Steve Ross Professor of History Contact Information Office: SOS 172 Phone: (213)821-1062 E-mail: sjross@usc.edu LINKS Curriculum Vitae Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities

Academic Appointment, Affiliation, and Employment History

Tenure Track Appointments

• Professor, University of Southern California, 9/1/1994-  
• Associate Professor, University of Southern California, 9/1/1984-8/1/1994  
• Assistant Professor, University of Southern California, 9/1/1978-8/1/1984  
• Instructor, Princeton University, 9/1/1977-6/1/1978  
• Preceptor, Princeton University, 1/1/1977-6/1/1977  

Other Employment

• Consultant, Fund for the City of New York (Ford Foundation), 6/1/1972-9/14/1972  
• Case Study Author (Welfare Hotels in NYC), Kennedy School for Gov't (Harvard University), 1/15/1971-9/15/1971  

Description of Research

Summary Statement of Research Interests

Research Keywords

Research Specialties

Affiliations with Research Centers, Labs, and Other Institutions

• Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities, Co-Director and Co-Founder,http://www.usc.edu/isd/libraries/partners/laih/

Conferences and Other Presentations

Conference Presentations

• ""When Push Comes to Shove: Politics, Jewish Identity, and the Business of Hollywood in the 1930s"", Jewish Los Angeles—Then and Now, Paper, UCLA , UCLA Jewish Studies Center, Invited, 11/14/2005  
• ""The First Political Movie Star: Charlie Chaplin and the Rise of Visual Politics"", The Charles Chaplin Conference, Paper, London, British Film Institute, Refereed, 7/21/2005-7/24/2005  
• ""The Politicization of Hollywood: Anti-Fascism, Anti-Communism, and Anti-Semitism" ", The History of Jews in Los Angeles , Talk, Autry Museum, Los Angeles , The Autry National Center, UCLA Center for Jewish , Invited, 4/11/2005  
• ""When Stars Speak Out: Movie Stars, Politics, and the Power of Audience Response"", Conference on American Cinema and Everyday Life, Paper, London, University College, London & Commonwealth Fund, Refereed, 6/26/2003-6/28/2003  

Other Presentations

• ""What Does It Mean to be an American?" ", Teaching American History, Teaching American History K-12 Program, Los Angeles , 10/10/2007  
• ""Political Filmmaking and the Films of Costas-Gavras"", Panelist at Eisenstein Film Award , USC Cinematic Arts, Los Angeles, 9/29/2007  
• ""Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics"", Hart Institute Distinguished Lecture, Pomona College , Claremont, CA, 9/27/2007  
• ""The Politicization of Hollywood Before World War II: Anti-Fascism, Anti-Communism, and Anti-Semitism" ", Public Lecture , Villa Aurora, Los Angeles , 5/30/2007  
• ""Hollywood Left and Right: Anti-Fascism, Anti-Communism, and Anti-Semitism Before World War II" ", Dr. Harold Lee Endowed Lecture, Casden Institute for the Study of Jewish Life in America, Los Angeles , 3/21/2007  
• ""Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics" ", Invited Lecture , L.A. Institute for the Humanities, Los Angeles, 2/16/2007  
• ""American Politics in Historical Context" ", Talk and Panelist, Visions and Voices Series , USC Cinematic Arts, Los Angeles , 10/22/2006  
• ", "Little Caesar and the HUAC Mob: Edward G. Robinson, the Red Scare, and the Decline of Liberal Hollywood" ", Invited Paper Presentation, Center for the Study of the Cold War, New York University, New York, 10/17/2006  
• ""Little Caesar and the HUAC Mob: Edward G. Robinson, the Red Scare, and the Decline of Liberal Hollywood" ", Invited Paper Presentation, American History Seminar, Columbia University, New York, 10/16/2006  
• ""Movies and Politics in the ‘Golden Age’ of Hollywood"", Invited Talk and Panelist, Parent’s Weekend, USC, Los Angeles, 10/6/2006  
• ""Understanding HUAC" ", Invited Talk, USC Scene Dock Theater, Visions and Voices , Los Angeles, 9/13/2006  
• ""Teaching Celebrity, Politics & Public Life: A Multidisciplinary Faculty Workshop"", Invited Panelist, Norman Lear Entertainment Studies Center, Annenberg , Los Angeles, 4/28/2006  
• ""Undergraduate Education at USC" ", Keynote Address , USC Explore, Los Angeles , 4/3/2006  
• ""Working-Class Hollywood: Silent Film and the Battle for the American Mind"", Henry A. Salvatori Distinguished Lecture, Chapman University, Orange, CA, 3/27/2006  
• ""Elia Kazan: A Conversation" (with Richard Schickel and Leo Braudy)", Moderator , ALOUD series, Los Angeles Public Library, Los Angeles , 1/12/2006  
• "Working at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach: Infrastructure as a Choreography of Machinery, People, and Goods", Commentator on Photo Exhibit, USC Planning and Development Workshop Seminar Series, Los Angeles, 11/2/2005  
• "Thomas Goodnight, "Studies in Celebrity Advocacy: The Passion of the Christ meets Fahrenheit 9/11" ", Commentator, Celebrity, Politics, and Public Life Faculty Seminar, USC, Los Angeles, 3/11/2005  
• ""Little Caesar and the HUAC Mob: Edward G. Robinson" ", Invited Talk , UCLA American History Colloquium Series, Los Angeles, 11/22/2004  

