Daniel J. Watkins
Assistant Professor & Undergraduate Program Director of History
Spring 2023 Office Hours
Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:00 - 3:00 pm and Wednesdays 9:00am - 12:00pm.
Areas of Specialization
Early Modern and Modern France, History of the Enlightenment, History of Catholicism, Book History, Digital History
Education
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Ph.D., The Ohio State University
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M.A., University of Florida
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B.A., University of Florida
Regular Course Offerings
Undergrad:
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HIS 1300: US in Global Perspective
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HIS 2395: The History Workshop
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HIS 4333: The French Revolution and Napoleon
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HIS 4343: France Since 1815
Graduate:
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HIS 5320: Religious Toleration in Enlightenment Europe
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HIS 5393: Teaching the College Survey Course
Other Courses Taught
Undergrad:
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HIS 1307: World History Since 1500
Work with Students
Accepting M.A. students
Accepting undergraduate research interns
Willing to advise undergraduate theses and independent research
Academic Interests and Research Narrative
My primary research interest is the Society of Jesus and the role that the Jesuits played in the Enlightenment, French Revolution, and the post-revolutionary period. More broadly, I study religion, culture, and politics in the early modern world. I investigate both archival and published sources and employ the methodological frameworks of the history of the book, the history of emotions, intellectual history, cultural history, and digital history. I am currently working on a project that looks at how early modern missionary writings shaped European perspectives about the rest of the world. I also write about pedagogy and issues in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
Selected Publications
Books
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Berruyer’s Bible: Public Opinion and the Politics of Enlightenment Catholicism in France. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2021.
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Belief and Politics in Enlightenment France: Essays in Honor of Dale K. Van Kley (edited with Mita Choudhury), Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment 02:2019. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2019.
Articles
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“Skepticism, Criticism, and the Making of the Catholic Enlightenment in France: Rethinking the Career of Jean Hardouin,” Journal of Jesuit Studies 6 (2019): 486-504.
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“The Two Conversions of François de La Pillonnière: A Case Study of Rationalism and Religion in the Early Enlightenment.” Eighteenth-Century Thought 6 (2016): 33-58.
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“Religion and Trade through Jesuit Eyes: Bringing Early Modern Central Asia into the World History Classroom.” World History Connected 10, no. 3 (2013).
Essays
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“A Suppression Revisited: Jansenism, Conservatism, and the Anti-Jesuit Ordinances of 1828.” In Belief and Politics in Enlightenment France, Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment 02:2019. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2019.
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“An Enlightenment Bible in Catholic France: Isaac-Joseph Berruyer’s Histoire du peuple de Dieu (1728-1758)." In Vernacular Bibles in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Era. Leuven: Peeters Press, 2017.
Selected Activites
Awards
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Guittard Book Award for Historical Scholarship for Berruyer’s Bible (2022)
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Guittard Book Award for Historical Scholarship for Belief and Politics in Enlightenment France (2020)
Fellowships
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Gale-ASECS Non-Residential Fellowship (2022)
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Baylor University Libraries Fundamentals of Data Research Fellowship (2021)
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National University of Ireland Moore Institute Visiting Research Fellowship (2018)
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Stanford University Libraries Gustave Gimon Visiting Scholar Fellowship (2015)
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Newberry Library Short-Term Fellowship for Individual Research (2010)
Grants
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Theodore E. D. Braun Research Travel Fellowship from the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (2018)
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Arts and Humanities Faculty Research Grant from the Baylor University College of Arts and Sciences (2017)
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Research Enhancement Grant from the Baylor University Office of the Vice-Provost for Research (2016)
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Elaine S. and John C. Rule Research Travel Award from The Ohio State University Department of History (2010)