)
Master's Thesis: "Modern Liberty and the Religious Sentiment: The Religious and Political Liberalism of Benjamin Constant"
Master's exam fields: European and Modern Russian/Soviet History
University of Dallas; Irving, Texas
B.A., History; International Affairs concentration (May 1991)
Senior Thesis: "Karl Marx and the Dictatorship of the Proletariat"
John B. O'Hara Accelerated Chemistry Program, June-July 1987
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Anglo-American Cultural Relations and Travel (Early Republic and Antebellum)
European Anti-Americanism and American Literary Response
Western Perceptions of China
UNIVERSITY TEACHING AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE
St. Gregory's University, Shawnee, Oklahoma:
Co-Chairman, Humanities Division, May 2004 to Present
Administrative responsibilities: Curriculum development, convening and presiding over
divisional meetings, handling instructor evaluations, course scheduling
Fall 1997 – Present, Historian – Rank of Instructor
Administrative responsibilities: Developed curriculum for new Bachelor of Arts degree in
History; Assisted with development of Social Studies Teacher Education curriculum
Courses taught (including some experience with WebCT and teaching in an adult degree completion program):
American Revolution and Early Republic (upper-division)
Art History (lower-division survey)
British History, 1688 to Present (upper-division)
China and the West (upper-division)
China in the Western Imagination (upper-division)
Early American Republic to Jackson, 1789-1837 (upper-division)
European History to 1715
European History since 1715
European Travelers in America (upper-division)
French Revolution and Age of Romanticism (upper-division)
Government of the United States
Modern Chinese History (upper-division)
Modern Middle East (upper-division)
Modern World History (upper-division)
Research Methods/Senior Seminar (year-long thesis project)
Russian Revolution & Soviet Regime (upper-division)
Nazi Germany (upper-division)
United States History, 1492 to 1865
United States History, 1865 to Present
Western Civilization & Culture I (Prehistory to Renaissance)
Western Civilization & Culture II (Renaissance to Twentieth Century)
Tulsa Community College; Tulsa, Oklahoma: Instructor, January 1997 - May 1997 Humanities I (Earliest Civilizations to Renaissance)
Rogers University; Claremore and Pryor, Oklahoma: Instructor, August 1996 - May 1997 Humanities II (Renaissance to the Present)
Composition I (Short expository writing and research essay)
Composition II (Literature analysis and longer research essay)
Northlake College; Irving, Texas: Instructor, Spring 1993
English as a Second Language
Southern Methodist University: History Department Graduate Assistantship, 1991 – 1993
PUBLICATIONS
““Birds without Song, Flowers without Smell”: British Travelers, American Nature, Democracy, and the Politics of Travel” Crossings: Travel, Art, Literature, Politics ed. Rudolphus Teeuwen and Shu-Li Chang (Taipei: Bookman Books/Shu-Lin, 2002)
“Beijing”, “James Silk Buckingham” and “Korea” (3 articles) Literature of Travel and Exploration: An Encyclopedia ed. Jennifer Speakes (London: Fitzroy Dearborn Publisher, 2003)
“Anglo-American Travel” Britain and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History ed. Will Kaufman and Heidi Slettedahl Macpherson (ABC-Clio, anticipated February 2005)
“Benjamin Constant” A Historical Dictionary of Napoleonic Europe ed. Charles MacKay (M.E. Sharpe, New York, forthcoming)
“A New Albion in New America: The Illinois English Prairie and Its Critics, 1817-1825” (submitted)
PAPERS PRESENTED
“A New Albion in New America: The Illinois English Prairie and Its Critics, 1817-1825” Mid-America Conference of History, September 2004, Springfield, Missouri
“The Origins of Anti-Americanism” University Colloquium, January 2004, St. Gregory’s University
“The Contest Over American Democracy” University Colloquium, March 2003, St. Gregory’s University
“British Travelers in the Old Southwest during the 1830s” Mid-America Conference of History, September 2002, Fayetteville, Arkansas
