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William Stockton PhD

Professor, history

William Stockton is professor of history and religions at Johnson County Community College, where he has taught for twenty-five years. A Kansas City, Missouri, native, he majored in philosophy at Drake University, with a year at the University of Leeds, England. His doctorate, in comparative history from Brandeis University, studied five generations of a single family of Church of England clergy, from the eighteenth-century to the twentieth, and the changes in familial and social structures, and intellectual, and religious outlooks during that period. He performed his doctoral research in England; then, before completing his doctorate, taught English as a Second Language at the Berlitz School in London, residing in Britain for a total of nine years.

At JCCC he currently teaches courses in Western Civilization, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Medieval History, and Religions of the East. His newest course is Islamic Mysticism. He enjoys exploring structural intellectual differences among religions of the west and the east and how these affect their practices. He has explored how “Protestant interpretations” of Eastern religions, such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Daoism, Confucianism, and Shinto, have affected not only western perceptions of them; but, ironically, also been put to political use in Asia by Asians. In December, 2014, he was given a proclamation as “Teacher of Excellence,”by the City of Kansas City, Missouri.

He has led JCCC trips to Italy, Switzerland, France, Turkey, and Greece; and next spring, will be returning to Turkey. His hobby is digital photography.