History Faculty
Dr. James I. Matray
U.S. Foreign Relations, especially Korea and Japan
Ph.D., University of Virginia, 1977
Professor
Office Phone: 530-898-6475
e-mail: jmatray@csuchico.edu
Research Interests
Dr. Matray’s current research focuses on explaining the origins, course, and impact of the Korean War. He also has an ongoing interest in recent U.S.-Korean relations, in particular the North Korean nuclear crisis and anti-Americanism in South Korea.
Publications
Professor Matray’s most recent book is Korea Divided: The 38th Parallel and the Demilitarized Zone. It is one of eighteen volumes in a series that he has edited titled Arbitrary Borders in History for Chelsea House. He also is the author of The Reluctant Crusade: American Foreign Policy in Korea, 1941-1950 and Japan’s Emergence as a Global Power. Matray is editor of the East and the United States: An Encyclopedia of Relations Since 1784, Historical Dictionary of the Korean War, and Korea and the Cold War: Division, Destruction, and Disarmament. He has published articles in the Journal of American-East Asian Relations, New England Journal of History, Journal of Conflict Studies, Historian, Korean Studies, Diplomatic History, Prologue, Journal of American History, and Pacific Historical Review. Author of a dozen chapters in scholarly anthologies, Matray has written numerous encyclopedia entries and more than seventy book reviews in various journals.
Honors and Awards
In 2003, Dr. Matray received a Nicola D. Bautzer Service Award from the California State University. He was the recipient of the Best Book Award from Phi Alpha Theta in 1986 and co-recipient of the Stuart L. Bernath Article Award in 1980. Honored for Excellence in Teaching with the Donald C. Roush Award in 1984, his students selected him as a member of Golden Key Honor Society in 1990. Matray was a member of the Board of Editors for Diplomatic History from 2005 to 2007, having served in this same capacity for the Pacific Historical Review from 1989 to 1992. He spent fall semester in 1990 as Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the Graduate Institute of Peace Studies, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea.
Courses Taught
HIST 130: United States History
HIST 451: U.S. Foreign Relations Since 1914
HIST 490: Senior Seminar: Historical Writing and Research
Click here to access Dr. Matray's Personal Webpage.
If you have any questions about the Department of History and its academic programs, please do not hesitate to call at (530) 898-5366.