Dr. Evan Faulkenbury joined the University of South Carolina faculty in August as USC’s inaugural University Historian.
Housed in University Libraries, Dr. Faulkenbury will serve as the principal resource on matters of historic interpretation, representation, and commemoration of the University of South Carolina for the university community and beyond. He will also advise University leadership on matters surrounding building names, historical markers and monuments, and public art, and he will research, create, and disseminate original scholarship on the University’s past in collaboration with campus partners and other relevant university, local, regional, and state entities.
We asked Dr. Faulkenbury to introduce himself to the USC community by describing his background in public history, his goals as University Historian and what drew him to the University of South Carolina. Here’s what he had to say:
What (and where) was your most recent previous role?
I spent the last eight years as an Assistant Professor and then an Associate Professor in the history department at the State University of New York at Cortland. During those eight years, I published two books and several articles, taught lots of classes, and became really involved in the community doing local history projects.
What drew you to the University of South Carolina?
I wanted to come to USC so I could hyperfocus on a single place with a long history. There is an endless well for what we can cover, and there is so much energy from people who love USC. I wanted to be invested in a place where I could keep doing endless public history projects. I also got tired of shoveling snow every winter!
What are your goals as University Historian?
My main, overarching, long-term goal is to ensure that every Gamecock—students, alums, staff, faculty, community partners—all feel like they are part of and have a stake in our collective past. To get there, first, I’m trying to meet as many people as I can who have worked on university history projects in the past. I’ll begin to compile everything, then see what areas of history we can cover next and how we can get the public involved.
What is your experience with public history? Do you have a favorite topic you like to cover?
I learned about public history first while working on my MA in history at UNC Charlotte, then I became even more involved while I did my Ph.D. in history at UNC Chapel Hill. At UNC, I worked for three years with the Southern Oral History Program. I learned all about oral history and how to work with communities, record memories, and build public-facing projects. From there, I took my knowledge of oral history and kept expanding into other public history areas at SUNY Cortland, such as physical and digital exhibits, ghost tours, and community history.
What’s your teaching background, and what have been your favorite courses to teach?
At SUNY Cortland, I taught three courses every semester, mostly on U.S. history and public history. Some of my favorite courses were “American Civil War: Then and Now,” “Introduction to Public History,” and “Why U.S. History Matters.”
What about the history of the University of South Carolina interests you the most?
The fact that there is so much of it. Since 1801, that gives us 223 years to work with…223 years (and counting) of people and stories that still affect us today.
Check out Dr. Faulkenbury’s recent TED talk, “How public history brings the past into everyday life.” He is also the author of Poll Power: The Voter Education Project and the Movement for the Ballot in the American South (UNC Press, 2019) and co-editor of Teaching Public History (UNC Press, 2023). His current work in progress, a book with USC Press, tentatively titled “Remembering Rebellion: Public Historians and Slave Revolts Across America,” is about the public historians who have kept the histories of slave rebellions alive, through museums, historic sites, walking tours, art, film, photography and more.