Clifford R. Backman (USA)

Clifford R. Backman is an associate professor of history. B.A., M.A., University of Minnesota; PhD, University of California, Los Angeles. 

Department of History Email: cbackman@bu.edu
Boston University Phone: 617.353.2345
226 Bay State Road FAX: 617.353.2556
Boston, MA 02215

Education: Ph.D. in History, UCLA, 1989.
Thesis: The Government of Sicily in the Reign of Frederick III, 1296-1337.
M.A. in History, UCLA, 1985.
Thesis: Three Studies in Mediterranean History.
M.A. in History, University of Minnesota, 1983.
Thesis: Private Law in 14th-Century Montpellier.
B.A. in History, University of Minnesota, 1980.
Specialized Field: Mediterranean life in the late Middle Ages.
Languages: classical Arabic, Catalan, French, German, classical Greek, Italian, Latin, Spanish.
Doctoral Examiners: Robert I. Burns, S.J. (chair: Mediterranean history).
Robert L. Benson (medieval history)
Andrew Dyck (classical Greek)
Bengt T. Löfstedt (medieval Latin)
Ronald Mellor (Roman history)
Speros Vryonis (Byzantine history)
Academic Posts: Associate Professor of History, Boston University. 1995-present.
Assistant Professor of History, Boston University, 1989-1995.
Affiliations: American Academy of Religion. American Academy of Research Historians of
Medieval Spain. American Historical Association. Medieval Academy of America. Society for Italian Historical Studies. Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East.
Grants/Fellowships: American Philosophical Society.
Humanities Foundation, Boston University.
National Endowment for the Humanities.
Administrative Experience at Boston University:
Academic Policy Committee (college)
Appointment, Promotion and Tenure Committee (college).
Chair, Academic Standards and Procedures Committee (graduate school).
Curriculum Committee (dept).
Director of Graduate Studies (dept).
Director of Undergraduate Studies (dept).
Presidential University Graduate Fellowship Committee (univ).
Special Faculty Assistant to the Dean (college).
University Board of Student Conduct (univ).
University Promotion and Tenure Committee (univ).

Courses Taught at Boston University:
CC 101 Core Curriculum, Humanities I (The Ancient World).
CC 102 Core Curriculum, Humanities II (The Medieval World).
CC 201 Core Curriculum, Humanities III (The Renaissance).
CC 202 Core Curriculum Humanities IV (The Modern World).
HI 101 Western Civilization, I.
HI 102 Western Civilization, II.
HI 200 The Historian’s Craft.
HI 201 Medieval Europe.
HI 202 Medieval Intellectual History.
HI 204 The Crusades.
HI 210 Europe from the Renaissance to the French Revolution.
HI 214 The History of Piracy.
HI 244 England in the Middle Ages.
HI 406 Monks, Friars, and Saints.
HI 491 Directed Study in Medieval History.
HI 492 Directed Research in Medieval History.
HI 807 Topics in Medieval Culture.
HI 819 Readings in European History.
WR 100 Freshman Writing Seminar: The Bible
WR 150 Freshman Writing Seminar: Sex in European Culture.

