Jill Watts, Ph.D.
History Professor, College of Humanities, Arts, Behavioral and Social Sciences, CSUSM
Professor Watts received a B.A. in History (with a minor in Mathematics) from Revelle College at the University of California, San Diego and a M.A. and Ph.D. in History from the University of California, Los Angeles. She came to California State University, San Marcos after teaching at Weber State University, UCLA, and Santa Monica College. She has also taught at Cornell University where she received a fellowship from the Society for the Humanities. Her research interests include United States social and cultural history, African-American history, film history, and biography. A recipient of the CSUSM President’s Award for Scholarship and Creative Activity, she has authored three books, Hattie McDaniel: Black Ambition, White Hollywood, Mae West: An Icon in Black and White, and God, Harlem U.S.A.: The Father Divine Story. She has served as the Interim chair of the Department of History, co-chair of Women's Studies, the Program Director of Film Studies, and the Graduate Studies Coordinator for the History Department.
