Curriculum Vitae
September 23rd, 2006Sharon M. Leon
Center for History and New Media
Department of History and Art History
MSN 3G1
George Mason University
4400 University Drive
Fairfax, VA 22030
sleon@gmu.edu
703-993-3831
Education
1997-2004, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, MN
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Department of American Studies
Dissertation: “Beyond Birth Control: Catholic Responses to the Eugenics Movement in the United States, 1900-1950″ [Advisors: Elaine Tyler May and Riv-Ellen Prell]
1993-1997, Georgetown University, Washington DC; College of Arts and Sciences, Program in American Studies; A.B. awarded May 1997, Magna Cum Laude [Major in American Studies; Minor in Theology]
Academic Experience
2004- Present, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
- Research Assistant Professor, Department of History and Art History
- Director of Public Projects, Center for History and New Media (October 2007 – Present)
- Associate Director of Education Projects, Center for History and New Media (January 2005-October 2007)
2005- Present, Georgetown University, Washington, DC
- Visiting Assistant Professor, Program in American Studies
1997-2004, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, MN
- Instructor, Department of American Studies and Instructor, Department of English
Publications
An Image of God: Catholics and American Eugenics, forthcoming from the University of Chicago Press.
Review of James M. O’Toole’s The Faithful: A History of Catholics in America in Church History 77:2 (June 2009).
Review of Popular Eugenics: National Efficiency and American Mass Culture in the 1930s, eds. Susan Curell and Christina Cogdell, in the Journal of American History 94:2 (September 2007).
Review of Leslie Tentler’s Catholics and Contraception: An American History, in Histoire sociale — Social History 39:78 (November 2006).
Review of Christine Rosen’s Preaching Eugenics: Religious Leaders and the American Eugenics Movement, in Church History 74:4 (December 2005).
“‘A Human Being, and Not a Mere Social Factor’: Catholic Strategies for Dealing with Sterilization Statutes in the 1920s,” Church History 73:2 (June 2004): 383-411.
“‘Hopelessly Entangled in Nordic Pre-suppositions’: Catholic Participation in the American Eugenics Society in the 1920s,” Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences 59:1 (January 2004): 3-39. Recipient of the 2005 Stanley Jackson Prize for the best article in the JHMAS from 2002-2005.
“Before Casti connubii: Early Catholic Responses to the Eugenics Movement in the United States,” Working Papers Series, The Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism 32:1 (Spring 2000).
Fellowships, Grants, and Awards
2005 Stanley W. Jackson Prize from the Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences for “Hopelessly Entangled in Nordic Presuppositions,” JHMAS 59:1 (Jan. 2004): 3-49.
Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, Woodrow Wilson Fellowship Institute, 2004-2005 (Declined).
Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, Graduate School, University of Minnesota, 2002-2003, $14,000.
Dissertation Fellowship, Institute for the Advanced Study of Religion at Yale, 2001-2002, $17,000.
Doctoral Dissertation Special Grant, Graduate School, University of Minnesota, November 2001, $940.
Travel and Research Award for work at the Diocese of Cleveland, Department of American Studies, University of Minnesota, October 2001, $500.
Library Resident Research Fellow at the American Philosophical Society, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Philadelphia, PA, July 2001, $2,000.
Summer Dissertation Writing Grant, Program in American Studies, University of Minnesota, June 2001, $2,000.
Travel and Research Award for work at the Center for Migration Studies, Program in American Studies, University of Minnesota, January 1999, $500.
Technology Enhanced Learning Award, University of Minnesota, for “Web Enhanced Learning in a Large-Enrollment American Indian Literature Course” with Carol Miller, May 20, 1998.
Co-recipient of the Mary Catherine Mita Prize in American Studies at Georgetown University, for “Coloring Inside the Lines: Early Twentieth Century Objections to Racial Mixing,” May 23, 1997.
Phi Beta Kappa honor society, 1997.
Scholarly Presentations
“Bodies in Politics: U.S. Catholics and Eugenics, 1910-1945,” History of Science Society Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, November 4, 2005.
“‘The Folly of Human Sterilization’: Catholic Action Regarding Eugenics in the 1930s,” American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Atlanta GA, November 22, 2003.
Roundtable participant, “Religion and the American Studies Classroom,” American Studies Association Annual Meeting, Houston, TX, November 15, 2002.
“Tension Not Unlike that Produced by a Mixed Marriage: Catholic Reflections on Interracial Marriage and Anti-Miscegenation Statutes, 1920-1950,” American Studies Association Annual Meeting, Washington DC, November 10, 2001.
“Before Casti connubii: Early Catholic Responses to the Eugenics Movement in the United States,” guest lecture, American Catholic Studies Seminar, The Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism, University of Notre Dame, April 6, 2000.
“Before Casti connubii: Early Catholic Responses to the Eugenics Movement in the United States,” American Society of Church History/American Historical Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, January 9, 2000.
“‘Promoting Wise Marriages’: Paul Popenoe, Eugenics and Marriage Guides for Men in the 1920s,” American Studies Association Annual Meeting, Montreal, CA, October 29, 1999.
