Sharrona Pearl
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Sharrona Pearl (May 3, 1977) is a Canadian-American historian and theorist of the face and writer who teaches at
Drexel University Drexel University is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony Joseph Drexel, Anthony J. Drexel, a financier ...
.


Background and education

She was raised in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, and graduated from the Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto in 1995. She earned her bachelor’s of arts degree summa cum laude from
York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...
in 1999, and was awarded her doctorate in the History of Science from
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
in 2006. She has studied abroad at both the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...
and the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
. Pearl has taught at
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
,
MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...
,
The University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of founder and first pr ...
, and
Drexel University Drexel University is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony Joseph Drexel, Anthony J. Drexel, a financier ...
.


Scholarship and academic career

Pearl has written several articles (both scholarly and popular) exploring the role of the face as a cultural object and the framework for human relationships and communication. She focuses on critical race, gender, sexuality, and disability studies to understand how we make sense of the faces of others and what that says about ourselves. Pearl’s research has been widely cited in the emerging field of face studies and in debates around the ethics of face transplant surgery, and she is regularly interviewed on the subject. Pearl’s first book, ''About Faces: Physiognomy in Nineteenth-Century Britain'', explored the history of physiognomy, the study of facial features and their relationship to character; when an interviewer asked her to read his face, Pearl quipped that if she studied the history of obstetrics, she would not be asked to deliver his baby. Her second book, ''Face/On: Face Transplants and the Ethics of the Other'' chronicled the history, ethics, and medical, bioethical, and journalistic debates around face transplant surgery. Pearl pointed out the role of the military in funding research on face transplants, and explored how television coverage of face transplant recipients followed the logic of makeover television. A review in ''
Social History of Medicine The Society for the Social History of Medicine (SSHM) was established in 1970. It is known for its peer-reviewed journal ''Social History of Medicine'' (since 1988) and the three book series it has sponsored, Studies in the Social History of Medi ...
'' called ''Face/On'' “a significant and timely book,” noting that “Pearl writes beautifully and polemically, with a genuine passion for her subject.” Pearl has served as the Geddes W. Simpson Distinguished Lecturer at the University of Maine, and as the keynote speaker for the William A. Kern Conference in Visual Communication at Cal Tech, and as a visiting scholar at Johns Hopkins University. Pearl has received numerous grants and awards, including the Louis and Bessie Stein Family Fellowship in 2020 and a Rapid Response Grant to explore the racial resonances of masking during the pandemic.


Freelance writing

Pearl has written op-eds, essays, and commentary for the ''
Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'', ''
Tablet Magazine ''Tablet'' is a conservative American magazine focused on Jewish news and culture, featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, and essays. It was founded in 2009 by editor-in-chief Alana Newhouse and is supported by the Nextbook foundation ...
'', ''Real Life Magazine'', ''
Aeon Magazine ''Aeon'' is a Online magazine, digital magazine of ideas, philosophy and culture. Publishing new articles every weekday, Aeon describes itself as a publication which "asks the biggest questions and finds the freshest, most original answers, provi ...
'', ''
Lilith Magazine ''Lilith'' is an independent, Jewish-American, feminist non-profit magazine that has been issued quarterly since 1976. History The magazine was founded in 1976 by a small group of women led by Susan Weidman Schneider: "to foster discussion of ...
'', and numerous other publications.


Religious life

In addition to her research and writing on faces, Pearl writes regularly on Judaism, social justice, community life, and religious observance, including essays in ''Kveller'', ''
Lilith Magazine ''Lilith'' is an independent, Jewish-American, feminist non-profit magazine that has been issued quarterly since 1976. History The magazine was founded in 1976 by a small group of women led by Susan Weidman Schneider: "to foster discussion of ...
'', ''
Tablet Magazine ''Tablet'' is a conservative American magazine focused on Jewish news and culture, featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, and essays. It was founded in 2009 by editor-in-chief Alana Newhouse and is supported by the Nextbook foundation ...
'', ''
The Revealer ''The Revealer: A Review of Religion and Media'' is an online magazine published by the Center for Religion and Media at New York University. The ''Revealer'' publishes ten issues per year and features articles that explore religion and its many ...
'', and elsewhere.


Personal life

Pearl is married to Ben Knepler, the co-founder of True Places. They have 3 children and live in Philadelphia.


References

1977 births Living people Drexel University faculty Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty University of Pennsylvania faculty York University alumni Harvard University alumni {{Improve categories, date=September 2021