Elaine Tyler May is a historian of the United States in the twentieth century whose work centers on the intersections of gender, sexuality, domestic culture and politics. Her scholarship explores the ways in which issues normally considered part of private life -- such as family, consumerism, and leisure pursuits - reflect, express and influence American political, cultural, and social values. Her books and articles examine changing expectations for marriage in the early 20th century, family and sexuality in the cold war era, the history of women, and the history of childlessness and reproduction in America. Her current research project is an examination of the legacy of the cold war at home, which explores the ongoing quest for national and personal security in terms of Americans' sense of danger from within as well as outside the country.

Education:

Ph.D., U.S. History, University of California at Los Angeles, 1975
M.A., U.S. History, University of California at Los Angeles, 1970
A.B., cum laude History, University of California at Los Angeles, 1969

Scholarly Works:

BOOKS

Created Equal: A Social and Political History of the United States,( with Peter Wood, Jacqueline Jones, Vicki Ruiz, and Tim Borstelmann), Longman, 2002.

Here, There, and Everywhere: The Foreign Politics of American Popular Culture, (co-edited with Reinhold Wagnleitner), University Press of New England, 2000.

Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era, Basic Books, revised and updated edition, 1999 (first edition 1988, first paperback, 1989).

Barren in the Promised Land: Childless Americans and the Pursuit of Happiness, Basic Books, 1995, paperback edition, Harvard University Press, 1997.
Award -- 1996 American Sociological Association Family Section, William J. Goode Book Award, Runner-Up.

Pushing the Limits: American Women, 1940-1961, Oxford University Press, 1994, paperback edition, 1998.

Great Expectations: Marriage and Divorce in Post-Victorian America, University of Chicago Press, 1980, paperback edition, 1983.

MAJOR RECENT ARTICLES:

"The Family and the State: A Long-Term Political Relationship," Genre forthcoming 2006

“Echoes of the Cold War: The Aftermath of September 11 at Home,” in Mary Dudziak, ed., September 11 in History: A Watershed Moment?, Duke Univ. Press, 2003.

“‘Family Values’: The Uses and Abuses of American Family History,” lead article, Revue Française D’Études Américaines, 97, September 2003.

“Sex, Lies, and Stereotypes: The Politics of the Hill-Thomas Hearings,” with Michael May, in William Graebner, ed., True Stories from the American Past, third edition, (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002) .

“The Radical Roots of American Studies," Presidential Address presented at the annual meeting of the American Studies Association, published in the American Quarterly,  June 1996 (lead article).

WORK IN PROGRESS: Gimme Shelter: The Legacy of the Cold War at Home (Work in Progress)

Professional Service:

President, American Studies Association (national) 1995-96
Committee on Committees (elected), American Historical Association, 2003-2006
Editorial Board, Journal of American History, 2003
Editorial Board, Journal of Diplomatic History, 2003
National Council, American Studies Association, 1987-91
Co-Chair, Program Committee, American Studies Association National Convention, 1990
Organization of American Historians, Merle Curti Prize Committee, 1986-1988
Chair, Erik Barnouw Award Committee, Organization of American Historians, 1991-94
Women's Committee, American Studies Association, 1985-1988
Board of Assessors, American Studies Center, Search Committee for Professor of American Studies, University College, Dublin, Ireland, 2001
External review committee, Dept. of History, Michigan State University, September 2000
External review committee, Dept. of American Studies, Yale University, Spring 2006
Consultant, historical documentary, "The Political Dr. Seuss."
Historical Consultant, American Adventures, Annotated Teacher's Edition (New York: Scholastic Press, 1991).
Historical Consultant, Families Exhibit, Minnesota Historical Society, 1994-95
Historical Consultant, "The Fertility Race," National Public Radio Series, 1997-98
National Endowment for the Humanities, Summer Stipend Review Panel, 1984, 1985 Collaborative Research Projects Review Panel, 1992

Awards:

National

University of Minnesota

• University of Minnesota Distinguished Women Scholars Award, 2006
• Fesler-Lampert Chair in the Humanities 2003-2004
• College of Liberal Arts Dean's Medal, for excellence in scholarship and creativity 2001
• Distinguished Mentor Award, President's Distinguished Minority Student
• Faculty Mentor Program, April, 2000
• Scholar of the College, College of Liberal Arts, 1996-1999
• McKnight Research Award, 1993-96
• Bush Sabbatical Supplement Award, 1993-94
• Grant-in-Aid of Research, Univ. of Mn. Graduate School, 1988-89, 1987-88, 1984-85, 1983-84
• Summer Research Grant, Univ. of Minnesota Graduate School, 1985, 1993, 1996, 1998
• McKnight Summer Research Grant, 1992, 1996, 1998

Recent Courses:

AmSt 1907 Honors Freshman Seminar. Cultural Fallout: The Cold war and its Legacy
AmSt 3114 America in International Perspective
AmSt 3253 American Popular Culture and Politics: 1945 to the Present
AmSt 4101 Sex, Gender and Politics in America
AmSt 5920/Hist 5910 Politics and Private Life in the United States
AmSt 8239/Hist 8910 Cultural Fallout: The Cold War and its Legacy