Major Problems in American Popular Culture (Major Problems in American History)
Kathleen Franz is an associate professor of history and director of public history at American University. She has a Ph.D. in American Civilization from Brown University and specializes in 20th Century U.S. cultural history with a focus on popular culture and the history of technology. She's also an active curator and public historian who regularly works with local and national cultural institutions. In 2005 the University of Pennsylvania Press published her book, TINKERING: CONSUMERS REINVENT THE EARLY AUTOMOBILE.Susan Smulyan is a professor of American Civilization at Brown University. She holds a Ph.D. in American Studies from Yale University and is a cultural historian of the United States in the twentieth century and the author of two books: SELLING RADIO: THE COMMERCIALIZATION OF AMERICAN BROADCASTING (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992) and POPULAR IDEOLOGIES: MASS CULTURE AT MID-CENTURY (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007). In addition, she has worked on three large web projects: "Whole Cloth: Discovering American History Through Science and Technology"; "Freedom Now!: An Archival Project of Tougaloo College and Brown University"; and "Perry Visits Japan." These websites exist at the intersection between faculty research and teaching. Professor Smulyan teaches courses in popular culture, advertising history, radio, digital scholarship, and American Studies methods. She was selected by the American Studies Association as a delegate to the Japanese Association for American Studies and has presented papers in France, Italy, New Zealand, and Australia. In spring 2009, she was a Faculty International Scholar, School of Historical Studies, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.