Dr. Kathy Newman

Biography

Kathy M. Newman is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at Carnegie Mellon University, where she also serves as the Director of Graduate Studies. Her primary research interests revolve around the relationship between mass culture and social/political formations, particularly as they are manifested through television, film, radio, and the internet. Newman has published extensively, including her book 'Radio-Active: Advertising Activism 1935-1947,' which was released by the University of California Press in 2004. She is a regular contributor to the blog 'Working Class Perspectives,' where she engages with themes in critical theory, historical materialism, literature, and visual art. Her work includes articles on topics ranging from Civil War medical photographs to the significance of black radio stations in the South during the 1950s. Newman is currently finalizing a book that combines cultural analysis with labor history, titled 'Backstory: Film, Television, and Social Class in the 1950s,' set to be published by Rutgers University Press. The book critically examines eight films and television programs, analyzing their cultural implications. In the 2017-2018 academic year, she worked with the Humanities Center at CMU to curate lectures and performances that interrogated capitalism and the economic social system, coinciding with the 200th birthday of Karl Marx. Outside of her academic pursuits, she identifies as a wife, mother, activist, and artist.

Research Interests