Academic Papers Presented:
1. “The Compleat Angevin Noble: Girois de Beaupréau.” 18th International Congress on Medieval Studies. Western Michigan University, 1983.
2. “The Legal Background of Notarial Acts.” 20th International Congress on Medieval Studies. Western Michigan University, 1985.
3. “Personal Relations between James II of Aragon and Frederick III of Sicily.” 100th nnual Meeting of the American Historical Association. New York, 1985.
4. “Women in Catalan Sicily.” 23rd International Congress on Medieval Studies. Western Michigan University, 1988.
5. “Frederick III of Sicily and the Franciscan Spirituals.” 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association. Cincinnati, 1988.
6. “The Reception of Arnau de Vilanova’s Religious Ideas.” NEH-sponsored conference on “Christendom and Its Discontent: Exclusion, Persecution, and Rebellion, 1000-1500,” UCLA Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. Los Angeles, 1991.
7. “The Sicilian Slave Trade, ca. 1300.” Festschrift conference on “Medieval Spain in the Western Mediterranean: A Conference in Honor of Robert I. Burns, S.J.” UCLA Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. Los Angeles, 1991.
8. “Piracy and the Kingdom of Sicily.” Fordham University conference on “European Expansion before Columbus: 1250-1492.” New York, 1992.
9. Response to paper, “Predatory Friendship: Evidence from Medieval Norman Histories,” by Emily Hanawalt. Boston University Institute for Philosophy and Religion. Boston, 1993.
10. Response to papers, and Session Chair. “Muslim Sicily between Cross-Cultural Encounter and Conflict,” by William Granara (Harvard University); “Frederick II and the Sicilian Muslim Rebellion,” by James M. Powell (Syracuse University); and “The Encounter of Venice and Byzantium on the Island of Crete,” by Maria Georgopoulos (Yale University). At conference on “Dissonance and Diversity in Medieval Cultures,” Brown University. Providence, 1996.
11. Response to papers, and Session Chair. “Chronological Eschatology and the Rabbis,” by Oded Irshai (Hebrew University); “Europe, AD 1200-1233,” by Gary Dickson (University of Edinburgh); “Europe, AD 1500-1533,” by Denis Crouzet (Université de Paris,
Sorbonne); and “Anti-Judaism and the Venetian Ghetto, 1510,” by Elisabeth Crouzet-Pavan (Université de Lille, III). At conference on “The Apocalyptic Year 1000,” Boston University. Boston, 1996.
12. “What Did It Mean to be the ‘Admiral of the Church’?” 113th Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association. Seattle, 1998.
13. “The Two Italies and the Three (Maybe Four) Sicilies.” Annual Meeting of the Medieval Academy of America. Washington DC, 1999.
14. “Arnau de Vilanova and Prophetic History.” Conference on “Prophets and Prophecy,” Annual Meeting of the New England Medieval Association. Boston University, 1999.
15. “Naval Force and Naval Forces under James II of Catalonia-Aragon.” Conference on “Naval Forces in the Middle Ages and Renaissance.” Arrabida, Portugal. 2000.
16. “Arnau de Vilanova and the Reign of Justice in Catalan Sicily.” Conference on “Swords into Plowshares: Mass Enthusiasms, Peace Movements, and Transformational Millenialism.” Boston University, 2000.
17. “The Virtue of a Vice: Toleration in the Medieval Notional Universe.” Center for Medieval Studies, Harvard University. 2001.
18. “The Book of Daniel: Medieval Perspectives, from Jerome to Joachim.” Conference on “Frustrated Millenialism,” Boston Theological Institute. Boston, 2002.
19. “Federico III di Sicilia: un regno rivisitato.” Keynote address at conference on “Il Mediterraneo del ‘300 ed il Regno di Federico III d’Aragona: Saperi, Economia, Società.” Officina di studi medievali. Palermo, Sicily, 2006.
Public Lectures:
1. Twelve-part series of lectures on “The Development of Christianity from the Catholic Reform to the Protestant Reformation.” Adult Education Program, Emmanuel Episcopal Church. Boston, 1994.
2. Four-part series of lectures on “Dissent and the Christian Tradition.” Adult Education Program, Emmanuel Episcopal Church. Boston, 1995.
3. “The Italies and the Inquisitions.” Public lecture at Boston University, sponsored by the Program for Interdisciplinary Italian Studies. Boston, 1996.
4. “On the Pleasures of Being a Slow Learner.” Invited lecture at Phi Beta Kappa Induction Ceremony. Boston University. Boston, 1997.
5. “The Inquisition in Italy, and Papal Reluctance to Prosecute Heresy.” Public lecture at Newton Free Library. Newton, MA, 1998.
6. “Arnau de Vilanova and the End of the World.” The Michael Freedman Lecture, Roger Williams University. Bristol, RI, 1999.
7. “Arnau de Vilanova and the End of the World: A Reprise.” The Michael Freedman Lecture, Roger Williams University. Bristol, RI, 2000.
8. “Tolerating Christianity.” Public lecture at Emmanuel Episcopal Church. Boston, 2002.
9. “Saint Augustine’s Confessions and Bach’s Cantatas.” Public lecture at Emmanuel Episcopal Church. Boston, 2004.
10. “The Muslim-Jewish-Christian Predicament in the Middle Ages.” Public lecture at Bates College. Lewiston, ME, 2006.

Publications:
Books:
1. The Decline and Fall of Medieval Sicily: Politics, Religion, and Economy in the Reign of Frederick III, 1296-1337 (Cambridge Univ., 1995). Pp. xxiii, 347.
a. Paperback edition, Cambridge Univ., 1997.
b. Italian translation, Cambridge Univ., 2007.
2. The Worlds of Medieval Europe (Oxford Univ., 2002). Pp. xiv, 462.
a. Second edition, Oxford Univ., 2007. Pp. xiv, 604.
3. The Cultures of the West (Oxford Univ., 2013). Pp. xxx, 1157.

Book Chapters:
1. “The Reception of Arnau de Vilanova’s Religious Ideas,” in Christendom and Its Discontents: Persecution, Exclusion, and Rebellion, 1000-1500, ed. Scott L. Waugh and Peter D. Diehl (Cambridge Univ., 1995), pp. 112-131.
2. “Arnau de Vilanova and the Body at the End of the World,” in Last Things: Death and Apocalypse in the Middle Ages, ed. Caroline Walker Bynum and Paul Freedman (Univ. Pennsylvania, 1999), pp. 140-155.

Journal Articles:
1. “Mudejars in the Criminal Laws of the ‘Furs de Valéncia’ under Jaume I,” Sharq al-Andalus: estudios árabes 4 (1987), 93-99.
2. “Arnau de Vilanova and the Franciscan Spirituals in Sicily,” Franciscan Studies 50 (1990), 3-29.
3. “The Papacy, the Sicilian Church, and King Frederick III, 1302-1321,” Viator 22 (1991), 229-249.

Book Reviews:
Appearing in Al-Masaq: Studia arabo-islamica mediterranea, American Historical Review, Bulletin of Spanish Studies, Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Journal of the History of Sexuality, Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Journal of Religious History, Medieval Encounters, Speculum, Studies in Medieval and Renaissance History, Visual Resources.

Miscellaneous:
Articles in Encyclopedia of Medieval Iberia, Encyclopedia of the Renaissance, Medieval France: An Encyclopedia.

Referee Work:
He regularly performs peer-review of book manuscripts for Bedford-St. Martin’s, Brill Academic Publishers (Leiden), Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, University of Pennsylvania Press, the University Press of Florida, and the University of Toronto Press.
I regularly peer-review article manuscripts for the following journals: American Historical Review, Medieval Encounters, Speculum, and Viator.

Source: http://www.bu.edu/history/faculty/clifford-backman/