Dr. Kevin Gannon, professor of history and director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, will present Austin College’s A.J. Carlson Lecture via Zoom on September 10 at 5 p.m. His lecture is “Hope Among the Hopeless: The Fierce Urgency of the Liberal Arts in a Time of Crisis.”
Gannon is a nationally recognized speaker on race and U.S. history, pedagogy and higher education, and justice and inclusion. Sponsored by Austin College’s Robert and Joyce Johnson Center for Faculty Development and Excellence in Teaching, his lecture is open to faculty, staff, students, friends, and alumni of the College. Interested individuals should email johnsoncenter@austincollege.edu in advance of the event to receive Zoom information for the lecture.
A member of the faculty at Grand View University since 2004, Gannon previously served as the university’s program coordinator for New Student Seminar and has extensive experience working with first-year and at-risk students. He is a member of the advisory board for Teaching Hard History, an arm of Teaching Tolerance, which is a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Gannon’s teaching, research, and writing include topics of race and racisms, critical and inclusive pedagogy, 19th-century history (particularly of the United States and the Americas), and historiography and theory.
His 2020 book, Radical Hope: A Teaching Manifesto, was published by West Virginia University Press as part of its Teaching and Learning in Higher Education series, edited by James M. Lang.
He has written several articles and chapter of the U.S. Civil War and Reconstruction eras, and publishes regularly on U.S. history, pedagogy, and higher education.
The professor’s teaching routinely includes the courses “Civil War and Reconstruction;” “Colonial America and the Atlantic World;” “Latin American History;” “Research Methods and Historiography;” and the “History of Capitalism” as well as survey-level offerings in ancient and medieval world history.
Gannon earned his bachelor’s degree at James Madison University, a master’s degree in history at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Ph.D. at the University of South Carolina.
This Austin College lecture honors the late Dr. A.J. “Jack” Carlson, who joined the Austin College history faculty in 1962. He also served as dean of Humanities for many years and was a leading voice in defense of liberal arts education. He retired as professor emeritus in 1994 and remained active in the campus community until his death in 2014.
The Johnson Center for Faculty Development and Excellence in Teaching, directed by Dr. Andrea Overbay, associate professor of mathematics, schedules a number of events throughout the year, with presentations by Austin College faculty and guest lecturers.
Austin College, a private national liberal arts college located north of Dallas in Sherman, Texas, has earned a reputation for excellence in academic preparation, international study, pre-professional foundations, leadership development, committed faculty, and hands-on, adventurous learning opportunities. One of 40 schools profiled in Loren Pope’s influential book Colleges That Change Lives, Austin College boasts a welcoming community that embraces diversity and individuality. The residential student body of approximately 1,300 students and more than 100 expert faculty members allow a 13:1 student-faculty ratio and personalized attention. Austin College is related by covenant to the Presbyterian Church (USA) and cultivates an inclusive atmosphere that supports students’ faith journeys regardless of religious tradition. Founded in 1849, the College is the oldest institution of higher education in Texas operating under original name and charter.