Dr. Art Blake

Biography

Art Blake specializes in 20th-century urban cultural history with a particular focus on the construction of race and racialization, gender identities, and sexualities. His current research examines national and international support networks among trans women post-1960 in Canada and the UK. This project connects to related research in clothing and gender, represented in his 2018 article "Re-Dressing Race and Gender: Performance Politics of Eldridge Cleaver’s Pants" published in Fashion Studies. Blake’s recent book, "Radio, Race and Audible Difference in Post-1945 America: The Citizens Band" (Palgrave, 2019), explores the role of sound, including voices, street sounds, and radio technologies, in constructing and deconstructing difference. Another significant work, "New York Became American, 1890-1924" (Johns Hopkins, 2006), examined the role of New York City in the American national imagination and the role of the tourist industry in remaking the city’s image. At Toronto Metropolitan University, Blake teaches U.S. History courses, including Transgender Histories, LGBTQ2S+ Histories, and Sex City. He is a member of the Graduate Faculty and supervises graduate students in the TMU-York University Joint MA/PhD Program in Communication and Culture.

Research Interests