Dr. Timothy "Mac" James selected for Fulbright-Hays seminar in Mexico
¡Excelente! USCB history professor Dr. Timothy “Mac” James is headed to Mexico this summer, after winning a place in the coveted Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Program. These seminars held around the world help U.S. educators in the social sciences and humanities learn more about peoples and cultures in other countries. Fulbright-Hays seminars are administered by the U.S. Department of Education.
Dr. James, an expert in Mexican history, leaves Aug. 1 to participate in “The Third Root: Exploring African Heritage in Mexico.” Based in central Mexico, this seminar will examine the African contribution to Mexican society. Staring in the early colonial period, thousands of people were brought from Africa to work as slaves in sugarcane haciendas, cattle estancias and mines. After starting in Mexico City, participants will explore Veracruz and Oaxaca—two states where the African presence is most notable.
“I am really excited to have been chosen. It is quite an honor,” Dr. James said, adding that he first became interested in the Fulbright-Hays program “five or six years ago.”
The group will explore Afro-Mexican history and culture. James and the other participants will meet with government officials, policymakers, artists, educators and students as part of the seminar.
When they return to the U.S. at the end of August, they’ll draw on their experiences during the program to create or enhance cross-cultural curricula for use in North American classrooms and local communities. Beaufort County, which is part of the Gullah-Geechee Heritage Corridor and home to a fast-growing Hispanic population, is uniquely suited to benefit from public history offerings with this focus.
Each seminar has 16 participants and the program covers airfare, room and board, and program costs.
Dr. James thanked Dr. Babet Villena-Alvarez and Dr. J. Brent Morris for recommending him for the program and helping him prepare his proposal. Dr. Villena-Alvarez, USCB’s interim assistant vice chancellor for Academic Affairs, completed a Fulbright-Hays seminar in Poland in 2018. Dr. Morris is a professor of History and the chair of the Humanities Department as well as Director of the USCB Institute for the Study of the Reconstruction Era.
Dr. James earned his doctorate and master’s in history from the University of Chicago. He has taught at USCB since 2006.
USCB history professor Dr. Timothy “Mac” James will be part of a group exploring Afro-Mexican
culture this summer. He won a place in the coveted Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad
Program.