emily thompson b.s. physics 1984, rochester …...knowledge of great powers, eds. michal libera and...

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Emily Thompson

[email protected]

Department of History 38 Hawthorne Avenue

Princeton University Princeton NJ

08540

Princeton NJ 08544-1174

609.430.4399

DEGREES: Ph.D. History 1992, Princeton University

B.S. Physics 1984, Rochester Institute of Technology, Highest Honors

AFFILIATIONS:

2006+ Professor of History, Princeton University

2005-06 Associate Professor of History, University of California – San Diego and

Affiliated Researcher, Calif. Inst. for Telecommunication and Information Technology

2003-04 Visiting Scholar, Program in Science, Technology, and Society, MIT

2002-03 Senior Fellow, Dibner Inst. for History of Science and Technology, Cambridge MA

1995- Assistant Professor of History and Sociology of Science,

2002 University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA

1994-95 Assistant Professor of History, Iowa State University, Ames IA

1993-94 Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in History of Science, Harvard University

1992-93 Visiting Assistant Professor of History, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY

FELLOWSHIPS, PRIZES, AND GRANTS:

2015 Citation for Best Historical Material, American Library Association,

Reference and User Services Association

2014 Guggenheim Fellow, John Simon Guggenheim Foundation

2014 Fellow, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton NJ

2014 Fellow, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin [declined]

2014 Award, Innovative Use of Archives, Archivists' Roundtable of Metropolitan New York

2007 Vectors Fellow, University of Southern California Institute for Multimedia Literacy

2005-2010 MacArthur Fellow, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

2005 Academy Film Scholar, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

2005 Edelstein Prize, Society for the History of Technology, for Best Scholarly Book

on the History of Technology published 2002-2004

2004 Marc-Auguste Pictet Prize, Société de Physique et d’Histoire Naturelle de Genève

for Best Recent Work in History of Science on “The History of Man’s Relationship with

the Environment: Balance and Breakdown”

2004 National Endowment for the Humanities, Research Fellowship

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2003 John Hope Franklin Publication Prize, American Studies Association,

for Best Book in American Studies published in 2002

2003 Lewis Mumford Prize, Media Ecology Association,

for Outstanding Scholarship in the Ecology of Technics

2002 Science Writing Prize, Acoustical Society of America

2000 Derek Price Prize, History of Science Society, for Outstanding Article in Isis, 1997-99

1999 Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in Fine Arts, Grant in Support of Publication

1998 National Science Foundation, Research Fellowship (1998-2001)

1998 Princeton University Department of History, Postdoctoral Dissertation Prize

FELLOWSHIPS, PRIZES, AND GRANTS (cont.):

1998 University of Pennsylvania Research Foundation Award

1997 National Endowment for the Humanities, Summer Research Fellowship

1996 Honorable Mention for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research,

Association for Recorded Sound Collections.

1993-95 Society of Fellows, Columbia University, NY [declined]

BOOKS:

The Soundscape of Modernity:

Architectural Acoustics and the Culture of Listening in America, 1900-1933.

The MIT Press, 2002. 500 pp., 117 illus. (paperback 2004)

Awarded: Edelstein Prize, Society for the History of Technology, 2005

M.-A. Pictet Prize, Société de Physique et d’Histoire Naturelle de Genève, 2004;

John Hope Franklin Prize, American Studies Association, 2003;

Lewis Mumford Prize, Media Ecology Association, 2003;

Science Writing Prize, Acoustical Society of America, 2002.

Reprinted: Chapter 5 in Mark M. Smith, ed., Hearing History: A Reader (University of

Georgia Press, 2004), pp. 331-363.

Excerpted: Chapter 4 in Mirko Zardini, ed., Sense of the City (Lars Müller/Centre Canadien

d'Architecture, 2005). French and English editions.

Chapter 4 as “Noise, Music, and the Meaning of Modernity,”

in Archives des Sciences 58 (2005): 65-72.

Chapter 5 in OASE Architectural Journal (The Netherlands) 78 “Immersed”

(Spring 2009).

Ch 1 as "Die Klangschaft der Moderne," in Architekturwissen. Grundlagentexte

aus

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den Kulturwissenschaften: Zur Ästhetik des sozialen Raumes, Eds. Susanne

Hauser

et al. (Bielefield: Transcript Verlag, 2011).

Ch 1 as "Sound, Modernity, and History," in Sound: Documents of

Contemporary

Art, Ed. Caleb Kelly (London: The MIT Press, 2011).

Ch 1 as "Sound, Modernity, and History," in The Sound Studies Reader,

Ed. Jonathan Sterne (Routledge, 2012).

Chs 4 and 5 in Making the Walls Quake as if they were Dilating with the Secret

Knowledge of Great Powers, Eds. Michal Libera and Lidia Klein (Zacheta

National Gallery, 2012). [catalogue accompanying the Polish Pavilion

Exhibition by artist Katarzyna Krakowiak at the 2012 Venice Biennial.]

Reviewed: in over 30 magazines, newspapers, and scholarly journals;

copies available upon request.

The Architecture of Science. Co-edited with Peter Galison.

The MIT Press, 1999. 576 pp., 165 illus., 16 color plates.

