Thomas J. Durant
Professor
EPhD in Urban Higher Education
1230 Raymond Road, Box 2000
Jackson, MS 39204
JSU Box 17209
Jackson, MS 39217
(601) 979-2434 (office)
(601) 979-9213 (fax)
thomas.j.durant@jsums.edu
Thomas J. Durant, Jr., is a Professor in the Executive PhD Program. He earned the B.S. degree in Agricultural Science from Grambling State University, the M.S. degree in Agricultural Education from Tuskegee University, and the Ph.D. degree in Sociology from The University of Wisconsin-Madison. His career includes: Peace Corps Volunteer in St. Lucia, The West Indies; Research Associate at Tuskegee University; Professor of Sociology at Virginia State University; and Professor of Sociology at Louisiana State University-Baton Rouge, where he is a retired Emeritus Professor. His teaching and research interests include the social causes and effects of crime, aging among ethnic minorities, social inequality and race relations, southern culture, and the social organization and culture of ante-bellum plantations. He served as Director of the African and African American Studies Program at Louisiana State University, President of the Mid-South Sociological Association, and Guest Editor of the Journal of Sociological Spectrum. He has extensive experience as an international development consultant in East, West, and South Africa, and has traveled extensive in Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, North America and the Caribbean. He is the author of Our Roots Run Deep and co-author of Plantation Society and Race Relations, and A History of the Charity Hospitals of Louisiana. He has written numerous articles that have been published in scientific research journals. His hobbies are writing, traveling, community service, brainstorming, and tennis.