About Prof. Steptoe

I'm a historian of race, gender, and culture in the United States.  My work primarily focuses on urban studies of the South and West in the 20th century.  As part of the AES faculty, I teach interdisciplinary African American Studies courses, as well as history courses. 

While on sabbatical for the 2012-2013 academic year, I will be working to complete my book, "Houston Bound: Space, Sound, and the Making of a Multiracial City," which explores how rural-to-urban migration shaped the lives of African Americans, Creoles of Color, and Mexican Americans in 20th-century Houston.  Additionally, I am working on a project that examines the fictional character "Jody Grinder" in folklore, music, literature, and film. 

My writing has been published in The Oxford American, Montana: the Magazine of Western History, and The Presence of Others: Voices and Images That Call for Response (5th Edition). I also contribute to the history website, BlackPast.org.

Education

PhD: University of Wisconsin-Madison, History
MA: University of Wisconsin-Madison, Afro-American Studies
BS: University of Texas at Austin, Radio-Television-Film
BA: University of Texas at Austin, History


Research Interests

20th-century U.S.; Histories of Race and Ethnicity; Popular Culture; Gender Studies; Urban History


Awards

Summerlee Research Fellow for the Study of Texas History, Clements Center for Southwest Studies, Southern Methodist University, 2012-1013.

Woodrow Wilson Career Enhancement Fellowship for Junior Faculty, 2011-2012.

Comparative Ethnic Studies Essay Prize, American Studies Association, Fall 2010.

Royalty Research Fund Scholars Program Award, University of Washington, 2010-2011.

Ford Foundation Diversity Dissertation Fellowship, 2006-2007.

Innovation in Teaching Award, College of Letters and Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Spring 2006.

Humanities Exposed Scholar, Center for the Humanities, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2005–2006.

Gerald L. Davis Travel Grant, American Folklore Society, Fall 2004.