I became a historian in a unique historical moment, the late 1960s and 1970s.

Trained in modern European history and Middle Eastern Studies at Princeton University, (PhD. 1970) I focused on the contemporary history of Morocco just as it was becoming independent from French colonial rule. I was hired at the University of California, Santa Cruz and Merrill College in 1968. It was a year of enormous political and cultural excitement in California and in the world.

In these early years, I taught modern French history and the Islamic history survey for the “Board of Studies in History” of UCSC and Third World Studies (the pedagogical theme) at Merrill College.

My research and Teaching reflected the times, but also my evolving interests. I discuss below these different aspects of my intellectual formation and how it was reflected in my teaching and research.