Ph.D. (Expected May 2007) American Studies and Ethnicity, University of Southern California.
Dissertation: "A Place Where Your Roots Are": Race, Community, and Memory in Twentieth-Century Los Angeles"
Committee: George J. Sanchez (chair), Marita Sturken, Leland Saito, and Philip J. Ethington.
B.A. 1995. American Studies, University of Southern California, Summa Cum Laude.
AREAS OF EXPERTISE:
Post-1865 U.S. History, Race and Ethnicity, Urban History, Architectural History, Memory/Preservation, Archival and Oral History Methodologies
PUBLICATIONS:
Hillary Jenks, "The Politics of Preservation: Power, Memory, and Identity in an Historic Ethnic Neighborhood," Historic Preservation Practice: Reevaluating Cultural Landscapes, ed. Richard Longstreth, (Shelburne, Vt.: New England Press, forthcoming).
Hillary Jenks, "Review of Selling the City: Gender, Class, and the California Growth Machine, 1880-1940," Journal of the West 44.2 (spring 2005).
Hillary Jenks, "American Quarterly Hosts Conference on 'Los Angeles and the Future of Urban Cultures,'" el boletin 3:1 (spring 2004): 3.
Hillary Jenks, "Books in Review: Viet Nguyen's Race and Resistance: Literature and Politics in Asian America," el boletin 2:1 (spring 2003): 10.
Hillary Jenks, "September 11: One Year Later - Mary Dudziak Reflects on the 'Transformative' Nature of 9/11/01," el boletin 1:1 (fall 2002): 6.
Hillary Jenks, "Don't Spend Your Money Where You Can't Work: Race, Space, and the Politics of Consumption in 1930s Black Los Angeles," Center for American Studies and Ethnicity Working Paper Series 1 (spring 2003).
PRESENTATIONS:
"Memories of 'Lil' Tokio'": Japanese American History and Community in Southern California," Paper Accepted, Organization of American Historians Conference, Washington, D.C., April 2006.
"Anglo California, Mexican Missions, and the 'Spanish' Past: Negotiating Race in the Borderlands of Memory," Paper Accepted, American Studies Association Conference, Washington, D.C., November 2005.
"Mexican Missions, the Landmarks Club, and the 'Spanish' Past: Negotiating Race and Memory in the Borderlands," Paper Accepted, Western Humanities Alliance Conference, Tucson, October 2005.
"Mexican Missions, Boston Memories, and the Landmarks Club: Negotiating Race in the Borderlands of History," Paper Presented, American Historical Association Pacific Coast Branch Conference, Corvallis, August 2005.
"The Culture Strategy: Selling Memory and Identity in an Historic Ethnic Neighborhood," Paper Presented, Social Science History Association Conference, Chicago, November 2004.
"The Politics of Preservation: Power, Memory, and Identity in Little Tokyo's Cultural Landscape," Paper Presented, Fourth National Forum on Historic Preservation Practice, Baltimore, March 2004.
"The Politics of Preservation: Power, Memory, and Identity in an Historic Ethnic Neighborhood," Paper Presented, American Historical Association Pacific Coast Branch Conference, Honolulu, August 2003.
"Don't Spend Your Money Where You Can't Work: Race, Space, and the Politics of Consumption in 1930s Black Los Angeles," Paper Presented, USC Graduate Student Conference, Los Angeles, September 2002.
Invited Talks:
"Cultural Preservation in Little Tokyo: Opportunities and Challenges," Ties That Bind 3: Strategies for the Preservation of Little Tokyo as an Historic Heritage Community, Los Angeles, September 2005.
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE:
Research
Dissertation: Investigated relationship between community, memory, and urban space in the context of changing racial formations in twentieth-century Los Angeles through archival research, interviews, and textual and spatial analysis. Included research on cross-racial interaction, tourism, gentrification, and memorialization in the Little Tokyo neighborhood.
Research Assistant
Reviewed the 1798 tax assessment for various Maryland counties, entered information into SPSS software program, and ran basic statistical operations. Professor Carole Shammas, University of Southern California, 2002.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE:
Teaching Assistant
Gender and Sexuality in American History: History Department lower division course that critically examined the nineteenth- and twentieth-century women's movements, the development of scientific and psychological discourses on homosexuality, and changing constructions of masculinity. University of Southern California, Spring 2003.
Teaching Assistant
America, the Frontier, and the New West: American Studies and Ethnicity major introductory course that analyzed core themes in American history and culture such as community, individualism, democratic thinking, and race through films, fiction, historical texts, and student interview projects. University of Southern California, Fall 2002.
FELLOWSHIPS/AWARDS:
Dissertation Fellowship, John R. and Dora
Haynes Foundation, University of Southern
California, 2005-2006
Urban Initiative Fellowship, University of
Southern California, 2005
Rockefeller-Social Science History Association
Travel Grant, 2004
Irvine Summer Dissertation Workshop,
University of Southern California, 2004
First Year Graduate Fellowship, John R. and
Dora Haynes Foundation, University of
Southern California, 2001-2002
Trustee Scholarship, University of Southern
California, 1992-1995
ACADEMIC SERVICE:
Member, American Studies Association Students Committee, June 2005 - Present
Managing Editor, American Quarterly, University of Southern California,
May 2003 - August 2005
Proofed manuscripts, collected contracts and images on deadline, planned quarterly meetings of the Managing Board, updated web site, attended Advisory Board meeting at annual American Studies Association conference, and supervised editorial assistants in logging and tracking 200+ manuscripts annually; coordinated November 2003 two-day special issue conference on "Los Angeles and the Future of Urban Cultures" at the Huntington Library.
Organizer, "Multicultural Memories: Preserving and Interpreting 'Raced' Spaces" Panel, American Studies Association Conference, Washington, D.C., November 2005.
Historian, PASEO (Program in American Studies and Ethnicity Graduate Student Organization), University of Southern California,
January 2005 - Present
Coordinator, Preserving the Ethnic Landscapes of America, March 2003
Academic symposium sponsored by the Little Tokyo Service Center Community Development Corporation with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the California Office of Historic Preservation, and the American Architectural Foundation.
Organizer, Academic Tourists in the Fragmented Metropolis: Race, Space, Gender, and Place in Los Angeles, University of Southern California graduate student conference, September 2002
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS:
American Studies Association
American Historical Association
Society of Architectural Historians
Organization of American Historians
Vernacular Architecture Forum
Working Group on the Built Environment and
Cultural Landscapes (USC-Huntington
Institute on California and the West)
Phi Beta Kappa
Phi Kappa Phi
RELATED SKILLS:
Reading literacy in Spanish, limited knowledge of French
Certificate in Grant Writing, The Grant Institute, University of Southern California, April 2005
Graduate Certificate in Historic Preservation, University of Southern California, May 2004
