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SEAN TRAINOR, Ph.D.
Historian • Writer • Educator
e: ess [dot] trainor [at] gmail [dot] com • t: @ess_trainor

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 EDUCATION

  • The Pennsylvania State University, Ph.D. History & Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (2015).

Dissertation: “Groomed for Power: A Cultural Economy of the Male Body in Nineteenth-Century America,” Amy S. Greenberg, chair.

  • The Pennsylvania State University, M.A. History (2011).
  • The George Washington University, B.A. History, Religion (2007), Summa cum Laude.

EMPLOYMENT

Adjunct Lecturer (Jan. 2016 – Present)
Department of History / Warrington College of Business Administration
University of Florida (Gainesville, FL)

Lecturer (Jan. 2016 – Present)
World Campus / Department of History
The Pennsylvania State University

Adjunct Assistant Professor (Aug. 2015 – Present)
Department of Humanities and Foreign Languages
Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Santa Fe College (Gainesville, FL)

Digital Pedagogy Content Designer (Jun. 2015 – Present)
The People’s Contest Digital Archiving Project
George and Ann Richards Civil War Era Center
The Pennsylvania State University (University Park, PA)

Freelance Writer (Jan. 2014 – Present)
The Atlantic, Salon, Time, and other publications

Graduate Course Instructor (Apr. 2013 – Jun. 2015)
Department of History
The Pennsylvania State University (University Park, PA)

Graduate Teaching Assistant (Aug. 2009 – Apr. 2013)
Department of History
The Pennsylvania State University (University Park, PA)

Research Analyst (Apr. 2008 – Aug. 2009)
Infrastructure Performance Improvement Lab
Corporate Executive Board (Arlington, VA)

Research Coordinator (Aug. 2006 – Apr. 2008)
Enterprise Architecture Executive Council
Corporate Executive Board (Arlington, VA)

PUBLICATIONS
Scholarly Publications (Refereed)

Popular-Audience Publications

Encyclopedia Articles (Sole Author)

  • “Barbershops and Barbers,” The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, online publication.
  • “Slavery in the North,” Gale College Researcher (forthcoming).
  • “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” Gale College Researcher (forthcoming).

Encyclopedia Articles (Co-Author)

  • “The Annexation of Texas,” Gale College Researcher (forthcoming).
  • “Kansas-Nebraska Act,” Gale College Researcher (forthcoming).
  • “Consumerism and Consumption,” Gale College Researcher (forthcoming).
  • “Alcohol and Temperance,” Gale College Researcher (forthcoming).
  • “Fighting the War,” Gale College Researcher (forthcoming).
  • “The Second Party System,” Gale College Researcher (forthcoming).

Invited Posts

Scholarly Book Reviews and Un-Refereed Scholarly Publications

TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Course Instructor (In-Person)

AMH (American History) 2010: United States History to 1877
University of Florida

  • Fall 2016 (one section of ~80 students [w/ one TA])

AMH (American History) 2010: United States History to 1877
Santa Fe College

  • Fall 2016 (one section of ~30 students)

AMH (American History) 2020: United States History since 1877
University of Florida

  • Spring 2016 (one section of ~125 students [w/ two TAs])

AMH (American History) 2010: United States History since 1877
Santa Fe College

  • Spring 2016 (one section of ~30 students)
  • Fall 2015 (two sections of ~30 students)

AMH (American History) 3931: Fashion and the Body in American History
University of Florida

  • Fall 2016 (one section of ~20 students)

GEB (Business) 3213: Professional Writing in Business
University of Florida

  • Fall 2016 (two sections of ~20 students)

HUM (Humanities) 2450: American Humanities
Santa Fe College

  • Fall 2016 (one section of ~20 students)
  • Spring 2016 (one section of ~20 students)
  • Fall 2015 (one section of ~20 students)

History 130: Introduction to the Civil War Era, 1848 through 1877
Penn State University

