Ryan Carr

Ryan Carr (PhD Yale, 2016) studies the cultural histories of American nations. Much of his research focuses on the Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern seaboard and their relations with British and US empires. His first book, Samson Occom: Radical Hospitality in the Native Northeast (Columbia UP, 2023) examines the life and writings of the Mohegan-Brothertown preacher and political leader Samson Occom. Another area of specialization concerns the history of free speech, understood as a popular tradition rather than a legal doctrine. This is the topic of his next book, which explores the history of free expression from the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 to the rise of MAGA in our own time. In addition to his classes on the Native Northeast and early American culture, Ryan teaches Contemporary Civilization for Columbia's Core Curriculum. His writings can be found in journals like Critical Research on Religion, Early American Literature, and New England Quarterly; and in non-scholarly periodicals including The Boston Globe, The Atlantic, and American Affairs.