Dr. Jason Young

Biography

Jason Young is a Professor of History at the University of Michigan and the Mary Fair Croushore Professor of Humanities. He specializes in Nineteenth-Century United States History, African American History, and the African Diaspora. His research focuses on the intersections of history, art, religion, and folk culture. Young is the author of 'Rituals of Resistance: African Atlantic Religion in the Kongo Lowcountry Region of Georgia and South Carolina during the Era of Slavery,' which explores religious ritual practices linked to West-Central Africa. He also co-edited the collection 'Souls of W.E.B. Du Bois: New Essays and Reflections,' which examines Du Bois’s personal religious convictions and provides scholarly reflections on the role of religion in his work. In addition to his writing, Young co-curated the touring exhibition 'Hear Black Potters' which opened at the Metropolitan Museum in 2022 and has traveled to several institutions, including the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the High Museum. He has published articles in prominent journals such as the Journal of African American History and the Journal Africana Religions, and his latest book project, 'Mask of Memory: White Racial Fantasy and the Civil War,' is set to be published in 2026 by the University of North Carolina Press.

Research Interests