Joel Wolfe

Joel Wolfe is a Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, based in Herter Hall. He holds a B.S. from Georgetown University, an M.A. in Latin American Studies from the University of New Mexico, and a Ph.D. in History from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His research focuses on modern Brazil, Latin American history, and the cultural and political history of baseball and football. Wolfe is the author of three books, including *Working Women, Working Men* (1993) and *Autos and Progress* (2010), with his latest work *Brazil* (2023) examining national history. He is currently writing a book on the history of American football and a project on inter-American trade and culture in the 1920s.

Wolfe’s teaching includes courses on modern Latin America, Brazilian history, and the history of baseball and football. His awards include the George R. Brown Prize for Excellence in Teaching (Rice University, 2003–2005) and the Residential First Year Experience Student Choice Award at UMass Amherst. His research integrates themes of labor, modernization, and transnational connections, with a focus on Brazil’s industrialization, populism, and cultural identity.

His work bridges economic, social, and cultural history, often exploring how technology, politics, and everyday life shape national narratives. Ongoing projects emphasize the intersection of sport, national identity, and globalization in Latin America and the U.S.