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Faculty by Undergraduate Concentration

All history majors select a geographic region of concentration as their primary area of study: Americas and Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Europe and the Mediterranean World. Majors are encouraged to get to know the faculty in their region of concentration as early as possible.

History majors are also encouraged to carve out their own unique thematic research pathway — religion, social movements, science and environment, and gender, to name a few — and to get to know the history faculty who specialize in those research areas.

***Click on a faculty member's name to view their detailed profile information.***

Eric Porter
  • Pronouns he, him, his, his, himself
  • Title
    • Distinguished Professor
  • Division Humanities Division
  • Department
    • History Department
    • Critical Race and Ethnic Studies
  • Affiliations History of Consciousness Department, Latin American & Latino Studies, Music Department, Dolores Huerta Research Center for the Americas
  • Phone
    831-459-5287 (office, voice mail checked infrequently)
  • Email
  • Office Location
    • Humanities Building 1, 235
  • Office Hours On sabbatical leave in 2025-26
  • Mail Stop Humanities Academic Services
  • Mailing Address
    • 1156 High Street
    • Santa Cruz CA 95064
  • Faculty Areas of Expertise African American / Black Studies, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Jazz, American Studies, California History, Improvisation, Urban studies, Cultural Studies
  • Courses HIS 120: W.E.B. Du Bois; HIS 20: Popular Music Movements; HIS 122A: Jazz and United States Cultural History; HIS 122B: Jazz and United States Cultural History; HIS 190C: 9/11 in Historical Perspective; HIS 204C: Colonialism, Nationalism And Race Research Seminar; HISC 216: Critical Race/Ethnic Studies; HISC 232: Music/Social/Thought; HISC: 246: Black Radicalism; HISC 249: Black Ecological Thought

Research Interests

Black cultural and intellectual history; US cultural history and cultural studies; critical race and ethnic studies; popular music and jazz studies; black radicalism; urban studies.

Biography, Education and Training

B.A. History, UC Berkeley
M.A. American Studies, University of Michigan
Ph.D. American Studies, University of Michigan

Selected Publications

Recent books: