He holds a B.A. Degree in History and African American Studies from the University of Alabama at Birmingham where he was also a student athlete. He holds a M.A. degree in American Studies/African American Studies from the University of Alabama and a Ph.D. degree in History, focusing in 20th Century African American History from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Hobson’s research interests are grounded in the fields of 20th Century U.S. and African American history, African American studies, oral history and ethnography, urban and rural history, political economy, and popular cultural studies. He is working to form a new and emerging field that he calls Black New South Studies. He is currently working on his manuscript entitled The Legend of the Black Mecca: Myth, Maxim and the Making of an Olympic City.