William Summerhill is Professor of History at UCLA. His research focuses on the determinants of long-run political and economic change in Latin America.

In August, 2008, Professor of History Bill Summerhill taught a short course on “Comparative Long-Term Development and Economic Backwardness in Latin America” for the graduate program of the Department of Economics, Faculdade de Economia e Administração at the Universidade de São Paulo.

The objectives of the course were to introduce graduate students to important recent papers in comparative economic history, to re-consider the historical development of the Brazilian economy in light of these new works, to review traditional approaches to research in economic history and consider how they might be applied in new research projects on Brazil. The primary goal of the course was to encourage new research on the history of the Brazilian economy, demonstrating the importance of understanding economic history for assessing economic conditions today, both for Brazil and the world.

While in São Paulo, Professor Summerhill was interviewed by FAPESP (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo)