James T. Sears


James T. Sears is an American educator, historian, and activist. He is a former professor at the University of South Carolina, Trinity University, Harvard University, and Penn State. The author of books about LGBT history and sexuality education, his archive of correspondence, research notes, interviews is located at the Rubenstein Library of Duke University.

Early life

Sears was born on August 12, 1951 in Tipton, Indiana. He graduated from Southern Illinois University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1974. He earned a master's degree in secondary education from Indiana University, followed by another master's degree in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His PhD, in 1984, from Indiana University was a critical ethnography of that same university.

Career

Sears began his career in higher education at Trinity University, in 1983, and then was appointed assistant professor at The University of South Carolina and was promoted to full professor in 1991. During his 20-year career at USC, Sears pursued twin writing tracks in sexuality education and LGBT studies establishing himself as "one of the preeminent scholars of southern gay culture" and earning the wrath of the Christian Right. In 1993, Southern Baptist Convention members joined other conservative religious groups across the country in condemning Sears for teaching a graduate course on the impact of Christian fundamentalism on education, earning him the moniker of "Satan of the University." In addition to organizing for LGBT rights on and off campus, Sears was the founding editor of two LGBT journals—Empathy and the Journal of LGBT Youth.
Sears was a visiting a visiting researcher at the University of Southern California, a visiting research fellow at the University of Queensland, a Research Lecturer at Brazil's National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, and a Fulbright Southeast Asian Scholar.

Selected works