The Wayne Flynt Endowed Graduate Research Award in Alabama History and Culture provides $1,200 for a graduate student to research and publish on subjects that will enrich our knowledge of Alabama’s past and contribute to the teachings of Alabama history from fourth grade into university classes. The deadline to apply is Friday, October 25 at 5 PM.
To be eligible for consideration for this award, a student must:
- Be admitted to the Auburn University Graduate School and be accepted to a graduate program in the College of Liberal Arts, pursuing an advanced degree in the Arts and Humanities.
- Have a minimum GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
- Demonstrate financial need as verified by the Office of Financial Aid. If a student with financial need cannot be identified, this criterion may be waived.
- Preference will be given to a student who presents evidence of excellence in graduate research in Alabama History and culture that has already or is likely to culminate in a major project or publication, including but not limited to: a dissertation, thesis, book, or book chapter, article in a peer-reviewed journal, or original work of art, as determined by the selection committee.
2023 Recipient: Brucie Porter
Brucie Porter is a PhD candidate in the Department of History. Porter received a B.A. from University of the South (Sewanee). Her research interests include U.S. History since 1865, 20th Century South, and Education History.
2023 Recipient: Chase Stephens
Chase Stephens is a PhD candidate in the Department of History. Stephens received a B.A. from Northwestern State University of Louisiana and an M.A. from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. His research interests include the U.S. since 1865, the U.S. South, history of racial violence, the Civil Rights Era and southern law enforcement.
2022 Recipient: Logan Barrett
Logan Barrett is a student in the Department of History at Auburn University. Barrett received a B.S. from the University of Montevallo and an M.A. from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. His current research focus is the intersection of labor and working-class activism in Birmingham and how this temporally expands historical interpretations of the Southern Civil Rights Movement.
2021 Recipient: Laura King
Laura King is a student in the Department of History at Auburn University. King received a B.A. and M.A. in history from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her current research focuses on the evolution of the Birmingham, Alabama neighborhood of Avondale.
2020 Recipient: Julie Garner
In November 2020, Garner successfully defended her dissertation, under the direction of Dr. Keith Hebert, titled “At the Intersection of Davis and King: Heritage and Memory in Selma, Alabama.” Garner received her Public History certification in 2017 and holds a master’s degree in History from Auburn University and a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education from Clemson University. Between undergraduate and graduate school, she was also a recipient of a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in South Korea. She is currently an AP World History teacher at Columbus High School in Columbus, Georgia.
2019 Recipient: Shari Williams
Shari Williams is Ph.D. candidate in the Department of History at Auburn University. Williams’s interest in the Modern American South and Public History began with her non-profit volunteer work in public history and historic preservation in Macon County, Alabama. This work afforded her the opportunity to establish and serve as the executive director of a local interpretative center focused on the history of the Federal Road through Macon County, multicultural migration, and rural community development. Her research interests include the past, present and future of historic rural landscapes, traditions, and sites in Alabama’s Black Belt with a focus on the intersection of rural historic landscapes and social history through the lens of race, gender, and class. Her dissertation advisor, Dr. David Carter, is guiding her current study of rural domestic space as a leadership incubator for African-American women who became grassroots civil rights activists and community developers.
2018 Recipient: Joshua Shiver
Joshua Shiver is Ph.D. candidate in the Department of History at Auburn University. He received his B.A. in history from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and his M.A. in history from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Examining Confederate soldiers from Alabama and North Carolina, Shiver’s dissertation focuses on how friendships, romantic relationships, familial relationships, and religion influenced a soldier's willingness to fight and die in a war that was most noted for its brutality.
2017 Recipient: John Mohr
John Mohr is a PhD candidate concentrating on the history of technology. He received his BA in history and German from Wittenberg University. His dissertation examines the linkages between the auto industry, technological utopianism, and political realignment in the American South in the late twentieth century. It seeks to understand the relationship between Southern society and foreign automakers, including Mercedes-Benz and Kia Motors.
Dr. Wayne Flynt, Professor Emeritus in the Department of History at Auburn University, is the author of fourteen books, and one of the most recognized and honored scholars of Southern history, politics, and religion. He has won numerous teaching awards and has been a Distinguished University Professor for many years.
