![Rebecca Onion/CV
Rebecca Stiles Onion
Curriculum Vitae
Current Address: Phone: [Redacted for Web]
[Redacted for Web] rebeccaonion@gmail.com
www.rebeccaonion.com
On Twitter: @rebeccaonion
Education
Doctoral Candidate, American Studies, University of Texas at Austin
Expected defense date September 2012
Dissertation: “How Science Became Child’s Play: Science, Technology, and the
Culture of American Childhood, 1890-1970″
Committee: Janet Davis (co-supervisor); Julia Mickenberg (co-supervisor); Jeffrey
Meikle; Bruce Hunt; John Hartigan
Comprehensive Exam Fields: American Civilization (Julia Mickenberg);
Environmental and Animal Studies (Janet Davis); Technology and Culture (Jeffrey
Meikle); Cultural Anthropology (John Hartigan)
M.A., American Studies, University of Texas at Austin, May 2007
Thesis: “Sled Dog Stories: Discourses of Domestication, Race, and Work in Alaska,
1867-1925”
Thesis Director: Janet Davis; Thesis Reader: Julia Mickenberg
B.A., American Studies, Yale University, cum laude, with distinction, May 2000
Thesis: “Pain, Fear, and Transcendence: Narrative Constructions in the National
Media Reaction to the Columbine High School Shootings”
Thesis Director: Jean-Christophe Agnew
Research Interests
Twentieth-century American cultural history, history of science and technology,
childhood studies, digital humanities, animal studies, environmental studies, material
culture, visual culture
Publications (Peer-Reviewed)
Journal Articles:
“Writing a ‘Wonderland’ of Science: Child-Authored Periodicals at the Brooklyn Children’s
Museum, 1936-1946.” American Periodicals, scheduled for Spring 2013. Accepted, in process of
revision.
1](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/onioncv-120618145745-phpapp02/85/Onion-cv-1-320.jpg)
Onion cv
- 1. Rebecca Onion/CV Rebecca Stiles Onion Curriculum Vitae Current Address: Phone: [Redacted for Web] [Redacted for Web] rebeccaonion@gmail.com www.rebeccaonion.com On Twitter: @rebeccaonion Education Doctoral Candidate, American Studies, University of Texas at Austin Expected defense date September 2012 Dissertation: “How Science Became Child’s Play: Science, Technology, and the Culture of American Childhood, 1890-1970″ Committee: Janet Davis (co-supervisor); Julia Mickenberg (co-supervisor); Jeffrey Meikle; Bruce Hunt; John Hartigan Comprehensive Exam Fields: American Civilization (Julia Mickenberg); Environmental and Animal Studies (Janet Davis); Technology and Culture (Jeffrey Meikle); Cultural Anthropology (John Hartigan) M.A., American Studies, University of Texas at Austin, May 2007 Thesis: “Sled Dog Stories: Discourses of Domestication, Race, and Work in Alaska, 1867-1925” Thesis Director: Janet Davis; Thesis Reader: Julia Mickenberg B.A., American Studies, Yale University, cum laude, with distinction, May 2000 Thesis: “Pain, Fear, and Transcendence: Narrative Constructions in the National Media Reaction to the Columbine High School Shootings” Thesis Director: Jean-Christophe Agnew Research Interests Twentieth-century American cultural history, history of science and technology, childhood studies, digital humanities, animal studies, environmental studies, material culture, visual culture Publications (Peer-Reviewed) Journal Articles: “Writing a ‘Wonderland’ of Science: Child-Authored Periodicals at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, 1936-1946.” American Periodicals, scheduled for Spring 2013. Accepted, in process of revision. 1
- 2. Rebecca Onion/CV “Picturing Nature and Childhood at the American Museum of Natural History and the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, 1899-1930.” Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth, Vol. 3, No. 4 (Fall 2011), 434-469. “Reclaiming the Machine: An Introductory Look at Steampunk in Everyday Practice.” Journal of Neo-Victorian Studies 1:1 (Autumn 2008), 138-163. Book Chapters: “Ronnie Vinikoff,” “James McMurtry” (both with Lisa Powell), oral histories in The Republic of Barbecue: Stories Beyond the Brisket, a project carried out by UT/Austin American Studies graduate students and published by the University of Texas Press in 2009. “Environmental Health, Biological Risk, and Medical Display: The Individualist Etiologies of BODY WORLDS,” in The Anatomy of Body Worlds, ed. Thora Jespersen et. al (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2008), 55-65. “Sled Dogs of the American North: On Masculinity, Whiteness, and Human Freedom,” in Animals and Agency, ed. Sarah MacFarland and Ryan Hediger (Leiden: Brill Academic, 2009), 129-156. Encyclopedia Entry: “Theodore Roethke,” in Modern American Environmentalists: A Biographical Encyclopedia, ed. G.A. Cevasco (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009), 421-426. Review Publications: Review: Analisa Leppanen-Guerra. Children’s Stories and “Child-Time” in the Works of Joseph Cornell. The Lion and the Unicorn, Fall 2012. Accepted, in process of revision. Review: Sally Kohlstedt, Teaching Children Science: Hands-On Nature Study in North America, 1890-1930. Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth, Vol. 3, No. 4 (Fall 2011), 518-520. Review: Nelson Lichtenstein, ed., American Capitalism: Social Thought and Political Economy in the Twentieth Century. E3W Review of Books, Vol. 9 (Spring 2009), 38-39. Review: Documentary Film: “King Corn.” Green Theory & Praxis: The Journal of Ecopedagogy, Vol. 4, No. 1 (2008), 122-124. Publications (Non-Peer-Reviewed) 2011 Wrote column for Society for the History of Childhood and Youth newsletter (“Songbirds and Satellites: Blogging the History of Childhood”) 2011 Wrote article for the Pasteur Foundation: LAITS 6/14/12 2:19 PM Comment: Put name here 2
- 3. Rebecca Onion/CV 2010 Co-edited and wrote column for Paperweight: A Newspaper of Visual and Material Culture, Summer 2010-present LAITS 6/14/12 2:20 PM Fellowships and Grants Comment: Get names of pieces 2010-2011 William S. Livingston Graduate Fellowship, University of Texas at Austin 2011 Summer Research Grant, Department of American Studies, University of Texas at Austin 2011 Research Grant, Friends of the Princeton University Library 2011 Shin Pond Summer Retreat Program Fellowship, Humane Society of the United States 2010 Robert A. Heinlein Online Archives Research Grant 2010 Chemical Heritage Foundation Travel Grant 2010 Hannah Beiter Graduate Student Research Grant, Children’s Literature Association 2007 Liberal Arts Graduate Research Fellowship, University of Texas at Austin 2007 Stott Travel Fellowship, University of Texas at Austin 2005-2006 Harrington Fellowship, University of Texas at Austin Scholarly Honors and Prizes 2011 Winner, Graduate Research Award, University Co-Op, University of Texas at Austin 2011 BootCamp Fellowship, to attend THATCamp, awarded by Mellon and Kress Foundations 2008 Winner, Outstanding Thesis Award, University Co-Op, University of Texas at Austin 2008 Invited to speak at the Material Culture Symposium for Emerging Scholars, University of Delaware/Winterthur Museum 2008 Travel Award to attend University College Dublin Clinton Institute Summer School, given by University of Texas at Austin Department of American Studies 2007 Graduate Participant, University of Texas at Austin Humanities Institute Faculty Seminar, “The Human and its Others” Digital Humanities Interests Digital archives, public history online, online scholarly communities, bibliographic records management systems, copyright and open access, the humanities and social media, blogging (WordPress, Tumblr, Blogspot), digital pedagogy Digital Humanities Experience 2012-present Assistant Coordinator, THATCamp (The Humanities and Technology Camp), Center for History and New Media, George Mason University 3
- 4. Rebecca Onion/CV • Revise and update documentation for organizers and participants of THATCamp “unconferences” (samples of organizer handbook at http://thatcamp.org/plan/download- the-handbook/) • Work remotely with THATCamp coordinator Amanda French to implement goals of Mellon-funded project 2012-present Maintain active scholarly presence on Tumblr (www.rebeccaonion.tumblr.com) 2012 Attended THATCamp Liberal Arts Colleges, Austin, TX 2012 Taught spring section of American Studies course Popular Culture and American Childhood (www.popcultureandamericanchildhood.com) • Students contributed blog posts to WordPress course site, including analysis of primary sources, reading reflections, and news posts • Course included instruction in research using the Web and library databases 2011 Taught fall section of American Studies course Popular Culture and American Childhood (www.americanchildhoods.com) • Students worked on building the Archive of Childhood (www.archiveofchildhood.com), a WordPress site connecting course readings with objects from student childhoods • Students used Zotero for research and writing • Course included instruction in research using the Web and library databases 2011 Gave professional development presentation for fellow graduate students: “Beyond Citation Management: Using Zotero to Shape Your Graduate Research” 2011 Blogger for University of Texas Department of American Studies website, AMS :: ATX (http://amstudies.wordpress.com/) 2011 Attended THATCamp Southeast, Atlanta, GA 2011 Created public Zotero library aggregating scholarly work in Childhood Srudies (https://www.zotero.org/groups/childhood_studies_scholarlysecondary_so urces/items) 2010-2012 Maintained research blog, Songbirds and Satellites (http://www.rebeccaonion.com/songbirds-and-satellites/) 2010-present Maintain active scholarly presence on Twitter (@rebeccaonion) 4