ARTICLES, ESSAYS, WEBSITES:

"Making Noise in The Roaring 'Twenties: Sound and Aural History on the Web." Public

Historian 37 (November 2015): 91-110.

"The Roaring 'Twenties: An Interactive Exploration of the Historical Soundscape of New York

City," with programmer Scott Mahoy. Multimedia website published by Vectors, eds. Tara

McPherson and Steve Anderson, Institute for Multimedia Literacy, School of Cinematic Arts,

University of Southern California, 19 Sept 2013. [www.nycitynoise.com]

2014 Innovative Use of Archives, Archivists' Roundtable of Metropolitan New York

2015 Best Historical Materials, Amer Lib Assn, Reference and User Services Assn

- over 130,000 page views as of 23 December 2016

- Media coverage on NPR, CBC, WCBS, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, nytimes.com,

theatlanticcities.com, fastcodesign.com, pitchfork.com, slate.com, and others.

“Light.“ Curated photo essay with text, Huntington Library Online Exhibition, Form and

Landscape: Southern California Edison and the Los Angeles Basin, 1940-1990. 1 May-31 Dec

2013 [pstp-edison.com].

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“The Roaring 'Twenties.“ OnSite Review 28 (Fall 2012): 23-25.

“A Short History of the Transition from Silent to Sound Movies.“ Essay contribution to author

Brian Selznick's website for his children's book Wonderstruck (Scholastic Books, 2011).

January 2012. [www.wonderstruckthebook.com]

“Remix Redux.” Cabinet 35 (Fall 2009): 23-28.

Reprinted: Auditory Culture Reader, eds. Michael Bull and Les Back,

(2nd Ed., Bloomsbury, 2015) pp. 357-366.

“Some of the People Who Have Contacted Me Since I Received a MacArthur Grant Last Week,

Who Probably Would Not Have Contacted Me Otherwise,”

in Mountain Man Dance Moves: The McSweeney’s Book of Lists (Vintage, 2006), pp. 171-

172.

“Wiring the World: Theater Installation Engineers and the Empire of Sound in the Motion

Picture Industry, 1927-1930.”

In Hearing Cultures: Essays on Sound, Listening, and Modernity (Berg, 2004), pp. 191-209.

“Architectural Acoustics and the Science of Sound, 1780-1900.”

In L'architecture, les sciences et la culture de l'histoire au XIXe siècle, Actes du colloque du

Centre Jacques Cartier (8-10 décembre 1998): 119-130. Saint-Étienne: Publications de

l'Université de Saint-Étienne, 2001.

“Disciplining the History of Science.”

Universitas: Newsletter of the International Centre for the History of Universities and Science

(University of Bologna) 12 (September 1999): 1-4.

“Listening to/for Modernity: Architectural Acoustics and the Development of Modern Spaces

in America,” pp. 253-280 in

The Architecture of Science (The MIT Press, 1999), eds. Peter Galison and Emily Thompson.

“Even Long Ago, A Loud Town.” Op-Ed Essay. New York Times (5 September 1998): A-11.

ARTICLES, ESSAYS, WEBSITES (cont.):

“Dead Rooms and Live Wires: Harvard, Hollywood and the Deconstruction of Architectural

Acoustics, 1900-1930.”

Isis 88 (December 1997): 597-626.

Awarded Derek Price Prize, History of Science Society, 2000.

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“A Tale of Two Physicists: The Origins of Acoustical Consulting,”

Sound and Video Contractor (20 March 1997): 14-22.

“Is it Real or Is It a Machine?” Amer. Heritage of Invention and Technology (Winter 1997): 50-

56.

“Machines, Music and the Quest for Fidelity: Marketing the Edison Phonograph in America,

1877-1925.”

Musical Quarterly 79 (Spring 1995): 131-171.

Reprinted: Antique Phonograph News, November 1996 - March 1997.

Awarded: Honorable Mention for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research,

Association for Recorded Sound Collections, 1996.

Inspired: Tone Test, opera for two performers and phonograph, by Nicholas Brooke.

World Premiere: Lincoln Center Festival 2004 (July 22-24), New York, NY.

“A Brief History of the Acoustics of the U.S. Capitol.”

Sound and Video Contractor (November 1994): 16-24.

WORKS IN PROGRESS:

Sound Effects: Technicians and the Talkies in the American Film Industry, 1925-1933.

Book manuscript on the transformation of the movie industry during the transition from silent

to sound motion pictures in America.

“The Boys Upstairs: Projecting Change in the American Film Industry, 1925-1933”

Scholarly article on motion picture projectionists’ experience of the transition to sound in the

American film industry.

“Trial by Fire: The Pathé Studio Fire and the End of the Decade that Roared.”

Popular long-form article on the Pathé studio fire of December 1929 and its subsequent

investigation, which helped catalyze the reform of municipal corruption in New York City.

BOOK REVIEWS:

Human-Built World: How to Think About Technology and Culture. Thomas P. Hughes

(University of Chicago Press, 2004).

American Scientist 92 (Nov-Dec 2004): 576-577.

'I Sing the Body Electric': Music and Technology in the 20th Century. Ed. Hans-Joachim Braun

(Wolke, 2000).

