Dr. Wesley Jackson

Assistant Professor of History

Director, BSE Social Science Education

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Education

• Ph.D. History, Liberty University, 2023
• M.A. History, Liberty University, 2019 
• B.S. History, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, 2016

Teaching Specialties

• Secondary Social Studies Education
• African American Educational History
• Urban History and School Reform
• Twentieth-Century U.S. History
• Public Policy and Legal History
• Comparative Race, Class, and Gender Studies
• U.S. Civil Rights and Desegregation

Courses Taught

• United States History Since 1876
• Methods & Materials for Teaching Social Studies in Secondary School
• Digital Technology for Social Studies Educators

Research Interests

The history of public education in the American South; the intersection of race, law, and schooling; desegregation and the legacy of Jim Crow in urban districts; African American intellectual history; equity in school governance; and the role of local actors in educational policy reform.

Curriculum Vitae

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Biography

Dr. Wesley Jackson Sr. is an Assistant Professor of History and Education and serves as Director of the BSE Social Sciences program at Arkansas State University. His work explores the historical intersections of race, law, and public education in the twentieth-century urban South. Dr. Jackson is a retired Veteran of the United States army and brings the discipline and world experience he has to the classroom.

Before entering higher education, Dr. Jackson served as a secondary educator, shaping his commitment to teacher preparation and social studies pedagogy. He brings a practitioner’s perspective to his academic research, integrating historical inquiry with a strong grounding in public service and community engagement. His scholarship has appeared in journals and edited volumes that explore educational inequality, African American activism, and the evolution of desegregation policies.

His first academic book, Desegregating Houston: Schools, Struggle, and the Soul of a City, builds on his doctoral research and uncovers the untold story of Black educational activism and institutional resistance in Houston’s public schools from Reconstruction through the post–civil rights era.

At Arkansas State, Dr. Jackson teaches undergraduate courses in U.S. history, education policy, and digital pedagogy.