Distinguished
University Professor
of American Studies and Folklore
The
Pennsylvania
State University, Harrisburg
777 W. Harrisburg Pike
Middletown, PA 17057-4898
717-948-6039 (office),717-948-6724
(fax)
sbronner@psu.edu (e-mail)
http://www.personal.psu.edu/sjb2
(Find me on www.facebook.com)
Director, Doctoral
Program in American Studies, Penn
State
Harrisburg, since 2008
Lead Scholar, Holocaust
and Jewish Studies Center, Penn State Harrisburg,
since
2007
Interim
Director, School of Humanities,
Penn
State Capital College, January 2002-July 2003.
Coordinator,
American
Studies
Program (B.Hum, M.A.), Penn State Harrisburg,
1987-2002, 2006-
Director, Center for Pennsylvania Culture Studies, Penn State Harrisburg, 1990-2008.
Project Director, American Studies Institute for International Teachers of English as a Foreign Language and Curriculum Developers, United States Information Agency and Academy for Educational Development, Penn State Harrisburg, May 1992.
Supervisor, Museum Internship Program, Penn State Harrisburg, 1985-1989.
Director,
Archive of New York State Folklife, New York State
Historical
Association, Cooperstown, New York, 1976-1977.
Distinguished University Professor of American Studies, Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg. Since 1991. Senior Member, Graduate Faculty, since 1987;Professor, 1988-1991; Associate Professor, 1985-1988; Assistant Professor, 1981-1984.
Responsible
for teaching graduate and undergraduate courses (click on title for
sample syllabi)
Topics In
American Folklore: Culture and Aging (Spring 2010)
American
Studies Theory and Method (fall 2009)
Material
Culture
and Folklife (Summer 2009)
American
Studies
Theory
and Method (2004)
American
Studies Theory and Method (2006)
Seminar in
American Studies (American Future),
Seminar
in
American Studies (Death in America)
Ethnic
America: Immigrant Experience
American
Popular
Culture and Folklife,
Introduction
to American Folklore
Topics in European History
Now
offering
on-line courses available world-wide: Introduction to
American Folklore
Popular
Culture
and Folklife
Walt Whitman Distinguished Chair in
American Cultural Studies, Leiden
University, The Netherlands, 2006.
Approaches
to
Cultural Studies,
Visiting Professor,
American Studies, Dickinson
College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Summer 2005, 2006.
Visiting
Professor, Folklore
and
American
Civilization,
Harvard
University, 1997-1998.
Folklore
in American Civilization, Ethnic History and Folklife.
Fulbright Professor of American Studies, Osaka University, Japan, 1996-1997.
American
History and Culture, Material Culture.
Visiting Distinguished Professor of American Studies, University of California at Davis, Summer 1991.
American Folklife.
M.A., Folk Culture, Cooperstown Graduate Programs of the State University of New York, April 1977.
B.A.
(Honors
Program in Humanities), History
and Political Science,
State University of New York at Binghamton, May 1974.
Introductory Japanese, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan, June 1997.
Yiddish Culture, Mt. Holyoke College, National Yiddish Book Center, Summer 1992.
Oral History, Center for the Study of History and Memory, Indiana University, Bloomington, March 1981.
History Museum Administration, Cooperstown Graduate Programs of the State University of New York, June 1980.
BOOKS
(ed.)
Jews at Home: Domestication of Identity. Oxford: Littman, 2010.
Killing
Tradition:
Inside Hunting and Animal Rights Controversies. Lexington:
University
Press of Kentucky, 2008.
Steelton. Charleston: Arcadia, 2008 (with Michael Barton).
(ed.) Jewishness:
Expression, Identity, Representation. Oxford: Littman, 2008.
(ed.)
The
Meaning of Folklore: The Analytic Essays of Alan Dundes.
Logan: Utah State University Press, 2007.
Crossing
the
Line: Violence, Play, and Drama in Naval Equator Traditions.
Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press (University of Chicago
Press in
U.S.), 2006.
(ed.)
Encyclopedia
of American Folklife. 4 vols. Armonk, NY:
M.E. Sharpe,
2006.
(ed.)
Manly
Traditions:
The Folk Roots of American Masculinities. Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 2005.
Folk
Nation: Folklore in the Creation of American Tradition. Lanham,
MD:
Rowman and Littlefield, 2002.
