Sam Lebovic
I graduated from the University of Sydney in 2003, and have spent the last seven years completing a PhD in American history at the University of Chicago. I am a cultural and political historian of modern America, with a particular interest in the history of cultural freedom – which I study as both a socio-economic practice and a political and intellectual ideal. My interest in the problem of cultural freedom has led to research on a wide variety of topics – the histories of cultural and media economics, the political regulation and mobilization of mass culture, the history of cultural globalization and cultural diplomacy, the legal history of the First Amendment, and the intersections of nationalism, liberalism and internationalism in mid-century politics. I have also taught a range of classes in American history, social theory, and international studies. I have just completed a dissertation that combines many of these interests – a close history of the diverse ways that mid-century Americans conceptualized and institutionalized their commitment to ‘press freedom’ amidst the political, economic and intellectual crises engendered by Depression, World War and Cold War. As I expand on this dissertation in the coming years, I am also looking forward to continuing my work on related historical topics, including an exploration of the American experience of cultural globalization, and a study of the complex and changing relationships between self-expression and democratic politics.
