Steve Ross

Tenure Track Appointments

• Distinguished Professor of History , University of Southern California , 2022-2023
• Dean’s Professor of History , University of Southern California , 2020-2021
• Professor, University of Southern California, 09/01/1994 –
• Associate Professor, University of Southern California, 09/01/1984 – 08/01/1994
• Assistant Professor, University of Southern California, 09/01/1978 – 08/01/1984
• Instructor, Princeton University, 09/01/1977 – 06/01/1978
• Preceptor, Princeton University, 01/01/1977 – 06/01/1977

Other Employment

• Consultant, Fund for the City of New York (Ford Foundation), 06/01/1972 – 09/14/1972
• Case Study Author (Welfare Hotels in NYC), Kennedy School for Gov’t (Harvard University), 01/15/1971 – 09/15/1971

Summary Statement of Research Interests

Professor Ross studies the changing nature of power in American society. His initial research focused on industrialization and class development in 19th century America. His work then shifted to examining the ways in which film has been used to shape ideas about class, power, and politics in the 20th and 21st centuries, especially what it means to be working class or middle class in America. His book Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics, examines the emergence of Hollywood as a major center of American politics and the role that movie stars have played in the political life of the nation from the beginning of the 20th century to the present. Professor Ross’s most recent books have focused on the history of Nazism and fascism in the US from the 1930s to the present. Hitler in Los Angeles: How Jews Foiled Nazi Plots against Hollywood and America, a Pulitzer Prize Finalist, explores the rise of fascism and Nazism in Los Angeles and the successful efforts of a handful of Jewish leaders to thwart Nazi sabotage along the west book, The Secret War Against Hate: American Resistance to Antisemitism and White Supremacy, reveals how three New York-based groups ran undercover operations against neo-Nazis, Klansmen, and White Supremacists from 1945 to the early 1970s. It explains how we got from the end of WWII to the Storming of the Capitol in January 2021.

Research Keywords

American society, labor, film, popular culture, politics, and political extremism.

Research Specialties

(Ph.D., Princeton University, 1980) Professor of History: US social, labor, popular culture, film history, politics, and political extremism.

Detailed Statement of Research Interests

VIDEO: The Secret War Against Hate: American Resistance to Antisemitism and White Supremacy 

 https://dornsife.usc.edu/news/stories/secret-war-waged-by-ordinary-americans-against-hate/