“Contrasting Monarchist and Republican Landscapes: European Travelers in Canada and the United States” Mid-America Conference of History, September 2001, Stillwater, Oklahoma
“A New Albion: European Travellers and Morris Birkbeck’s English Prairie” Popular Culture Association, April 2001, Philadelphia
"Birds without Song, Flowers without Smell": British Travellers, American Nature, Democracy and the Politics of Travel" Beyond Borders II: An Interdisciplinary Conference on Art, Literature and Travel, May 2000, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
"Some British Ideas about American Nature in the 18th and 19th Centuries" April 2000, St. Gregory's University brown bag discussion
"The New World Vindicated: Defenses of American Nature in the Early Republic" Oklahoma Association of Professional Historians, February 2000, Oklahoma City
"British Travelers and the Question of American Nature in the Nineteenth Century " Mid-America Conference of History, September 1999, Springfield, Missouri
“A Challenge to American "Exceptionalism": British Travellers and the Question of American Physical Nature” Penn Travel Conference, June 1999, Philadelphia
"Three Travellers and the Question of American Physical Nature: The Washington Irving Expedition of 1832" Oklahoma Historical Society annual meeting, April 1999, Ponca City, Oklahoma
"European Travelers and the Question of American Physical Nature: A Nineteenth Century 'Dispute of the New World'" Missouri Conference on History, April 1999, Missouri Southern State College, Joplin, Missouri
"America’s “Go-Ahead” Attitude: Connecting British Travel Writings with Changes at Home" Oklahoma Historical Society Conference, April 1998, Duncan, Oklahoma
“Some Comments on Black Social History, From Reconstruction to the 1950s” Black History Month; February 1998, St. Gregory’s University
“America’s Indians and the Enhancement of Britain’s Moral Reputation” Mid-American History Conference; September 1997, Stillwater, Oklahoma
"Georges Sorel and French anti-Semitism in the 20th Century" Southwest Social Science Association, March 1992, Austin, Texas
UNIVERSITY AND ACADEMIC SERVICE
Chairman, Humanities Department, May 2004 to present
Academic Council, fall 2004 to present
General Education Committee, fall 2004 to present
Pre-publication fact-checker, Phaidon Press, spring 2004
Library Committee, fall 2001 to spring 2003
Student Life Committee, fall 2000 – spring 2001
Organized Brown Bag Luncheons, fall 1999 to present
College Student Inventory, Advisor
Renaissance Year Planning Committee, 1999-2000
St. Gregory's University Spirit Committee
Lambda Psi Omega Fraternity, Sponsor, fall 1999-spring 2003
St. Gregory’s Integrity Committee, 2000-2001
St. Gregory's University Teacher Education Council, fall 1997 to spring 2000
St. Gregory’s Assessment and Retention Committee, 1997-1998
Ball Assessment - Advising and Testing Committee, 1997-1998
Student advisor, fall 1997 to present
History Club Sponsor, fall 1998 to present
ACADEMIC HONORS AND PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
American Historical Association, member
Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, member
Claude Lambe Fellowship, 1993-1996
Southern Methodist University, History Department Assistantship, 1991-1993
Phi Alpha Theta Honor Society, History Honor Society, 1990 to 1993
Dean's List, spring 1989-spring 1991; University of Dallas
Competitive Exam Scholarship, University of Dallas, 1987-1991
O'Hara Scholarship for Accelerated Chemistry Study, University of Dallas, summer 1987
PERSONAL INTERSTS AND ADDITIONAL WORK EXPERIENCE
Travel through Europe, East Asia, and Mexico
International House Residence Council, New York City, 1994-95
Fitness Center Instructor and Coordinator, New York City, 1995
Resident Assistant, International House, New York City, 1994-1996
Graduate Student Council, Southern Methodist University, 1993-1994
Semester in Rome, Italy, University of Dallas, Roma campus, spring 1989
Student Government Officer, University of Dallas, 1987-1988
Avid sports fan and fitness enthusiast