After the publication of his book of essays, “Keepin’ It Real: Essays on Race in Contemporary America,” the East Tennessean sat down with ETSU history professor and author Elwood Watson to talk about his journey through academia.
Watson has researched, written and taught at ETSU for 23 years, and he joined the faculty during an extensive recruitment effort to diversify and represent a wide range of voices in the late 1990s.
Born and raised in Delaware, Watson attended the University of Delaware for both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in American history. Watson continued his education at the University of Maine, earning his doctoral degree in American history in 1999. Throughout his college career, Watson determined his academic focuses in recent American history, African American history, American studies, gender history and cultural history.
“I had a teacher at the University of Delaware my senior year,” he said. “I took a class on the history of American women. I loved the class so much that she got me interested in gender issues and gender history and gender studies.”
An avid writer and reader, Watson maintains an extensive book collection in his office. His main literary interests lie in nonfiction and journalism, and his writing can be found in many publications, including Diverse Issues in Higher Education, New York Times and X/Y Online.
His most recent article written for Medium, “Stephen Miller, Candace Owens, Diamond and Silk: Not All Skin Folk Are Your Religious and Racial Kinfolk!” chronicles and comments on the scandal arising around Stephen Miller and deeper implications of the event.
Watson also works with BlackPast, a website dedicated to compiling resources on African American history.
“It all starts with the humanities, whether people want to realize it or not,” Watson said, “To be able to think critically, write to apply things, it starts with the humanities.”
A self-described rabid social and cultural critic, Watson uses his knowledge of the American past to better understand and analyze the American present, and he says he uses that information to bring value to his lectures on campus.
