-Drake Hansen: "It's Hard Being the Trophy Wife and the Breadwinner": Trixie Mattel and the Queer, Femme American Dream
-Manal Mohamed: Invisible Borders and Environmental Entrapment in August Wilson’s Fences

4pm: Annual Lecture
-Dr. Jan Todd: An Unexpected Life in Strength

1pm-2:25pm: Graduate Panel
-Nathaniel Drenner: Travel Guide to an American Dream: Theodore F. Wolfe (MD, PhD) and Vicarious “Self-Improvement” in 19th Century Literary Tourism
-Jenavieve Hottenstein: Public Memory, America 250, and the American Bicentennial

Our graduate student symposium and annual lecture with Dr. Jan Todd will take place on Monday, April 20, in Olmsted C213! These events are free and open to the public.

Harrisburg graduate student’s research helps uncover early athletics history | Penn State University Penn State Harrisburg graduate student Kendis Butler’s research helped uncover the basketball history of 1976 alum Jim Baker, paving the way for his induction into the campus Athletics Hall of Fame.

American Studies MA student Kendis Butler was featured in Penn State Today this week for her research on the career of basketball player/coach an Harrisburg alum Jim Baker!

www.psu.edu/news/harrisb...

For more information about how to join Dr. Kupfner in our undergraduate or graduate museum studies certificate programs, visit our website at: harrisburg.psu.edu/humanities/a...

Teaching with technology: Virtual reality, 3D scanning in humanities classrooms | Penn State University Mariah Kupfner, an assistant professor of American studies and public heritage at Penn State Harrisburg and 2024-2026 Teaching and Learning with Technology Faculty Fellow, is working to bring virtual ...

Dr. Mariah Kupfner was featured in Penn State News this week for her innovative use of virtual reality and 3D scanning to train students in designing museum exhibitions!

The Bell Picturephone - McFarland The Bell Picturephone “Tomorrow’s Telephoning” Before Its Time Scott J. Moser 978-1-4766-5838-4

A hearty congratulations to Scott J. Moser (Ph.D. 2023) on the upcoming publication of his book The Bell Picturephone: Tomorrow's Telephoning Before Its Time!

mcfarlandbooks.com/product/the-...

Are you considering a career in museums and public culture? Enroll in Anthropology Museum Studies for Spring 2026. This course provides an entry point into our undergraduate certificate in Museum Studies or serves as an elective for our graduate certificate in Heritage and Museum Practice.

The Folklore of Democracy Contributions by Anthony Bak Buccitelli, Richard Bauman, Norma Cantú, Miguel Díaz-Barriga, Margaret Dorsey, Ehsan Estiri, Gary Alan Fine, Lisa Gilman, Jay Mechling, Whitney Phillips, Afsane Rezaei, Li...

University Press of Mississippi has announced a Holiday Sale that includes pre-orders, so from Nov 12-19, you should be able to pre-order your copy of The Folklore of Democracy (July 2026) for only $20.26!

Dr. David Puglia (PhD American Studies, 2015) shares his insights as a teacher and administrator at a community college in the Francis Lee Utley invited plenary panel on Folklore in Higher Education given by the Fellows of the American Folklore Society.

I’m beyond thrilled to announce that I’ve been elected a fellow of the American Folklore Society! It’s such a great honor to be part of this group, which includes so many of the scholars who have mentored and inspired me over the years.

Opening night at the American Folklore Society Annual Meeting and Penn State Harrisburg is already well represented! Faculty Anthony Bak Buccitelli, Jeffrey Tolbert, and Simon J. Bronner were joined by alumni Amy Milligan, Mary Sellers, and Susan Asbury, and PhD candidate Steven Lee.

Love Fairy Tales? I’m teaching a new course this spring on folktales and legends in American literature. It’s open to Penn State undergraduate and graduate students. Sign up today! #academicsky #folklore #fairytales

A shoutout to AMST PhD Candidate Jack Daly, who recently published a new book on the supernatural legends of his native Colorado!

and the tenure and promotion of Dr. Jeffrey Tolbert to Associate Professor of American Studies and Folklore! (3/3)

The tenure and promotion of Dr. Mary Zaborskis to Associate Professor of American Studies and Gender Studies. (2/3)

There’s a lot to celebrate in American Studies this week! Today we learned of the promotion of Dr. Charles Kupfer to Professor of American Studies and History (1/3)

Today, Dr. Mariah Kupfner, Assistant Professor of American Studies and Public Heritage, delivered a lecture to our graduating class of 2025. Dr. Kupfner received this year’s award for teaching excellence. Congratulations to her on a wonderful honor and a wonderful speech!

Emerging Perspectives in the Study of Folklore and Performance, an AFS Fellows Webinar - The American Folklore Society Join the AFS Fellows for a webinar on May 19 at 1:30 p.m. EDT that highlights the publication of Emerging Perspectives in the Study of Folklore and Performance (IU Press, 2025). Authors engage in disc...

