Eric M Washington
- Dr. Eric M Washington
- Professor of History;
Director of African & African Diaspora Studies Program - Historical Studies, African and African Diaspora Studies, Gender Studies
- Hiemenga Hall 470 (Map)
- (616) 526-8630
- eric.washington@calvin.edu
Education
- B.A., Sociology, Loyola University-New Orleans
- M.A., History of Africa, Miami University
- Ph.D., African American church and African missions, Michigan State University
Biography
I'm was born and raised in New Orleans, LA. I love watching sports, and reading African and African Diaspora literature. I've become a person to speak into "doing" cross-cultural ministry especially within a Reformed context.
Academic interests
I am the director of the African and African Diaspora Studies program. I'm also a member of the Board of Directors of Africa Network, a nonprofit consortium of liberal arts colleges committed to literacy about and concern for Africa in American higher education.
In terms of research interests, I'm completing a book manuscript on African American Baptist missionaries in Africa from 1820-1920. In addition, I have a growing interest on the intersection of African literature and African history. I've presented papers on the works of Chinua Achebe and Chimamanda Adichie and their engagement of history. I have also been working on the life of Oladuah Equiano and his Interesting Narrative.
Publications
Read Eric Washington's posts on Historical Horizons, the history department blog.
Articles and Book Chapters
"'An Open Door and a Welcome Hand': Lewis Garnet Jordan's Ethiopian Vision", in Black Scholars in White Space: New Vistas in African American Studies from the Christian Academy, edited by Anthony Bradley (Wipf and Stock, 2015).
"I agree to election:” The Influence of Calvinism among African American Baptists in Slavery and Freedom, 1750-1900." Puritan Reformed Journal (2012).
Reviews
Pathways to Freedom: Maryland & the Underground Railroad, http://pathways.thinkport.org/flash_home.cfm. Created and maintained by Maryland Public Television. Reviewed September to November 2011. Afro-Americans in New York Life and History 36:1 (January 2012): 120-123.
Conference Papers and Lectures
"'I am an African': Lott Carey and the First American Missions to Africa." Black History Month, Calvin College (February 2012).
"Lewis G. Jordan and the Place of Africa in His Thought," Black History Month Public Lecture Series, Trinity Christian College, Palos Heights, IL (February 2012).
"An Open Door and a Welcome Hand: Lewis G. Jordan's Ethiopian Vision," Herman C. Hudson Symposium on African-American and African Diaspora Studies, Bloomington, IN (March 2012).
"R. H. Boyd and the Shaping of National Baptist Theology," Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters Conference, Alma College, Alma, MI (November 2011).
"Lewis G. Jordan and the Intellectual Tradition of Ethiopianism," Association for the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora, University of Pittsburg (November 2011).
In the news
Contextualizing the Black experience in America today
Calvin College professor of history Eric Washington is at the helm of a class that is taking many of his students into uncharted waters.
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