Schulman, Bruce J. 1959-

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SCHULMAN, Bruce J. 1959-

PERSONAL:

Born December 16, 1959, in New York, NY; son of Bernard A. (in business) and Marianne (Harpuder) Schulman; married, 1989; children: two. Education: Yale University, B.A., 1981; Stanford University, M.A., 1982, Ph.D., 1987.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Department of History, Boston University, 226 Bay State Rd., Boston, MA 02215-1403. E-mail—bjschulm@bu.edu.

CAREER:

Educator and historian. University of California—Los Angeles, began as assistant professor, became associate professor of history, 1987-93; Boston University, Boston, MA, associate professor and director of New England studies department, 1994-2002, professor of history, 2002—. California History Project, director, 1989-1990.

MEMBER:

Phi Beta Kappa.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Giles Whiting fellowship, 1985; Mabelle McLeod Lewis Memorial fellowship, 1986; University of California—Los Angeles faculty development grant, 1989, outstanding teaching award, 1990, 1992; National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship, 1992; Eby Award, 1993; Luchkman Distinguished Teaching Award, 1993; Charles Warren Center fellow, 1996; Blum-Kovler Foundation fellowship, 1999; Notable Book of the Year citation, New York Times, 2001, for The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture, Society, and Politics.

WRITINGS:

From Cotton Belt to Sunbelt: Federal Policy, Economic Development, and the Transformation of the South, 1938-1980, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1991.

Lyndon B. Johnson and American Liberalism, Bedford Books (Boston, MA), 1994.

The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture, Society, and Politics, Free Press (New York, NY), 2001.

Contributor to periodicals, including Los Angeles Times, Reviews in American History, Atlanta Constitution, Mississippi Quarterly, Historian, Southern Historian, New England Journal of History, Journal of American History, and Bostonia.

SIDELIGHTS:

Bruce J. Schulman, a professor of history at Boston University, is the author of several books examining the changing social, cultural, and political face of the United States during the twentieth century. In his 1991 work From Cotton Belt to Sunbelt: Federal Policy, Economic Development, and the Transformation of the South, 1938-1980, Schulman examines the federally enacted policies designed to restructure the southern economy after the Great Depression of the 1930s. Showing that the economy of the region was ultimately regenerated less by such social welfare programs than by military expansion, he draws connections between the South's economic prosperity and the rising tide of liberalism in the civil rights era. Citing Schulman's book as the first attempt to "systematically … analyze and document the impact of federal policy," Journal of Southern History contributor Numan V. Bartley cited the effort as "well-researched and provocative," while in the American Historical Review Peter A. Coclanis praised the author for "skillfully employ[ing] … tools and insights from several disciplines in his compelling, if not altogether convincing, analysis of the rise of the Sunbelt South." Noting that the historian provides persuasive evidence to prove his theory that "the southern elite controlled federal spending for its own ends, and, by encouraging noncompliance with federal guidelines, … directed federal funds away from the poor," Pete Daniel maintained in his review for the Journal of American History that From Cotton Belt to Sunbelt is "an important contribution to southern economic history."

Schulman takes on a topic familiar to most adult readers in his 2001 work The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture, Society, and Politics. In what an Economist reviewer called a "short, sprightly book," he recalls such events as the presidency of Jimmy Carter, Nixon's rise to power on the backs of the so-called "silent majority," black militantism, civil rights and antiwar protests, Watergate, California's Proposition 13, and the energy crisis, and attempts to make sense of it all. Writing in the Washington Post Book World, Josh Ozersky commented, "With The Seventies the period finally has that noble thing, a standard text." New York Times Book Review contributor George Packer, while noting that "when he turns to popular culture, [Schulman's] … historian's judgement is less sure," praised the author for his political insights and described The Seventies as "a book of shrewd historical analysis and clear anecdotal prose." "Schulman's The Seventies … is well-organized, well-written, and insightful," noted New Leader contributor Steven Kelman. "It effectively brings the decade to life, and it offers an analysis of what transpired that benefits from the perspective of a larger historical context." Library Journal reviewer Scott H. Silverman dubbed the book "the best first word on the subject," while in Publishers Weekly a reviewer maintained that in The Seventies the author's ability to draw on a wealth of "examples from popular and political culture … make for astute analysis as well as colorful social history."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Historical Review, June, 1992, Peter A. Coclanis, review of From Cotton Belt to Sunbelt: Federal Policy, Economic Development, and the Transformation of the South, 1938-1980, pp. 951-952.

Booklist, May 15, 2001, Mary Carroll, review of The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture, Society, and Politics, p. 1728.

Boston Globe, July 1, 2001, Laura Ciolkowski, review of The Seventies.

Economist (U.S.), April 7, 2001, review of The Seventies, p. 3.

Journal of American History, March, 1992, Pete Daniel, review of From Cotton Belt to Sunbelt, pp. 1504-1505.

Journal of Southern History, November, 1992, Numan V. Bartley, review of From Cotton Belt to Sunbelt, pp. 745-746.

Library Journal, June 15, 2001, Scott H. Silverman, review of The Seventies, p. 87.

National Review, May 28, 2001, Christopher Caldwell, "Abusing the Seventies."

New Leader, July, 2001, Steven Kelman, review of The Seventies, p. 24.

New York Times Book Review, June 10, 2002, George Packer, "The Decade Nobody Knows," p. 6.

Publishers Weekly, February 26, 2001, review of The Seventies, p. 66.

Washington Post Book World, July 7, 2001, Josh Ozersky, review of The Seventies, p. 6.