Michael Kammen, Historian of the American Psyche, Dies

Michael Kammen, Pulitzer Prize-winning cultural historian who visited the Writers Institute in 2007, has died.

From the New York Times obituary:

Michael Kammen, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian whose scholarly aim was no less than the illumination of the collective American psyche, died on Nov. 29 in Ithaca, N.Y. He was 77.

Professor Kammen (pronounced KAY-man) received the 1973 Pulitzer for history for People of Paradox: An Inquiry Concerning the Origins of American Civilization, published the previous year. That book sought to describe the national character from the country’s earliest days to the 20th century.

More in the Times:  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/07/us/michael-kammen-historian-of-us-psyche-dies-at-77.html

More about Kammen's visit to UAlbany to discuss his book, Visual Shock: A History of Art Controversies in American Culture  (2006):  http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/archives/kammen_michael.html