Sarah Crawford Maza

Jane Long Professor in Arts and Sciences; Director, Nicholas D. Chabraja Center for Historical Studies. Scholar in French history whose books and many articles had a decisive impact in the field and are routinely cited in the literature and regularly appear on syllabi. Because of her methodological innovations, her works are also well known beyond her field. Her Private Lives and Public Affairs (1993) broke down the boundaries between cultural and political history. A decade later, The Myth of the French Bourgeoisie: An Essay on the Social Imaginary (2003), caused controversy by taking on one of the sacred cows in the literature, the concept of bourgeoisie. Both of these books won major prizes. Most recently she extended her range into the twentieth century with a book, Violette Nozi�re, about a 1930s teenage parricide, which has enjoyed both academic and popular success, with favorable reviews in the New York Times and other popular venues. Maza's work is noted for both its analytic rigor and unusually vivid and graceful writing.