Technology and Culture 42 (October 2001): 800-801.

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BOOK REVIEWS (cont.):

Sounds of Our Times: Two Hundred Years of Acoustics. Robert T. Beyer (Springer-Verlag,

1999).

Isis 91 (December 2000): 763-764.

Empire of Light: A History of Discovery in Science and Art. Sidney Perkowitz (Henry Holt, 1996).

The Pennsylvania Gazette (April 1998): 38-39.

Stage to Studio: Musicians and the Sound Revolution, 1890-1950. James Kraft (JHU Press,

1996).

Technology and Culture 39 (January 1998): 167-169.

Steinway and Sons. Richard Lieberman (Yale University Press, 1995).

Technology and Culture 38 (April 1997): 523-525.

America on Record: A History of Recorded Sound. Andre Millard (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1995).

Technology and Culture 38 (January 1997): 256-258.

Sound and Video Contractor (20 September 1996): 72-73.

Early American Technology: Making and Doing Things from the Colonial Era to 1850.

Ed. Judith A. McGaw (University of NC Press, 1994).

Agricultural History 69 (Summer 1995): 492-493.

Wireless Imagination: Sound, Radio and the Avant-Garde. Eds. Douglas Kahn and

Gregory Whitehead (The MIT Press, 1992).

Technology and Culture 35 (April 1994): 425.

Woody Allen: A Biography. Eric Lax (Knopf, 1991).

In Pittsburgh Newsweekly (14 August 1991): 24.

Louise Brooks. Barry Paris (Knopf, 1989).

In Pittsburgh Newsweekly (25 October 1989): 6.

After the Holocaust: The Migration of Polish Jews and Christians to Pittsburgh.

Barbara Burstin (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1989).

In Pittsburgh Newsweekly (19 April 1989): 6.

ENCYCLOPEDIA ARTICLES:

“Acoustical Society of America;” “Acoustics;” “Wallace Sabine,” pp. 6-8; 488-489.

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The History of Science in the United States: An Encyclopedia (New York: Garland, 2001).

“Wallace Sabine,” Vol. 19, pp. 170-172.

American National Biography (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999)

RECORDINGS:

Carl Arter, Song From Far Away (Chicago: Earwig Music Co., 1984).

Assistant-produced “Song from Far Away - Live Version.”

MEDIA FEATURES AND INTERVIEWS:

Consultant and filmed participant, Sound Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound,

prod. Karen Johnson. [IN PRODUCTION]

Ways of Hearing Podcast, Episode 2, "Space." With Damon Krukowski. (posted 11 August 2017;

featured at newyorker.com).

"All Tech Considered," Interview on History of Sound Recording, All Things Considered

(22 May 2017).

Guest Expert, Serious Matters Comedy Review, Union Hall, Brooklyn (1 Sep 2016).

99% Invisible Podcast Episode 236 (posted 14 Nov 2016): "Reverb: The Evolution of

Architectural Acoustics."

http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/reverb-evolution-architectural-acoustics/

"WCBS Reporter Alex Silverman Takes Us Back to 1920s New York City and the Sounds that

Endure 'til this Day," WCBS (15 Feb 2016). Archived:

https://embed.radio.com/clip/60107047?ref_url=http://newyork.cbslocal.com/audio/880-

extras/&ads_ga_page_tracker=UA-17434257-1&rollup_ga_id=UA-2438645-53&r20id=91

"À l'écoute du passé," Laurent Brasier. Sciences et Avenir 824 (1 Oct 2015): 54-57.

"Engineering the Sound of Our World," On Point with Tom Ashbrook, WBUR (13 May 2015).

Archived: onpoint.wbur.org/2014/05/13/sound-engineering-noises

Consultant and filmed participant, How We Got to Now with Steven Johnson, "Sound" episode.

BBC/PBS production with Nutopia, London, (PBS Broadcast 26 October 2014).

Excerpt Archived: video.pbs.org/video/2365323342/

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"Sonic Boom: How Digital Technology is Transforming Our Relationship with Sound,"

Megan Garber, The Atlantic Online (1 May 2014).

Archived: www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/05/sonic-boom/361483/

"Silence is Now a Luxury Product," Chloe Schama, The New Republic Online (4 March 2014).

Archived: www.newrepublic.com/article/116846/how-silence-became-luxury-product

"Exploring New York's Past Through Sound," The Brian Lehrer Show, WNYC (4 Feb 2014).

Archived: www.wnyc.org/story/cultural-history-noise/

"New York Sounds Live On in Old Recordings," Adam Philips, Voice of America (21 Jan 2014).

Archived: www.voanews.com/content/new-york-sounds-live-on-in-new-

recordings/1834593.html

"Recreating the Sounds of the Roaring 'Twenties," Spark with Nora Young, CBC (25 Oct 2013).

Archived: www.cbc.ca/spark/full-interviews/2013/10/25/recreating-the-sounds-

of-the-roaring-twenties/

MEDIA FEATURES AND INTERVIEWS (cont.):

"The Sounds of New York City circa 1920," All Things Considered, NPR (22 Oct 2013).

Archived: www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/10/22/239870539/the-sounds-

of-new-york-city-circa-1920

"Move Along with the soundtrack of the Metro's screechy, wailing escalators." Chris Richards,

The Washington Post (14 January 2011).

