Brian J. Distelberg
I am a fourth-year student in twentieth-century U.S. history. My dissertation, currently titled "Minority Activists, the Mass Media, and the Politics of Anti-Defamation, 1940s-1980s," will explore efforts by African American, Latino, feminist, and gay and lesbian activists and organizations to combat stereotypes and encourage "positive" representations in news and entertainment media. My dissertation committee is George Chauncey, Matthew Jacobson, and Joanne Meyerowitz. My oral examination fields covered United States history since 1865, U.S. cultural history, and comparative histories of sexuality in Europe and North America.
My interest in the connections among mass culture, alternative cultures, and minority activism stems from my undergraduate work in the History and Literature program at Harvard, where my senior thesis examined the status of books, plays, and films featuring the fictional character Auntie Mame as "gay classics." While at Yale, I have also researched gay press reviews of mainstream fiction featuring gay men during the 1970s and the history of gay activism in Hartford, Connecticut, and through it, the role of religion in the homophile, gay liberation, and gay rights movements.
My website is www.briandistelberg.com.
