An Interview with a Leader: Howell Keiser

Howell Keiser (PhD) is first and foremost a southerner and a historian. A graduate of Univeristy of Alabama (B.A. History) and Louisiana State University (PhD in U.S. History), Dr. Keiser came to Charlottesville as a Post-doctoral Fellow in the Program on Constitutionalism and Democracy (PCD) in the UVA Politics Department. He’s joined us at Blue Ridge as a reading group leader for two consecutive semesters, teaching a mini-survey of the Southern Agrarian tradition and now, the Civil War in Appalachia. 

We interviewed him about his time leading a group with Blue Ridge.

1. What is it about the Civil War in Appalachia that interests you? Why should students be interested?

I grew up in North Carolina and always spent time in the North Carolina Mountains. I also got my M.A. at Appalachian State University, so I got to work with great Civil War and Appalachia historians, like Judkin Browning and Bruce Stewart. They both piqued my interest in this region. And what I find fascinating about the Civil War in Appalachia is also what I want my students to find interesting. The conflict in the region presented a unique and complex dynamic within the larger conflict. There were divided loyalties within communities. Furthermore, Appalachia is a geographically challenging landscape for military operations, and the changes that the war brought to these highland communities had significant social and economic impacts that extended far beyond the war itself. 

We often think that the South was more or less united in secession, but it's more complicated than that when you look at the southern mountain communities. These divided loyalties between families, neighbors, and friends in these small mountain communities not only existed before and during the war, but they also shaped many of the family rivalries after the war. Score settling, deception, and shocking acts of violence really defined the war years in Appalachia, and studying that aspect offers students a different perspective on the war itself. We're not looking at the engagements of great armies in this reading group, we're looking at guerrilla warfare and rampant criminality. 

2. I’ve heard your group members say they love hearing you tell stories. What do you think has been the best part of your group's conversations?

I have a tendency to go on tangents and tell stories from the past that I think are cool, so I'm glad the students find them enjoyable. I think the best part about discussions is hearing the opinions, interpretations, and questions of the students. You may have an idea of what you are going to talk about based on the reading material, but you never know what a student is going to bring to the table at each meeting. We can head in a totally different direction. We can be looking at the past for the past's sake, but then we find ourselves comparing history to the present. I love that. The past never stays in the past. It's always unfolding around us, and when students start moving in that direction, and connecting those dots, it's fantastic. Students also bring great questions to discussions as well. They may not be experts on the subject we are discussing, but they approach it with a new eye, and this prompts great questions. I find this often the case. For instance, my wife isn't a historian. She would read my work and have the best questions that would force me to think about the material in a completely new way. The students have done the same thing in each group. I really enjoy that collaborative aspect. The students are great.

3. What do you think is not taught at most universities that should be (in terms of your research, or otherwise)?

I'm a historian of the Civil War Era, but more than that, I'm a southern historian. You can take fantastic classes on the Civil War at any university, especially the University of Virginia. However, across the board I think we need more emphasis and classes on the southern intellectual tradition. It's easy to dismiss the South as a backward region. Southern history is obviously far from pleasant, but it's still worth studying. Their intellectual culture was quite supple and, at times, more self-deceiving than hypocritical. Educated southerners before the Civil War relied on ancient history and ancient political theory, modern political philosophy (Locke, Hobbes, Hume, etc.), and a multitude of classical economic theories. 

There is a lot to learn from exploring this aspect of the South's intellectual culture; they were anything but backward. While they were oftentimes incredibly wrong, they were nevertheless sober-minded men leaning on the popular intellectual ideas of their time. And there are of course scholars who desire a greater emphasis on this. For example, one of my favorite historians, Drew G. Faust, has recently urged historians to focus more on this aspect of southern history. Faust says we need more southern intellectual history, and I agree. And I also think that we really need to examine this culture beyond the Civil War Era as well. As we enter into this new AI world, I think there is real value in reading the Southern Agrarians and their critique of progress in "I'll Take My Stand," particularly as it relates to industrial and technological progress.

Dr. Keiser will be starting as an Assistant Professor of the Humanities at the University of Florida's Hamilton Center in Fall 2025. We are incredibly grateful the time and energy he has given to us at the Blue Ridge Center. He’s been an invaluable asset to our programs, and we are excited for all he will accomplish in the future.