Phi Alpha Theta, Stephen F. Austin State University's history honor society, will host a book signing for Dr. Court Carney's new book, "Cuttin' Up: How Early Jazz Got America's Ear," this week on campus.
The event will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20, at the Barnes & Noble located in the Baker Pattillo Student Center.
"It is exciting," Carney said about the publication of his first book. "It is one of those projects that you work on for so long, and it seems without end." He spent two years writing the book and finished last spring.
"The book is a combination of stories and sources," Carney said. It incorporates film, music and racial history. "And jazz hits all of those topics so well. It is using jazz to look at a larger story."
Carney, whose research emphasis is racial and cultural history, joined the SFA faculty as an assistant professor in fall 2008. He teaches introductory American history classes, as well as courses on civil rights, African American history, Civil War memory and graduate-level historiography.
Carney received his bachelor's degree in history from Baylor University and earned his master's and doctoral degrees at Louisiana State University.
"Cuttin' Up" is available in bookstores nationwide, as well as on Web sites such as Amazon.
Axe ’Em, Jacks!