معرفی
Michael S. Christofferson is a Professor in the Department of History at Adelphi University’s College of Arts and Sciences, where he teaches courses on modern European history, the French Revolution, fascism, Nazism, and the global sixties. He holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University and a B.A. from Carleton College, and his work bridges intellectual history, political thought, and historiography.
His research focuses on 20th-century French intellectual and political history, particularly the antitotalitarian turn of the 1970s, the legacy of May 1968, and the work of historian François Furet. He is currently completing a book under contract with Verso Books on Furet’s intellectual and political impact. His earlier monograph, French Intellectuals Against the Left, has been widely recognized and translated into French, Romanian, and other languages. He also explores the intersection of photography and history, with recent creative work exhibited at the International Center of Photography in New York.
The articles he has published over the past two decades reflect a consistent engagement with French intellectual life, the evolution of the left, and the role of historical interpretation in political discourse. His publications span journals such as New Left Review, French Historical Studies, and H-France Forum, and they collectively trace the transformation of French political thought from postwar communism to liberal antitotalitarianism, with a particular focus on historiographical debates and transnational influences.
Christofferson has received multiple research grants, including from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), Penn State Institute for the Arts and Humanities, and Adelphi University. He serves as series editor for Berghahn Monographs in French Studies, demonstrating sustained scholarly leadership. His invited lectures at institutions such as New York University, Columbia, and the Université Libre de Bruxelles reflect his international academic presence.
He has advised and mentored students, though specific names are not listed, and his professional activities include extensive conference presentations and contributions to scholarly discourse through book reviews in major journals. His multilingual abilities in French, German, and Spanish further enhance his transnational scholarly reach.
Christofferson’s creative scholarship includes photography, with one of his works featured in the ICP’s #ICPConcerned exhibition and included in its permanent collection and catalog. This interdisciplinary engagement underscores his broader commitment to the public role of historical and visual narrative in understanding contemporary crises.
