Shirley Samuels is an American academic. She is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies. Currently Picket Family Chair of the Literatures in English Department, she was formerly director of American Studies at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

and is known for her work on American literature and culture.

Education and career

Samuels has a B.A. (1977), M.A. (1981), and Ph.D. (1986) from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. Following her Ph.D. she was an assistant professor at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

. She moved to Cornell University in 1986 and was promoted to full professor in 1998. From 2000 until 2001 she was the Fletcher Brown Professor of Humanities at the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...

. From 2009 until 2015, she chaired the History of Art Department, and from 2009 until 2012 she was dean of the Flora Rose House on the Cornell University campus. Samuels' work includes visual studies where she focuses on challenges with photographic representation of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

Awards and honors

Samuels was a fellow at the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in ...

in the Northeast Modern Language Association (NEMLA) division. She has also had fellowships from the

American Council of Learned Societies The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is a private, nonprofit federation of 75 scholarly organizations in the humanities and related social sciences founded in 1919. It is best known for its fellowship competitions which provide a ra ...

, the Society for the Humanities, and the

Library Company of Philadelphia The Library Company of Philadelphia (LCP) is a non-profit organization based on Locust Street in Center City, Philadelphia, Center City Philadelphia. Founded as a library in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin, the Library Company of Philadelphia has a ...

. In 2015-2016, she was the Los Angeles Times distinguished fellow at the

Huntington Library The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, known as The Huntington, is a collections-based educational and research institution established by Henry E. Huntington and Arabella Huntington in San Marino, California, United State ...

. In 2020 she was named a Quarry Farm Fellow by the Center For Mark Twain Studies.

Selected publications

* * * * *Reviews for ''The Culture of Sentiment: Race, Gender, and Sentimentality in 19th Century America'' * *

References

External links

Cornell University bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Samuels, Shirley Living people University of California, Berkeley alumni Cornell University faculty American Antiquarian Society members Early modern women writers University of Delaware faculty Year of birth missing (living people)