Conference Presentations

• “Writing History: Bringing it to Life,” , Symposium Independent Writers of Southern CaliforniaRoundtable/Panel, Independent Writers of Southern California, Invited, Culver City, Fall 2013
• “History: The Cold War—Hollywood and Beyond,” , LA Times-USC Festival of Books Roundtable/Panel, LA Times, Invited, Los Angeles , Spring 2013
• “Hitler in Los Angeles: How Jews and Their Spies Foiled Nazi Plots Against Hollywood and America” , Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities Talk/Oral Presentation, Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities , Invited, Los Angeles , Spring 2013
• “Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics,” , University of Paris 8Keynote Lecture, Cinema/Sociology/Political Science Departments, Invited, Paris , Spring 2013
• “Nazis and Reds in 1930s Hollywood,” , Society for Cinema and Media Studies ConventionLecture/Seminar, Society for Cinema and Media Studies Convention, Invited, Chicago, Spring 2013
• “Visualizing Ideology: Politics and American Silent Film,” , University of Paris 8Keynote Lecture, Cinema/Sociology/Political Science Departments, Invited, Paris , Spring 2013
• “Writing the Political History of Movie Stars,” , American Historical Association Convention Roundtable/Panel, American Historical Association , Invited, New Orleans, Spring 2013
• Hitler in Los Angeles: The Unknown Story of the Jewish Spy Network , Jews in the Los Angeles Mosaic SymposiumLecture/Seminar, Autry Museum , Invited, Los Angeles , Spring 2013
• “History: City of Angels,” , LA Times-USC Festival of Books Roundtable/Panel, LA Times, Invited, Los Angeles , Fall 2012
• “Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics,” , National History Center Keynote Lecture, National History Center , Invited, Washington D.C. , Fall 2012
• “Movement Leader, Grassroots Builder: Jane Fonda and the Dual Strategy for Politicizing the Public,” , International Conference on Ethics and Practices of ResponsibilityTalk/Oral Presentation, University of Paris 8, Invited, Paris , Fall 2012
• Hollywood Left and Right , Los Angeles Historical Society Annual DinnerKeynote Lecture, Los Angeles Historical Society, Invited, Los Angeles , Fall 2012
• Hollywood Left and Right , USC Provost’s Writers SeriesKeynote Lecture, USC Provost’s Writers Series, Invited, Los Angeles , Fall 2012
• “Arthur Wagner in Conversation with Steven Ross” , Evening’s Conversation Talk/Oral Presentation, UCSD Theatre Department , Invited, Shank Theater, University of California San Diego, , Spring 2012
• “Historians, Journalists, and the Challenges of Getting It Right, Part 1: American Biography and the Cold War,” , American Historical Association ConventionRoundtable/Panel, American Historical Association Convention, Invited, Chicago , Spring 2012
• “Hollywood Left and Right,” , Milton Plesur Distinguished LectureKeynote Lecture, History Department, University of Buffalo, Invited, Buffalo, Spring 2012
• “Hollywood Left and Right: Movie Stars and Politics,” , Guest LEcture Keynote Lecture, Constitutional Law Society, Drexel University Law , Invited, Philadelphia , Spring 2012
• “Neal Gabler in Conversation with Steven Ross about Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics,” , 92nd Street Y Talk/Oral Presentation, 92nd Street Y , Invited, New York , Spring 2012
• “Hollywood Left and Right,” , Panel Discussion of My Book Roundtable/Panel, LA Public Library ALOUD series, Invited, Los Angeles , Fall 2011
• “Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics,” , Historical Society of Southern CaliforniaKeynote Lecture, Historical Society of Southern California, Invited, Los Angeles , Fall 2011
• “Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics,” , Film Scholars Award Presentation Keynote Lecture, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Invited, Beverly Hills , Fall 2011
• “Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics,” , California Historical Society Keynote Lecture, California Historical Society , Invited, San Francisco, Fall 2011
• “Hollywood and the Conservative Revolution: George Murphy and Ronald Reagan” , UUS Studies Center Seminar SeriesLecture/Seminar, US Studies Center , Invited, University of Sydney, Spring 2011
• “Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics,” , University of Victoria Keynote Lecture, History Department , Invited, Wellington, New Zealand , Spring 2011
• “Hollywood Left and Right: Movie Stars and Politics” , Organization of American Historians ConventionTalk/Oral Presentation, OAH, Invited, Houston , Spring 2011
• “How Hollywood Became Hollywood: Movies, Money, and Politics” , MA Arts Journalism Students Seminar SeriesTalk/Oral Presentation, Annenberg School of Communication, Invited, USC, Spring 2011
• “Little Caesar and the HUAC Mob: Edward G. Robinson” , US Studies Center Brown Bag LecturesLecture/Seminar, US Studies Center , Invited, University of Sydney, Spring 2011
• “Movement Leader, Grassroots Builder: Jane Fonda” , U.S. Studies Center SeminarLecture/Seminar, US Studies Center, Invited, University of Sydney, Spring 2011
• “Visualizing Ideology: Labor vs Capital in the Era of Silent Film” , University of Auckland Guest LectureTalk/Oral Presentation, History Department , Invited, University of Auckland , Spring 2011
• , “Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics,” , University of Auckland Keynote Lecture, History Department, Invited, Auckland, New Zealand , Spring 2011
• Distinguished Public Lecture , Hollywood and American PoliticsKeynote Lecture, Sydney Ideas Series and University of Auckland, Invited, Australia and New Zealand, Spring 2011
• “Harry Belafonte, Hollywood and Movement Politics” , American Historical AssociationTalk/Oral Presentation, AHA, Invited, Boston , Fall 2010
• “Dealing with the Job Market” , USC Graduate History WorkshopRoundtable/Panel, USC History Department , Invited, USC, 2009-2010
• “The Los Angeles Berlin Wall Project” , The Politics of Culture Weekly Radio Show, KCRW Radio, Invited, Santa Monica, CA, 2009-2010
• “Unlocking the Archives: The Role of Primary Sources in Historical Discovery” , Los Angeles Archives BazaarTalk/Oral Presentation, USC Libraries , Invited, USC, 2009-2010
• “Hollywood and World War II” , National Center for History in the Schools WorkshopTalk/Oral Presentation, National Center for History in the Schools , Invited, Los Angeles, Spring 2010
• “Joystick Nation: How Will We Entertain Ourselves in 2020?” , Visions and Voices event Roundtable/Panel, USC Visions and Voices , Invited, Los Angeles, Spring 2010
• “Promoting Intellectual and Cultural Life at USC” , USC Senate-Provost Retreat Roundtable/Panel, USC, Invited, Huntington Beach , Spring 2010
• “Hollywood and Presidential Elections: An Overview” Talk/Oral Presentation, USC, Invited, Parkside Arts and Humanities Dorm, 2008-2009
• “Hollywood, Hitler, and the Coming of World War II” , Yom Ha Shoah Memorial CeremonyKeynote Lecture, Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center, Invited, Aventura, Fla, 2008-2009
• “The Pleasures of the Life of the Mind” , Cum Laude CeremonyKeynote Lecture, Brentwood School, Cum Laude Chapter, Invited, Los Angeles, CA., 2008-2009
• “Pre-Mature Anti-Fascism in 1930s Hollywood,” , American Studies ConventionTalk/Oral Presentation, American Studies Association, Invited, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Fall 2008
• “Methodology, Language and the Future of Film History,” , American Historical Association ConventionTalk/Oral Presentation, American Historical Association, Invited, Washington, D.C., Spring 2008
• “The Labor Problem and the Origins of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences” , “Moguls, Millionaires & Movie Stars: Hollywood Between the Wars, 1920-1940,Roundtable/Panel, Huntington Library , Invited, San Marino, Ca., Spring 2008
• “When Push Comes to Shove: Politics, Jewish Identity, and the Business of Hollywood in the 1930s” , Jewish Los Angeles—Then and NowTalk/Oral Presentation, UCLA Jewish Studies Center, Invited, UCLA , 11/14/2005
• “The First Political Movie Star: Charlie Chaplin and the Rise of Visual Politics” , The Charles Chaplin ConferenceTalk/Oral Presentation, British Film Institute, London, 07/21/2005 – 07/24/2005
• “The Politicization of Hollywood: Anti-Fascism, Anti-Communism, and Anti-Semitism” , The History of Jews in Los Angeles Talk/Oral Presentation, The Autry National Center, UCLA Center for Jewish , Invited, Autry Museum, Los Angeles , 04/11/2005
• “When Stars Speak Out: Movie Stars, Politics, and the Power of Audience Response” , Conference on American Cinema and Everyday LifeTalk/Oral Presentation, University College, London & Commonwealth Fund, London, 06/26/2003 – 06/28/2003

