Nancy Taniguchi
Department
History
Biography
Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in the Virginia suburbs during segregation. Escaped to the West to attend University of Arizona in the sixties and never looked back. After receiving a B.A. in Anthropology at age 20, moved to Mexico City during the Olympics (saw Tommie Smith and John Carlos make their famous black-gloved protest salute); then on to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for seven years where I taught junior high social studies and met my husband. Returned to his native state of Utah where I became a public historian and got immersed in local history; never got out. Pursuing that love required graduate school, even with a 125-mile commute (one way). Now that we live in California (since 1989), have found even richer research fields!
Academic Credentials
B.A. Anthropology U. of Arizona 1968 summa cum laude
M.A. History University of Utah 1981
Ph.D. U.S. History University of Utah 1985
Area of expertise
American West, California, U.S. Legal and local history (meaning, from the ground up)
What have you learned from your students?
Their backgrounds and insights intrigue me. For example, I have just returned from a two-week trip to the Angkor Temple District (twice the size of Paris!) with a Cambodian graduate student, Narin Ros. The trip of a lifetime (really - I waited 35 years for this.)
E-mail Address
ntaniguchi@csustan.edu
