John Saillant

John Saillant
Professor of English
Office: 
(269) 387-2571
Fax: 
(269) 387-2562
Location: 
619 Sprau Tower, Mail Stop 5331
Mailing address: 
Department of English
Western Michigan University
1903 W Michigan Ave
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5331 USA
Education: 
  • Ph.D., American Civilization, Brown University, 1989
  • M.A., American Civilization, Brown University, 1981
  • B.A., American Civilization, Brown University, 1979
Teaching interests: 
  • African American literature
  • American literature
  • Colonial America to 1763
Bio: 

Dr. John Saillant is a professor of English at Western Michigan University.

He is the author of a monograph (Black Puritan, Black Republican: The Life and Thought of Lemuel Haynes) and essays in scholarly journals, the editor of one collection of documents and of one collection of scholarly essays, and the co-author of a textbook.

He was one of the founding moderators of Humanities and social sciences on line (H-NET) and since 1994 he has been moderator of Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture (H-OIEAHC), the electronic association of the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture.

Most recently, he served several years as one of the editors of the African American National Biography, which appeared in early 2008. His work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies and several other organizations. He has worked with several colleagues in a U.S. Department of Education project, Teaching American History, in which he has led discussion among middle-school teachers of the American Revolution and the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

At WMU, he teaches in the Departments of English, History, and Comparative Religion. His course topics include Early American Literature, African American Literature, Colonial American History, The New Nation, American Religion, and occasional special-topic courses.