Welcome to my on-line home. I'm Michael Eissinger, Ph.D. I am currently a lecturer in Anthropology at California State University Fresno and in History at Fresno City College. I teach a wide array of History, Anthropology, and Ethnic Studies courses, both lower and upper division. I have also taught at UC Merced, Merced College, West Hills Community College Lemoore, Clovis Community College, and several campuses of Brandman and Chapman Universities. I earned my World Cultures and History Ph.D. at the University of California, Merced, in May 2017.
Since March 1, 2017, I have been hosting a weekly talk show on KFCF 88.1 (local Pacifica associate station in Fresno, CA). For more information about the show, please click on the "The STRUGGLE" tab, above.
Since March 1, 2017, I have been hosting a weekly talk show on KFCF 88.1 (local Pacifica associate station in Fresno, CA). For more information about the show, please click on the "The STRUGGLE" tab, above.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
For the last several years, I have been re-collecting the history of a number of Historically African American Rural Settlements throughout the San Joaquin Valley. This research has two distinct (but, intertwined) foci. Historically, I want to reconstruct the history of these communities before it's lost to the mists of the Tule Fog; essentially removing them from our past. I want to contribute to the process of re-positioning them back into their rightful place as part of the history of the region, the state, the nation, and the world. Secondly, I am interested in the ways in which social memory, history, and individual and collective identity help to define the present and the ways in which they can be used to re-envision and shape the future.
CURRICULUM VITAE
EDUCATION
University of California, Merced
Ph.D. in World Cultures & History: Interdisciplinary: History/Anthropology California State University, Fresno M.A. in History: May 2009 Graduated With Distinction (4.0 GPA) B.A. in Anthropology: May 2007 B.A. in History: May 2007 Summa cum laude graduate |
CONTACT
(click on any of the following to email the professor)
University of California, Merced email
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TEACHING EXPERIENCE
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Lecturer/Adjunct Professor/Instructor
California State University, Fresno (2015-present)
Fresno City College (2009-present)
University of California, Merced (2012-2015)
Brandman (Chapman) University (upper division) (2009-present)
West Hills Community College Lemoore (2008-09)
Merced College (2015)
Clovis Community College (formerly Willow International) (2014)
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Teaching Assistant
University of California, Merced (2010-2014)
California State University, Fresno
FIELD SCHOOLS / RESEARCH PROJECTSKeep on Pushin': A Black Okie Success Story
West of the West foundation, funded, in part, by a California Humanities Grant 2016-17. Multi-media exhibit featuring the work of myself, Mark Arax, Joel Pickford, and Ernest Lowe. Currently booking colleges and not-for-profit partners for the traveling exhibit. San Joaquin Valley Historically African American Rural Settlement History/Ethnography Project (2011-15): Primary Investigator University of California, Merced School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Art. Funded, in part, by University of California, Merced’s Graduate Research Council’s Summer Research Fellowship 2011 University of California Working Group on the Humanities: Changing Conceptions of Work, 2012-13 University of California Humanities Network (UCHN) joint project of faculty from U Davis and U C Merced. Funded, in part, by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Cooskeyville Oral History Project: 2007-2008 Central Valley Institute for Regional & Historical Studies Central Valley Applied Anthropology Network: Researcher: 2007-2008 California State University, Fresno Archeological Field School: Summer 2006 and Summer 2007 California State University, Fresno |
AWARDS/HONORS/SCHOLARSHIPS
University of California, Merced
California Council for the Promotion of History
California State University, Fresno
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PROFESSIONAL & ACADEMIC AFFILIATIONS
American Anthropological Association (AAA)
American Society for Ethnohistory (ASE) California Council for the Promotion of History (CCPH) Central Valley Applied Anthropology Network (CVAAN) Organization of American Historians (OAH) Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association (PCBAHA) Southwestern Anthropological Association (SWAA) Executive Board Grad Student Member 2014-2016 Executive Board Member at Large 2016-2018 Southwestern Oral History Association (SOHA) History Graduate Student Association (CSU Fresno) Vice President 2008 Alpha Kappa Beta Chapter (CSU Fresno) of Phi Alpha Theta (History Honor Society) Phi Theta Kappa (Honor Society) Pi Gamma Mu (Honor Society) |
OTHER BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Academia is my third full career.
From the late 1970s until 1990, I worked as a professional broadcaster, using the air-name of Allan Michaels at radio stations on California's Central Coast and throughout the San Joaquin Valley. Although, for most of that time I worked at stations designated as Album Oriented Rock (AOR) stations, I did my time on several adult contemporary and country stations (to pay the bills). The rock stations (at the time) where I spent most of my time were KIOO in Porterville, KBOS in Tulare, and KKDJ (best AOR station, ever) and KCLQ (then, Classic Rock), in Fresno. I spent much of about seven years, at KKDJ. I was the last jock to broadcast from the old studios at 3636 North First, manning the old studio for the transition to the new studio on Shaw.
Overlapping with the end of my radio career, was a two decades long career in computers. I worked as a programmer for several software companies, writing business software for a variety of industries ranging from petrochemical companies to the poultry industry. I worked freelance for several years programming out of my home office, after having spent six years as a programmer/analyst at the University of California, Los Angeles. For a number of years, having reached the end of my interest in coding and software design, I operated an on-line radio station: radioNUR.
It was at the end of my computer career, in 2004, when I decided to return to school and pursue an academic career. Since that time, I have completed a second AA, two BAs (History & Anthropology), an MA (History), and I am currently finishing my Ph.D. in World Cultures and History at UC Merced.
From the late 1970s until 1990, I worked as a professional broadcaster, using the air-name of Allan Michaels at radio stations on California's Central Coast and throughout the San Joaquin Valley. Although, for most of that time I worked at stations designated as Album Oriented Rock (AOR) stations, I did my time on several adult contemporary and country stations (to pay the bills). The rock stations (at the time) where I spent most of my time were KIOO in Porterville, KBOS in Tulare, and KKDJ (best AOR station, ever) and KCLQ (then, Classic Rock), in Fresno. I spent much of about seven years, at KKDJ. I was the last jock to broadcast from the old studios at 3636 North First, manning the old studio for the transition to the new studio on Shaw.
Overlapping with the end of my radio career, was a two decades long career in computers. I worked as a programmer for several software companies, writing business software for a variety of industries ranging from petrochemical companies to the poultry industry. I worked freelance for several years programming out of my home office, after having spent six years as a programmer/analyst at the University of California, Los Angeles. For a number of years, having reached the end of my interest in coding and software design, I operated an on-line radio station: radioNUR.
It was at the end of my computer career, in 2004, when I decided to return to school and pursue an academic career. Since that time, I have completed a second AA, two BAs (History & Anthropology), an MA (History), and I am currently finishing my Ph.D. in World Cultures and History at UC Merced.