Dr. Joseph Kelly

Biography

Joe Kelly is an Assistant Professor in History at Athabasca University. He specialises in U.S. labour and social history. His dissertation in History at the University of Toronto focuses on African American railroad workers in the Deep South in the early twentieth century. He is currently developing a course on post civil war U.S. History that puts the activities of ordinary men and women at the centre of the story. Joe has a professional background as a researcher, editor and freelance writer.

Research Interest

His interest in the study of history is inspired by the idea that ordinary working people's ongoing pursuit of social justice, equality and freedom is the spirit which motivates progress through time as well as rich innovations in modern culture such as the novel forms of musical expression (i.e. the spirituals, blues and jazz) which are an intrinsic aspect of African American experience in U.S. History.