NORA BRENNAN MORRISON
nbmorris –at— fas dot harvard dot edu
EDUCATION
Harvard University, Ph.D.
Cambridge, MA
Ph.D., History of American Civilization, expected June 2008. Focus on the history of culture in the 19th and 20th centuries, with an emphasis on the interaction between music, audience, business, and institutions.Interests in African-American and popular music, cultural exchange, film, the visual arts, performance, and fantasy. Dissertation citation in Spanish language and literature. A.M. in History, June 2004. Advisors: Werner Sollors (Harvard), Carol Oja (Harvard), and John Szwed (Yale).
Harvard University, Honors A.B.
Cambridge, MA
A.B. magna cum laude, History and Literature of America and France, with French language citation, June 2000. Work in American and French history, culture, literature, music, and art; interest in cultural institutions and transnational literatures. Advisor: Patrice Higonnet.
DISSERTATION
"I Put a Spell on You”: A Cultural History of the Rise of Rhythm and Blues, 1945-1960
FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS
Graduate Society Dissertation Completion Fellowship (2007-2008)
Visiting Scholar, Columbia University Department of English/Center for Jazz Studies (2005-2007)
Graduate Society Merit Term-Time Fellowship (2006-2007)
History of American Civilization Summer Research Grant (2006)
Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History summer grant (2005, 2006)
Graduate Society Summer Fellowship (2004)
History of American Civilization conference grant (2004)
Sarah Bradley Gamble Scholarship (2002-2003)
Thomas Temple Hoopes Prize for outstanding Harvard senior theses (2000)
Summa cum laude senior thesis (2000)
Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History Undergraduate Fellowship (1999-2000)
F. Stanton Deland, Harvard College Research Program, and Dean's Summer Research Awards (1999)
John Harvard Scholarship (1998-2000)
Harvard College Scholarship (1996-1998)
GENERAL EXAMINATION FIELDS (Passed May 2004)
American literature, Werner Sollors (African-American Studies and English)
American music, emphasis on jazz and popular music, Carol Oja (Music)
American art history, emphasis on 1850-1960, Jennifer Roberts (History of Art)
American history, Lizabeth Cohen (History)
PUBLICATIONS
“ 'Artistic, Scientific, Utilitarian': Building Chicago's Auditorium Theatre,” for a book on 19th century bourgeois culture edited by Sven Beckert (Harvard) and Julia Rosenbaum (Bard College). (Article accepted, book in preparation)
“Music, Black Power, and Jim Crows in Oz: A Reading of Sidney Lumet’s The Wiz (1978),” preparing for submission to an edited volume.
“Fear Transformed into Ambition: Racial Dramas in Michael Jackson's Film and Videos, 1978-1987,” cited in an article on the AP wire that appeared in over 100 newspapers in October 2004. My article was excerpted at some length in the Week in Review section of The New York Times on October 24, 2004.
Conference review, “Michael Jackson Dissected,” for the American Musicological Society’s GLSG newsletter, Spring 2005.
Sixty-three short histories of companies for the Harvard Business School Lehman Brothers collection of deal books, available at the Harvard Business School Baker Library and on library web site, http://quincy.hbs.edu:8080/lehman/, 2004-2005.
CONFERENCE PAPERS AND PRESENTATIONS
“Jelly Roll Morton and W.C. Handy Play the Habanera: Authenticity, Music, and Race in Early New Orleans Jazz,” at the Purdue University conference ““Blacker Than Thou: Authenticity and Identity in the Diaspora” (African American Studies and Research Center, December 2006.
“Black-or-White Zombie: Michael Jackson and Undead Fantasies of Race,” at the University of California, Berkeley, conference “The Undead” (Comparative Literature Department), October 2006.
“Fear Transformed into Ambition: Racial Dramas in Michael Jackson's Film and Videos, 1978-1987,” at the Yale University conference “Regarding Michael Jackson: Performing Racial, Gender, and Sexual Difference Center Stage” (Lesbian and Gay Studies Department), September 2004.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Adjunct lecturer, City University of New York—Lehman College, History and American Studies Departments. Courses include “American Popular Music from 1940 to 1970” (taught twice) and “Fantasy and Allegory in American Film” (2006-2007)
Teaching fellow, Harvard, “Introduction to African American Studies,” Evelynn Hammonds (2004-2005)
Teaching fellow, Harvard, “Designing the American City,” Alex Krieger (2005)
Teaching fellow, Harvard, “Medicine and Society in America,” Allan Brandt (2005)
Course assistant, Harvard, History of American Civilization graduate colloquium; guest discussion leader on 19th century humbugs, curiosities, and frauds (November 15, 2004), Jill Lepore (2004-2005).
Guest lecturer, City University of New York—Brooklyn College, English 2, Lauren Klein, on Utopia, dystopia, and race in Do the Right Thing, dir. Spike Lee (March 18, 2005)
RELATED PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Advising and Mentoring, Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Mentor for a Harvard undergrad through the Radcliffe Mentor Program. Faculty Advisor for an undergrad musical group, the Type As. (2004-2005)
Lehman Collection Assistant, Baker Library, Harvard Business School
Boston, MA
Analyzed deal books from the Lehman Brothers Collection to write brief histories of the companies with which Lehman Brothers worked from 1920 to 1970. Researched companies using business and general resources under the supervision of Laura Linard, director of Historical Collections. Arranged material for presentation on a web site and in a collection brochure. (2004-2005)
Conference Assistant, Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Aided Sven Beckert in planning and hosting “Distinction and Identity: Bourgeois Culture in 19th Century America,” a conference held at Harvard in October 2003. Reviewed articles and books, corresponded with participants, and arranged food, lodging, travel, programs, and presentations. When manuscript is completed, will organize and copyedit it to produce a volume of participant essays. (2002-2003)
Editorial Assistant, W. W. Norton & Company
New York, NY
Worked with Steve Dunn, Norton Vice President and Editor of political science and sociology books, to develop books from proposals to print. Assembled and copyedited manuscripts, tracked books in progress, managed correspondence, and researched political science and sociology scholarship. Coordinated with editors, authors, publishers, sales staff, professors, and designers. (2001-2002)
Travel Writer and Editor, Let’s Go Guidebooks
India, Mexico, and Cambridge, MA
Checked every fact and updated every introduction and map on Northeast Mexico (Mexico 2004 guide) and India's Malabar Coast (India 2002 and 2003 guides). Worked three months in each country as a researcher. Edited writing from six travel writers for Let’s Go: Greece 2001. (2000-2003)
WHRB-FM Department Director
Cambridge, MA
Directed the Rock Department of the student-run commercial radio station WHRB-FM, overseeing 40 weekly broadcast hours and 20 DJs. DJed weekly while an undergrad. (1998-1999)
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION MEMBERSHIPS
American Studies Association
American Culture Association/Popular Culture Association
American Historical Association
Modern Language Assocation
LANGUAGES
Fluent in French and Spanish; reading ability in Latin and Attic and Homeric Greek.
Updated 12/15/07