“Sound Reasoning,” On the Media, host Bob Garfield, WNYC/NPR (30 May 2008).

Archived: www.onthemedia.org/episodes/2008/05/30

"A History of Early Sounds in the Movies," All Things Considered, NPR (20 May 2007).

Archived: www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10286252

“Odyssey,” host Gretchen Helfrich, WBEZ-FM, Chicago (17 May 2005).

“Exquisite Lines: Music, Architecture, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall,”

produced by Douglas Russell, KUSC-FM, Los Angeles (22 October 2003).

“The Connection,” host Dick Gordon, WBUR-FM, Boston (26 September 2002).

Archived: www.theconnection.org/shows/2002/09/20020926_b_main.asp

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“Weekend Edition Saturday,” host Scott Simon, NPR (14 September 2002).

Archived: www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1149983

“Late Night Live,” host Phillip Adams, ABC Radio National, Australia (11 July 2002).

“Bayer Sunday Arts Magazine,” host Jim Cunningham, WQED-FM, Pittsburgh (30 June 2002).

“The Comfort Zone,” host Allan Saunders,” ABC Radio National, Australia, (28 August 1999).

MEDIA PROFILES:

"From Dual Turntables to Urban Noise," Doron Halutz. Haaretz Magazine (13 Feb 2015): 49-52

[in Hebrew].

"Die Historischen Ohren Aufmachen," Ute Mehnert, Frantfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

(27 Nov 2013): N3.

“An Interview with Emily Thompson,” Nick Marx and Danny Campbell, Velvet Light Trap 62

(Fall 2008): 76-81.

“How Does Professor Find Success? Listen Carefully,” Larry Gordon,

Los Angeles Times (15 June 2006): B2.

“Stylemaker: Emily Thompson,” Peter Rowe,

San Diego Union-Tribune, SD Home Magazine (Spring 2006): 54-55.

MEDIA PROFILES (cont.):

Electronic Music Foundation/Arts Electric Website: AE Interview (21 March 2006)

http://www.arts-electric.org/articles/060321.thompson.html

History News Network: Interview by Jaime Rodriguez (23 January 2006)

http://hnn.us/articles/19562.html

PRESENTATIONS: HSS = History of Science Society

SHOT = Society for the History of Technology

4S = Society for the Social Study of Science

AHA = American Historical Association

OAH = Organization of American Historians

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"The Boys Upstairs: Projecting Change in the American Film Industry, 1926-1933," Vanderbilt

History Seminar, 14 November 2016.

"Music and Technology in American Motion Picture Theaters, 1925-1930," Keynote address,

Periods and Waves: SUNY Stony Brook Humanities Institute, 30 April 2016.

"Gangster Movies: Technological Change, Organized Labor, and Organized Crime in the

Projection of American Films, 1926-1933," OAH, Providence, 9 April 2016.

"Using Digital History" (Solicited Workshop Presenter), OAH, Providence, 9 April 2016.

"Sound Theory AS Sound Practice," Keynote Symposium Address, Sound in Theory; Sound in

Practice, Bard College, 7 April 2016.

"The Talkie Transition in the American Film Industry," Institute Film Series,

Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, 22 May 2015.

"Sound Effects: Musicians and Technicians in the Transition from Silent to Sound Movies,"

Trustees' Partners Talk, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, 2 May 2015.

Session Comment: "Transnational Approaches to Radio in France," AHA, New York,

5 January 2015.

"History of Contemporary Media;" "From Silent Movies to Today's Films,"

Renaissance Weekend, Charleston SC, 29-30 December 2014.

"The Roaring 'Twenties: The Meaning of Noise in New York City, Past and Present,"

MacArthur Fellows Meeting, Chicago, 24 Oct 2014.

"Digital History, Sonic Archives, and The Roaring 'Twenties," Session: Recent Work in

Digital Urban History, Urban History Association, Philadelphia, 11 October 2014.

"The Roaring 'Twenties: Evoking a Historical Soundscape via Digital Technology,"

Conference: Sound Epistemologies and the Order of Sound, NYU and

Max Planck Inst Berlin, (Seminar and Keynote Public Lecture) 18-22 August 2014.

"The Roaring 'Twenties," Wednesday Speaker Luncheon, Princeton Nassau Club, 14 May 2014.

PRESENTATIONS (cont.):

"The Roaring 'Twenties," Lecture and Public Panel on Sound in the Humanities,

National Humanities Center, Research Triangle Park NC, 3-4 April 2014.

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"Sound Effects: Incidental Sound as Text and Performance in the Transition from Silent to

Sound Movies in the American Film Industry," Keynote Address in Conference:

Sound+, Department of English, University of Maryland, 28 March, 2014.

"Sound and Fury: Projecting Change in the American Film Industry," Colloquium,

Dept of History of Sci and Technology, Johns Hopkins University, 27 March 2014.

"Making Music: Musicians and Technicians in the American Film Industry During the Transition

from Silent to Sound Motion Pictures, 1925-1933,"

Barwick Colloquium, Department of Music, Harvard University, October 2013.

