Historian Paul Hart Awarded Jones Professorship

Congratulations to Paul Hart, who was just named Jones Professor of Southwestern Studies. As part of a National Endowment for the Humanities Challenge Grant, the Houston Endowment funded the Jesse H. and Mary Gibbs Jones Professor of Southwestern Studies in Texas State’s Center for the Study of the Southwest. The Jones Professor of Southwestern Studies team-teaches the Southwestern Studies courses with Mark Busby, Director of the Center for the Study of the Southwest, works with Center publications, helps organize and present symposia, and assists the Center with other regional projects related to the professor’s discipline and the Center’s designation as the Southwest Regional Humanities Center. The professorship carries a three-year appointment, a reduced course load and a stipend.

As the Jesse H. and Mary Gibbs Jones Professor of Southwestern Studies, 2008-2011, Dr. Hart will be working on three main projects for the Center for the Study of the Southwest. Immigration stands out as one of the most important contemporary issues in Texas and the rest of the border region, and Dr. Hart will be writing a book tracing the immigrant experiences of various ethnic groups across the Southwest. He hopes that presenting that history and providing a comparative framework in which to consider current immigration will lead to greater understanding of this important process that is remaking the face of America. Dr. Hart will also be organizing a symposium on immigration in the Southwest that will bring scholars from across the region, as well as students and members of the local community to Texas State. That event will coincide with the opening of an interactive historical and cultural exhibit highlighting the history of Texas and Texas music.

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