Susan Branson
Associate Professor, History
Degree
Ph.D., Northern Illinois University, 1992
Specialties
Early American women, Early American society and culture, science and American society
Publications
Books:
"These Fiery Frenchified Damese": Women, Politics, and Culture in Early National Philadelphia(Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001).
Dangerous to Know: Women, Class and Crime in the Early Republic (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008).
Articles:
“Sex, Scandal, Violence, and Other Middle-Class Pastimes in The History
of the Celebrated Mrs. Ann Carson,” in Class and Class Struggles in
Early North America and the Atlantic World, Simon Middleton and Billy G.
Smith, editors. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008).
“From Daughters of Liberty to Women of the Republic: Women in the Era of the American Revolution” in Jay Kleinberg, Eileen Boris, and Vicki Ruiz, editors, The Practice of U.S. Women's History: Narratives, Intersections, and Dialogues, (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2007).
“Gendered
Strategies for Success in the Early Nineteenth-Century Literary
Marketplace: Mary Carr and the Ladies’ Tea Tray,” Journal of American
Studies, 40, no.1 (April 2006): 35-51.
“An Outlaw and Her Ghost Writer: Enigmas of Female Celebrity in Early America,” Commonplace (April 2005). http://www.common-place.org/vol-05/no-03/tales/
"The Political Education of Elizabeth Drinker," Pennsylvania History
Special Issue Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the Publication of
Elizabeth Drinker's Diary, Pennsylvania History, 68, no.4 (autumn 2001):
465-482.
"Etrangers dans un pays etrange: Saint-Domingan Refugees of Color in
Philadelphia," (co-authored with Leslie Patrick) in David Geggus,
editor, The Impact of the Haitian Revolution in the Atlantic World,
(University of South Carolina Press, 2002).
"American Women and
the French Revolution: Gender and Partisan Festive Culture in the Early
Republic," (co-authored with Simon Newman) in William Pencak, editor,
Riot and Revelry (University Park: The Pennsylvania State University
Press, 2002).
"'He Swore His Life was in Danger From Me': The Attempted Kidnapping of
Governor Simon Snyder," Pennsylvania History, 67, no. 3 (summer 2000): 349-360.
"Women
and the Family Economy in the Early Republic: The Case of Elizabeth
Meredith" Journal of the Early Republic, 16, no.1 (spring 1996): 47-71.
*Reprinted in Joseph M. Hawes and Elizabeth Nybakken, editors, American
Families in Historical Perspective (University of Illinois Press, 2001).
"Beyond
Respectability: The Female World of Love and Crime in
Nineteenth-Century Philadelphia," Studies in Eighteenth-Century Culture
25 (1996).
"A Working Woman: The Autobiography of Ann Baker
Carson," (co-authored with Susan E. Klepp) in Life in Revolutionary
Philadelphia: A Documentary History, edited by Billy G. Smith
(University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995).
"St. Domingan Refugees in the Philadelphia Community in the 1790s,"
in Amerindians, Africans, Americans: Three Papers in Caribbean History,
edited by Barry Higman (University of the West Indies Press, 1993).
Recent Papers
“History and Empire: Architectural Style and American National
Ambitions, 1798-1848,” forEuropean Early American Studies Association
biannual conference. University of Paris-Diderot, December 2010
“Egyptomania:
American Fashion and Architecture in Transatlantic Context, 1798-1848”
for Visual Arts and Global Trade in the Early American Republic
conference. Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts, November, 2010
“Flora
and Femininity: Gendered Scientific Practice in the Early Republic,”
for British Group Early American History conference. Oxford University,
September 2010
“Enlightened Women: Science Education in
Eighteenth-Century America,” Society of Early Americanists, Hamilton,
Bermuda, March 2009
“Jefferson’s Mammoth Cheese: Natural History
and National Politics,” East-Central/American Society for
Eighteenth-Century Studies, Georgetown University, November, 2008
Teaching Appointments
Associate Professor, American History, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University: 2010-present
Associate Professor, American Studies, Syracuse University: 2005-2010
Associate Professor, Historical Studies, University of Texas at Dallas: 2003-2005
Assistant Professor, Historical Studies, University of Texas at Dallas: 1997-2003
Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Texas at Dallas: 1995-1997
Assistant Professor, Southwest Texas State University:1993-1996 (on leave 1995-1996)
Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Texas at Dallas: 1992-1993
Instructor, Southern Methodist University: 1992
Instructor, University of Texas at Dallas: Spring 1992
Research Interests
American social and cultural history, 18th and 19th century, science and American popular culture
Research Grants and Awards
National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, 2005-2006
Alumna of the Year, History Department, Northern Illinois University, 2005
Chemical Heritage Foundation Travel Grant, 2002
Isaac Comly Martindale Fund fellowship, American Philosophical Society, 2001
Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship, Library Company of Philadelphia, 2000
Southwest Texas State University Summer Research Grant, 1994
Philadelphia Center (McNeil Center) for Early American Studies fellowship, 1990-1991
Recent Activities
Work in progress
Monograph: Consuming Science: Natural Philosophy in American Culture and Society, 1700-1860