OC history professor receives the 2020 Rowe Distinguished Scholar Award

Professor of History Matt McCook received one of OC’s highest honors for faculty scholarship.

November 14, 2020

Earlier this year, Oklahoma Christian University was privileged to honor Professor of History Matt McCook with the Rowe Distinguished Scholar award. This award is given each year to OC faculty who have presented scholarly content in the previous year.

Alongside Professor of Bible Jim Dvorak, McCook was privileged to receive the award earlier this semester, specifically for a recent series of publications and ongoing scholarly activity. Continuing his research on American history in the early 1800s, McCook’s most recent publication was published in “Oklahoma Humanities,” a magazine discussing productive civil discourse and new perspectives.

“I published an article called ‘Miller Time,’” McCook said. “I also published a series of entries for “American Religion: Belief and Society Through Time,” an encyclopedia. My entries were on Nathaniel William Taylor, Elias Hicks, James McGready and the Second Great Awakening. All of this is American religious history in the early 1800s; I've also regularly presented papers at scholarly conferences and published book reviews in various publications. The most recent one was in the ‘Journal of American History.’”

McCook discussed his fascination with Christianity during the 1800s, specifically citing his own worldview as the inspiration for his interest.

“People then, and now, wrestled with the degree to which Christians should engage the secular and political culture around them and how much they should simply focus on spiritual matters,” McCook said. “I find my thoughts on these issues have been informed by many of the leading figures of those times.”

In regard to the award, McCook specifically wanted to thank OC’s longtime history professor John Maple, who retired in the spring.

“I want to thank my friend and mentor for recommending me for the award and for exemplifying what it means to be a Christian historian at OC.”