"The Roaring 'Twenties: Materiality and Immateriality in Digital History." Conference: Materiality

in the History of Science and Technology, University of Toronto, May 2013.

Session Comment: "When Feeling is Believing: Personal Experience, Perception, and the

Struggle to Standardize the Senses, HSS San Diego, November 2012.

"Sound Histories of NYC." Stillspotting ( ) NYC Finale, Guggenheim Museum, New York,

October 2012.

"Sound and Fury: Projecting Change in the American Film Industry, 1926-1933."

Plenary Lecture, Conference: Sounding Cultures: From Performance to Politics,

Cornell Society for the Humanities, October 2011.

"The Roaring 'Twenties: Reflections on Using the Web to Build a Time Machine."

Fellows' Seminar, Cornell Society for the Humanities, October 2011.

"Remix Redux: Turntables, Technicians, Musicians, and the Transition from Silent to Sound

Movies in America, 1928-1930."

Seminar in Architecture and Visual Studies, Cornell Society for the Humanities,

October 2011.

Media, Technology, and Society Seminar, Communications Department,

Northwestern University, April 2011

Popular Music Colloquium, Dept. Music, Princeton, April 2011

Program in Science and Technology Studies, Stanford, 24 May 2010

Newhouse Center for the Humanities, Wellesley College, 26 February 2010

"Creative Hybrids: Bridging Silent and Sound Motion Pictures in the American Film Industry,

1926-1930."

Scherer Center for the Study of American Culture, Univ. Chicago, 28 January 2010.

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“Sound Revolution or Sound Evolution? Continuity and Change in the American Film Industry,

1925-1933,” Keynote Address, Space Between Society Conference: Sound and Silence in the

Space Between, 1914-1945, Notre Dame University, 12 June 2009.


“The Soundscape of Modernity,” Aftertaste III: Conference on Sensory Interiors, Parsons the

New School for Design, New York, 3 April 2009.

“Layers of Sound,” AHA, New York, 5 January 2009.

“Comment,” (on: “Inventors and Firms: Markets, Hierarchies and Alliances in the U.S.,

Eric Hintz, Penn), Lees Seminar, Rutgers University - Camden, 23 January 2009.

“The Meaning of Fidelity.”

Session Comment at Hagley Fellows Conference on Sound in the Era of

Mechanical Reproduction, Hagley Museum, Wilmington DE, 29 Nov 2007.

“Reconsidering the Origins of the Remix: Motion Picture Projectionists in America, 1927-1930.”

Harvard Graduate School of Design, 29 October 2007.

4S/HSS, Vancouver CA, 3 November 2006.

“Sound Effects: The Production and Meaning of Incidental Sound During the Transition to

Talkies in the America Film Industry, 1925-1930.”

UCLA Colloquium in History of Science, 14 May 2007.

UC Davis, Colloquium for Program in Technocultural Studies, 24 April 2006.

Joint Colloquium: Film Studies, Visual Studies, Science and Technology Studies,

Cornell University, 25 April 2005.

Keynote Address: Conference: “Sonic Interventions: Pushing the Boundaries of

Cultural Analysis,” Amsterdam School of Cultural Analysis,

The Netherlands, 31 March 2005.

SHOT, Atlanta GA, 18 October 2003.

“The Boys Upstairs: Projecting Change in the American Film Industry, 1926-1933.”

Mossman/McNab Lecture in History of Science, McGill University, 28 Oct 2008.

Hart Institute Lecture, Pomona College, 6 December 2007.

NYU Department of Music, 6 September 2007.

USC Public Lecture, Center for Sound, 13 February 2007.

University of Iowa, Sound Research Seminar, 9 February 2007.

UCSF/Berkeley Joint Colloquium in History of Science, 12 September 2005.

Fishbein Center for History of Science, Univ. Chicago, 27 February 2004.

Dibner Institute, Cambridge MA, 4 February 2003.

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“From the Trenches to the Silver Screen: Sound, Technology, and the Great War.”

Conference: “Applied Acoustics” Dibner Institute, Cambridge MA, 5-6 May 2006.

American Historical Association., Washington DC, 10 January 2004.

“Trial by Fire: The Pathé Studio Fire and the End of the Decade that Roared.”

The Historical Society/CUNY Graduate Center , NY, 5 November 2004.

Acentech Inc., Cambridge MA, 19 May 2003.

“Sound and Image: Representations of Music in Early Sound Films, 1926-1930.”

Conference: “Sound Matters: New Technology and Music,”

University of Maastricht, The Netherlands, 15-17 November 2002.


“The Soundscape of Modernity: Architectural Acoustics and the Culture of Listening in America,

1900-1933.”

Architectural History Graduate Seminar, Cooper Union, 8 May 2013.

Princeton Adult School Lecture Series, 27 November 2007.

Vern Knudsen Memorial Lecture in Architectural Acoustics,

Acoustical Society of America, Salt Lake City UT, 5 June 2007

Richard Loucks Memorial Lecture in Music, Pomona College, 21 Feb 2006.

Center for the Humanities Dialogues Series, UC San Diego, 26 Oct 2005.

Dean’s Lecture, College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, Cornell, 26 April 2005.

