Johnson presents paper in France

      Dr. Lloyd Johnson, professor of history at Campbell University, presented a paper on transportation and travel in South Carolina during the 18th century at an international conference in Montpellier, France, recently. The paper, which focuses on St. David’s Parish, S.C., explores the experiences and impressions of European travelers of the early Southern Backcountry in British America and how the development of roads and other forms of transportation followed the path of wealth and privilege.
     “It was an excellent conference,” Johnson said. “I met faculty from all over the world and made some interesting contacts.”
     Scholars from Spain, France, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, New Zeland and the United Kingdom were represented at the conference, which was sponsored by the Research Center for Commonwealth Studies at Paul Valery University in Montpellier. Created in 1978, the center organizes interdisciplinary research work in the field of Commonwealth civilizations and literatures written in English.
     Johnson, who is the director of historical studies at Campbell, received a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in counselor education from the university. He went on to obtain a master’s degree in American history from East Carolina University and earned a doctorate from the University of South Carolina. A resident of Erwin, N.C., he is the author of a book on Welsh settlers in the South, “The Frontier in the Colonial South: South Carolina Backcountry, 1736-1800,” which was listed in “The Best Books for Academic Libraries,” Vol. 4 (2002). He has made numerous presentations on his research in Wales, Britain and the U.S, and has also appeared in the BBC documentary, “Roots in Wales.” In addition, Johnson was appointed to the editorial board of the “North American Journal of Welsh Studies.”