Other Presentations

• Consultant and On-Air Expert, “Moguls and Movie Stars”, TV Series , TCM, 2010-2011
• Historical Consultant, “The Faces of America with Henry Lewis Gates”, PBS TV Series, KGBH, 2009-2010
• Host, “Unions–Love Lost?”, “The Politics of Culture”, KCRW Santa Monica, 2009-2010
• Moderator, “Biography: Hollywood Legends”, LA Times Festival of Books, Los Angeles, 2009-2010
• Moderator, “Looks Can Be Revealing”, Thematic Options Research Conference, Los Angeles, 2009-2010
• “Hollywood and the Presidential Campaign”, The Presidential Campaign of 2008 , USC, 2008-2009
• “Hollywood’s Impact on the Presidential Campaign” , Presidential Election Forum, USC, 2008-2009
• “Hollywood and the Jewish Community”, Consular Corps in Los Angeles Seminar Series, Culver City, Ca., 2007-2008
• “The Social and Political Impact of American Film” , American Studies Lecture Series, Bir Zeit University (Ramallah) and Al-Quds University (West Bank) Jerusalem, , LA and West Bank, 2007-2008
• “What Does It Mean to be an American?” , Teaching American History, Los Angeles , 2007-2008
• “Political Filmmaking and the Films of Costas-Gavras”, Panelist at Eisenstein Film Award , Los Angeles, 2007-2008
• “Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics”, Hart Institute Distinguished Lecture, Claremont, CA, 2007-2008
• “The Politicization of Hollywood Before World War II: Anti-Fascism, Anti-Communism, and Anti-Semitism” , Public Lecture , Los Angeles , 2006-2007
• “Hollywood Left and Right: Anti-Fascism, Anti-Communism, and Anti-Semitism Before World War II” , Dr. Harold Lee Endowed Lecture, Los Angeles , 2006-2007
• “Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics” , Invited Lecture , Los Angeles, 2006-2007
• “American Politics in Historical Context” , Talk and Panelist, Visions and Voices Series , Los Angeles , 2006-2007
• , “Little Caesar and the HUAC Mob: Edward G. Robinson, the Red Scare, and the Decline of Liberal Hollywood” , Invited Paper Presentation, New York, 2006-2007
• “Little Caesar and the HUAC Mob: Edward G. Robinson, the Red Scare, and the Decline of Liberal Hollywood” , Invited Paper Presentation, New York, 2006-2007
• “Movies and Politics in the ‘Golden Age’ of Hollywood”, Invited Talk and Panelist, Los Angeles, 2006-2007
• “Understanding HUAC” , Invited Talk, Los Angeles, 2006-2007
• “Teaching Celebrity, Politics & Public Life: A Multidisciplinary Faculty Workshop”, Invited Panelist, Los Angeles, 2005-2006
• “Undergraduate Education at USC” , Keynote Address , Los Angeles , 2005-2006
• “Working-Class Hollywood: Silent Film and the Battle for the American Mind”, Henry A. Salvatori Distinguished Lecture, Orange, CA, 2005-2006
• “Elia Kazan: A Conversation” (with Richard Schickel and Leo Braudy), Moderator , Los Angeles , 2005-2006
• Working at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach: Infrastructure as a Choreography of Machinery, People, and Goods, Commentator on Photo Exhibit, Los Angeles, 2005-2006
• Thomas Goodnight, “Studies in Celebrity Advocacy: The Passion of the Christ meets Fahrenheit 9/11” , Commentator, Los Angeles, 2004-2005
• “Little Caesar and the HUAC Mob: Edward G. Robinson” , Invited Talk , Los Angeles, 2004-2005

Book

• Ross, S. J., Gruner, W. (2019). New Perspectives on Kristallnacht: After 80 Years, the Nazi Pogrom in Global Comparison, The Jewish Role in American Life: An Annual. (Vol. 17, (Steven J. Ross and Wolf Gruner, Ed.). Purdue University Press.
• Ross, S. J. (2017). Hitler in Los Angeles: How Jews Foiled Nazi Plots Against Hollywood and America. New York: Bloomsbury. Hitler in Los Angeles
• Ross, S. J. (2013). Movies and American Society (revised 2nd edition). (Ross, Steven J., Ed.). Malden MA and Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
• Ross, S. J. (2011). Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Ross, S. J. (2003). Workers On the Edge: Work, Leisure, and Politics in Industrializing Cincinnati, 1788-1890. Los Angeles CA: Figueroa Press.
• Ross, S. J. (2002). Movies and American Society. Malden, MA and Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
• Ross, S. J. (1998). Working-Class Hollywood: Silent Film and the Shaping of Class in America, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1998, Paperback edition, December 1999. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.
• Ross, S. J. (1985). Workers On the Edge: Work, Leisure, and Politics in Industrializing Cincinnati, 1788-1890, New York: Columbia University Press, 1985 Paperback edition, June 1987; second printing June 1989. New York: Columbia University Press.

Book Chapters

• Ross, S. J. (2019). The Ambiguous Legacy of Kristallnacht: Nazis, Jewish Resistors, and Anti-Semitism in Los Angeles”. (Vol. 17) pp. 237-57. The Jewish Role in American Life: An Annual.
• Ross, S. J. (2018). Commentary on “Fast between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur to Protest Munich and Vietnam”. The Eternal Dissident: Rabbi Leonard I. Beerman an The Eternal Dissident: Rabbi Leonard I. Beerman and the Radical Imperative to Think and Act.
• Ross, S. J. (2016). “Movie-Star Politics On and Off the Screen: Harry Belafonte, Jane Fonda, and Warren Beatty”. New York and London: How Art Does Politics (Routledge).
• Ross, S. J. (2011). “Social History of American Film”. Oxford Encyclopedia of American Social History New York Oxford University Press: Oxford University Press.
• Ross, S. J. (2010). “Film and Labor”. Oxford Encyclopedia of American Business, Labor, a New York Oxford University Press: Oxford University Press.
• Ross, S. J. (2004). “Confessions of a Nazi Spy: Warner Brothers, Anti-Fascism, and the Politicization of Hollywood,” in Warners’ War: Politics, Pop Culture & Propaganda in Wartime Hollywood. pp. 48-59. Los Angeles CA: Norman Lear Center Press.
• Ross, S. J. (2001). How Hollywood Became Hollywood: Money, Politics, and Movies,” in William Deverell and Tom Sitton, eds., Metropolis in the Making: Los Angeles in the 1920s. Berkeley CA: University of California Press.

