Robert f berkhofer jr biography
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Robert Berkhofer Jr. (1931-2012)
Historian of Theory and Native America, 50 Year Member of the AHA
Robert F. Berkhofer Jr., professor of history emeritus at the University of California, Santa Cruz, died in Davis, California, on June 25, 2012, at the age of 80. A 50-year member of the AHA, he taught at four of the Big Ten universities and, briefly, at the University of Florida before moving to Santa Cruz in 1991.
Berkhofer was born in Teaneck, New Jersey, in 1931 to recently emigrated Swiss-German parents. The family soon moved to a dairy farm in Greeneville, New York, southwest of Albany. There the young Berkhofer contracted polio at 13 and a lifelong (but good-humored) dis-affection for "mud, manure, and mosquitoes." Confined for a year to a "hospital for the incurable," he was liberated on VJ Day by his mother. She spent the next three years giving him physical therapy at home, which enabled him to function without braces. Post-polio syndrome later i
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Robert Berkhofer
Robert Berkhofer is Professor of medieval history at Western Michigan University. He is also currently Director of the Medieval Institute.
Research
My research explores transformations in writing and power, including record-keeping, notions of authenticity/forgery, legal ideas, and how literate practices changed rule and wealth, as well as their broad effects on samhälle and culture. It has often focused on archival documents of monastic scriptoria and princely chanceries, and how to evaluate them as bevis of mentality. I am currently exploring various aspects of historical writing, including possible comparisons between medieval European histories and those from other parts of the premodern world.
Publications
Forgeries and Historical Writing in Medieval England, France and Flanders, 900-1200.
Monastic scribes frequently rewrote their archives, using charters, letters, and narratives, to create new usable pasts for claiming lands and privileges in t
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Robert F. Berkhofer
American historian (1931–2012)
Robert F. Berkhofer | |
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Berkhofer in 1977 | |
| Born | (1931-11-30)November 30, 1931 Teaneck, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | June 25, 2012(2012-06-25) (aged 80) Davis, California, U.S. |
| Spouse | Genevieve Zito Berkhofer (m. 1962–2007) |
| Awards | Guggenheim Fellowship |
| Education | BA, University at Albany, SUNY MA, PhD, 1960, Cornell University |
| Thesis | Protestant missionaries to the American Indians, 1787 to 1862 (1960) |
| Institutions | University of California, Santa Cruz University of Florida University of Michigan University of Wisconsin University of Minnesota Ohio State University |
Robert F. Berkhofer (November 30, 1931 – June 25, 2012) was an American historian. He was a professor of history emeritus at the University of California, Santa Cruz and former president of the American Studies Association.