“The Soundscape of Modernity: Architectural Acoustics and the Culture of Listening in America,

1900-1933.” (cont.)

Department of Music, Duke University, 31 October 2003.

Department of Music, Wesleyan University, 29 October 2003.

Audio Engineering Society and Acoustical Society of America,

Los Angeles Chapters Joint Meeting, 30 September 2003.

Program in Media and Modernity, Princeton University, 8 April 2003.

Acoustical Society of America, Boston Chapter, 17 December 2002.

Ann Beha Architects, Boston MA, 25 November 2002.

(continued on next page)

MIT Media Lab, 5 November 2002.

Department of Architecture, MIT, 7 October 2002.

Authors@MIT, MIT Press Bookstore Speaker Series, 26 September 2002.

Conference: “Sounding Bodies: On the History of the Relation Between Music and

the Sciences,” Max Planck Institute, Berlin, 4-6 April 2002.

Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, Cal Tech, 12 February 2002.

American Studies Association, Washington DC, 11 November 2001.

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“Wiring the World: Acoustical Engineers and the Empire of Sound, 1927-1930.”

Dept. of Science and Technology Studies, Cornell University, 1 December 2002.

Conference: “Hearing Culture: New Directions in the Anthropology of Sound,”

Wenner-Gren Foundation, Oaxaca, Mexico, 24-28 April 2002.

History of Science Colloquium, Yale University, 28 January 2002.

History of Science Colloquium, UCLA, 4 June 2001.

“Reverberations of History: The Culture of Listening and the Reconstruction of the Past.”

German Historical Institute, Washington DC, 1 November 2001.

“Noise in New York: Public Health and Technical Expertise, 1900-1930.”

Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 3 April 2001.

“Science, Technology and the Meaning of Noise in 20th-Century America.”

HSS, Kansas City MO, October 1998.

“Sound, Space and the Technology of the Talkies.”

SHOT, Baltimore MD, October 1998.

“The Perils of Progress: Noise and Noise Abatement in America, circa 1930.”

Conference: “Body and Place,” Rutgers/NJIT, 18 April 1998.

Department of History and Politics, Drexel University, 7 May 1998.


“Architectural Acoustics and the Science of Sound, 1780-1900.”

Conference: “L’Architecture, les sciences et la culture de l’histoire au XIXème siècle,”

Centre Jacques Cartier, Saint-Étienne, France, 8-10 Dec. 1997.

“Wallace Sabine and the Acoustics of Symphony Hall: Scientific, Architectural and Musical

Culture in America circa 1900.”

History of Science, Medicine and Technology, Johns Hopkins Univ., 20 Nov 1997.

“Selling Science: The Development and Marketing of Acoustical Building Materials

in America.”

Society of Architectural Historians, Baltimore, April 1997.

“Is It Real or Is It a Machine?: Marketing the Edison Phonograph in America, 1877-1925.”

Orbis Avanti Italian-American Social Club, Philadelphia, April 1997.

“Interpreting Material Change.”

Session Comment at Hagley Fellows Conference on Modernism and Technology,

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Hagley Museum, Wilmington DE, March 1997.

“Sound, Space, Technology, Modernity.”

Department of History, University of Delaware, October 1996.

“Machines, Music and The Quest for Fidelity: Marketing the Edison Phonograph

in America, 1877-1925.”

Office for History of Science and Technology, UC Berkeley, March 1995.

Shelby Cullom Davis Seminar in Historical Studies, Princeton Univ., December 1994.

“From the Hum of Progress to Infernal Racket: The Campaign for Noise Abatement in

New York City, 1929-1930.”

Dept. of History of Science, University of Wisconsin, Madison, February 1995.

“The 'Pre-Sabinites': Architectural Acoustics in Nineteenth-Century America.”

Wallace Sabine Centennial Symposium, Acoustical Society of America,

Cambridge MA, June 1994.

“Listening to/for Modernity: Architectural Acoustics and Modern Space in America.”

Conference: “The Architecture of Science,” Harvard University, May 1994.

SHOT, Lowell MA, October 1994.

History and Sociology of Science, University of Pennsylvania, January 1995.

“Dead Rooms and Live Wires: The Material Transformation of Architectural Acoustics,

1900-1930.”

Workshop Series in the History of Science, Princeton University, April 1994.

“Architectural Acoustics and the Making of Modern America.”

Harvard Seminar for the History of Twentieth-Century Physics, December 1993.


“A Tale of Two Physicists: Academic Science and the Fortunes of Architectural Acoustics,

1900-1930.”

HSS, Santa Fe NM, November 1993.

“Making Noise: The New York City Noise Abatement Commission and the Science of

Acoustics.”

Science and Technology Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Sept. 1992.

HSS/SHOT, Madison WI, October/November 1991.

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“From Tin Foil to Tone Tests: The Edison Phonograph, High Fidelity and Musical Culture

in America, 1877-1925.”

SHOT, Cleveland OH, October 1990.

“Visualizing the Invisible: The Nature of Sound and the Science of Acoustics in the

Nineteenth Century.”

HSS, Seattle WA, October 1990.

“Architectural Acoustics and Concert Culture.”

Workshop in History of Technology, Medicine and Science, Rutgers, October 1990.