Book Review

• Ross, S. J., Buhle, P. (2005). Hide In Plain Sight: The Hollywood Blacklistees in Film and Television, 1950-2002. American Historical Review. pp. 1557-1558.
• Ross, S. J., Cohen, L. (2004). A Consumers’ Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America. Urban History.

Encyclopedia Article

• Ross, S. J. (2009). “Politics in American Film,” in The Princeton Encyclopedia of U.S. Political History. (Michael Kazin, Ed.). Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.

Journal Article

• Ross, Steven J. (Ed.). (2017). “From Shtel to Stardom: Jews and Hollywood,”. Casden Annual. Vol. 14 (2017)
• Ross, S. J. (2012). Op-Ed, “At Issue: Are Hollywood Celebrities Politically out of Touch with Mainstream America?” Quarterly Researcher. Op-Ed, “At Issue: Are Hollywood Celebrities Politically out of Touch with Mainstream America?” Quarterly Researcher. (May 2012)
• Ross, S. J. (2007). “The Politicization of Hollywood Before World War II: Anti-Fascism, Anti-Communism, and Anti-Semitism”. The Jewish Role in American Life: An Annual Review. Vol. Volume 5 (2007), pp. 1-28.
• Ross, S. J. (2004). “Jargon and the Crisis of Readability: Methodology, Language, and the Future of Film History”. Cinema Journal/University of Texas Press. Vol. vol 44 (Fall 2004), pp. 130-133..
• Ross, S. J. (2003). “The Visual Politics of Class: Silent Film and the Public Sphere. Film International. Vol. 2, pp. 44-50.
• Ross, S. J. (2002). “Hollywood, Jews, and America,”. Reviews in American History. Vol. 30, pp. 622-630.
• Ross, S. J. (2001). “American Workers, American Movies: Historiography and Methodology,”. International Labor and Working-Class History. Vol. 59, pp. 81-105.

Magazine/Trade Publication

• Ross, S. J.”American Nazis Meet in Los Angeles, (July 26, 1933)”. TIME Magazine. Op Ed
• Ross, S. J.”When Hitler’s Henchmen Called the Shots in Hollywood,”. Daily Beast.
• Ross, S. J.”When the Nazis Tried to Exterminate Hollywood”. Hollywood Reporter.
• Ross, S. J.Profiled in “The Nazi Sites of Los Angeles: A walking tour of where the Fascists and Hitlerites Gathered in California”. “Talk of the Town” The New Yorker.

Newpaper

• Ross, S. J. (2018). “Eighty years before Pittsburgh, Kristallnacht emboldened Nazis in Los Angeles”. Los Angeles Times. Op-Ed
• Ross, S. J. (2017). “The Hollywood Nazi Who Spied for America”. Washington Post.
• Ross, S. J. (2017). “How a network of citizen-spies foiled Nazi plots to exterminate Jews in 1930s L.A.”. Los Angeles Times.
• Ross, S. J. (2017). “The Hollywood Nazi Who Spied for America”. Washington Post. Op-Ed
• Ross, S. J. (2011). “The Five Best Books on Political Hollywood,” Wall Street Journal,. Wall Street Journal.
• Ross, S. J. (2011). “Hollywood’s Surprising Political History” Huffington Post,. Huffington Post.
• Ross, S. J. (2011). “Obama, Take a Page From Reagan” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times.
• Ross, S. J. (2011). “Hollywood Left and Right” The Page 99 Test. The Page 99 Test. PubMed Web Address
• Ross, S. J. (2011). “Hollywood, Right-Wing Powerhouse” Salon.com. Salon.com.
• Ross, S. J. (2004). “21st Century Book Burning” Op-Ed. Los Angeles Times. pp. 2004.

Regular Column in Journal or Newspaper

• Ross, S. J. (2009). “Big Government? Learning from the Past”. Huffington Post.
• Ross, S. J. (2008). “The Next Agnew”. The Washington Independent.
• Ross, S. J. (2008). “A New Democratic Coalition”. The Washington Independent.
• Ross, S. J. (2008). “Charlton Heston and Image Politics”. The Huffington Post.

• The Cinematic Century, History 498, Fall 2005
• Movies, Movie Stars, and Politics, History 498, Fall 2004

• Documentary Video, Workers On the Edge adapted to the screen in an educational video entitled They Build the City: The Working People of Cincinnati, produced by the Sylvis Society (Cincinnati) and funded by the Ohio Humanities Council., 1988-1989
• Interactive Website, Visualizing Ideology: Labor vs Capital in the Age of Silent Film.
  www.usc.edu/schools/college/history/hist225g/
  , Spring 1997
• Commentator, DVD series, Commentary and analysis of three silent films that appear in the National Film Preservation Foundation, More Treasures from American Film Archives: 50 films, 1894-1931
  , 09/02/2004
• Commentator for American Movie Channel , Commentator for American Movie Channel (AMC) Series “Movies That Shook the World,” Episodes for Birth of a Nation, Do The Right Thing, The Graduate, Fatal Attraction, Spring 2005
• Commentaor, TV Show, Commentator, “Union Made,” TV Ontario, aired winter 2005., 09/01/2005
• Commentary for DVD, Commentary and analysis of two silent films that appear in the National Film Preservation Foundation, Treasures from American Film Archives 3: Social Issues in American Film, 1900-1934 , Fall 2006
• Commentator, DVD, Commentator on HUAC, John Garfield, and Hollywood politics in the 1940s-50s for inclusion in Special Features section “Racing With Fate: John Garfield Under My Skin” in 20th century Fox DVD release, The Ernest Hemingway Film Collection (produced by Cloverland Productions), 09/16/2006
• Commentator on DVD , Planet of the Apes, re-release, Spring 2008
• Commentary Documentary, Expert Commentator, “You Must “Remember This: The Warner Brothers,” Richard Schickel’s 5-part series and DVD on PBS’ American Masters Series, 09/22/2008 – 09/24/2008
• Commentary, Documentary, Expert Commentator, “The Brothers Warner,” Cass Warner documentary, PBS’ American Master’s Series (and DVD), 09/29/2008
• Commentary for DVD, Capricorn One, re-release, Lionsgate Studio, June 2008, 2008-2009
• Documentary , Historical Consultant, KGBH “The Faces of America with Henry Louis Gates Jr.”, PBS, February 2010, Spring 2010
• Documentary , Historical Consultant and On-Air Expert, “Moguls and Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood,” Turner Classic Movies (TCM), airdate October 2010. , Fall 2010