(ed.)
Lafcadio
Hearn's
America. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky,
2002.
Following
Tradition: Folklore in the Discourse of American Culture.
Logan:
Utah State University Press, 1998.
Popularizing
Pennsylvania:Henry W. Shoemaker
and the Progressive Uses of Folklore and History.University
Park: Penn State Press, 1996.
The
Carver's
Art: Crafting Meaning from Wood.
Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1996.
Piled
Higher
and Deeper: The Folklore of Student Life. Little
Rock:
August
House Publishers, 1995.
(ed.)
Creativity
and
Tradition in Folklore:New Directions.Logan:
Utah State University Press, 1992.
(ed.)
American
Material
Culture and Folklife. Logan: Utah State University
Press,
1992.
(ed.)
Folk
Art and Art Worlds. Logan: Utah State University Press, 1992
(with
John Michael Vlach).
Piled
Higher
and Deeper:The Folklore of
Campus Life.Little Rock:
August House Publishers, 1990.
American Children's Folklore.Little Rock, August House Publishers, 1988.
Annotated
Edition,
1989.
(ed.)
Consuming
Visions: Accumulation and Display of Goods in America, 1880-1920.
New
York: W. W. Norton, 1989.
(ed.)
Folklife
Studies from the Gilded Age: Object, Rite, and Custom in Victorian
America.Ann
Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1988.
Old-Time
Music Makers of New York State.Syracuse:
Syracuse University Press, 1987.
Grasping
Things:
Folk Material Culture and Mass Society in America.Lexington:
University
Press of Kentucky, 1986.
(ed.)
Folk
Art and Art Worlds.Ann Arbor:
UMI Research Press, 1986 (with John Michael Vlach).
American
Folklore Studies: An Intellectual History.Lawrence:
University
Press of Kansas, 1986.
Chain
Carvers:
Old Men Crafting Meaning.Lexington:
University Press of Kentucky, 1985.
(ed.)
American
Material Culture and Folklife: A Prologue and Dialogue.Ann
Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1985.
(ed.)
American
Folk Art: A Guide to Sources.New
York: Garland Publishing, 1984.
SPECIAL
ISSUES AND MONOGRAPHS
(ed.)
The Meanings of Tradition. Los Angeles: California Folklore
Society,
2000.
Ethnic
Ancestry in Pennsylvania: An Analysis of Self-Identification.
Middletown: Pennsylvania State DataCenter,
1996.
(ed.)
What Have Our Histories Taught Us?A
Symposium.Middletown, Pennsylvania:
Folklore Historian, 1989.
(ed.)
Material Culture Studies: A Symposium. Akron, Ohio: Pioneer
America
Society, 1985.
Bibliography
of American Folk and Vernacular Art.Bloomington,
Indiana: Folklore Publications Group, Monograph Series
Volume
3, 1980.
(ed.)
Approaches to the Study of Material Aspects of American Folk
Culture.Bloomington,
Indiana: Folklore Forum, 1979
(with Stephen Poyser).
JOURNAL
ARTICLES, BOOK
CHAPTERS,
AND REVIEWS
Over 200 essays in
journals and encyclopedias, including American
Quarterly,
American Studies,Material Culture,
Winterthur Portfolio, Prospects: Annual of American Cultural Studies,
American
Studies International, Borderlines: Studies in American Culture,
Journal
of American History, Pennsylvania History, Georgia Historical
Quarterly,
Western American Literature, Kansai American Literature,Markers,Journal
of American Folklore, Folklore, Folklife, Journal of Folklore Research,
Western Folklore, International Folklore Review, Anthropos, Jewish
History,
Journal of Modern Jewish Studies, Yiddish, Education Life, Encyclopedia
of American Studies, Oxford Companion to United States History,
Encyclopedia
of Vernacular Architecture of the World, Collier's Encyclopedia,
Encyclopedia
of Southern Culture, American Folklore: An Encyclopedia, Encyclopedia
of
Local History, Historical Dictionary of the Gilded Age.