“Boston Symphony Hall, 1900: Science, Society and the Problem of Architectural Acoustics.”

HSS, Gainesville FL, October 1989.

COURSES TAUGHT:

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, 2007+

Undergraduate:

AMS 301: American Studies Seminar: Listening In: Sound, Music, Noise and Tech

FRS 167/191: Freshman Seminar: Listening In: Sound, Music, Noise and Technology

HIS 280: Approaches to American History

HIS 295: Technology in American History

HIS 398: Technology in Modern American History

HIS/AMS 399: In the Groove: The Phonograph in American History

Graduate:

HIS 586: Readings in American Technological History

HIS 598: Historiography of Technology

HIS 599: Introduction to Sound Studies

HIS 599: Sensory History and the History of the Senses

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - SAN DIEGO, 2005-2006

CAT2 Sixth College Lecture Course: In the Groove: A Cultural History of the Phonograph

HISC 120B Undergrad Lecture Course: Technology in America II

HISC 121 Undergrad Lecture Course: Listening In: Sound, Music, Noise and Technology

HISC 172 Undergrad Seminar: Building America

HISC 243 Grad Seminar: Historical Scholarship in Technology

COURSES TAUGHT (cont.):

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UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, 1995-2002:

HSSC 003 Undergrad Lecture Course: Technology and Society in Western History

HSSC 115 Freshman Seminar: Building America

HSSC 221 Undergrad Lecture Course: Technology in Modern American History

HSSC 418 Honors Seminar: Listening to America: Acoustical Tech. and American Culture

HSSC 550 Grad Seminar: Technology in Industrial America: Making Modernity

HSSC 626 Grad Seminar: Research and Writing in the History of Technology

HSSC 662 Grad Seminar: Historiography of Technology

IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY, 1994-95:

Undergrad Lecture Course: History of Technology in Western Civilization, I and II

Undergrad Lecture Course: History of Technology in America

Grad Seminar: Cultures of Production and Consumption

RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, 1992-93:

Undergrad Lecture Course: American History through Reconstruction

Undergrad Seminar: History of Technology in America

Undergrad Seminar: History of Science in America

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, 1991-92:

History of Women and Gender in America, Assisted Professor Elizabeth Lunbeck

Technologies and their Societies, Assisted Professor Michael Mahoney

DEPARTMENTAL AND UNIVERSITY SERVICE:

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY:

Tenure Committee, (2013, 2015, 2016, 2017)

Graduate Admissions Committee (2012, 2015, 2017)

Chair, Seach Committee: US Intellectual and Cultural History (2013)

Chair, Tenure Committee (2011)

Reappointment Committee (2011)

Instructor, Grad Seminar on Professional Conduct (2010, 2011)

Search Committee: Civil War Era (2009)

Undergraduate Program Committee (2009-2010)

Chair, Promotion Committee (2 Promotions -2009)

Seach Committee: History of Medicine (2008)

Finance Committee, Dept. of History (2007-2008)

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY:

Executive Committee, American Studies Program (2007+)

Anschutz Fellowship Committee, American Studies Program (2011-2012, 2015)

Faculty Mentor: Mellon Mays Program, 2016-2018

Council on Science and Technology, 2009, 2011-2014, 2015-2016

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PEI Conference Participant: "Media and Climate Change," Feb 2016

Faculty Fellow, Wilson College (2007+)

Proposal Evaluation Committee: Dean of Research Fund for Innovation, 2014

Faculty Mentor: Poole Graduate Fellows Program with Oxford University, 2013-14

Participant, Princeton-Weimar Summer School for Media Studies, 2012, 2014

Juror, Dept. of Architecture MA Student Theses, January 2011

President’s Committee on Architecture (2007-2011)

Guest Lecture to History Undergraduate Advisory Committee, 24 April 2008.

Humanities Council Faculty Retreat, Panel: “New Trends in History,” 4 Sept 2008.

UCSD: Undergrad Coordinator, History of Science Group, History Department (2005-06)

Faculty Fellow, Sixth College (2005-06)

PENN: Spring 2001 Preceptorial: “Thomas Edison and American Invention”

(non-credit seminar) See: New York Times (18 Feb 2001): New Jersey Section, p. 8.

2000-2002 Faculty Fellow, Spruce College House

1999-2002 Organizer and Chair, Workshop in History of Science, Tech & Medicine

STUDENT ADVISING :

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY:

2017-2018: 2 Senior Theses, 1 Independent Major, 2 Graduate Field Exams

2016-2017: 2 Senior Theses, 2 Graduate Field Exams

2015-2016: 5 Senior Theses

2013-2014: 4 Senior Theses, 1 Junior Paper

2012-2013: 3 Senior Theses, 3 Junior Papers, 1 Graduate Field Exam

2011-2012: 1 Senior Thesis, 1 Junior Paper

2009-2010: 3 Senior Theses, 2 Junior Papers, 2 Graduate Field Exams

2008-2009: 3 Senior Theses, 1 Graduate Field Exam

2007-2008: 1 Senior Thesis, 2 Junior Papers

Dissertation Committees: Current:

Benjamin Lindquist (HIS), Joppan George (HIS), Joshua Garrett-Davis (HIS)