• USC Distinguished Professor, 2021-2022
• Deans’ Professor of History , 2020-2021
• USC Associates Award For Creativity In Research And Scholarship, Spring 2020
• Richard Wall Memorial Award, Theater Library Association, Fall 2018
• Bugle Award, Disabled American Veterans , Spring 2018
• Finalist, Pulitzer Prize in History for 2018, Spring 2018
• Los Angeles Times Bestseller List , Spring 2018
• National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship Recipient, NEH Faculty Fellowship for Hitler in Los Angeles, 01/01/2015 – 12/31/2015
• Faculty Fellow, Center for Excellence in Teaching, USC, 08/15/2011 – 08/14/2014
• Research Grant, Casden Institute for the Study of the Jewish Role in American Life, 06/30/2013 – 07/01/2014
• Finalist, Film Scholars Award, Academy of Motion Picture, Arts & Sciences, Spring 2014
• USC Dornsife College Distinguished Faculty Fellow, 08/15/2011 – 08/14/2013
• Distinguished Visiting Professor, University of Paris 8, 06/01/2013 – 06/30/2013
• “Hollywood Left and Right” named Choice “Outstanding Academic Title” for 2012 , Fall 2012
• Nomination, Pulitzer Prize in History for Hollywood Left and Right, Fall 2011
• USC Faculty Innovative Teaching Award, 2010-2011
• Juror, Pen/West Literary Award in Research Nonfiction, 2011 , Spring 2011
• Distinguished Visiting Professor, University of Sydney, 04/01/2011 – 04/30/2011
• Visiting Professor and Distinguished Lecturer, U.S. Studies Centre, University of Sydney, , 04/01/2011 – 04/30/2011
• Provost’s Arts and Humanities Award for “Visions and Voices Series” for 2010-2011, March 2010, 2009-2010
• Provost’s Arts and Humanities Award for “Visions and Voices Series” for 2009-10, March 2009, 2008-2009
• Provost’s Arts and Humanities Award for “Visions and Voices Series” for 2008-09, March 2008, 2007-2008
• Provost’s Arts and Humanities Award for “Visions and Voices Series” for 2007-08, March 2007, 2006-2007
• Faculty Appreciation Award, Alpha Lamba Delta (USC), , Fall 2006
• Provost’s Arts and Humanities Award for “Visions and Voices Series” for 2006-07, March 2006, 2005-2006
• USC or School/Dept Award for Teaching, USC General Education Teaching Award, Fall 2005
• Casden Institute Faculty Research Grant, “Hollywood, Jews, and Politics,” USC, 7/1/04-6/30/05, 2004-2005
• Nominated for Wayward Press Award for Op-Ed Piece, 2004
• USC Innovative Teaching Award, for Undergraduate Teaching, 2001 – 2002
• Recipient of National or International Prize in Discipline, Film Scholars Award, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 2001
• Nominee for Pulitzer and National Book Award, 1999
• Recipient of National or International Prize in Discipline, Theater Library Association Book Award, 1999
• USC Phi Kappa Phi Faculty Recognition Award, for “Working-Class Hollywood”, 1999
• USC Raubenheimer Outstanding Senior Faculty Award, for Distinguished Research, Teaching, and Service, 1998
• USC Associates Award For Excellence In Teaching, 1992
• USC Innovative Teaching Award, 1991
• Arnold and Lois Graves Award for Outstanding Accomplishment in Teaching in the Humanities, 1989
• USC Zumberge Research and Innovation Fund Award, USC Faculty Research and Innovation Fund Award, 1987

Administrative Appointments

• Director, 08/16/2017 – 08/15/2020
• Director, 08/16/2015 – 08/15/2017
• Co-Director, 08/16/2014 – 08/15/2015
• Director, Casden Institute for the Study of the Jewish Role in American Life, 2014-2015
• Dornsife Faculty Fellow, 08/16/2012 – 05/15/2013
• Dornsife Faculty Fellow, 08/16/2011 – 05/15/2012
• History Department Chair, 08/15/2007 – 08/15/2010
• History Department Chair, 08/2003 – 08/2006

Committees

• Member, Branding Workshop, Annenberg School of Communications, 08/2009 –
• Member, Advisory Board, Visual Studies Graduate Certificate Program, 08/2009 –
• Member, Academic Advisory Board, Shoah Institute for Visual History, 08/15/2008 –
• Chair, Co-Director and Co-Founder, Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities, 08/15/1998 –
• University Senate, Committee on Development and Implementation of University Policies, Aug. 2011-Aug. 2012, 2011-2012
• Co-Chair, Co-Chair Program Committee, History Department, Aug 2011-June 2012, 2011-2012
• Chair, History Department Chair, 08/15/2007 – 08/15/2010
• Member, University Committee on Appointments, Promotion and Tenure, 2008-2009
• Member, Search Committee for director of Shoah Institute for Visual History, 2008-2009
• Chair, History Department, 2007-2008
• Member, University Committee on Appointments, Promotion and Tenure, 2007-2008
• Member, Academic Advisory Board, Shoah Institute for Visual History, 2007-2008
• Chair, History Department, 08/16/2003 – 08/15/2006
• Chair, Co-Director, Celebrity, Culture and Politics Faculty Seminar, Norman Lear Center, Annenberg, USC., 09/1999 – 06/2006
• Chair, Department of History

