New history professor at CSC

Emerson was born in Florida, but when he was three years old moved with his parents to Warrensburg, Mo., where his father was a geology professor at Central Missouri State University for more than 30 years.

The new CSC professor earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. His major was European history and his minor was Asian history for his master’s degree.

After earning the latter degree in December 1993, Emerson taught history courses at colleges and universities in Arizona and California for several years before working on a doctorate at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He earned the degree in December 2004.

While working on the dissertation for his doctorate, Emerson spent two years doing research in Spain and Portugal. The research centered on popular religion in the 16th and 17th centuries with emphasis on prophecies by common people. The title of the dissertation is “Messianic Expectations and Collective Myth Formation: Prophecy, Society and Imagination in Early Modern Portugal.” It has been submitted for publication by the Stanford University Press.

Emerson has presented papers on topics related to his research at conferences in Portugal, Brazil and Austria.

Also while working on his doctorate, he taught a variety of history courses for several colleges in the San Diego area.

Last year, Emerson, who is single, was an assistant professor of history at Sul Ross State University in Texas.

At Chadron State, he will primarily teach European history. This semester, he is also teaching U.S. History since 1877 and Western Civilization. He replaces Dr. Allen Shepherd, who is in the second year of a three-year phased retirement. Shepherd has taught at CSC since 1972.