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Brandon Thompson

Curator of History, Department of Museum Research & Collections
Assistant Professor

Education

  • PhD, University of Alabama, 2023
  • MA, University of Alabama, 2009
  • BA, University of Alabama, 2006

About

My fascination with history began as a child growing up in Georgia. My family made trips to local historical and archaeological sites including Kolomoki Mounds State Park and Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park. I moved to Tuscaloosa in 2000 and soon enrolled at the University of Alabama majoring in Anthropology while working in the University of Alabama’s Department of Museum Research and Collections (DMRC) as a student. I served as an archaeologist specializing in bioarchaeology for the University’s Office of Archaeological Research for ten years. Between 2018 and 2023, I worked as the director and curator of the Gorgas House Museum, the first and oldest structure on the University’s campus. After earning my doctorate, I accepted the Curator of History position for the DMRC in 2024. My research interests include public history, international student experiences, and organizational history engagement.

Selected Publications

  • 2022 Resurgence of on-campus Activity at the Gorgas House Museum. Museum
  • Chronicle, 62, 21.
  • 2020 Museum studies graduate student creates archaeology exhibit that provides insight
  • into the Gorgas House Museum’s history. Museum Chronicle, 60, 17.
  • 2020 Student outreach, involvement, and engagement. Museum Chronicle, 60, 13-15.
  • 2017 A Comparison of Ethnicity and Tuberculosis in the Historic Southeast. Historical
  • Archaeology 51(4).
  • 2015 Phase III Archaeological Mitigation at the Bank of the State Site (1Tu495). Report
  • submitted to the City of Tuscaloosa, Alabama by the Office of Archaeological Research,
  • University of Alabama Museums, Tuscaloosa.
  • 2013 Phase II Archaeological Testing of Site 1Tu495, 2450 University Boulevard, Tuscaloosa,
  • Alabama. Report submitted to the City of Tuscaloosa, Alabama by the Office of
  • Archaeological Research, University of Alabama Museums, Tuscaloosa.
  • 2013 Gaming and the Moundville Deer Astragalus Effigy. Stones & Bones Newsletter 55(1).
  • 2012 Management Summary of the Archaeological Excavations of Three Test Units Associated
  • with the West Flank Stairway on Mound P at the Moundville Site (1Tu500). Submitted to
  • the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and the Alabama Historical
  • Commission, Montgomery, Alabama by the Office of Archaeological Research,
  • University of Alabama Museums, Tuscaloosa.
  • 2012 Mound P Excavations. Stones and Bones Newsletter 54(8).
  • 2010 Phase III Archaeological Mitigation at the Little Canoe Creek Site (1Sc336): An Ellis
  • Phase Site near Odenville, St. Claire County, Alabama. Report submitted to Spectrum
  • Environmental Services, Inc., Alabaster, Alabama, by the Office of Archaeological
  • Research, University of Alabama Museums, Tuscaloosa.
  • 2010 Supplemental Phase II and Geomorphological Testing of Site 1Le310 at the Notasulga
  • Quarry, Lee County, Alabama. Report submitted to Vulcan Materials Company,
  • Birmingham, Alabama, requested by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, by the
  • Office of Archaeological Research, University of Alabama Museums, Tuscaloosa.Thompson 5
  • 2009 Phase II Archaeological Testing of Site 1Ca636 Located within Proposed Commercial
  • Development East of Oxford, Calhoun County, Alabama. Report submitted to Goodwyn,
  • Mills, and Cawood, Inc., Birmingham, Alabama by the Office of Archaeological
  • Research, University of Alabama Museums, Tuscaloosa.