  Member, College General Education Revision Committee, 10/04-5/05

  Co-Director, Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities

  Co-Director, Celebrity Culture and Politics

  Faculty Speak, USC Incoming Freshmen Orientation, August 20, 2004

  Faculty Speaker, USC Presidential Scholars Admittees, March 3, 2005
  , 2004-2005

• Member, College General Education Revision Committee, 2004-2005

Review Panels

• Shoah Foundation, Grant Proposal Evaluation, Fall 2010

Media, Alumni, and Community Relations

• Historical Consultant and On-Air Expert, “Moguls and Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood”, Turner Classic Movies, Fall 2010
• Historical Consultant, “The Faces of America with Henry Louis Gates Jr” PBS, Spring 2010
• Guest Host, “Unions–Love Lost?” on “The Politics of Culture” KCRW, Spring 2010
• Guest Host, “The Los Angeles Berlin Wall Project,” on The Politics of Culture, KCRW radio, Santa Monica, Cal., 11/03/2009
• On Air Interview, “Celebrities and Politics,” CTV (Canadian Television) Special, Toronto, Canada, Sept. 26, 2008 [airdate Oct. 9, 2008], Fall 2008
• On Air Interview, “Estimating Likely Audience Responses to Oliver Stone’s “W”,” CNN, American Morning, Oct. 13, 2008, Fall 2008
• Interview for article on “The Impact of Celebrity Endorsements on Presidential Campaigns,” TODAY Show Web, Oct. 15, 2008, Fall 2008
• On Camera Interview, “Obama, Vibe and X-Box: The Impact,” CNN, American Morning, Oct. 23, 2008, Fall 2008
• In Studio Expert, Commenting on Presidential Elections, Evening News, KNBC, Burbank, Nov. 4, 2008, Fall 2008
• Interview, “Obama’s Victory,” [French] Elle, Nov. 4, 2008, Fall 2008
• Interview, GMTV (Good Morning TV is UK’s main morning news show) segment for Super Tuesday on the impact that celebrity endorsements can have on an election. Jan. 31, 2008, Spring 2008
• Interview with [London] Financial Times on assessing the results of Super Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008, Spring 2008
• Interview, New York Times, “A Few Tremors in Oprahland,” on impact of endorsement of Obama, May 26, 2008., Spring 2008
• Interview, [London} Independent, story on Oprha’s declining TV fortunes, May 27, 2008, Spring 2008
• Host, “The Politics of Culture,” KCRW, interview with Robert Scheer on The Pornography of Power: How Defense Hawks Hijacked 9/11 and Weakened America, May 27, 2008, Spring 2008
• Interview, “American Morning,” CNN, featured segment about Oprah’s declining popularity after Barack Obama endorsement, May 28, 2008., Spring 2008
• Interview, The Impact of Celebrity Endorsements on the Presidential Campaign. Newsmax magazine, June 24,2008, Spring 2008
• Interview, Segment on release of Obama and McCain Biographical Comic Books, for “The Situation Room,” CNN, July 31, 2008, Spring 2008
• Interview, for article on Hollywood Celebrities and the Democratic Convention, Elle (Paris edition), Aug. 22, 2008, Spring 2008
• Interview, Celebrities and Politics, Dallas Morning News, Aug. 24, 2008, Spring 2008
• Interview with Jacquelien Nienhuis, Correspondent USA, Algemeen Dagblad. Daily Newspaper The Netherlands on Hollywood and the Presidnetial Election, Oct. 2007, Fall 2007
• Segment interview on Celebrity Impact on Voting, KCBS Radio San Francisco, Sept. 18, 2007, Fall 2007
• Interviewed by Joel Budd for article in The Economist on “Hollywood and Politics,” Sept. 11, 2007., Fall 2007
• One-hour segment and listener call in about Celebrities and Politics, Kathleen Dunn Show, Wisconsin Public Radio, Sept. 11, 2007., Fall 2007
• Segment on Oprah Endorsement of Barack Obama, NPR’s “On the Media,” September 6, 2007. , Fall 2007
• Celebrities and Politics Segment, NPR’s “Day to Day” with Alex Smith, KPPC FM, Sept. 5, 2007, Fall 2007
• Interview, [Poland] Daily News, the role of celebrity endorsements in the 2008 presidential campaign, Dec. 5, 2007, Fall 2007
• Interview, “The Race” radio show on XM Satellite Radio, talking about the impact of celebrity endorsements, Dec. 6, 2007, Fall 2007
• Interview, Agence France-Presse, Celebrity endorsement and the 2008 presidential campaign, Dec. 7, 2007, Fall 2007
• Interview, “Marketplace” the impact of celebrity endorsement, airs Dec. 7, 2007, Los Angeles, Fall 2007
• On Air Expert Commentator, The Today Show, the impact of Oprha’s endorsement of Barak Obama, Dec. 8, 2007. New York , Fall 2007
• On Air Commentator, KCBS News Radio, San Francisco, Impact of Oprah on Obama, Dec. 10, 2007, Fall 2007
• Expert Commentator for documentary feature film, “The Brothers Warner,” Cass Sperling producer, April 5, 2007, Spring 2007
• Expert Commentator, 10-hour history of Warner Brothers Studios, Richard Schickel, for TBS, Jan. 3, 2007., Spring 2007
• Interviewed by BBC Radio for story on Governor Arnold, Celebrity Politics and California Referendum Elections, Oct. 20, 2005, Fall 2005
• Quoted in “California Vote: Arnold Says. Warren Says No,” New York Times, Oct. 14, 2005, Fall 2005
• Radio Commentator, “Progressive Hollywood,” on “The Lawyer’s Guild Show,” KPFK, 07/14/2005
• Commentator for BBC TV News Feature on Celebrities and Politics in 2004 Elections, 09/14/2004
• Commentator, A & E Biography Series, “Louis B. Mayer”, 08/26/2004

