Brownell to help edit Washington Post history website

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University assistant professor of history Kathryn Cramer Brownell has joined Made by History, a Washington Post website that publishes articles to add historical context and insights to the constantly changing world of current events.

“Our site will bring a historical lens to contemporary topics and provide a forum for historians to disseminate their scholarship to the public in a sharp and accessible manner,” Brownell said. “We aim to combine the rigor of an academic journal with the reach and speed of a news organization to facilitate engagement between historians and the public.” 

As a co-editor, Brownell joins Brian Rosenwald, a historian at the University of Pennsylvania, and Nicole Hemmer, an assistant professor and writer at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center for Public Affairs, to develop articles, review submissions and work with authors in the editing process.

She has encouraged Purdue’s history faculty to participate and pitch ideas.

“We hope that our blog’s offerings will be an invaluable resource to the millions of Americans desperate for good information and analysis from trustworthy sources,” Brownell said. “We seek to provide them that insight, building a base that will strengthen our democracy and contribute to a more thoughtful public sphere.”

Brownell received her doctorate in history from Boston University. She studies 20^th century U.S. political history, focusing on relationships among media, politics and popular culture. She is the author of “Showbiz Politics: Hollywood in American Political Life.”  

Writer: Howard Hewitt, 765-494-9451, hhewitt@purdue.edu 

Source: Kathryn Brownell, 765-496-2478, brownell@purdue.edu