  • Spring 2015 (one section of ~50 students)
  • Fall 2014 (two sections of ~50 students)
  • Summer 2014 (one section of ~50 students)

History 156: History of the American Worker
Penn State University

  • Spring 2015 (one section of ~30 students)

Course Instructor (Online)

History 021: The History of American Civilization Since 1877
Penn State University / World Campus (online)

  • Summer 2016 (two sections of ~30 students)
  • Spring 2016 (two sections of ~30 students)
  • Summer 2014 (two sections of ~30 students)

Graduate Teaching Assistant

History 002: The Western Heritage II [Intro. to European History, 1648-Pres.]
Penn State University

  • Fall 2011 (three sections, with Dr. Gary Cross of ~30 students)

History 020: The History of American Civilization, 1492-1877
Penn State University

    • Spring 2012 (three sections, with Dr. Lori Ginzberg of ~30 students)
    • Fall 2009 (two sections, with Dr. Michael Milligan of ~40 students)

History 021: The History of American Civilization Since 1877
Penn State University

  • Spring 2013 (two sections, with Dr. Bryan McDonald of ~40 students)
  • Spring 2010 (two sections, with Dr. Michael Milligan of ~40 student)

History 130: Introduction to the Civil War Era, 1848 through 1877
Penn State University

  • Fall 2010 (two sections, with Dr. William Blair of ~40 students)

Guest Lecturer

  • “Land of Slavery,” History 020: The History of American Civilization, 1492-1877 (Dr. William Blair, instr.), Penn State University, Sept. 22, 2010.
  • “Hair!: A History of Men’s Grooming in the Early American Republic,” History 442: The Early American Republic, 1783-1850 (Dr. Amy Greenberg, instr.), Penn State University, Feb. 22, 2013.
  • “Men’s Facial Hair, Masculinity, and the Body,” Women’s Studies 001: Introduction to Women’s Studies (Dr. Joan Landes, instr.), Penn State University, Jan. 27, 2011.
  • “Everyday Life & Popular Culture in Antebellum America,” History 020: The History of American Civilization, 1492-1877 (Dr. William Bryan, instr.), Penn State University, Oct. 27, 2010.

Teaching Awards

  • Teaching Innovation Project Award, College of the Liberal Arts, Penn State University, Spring 2015 (institutional support for classroom projects that make innovative use of technology).
  • E-Tu Zen Sun Teaching Award for Outstanding Teaching by a Graduate Assistant, Department of History, Penn State University, Summer 2011.

DIGITAL PEDAGOGY

Creator and curator, Timeline of American Cultural History

  • Description: Based on Brian Croxall’s The ‘American Century’ Geospatial Timeline, the Timeline of American Cultural History offers students in Fall 2015 and Spring 2016 sections of American Humanities at Santa Fe College an opportunity to plot brief entries on landmark events in American cultural history on a digital timeline and geo-encoded map. A cumulative project, future class members in American Humanities will add to this project – helping to create a valuable reference to American cultural history for students at Santa Fe College and beyond.

Creator and curator, Hard Work in Happy Valley

  • Description: The website for Hard Work in Happy Valley is the culmination of a semester-long digital documentary / podcast project undertaken by students in a Spring 2015 section of History of the American Worker at Penn State University. Working in groups, students have produced documentaries and podcasts on community members in State College, PA, whose labor keeps the town up and running. The project is designed to give students practical experience in project management and digital content production, while asking them to apply the historical lessons of the course to working people in the twenty-first century world.

MEDIA APPEARANCES

  • Interview with Margaret Krauss, “‘God Gives Nothing In Vain,’ And Other Gems of Beard Advocacy,” 90.5 WESA Celebrates Inventing Pittsburgh (90.5 WESA Pittsburgh’s NPR News Station), Jul. 17, 2015.
  • Interview with Marcus Smith, “Tangled History of Beards,” The Morning Show (Brigham Young University Radio), Sept. 17, 2014.
  • Interview with Ed Ayers, “American Apparel,” Backstory: With the American History Guys (Broadcast / Podcast), July 25, 2014.
  • Audio appearance on Stripped (Radio One / Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), May 19, 2014.
  • Interview with Virginia Prescott, “Lincoln’s Beard,” Word of Mouth (New Hampshire Public Radio), Apr. 21, 2014.
  • Interview with Jonathan Green, “The Hairy History of the Beard,” Sunday Extra (Radio National / Australian Broadcasting Corporation), Feb. 16, 2014.

