The University of Tennessee is pleased to welcome Dr. Michael E. Woods as Associate Professor of History and the new Director of the Papers of Andrew Jackson, effective August 1, 2020. Dr. Woods is the award-winning author of three books on 19th century U.S. politics and political culture. As Director, he will be working with an editorial team that is producing carefully edited volumes that are an essential tool for scholars in many historical fields. Dr. Woods replaces Dr. Dan Feller, who is retiring after serving as director of the award-winning project since 2003.
A Statement from Dr. Michael E. Woods
“I am honored and excited to serve as Director of the Papers of Andrew Jackson, and I am grateful to everyone at the University of Tennessee and the Papers for their warm welcome. The PAJ has always been a collective effort and I look forward to working with the project’s superb editorial team to produce published volumes of the highest caliber. I am especially eager to engage with a diverse range of scholars and audiences. The PAJ has much to offer to, and much to learn from, scholars in a variety of fields, including Native American history and Indigenous studies; African American history and the study of slavery, resistance, and abolition; political, legal, and constitutional history; and military history. To promote inclusion, collaboration, and innovation, I am commencing two initiatives. First, I am reconstituting a PAJ Advisory Board that will include a diverse group of scholars whose expertise reflects the vibrancy and breadth of current scholarship on the Early Republic and Antebellum eras. I look forward to working with Board members to create programming that highlights this emergent scholarship and fosters future research. Second, with the Advisory Board I will prepare a 2020-2021 Speaker Series that will showcase the work of scholars who have incorporated the PAJ’s resources into their reinterpretations of the past.”