About me
Cane West is an academic and public historian whose work bridges the communication divides between advanced research and public audiences. His public outreach and history communication work has been recognized by the National Park Service and NASA, and his academic publications have appeared in leading American History journals. He is currently the Acting Interpretation Program Manager at Hot Springs National Park, where the park's location in an urban environment, high annual visitation, and relevant histories of healthcare and watershed conservation create one of the more dynamic settings for NPS interpretation.
Dr. West earned his PhD in American History from the University of South Carolina in 2019. His research has been published in the Journal of Southern History and the Journal of the Early Republic. He has contributed to exhibit design teams for several National Park Service sites and Smithsonian-affiliated museums.
His professional expertise is in developing public programming to facilitate dialogue around historical memory, place-based story-telling, and park management. His academic research ranges from the historical (urban slavery, Civil War memory, 19th c. Indigenous sovereignty, and history of medicine) to the contemporary (national park management and Guantanamo Bay Naval Station).