AWARDS, FELLOWSHIPS, GRANTS, AND PRIZES
External Grants and Awards

  • Hench Post-Dissertation Fellowship, American Antiquarian Society, 2016 – 2017 (declined).
  • McNeil Center Consortium Dissertation Fellowship (Nine-Month), McNeil Center for Early American Studies, University of Pennsylvania, 2013-2014.
  • Kate B. and Hall J. Peterson Short-Term Fellowship, American Antiquarian Society, 2013.
  • Filson Short-Term Fellowship, The Filson Historical Society, 2013.
  • Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Short-Term Fellowship, Library Company of Philadelphia, 2012.
  • John S. McIlhenny Library Research Fellowship, Hill Memorial Library Special Collections, Louisiana State University, 2012.

Travel Grants

  • Conference Travel Grant (OAH), Labor and Working Class Historical Association, 2014.
  • Conference Travel Grant, Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, 2012.

 Home University Grants and Awards

  • Winner, Annual History Department Graduate Student Paper Competition, Penn State University, 2013 and 2014.
  • Research and Graduate Studies Office Dissertation Support Grant, College of the Liberal Arts, Penn State University, 2013.
  • Lawrence J. and Gretchen McCabe Graduate Fellowship, Richards Civil War Era Center, Penn State University, 2013, 2011.
  • Edwin Erle Sparks Fellowship, Department of History, Penn State University, 2013 (declined).
  • McCourtney Pre-Dissertation Scholarship, Department of History, Penn State University, 2012.
  • E-Tu Zen Sun Teaching Award, Department of History, Penn State University, 2011.
  • Stitzer Seed Grant, Department of History, Penn State University, 2011.
  • Mark and Ann Persun Graduate Fellowship, Richards Civil War Era Center, Penn State University, 2010.

CONFERENCES AND PRESENTATIONS
National and Regional Conferences and Presentations

  • Presenter and panel organizer, “One Small Step for Beards, One Giant Leap for Misogyny: Alonzo Lewis and the Imperatives of Manhood,” Society for Historians of the Early American Republic (SHEAR), July 16-19, 2015.
  • Presenter, “Fair Bosom/Black Beard: Facial Hair, Gender Determination, and the Strange Career of Madame Clofullia, ‘Bearded Lady,'” affiliate meeting of the Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History (CLGBTH) at the annual meeting of the American Historical Association (AHA), New York, NY, January 2-5, 2015.
  • Presenter and panel organizer, “The Beard Goes to War: Men’s Grooming and the American Civil War,” biennial meeting of the Society of Civil War Historians (SCWH), Baltimore, MD, June 12-14, 2014.
  • Presenter and panel organizer, “A Risk and a Smile, For Neither a Penny: Peddlers, Barbers, and Early Models of US Service-Sector Exploitation, 1800-1860,” annual meeting of the Organization of American Historians (OAH), Atlanta, GA, April 10-14, 2014.
  • Presenter and panel organizer, “The Cutting Edge of Capital: Straight Razors, Commodified Labor, and the Consuming Capitalist Subject,” annual meeting of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic (SHEAR), St. Louis, MO, July 18-21, 2013.
  • Presenter, “The Rail Splitter’s Split Ends: American Manhood and the Politics of Abraham Lincoln’s Beard,” annual meeting of the Popular Culture Association / American Culture Association (Civil War and Reconstruction Subject Area), Washington, DC, March 27-30, 2013.
  • Presenter, “Fair Bosom/Black Beard: Facial Hair, Gender Determination, and the Strange Career of Josephine Clofullia, ‘Bearded Lady,'” annual meeting of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic (SHEAR), Baltimore, MD, July 19-22, 2012.

