EVANS 1
Tessa Neblett Evans 915 Volunteer Blvd. Dunford Hall Knoxville, TN 37996-4065 [email protected] 434.996.1630 EDUCATION
The University of Tennessee—Knoxville
Ph.D Candidate (August 2015-present), concentration in early American History
Primary Advisor: Dr. Kristen Block. Committee Members: Dr. Julie Reed (history), Dr. Shannen Dee Williams (history), and Dr. Barbara Heath (anthropology).
Exam Fields: Atlantic History (Dr. Kristen Block), Native American History (Dr. Julie Reed), Slavery and Capitalism (Dr. Chris Magra), exams completed Fall 2017
James Madison University, Master of Arts, American History (Graduated: 9 May 2014)
MA Thesis: “From Swamps to Swamping: The Usage and Perceptions of Swamps by African Americans in Antebellum and Postbellum Arkansas and Louisiana.” Dr. Andrew Witmer, director
Lynchburg College, Bachelor’s Degree, History (Graduated: 12 May 2012)
Summa cum laude Phi Kappa Phi Major: History, Highest Honors Minor: French
AWARDS & FELLOWSHIPS
2018 Colonial Dames Grant from the National Society of Colonial Dames
2017 The Jim Pledger Graduate Research Fund from the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies
2015 The Milton M. Klein Graduate Fellowship in American History at the University of Tennessee
2015 Chancellor’s Fellowship at the University of Tennessee
EVANS 2
2012 Robert L. Hill Distinguished Senior Award at Lynchburg College –given to a senior who has excelled in academics, ranked in the top 2 percent of the graduating class, pursued a challenging and rigorous curriculum, and exhibited involvement in campus and community activities
2012 The William Webster Ferguson Outstanding History Major Award (Lynchburg College)
2012 Outstanding Senior History Award (Lynchburg College)
2010 Jeanne Roberts Bickner Award in History (Lynchburg College)
2010 Honorable mention in the Peter Wallenstein Best Undergraduate Paper Award at Virginia Social Science Association (VSSA) Conference
CONFERENCES, PRESENTATIONS, INVITED TALKS
City University of New York Early American Seminar Graduate Student Conference (New York, New York, 11 May 2018)
Presented: From Native Ground to Underground: Native Americans & People of African Descent, and the Creation of Cultural Landscapes in the Arkansas Territory Southern Forum on Agricultural, Rural, and Environmental History (Knoxville, Tennessee, 28 April 2018)
Presented: Black Landscapes in the Southern Frontier: The Environmental Dimensions to Fugitive Slave Activity in the Arkansas Territory
St. Francis County Historical Society (St. Francis County Museum, Forrest City, Arkansas, 6 August 2015)
Presented: The Landscape of Eastern Arkansas and Scott Bond’s Legacy
Phi Alpha Theta at Lynchburg College Induction Ceremony: Discussion about Graduate Work and Post-College research (Lynchburg College, Lynchburg, Virginia, 27 February 2015)
Black History Month Panel at Lynchburg College: Slavery and Freedom in Central Virginia (Lynchburg College, Lynchburg, Virginia, 6 February 2015)
Presented: Plantation Landscapes in Virginia
The History Seminar at Lynchburg College (Lynchburg College, Lynchburg, Virginia, 23 April 2014) Presented: Scott Bond and the Economic Uses of Swamps in Postbellum Arkansas
EVANS 3
The Global Gulf Conference at Tulane University (Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, 22 February 2014)
Presented: Swamps, Sloughs and Bayous: The Perception and Usage of Marginal Land by the Enslaved and Free Blacks in Antebellum Arkansas and Louisiana
Southern Forum on Agricultural, Rural, and Environmental History (Converse College, Spartanburg, South Carolina, April 2013)
Presented: Alligators and Antebellum Southern Culture
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE & UNIVERSITY SERVICE
Secretary for the Tennessee Workshop on Food, Agriculture, and Society at the Humanities Center at the University of Tennessee. August 2017-May 2018. Helped with logistics of this workshop; sent out emails about upcoming seminars, helped coordinate travel accommodations for lecturers, helped order food for meetings, and attended all meetings in this interdisciplinary group.
Research Assistant to Dr. Kristen Block, University of Tennessee Knoxville. May-August 2017. Read through parts of Thomas Thistlewood’s diary for a larger project about enslaved lives on his plantation. Looked for instances of violence, domestic quarrels, medical knowledge, and relationships among enslaved in Jamaica.
The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities (IATH). Project Title: Early Life and Events at Jefferson’s University. Kirt von Daacke, Maurie McInnis, Louis Nelson and Martin Worthy, supervisors. May 2013-August 2014 at the University of Virginia. Transcribed documents from the Special Collections library, entered Faculty Minutes, Board of Visitors Minutes, and personal letters into XML format using Oxygen software. Checked dates and facts, and “tagged” events, people and places in order to create a virtual website of Jefferson’s University for UVa’s bicentennial.
Judge, East Tennessee Historical Society History Day. March 2016.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
American History: From Reconstruction to the Present, Teaching Assistant to Dr. Shannen Dee Williams, University of Tennessee, January-May 2018
History of Ireland and the Irish in the World, Teaching Assistant to Dr. Robert Norrell, University of Tennessee, August-December 2017
World History Part II, Teaching Assistant to Dr. Kristen Block, University of Tennessee, January-May 2017
EVANS 4
World History Part I, Teaching Assistant to Dr. Thomas Burman, University of Tennessee, August-December 2016
History of Civilization I & II, Instructor in History at Lynchburg College (adjunct). August 2014- May 2015
American History Survey, Teaching Assistant at James Madison University, August 2012-May 2014
AFFILIATIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS
American Historical Association Arkansas Historical Association Decorative Arts Trust Louisiana Historical Association Southern Historical Association St. Francis County Historical Association Vernacular Architecture Forum