Brenna Greer
Associate Professor of History
Historian of race, gender, and culture in 20th century U.S. with focus on African American business and visual culture.
Brenna Wynn Greer is a historian of race, gender, and culture in the twentieth century United States, who explores historical connections between capitalism, social movements and visual culture. Her first book, Represented: The Black Imagemakers Who Reimagined African American Citizenship (University of Pennsylvania Press), examines the historical circumstances that made the media representation of black citizenship good business in the post-World War II era. She is currently at work on her second book, which examines the postwar development of black commercial publishing and its significance within U.S. culture and black life.
A past Woodrow Wilson and ACLS fellow, Greer is an Andrew W. Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography 2018-2010 Junior Fellow. As Wellesley faculty, she has held the Knafel Assistant Professor of Social Sciences chair and been awarded the Anna and Samuel Pinanski Teaching Award. She teaches topics in twentieth century U.S. and African American history, including: Constructing “America” and Americans” in U.S. History since 1865; The Cold War United States; The United States in the World War II Era; U.S. Consumer Culture and Citizenship; The Civil Rights Movement Reconsidered; Fashion Matters: Dress, Style, and Politics in U.S. History; Telling Stories: The Politics of Narrating the Black Freedom Struggle; and Seeing Black: African Americans and U.S. Visual Culture.
COURSES
HIST204 The United States History since 1865
HIST220 United States Consumer Culture and Citizenship
HIST249 Cold War Culture and Politics in the United States
HIST252 The Civil Rights Movement Reconsidered
HIST254 The United States in the World War II Era
HIST314 Seminar: Fashion Matters: Dress, Style, and Politics in U.S. History
HIST340 Seminar: Seeing Black: African Americans and United States Visual Culture
HIST341 Seminar: Telling Stories: The Politics of Narrating the Black Freedom Struggle
Education
- B.A., Beloit College
- M.A., University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison
Current and upcoming courses
Cold War Culture and Politics in the United States
HIST249
The Cold War was an era, a culture, and a set of policies defining U.S. domestic and foreign relations. This course examines Cold War politics, culture, and foreign policies in relation to various national developments—including the rise of social movements, changes in city landscapes, and the “birth of the cool"—and international events, including the Cuban Missile Crisis and conflicts concerning Vietnam. Bearing on these developments were opportunities and limitations that accompanied ideological struggles between the United States and the Soviet Union, the rise of new cultural industries, and demographic shifts in the United States. Broad topic areas include: U.S. foreign policies; conformity and deviation along lines of gender, race, and sexuality; and domestic and foreign perceptions of the United States in a Cold War context.
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The United States in the World War II Era
HIST254
World War II was a uniquely defining moment in U.S. history, its sweeping influence forever altering the nation's culture, economics, and global position. This course examines events surrounding U.S. involvement in the Second World War from the Depression era through the early Cold War years. Our focus will be political, social, and cultural developments on the "home front," which we will contextualize within broader world dynamics. Topics include: domestic attitudes toward the war, the political and cultural significance of FDR's "four freedoms," shifts in foreign policy, a reshaped workforce ("Rosie the Riveter," Bracero programs, desegregation), sex and sexuality in the military, military personnel's experiences, wartime consumer trends, scientific advances, and the nation's geopolitical concerns and objectives.