Over 50 Chapters
and Introductions in books, including Writing
the Amish (2005),
Vernacular
Architecture
in the 21st Century (2005), Exploring
Roots
Music (2004), Dramatic
America (2002), Pennsylvania:
A
History of the Commonwealth
(2002), Plain
Women: Gender and Ritual in the Old Order
River
Brethren (2001), Children's
Folklore: A Source Book (1995),
Conserving Cultural Heritage in the 21st Century (1994). Foxfire
Book of Appalachian Toys and Games (1993), American Folk
Art
Canes:
Personal Sculpture (1992),Consuming
Visions: Accumulation and Display of Goods in America, 1880-1920
(1989),
Exploring Folk Art (1987), Folk
Groups and Folklore Genres
(1986), Material Culture: A Research Guide (1985), Academic
and
Public
History: A Synthesis, (1989), Personal Places:
Perspectives
on Informal Art Environments (1984), Afro-American Folk Art and
Crafts, (1986), Humor and the Individual (1984), Foodways
and
Eating Habits: Directions for Research (1983).
Editor, Encyclopedia of American Folklife. 4 vols. M.E. Sharpe, 2006.
Editor, Jewish
Cultural Studies.
Littman Library of
Jewish Civilization, since 2006.
Editor,
Pennsylvania-German
History
and Culture, Publications of the
Pennsylvania-German
Society
(Books), Penn
State
Press, 2000-2009.
Editor,
Material
Worlds
Series (Books), University
Press of Kentucky, since 1998.
Editor,
American
Material Culture and Folklife Series (Books), UMI Research
Press,
1984-1990.
Editor,
The
Folklore Historian, 1983-1989.
Editor,
Material Culture, 1983-1986.
Editor,
Folklore
Forum, 1979.
Advisory
Editor, Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of the World,
3
vols. Cambridge University Press, 1988-1997.
Associate
Editor, Jewish Folklore and Ethnology Review, 1996-2002.
Advisory
Editor, Folklore Historian, since 1990.
Assistant
Editor, Journal of the Folklore Institute, 1977-1978.
Editorial
Board, Encyclopedia of Jewish Folklore, ABC-CLIO, since
2000.
Editorial
Board, Folklife, since 2002.
Editorial
Board, Pennsylvania Folklife, 1990-1997.
Editorial
Board, Material Culture, 1987-2003.
Editorial Board, Midwestern Folklore, since 1987.
SCHOLARSHIP
Choice "Outstanding Academic
Title," Association of College and Research Libraries, For Encyclopedia of American Folklife,
2007
Booklist/Reference
Book Bulletin "Editor's Choice Award," For Encyclopedia of American Folklife, 2006
Penn
State Harrisburg Excellence in Research Award, 1998
Wayland Hand Prize for History and Folklore, 1998.
Wayland Hand Prize for History and Folklore, 1994.
Fellow, American Folklore Society, elected 1994.
Peter and Iona Opie Prize for best book on children’s folklore, 1990.
Regional Council of Historical Societies Award of Merit (for Old-Time Music Makers), 1988.
John Ben Snow Foundation Prize for best book on New York State (for Old-Time Music Makers), 1987.
TEACHING
AND SERVICE
Penn State
Harrisburg Service Award, 2006.
Mary
Turpie Prize, American Studies Association [program development,
teaching,
and advising] 1999.
Provost's Award for Teaching,
1997
Pennsylvania-German Society Award of Merit [service to Pennsylvania-German field], 1996.
James A. Jordan Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence, 1985.
FELLOWSHIPS
AND
SCHOLARSHIPS
Research
Fellowship
(Material Culture and Ethnology), Meertens
Institute, Department of Ethnology, Royal Netherlands Academy of
Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Fall 2005
National Endowment for the Humanities Research Fellowship at the Winterthur Museum/Advanced Studies, 1984.
Rockefeller Foundation Graduate Fellowship, Indiana University, 1978-1981.
American Studies Graduate Scholarship, Indiana University, 1977.
New York State Council on the Arts Fellowship, State University of New York, Cooperstown Graduate Programs, 1974-1975.
New York State Regents Scholarship, State University of New York at Binghamton, 1971-1974.
New York State Scholar Incentive Award, State University of New York at Binghamton, 1971-1974.
GRANTS
Conference
on
Modern Jewish Culture in Poland, University of Wroclaw,
Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, Taube
Foundation, 2008
Let's
Talk
About It: Jewish Literature, American
Library
Association,
2006.