Other Service to the University

• Speaker to USC Presidential Scholars Admittees, 03/03/2005 – 03/03/2205
• Co-Director, Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities. Responsibilities include planning a bi-monthly luncheon speakers series for our nearly 100 Fellows, running several subcommittees, and planning annual conferences., 09/01/1998 –
• Historical Advisor, Academy Museum of the Motion Picture, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, summer 2006 through present

  Commentator, “Birth of a Nation” in Movies That Shook the World series on American Movie Channel, fall 2005.

  Interviewed by BBC Radio for story on Governor Arnold, Celebrity Politics and California Referendum Elections, Oct. 20, 2005

  Interviewed and quoted in “California Vote: Arnold Says. Warren Says No,” New York Times, Oct. 14, 2005

  Interviewed and quoted in “Where There’s Smoke, There’s a Star,” NY Times, Sept. 18, 2005

  , 2005-2006

• Speaker at Freshman Orientation, 08/20/2004

Administative Appointment

• Reviewer, Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowship, 01/2013 –

Committees

• Member, 08/2012 –
• Chair, 01/2016 – 08/2018

Conferences Organized

• Co-Organizer, New Research on Kristallnacht: After 80 Years, the Nazi Pogrom in Global Perspective, Los Angeles , Fall 2018
• Co-Organizer , Politics in Art Forms 2, USC , Spring 2014
• Co-Organizer , Politics in Art Forms , USC and UCLA, Spring 2013
• Organizer , “Music Festivals: Building New Communities for a New Generation” , USC , Spring 2013
• Organizer , Joystick Nation: How Will We Entertain Ourselves in 2020?”, USC Visions and Voices , Spring 2010
• Organizer , “Seeing Los Angeles”, USC Visions and Voices, Spring 2009
• Organizer, “Does the Modern World Still Work? (And If Not, Is Religion the Answer?”, USC Visions and Voices, Spring 2008
• Organizer , Hip Hop America, USC Visions and Voices , Fall 2007
• Organizer , “The Moral Morass of Contemporary Life” , USC Vision and Voices , Spring 2007
• Organizer , “Pop, Politics, and Propaganda” , USC Visions and Voices , Fall 2006
• Organizer, “Have Blogs Replaced Newspapers and Should We Care?”, , USC , Spring 2006
• Organizer , “The Big Lie? News, Media, and the Fiction of Non-Fiction,” , Citywide Conference at USC , Spring 2005
• Organizer, “Writing L.A.: Urban Noir, Postmodern Malaise, and Suburban Angst in the Capital of the 21st Century.” , citywide conference at USC, Spring 2004
• Organizer , From Sunset Boulevard to Mulholland Drive: Los Angeles in the Cinematic Imagination”, citywide conference at USC, Spring 2003
• Organizer and Moderator, USC Teach In on the War in Iraq, USC, Spring 2003
• Organizer , “Los Angeles At the Millennium: Identity and Community in the 21st Century , citywide conference at USC, Spring 2002
• Organizer and Speaker, “Teach In on the Current Crisis”, USC, Fall 2001

Editorships and Editorial Boards

• Editorial Board, “Class and Culture” series, University of Michigan Press, 09/01/2005 –
• Media Editor, American Communist History, 09/01/2001 –
• Editorial Board Member, Ohio Valley History, 04/01/2000 – 06/30/2006
• Editorial Board Member, Queen City Heritage, 1985 – 2000
• Editorial Board Member, Journal of the Early Republic, 1988 – 1993
• Editorial Board Member, International Labor and Working Class History, 1979 – 1990

Professional Memberships

• American Political Science Association, 10/2009 –
• Society for Cinema Studies, 09/01/1990 –
• American Studies Association, 09/01/1984 –
• American Historical Association, 09/01/1978 –
• Organization of American Historians, 09/01/1978 –

Review Panels

• Shoah Foundation, Teaching Grant Proposals, Fall 2009

Reviewer for Publications

• David Blake’s Ike Day: Mad Men, Hollywood, and The Birth of Celebrity Politics, University of North Carolina Press , Proposal evaluator , Spring 2012
• Kathryn Cramer Brownell’s Showbiz Politics: Hollywood in American Politics, 1928-1980, University of North Carolina Press , Reviewed manuscript for publication , Spring 2012
• Pacific Historical Review , Reviewed article, “A Forgotten Frontier: Women Pioneers, Motion Pictures, and the Culture of Early Hollywood in the Era of World War One” , Spring 2009
• Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Oxford University Press , Reviewed article, Fall 2008
• Labor, “All Work or No Play: Key Themes in the History of the American Actor s Worker” , Fall 2007
• Richard Koszarski, Hollywood on the Hudson , Rutgers University Press , 2 volume history of filmmaking in NY and NJ, Spring 2007
• Grant Proposal, Screening Class: Film Production, Reception, and the Circulations of Class Identity, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada,
  Grant Evaluation, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
  Evaluation of Derek Nystrom: “Screening Class: Film Production, Reception, and the Circulations of Class Identity, Feb 1. 2005

