Professor Scott specializes in modern United States History. His study, Contempt and Pity: Social Policy and the Image of the Damaged Black Psyche, 1880-1996, won the Organization of American Historian's 1998 James Rawley Prize for the best work in race relations. He is presently working on a history of white nationalism in the American South. He is the Vice President for Programs for the Association for the Study of African American History (ASALH), founder of the ASALH Press, and editor and founder of The Woodson Review. He is in the process of founding a new scholarly journal: Fire!!!: The Multimedia Journal of Black Studies, which will debut in February 2011 in JSTOR's New Scholarship Program. He serves as co-editor with Marilyn Thomas-Houston.