Biography
I began my explorations of the liberal arts during my undergraduate studies at Hendrix College in Arkansas. While studying abroad at Oxford University in my junior year, I became increasingly drawn to History because it seemed to be the discipline that would be most helpful in figuring out why things were the way they were. Since then I’ve picked up a few additional degrees and written some books, but my warmest memories are connected to the interactions that I’ve had with students in and out of the classroom. Most of my work involves developing new titles for the Reacting to the Past series of immersive historical role-playing games.
Expertise
- Game Design
- 18th and 19th Century U.S. History
- Zombies
- Star Wars
Awards
- Cutting Edge Curriculum Award, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry's Division of Higher Education, 2018
- Faculty Award for Campus Leadership, 2016
- Distinguished Teaching Award, 2006
- Faculty Research Award, 2003
Credentials
- B.A., cum laude, Hendrix College, 1990.
- M.A., University of Kentucky, 1991.
- M.A. Emory University, 1995.
- Ph.D., Emory University, 1998.
Publications
- Chicago, 1968, Policy and Protest at the Democratic National Convention, W.W. Norton, 2020.
- Restoring the World, 1945: Security and Empire at Yalta, with John Moser, Reacting Consortium Press, 2020.
- Forest Diplomacy: War and Peace on the Colonial Frontier, W.W. Norton, 2018.
- Kentucky, 1861: Loyalty, State and Nation with Margaret Storey, W.W. Norton, 2016.
- Modernism versus Traditionalism: Art in Paris, 1888-89 with Gretchen McKay and Michael Marlais, Reacting Consortium Press, 2016.
- Hunting and Mastery in the Antebellum South, University of Virginia Press, 2002.
Podcast
"Playing Even More Games With History," Historically Thinking, a podcast about historical knowledge and how we achieve it. Nick Proctor discusses the game-based Reacting to the Past pedagogy, within which he has written or co-written four "Reacting" games.