  , Spring 2005

• Audiences as Richard Butsch, Crowds, Publics and Individuals: A History, Oxford University Press , Manuscript Reade, Fall 2004
• Elziabeth Fones-Wolf, Waves of opposition : labor and the struggle for democratic radio, University of Illinois PRess , manuscript reader, Spring 2003

Media, Alumni, and Community Relations

• Interviewed by French TV, Arte, for programs on (1) The Vietnam War on Film, Sept. 12, 2013; The Controversy Over Ben Urwand’s The Collaboration, Oct. 11, 2014 , Fall 2013
• Interviewed for Television show, “Secret Societies of Hollywood,” E network, interview Sept 6, 2013 , Fall 2013
• Interviewed, “The Controversy Over The Collaboration,” on “Which Way LA,” KCRW, Sept. 12, 2013, , Fall 2013
• Quoted in Tom Brook, “Did Hollywood Studios help the Nazis?” BBC Culture, “The Reel World,” September 30, 2013, Fall 2013
• Interview, “Louis B. Mayer, Republican Politics and Hollywood,” KPFK, April 16, 2013 , Spring 2013
• Interview, Hollywood Left and Right, The Scholars Corner, KPFK, April 14, 2013, Spring 2013
• On Air Interview with Al Jezeera regarding “Political Films Up For Oscars: Lincoln, Argo, and Zero Dark Thirty,” Feb. 20, 2013, Spring 2013
• Panel Presentation, “History: The Cold War—Hollywood and Beyond,” LA Times-USC Festival of Books, Book TV, Los Angeles, April 21, 2013 , Spring 2013
• Quoted in “Bringing the History of Jews in L.A. into Clearer Focus,” Los Angeles Times, May 25, 2013 , Spring 2013
• Quoted, “Scholar Asserts That Hollywood Avidly Aided Nazis” (article about Urwand book), New York Times, June 25, 2013 , Spring 2013
• Quoted, “When Hollywood Held Hands with Hitler,” Chronicle of Higher Education, July 10, 2013, Spring 2013
• Radio Interview, “Political Stars,” German National Broadcaster “Deutschlandradio” July 11, 2013, Spring 2013
• Radio Interview, Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics on “Books and Arts Daily,” ABC [Australian Broadcasting Corp] Radio National, Sydney, Aug. 12, 2013, Spring 2013
• Interview and Quoted in “Celebs and Pols: When the Star Alliance Misfires,” Sept. 1, 2012, AP article, , Fall 2012
• Interview, “Hollywood and Politics,” CNN.comn, Washington, D.C., Oct. 1, 2012, Fall 2012
• Interview, “Hollywood and the Presidential Election,” Agence France-Presse (AFP), Oct. 24, 2012, Fall 2012
• Interview, Hollywood Left and Right with Next.Liberation “Intelligence Service” section , Fall 2012
• On Air Interview, “And The Academy Award Goes To…”, BBC Radio 4, discussion of On the Waterfront and In the Heat of the Night, Los Angeles, Oct. 3, 2012,, Fall 2012
• Interview, “Celebrities and Politics,” Patt Morrison Show, KPPC, Pasadena, May 10, 2012, Spring 2012
• Interview, Hollywood Left and Right, BookTV-CSPAN, at USC-LA Times Festival of Books, Los Angeles, April 22, 2012, Spring 2012
• Interviewed, Discussion of Hollywood Left and Right, “The Milt Rosenberg Show,” WGN Radio 720, Chicago, January 5, 2012, Spring 2012
• On Air Interview, “Obama’s Support of Same Sex Marriage: The Impact on Hollywood,” CNN Newsroom, June 6, 2012 , Spring 2012
• On Air Interview, “Why Do Voters Care What Hollywood Thinks?” Varney and Company, Fox Business Network, May 11, 2012, Spring 2012
• On Air Interview, Segment on the Importance of Celebrity Endorsements Regarding Controversial Political Issues, “Connect,” CBC TV, Jan. 10, 2012, Toronto, Canada, Spring 2012
• Quoted in “George Clooney’s Obama fundraiser uses star power with a twist,” LA Times, May 10, 2012, Spring 2012
• Quoted, “As Election 2012 nears, Hollywood Republicans are braving the limelight,” Gloria Goodale, Christian Science Monitor, February 29, 2012, , Spring 2012
• Quoted, “GOP field finds itself star-crossed: Celeb appeal on the stump can be limited,” Ted Johnson, Variety, March 17, 2012 , Spring 2012
• American History TV, CSPAN video, “Hollywood and American Politics,” California Historical Society, San Francisco, Sept. 21, 2011, Fall 2011
• Interview about Hollywood Left and Right, The Lawyer’s Guild Show, KPFK radio, Sept. 8, 2011 , Fall 2011
• Interview, “A World in Time” with Lewis Lapham, Bloomberg.com and Bloomberg Terminal, Oct. 26, 2011, Fall 2011
• Interview, “The Current,” Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Calgary, Oct. 21, 2011, Fall 2011
• Interview, “The Hutchison Report: Town Hall of the Air,” KPFK, Los Angeles, Nov. 26, 2011, Fall 2011
• Interview, Hollywood Left and Right, “David Sirota Show” Am 760 Progressive Talk, Portland, Sept. 27, 2011, Fall 2011
• Interview, Hollywood Left and Right, “Four O’Clock Wednesdays with Jon Wiener, “KPFK radio, Sept. 14, 2011, Fall 2011
• Interview, Hollywood Left and Right, “Patt Morrison Show,” KPPC, Pasadena, Oct. 3, 2011, Fall 2011
• Interviewed, “The Monocle Weekly,” Monocle Weekly Radio, London, December 10, 2011 , Fall 2011
• Interviewed, “What sayeth the stars? Not enough minorities in Hollywood” – CNN.com By Zohreen Adamjee and Michael Martinez, CNN, Nov. 8, 201, Fall 2011