Steven Lubar
Professor, Departments of American Civilization and History and Director, John Nicolas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage:
American Civilization; John Nicholas Brown Center
Phone: +1 401 863 1177
lubar@brown.edu
Professor Lubar directs Brown's Public Humanities program, building on his interests in issues of culture, community, and public history. Present research projects include work in the history of museums, material culture, 19th-century invention and technology, and digital humanities
Biography
Steven Lubar, Professor, American Civilization. Director, John Nicholas Brown Center for the Study of American Civilization. At Brown since 2004. Before that, Chair of the Division of the History of Technology at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Author of "Legacies: Collecting America's History at the Smithsonian"; "InfoCulture"; and "History from Things." Exhibits include "America on the Move" and "Engines of Change" at the Smithsonian. Interests include the history of museums and memorials, material culture studies, cultural theory in the study of history of technology, and digital humanities.
Interests
My research interests include the history of museums and memorials, material culture studies, and cultural theory in the study of history of technology.
Ongoing research projects:
1. Work in the history of museums and museum education -- practical work, for the most part, done in an attempt to understand how museums found themselves in the position they're in today. Look for an article in The Exhibitionist soon!
Degrees
Ph.D
Awards
"Engines of Change" received the Dibner Award for Excellence in Museum Exhibits from the Society for the History of Technology, 1987
"The Information Age" received the Dibner Award for Excellence in Museum Exhibits from the Society for the History of Technology, 1990
"In the Footstep of Perry; The Smithsonian Goes to Japan," won the G. Wesley Johnson prize for the best article published in The Public Historian in 1995
Legacies: Collecting America's History at the Smithsonian won first prize in the 2002 AAM museum books design competition
Affiliations
Member of National Council on Public History Education and Professional Practice Coordinating Committee, 2004-present
Member of Program Committee, Organization of American Historians-National Council on Public History 2006 Annual Meeting
Teaching
I teach two courses that introduce public humanities. AMCV2650, a small seminar course, considers the theory of the public humanities: students read important books about history and memory, culture and community, and presentation and representation. AMCV1550, Methods in the Public Humanities, looks at the field in a more practical way. It considers the work of museum curators and others who conserve and interpret culture, and includes tours and many guest speakers.
Funded Research
N/A
Web Links
- New Social Sciences Faculty 2004
- ARTS/HUMANITIES: Steven Lubar and Public Humanities Initiatiave (Inside Brown of March 2005)
- Twitter feed
- John Nicholas Brown Center
- AMCV1550 class blog 2009
- AMCV2650 class blog 2009
