Office Directory
Michael Keaton
Professor of History
Department: Division of Humanities
Office: Brower 111
SWU P.O. Box: 1932
Email: Send an Email
Phone: 864-644-5213
Michael P. Keaton is a native of Seneca, SC.
Michael has taught middle and high school classes ranging from History to Geography to Computers to Philosophy, but his first job was delivering drugs (as an employee of Sammeths’ Drugs in Seneca). He has made appearances on the History Channel and in the PBS documentary, The Outlaw Lewis Redmond.
Michael has been lost in Chicago, attacked by a pit bull, yelled at by an Academy Award-winning actor, in the same room with Buzz Aldrin, kicked out of the Greenville Mall, chased by an enraged bull, and held at gunpoint by a SWAT team. He has also designed a Congressional election ad, become trapped and lost consciousness underwater, coached JV women’s basketball, assistant coached SWU’s Cross Country teams, rescued a kitten from a tree, hit a game-winning shot at the buzzer, missed a game-winning shot at the buzzer, covered a car in Oreos, and he has 40 first cousins.
Michael began teaching at Southern Wesleyan University in 2002, and he has taught full-time in the traditional program since 2008. He is the author of Start College Strong: What Every First-Year Student Needs To Know, a book designed to help incoming college students adjust to the academic world (see https://startcollegestrong.com/). He is also the author of the science fiction novel, All Hail The Emperor, and he is looking for someone with $50 million who would like to produce the movie version. Mike currently resides in South Carolina with his wife and children.
Education
- Ph.D. in Humanities/History from Faulkner University
- M.A. in History from Clemson University
- B.A. in History from Southern Wesleyan University
- B.S. in Business Administration from
Southern Wesleyan University - A.S. in Management with an emphasis in Marketing from
Tri-County Technical College
Areas of Specialty/Interest
- 20th Century U.S. Military History
- Southern History
- Political Science and Government
- History of Technology
- Colonial South Carolina
- John Locke