Current Career
In 2000, Conforth was appointed Director of the Jewel Heart Center for Tibetan Buddhism and Culture in Ann Arbor, Michigan, founded by the Buddhist teacher, Gelek Rinpoche. He also began teaching part-time at the University of Michigan. After the 9/11 tragedy, with charitable donations drying up, he left Jewel Heart in 2004 and became a full-time member of the University's Program in American Culture.
Conforth teaches folklore, blues music, popular culture, and the history of social movements at the University of Michigan and is, apparently, a popular teacher.
His current work includes researching the life of bluesman Robert Johnson; a recent publication concerns Isaiah "Ike" Zimmerman, Johnson's main guitar mentor.
On March 14, 2012, it was announced that Professor Conforth would be the 2012 recipient of the University of Michigan's Golden Apple Award for outstanding teaching.
In May 2013 Conforth's book African American Folksong and American Cultural Politics: The Lawrence Gellert Story was published by Scarecrow Press, an imprint of Rowman and Littlefield publishers. It has been included as one of the 100 most important books on American music.
Read more about this topic: Bruce Conforth
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