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Ronald Schultz
Professor
American Encounters, Migration Processes and Incorporation, Women's History.
Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, 1985
ron.schultz@live.com • 766-5142 • History Room 256
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I have always been interested in the ways that people construct and interpret the world around them. That explains, in part, the fact that my BA and two years of graduate work were done in the field of psychology. But, it also explains the character of the courses I teach and the research and writing I have undertaken.
I teach the first half of the American history survey at the lower division level as well as upper division courses in cross-cultural interchange in America from the sixteenth century to the present. My American history courses deal with what I view as the defining experience of American life: the creation and development of a multiethnic and multicultural society. At the same time, I emphasize the lives of ordinary men and women and the roles that they played in shaping the American past. In each of my courses I ask students to imagine themselves in the place of the people they are reading and thinking about and to ask themselves questions such as: What outside forces structured their world? How did these people respond to this structured world? Most importantly, how did natives and newcomers from every corner of the world handle the social and cultural differences between them?
I have explored the nature of early American popular thought in a book about Philadelphia artisans (The Republic of Labor, 1993) and in articles about artisan thought and the importance of religion in the lives and thoughts of America craftsmen (Past and Present, 1990; Religion in a Revolutionary Age, 1996). Most recently, I have been writing a college survey textbook that views the American past through the lens of cross-cultural interchange. Titled, American Encounters: A Multiethnic History of America, the book, like my courses, views American history as a series of encounters between people living on the North American continent and newcomers from around the world. I'm also working on a book that looks at the strategies ethnic and racial outsiders use to make themselves part of American society--often against extraordinary odds. The working title is, Spending Capital: How Outsiders Make a Place for Themselves in American Life.
I'm always happy to discuss my courses or my work with interested students, parents, or the public at large. If you have any questions or would simply like to open a conversation, please use this email link to contact me:
ron.schultz@live.com
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