| Jennifer Black is a native of the mid-west and joined the USC History Department in 2006 after completing her BA in Art History and MA in Public History from Western Michigan University. Before coming to USC, Jennifer worked at several public institutions, including the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC. She will spend the 2009-2010 academic year on fellowship at the Winterthur Museum & Country Estate (Winterthur, DE), the Huntington Library (San Marino, CA), and the Smithsonian National Museum of American History (Washington, DC) conducting research for her dissertation, "Branding Trust: Advertising, Trademarks, and the Problem of Legitimacy in US Popular Visual Culture, 1876-1930." This project situates the emergence of trademark logos within the context of the growing national market and the expanding availability of mass-produced household goods, and attempts to decode the imagery used to communicate legitimacy to the consumer in lieu of face-to-face interaction with producers. Jennifer is excited to head back to the east coast this fall to break out her wool sweaters and bask in the changing autumn colors. She would be happy to correspond with anyone interested in the department, USC, or her research. |