McCormick Family Papers Project, Anne and Vance McCormick Foundation, 2000-2003.
Transcription of African-American Blues Performed by Eugene Powell, Penn State Research Council, 2001.
Pennsylvania Black History Conference, Museum Project Grants, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 2000.
Context Study for the Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania, Bureau of Historic Preservation, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1999-2000.
Fulbright Lecturing Award to Japan, Council for International Exchange of Scholars and Japan-United States Educational Commission, 1996-1997.
Stabilization and Accessibility of the John Yetter Collection of Steelton History and Culture, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1996.
Folk Arts Apprenticeship: The Turkish Oud with Stan Merzanis, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, 1991-1992.
Ethnic Arts Series, Equal Opportunity Planning Committee, Pennsylvania State University, 1990.
International Childlore Conference, Travel Grant to England, American Council of Learned Societies, 1988.
A Biography of Stewart Culin, 1858-1929, National Endowment for the Humanities, Travel to Collections Program, 1986.
Behind the Image of Uniformity: Cultural Diversity in South-Central Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, 1983.
Tradition and Aging: Woodcarvers in Indiana, Pennsylvania State University Faculty Research Grant, 1982.
Afro-American Blues Tradition in Greenville, Mississippi, National Endowment for the Arts, 1976.
POSITIONS
HELD
IN SCHOLARLY
SOCIETIES
President, Middle Atlantic American Studies Association, 1999-2003.
President, Middle Atlantic Folklife Association, 1989-1991.
President, Pennsylvania Folklore Society, 1983-1985.
President, Children's Folklore Section of the American Folklore Society, 1983-1985.
Executive Board, American Folklore Society, 2000-2002
Board of Directors, Pennsylvania-German Society, 1996-2002.
Chair, History Section of the American Folklore Society, 1985-1996, since 1998.
Chair, Foodways Section of the American Folklore Society, 1979-1980.
Chair, Material Culture Prize Committee, Material Culture Caucus of the American Studies Association and University Press of Kentucky, 1998-1999.
American Studies Academic Programs Committee, American Studies Association, 2003-2005.
Regional Chapters Committee, American Studies Association, 1999-2002.
Ralph
Henry Gabriel Prize Committee, American Studies Association, 1995.
EXHIBITIONS
AND MUSEUM EDUCATION
Curator, "'A Considerable People': The Jewish Community of Greater
Harrisburg." Gallery,
Schwab Family Holocaust Reading Room, Penn State Harrisburg, 2008
Curator, "The Memorial Art of David Ascalon," Library, Penn State
Harrisburg, 2006
Curator,
The Jewish Book, Heindel Library, Penn State Harrisburg, 1998.
Curator, "Ethnic Steelton." Olmsted Gallery, Penn State Harrisburg, 1985.
Curator, "Emma Schrock, Mennonite Artist and Artist of Mennonite Life." Indiana University Museum of Anthropology, History, and Folklore, 1978.
Curatorial Assistant, Indiana University Museum of Anthropology, History, and Folklore, 1977.
Education Assistant, Folk Arts Division, Michigan State University Museum, East Lansing, 1981.
Education Assistant, Fenimore House Museum [Art Galleries] and Farmer's Museum [Outdoor Living History and Culture], New York State Historical Association, Cooperstown, New York, 1975.
PUBLIC HERITAGE POSITIONS AND
OTHER SCHOLARLY SERVICE
Board of Directors, Blues Heritage Foundation, Largo, Florida, since
2008.
Consultant, “Louis C. Jones Collection.” New
York
State Historical Association, Cooperstown, New York. New York
State Council on the Arts Grant, 2006.
Project Team, “Migration and the Creation of American Society.”
Teaching American History Institute, Millersville University, July 2006.
Project Scholar, Oral History
Project, Pennsylvania
House
of Representatives, since 2005.
Affiliate Professor,
University of Haifa, Israel, since 2005.
Panelist, Pennsylvania Historic
Marker Board, Pennsylvania
Historical
and Museum Commission,
2005-2006.
Commonwealth Speaker, Pennsylvania
Humanities
Council,
2004-2005.
Consultant,
Giants:
Friend
or Foe?, History Channel,
New Wave Entertainment,
2003.
Reviewer, National Historical Publications and Records Commission, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C., 2001.