Publications

Book

• Ross, S. J. American Nazis: Democracy, Anti-Fascism, and Hollywood.
• Ross, S. J. (2005). Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Ross, S. J. (2003). Workers On the Edge: Work, Leisure, and Politics in Industrializing Cincinnati, 1788-1890. Los Angeles CA: Figueroa Press.
• Ross, S. J. (2002). Movies and American Society. Malden, MA and Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
• Ross, S. J. (1998). Working-Class Hollywood: Silent Film and the Shaping of Class in America, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1998, Paperback edition, December 1999. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.
• Ross, S. J. (1985). Workers On the Edge: Work, Leisure, and Politics in Industrializing Cincinnati, 1788-1890, New York: Columbia University Press, 1985 Paperback edition, June 1987; second printing June 1989. New York: Columbia University Press.

Book Chapter

• Ross, S. J. (2004). "Confessions of a Nazi Spy: Warner Brothers, Anti-Fascism, and the Politicization of Hollywood," in Warners' War: Politics, Pop Culture & Propaganda in Wartime Hollywood. pp. 48-59. Los Angeles CA: Norman Lear Center Press.
• Ross, S. J. (2001). How Hollywood Became Hollywood: Money, Politics, and Movies," in William Deverell and Tom Sitton, eds., Metropolis in the Making: Los Angeles in the 1920s. Berkeley CA: University of California Press.

Book Review

• Ross, S. J., Buhle, P. (2005). Hide In Plain Sight: The Hollywood Blacklistees in Film and Television, 1950-2002. American Historical Review. pp. 1557-1558.
• Ross, S. J., Cohen, L. (2004). A Consumers’ Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America. Urban History.

Journal Article

• Ross, S. J. (2007). "The Politicization of Hollywood Before World War II: Anti-Fascism, Anti-Communism, and Anti-Semitism". The Jewish Role in American Life: An Annual Review. Vol. Volume 5 (2007), pp. 1-28.
• Ross, S. J. (2004). "Jargon and the Crisis of Readability: Methodology, Language, and the Future of Film History". Cinema Journal/University of Texas Press. Vol. vol 44 (Fall 2004), pp. 130-133..
• Ross, S. J. (2003). "The Visual Politics of Class: Silent Film and the Public Sphere. Film International. Vol. 2, pp. 44-50.
• Ross, S. J. (2002). "Hollywood, Jews, and America,". Reviews in American History. Vol. 30, pp. 622-630.
• Ross, S. J. (2001). "American Workers, American Movies: Historiography and Methodology,". International Labor and Working-Class History. Vol. 59, pp. 81-105.

Newspaper

• Ross, S. J. (2004). "21st Century Book Burning" Op-Ed. Los Angeles Times. pp. 2004.

Multimedia Scholarship and Creative Works

• Commentary for DVD, Commentary and analysis of two silent films that appear in the National Film Preservation Foundation, Treasures from American Film Archives 3: Social Issues in American Film, 1900-1934 , Fall 2006   
• Commentary DVD, Expert Commentator, 10-hour history of Warner Brothers Studios, Richard Schickel, for Turner Broadcast System, 1/3/2007  
• Commentary, Documentary, Expert Commentator for documentary feature film, "The Brothers Warner," Cass Sperling producer, 4/5/2007  
• Commentator, DVD, Commentator on HUAC, John Garfield, and Hollywood politics in the 1940s-50s for inclusion in Special Features section "Racing With Fate: John Garfield Under My Skin" in 20th century Fox DVD release, The Ernest Hemingway Film Collection (produced by Cloverland Productions), 9/16/2006  
• Commentaor, TV Show, Commentator, "Union Made," TV Ontario, aired winter 2005., 9/1/2005  
• Commentator, DVD series, Commentary and analysis of three silent films that appear in the National Film Preservation Foundation, More Treasures from American Film Archives: 50 films, 1894-1931 , 9/2/2004  
• Interactive Website, Visualizing Ideology: Labor vs Capital in the Age of Silent Film. www.usc.edu/schools/college/history/hist225g/ , Spring 1997   
• Documentary Video, Workers On the Edge adapted to the screen in an educational video entitled They Build the City: The Working People of Cincinnati, produced by the Sylvis Society (Cincinnati) and funded by the Ohio Humanities Council., 1988-1989   
• Commentator for American Movie Channel , Commentator for American Movie Channel (AMC) Series "Movies That Shook the World," Episodes for Birth of a Nation, Do The Right Thing, The Graduate, Fatal Attraction, Spring 2005   

