Dr. Blake Perkins, chair of the Department of History & Political Science at Williams Baptist University, has published two review essays recently in academic journals.

His essay “Listening to Rural Americans in ‘Trump Country’” examines a new book by Princeton University sociologist Robert Wuthnow titled “The Left Behind: Decline and Rage in Rural America.” The essay appeared as the featured review in the winter 2019 issue of the journal Agricultural History.

Perkins also published “(Re)embracing Hill Mythology: A Critique of Hillbilly Elegy” in the latest issue of Elder Mountain: A Journal of Ozarks Studies. This essay analyzes the significance of J.D. Vance’s popular book, “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis,” which was Amazon.com’s second-bestselling book in 2017 and is frequently cited by media pundits in their analyses of rural voters in the 2016 presidential election.

WBU’s Department of History & Political Science offers bachelor’s degree majors in history and secondary social studies education, as well as a minor in political science.

Williams is a private, Christian university in Walnut Ridge, Ark.