History Faculty - Dr. Jessamyn Neuhaus

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History Faculty - Jessamyn Neuhaus

Assistant Professor

Who studies, critiques, and historicizes U.S. popular culture? Why, people who love pop culture of course! I am an avid popular media consumer, but I am also a historian and a scholar: I believe that studying popular culture is an essential part of understanding the past and understanding our contemporary society. Knowing how to critically read and critique, as well as enjoy, popular culture makes us more knowledgeable participants in U.S. politics, education, the marketplace, and home life.

My most important task as a college instructor is to create a classroom environment where students can learn to take their own ideas seriously. I respect students' ability to create knowledge and to effectively bring their own experiences and questions to bear on the study of history. My courses create numerous opportunities for students to build their critical reading and thinking skills, to practice clear and effective writing, and to explore a wide variety of ideas and concepts relating to the study of history and culture. I love my work as a teacher and a scholar, and I hope to impart to all my students, no matter what their future career or professional goals, a sense of how truly rewarding and beneficial academic study and intellectual growth can be.

My current scholarship examines the cultural construction of "the housewife." It builds on my first monograph, Manly Meals and Mom's Home Cooking: Cookbooks and Gender in Modern America (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003), and includes a forthcoming article, "Marge Simpson, Blue-Haired Housewife: Defining Domesticity on The Simpsons " in The Journal of Popular Culture;"'Is it ridiculous for me to say I want to write?' Domestic Humor and Redefining the 1950s 'Housewife Writer' in Fan Mail to Shirley Jackson," in the Journal of Women's History (summer 2009); and a monograph tentatively entitled Dirt, Diapers, and Dinner: Housework and Housewives in American Advertising.

Education

• M.A./Ph.D., Claremont Graduate University, 2001. Specialization: Twentieth Century U.S. History and Cultural Studies
• B.A., The College of Wooster. Specialization: Religious Studies

Teaching Areas

• Modern United States Popular Culture
• United States Civilization, 1877 to the Present
• Gender, Race, Ethnicity, and Popular Culture
• United States Youth Culture

Research Areas

• Twentieth Century United States
• Cultural Studies
• Gender Studies

Recent Publications

• "'Shake This Square World and Blast Off for Kicksville: Teaching History with Post-WW Prescriptive Classroom Films," The History Teacher (forthcoming)
• "Marge Simpson, Blue-Haired Housewife: Defining Domesticity on The Simpsons," The Journal of Popular Culture (forthcoming 2010)
• "'Is it ridiculous for me to say I want to write?' Domestic Humor and Redefining the 1950s 'Housewife Writer' in Fan Mail to Shirley Jackson," Journal of Women's History (summer 2009)

Contact Jessamyn Neuhaus

Office: Champlain Valley Hall, 320
Phone: (518) 564-5217
E-mail: jessamyn.neuhaus@plattsburgh.edu