Matt Jennings joined the Macon State College (now Middle Georgia State University) faculty in 2007, after receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. His research interests include Native American history, early American history, and the history of violence. He is currently studying the relationship between Native American peoples and the mounds at Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park, and the intertwined history of tourism and archaeology at the site, as well as homeland-oriented displays in tribal museums in Oklahoma. Matt has also studied Thomas Paine’s interactions with Native Americans and the roots of John Brown’s ideas about violence. His current research includes work with the Acme Brewing Historical Society in Georgia and a study of the Ocmulgee River region during the War of 1812, as well as side trips into pop culture history. He has presented numerous papers and published several books, including New Worlds of Violence, The Flower Hunter and the People, and Ocmulgee National Monument: A Concise History with Field Notes.