Folklore colleagues: Join me, co-editor Solimar Otero, our esteemed colleague Charles L. Briggs, and a dynamic panel of discussants for a webinar celebrating the release of Emerging Perspectives in the Study of Folklore and Performance (Indiana University Press, 2025).

Anna Wei Marshall (PhD '20) has a new article out in the Pacific Historical Review! Congratulations to Dr. Marshall on this wonderful work!

Congratulations to the new Dr. David Giles, who successfully defended his dissertation "Ourcraft: Folk Learning in Minecraft" yesterday!

Public Doctoral Defense: David Giles will defend his dissertation "Ourcraft: Folk-Learning in Minecraft" on Friday, February 14 at 1:30pm. This examination is open to the public and will take place on Zoom. If you are interested to attend, please email @abbuccitelli.bsky.social at abb20@psu.edu.

Dr. Mariah Kupfner and PhD candidate Sean Dixon presented their in-progress research yesterday at the inaugural American Studies Brown Bag series. Join us again on April 18 for the next installment!

The editors of Global Food History are pleased to announce that in 2025 the journal will once again offer a Prize for an Emerging Food Historian. Award winners will receive $100, the opportunity to have their contribution peer-reviewed and—pending successful reviews and revisions—published in the journal with an acknowledgment of the prize win. Articles should be 8,000 to 10,000 words (including notes), and should be based on primary source research. Articles should deal with at least one of the following historical concepts: time (change or continuity), causation and causality, context (historical and historiographical), or complexity. A full description of the journal’s aims and scope is available [link]

Happy Saturday, food history folks! Please share this call for the Global Food History Prize for an Emerging Food Historian, with a deadline of January 1: rachelbherrmann.com/global-food-...

There’s a reason Penn State consistently ranks among the top one percent of the world’s universities. Across 24 campuses, our 100,000 students and 40,000 faculty and staff know the real measure of success goes beyond the classroom – it’s the positive impact made on communities across the world. Our ideals stem from our origins as Pennsylvania’s sole land-grant institution, which allow us to continue to bring positive impact to humanity through our teaching, research, and engagement mission. And across the world is a community of Penn Staters – more than half a million strong – driven by that same spirit to serve our local and global communities. At Penn State, passion is met with collaboration in an environment that is rooted in shared pride for the accomplishments of our fellow students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Penn Staters cheer each other on to build a culture committed to service and engagement. Our University values represent our core ethical aspirations for all our daily activities and actions as students, faculty, staff, and volunteers at Penn State. Our values are as follows; Integrity, Respect, Responsibility, Discovery, Excellence, and Community. We Are Penn State. One Community. Impacting Many.

Academic friends: we’re hiring for more than 20 faculty positions at the college this year in areas like communications, English, Latino/a research, media production, engineering, computer science, economics, and education, among many others. psu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/PSU_Academic...

We’ve built a starter pack for Penn State American Studies. Reply to this thread if you’d like to be added! go.bsky.app/Bk3J3pB

ONE WEEK REMAINS to submit your proposals for ASEH 2025 in Pittsburgh!

Modern American History Call for Papers for Special Issue 2026-The United States' Semiquincentennial The editors of Modern American History (MAH) Darren Dochuk and Sarah B. Snyder are pleased to announce that the journal is accepting research article submissions for its July 2026 special issue, which will focus on themes in history related to the celebration of the 2026 United States' Semiquincentennial (250* Anniversary). MAH showcases top-quality, emerging research on the history of the United States since the 1890s. The journal is dedicated to publishing academic work which stimulates debate and makes meaningful connections between the subfields of this vibrant and expansive field. The journal is the only peer-reviewed periodical for academic historians of the United States working on the modern era. MAH is published by Cambridge University Press and is based at the University of Notre Dame. While submissions on any topic pertinent to modern U.S. History are welcome at any time, the journal is now soliciting papers specifically on the history of the commemoration of 1776 in modern American life.. Under this rubric, the MAH special issue will explore the ways that commemorative years in the life of the nation have stirred popular sentiments of patriotism as well as spirits of dissent; laid bare tensions in the body politic and created opportunities for alternative national and community celebrations; infused public discourse with questions about American "exceptionalism" in the global context, as well as fresh ways of seeing America in transnational flows of ideas, interests, and people; generated new ways of thinking about the past (and earlier anniversary years), with enduring impact on American cultural institutions; and drawn to the forefront discussions and debates about the state of democracy in modern America.

We are thrilled to ANNOUNCE a #SpecialIssue CFP!! MAH is now accepting proposals for a 2026 Special Issue on the US #Semiquincentennial (250th). See this CFP for details, and send any questions to mah@cambridge.org #history #twitterstorians