Dr. Christopher Lawton

Biography

Christopher Lawton is a historian whose work focuses on cultural and social history in the American South. Over the past decade, he has been involved in numerous public-facing projects that have received funding from several prestigious grants including the National Endowment for the Humanities (2017, 2018, 2023), Georgia Humanities (2012), the Spencer Foundation (2021), the William T. Grant Foundation (2022), and Monument Lab (2024). He co-authored the book 'Seen/Unseen: Hidden Lives of Community Enslaved Georgians' with Laura Nelson and Randy Reid, which won the Georgia Historical Records Advisory Council’s Award for Excellence in Documenting Georgia's History and was shortlisted for the American Library Association's Historical Materials. Lawton has published articles on 19th-century southern history, K-12 education, and historical landscapes in Georgia. He is also the co-founder and director of a non-profit organization dedicated to connecting digital humanities and place-based education throughout the state. His community-based projects, often in collaboration with UGA's Willson Center for Humanities and Arts, have been featured in outlets like the National Humanities Alliance, BuzzFeed News, Georgia Magazine, Flagpole, and the Athens Banner-Herald. Lawton has spoken about his work throughout the United States, as well as in Australia, Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

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