Hello, and welcome! I’m Bryson Kisner, a Ph.D. candidate in rice University’s History Department. I primarily study the nineteenth-century U.S. and the U.S. South through the lenses of environmental and borderlands history. I also dabble in longer periodizations and broader geographies, such as the Atlantic World.
My dissertation—“From Borderland to Southern Land: The Changing Landscape of the Sabine River Valley, 1800-1877″—studies how a diverse and dynamic set of (often competing) communities reshaped and utilized the landscape of the Texas-Louisiana border region, while maintaining a focus on how local ecologies abetted or impeded them. For example, the watershed’s environments shaped the region’s historical and present demographics. Though inhabited by diverse communities, much of the watershed was and is sparsely populated. These landscapes also encouraged the river’s reoccurring status as a border between polities. While the importance of the river-border has declined, the valley remains sandwiched between more populous regions that attract greater scholarly attention. As a result, the Sabine Basin itself lies at the edge of more-studied geographies and histories.
I came to this project for several reasons. I have familial roots in Texas (including East Texas) extending into the nineteenth century. I was born and raised in Texas, myself. The construction and contestation of borders are integral to this region’s past and present. Furthermore, it faces local ecological challenges that manifest environmental crises operating at larger scales of time and space. I was aware of these realities from an early age. My maternal grandmother’s family had flip-flopped across the shifting Mexico-U.S. border several times since the 1830s. My paternal grandmother remembered the Dust Bowl. My grandfathers both grew up on Texas farms. I was raised in Central Texas amidst rapid urbanization, suburbanization, and immigration-driven population growth. My professional interest in borders, the environment, and regional history stems from these familial and personal histories. I came to studying the Sabine Basin, in particular, through an established historian’s, Dr. Frank de la Teja’s, comment on the region’s understudied communities. I quickly became intrigued by these historiographical gaps. My dissertation evolved from there.
This blog has several objectives. First, it makes my project accessible to a larger audience. Sharing my work at conference venues, through academic publications, and in classrooms is a given. But I believe adamantly that academic work should be public-facing and accessible. This website will hopefully help share some of my work with a larger audience. Second, this blog tracks my progress as I work. Third (and theoretically), it allows me to link my dissertation with any side projects that I engage with over the course of my candidacy. Fourth (and finally), it will allow me to simply muse on the things that make doing history interesting.
I hope that that this will be a resource to people looking to learn about the history of the Sabine Basin (West Louisiana, East Texas) and its communities. I also hope it will provide insight into the dissertation process, graduate school, and professional history for those who might be considering this line of work.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy!
