John Corbally has a B.A. in European History since 1500 and an M.A. in World History since 1500 from San Francisco State University. He recently completed his PhD at UC Davis. Entitled Shades of Difference: Irish, Caribbean, and South Asian Immigration to the Heart of Empire, 1948-1971, his research explores the role Irish immigrants played in both destabilizing and perpetuating racial and imperial hierarchies in post-World War Two England. His work illustrates that postwar immigration into England can only be understood by incorporating the Irish into the story along with commonwealth immigrants. It demonstrates the multiple contributions and complexities of postwar immigration toward the creation of new definitions of English national identity as the country shifted from an "imperial" to a "multicultural" society. John has taught courses in Irish, European, and World History at Mills College, Menlo College, and Las Positas College. He recently published his first journal article, Post-War Immigration to the Heart of Empire; The Jarring Irish, in the spring issue of Radical History Review.
John grew up in an Irish family in England and Australia prior to moving to California at 18. Before he was an educator, John built houses for a living and spent a decade organizing global logistics. He spends his spare time with his wife and two young children, and plays soccer, piano, and guitar, though never at the same time.