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- Detailed Information
Martha Nadell
Director of Compositon
English
Location: 2314 Boylan Hall
Phone: 718.951.5197
Fax: 718.951.4612
Email:
Martha Jane Nadell's first book explores the relations between image and text in African American authored texts during the first half of the 20th century. She is currently at work on a literary and visual history of Brooklyn. Nadell teaches courses in 19th- and 20th-century American literature, African American literature, the graphic novel, Brooklyn in literature and magical realism. She is also involved with one of Brooklyn College's early college high schools, STAR HS. Her activities include fostering curricular alignment between the high school and college and leading professional development seminars about the literature and history of Brooklyn for high school teachers.
Education:
Ph.D., Harvard University - 2000 (History of American Civilization)
A.B., Harvard College - 1989 (Afro-American Studies)
Areas of Expertise:
African American literature, history and visual arts; the Harlem Renaissance; Brooklyn in literary and visual culture; high school/college alignment.
Books and Publications
"Teaching Post-9/11 Novels: Lessons from Abroad" in Teaching 9/11 and its Aftermaths (New York: MLA, TBD) (Books and Publications: Forthcoming Publications) 2023
"Alternative Histories, Alternative Homes, Alternative Nations: Contemporary Literature and Genre in the Age of Trump" in American Literature in the Era of Trumpism: Alternative Realities (London: Palgrave, 2022 (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2022
Contributor to "Reckoning by Cyphers, Laughing with Robots: New Technologies in Research and Teaching," Amerikastudien/American Studies, Volume 64 (2019) , Issue 1, 15 - 44 (Books and Publications: Other) 2020
"A Tree Grows in Bajan Brooklyn: Writing Caribbean New York," Surveying the American Tropics: Literary Geographies from New York to Rio (Liverpool: University of Liverpool Press, 2013) (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2013
"Fire and Harlem," The Oxford Critical and Cultural History of Modernist Magazines (New York, Oxford University Press, 2012) (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2012
"Writing Brooklyn" in The Cambridge Companion to New York Writing (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010) (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2010
"New York City." Oxford Encyclopedia of African-American History. Oxford University Press. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2008
"Teaching the Visual Arts of the Harlem Renaissance." Teaching the Harlem Renaissance. New York: Peter Lang. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2008
"Alain Locke." Harlem Speaks: A Living History of the Harlem Renaissance. Naperville, Ill.: Sourcebooks MediaFusion. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2007
"Modernism and Race." A Companion to Modernist Literature and Culture. Oxford, United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2006
"From Harlem to Hurston: Miguel Covarrubias's Images of African Americans." Caricaturista Exhibit Guide, by Miguel Covarrubias. Austin, Texas: Humanities Texas. (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2005
"Pleasure Reading," "The Short List," in The Chronicle of Higher Education, May 6, 2005 (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2005
Enter the New Negroes: Images of Race in American Culture. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. (Books and Publications: Book (Authored)) 2004
Review of The Ideologies of African American Literature: From the Harlem Renaissance to the Black Nationalist Revolt, by Robert E. Washington. Ethnic and Racial Studies 26.3, May. (Books and Publications: Book Review) 2003
"'Nor Can I Reduce This Experience to a Medium': Race and the Visual Arts in the Work of Jean Toomer." Dream-Fluted Cane: Essays on Jean Toomer and the Harlem Renaissance. Eds. Geneviève Fabre and Michel Feith. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2001
Awards, Honors and Fellowships
Scholar-in-Residence, New York University, September 2016-June 2017 (Grants and Fellowships) 2016
Core Fulbright U.S. Scholar. (Grants and Fellowships) 2015
Induction into Brooklyn College's Rho Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. (Awards and Honors) 2010
The Claire Tow Distinguished Teacher Award. (Awards and Honors) 2009
Wolfe Fellowship. (Grants and Fellowships) 2009
PSC-CUNY grant, 2006-07. (Grants and Fellowships) 2007
PSC-CUNY grant, 2005-06. (Grants and Fellowships) 2006
Tow Faculty Travel Fellowship, Brooklyn College. (Grants and Fellowships) 2005
Swann Memorial Foundation Fellowship for Cartoon and Caricature, Library of Congress, September 2001-September 2002. (Grants and Fellowships) 2002
Research Activities
New York University FRN Winter Seminar, "Literatures of the Atlantic." 2012
Seminar participant, "Lost New York." Faculty Resource Network, New York University. 2010
New York University FRN Summer Seminar, "Harlem and Its Landmarks: A Physical and Institutional History of the Black Metropolis." 2008
New York University FRN Summer Seminar, "Multiculturalism, Cosmopolitanism and Contemporary New York Writing." 2007
New York University FRN Summer Seminar, "New York City, American Literature and the Cosmopolitan Ideal." 2006
Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums
"Reading the City: Toward a Poetics of Gentrification," American Association of Geographers (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2022
"Citizenship and Urban Space: Urban Imaginaries and the Poetics of Belonging in Twentieth and Twenty-first Century American Literature," at the biennial 2020 conference of the European Association for American Studies (EAAS) "20/20 Vision: Citizenship, Space, Renewal" held virtually April 30-May 2, 2021. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2021
"Alternative History, Alternative Homes: Playing with Genre in the Age of Trump," UCD Clinton Institute for American Studies, 2019 (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Contributed Talk) 2019