New Courses Developed

• The Cinematic Century, History 498, This was a new seminar offered as History 498 that will become part of the department's offerings in Visual and Popular Culture. The course was team-taught with Vanessa Schwartz and Steve Ross. Here is part of the coruse description: "This seminar narrates the history of the 20th century using film and mass culture as its organizing principle. It examines many of the usual problems of the 20th century through the prism of mass culture. We ask, what does the 20th century—its people and its history—look like when instead of focusing on national boundaries we use film, visual culture, and mass culture as ways of seeing and understanding contemporaneous life? Our goal is not to simply repeat the historical issues we know about and add film (social movements and film) but rather to ask what are the big issues that emerge when you think about media and the world they have created.", Fall 2005   
• Movies, Movie Stars, and Politics, History 498, This is a senior research seminar that explores the relationship of movies, movies stars and politics from the beginning of the film industry to the present. Weekly readings introduce you to a broad history of Hollywood politics—on and off the screen. Students are expected to begin working immediately on finding a topic for your research paper. It can be on the politics of a particular star or Hollywood figure (i.e. writer, producer, director); on the politics of a particular studio or genre of films (anti-fascist films, anti-Vietnam war films; feminist films, etc.); on the politics of censorship; or on any other aspect of the political history of Hollywood. By the end of the semester every student will be expected to hand in a 20 page original research paper on some topic related to the themes of the class. In addition to common readings, we will also look at a number of films (or at least parts of them)., Fall 2004   

Honors and Awards

• Faculty Appreciation Award, Alpha Lamba Delta (USC), , Fall 2006   
• USC or School/Dept Award for Teaching, USC General Education Teaching Award, Fall 2005   
• Nominated for Wayward Press Award for Op-Ed Piece, 2004  
• USC Innovative Teaching Award, for Undergraduate Teaching, 2001-2002  
• Recipient of National or International Prize in Discipline, Film Scholars Award, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 2001  
• Nominee for Pulitzer and National Book Award, 1999  
• Recipient of National or International Prize in Discipline, Theater Library Association Book Award, 1999  
• USC Phi Kappa Phi Faculty Recognition Award, for "Working-Class Hollywood", 1999  
• USC Raubenheimer Outstanding Senior Faculty Award, for Distinguished Research, Teaching, and Service, 1998  
• USC Associates Award For Excellence In Teaching, 1992  
• USC Innovative Teaching Award, 1991  
• Arnold and Lois Graves Award for Outstanding Accomplishment in Teaching in the Humanities, 1989  
• USC Zumberge Research and Innovation Fund Award, USC Faculty Research and Innovation Fund Award, 1987  

Service to the University

Committees

• Chair, History Department, 8/16/2007-  
• Co-Director and Co-Founder, Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities, 9/1/1998-  
• Chair, History Department, 8/16/2003-8/15/2006  
• Chair, Co-Director, Celebrity, Culture and Politics Faculty Seminar, Norman Lear Center, Annenberg, USC., 9/1999-6/2006  
• Member, College General Education Revision Committee, 2004-2005   

Media, Alumni, and Community Relations

• Interview with Jacquelien Nienhuis, Correspondent USA, Algemeen Dagblad. Daily Newspaper The Netherlands on Hollywood and the Presidnetial Election, Oct. 2007, Fall 2007   
• Segment interview on Celebrity Impact on Voting, KCBS Radio San Francisco, Sept. 18, 2007, Fall 2007   
• Interviewed by Joel Budd for article in The Economist on "Hollywood and Politics," Sept. 11, 2007., Fall 2007   
• One-hour segment and listener call in about Celebrities and Politics, Kathleen Dunn Show, Wisconsin Public Radio, Sept. 11, 2007., Fall 2007   
• Segment on Oprah Endorsement of Barack Obama, NPR’s "On the Media," September 6, 2007. , Fall 2007   
• Celebrities and Politics Segment, NPR’s "Day to Day" with Alex Smith, KPPC FM, Sept. 5, 2007, Fall 2007   
• Expert Commentator for documentary feature film, "The Brothers Warner," Cass Sperling producer, April 5, 2007, Spring 2007   
• Expert Commentator, 10-hour history of Warner Brothers Studios, Richard Schickel, for TBS, Jan. 3, 2007., Spring 2007   
• Interviewed by BBC Radio for story on Governor Arnold, Celebrity Politics and California Referendum Elections, Oct. 20, 2005, Fall 2005   
• Quoted in "California Vote: Arnold Says. Warren Says No," New York Times, Oct. 14, 2005, Fall 2005   
• Radio Commentator, "Progressive Hollywood," on "The Lawyer’s Guild Show," KPFK, 7/14/2005  
• Commentator for BBC TV News Feature on Celebrities and Politics in 2004 Elections, 9/14/2004  
• Commentator, A & E Biography Series, "Louis B. Mayer", 8/26/2004  

