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Bio
Andy Milson is a Professor of Historical Geography in the Department of History at the University of Texas at Arlington where he teaches courses in human, historical, regional, and urban geography. In 2020, he was inducted into the UTA Academy of Distinguished Teachers. He has published extensively in the field of geography education and twice received the "Best Article Award" from the Journal of Geography. His most recent research has focused on travel and exploration in nineteenth-century North America. His 2019 book, Arkansas Travelers, was awarded the J.G. Ragsdale Award for Best Book in Arkansas history by the Arkansas Historical Association. He is serving as Chair of the UTA Faculty Senate from 2023-25.
Arkansas Travelers: Geographies of Exploration & Perception: 1804-1834
Reviews
"Milson is highly successful in unveiling many of the complex interactions at work between humans and nature on the southern frontier. Vividly written, Milson's entertaining book will be a welcome read to anyone interested not only in Arkansas, but also in the social, economic, and environmental history of the early nineteenth-century South."
-- Mikko Saikku, Journal of American History, June 2021
"Milson redefines Arkansas and its varied landscapes in the early nineteenth century and in the process shifts our view of Arkansas and its travelers."
-- Joseph Key, Journal of Southern History, May 2021
"Milson's perspective as a geographer is made clear from his subtitle to the final page, but readers from a wide range of disciplines will be grateful for the clearly stated organizational framework and lucid prose he brought to the task. Milson is also to be praised for the distance he keeps, making explicit his understanding that his travelers were to a man spectacularly biased observers. With this study, Milson has lifted the scholarly examination of Arkansas's earliest documentary records to a new level of precision and analytic sophistication."
-- Robert Cochran, Arkansas Historical Review, Spring 2020
“[A] truly eye-opening volume, which lays aside the traditional travels of so long ago, and neatly places each excursion within two major themes—that of place and landscape. … Milson has given us a new way to examine these travels and the Arkansas Travelers themselves.”
— Maylon Rice, Fort Smith Historical Society Journal, September 2019
“Milson’s lively narrative—informed by his keen geographer’s eye—reconstructs an Arkansas landscape rich in environmental diversity, cultural pluralism, and commercial possibility. A must-read for any enthusiast of the nineteenth-century frontier.”
—William Wyckoff, Professor of Geography, Montana State University
“Bringing together the stories of these four important early Arkansas travel accounts is enough to constitute a good book, but Milson’s perception maps help re-frame these stories -- making us rethink the cultural and environmental commentaries that have so long occupied our attention. Arkansas Travelers is a welcomed addition to Arkansas history and to historical geography in general.”
—Brooks Blevins, Noel Boyd Professor of Ozarks Studies, Missouri State University
“That Andrew Milson is both an historian and a geographer is what makes Arkansas Travelers so special. This is research in historical geography at its best.”
—Richard L. Nostrand, Professor Emeritus of Geography, University of Oklahoma
Winner of the 2020 J. G. Ragsdale Award
The Arkansas Historical Association awarded the J.G. Ragsdale Award to Arkansas Travelers in the spring of 2020. The award is for the best book-length study of Arkansas history.