Pursell is an Assistant Professor of History and the Director of American Studies at Illinois Wesleyan University. He received his Ph.D. from the department of American civilization at Brown University in 2005 and his M.A. in history from the University of Maryland at College Park in 1991. At Illinois Wesleyan, Pursell teaches courses on Atlantic revolutions, the social and cultural history of British North America, slavery and servitude, and comparative race relations in the Americas. He is currently revising his dissertation, entitled, “Changing Conceptions of Servitude in the British Atlantic, 1640 to 1780,” a study of indentured servants who were transported to the West Indies and mainland colonies. Pursell has presented his work at the annual conferences of the Organization of American History, the British Association of American Studies, and the OIEAHC. He has received grants and fellowships from the American Antiquarian Society, the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, the John Carter Brown Library, and the American Historical Association. He serves on the University’s Curriculum Council and the Fulbright Committee. Prior to coming to IWU, Pursell taught courses at Hartnell College, Wesleyan University of Connecticut, and Brown University.

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