Thomas Durant Jr.
Emeritus Professor
E-mail: socdua@lsu.edu
Education
PhD: Sociology, University of Wisconsin
Area of Interest
Southern Culture; Criminology; Aging; Social Stratification; Ethnic Studies
Recent Courses Taught
- Introduction to African & African American Studies
- Criminology
- Aging
- African American & Hurricane Katrina
Awards & Honors
Oxford University Round Table Selectee
Outstanding Sociology Teaching Award
Notable Activities
- Conducting research on plantation churches and desegregation of predominantly white universities
- Active in major African American Studies and Sociology professional associations
Selected Publications
Books
- The Charity Hospital System of Louisiana: A story of Poverty, Politics, Health and the Public Interest
- History of the River Road African American Museum
- Plantation Society and Race Relations: The Origins of Inequality
Biography
DR. THOMAS J. DURANT, JR., a native of Mansfield, Louisiana, earned his bachelor鈥檚 degree at Grambling State University, his master鈥檚 degree at Tuskegee University, and his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His professional career includes Professor of Sociology at Virginia State University and Professor of Sociology at 蘑菇tv.
He is a former Director of African and African American Studies at Louisiana State University. He is an author, entrepreneur, scholar, speaker, and community volunteer. He is the author of:
- 鈥淎 View from the Inside鈥hirty-Six Years of Desegregation鈥� (DPC Publishing Company & Aventine Press, 2015), and
- 鈥淥ur Roots Run Deep: A History of The River Road African American Museum鈥� (Donning Company Publishers, 2002), and co-author of
- 鈥淎 Stone of Hope, Rising above Slavery, Jim Crow and Poverty in Glendora, Mississippi,鈥� DPC Publishing Company & Xlibris, 2017,
- 鈥淎 History of the Charity Hospitals of Louisiana: A Study of Poverty, Politics, Public Health and the Public Interest鈥� (Mellen Press, 2010), and
- 鈥淧lantation Society and Race Relations: The Origins of Inequality鈥� (Praeger, 1999).
He has published numerous articles in scholarly journals and received numerous academic and community service awards. He is currently Emeritus Professor of Sociology at 蘑菇tv and Emeritus Professor of Urban Higher Education at Jackson State University. He currently resides in Baton Rouge.