Conniff, Michael L.
Date Updated
3-6-2019
Department
History
Academic Rank
Full Professor
Year Retired from SJSU
2012
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SelectedWorks Profile Page
Educational Background
University of California, 1968, BA, Latin American Studies
Stanford University, 1969, MA, Latin American Studies
Stanford University, 1976, Ph.D., History
Dissertation Title
Rio de Janeiro during the Great Depression, 1930-1937
Teaching Experience
University of New Mexico, 1975-1990
Auburn University, 1990-1997
University of South Florida, 1997-2002
San Jose State University, 2002-2012, FERP 2012-2016
Administrative and Professional Experience
Co-director, Institute for Latin American Studies, Auburn, 1991-1995
Founding director, Institute for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, USF, 1997-2002
Founding director, Global Studies Initiative, SJSU, 2002-2012
Associate Dean, College of Social Sciences, SJSU, 2009-2012
Service
I came to SJSU to create the Global Studies Initiative, that consisted of a new BA degree, faculty development, grant writing and administration, study abroad, and research promotion through the Silicon Valley Center for Global Innovation and Immigration, on a 0.8 FTE appointment. I managed several million dollars in grants and contracts. The remaining 0.2 appointment was in the History Department, where I taught part time and conducted my own research.
Selected Publications
Ten books and scores of articles, including:
Africans in the Americas: A History of the Black Diaspora. With Thomas J. Davis, editors and contributors. New York: St. Martin's Press, 356 pp., 1994. New printing by Blackburn Press, 2003-.
Populism in Latin America. Editor and contributor. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 243 pp., 1999. Revised edition, 2012.
A New History of Modern Latin America. Co-author with Lawrence Clayton. Ft. Worth: Harcourt Brace, 550 pp., 1999. New editions by Thompson, Belmont CA, 2005, and University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 2017 (with Susan Gauss).
Modern Panama: From Occupation to Crossroads of the Americas. Co-author with Gene E. Bigler. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2019. Spanish edition by City of Knowledge, Republic of Panama, 2019.
Personal Commentary
SJSU allowed me to achieve my highest levels of productivity and satisfaction as a professor of history and an administrator. The challenges loomed yet the rewards repaid the efforts invested.