Paul Thompson headshot

Paul Thompson, Jr., PhD

Dean, College of Humanities and Sciences
864.977.7768
paul.thompson@ngu.edu
Unit: History, Program Deans, College of Humanities and Sciences, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Location: Tigerville

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” Proverbs 1:7
  • Teaching & Education

    You will learn with me when taking courses in American History, Latin American History, African History, and in Social Studies Education.

    Degrees

    • BA, Oral Roberts University
    • MA, Montclair State University
    • PhD, Emory University
    • Certificate in Nonprofit Management, Duke University
    • Certificate in Theology and Ministry, Princeton Theological Seminary
  • Professional Experience

    My experience includes a thirteen-year career in secondary education in New York State. I have been teaching at the university level since 2005.

  • Selected Publications
    • “Benevolent Empire,” “Lyman Beecher,” and “Temperance Movement” in American Religious History: Belief and Society through Time, Gary S. Smith, editor (Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2021).
    • “Myth 1: Temperance Advocates and Prohibitionists Shared the Same Goals and Tactics,” in Prohibition’s Greatest Myths: The Distilled Truth about America’s Anti-Alcohol Crusade (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2020)
    • “Temperance and Prohibition” in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia in American History (2017)
    • “Justin Edwards” and “National Temperance Society and Publication House” in The Sage Encyclopedia of Alcohol: Social, Cultural, and Historical Perspectives, Scott C. Martin, ed. (SAGE Publications, 2015)
    • A ‘Most Stirring and Significant Episode:’ Religion and the Rise and Fall of Prohibition in Black Atlanta, 1865-1887 (DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 2013).
  • Selected Awards Received
    • 2015 – Excellence in Teaching Award, South Carolina Independent Colleges & Universities
    • 2010 – Lamar S. Chapman Meritorious Award, North Greenville University
    • 2008-09 – American Congregational Association/Boston Athenaeum Fellowship
    • 2008-09 – Gilder Lehrman Institute for American History Research Fellowship
  • My Story

    Dr. H. Paul Thompson, Jr. received his doctorate in American history from Emory University and a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Duke University. He is a diversity fellow of The Riley Institute at Furman University and an alum of Leadership Greenville class 44. Prior to teaching at NGU, Thompson had a 13-year career as a public school teacher and taught history at Lander University. His teaching and research interests include the 19th-century temperance movement, African American history, and the history of Christianity in America.

    He is also the 2015 NGU recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award, given by the South Carolina Independent Colleges & Universities. He is the author of A Most Stirring and Significant Episode: Religion and the Rise and Fall of Prohibition in Black Atlanta, 1865-1887, and articles in various encyclopedias. Thompson also considers himself a foodie and enjoys eating at fine restaurants and traveling in his spare time.

    “Ever since junior high school, I had wanted to be a high school social studies teacher, but eight years into my public-school career, God grabbed my attention and redirected me to Christian higher education. He aligned things so clearly for me that I could not miss that he was calling me to North Greenville University. There is nothing more fulfilling than shaping the thinking and lives of tomorrow’s leaders within the framework of a biblical worldview. For the last few years, I have worked to create an environment that empowers all the faculty of the College of Humanities and Sciences to do the same thing with ever increasing wisdom and excellence.”

    Favorite Course to Teach:

    Africa and the Slave Trade is my favorite course because most students who take it know little about Africa and the slave trade, and they are eager learners. Second, it gives me an opportunity to address with my students such difficult topics as pain and suffering from a biblical worldview, and these are topics most people rarely want to confront.

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