EDUCATION
Ph.D., History, The University of Alabama, 2009
M.Ed., Instructional Design, Western Governors University, 2019
M.A., History, The University of Alabama, 2005
B.A., History, Berry College, 2003
CURRENT POSITION
Western Governors University
Faculty Manager, World History and Geography, 2019-present
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Western Governors University
Faculty Manager, US History and World History, 2017-2019
Project Manager, General Education Program Development, 2015-2017
- Certified Scrum Master (2016)
Course Instructor, General Education Social Sciences, 2011-2015
- Courses Taught: Themes and Applications in U.S. and World History, Survey of U.S. History, Survey of World History, Introduction to Geography
Course Instructor, Teachers College, Secondary Education Social Sciences, 2011-2013
- Courses Taught: U.S. History to 1865, U.S. History since 1865, World History to 1500, World History since 1500
Stephen F. Austin State University
Adjunct Faculty, Department of History, 2008-2011
The University of Alabama
Book Review Editor, Southern Historian, Department of History, University of Alabama, 2007-2008
Editor, Southern Historian, Department of History, University of Alabama, 2006-2007
Assistant Editor/Marketing Director, Southern Historian, Department of History, University of Alabama, 2005-2006
PUBLICATIONS
Books:
“Making the Southern Megachurch” (Louisiana State University Press, under contract).
Ministers and Masters: Methodism, Manhood, and Honor in the Old South (Louisiana State University Press, 2011).*
Articles and Essays:
“‘Contraband’ Women: Gender, Race, and Resistance in Union Camps,” with Kristopher Teters, in Megan Bever and Laura Mammina, eds., American Discord: The Republic and Its People in the Civil War Era (Louisiana State University Press, 2020), 172-186.
“Seeking Souls, Selling Salvation: A History of the Modern Megachurch,” in Stephen Hunt, ed., Handbook of Megachurches (Brill Publishers, 2019), 23-42.
“Sanctifying the SUV: Megachurches, the Prosperity Gospel, and the Suburban Christian,” in John Archer, Paul J.P. Sandul, and Katherine Solomonson, eds., Making Suburbia: New Histories of Everyday America (University of Minnesota Press, 2015), 240-258.*
“Lakewood Church and the Roots of the Megachurch Movement in the South,” Southern Quarterly 50 (Fall 2012): 60-78.*
Other Publications:
“A Popular Historian: A Conversation with James M. McPherson,” in Megan L. Bever and Scott A. Suarez, eds., Historian Behind the History: Conversations with Southern Historians (The University of Alabama Press, 2014), 46-64.*
“The Sacred Circle: Evangelical Ministers and Family in Antebellum Alabama,” Alabama Heritage 106 (Fall 2012): 16-23.*
“The Basement: Foundations of Alabama’s Largest Christian Youth Movement,” Alabama Heritage 100 (Spring 2011): 62-64.*
FELLOWSHIPS, GRANTS, AND AWARDS
Contributions to Mentoring Award, Western Governors University, 2015
Contributions to Mentoring Award, Western Governors University, 2014
Dedication to Student Success Award, Western Governors University, 2013
Several fellowships and awards also granted by:
The University of Alabama History Department
The University of Alabama Graduate Council
The University of Alabama Department of Women’s Studies
RECENT PRESENTATIONS
“‘Some Say He Was an Outlaw’: Larry Norman’s Anti-Establishment Influence on Christian Rock,” American Society of Church History, New York City, January 2019.
“Teaching the College Survey as a Dual Enrollment Course: A Syllabus Workshop,” Louisiana Historical Association, Shreveport, Louisiana, March 2017.
“Show and Tell: Creating Videos with Animation and Images to Make Abstract Ideas Stick,” American Historical Association, Denver, Colorado, January 2017.
“The Traditional Survey is Dead, Long Live the Survey: Refashioning the U.S. and World Survey Courses for the Twenty-First Century, A Panel Discussion,” Louisiana Historical Association, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, March 2016.
“Adventures in On-Line Courses, Distance Learning, and MOOCs,” Louisiana Historical Association Annual Meeting, Hammond, Louisiana, March 2014.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
I have served on the following leadership in teaching committees:
Louisiana Historical Association, Teaching History Committee (2015-2018)
American Historical Association, History Tuning Project (2015-2016)
I have refereed manuscripts for the following presses and journals
Southern Studies (2019)
Oxford University Press (2014, 2018)
University of Georgia Press (2017, 2018)
Journal of Southern Religion (2018)
North Carolina Historical Review, (2018)
Virginia Magazine of History and Biography (2016)
Frontiers: A Journal of Women’s History (2015)
Alabama Review (2014, 2015)
Culture, Society & Masculinities (2011)
My book reviews appear in the following journals:
American Historical Review
Civil War History
Alabama Review
Tampa Bay History
H-Net Reviews
The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society
The Journal of Southern History
The East Texas Historical Journal
Southern Historian
My contributions to non-refereed publications with a wide audience include:
The Huffington Post blog (2014-2018)
Religion in American History blog (2008-2016)
The Daily Sentinel (Nacogdoches, TX), (2012-2014)
I have presented additional refereed presentations on topics ranging from online education pedagogy to southern religious history at the following conferences:
American Academy of Religion Southwest Annual Meeting (2013)
Texas State Historical Association Annual Meeting (2012)
Urban Historical Association (2010)
Southwest/Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Association (2010)
American Society of Church History at the American Historical Association (2009)
Alabama Historical Association (2007)
I have delivered presentations for the following events:
Western Governors University, Women’s History Month (2013, 2016, 2017)
Louisiana Technical Institute, Women’s History Month (2016)
Western Governors University, Black History Month (2013, 2014)
Western Governors University, Social Science Week (2012, 2014)
Berry College, Book Talk (2013)
Western Governors University, Constitution Week (2012, 2013)
COMMUNITY SERVICE
Consulting Historian, Clay House Restoration, African American Heritage Project, Nacogdoches, TX, Nov. 2019-present
Co-organizer, East Texas Lavender Prom, 2018 and 2019
*Published as Charity R. Carney
