Skip to main content
MenuSearch & Directory
Close
People Finder Directory >

Joseph Nichols, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Education

Ph.D., Social Studies Education, Graduate Certificate in Qualitative Studies and Research, University of Georgia
M.A., Public Affairs, Georgia College and State University
B.B.A., Management, Mercer University

Practice Areas

  • History of Education | Race and Segregation in American Schooling (1954-1970) 
  • Social Studies | Civic Education
  • The Policy and Policy Contexts of K-12 Schooling and Teacher Education
  • Qualitative Research Methods

Research Interests

The field of education consists of studying the complex and varying interactions that mediate and define teaching and learning. Because education in general and the act of schooling in specific are political, I believe that educational issues are best understood through studying the social, cultural, historical, and policy contexts that define them. These contexts bind what schooling can and cannot do. Accordingly, my research agenda focuses on uncovering and making sense of the relationships between schooling and the historical and political contexts that define schools. Specifically, I am interested in the following questions: Who is a good citizen? How do schools cultivate citizenship? In this sense, my scholarly identity is one of citizenship, citizen education, and the civic mission of schools.

My current research addresses the civic mission of schooling through an analysis of white backlash politics. The white backlash is a politics of whiteness that pushes back against multicultural advancements in American society. It’s an expression of power. The white backlash works through social, political, and economic structures in ways that make it seem legitimate. I am interested in how this politics manifest in schools. In other words, I study how white backlash politicians have used the act of schooling to promote whiteness and white supremacy and, thus, threaten democracy.   

Publications and Media Placements

Current Projects and Works in Progress

  • Manuscripts in Revision or Under Review
    • Nichols, Joseph R. “'To Defend and Strengthen Their Heritage’: White Flight from Public Schools and the Rise of Segregation Academies in the 1960s South.” History of Education Quarterly. (revise and resubmit; in revision)
    • Nichols, Joseph R. and Alyssa Ignaczak. “Help Our Public Education (HOPE), Concerned Motherhood, and Integrating Atlanta’s Public Schools.” Journal of Southern History. (under review)
  • Manuscripts in Progress
    • Nichols, Joseph R., Natalie Gerke, and Stephanie Hendel. “‘Unless Something Is Done, and Done Quickly, We Can Just Kiss Our Schools Goodbye’: Governor Lester G. Maddox and the Post-Brown Private School Movement in Georgia.” 
    • Nichols, Joseph R. and Bailey Hanson. “Us Versus Them: The Rhetoric of Separation in Governor Lester G. Maddox’s Response to School Integration in Georgia, 1967-1971.” 
    • Nichols, Joseph R. and Rebecca Lauren Miller. “Americanism-Communism: Southern Segregationist Governor Lester G. Maddox, Cold War Fear Mongering, and Conservative Politics.” 
  • Books in Progress
    • Nichols, Joseph R. This Is Maddox Country: Georgia Governor Lester G. Maddox and the White Backlash in American Politics. Under contract with the University of South Carolina Press. (due January 15, 2025)

Publications and Media Placements

Recent academic publications include:

  • Journal Articles (peer-reviewed)
    • Cuenca, Alex and Joseph R. Nichols. “The Rise and Fall of Missouri’s Performance Assessment of Student Teachers: A Policy Network Analysis of the Missouri Pre-Service Teacher Assessment.” Education Policy Analysis and Archives 30, no. 7 (February 2022): 1-28.
    • Nichols, Joseph R. “Who Is a नागरिक (citizen)? Civic Orientations in Indian Education Policy.” Citizenship, Teaching and Learning 15, no. 2 (June 2020): 239-254. 
    • Nichols, Joseph R., Stephanie Hendel, and Natalie Gerke. “For Those Who ‘Love Liberty and the American Way of Life’: Governor Lester Maddox and the Opening of Post-Brown Segregation Academies in Georgia.” History Matters 32, no. 4 (December 2019): 1-9. 
    • Cuenca, Alex and Joseph R. Nichols. “Framing Teacher Education: An Analysis of the Comprehensive Educator Equity Plans of Sixteen State Education Agencies.” The New Educator 15, no. 1 (January-March 2019): 1-17. 
    • Nichols, Joseph R. and Alex Cuenca. “Two Roadmaps, One Destination: The Economic Progress Paradigm in Teacher Education Accountability in Georgia and Missouri.” Action in Teacher Education 36, no. 5/6 (Winter 2014): 446-459.
    • Cuenca, Alex and Joseph R. Nichols. “Ferguson Is About Us Too: A Call to Explore Our Communities.” Social Education 78, no. 5 (September-October 2014): 248-253. 
  • Book Chapters
    • Nichols, Joseph R. “The Economic Citizen: Civic Education and Its Discontents.” In Teaching in an Age of Economic Disparity, edited by Cory Wright-Maley and Trent Davis (New York, NY: Routledge, 2017), 25-41. (invited) (peer-reviewed)
  • Policy Briefs
    • Nichols, Joseph R., Alex Cuenca, and Andrew Diemer. “Policy Analysis: The Rise and Fall of Missouri’s Performance Assessment of Student Teachers.” PRiME Center Policy Briefs 3, no. 4 (July 15, 2021). 
    • Nichols, Joseph R., Stacey Preis, and Evan Rhinesmith. “The Road Back: St. Louis Public School Governance.” PRiME Center Policy Briefs 1, no. 1 (April 19, 2019).  

Conference Presentations

Recent conference presentations include:  

  • Nichols, Joseph R. “Naomi Brooks v. Moberly, MO and the Black Teacher Workforce Post-Brown, 1955-1970. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, April 3-7, 2024. (paper)
  • Nichols, Joseph R. “Help Our Public Education, Integrating Atlanta’s Public Schools, and the Grassroots Pushback Against the Segregationist Conservatism of Georgia’s Political Leadership.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Southern Historical Association, Charlotte, NC, November 8-12, 2023. (paper)
  • Nichols, Joseph R. “'To Defend and Strengthen Their Heritage’: White Flight from Public Schools and the Rise of Segregation Academies in the 1960s South.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the History of Education Society, Atlanta, GA, November 1-5, 2023. (paper) 
  • Nichols, Joseph R. “Help Our Public Education, Integrating Atlanta’s Public Schools, and the Grassroots Pushback Against Georgia’s Segregationist Political Elite.” Presentation at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, April 13-16, 2023. (presentation)
  • Nichols, Joseph R. “‘For Those Who Love Liberty and the American Way of Life’: Georgia Governor Lester Maddox and the Politics of Segregation Academies.” Presentation at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, April 13-16, 2023. (presentation)
  • Nichols, Joseph R. and Natalie Gerke. “Help Our Public Education, Integrating Atlanta’s Public Schools, and How Race-Talk Shapes the History of Race and Segregation in American Education." Poster presented at the annual meeting of the National Council for History Education, Salt Lake City, UT, March 23-25, 2023. (poster)
  • Nichols, Joseph R. and Natalie Gerke. “‘For Those Who Love Liberty and the American Way of Life’: How the History of Segregation Academies has Shaped the Civic Mission of Schools.” Poster presented at the annual meeting of the National Council for History Education, Salt Lake City, UT, March 23-25, 2023. (poster)  

Professional Organizations and Associations

  • History of Education Society
  • Midwest Political Science Association
  • Southern Historical Association