James Clifford

Who is James Clifford?

James Clifford is an interdisciplinary scholar whose work combines perspectives from history, literature, and anthropology. He grew up in New York City and was for thirty three years Professor in the History of Consciousness Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz until his retirement in 2011. Clifford and Hayden White were the first faculty directly appointed to the graduate-only department at UC-Santa Cruz. The History of Consciousness department continues to be an intellectual center for innovative critical scholarship in the U.S. and abroad, largely due to a group of prominent faculty including Donna Haraway, Teresa de Lauretis, Victor Burgin, Angela Davis and Barbara Epstein who were hired in the 1980s. Clifford served as department Chair from 2004-2007 and was the founding director of UCSC's Center for Cultural Studies. He has been a visiting professor in France, England and Germany and was elected to the American Academy of the Arts and Sciences in 2011.