Amadi Amaitsa

Education

Ph.D., History, Baylor University
M.A. in History, University of Utah
B.S. in History, Corban University

Academic Interests & Research Narratives

My research centers on twentieth-century American religious history, culture, and evangelicalism. I am especially interested in interfaith relations between evangelical Christians and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints within the broader religious landscape of the United States during the Cold War. My dissertation, “Dutifully Contending for the Faith: Evangelical Anti-Mormonism in the Countercult Movement, 1950-1989” explores how cultural concerns about communism, the stability of the family, and civil rights shaped the content of anti-Mormon material created during the height of the Christian countercult movement. It additionally uses oral histories of Black Latter-day Saints to better understand the character of Black Protestant anti-Mormonism in the 1970s and 1980s. I am also interested in the history of religion and race in America as well as Mormon history. 

Selected Activities

Awards/Fellowships

• Graduate School Presidential Fellowship, Baylor University, 2019-2024
• Guittard Fellowship, Baylor University, 2019-2020
• History Department's Distinguished Graduate of History Award, Corban University, 2017

Other Information

In addition to my academic pursuits, I appreciate aspects of hip-hop culture, especially dance and vocal percussion (beatboxing). I am also a board member of the nonprofit organization Amani Fellowship, which coordinates material and spiritual support to widows and orphans in western Kenya. When not researching or writing, I enjoy reading from my Stephen King collection, running around Waco, and spending time with my wife Delila (which occasionally involves singing duets, a remnant of our university a capella group and talent show days).

Courses Taught

HIS 1300 | U.S. in Global Perspective

HIS 1366 | U.S. History since 1877