Other Service to the University

• Speaker to USC Presidential Scholars Admittees, 3/3/2005-3/3/2205  
• Co-Director, Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities. Responsibilities include planning a bi-monthly luncheon speakers series for our nearly 100 Fellows, running several subcommittees, and planning annual conferences., 9/1/1998-  
• Historical Advisor, Academy Museum of the Motion Picture, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, summer 2006 through present Commentator, “Birth of a Nation” in Movies That Shook the World series on American Movie Channel, fall 2005. Interviewed by BBC Radio for story on Governor Arnold, Celebrity Politics and California Referendum Elections, Oct. 20, 2005 Interviewed and quoted in “California Vote: Arnold Says. Warren Says No,” New York Times, Oct. 14, 2005 Interviewed and quoted in “Where There’s Smoke, There’s a Star,” NY Times, Sept. 18, 2005 , 2005-2006   
• Speaker at Freshman Orientation, 8/20/2004  

Service to the Profession

Conferences Organized

• Organizer , Hip Hop America, USC Visions and Voices , Dialogues Series, "Hip Hop America" (featuring Ann Powers, Josh Kun and Todd Boyd)sponsored by LA Institute for the Humanities, Fall 2007   
• Organizer , "The Moral Morass of Contemporary Life" , USC Vision and Voices , Dialogues Series, "The Moral Morass of Contemporary Life" (featuring Jack Miles, Rabbi Leonard Beerman, Rev. George Regas) sponsored by LA Institute for the Humanities, Spring 2007   
• Organizer , "Pop, Politics, and Propaganda" , USC Visions and Voices , Dialogues Series, "Pop, Politics, and Propaganda" (featuring Robbie, Marc Cooper, Marty Kaplan, and Carole Wells)sponsored by LA Institute for the Humanities, Fall 2006   
• Organizer, "Have Blogs Replaced Newspapers and Should We Care?", , USC , Dialogues Series (featuring Ana Marie Cox, Kevin Drum, Kevin Roderick, and Martin Kaplan)sponsored by LA Institute for the Humanities, Spring 2006   
• Organizer , "The Big Lie? News, Media, and the Fiction of Non-Fiction," , Citywide Conference at USC , "The Big Lie? News, Media, and the Fiction of Non-Fiction," citywide conference sponsored by the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities, Spring 2005   
• Organizer, "Writing L.A.: Urban Noir, Postmodern Malaise, and Suburban Angst in the Capital of the 21st Century." , citywide conference at USC, 2 day citywide conference sponsored by the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities, Spring 2004   
• Organizer , From Sunset Boulevard to Mulholland Drive: Los Angeles in the Cinematic Imagination", citywide conference at USC, 2 day citywide conference sponsored by the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities, Spring 2003   
• Organizer and Moderator, USC Teach In on the War in Iraq, USC, 2 hour teach in on the war, Spring 2003   
• Organizer , "Los Angeles At the Millennium: Identity and Community in the 21st Century , citywide conference at USC, citywide conference sponsored by the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities, Spring 2002   
• Organizer and Speaker, "Teach In on the Current Crisis", USC, 2 hour teach in organized after 9/11, Fall 2001   

Editorships and Editorial Boards

• Editorial Board, "Class and Culture" series, University of Michigan Press, 9/1/2005-  
• Media Editor, American Communist History, 9/1/2001-  
• Editorial Board Member, Ohio Valley History, 4/1/2000-6/30/2006  
• Editorial Board Member, Queen City Heritage, 1985-2000  
• Editorial Board Member, Journal of the Early Republic, 1988-1993  
• Editorial Board Member, International Labor and Working Class History, 1979-1990  

Professional Memberships

• Society for Cinema Studies, 9/1/1990-  
• American Studies Association, 9/1/1984-  
• American Historical Association, 9/1/1978-  
• Organization of American Historians, 9/1/1978-