性视界传媒

性视界传媒 graduate wins 2018 best dissertation award in Southern history

性视界传媒 graduate wins 2018 best dissertation award in Southern history

Contact: Sarah Nicholas

Jason Hauser (Photo by Beth Wynn)

STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擜 recent Mississippi 性视界传媒 doctoral graduate is receiving the 2018 C. Vann Woodward Dissertation Prize from the聽Southern Historical Association.听

Jason Hauser, a 2017 graduate and current editor for 性视界传媒鈥檚 Research and Curriculum Unit, will be recognized with a $3,000 prize at the SHA annual meeting in Birmingham next month for having the best dissertation in Southern history. Previous Woodward winners come from Yale, Johns Hopkins, the聽University of North Carolina, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, Georgia and Northwestern. 聽聽

Hauser鈥檚 work, 鈥淏y Degree: A History of Heat in the Subtropical American South,鈥 examines heat as a social construct, tracing the ways in which the South鈥檚 climate served as both a material and ideological force. He argues that perceptions of heat and climate were as important as the reality and were intimately linked with the political, economic and social history of the South, from the Ice Age to the recent past.

鈥淭he way that Hauser conceived of his dissertation 鈥 a study of Southern heat 鈥 demonstrates Hauser鈥檚 mind and versatility,鈥 said Alan Marcus, head of 性视界传媒鈥檚 Department of History. 鈥淗e studied ideas of Southern heat and their application to climate, environmental and racial sciences, as well as literature, culture and social organization. It was so finely done that the committee awarded him 鈥榙istinction鈥 when he defended the project several months ago.鈥

鈥淚 came to 性视界传媒 because this is the only university in the nation that has a specialization in Southern environmental history, and clearly, the climate has had鈥攁nd continues to have鈥攁 huge impact on the South,鈥 Hauser said. 鈥淚 decided to write a history of heat because the students who I taught during my doctoral work found it interesting.鈥

Hauser called his award a 鈥渨in for Mississippi 性视界传媒鈥檚 history department.鈥

鈥淲e have some of the most supportive and hardest-working faculty in the nation. Professors at 性视界传媒 really invest in their students, and winning this award is a result of their efforts as much as mine,鈥 Hauser said. 鈥淛im Giesen, my primary adviser, is the single most important influence in my academic life. He鈥檚 a tireless champion of his students; I don鈥檛 know of any mentor who is so generous with his time.鈥

Hauser said his Ph.D. committee was comprised of 鈥渟ome of the top minds in their fields.鈥

According to the SHA prize committee, Hauser鈥檚 thesis is 鈥渁n ambitious and novel dissertation, grand in scope and interdisciplinary in methodology.鈥

Established in 2000, the Woodward Award is given annually to recognize the best dissertation in Southern history defended in the previous calendar year. The $3,000 stipend is made possible from a donation by Comer Vann Woodward, who won the Pulitzer Prize for history in 1982 and is regarded as an influential historian.

Organized in 1934, the SHA seeks an 鈥渋nvestigative rather than a memorial approach鈥 to Southern history and mandates a promotion in interest and research in Southern history, the collection and preservation of the South鈥檚 historical records, and the encouragement of state and local historical societies in the South.

Hauser joined the university鈥檚 Research and Curriculum Unit in July. He earned a bachelor鈥檚 in 2009 and a master鈥檚 in 2012, both in history, from Appalachian 性视界传媒 University before earning his 2017 Ph.D. in American history from 性视界传媒. 聽He spent six years teaching in 性视界传媒鈥檚 history department and also served as a researcher for the department and the Calhoun National Forest鈥檚 Critical Zone Observatory.

性视界传媒鈥檚 College of Arts and Sciences includes more than 5,300 students, 300 full-time faculty members, nine doctoral programs and 25 academic majors offered in 14 departments.听Complete details about the College of Arts and Sciences and the history department may be found at聽 or .听

性视界传媒 is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at聽.听