Texas Tech University

Sean P. Cunningham

Sean P. CunninghamWhat are your current research interests?

My research focuses on modern American political history, with a particular interest in Texas and the “Sunbelt” South and Southwest since roughly 1932. My first book examined partisan realignment in Texas during the 1960s and 1970s, primarily through the lens of the state's Republican Party. My second book explored socioeconomic and political developments across the Sunbelt since the end of World War II, specifically in southern California, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina. My current book project centers on state and local campaign politics in Texas during the 1930s and early 1940s, specifically the ways in which mainstream Democrats aligned with and appropriated images of FDR and the New Deal. If there is one theme that runs consistently through each of those projects it is likely one of political marketing – the ways in which candidates react to, influence, and manipulate emotions for political benefit.

What types of outreach and engagement have you been involved with?

I have been fortunate to serve on the Board of Directors for both Humanities Texas and the Texas State Historical Association, two organizations dedicated to public education and community outreach.  Most of my work with these organizations has revolved around continuing education for primary and secondary public teachers, both in terms of content acquisition and pedagogy – thinking about innovative ways to reach and inspire future generations. In addition to teacher training programs, I've worked with Civil Counterpoints here at Texas Tech, a campus conversation series designed to foster intelligent, reasoned discussion among people who disagree on many of the most controversial issues of our day.

Why did you choose this field?

My interest in history began as a child and has never faded. My interest in politics has always been especially strong, but beyond that, I simply love fostering dialogue, which draws me to the classroom. Our world often seems sadly deficient when it comes to empathy and compassion. Polarization rules the day. Compromise is out of style. But I firmly believe that we can't fully understand where we are as a society without understanding where we've been in the past and how we got to “now.” History is the story of us and without recognizing that, divisions will not only persist, but grow.

How do you define good teaching?

To me, good teaching is about engagement, empathy, patience, and enthusiasm. I worry that we spend too much time thinking about charisma, style, software programs, innovative assignments, and the like. Those are good things, but even the most intricately designed class will fail to achieve its goals if the instructor fails to make a personal connection with their students. Teachers who are willing to invest the time and energy to reach their students, and to listen to them, generally inspire an ongoing passion for learning.  

What is your proudest professional accomplishment?

It's hard to narrow a career down to one accomplishment, but nothing makes me happier than when a student tells me I've awakened a love of reading, or a love of history, or even just a love of learning more broadly. So many students think college is a requisite hoop to jump through on the way to a career or, more specifically, a paycheck. But I love it when students discover something in my class that helps them realize the intrinsic value of critical thought. I'm so thankful to have shared moments like this with students over the years. 

How do you integrate research and outreach into teaching?

Honestly, I don't know how else to do it!  Teaching – or at least good, effective teaching – is about bringing your students to a scholarly banquet table, revealing to them a world they might not have realized existed.  That sounds a tad utopian, but really, the idea that you can teach without researching, or research without teaching what you've discovered, or do either without recognizing the applicable impact on our communities … we're simply not doing our jobs as educators if we're not integrating these facets of our profession.

More About Sean P. Cunningham

Sean P. Cunningham is Chair of the Department of History. He teaches broadly in twentieth-century U.S. history, while specializing in the history of modern American political culture. His geographic emphasis is on the Sunbelt, Texas in particular. His first book, Cowboy Conservatism: Texas and the Rise of the Modern Right, was published by the University Press of Kentucky in 2010 and won the Texas Tech University President's Book Award in 2012. His second book, American Politics in the Postwar Sunbelt: Conservative Growth in a Battleground Region, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2014. His third book, Bootstrap Liberalism: Texas Political Culture in the Age of FDR, is under contract with the University Press of Kansas, tentatively slated for publication in 2021.

In addition to his responsibilities as Department Chair, Cunningham also serves on the Board of Directors for both the Texas State Historical Association and Humanities Texas – the state's affiliate to the National Endowment for the Humanities. At Texas Tech, he also serves as Title IX Liaison for Academic Affairs, is on the Advisory Board for Civil Counterpoints (a campus conversation series designed to stimulate thoughtful and respectful dialogue on volatile contemporary issues), is a member of the Editorial Board for Texas Tech University Press, and has been a member of the Provost's Faculty Success Task Force and Advisory Committee since 2017.

Cunningham is also a decorated teacher. In 2020, he was elected to membership in the university's prestigious Teaching Academy. In 2013, Texas Tech honored him with the President's Excellence in Teaching Award. In 2012, he was selected as a recipient of the “Professing Excellence” award, presented by University Student Housing. In 2011, Cunningham was honored with the Department of History's Distinguished Faculty Award. He was also honored with this award in 2008. In 2010, Cunningham was selected as the College of Arts & Sciences winner of the Texas Tech Alumni Association's New Faculty Award. He was also nominated for this award in 2009. Finally, in 2007, Cunningham was awarded the Calvin A. VanderWerf Award in recognition of his selection as the outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Florida, where he earned his Ph.D.

Prior to his graduate work in Gainesville, Cunningham completed his B.A. in Public Relations from Texas Tech University in 1999, before earning his M.A. in History and his M.Ed. in Higher Education, also at Texas Tech, in 2002.

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