- 5. Rebecca Onion/CV 2009-2010 Research Assistant to Dr. Penne Restad, History Department, University of Texas at Austin • Assisted with curriculum development for twentieth-century American history survey • In collaboration with professor, created WordPress course website: http://sites.la.utexas.edu/history2point0/ (password “oldschool”) • During term of assistantship, maintained and updated course website’s blog 2007-2008 Maintained orals reading blog, La Biblioteca de Babel (http://bifurcan.blogspot.com) Research Experience 2007-2008 Research Assistant to Dr. Janet Davis, American Studies Department, University of Texas at Austin • Assisted with research for book project, including archival work and Spanish-to-English translation Teaching Interests American history survey, Introduction to American Studies, popular culture, technology and culture, popular science, environmental history, animal studies, history of childhood/childhood studies, material culture, food studies, digital humanities Teaching Experience 2011 Assistant Instructor, Department of American Studies, University of Texas at Austin • Course Title: Popular Culture and American Childhood • Introductory seminar in American Studies, with a Writing Flag • Planned original curriculum, while implementing university- wide Writing Flag requirements • Students worked with primary sources, engaged in scholarly conversations about popular culture, and produced writing for the Web • Course Websites: americanchildhoods.com (F’11), popcultureandamericanchildhood.com (S ’12) • Syllabi: http://americanchildhoods.com/syllabus/ (F ’11), http://popcultureandamericanchildhood.com/syllabus/ (S ’12) • Evaluations available upon request 2008-2009 Assistant Instructor, Department of Rhetoric and Writing, University of Texas at Austin 5
- 6. Rebecca Onion/CV • Course Title: Introduction to Rhetoric and Composition • Used guidelines provided by department to plan curriculum • Students revised, peer-reviewed, and workshopped original argumentative essays • Evaluations available upon request 2008-2009 Consultant, University Writing Center, University of Texas at Austin • Collaborated with students to advance writing projects 2007 Supplemental Instruction Leader, University of Texas at Austin Learning Center • Led discussion sections attached to large lecture class; provided instruction in study skills & written communication 2006-2007 Teaching Assistant, American Studies Department, University of Texas at Austin • Course Titles: Introduction to American Studies: Femininity and Masculinity in America (Dr. Elizabeth Engelhardt); Main Currents in American Culture through 1865 (Dr. Shirley Thompson) Professional Presentations March 2012 “Making Science Fun: Critical Intersections of Science and Childhood in 20th-Century American Culture,” University of Texas at Austin History of Science Colloquium, Austin, TX October 2011 “Reality in the Basement: Science Sets, Home Laboratories, & the Market for the Modern Mind.” American Studies Association Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD July 2011 “The Story of a Wonder World: Science, Industry, and the ‘Romance of Reality’ in American Kids’ Books of the 1920s and 1930s.” Brown- bag talk for the Friends of the Princeton University Library, Princeton, NJ June 2011 “Science, Childhood, and the ‘Informational’ Book: Knowing the Modern World in the 1920s and 1930s.” Children’s Literature Association annual meeting, Hollins, VA November 2010 “Varieties of Scientific Experience: The American Museum of Natural History, the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, and the Production of Wonder, 1900-1930.” American Studies Association annual meeting, San Antonio, TX April 2010 “Melding Childhood Studies, Science Studies, and the History of Education.” Exploring Childhood Studies Conference, Childhood Studies Graduate Program, Rutgers-Camden, Camden, NJ 6
