Academic Interests and Areas of Expertise
- Modern U.S. history
- Gender
- Media
- Political culture
- Popular culture
Courses Offered at Redlands
- HIST 121: American Civilization I
- HIST 122: American Civilization II
- HIST 228: U.S. City and Suburb
- HIST 229: U.S. History on Film
- HIST 320: U.S. Cultural History
- HIST 321: Civil War and Reconstruction
- HIST 324: Cold War America
- HIST 328: Gender, Media, and U.S. Culture
- HIST 350/450: The Great Depression
Degrees Held
- Ph.D., U.S. History and Women’s Studies Certificate, Department of History, The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (GSUC/CUNY), February 2004
Major: U.S. History; Minor: U.S. Women’s History
- B.A., magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, History and Women’s Studies, Colgate University, Hamilton, N.Y., May 1990
High honors U.S. history thesis: “The Evolution of the Vaudeville Show: How Big Business Stole the Show”
Previous Teaching Experience
Adjunct lecturer, Baruch College and City College, CUNY
Professional Experience
- Associate Editor, Reviews in American History (published by Johns Hopkins University Press) August 1997–February 2009
Awards, Honors and Grants
- University of Redlands, Outstanding Teaching Award, 2009
- University of Redlands, Faculty Research Grant, 2007-8, 2008-9, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12
- Historical Society of Southern California/Haynes Research Stipend, Summer 2006 and Summer 2010
Selected Publications
"The Mightiest Publicity Powers on Earth": The Rise of the Hollywood Press Corps in Mid-Twentieth-Century America, manuscript under revision.
Mary Pickford: Women, Film and Selling Girlhood. (New York: Westview Press, 2014).
When Private Talk Goes Public: Gossip in United States History, co-edited with Jennifer Frost. Forthcoming.
“Classical Hollywood as Public Sphere: The Case of Citizen Kane,” in Imagination and the Public Sphere, ed. Susan Cumings (Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publications, 2012).
"Gossip as News: On Modern U.S. Celebrity Culture and Journalism History" in History Compass 10:6 (June 2012): 467-82.
"Irving Thalberg," in Immigrant Entrepreneurship: The German-American Business Biography, 1720 to the Present, vol. 4, ed. Jeffrey Fear. German Historical Institute. http://www.immigrantentrepreneurship.org/entry.php?rec=58
"U.S. Television as Cultural Missionary, At Home and Abroad," Reviews in American History 39:3 (Sept. 2011): 506-16.
Review of Universal Women: Filmmaking and Institutional Change in Early Hollywood, by Mark Garrett Cooper in Journal of American History 98:1 (June 2011): 224-5.
Review of Eleanor Roosevelt, by Cynthia M. Harris in The Historian 7:1 (Spring 2010): 174-6.
Selected Presentations and Other Professional Activities
"'Cockroaches and Gigolos': The Gender Politics of Mid-Twentieth-Century Gossip Reporting," Organization of American Historians conference, April 2013.
Chair, "Gossip, Comedy, and Disney Princesses: U.S. Gender and Media Production," Women's and Gender Studies conference, U of R, March 2013.
"Writing the Political History of Hollywood Gossip," American Historical Association conference, Jan. 2013.
"Rehabilitating a 'Powerful Influence for Evil': Anastasia and the Return of Ingrid Bergman to Early Cold War Hollywood," Organization of American Historians conference, March 2011.
Chair, "Cultivating Film Culture: Programming Art, Foreign, and Independent Film," Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference, March 2011.
"'At Least a Dozen Joan Crawfords': Gender Ideology in 1920s and 1930s Film Journalism," Society for Cinema and Media Studies conference, March 2010.
Consultant, "Paris Hilton: Not So Simple," and "Child Stars II: Growing Up Hollywood," Arts and Entertainment Television Network's Biography series, Aug. 2005 and Nov. 2005.
Professional Affiliations
Member, Huntington-USC Institute on California & the West; American Historical Association; Organization of American Historians; American Studies Association; Popular Culture Association; Phi Alpha Theta; Phi Beta Kappa.
Member, Advisory board, Women's and Gender Studies program, U of R (Fall 2010-to present); Visual Media Studies program, U of R (Fall 2010-to present); College of Arts and Sciences Writing Advisory (Fall 2012 - to present); Bulldog Weekly student newspaper, 2008-2013.