Dissertation Committees: Past:

Jurgen Melzer (EAS, 2014), Benjamin Gross (HOS, 2011),

Christopher MacDonald (HOS, 2011), Benjamin Schmidt (HIS, 2013),

Ksenia Tatarchenko (HOS, 2013),

Leiden University: 2013 PhD Dissertation Committee: Cathy van Eck (Academy of Creative and

Performing Arts)

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UCLA: 2011 PhD Dissertation Committee: Gustavo Garza (Dept. History/History of Science)

HARVARD: 2008 PhD Dissertation Committee: Mara Mills (Dept. History of Science)

UCSD: PhD Qualifying Exam Committees in Music and Communications

PENN: Primary Dissertation Advisor, History and Sociology of Science:

Nathan Ensmenger, PhD 2001.

Primary Masters Thesis Advisor, Lauder Inst of Mgmt and International Studies:

Sylvie Choukroun, MA 2002.

General Field Exams in History of Technology to Ph.D. Candidates, 1995-2002:

11 Students in History and Sociology of Science Department at Penn;

1 Student in Comparative Literature Department at Penn;

1 Student in American Civilization Program at Penn;

1 Student in History Department at Temple University.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES:

Exhibit Consultant, "Isabella Gardner's Boston." Gardner Museum, Boston. [FORTHCOMING]

Exhibit Consultant: "Tuning In." Harvard University Collection of Historical Scientific

Instruments, Putnam Gallery, Spring 2016.

Grant Review Panel, Council on Library and Information Services, 2015, 2016.

"Listening to the Past: Sound in the Classroom," Webinar for History Teachers,

National Humanities Center, 5 January 2015.

Grant Review Panel, National Endowment for the Humanities, 4 August 2014.

Session Chair, Mercer Makes Symposium, Mercer County Divison of Culture and Heritage,

Oct 2013.

Faculty Promotion Review, Universities other than Princeton: 2011, 2012, 2013

Manuscript reviewer: Technology and Culture; History and Technology; Journal of American

History; Yale University Press; Johns Hopkins University Press.

Grant application reviewer: Sloan Foundation, National Science Foundation,

American Academy in Berlin, Institute for Advanced Study.

DaVinci Medal Prize Committee, Society for the History of Technology (SHOT), 2007

Sally Hacker Prize Committee, SHOT, 2006-2008 (Chair, 2007)

Derek Price Prize Committee, History of Science Society, 2002-2004 (Chair, 2004)

Editorial Committee, SHOT, 2002

Conference Co-organizer with Peter Galison: “The Architecture of Science.”

Harvard Univ., May 1994.

Participant: International Summer School in the History of Science

1998: Uppsala, Sweden (invited commentator).

1992: Berkeley, CA.

1990: Uppsala, Sweden.

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Member: Society for the History of Technology

American Historical Association

Organization of American Historians

Society for Cinema and Media Studies

DISSERTATION:

‘Mysteries of the Acoustic’: Architectural Acoustics in America, 1900-1932

PhD Princeton University, Department of History, 1992

Directed by Professor Charles C. Gillispie

Awarded Princeton Department of History Postdoctoral Dissertation Prize, 1998

GRADUATE HONORS:

1989-90 John C. Slater Fellow in the History of Physics, American Philosophical Society

1986-89 National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow

1986-90 Garden State Graduate Fellow

1986-87 Phi Kappa Phi Graduate Fellow

GRADUATE FIELDS OF EXAMINATION:

History of Modern Physics, Professor Nancy Nersessian

Social History of Jacksonian America, Professor Sean Wilentz

“Plato to Nato” History of Science, Faculty of the Program in History of Science

UNDERGRADUATE HONORS:

1980-84 National Merit Scholar

1984 R.I.T. Undergraduate Scholar

1984 John Wiley Jones Science Scholar

1983 Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society

1983 Sigma Pi Sigma Physics Honor Society

1980-82 Edgar J. Reis Scholar in Electrical Engineering

NON-ACADEMIC WORK EXPERIENCE:

7/91-10/91 Lord and Taylor, Lawrenceville NJ.

Executed sales in ladies' shoe department.

5/85-9/86 AT&T Bell Laboratories, Holmdel NJ.

Designed integrated circuits for use in video teleconferencing systems.

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6/84-9/84 WQED-FM Public Radio, Pittsburgh PA.

Produced and assisted in production of programming for WQED-FM,

including a program on the music of Carl Arter, broadcast nationally on

National Public Radio as part of the American Jazz Festival Series.

1/83-9/83 Eastman School of Music, Rochester NY.

Recorded recitals, assisted in commercial recording sessions.

NON-ACADEMIC WORK EXPERIENCE (cont.):

11/82-2/83 Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester NY.

Performed testing in optical metrology, assisted in supervising production of

optical assemblies.

6/82-9/82 Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester NY.

Executed performance analysis of thick-film polymer conductors

and dielectrics.

6/81-9/81 Max’s Allegheny Tavern, Pittsburgh PA.

6/80-9/80 Served food and drink, supervised customer seating, bused tables.

9/78-5/80 Bradley’s Peach, Pittsburgh PA.

Supervised customer seating

26 December 2017