Oatis, Steven J. 1970–

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Oatis, Steven J. 1970–

(Steven James Oatis)

PERSONAL:

Born March 13, 1970, in Massachusetts; married, 1999; wife's name Amy (an educator); children: Lilly. Education: Emory University, Ph.D., 1999. Hobbies and other interests: Reading, fishing, sightseeing, sports, cooking.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Lamar, AR. Office—Department of History, University of the Ozarks, 415 N. College Ave., Clarksville, AR 72830. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Formerly affiliated with Georgia State University, Atlanta, and Emory University, Atlanta; University of the Ozarks, Clarksville, AR, began as assistant professor, 1999, currently associate professor of history.

MEMBER:

Phi Alpha Theta.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Michael Kraus Research Grant, American Historical Association, 1997.

WRITINGS:

A Colonial Complex: South Carolina's Frontiers in the Era of the Yamasee War, 1680-1730, University of Nebraska Press (Lincoln, NE), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS:

Growing out of his doctoral work, Steven J. Oatis's first book is A Colonial Complex: South Carolina's Frontiers in the Era of the Yamasee War, 1680-1730. In it he examines the interactions between native tribes, particularly those known as the Yamasee, and European settlers over the course of fifty years. Writing in the Journal of Southern History, Joshua Piker deemed it "excellent" and described it as "a comprehensive and persuasive interpretation of this critical war." H-Net: Humanities and Social Sciences Online contributor Michelle LeMaster felt that Oatis "pulls together the many conflicts of the era into a cohesive story that helps to make sense of the behavior of multiple players," although she also remarked that the author leaves many questions unanswered. She acknowledged, however, that "it is unfair, perhaps, to critique an author for the book he did not write." James Taylor Carson, in a review for the Southern Quarterly, commented that Oatis's "exploration of the conflict and the years leading up to and after the war are the best I have read." He viewed the book as "a welcome addition to the recent spate of frontier studies" and added that the author's "rehabilitation of the concept of frontier offers interesting theoretical challenges to studies that have focused instead on region-making and borderlands."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Historical Review, February, 2006, Charles Hudson, review of A Colonial Complex: South Carolina's Frontiers in the Era of the Yamasee War, 1680-1730, pp. 152-153.

American Indian Culture and Research Journal, summer, 2005, Donald A. Grinde, Jr., review of A Colonial Complex, pp. 134-135.

Americas, October, 2006, Amy Turner Bushnell, review of A Colonial Complex, p. 305.

Choice, December, 2005, R.P. Gildrie, review of A Colonial Complex, p. 727.

Ethnohistory, January, 2007, Patricia Barker Lerch, review of A Colonial Complex, p. 205.

Journal of American Ethnic History, fall, 2006, Karim M. Tiro, "Colonial Contacts, Indian Identities."

Journal of Military History, April, 2006, William Wall, review of A Colonial Complex, pp. 496-497.

Journal of Southern History, February, 2006, Joshua Piker, review of A Colonial Complex, p. 157.

Southern Quarterly, summer, 2006, James Taylor Carson, review of A Colonial Complex, p. 193.

William and Mary Quarterly, July, 2005, L.H. Roper, review of A Colonial Complex, p. 543.