"Brooklyn's Literary Archive: The Cartography of Urban Identity," 'New Urban Identities', Università degli Studi di Firenze, 19-20 June, 2018 (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2019
"The Poetics of Brooklyn's In-Between Spaces" Building the Outer Boroughs: Architecture and Urbanism Beyond Manhattan, 2017 (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Contributed Talk) 2017
"Fire Escapes and Stoops: Toward an Urban Poetics of Space," Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives on Urban Space," Cross-Disciplinary Urban Space Research Network, Florence, Italy, 2016 (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Contributed Talk) 2016
"Enter the New Negroes: Race in Modern American Culture." University of Padova. Padova, Italy. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2015
"Reading and Writing Brooklyn: The Poetics of Urban Space," Università degli Studi di Venezia "Cà Foscari", 2015 (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2015
"Brooklyn on My Mind: The Literature of Gentrification." American Studies Association. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2013
"Case Studies from Brooklyn: Toibin and Lethem," "The Contemporary Historical Novel About New York: An International Symposium," the Ghent Urban Studies Team & the University of Antwerp, 2012 (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"Mapping Brooklyn's Fictions: The Cartographic Turn in Literary Studies." American Association of Geographers Annual Conference. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2012
"Toward a Literary History of the Brownstone." Brooklyn Aesthetics Conference. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2012
"Walking the City: Jewish Writing and the Poetics of Place and History." American Jewish History Conference. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2012
"Covarrubias' Caricatures Meet Reiss' Portraits: Locating the Visual Modernism of the Harlem Renaissance." Cultural Mobility and Transcultural Confrontations: Winold Reiss as a Paradigm of Transnational Studies. John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies, Free University of Berlin and American Academy in Berlin. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2011
"In Search of Ripple Street." American Comparative Literature Association. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2011
Reading and talk on "Writing Brooklyn." The Bowery Poetry Club. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2010
"A Tree Grows in Bajan Brooklyn: Paule Marshall's Transnational/Multicultural Space." American Tropics: Toward a Literary Geography. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2009
"The Outside, the Block, Dean Street: The Cartographic Impulse in Brooklyn's Literary History." Dreamland Pavilion: Brooklyn and Development Conference. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2009
Moderator and respondent, Nathan I. Huggins Commemorative Conference. Harvard University. Cambridge, Mass. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2009
"High School and College Faculty Collaborating to Help Students Succeed." Woodrow Wilson Foundation Early College High School Convening. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2008
"Backwards Mapping: Unifying Expectations." Kellogg/ECHS Literacy Network Meeting. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2007
"Enter the New Negroes: Images of Race in American Culture" reading. Wolfe Institute, Brooklyn College. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2007
"The Harlem Renaissance and Beyond in Image and Text." English Department Colloquium, St. John's University. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2007
"The Harlem Renaissance" panel. Harry C. Ransom Center, University of Texas. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2007
"Seeing American Portraiture in Transnational Visual Economies" chairwoman and commenter. American Studies Association. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2006
"Staking Claims, Bracing for Conflict: Case Studies in Urban Transformation" commenter. New York Metro American Studies Association. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Contributed Talk) 2006
Nadell, Martha, Roberta Matthews and Deb Shanley. "Two Worlds Revisited: Assuming New Roles and Responsibilities in College H.S. Partnerships." Teachers for a New Era Network, Second National Meeting, Work in Progress. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2006
"Portraits and the Harlem Renaissance." Modern Language Association. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2005
"Public Faces, Private Spaces: The Portrait in the Harlem Renaissance." American Studies Association. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2005
"Enter Locke's New Negro: The Harlem Renaissance in Word and Image." Temples of Tomorrow: The Harlem Renaissance, New Readings and Contexts. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2004
"Race, Image, Text: The Crossroads of Southern Road." American Studies Association. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2004
Dialogue with Glenn Ligon, Visiting Artists Lecture Series, Art Department, Brooklyn College. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2004
Organizer and commenter on "Race, Word and Image in Turn-of-the-Century British and American Culture." Modern Language Association. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2004
Panelist, Discussion of Jacob Lawrence, Langston Hughes, Alain Locke and the Harlem Renaissance, Boston University. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2004
"Envisioning Violence: Race, Lynching and the Illustrated Text." American Studies Association. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2003
Professional Leadership
Director of Freshman Composition, 2017-2022 (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2017
English disciplinary council leader/consultant, Woodrow Wilson Foundation for Brooklyn College/STAR High School. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2011
Panelist, "Teaching in Diverse Academic Environments," Career Options Day, Harvard University. (Professional Leadership: Public Service) 2004
Other Professional Activities
Contributor to "Harlem on Fire," Radio 3, BBC, 2020 2020