Jessamyn Neuhaus is the author of Geeky Pedagogy, a witty and critically reflective narrative guide to effective teaching practices written for super-smart intellectuals, introverts, nerds, wonks, and geeks in academia who want to translate their scholarly expertise into student learning.
Jessamyn Neuhaus
I am a professor of popular culture, historian of gender, scholar of teaching and learning, and Director of the SUNY Plattsburgh Center for Teaching Excellence. As an educational developer, I advocate for introverts teaching in the college classroom and for academic nerds in infinite diversity and infinite combinations.
Teaching
I began teaching U.S. history, cultural studies, women’s history, history of sexuality, and gender studies in 1997 as an adjunct faculty member at a variety of schools, including California State University East Bay, Portland Community College, Lewis and Clark College, Oregon State University, Case Western Reserve University, and Denison University. I earned my Ph.D. in history at Claremont Graduate University in 2001. Today I am a tenured full professor in the history department at SUNY Plattsburgh, where I teach classes on U.S. history 1877 to the present, popular culture history, and history methodology classes. I also create and teach specialized seminars such as “Vampires in Church: Studying Midnight Mass,” “Superheroes in U.S. Culture,” “The Prom: History, Politics, Culture, and Society,” “The Apocalypse in U.S. Popular Culture,” “Doing History with Documentary Film,” and “Zombies in Popular Culture.” In 2013, I received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Scholarship
In addition to Geeky Pedagogy: A Guide for Intellectuals, Introverts, and Nerds Who Want to Be Effective Teachers (West Virginia University Press), I am the author of Manly Meals and Mom’s Home Cooking: Cookbooks and Gender in Modern America (Johns Hopkins University Press) and Housework and Housewives in American Advertising: Married to the Mop (Palgrave Macmillan). I have also published numerous book chapters and articles in anthologies and scholarly journals including Advertising & Society Review, Journal of American History, The Journal of the History of Sexuality, The History Teacher, Journal of Popular Culture, Journal of Social History, Journal of Women’s History, Studies in Popular Culture, Teaching History, and Transformations: The Journal of Inclusive Scholarship and Pedagogy. I recently edited a new collection bringing together new and established scholars of teaching and learning from a wide variety of disciplines to offer powerful pedagogical strategies for increasing student learning and challenging assumptions about what a professor “looks like.” Titled Picture a Professor: Interrupting Biases about Faculty and Increasing Student Learning, this collection was published in 2022 by West Virginia University Press as part their Teaching and Learning in Higher Education series edited at the time by James M. Lang and Michelle D. Miller.
Educational Development
I regularly facilitate teaching and learning workshops, present research at teaching conferences, meet with faculty learning communities and reading groups, and deliver lectures and keynote addresses on a variety of teaching issues in higher education. If you are interested in having me visit your campus, please visit the “Speaking” page of this website for more information. As the Teaching Fellow, Interim Director, and permanent full time Director of SUNY Plattsburgh’s Center for Teaching Excellence, I’ve facilitated numerous professional development opportunities for faculty such as teaching workshops, individual consultations, class visits, department consultations, and online resources. I’ve also conducted CTE program reviews, a campus needs assessment study, and other teaching and learning center professional administration.