Howard Spodek (November 4, 1941 – August 20, 2023) was an American
world historian, a professor of history and geography and urban studies at
Temple University.[1][2] He received a B.A. from
Columbia University in 1963 and a Ph.D. from the
University of Chicago in 1972; while a graduate student, he visited India as a
Fulbright Fellow.[1][3] He joined the Temple faculty in 1972.[3] As well as his faculty position at Temple, Spodek was the treasurer of the World History Association[4] and a member of the editorial board of History Compass.[5]
Spodek specialized in Indian history, and in particular on the city of
Ahmedabad.[6] He was the author of The World's History, a college textbook that is sometimes also used for high school
Advanced Placement history courses and that has gone through four editions.[7] He won Temple's Great Teacher Award in 1993.[3][8]