A historian whose work focuses on Latin America recently joined the faculty at West Virginia University.

James Siekmeier is the newest assistant professor in the Department of History in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.

He also specializes in United States and Latin American relations.

Prior to joining the WVU faculty, Siekmeier worked for the Office of the Historian with the U.S. Department of State, where he completed research and documentary editing of four Latin American volumes in theForeign Relations of the United Statesseries.

The WVU History Department is delighted that Dr. Siekmeier will be joining us as our new specialist in United States diplomatic history,said Steve Zdatny, chair.

Dr. Siekmeier’s scholarship, focusing on U.S. foreign policy in Latin America, and his experience as a historian in the U.S. State Department will expand the department’s expertise in this critical area, while his general courses on U.S. foreign policy will introduce students to a fundamental element of American history,Zdatny noted.

Siekmeier received a bachelors with honors from Oberlin College in 1984. He received his masters (1989) and his doctorate (1993) in history from Cornell, where he wrote his dissertation on United States-Latin American economic relations in the 1950s.

He has taught courses on United States and Latin American history at colleges and universities in Washington, D.C., New York, Iowa and Texas. He also worked in Bolivia on Fulbright Fellowships, where he taught courses using Spanish.