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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

Defense date: November 13, 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.

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“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. 4, No. 3 (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. Blog Post: “Teaching the Hunger Games in the Undergraduate American Studies Classroom.” Blog of the American Studies Journal, June 22, 2012 (http://amsjournal.wordpress.com/2012/06/22/on-teaching-teaching-the-hunger-games-in-the-undergraduate-american-studies-classroom/).

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.

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Publications (Non-Peer-Reviewed)

2011 Column for Society for the History of Childhood and Youth newsletter

(“Songbirds and Satellites: Blogging the History of Childhood”) 2011 Article for the Pasteur Foundation’s website (“Louis Pasteur Microscope

Set”) 2010 Column on toys and culture for Paperweight: A Newspaper of Visual and Material

Culture, Summer 2010-present Fellowships and Grants

2012-2014 Postdoctoral Fellowship, Philadelphia Area Center for History of Science 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

2012 Honorable Mention, Neil Sutherland Award, Best Article in the History of

Childhood and Youth. Given by History of Childhood and Youth Group, Canadian Historical Association

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”

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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 • 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; THATCamp

Prime, George Mason University, VA; THATCamp Philly, Philadelphia, PA 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/)

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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_sources/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) 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

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• 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

• 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

September 2012 “Dark Futures: Environmental Catastrophes and American

Childhood in the 1970s,” Philadelphia Area Center for History of Science Introductory Symposium, Philadelphia, PA

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

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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

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

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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)

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).

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• 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

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

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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