- 7. Rebecca Onion/CV March 2010 “Doing history with Team-Based Learning in a large survey U.S. history course.” With Penne Restad and Michael Sweet. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the Team Based Learning Collaborative, New Orleans, Louisiana April 2008 “Reclaiming the Machine: Steampunk Practice and the Humanization of the Technological Object,” Material Culture Symposium for Emerging Scholars, Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, Delaware November 2007 “Re-articulating the Native, Claiming the Human: Man-Dog Relationships in the New American North,” Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts, Portland, ME June 2007 “Colonial Narratives, Written on The Animal Body: The Watercolors of Walton Ford,” Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment, Spartanburg, SC March 2007 “Gender and the Frontier in Alaska.” Guest lecture, Intro to American Studies undergraduate class (for Dr. Elizabeth Engelhardt) November 2006 “Visions of Carnivore Ecology in Children’s Culture: Dinotopia and Jurassic Park,” Carnivores 2006 (Defenders of Wildlife conference), Tampa, FL October 2006 “Lead Dogs and Heroic Masculinity in the New Age of Celebrity,” Western Literature Association, Boise, ID February 2006 “The Endless Quest for Authenticity: The Lord of the Rings and Teenage Girls,” SW/TX Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association, Albuquerque, NM Panels (As Organizer) 2012 Organized panel for the American Studies Association annual meeting, San Juan, Puerto Rico (upcoming in November 2012) • “Space, Place, and Privilege: The New Geographies of Childhood” (co-organized with Nicholas Syrett; sponsored by Childhood and Youth Studies Caucus) 2011 Organized two panels for the American Studies Association annual meeting, Baltimore, MD • “Objects of Learning: Material Culture, Imaginative Pedagogy, and the Transformation of American Childhood, 1880-1980” (co-organized with Sarah Carter; sponsored by Material Culture Caucus) • “From Decay to Deterioration: Questioning the Aesthetics of Abandonment” (sponsored by Visual Culture Caucus) 7
- 8. Rebecca Onion/CV 2006 Organizer and facilitator, faculty roundtable, UT American Studies Graduate Conference, Austin, TX • “Pushing ‘Interdisciplinary’ to the Limit” Conferences and Talks (As Organizer) 2009 Organized visit of guest speaker Cindi Katz, Childhood Studies Graduate Research Cluster, University of Texas at Austin 2008 Member of committee to organize MEPHISTOS graduate conference in the history, anthropology, and sociology of science 2007 Member of committee to organize UT American Studies Graduate Conference 2006 Co-organized UT American Studies Graduate Conference Service 2008 Mentor, Intellectual Entrepreneurship Program, University of Texas at Austin • Acted as advisor to undergraduate American Studies major interested in attending graduate school Additional Work Experience 2002-present Freelance writer, multiple popular publications • Clients have included ELLEgirl, the Austin-American Statesman, Time Out New York, Slate.com, The New Republic’s website, the New Haven Advocate). • See www.rebeccaonion.com/publications/freelance for clips. 2001-2003 Staff writer, ym magazine Languages Fluent in Spanish Intermediate Proficiency in Italian Professional Affiliations Since 2005 American Studies Association member Since 2007 Society for the History of Childhood and Youth member Since 2010 History of Science Society Member Since 2010 Children’s Literature Association member References 8
- 9. Rebecca Onion/CV Janet Davis Associate Professor Department of American Studies/Department of History University of Texas at Austin 1 University Station B7100 Austin, TX 78712 Office Phone: 512.232.1848 or 512.471.7277 Email: janetmdavis@austin.utexas.edu Julia Mickenberg Associate Professor Department of American Studies University of Texas at Austin 1 University Station B7100 Austin, TX 78712 Office Phone: 512.232.2650 or 512.471.7277 Email: mickenberg@mail.utexas.edu Jeffrey Meikle Professor Department of American Studies/Department of Art and Art History University of Texas at Austin 1 University Station B7100 Austin, TX 78712 Office Phone: 512.232.2166 or 512.471.7277 Email: meikle@mail.utexas.edu Bruce Hunt Associate Professor Department of History University of Texas at Austin 1 University Station B7000 Austin, TX 78712 Office Phone: 512.232.6109 Email: bjhunt@mail.utexas.edu Penne L. Restad (Teaching Reference) Distinguished Senior Lecturer Department of History University of Texas at Austin 1 University Station B7000 Austin, TX 78712 Office Phone: 512.475.7233 Email: restad@mail.utexas.edu 9