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American & New England Studies

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Curriculum Vitae: Joseph A. Conforti

Education

  • Brown University, 1969-1975
  • Ph.D., American Civilization, 1975
  • A.M., American History, 1972
  • Springfield College, 1963-1967
  • B.S., with honors, History and English, 1967

Honors

  • University of Southern Maine Trustee's Research Fellow, 2004
  • Annual Best Book Award, Northeast Popular Culture-American Culture Association, 2002
  • "Region and the Imagination: New England and the South," National Endowment for the Humanities Grant for teachers, 1994-1996, $275,000, (Co-author and co-lead scholar)
  • "Creating New England: Memory, Nostalgia, and Tradition," National Endowment for the Humanities Grant for a Teacher's Institute, 1993-94, $140,000 (Co-author and lead scholar)
  • Richard Beale Davis Prize for the Best Essay Published in Early American Literature, 1991, MLA Division of American Literature to 1800

Awards

  • National Endowment for the Humanities Grants, 1988-1989, 1989-1990, for Faculty and Curriculum Development in New England Studies, total $73,616 (Writer and Director)
  • Davis Foundation Grant, 1990, New England Studies Program Development, $15,000 (Writer and Director)
  • National Endowment for the Arts Grant for a Project on Traditional New England Town Design, 1989-1990, (Contributing writer and Project Co-Director), $39,000.
  • Runner-up Honorable Mention, Brewer Book Manuscript Prize Competition, American Society of Church History, 1980
  • USM Faculty Achievement Award, 1988
  • Choice Outstanding Academic Book for Saints and Strangers, 2007
  • Certificate of Merit, Association for the Study of State and Local History, for Creating Portland, 2006
  • University of Southern Maine's second Distinguished Professor

Teaching and Administrative Experience

  • Professor of American and New England Studies, University of Southern Maine, 1987-Present
  • Director of American and New England Studies, University of Southern Maine, 1987-1997
  • Associate Professor of English and History, Rhode Island College, 1982-1987
  • Assistant Professor of English and History, Rhode Island College, 1980-1982
  • Assistant Professor of History, Rhode Island College, 1978-1980

Other Experience (Selected)

  • President, New England Historical Association 2001-02
  • Vice-President, New England Historical Association 1999-2000
  • Editorial Board, Religion and American Culture, 1998-
  • Editorial Board, Maine Historical Society Quarterly, 1994-Present
  • Advisory Board, New England Studies Series, University Press of New England, 1992-1997