“Marriage, Race, and Nation: Popular Eugenics in the 1920s,’ Thirty-Fourth Annual Northern Great Plains History Conference, St. Cloud, MN, October 8, 1999.
“Electronic American Studies: The Jesuit Plantation Project at Georgetown University,” panelist, American Studies Association Annual Meeting, Kansas City, MO, October 31, 1996.
New Media Presentations and Publications
“Omeka: Cost Effective Web Publishing for Museums in a Web 2.0 World,” Museum Computing Network – Taiwan, Taipei, Taiwan, February 25, 2009.
“Omeka and Object of History: National Leadership Projects,” Museum Computing Network Conference, Washington DC, November 14, 2008.
“Slowing Down, Talking Back, and Moving Forward: Some Reflections on Digital Storytelling in the Humanities,” Arts & Humanities in Higher Education, 7:2 (2008) 220-223.
Daisy Martin, Sam Wineburg, Roy Rosenzweig, and Sharon Leon, “Historicalthinkingmatters.org: Using the Web to Teach Historical Thinking,” Social Education 72:3 (May 2008) 140-144,
“National History Education Clearinghouse: A Central Place of Information on History Education,” Poster Session, National Council for History Education Annual Meeting, Louisville, KY, April 4, 2008.
“Omeka: Exhibiting Collections Online in the Age of Web 2.0” Webwise Conference, Miami, FL, March 6, 2008.
Panelist, “Learning to Teach: History Education for the Twenty-First Century,” American Historical Association Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, January 5, 2008.
“Omeka and Object of History: National Leadership Projects,” Museum Computing Network Conference, Chicago, IL, November 7, 2007.
“National History Education Clearinghouse: An Introduction for the Directors’ Plenary Session,” Teaching American History Grant Project Directors’ Meeting, New Orleans, LA, October 19, 2007.
Chair and commentator, “Learning Technologies and Cultural Critique: Digital Storytelling in American Studies,” American Studies Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, October 13, 2007.
“Locating and Evaluating Online Primary Sources,” and “Analyzing Online Primary Sources,” seminar presentations for the Loudoun County Public Schools Teaching American History Grant, 2007-2008 Summer Institutes.
“Omeka: Exhibiting Collections Online in the Era of Web 2.0,” at the Smithsonian Affiliations National Conference, Washington DC, June 5, 2007.
“Object of History: Teaching with Material Culture,” at the Smithsonian Material Culture Forum, Washington DC, January 8, 2007.
“Object of History: Teaching High School American History with Artifacts” Poster Session, American Historical Association Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, January 6, 2007.
“The Object of History,” Museum Computing Network Conference, Pasadena, CA, November 11, 2006.
“Historical Thinking Matters,” Gifted Education Communicator, 37:3 (Fall 2006): 20-25.
Chair, “Putting it all Together: Developing Curriculum Modules for the Internet,” a Center for History and New Media Panel at the American Historical Association, January 7, 2006.
“Interviews with Exemplary History Teachers: Nancy A. Hewitt,” The History Teacher 38:4 (May 2005): 1-14.
“Locating and Evaluating Online Primary Sources,” seminar presentations for Alexandria City Public Schools TAH Grant, Fairfax County TAH Grant, and Fauquier County Consortium TAH Grant (2004-2005).
“Analyzing Online Primary Sources,” seminar presentations for Alexandria City Public Schools TAH Grant, Fairfax County TAH Grant, and Fauquier County Consortium TAH Grant (2004-2005).
Research and Development
Research Assistant, Riv-Ellen Prell, Jewish Theological Seminary, New York, NY, January-May 2004. Managed survey research data for field interviews in the “Jewish Education in Context” Project sponsored by the Avi Chai Foundation.
Research Assistant, Riv-Ellen Prell, American Studies Dept., University of Minnesota, June-December 2003, and September 2000 to June 2001. Constructed Microsoft Access databases to facilitate organization of interview contacts, artifactual and archival materials; prepared electronic archives of research materials; coordinated the identification and collection of secondary source material on Jewish youth culture after World War II in the United States and conducted intensive research in the volumes of the National Jewish Monthly published between 1945 and 1960.
Research Assistant, Sara M. Evans, History Dept., University of Minnesota, July-September, 2002. Collected images and artifacts through extensive world wide web searching for a photo essay. This essay appears in Dr. Evan’s book, Tidal Wave: How Women Changed America at the Century’s End (New York: The Free Press, 2003).
Research Assistant, Robert Johnston, American Studies Dept., Yale University, September 1999-January 2000. Conducted research at the Minnesota Historical Society for material on the life and work of Lora C. Little and surveyed the full collection of Little’s anti-vaccination publication, The Liberator. This work contributed Dr. Johnstonís book, The Radical Middle Class: Populist Democracy and the Question of Capitalism in Progressive Era Portland, Oregon (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2003).
Technology Teaching Assistant and Web Developer, Program in American Studies, University of Minnesota, September 1997 to July 1998; September 1998 to July 1999.
Web Developer for the American Studies Crossroads Project, Georgetown University and the American Studies Association, September 1995 to July 1997.
Technology Liaison to the Core Curriculum, Program in American Studies and the Center for Electronic Projects in American Culture Studies, Georgetown University, September 1995 to July 1997.