Janice Radway (born

January 29 Events Pre-1600 * 904 – Sergius III is elected pope, after coming out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher. * 946 – Caliph al-Mustakfi is blinded and deposed by Mu'izz al-Dawla, ruler ...

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

) is an American literary and

cultural studies Cultural studies is an academic field that explores the dynamics of contemporary culture (including the politics of popular culture) and its social and historical foundations. Cultural studies researchers investigate how cultural practices rel ...

scholar.

Education

Radway holds a BA from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

, 1971, and an MA from State University of New York, Stony Brook, 1972. She earned her PhD from

1977 with the dissertation ''A Phenomenological Theory of Popular and Elite Literature''. She taught in the American Civilization Department at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

and in the Literature Program (which she also chaired) at

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

. She served as an editor of ''

American Quarterly ''American Quarterly'' is an academic journal and the official publication of the American Studies Association. The journal covers topics of both domestic and international concern in the United States and is considered a leading resource in th ...

'', and, in 1998–99, as president of the American Studies Association. In 2008, she became Walter Dill Scott Professor of Communication Studies at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

. Radway is also professor emerita of Literature and History at

Publications

Books

* '' Reading the Romance'', 1984, 1991 * ''A Feeling for Books'', 1999 * '' A History of the Book in America'' (co-editor), 2008 * ''American Studies: An Anthology'' (co-editor), 2009 * ''Books: Their History and Future'', 2010 * ''Listening to Images'', 2021

References

1949 births Living people American literary critics American women literary critics Michigan State University alumni Stony Brook University alumni Northwestern University faculty {{US-academic-bio-stub