Invited Presentations

  • “Is Fashion Modern? An Abecedarium,” Baros Theater, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, May 16, 2016.
  • “Notes from the Field on Digital Pedagogy,” University of Florida, Digital Humanities Working Group, Apr. 14, 2016.
  • “Victorian America’s ‘Beard Movement’ and Why We Should Care Today,” Santa Fe College Faculty Speaker Series, Feb. 24, 2015.
  • “Beards, Body Politics, and the Birth of an ‘Anti-Fashion’: Antebellum Women Style Writers and the Making of ‘Natural Manhood,’” McNeil Center for Early American Studies, Friday Seminar, Mar. 20, 2015.

Graduate Conferences and Presentations

  • Commenter, “Bodies,” Trace of Early America: An Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference, McNeil Center for Early American Studies, University of Pennsylvania, September 26-28, 2013.
  • Presenter, “WANTED: Feminist Boy Seeks (Re-)Situated Knowledge(s),” Penn State Women’s Studies Graduate Organization Annual Conference, University Park, PA, March 24, 2012.
  • Presenter, “Dixie’s Dirt: Cleanliness and the Slave South, 1830-1860,” Richards Civil War Era Center Graduate Student Conference, Penn State University, University Park, PA, April 1-2, 2011.
  • Presenter,  “The Celebrated Razor-Strop Man of New York on Manliness, Respectability, and the Countless Virtues of a Close Shave,” Draper Graduate Student Conference in Early American Studies, University of Connecticut / American Antiquarian Society, Storrs, CT, March 24-26, 2011.
  • Presenter, “The Celebrated Razor-Strop Man of New York on Drunkenness, Class, and a Close Shave, 1840-1860,” Penn State University Graduate Conference in History, University Park, PA, November 13, 2010.
  • Chair, “Branching the Federal and the State: Stories of Citizenship and Immigration,” Richards Civil War Era Center Graduate Conference in History, Penn State University, University Park, PA, February 6, 2010.

RESEARCH ASSISTANTSHIPS

  • Research Assistant, The People’s Contest: A Civil War Era Digital Archiving Project, Richard Civil War Era Center, Penn State University, Summer 2011.
  • Creator and Contributor, A People’s Contest: The Official Blog of the Richards Civil War Era Center, Richards Civil War Era Center, Penn State University, Summer 2010 – Spring 2011.
  • New Media Assistant, Richards Civil War Era Center, Penn State University, Summer 2010.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE

  • Co-Organizer, THATCamp [The Humanities and Technology Camp] Gainesville, Gainesville, FL, Apr. 23, 2016.
  • Organizer and Presenter, “Writing for the Public: How to Do It and Why It’s Important” [faculty and graduate student workshop on public engagement through writing], Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, Dec. 11, 2015.
  • Santa Fe College Representative, “Imagining Florida” Planning Committee, Gainesville Regional Humanities Forum, Fall 2015.
  • Organizer, Emerging Perspectives on Race and Gender in the Nineteenth-Century United States: A Workshop for Junior Faculty, Post-Doctoral Fellows, and Advanced Graduate Students, Penn State University, University Park, PA, Mar. 15-16, 2013.
  • History Department Graduate Student Association Representative to the Faculty, Penn State University, Spring 2013.
  • Organizer, History Graduate Student Association Graduate Paper Competition and Conference, Penn State University, University Park, PA, February 29, 2012.
  • History Department Graduate Student Association Representative, Penn State University, 2011-2012.
  • Organizer, 2011 Penn State / Richards Civil War Era Center graduate candidate on-campus visit.
  • Organizer, Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know: Crime, Deviance, and Rebellion, Antiquity to Present, Penn State University Graduate Conference in History, University Park, PA, November 13, 2010.

LANGUAGES

  • Spanish (reading)
  • French (reading)
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