Advisory Board, Mid-Atlantic Regional Humanities Center (MARCH), Rutgers University-Camden, 2000-2001.
Planning Committee, Community Arts Festival, Middletown Historical Society and Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Middletown, Pennsylvania, 1999-2000.
Planning Committee, Forum on the Alliance of Blacks and Jews, Jewish Community Center and Pennsylvania Council on the Humanities, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 1999.
Panelist, Fulbright Grant Program for Korea and Japan, Council for InternationalExchange of Scholars,.Washington, D.C., 1997-1999
Panelist, Fulbright Grant Program for History and American Studies, Japan-United States Educational Commission, Tokyo, 1996.
Consultant, "Visions of a Nation: Exploring Identity through American Art."Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, 1996.
Consultant, Michigan Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, Michigan State University Museum, 1996.
Consultant, "Folklore and Folklife Archives in Pennsylvania."Pennsylvania Heritage Affairs Commission and National Endowment for the Humanities, 1995-1996.
Consultant, "Interpretive Master Planning for Shelburne Museum," Shelburne Museum, Vermont, 1994.
Consultant, "Creating History Exhibit," Valentine Richmond History Center, Richmond, Virginia, 1994.
Panelist, Humanities Projects in Museums and Historical Organizations, National Endowment for the Humanities, 1993.
Chair, Holocaust Memorial Design Committee, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 1993
Reviewer, Division of Preservation and Access, National Endowment for the Humanities, 1993.
Panelist,Local History Grants Program, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1992.
Consultant, "Exhibit on Mann Valentine," Valentine Richmond History Center, Richmond, Virginia, 1991.
Chair, Cultural Heritage Advisory Board, Pennsylvania Heritage Affairs Commission, 1988-1991.
Reviewer, Interpretive Research Program, National Endowment for the Humanities, 1988-1994.
Member, Interracial Understanding Council, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 1988-1990.
Selection Committee, Mayor’s People Place Exhibits, City Hall, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 1989.
Consultant, Folk Arts Panel of the Massachusetts Artists Fellowship Program, The Artists Foundation, Boston, 1988.
Consultant, Technical Information Services, Material Culture.American Association for State and Local History, 1988.
Task Force, "History Museum Common Agenda Planning Project."American Association for State and Local History, Smithsonian Institution, and National Endowment for the Humanities, 1987-1988.
Board of Directors, Pennsylvania Folk Festival, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, 1984-1987.
Consultant, "Craft and Community: An Exhibition on Traditional Craftsmanship in Pennsylvania."National Endowment for the Arts and Pennsylvania Office of State Folklife Programs, Heritage Affairs Commission, 1986.
Reviewer, Reference Materials Program, National Endowment for the Humanities, 1986.
Panelist, Youth Projects Program, National Endowment for the Humanities, 1985.
Consultant, "Production of Television Programs on Folk Artists of Illinois." Eastern Illinois University, Illinois Arts Council and the Tarble Arts Center, 1985.
Panelist, Apprenticeship Program, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, 1984.
Consultant, Center for the Study of Southern Culture, University of Mississippi, 1983.
Consultant, "Folk Toys and the Folklore of Children: Vermont and Mississippi."National Endowment for the Humanities and Center for the Study of Southern Culture, Vermont Department of Libraries, and the Mississippi Library Commission, 1983.
Project Scholar, "Harrisburg, City of Change." National Endowment for the Humanities and Dauphin County Library System, 1983.
Co-Director, Ethnic Folk Arts Festival, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 1983.
Member, Folklife Advisory Council, Pennsylvania Heritage Affairs Commission, 1982 to 1988.
Consultant, "Religious Folk Art in America."Museum of American Folk Art and the New York Council on the Humanities, 1982-1983.
Planning Committee, Jewish Arts Festival, Jewish Community Center, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 1982.
Consultant, "Ohio Folk Traditions: A New Generation."National Endowment for the Humanities and the Fairfield County District Library, 1981.
Consultant, Sounds of Our Heritage Series, Holt, Rinehart and Winston Publishers 1980.
Consultant,
Latino Culture in East Utica, New York, New York State
Council
on the Arts Regional Workshop in Documentation, 1976.
Director, Binghamton Folk Festival, SUNY at Binghamton, New York, 1973-1974