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Home: Our Faculty: Brooklyn College Faculty:

Martha J. Nadell

Assc Professor   Department: English   Location: 2305 Boylan Hall   Phone: 718-951-5207   Fax: 718-951-4612   Email:

Martha Jane Nadell received her Ph.D. in the History of American Civilization and her A.B. in Afro-American Studies, both from Harvard University. Her first book explores the relations between image and text in African American authored texts during the first half of the twentieth century. She is currently at work on a literary and visual history of Brooklyn. At Brooklyn College, she teaches courses in nineteenth and twentieth century American literature, African American literature, the graphic novel, Brooklyn in literature, and magical realism. In addition to her work at the college, she is involved with one of Brooklyn College's early college high schools, STAR HS. Her activities include fostering curricular alignment between the high school and college and leading professional development seminars about the literature and history of Brooklyn for high school teacher. Education: DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY - 2000 (HISTORY OF AMERICAN CIVILIZATION) A.B., HARVARD COLLEGE - 1989 (AFRO-AMERICAN STUDIES) Areas of Expertise: African American literature, history, and visual arts; the Harlem Renaissance; Brooklyn in literary and visual culture; high school/college alignment Books and Publications "Writing Brooklyn," in The Cambridge Companion to New York Literature. (Books and Publications: Forthcoming Publications) 2009 "New York City," Oxford Encyclopedia of African-American History (Oxford UP). (Books and Publications: Chapter) 2008 "Teaching the Visual Arts of the Harlem Renaissance" in Teaching the Harlem Renaissance (New York: Peter Lang, forthcoming). (Books and Publications: Chapter) 2008 "Alain Locke" in Harlem Speaks: A Living History of the Harlem Renaissance (Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks MediaFusion, 2007). (Books and Publications: Chapter) 2007 "Modernism and Race" in A Companion to Modernist Literature and Culture (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2006). (Books and Publications: Chapter) 2006 "Reading for Pleasure" in "The Short List," The Chronicle of Higher Education (May 6, 2005). (Books and Publications: Other Article) 2005 From Harlem to Hurston: Miguel Covarrubias's Images of African Americans in Miguel Covarrubias: Caricaturista Exhibit Guide (Austin: Humanities Texas, 2005). (Books and Publications: Other Article) 2005 Enter the New Negroes: Images of Race in American Culture (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2004). (Books and Publications: Book) 2004 Review of Robert E. Washington, The Ideologies of African American Literature: From the Harlem Renaissance to the Black Nationalist Revolt in Ethnic and Racial Studies (Vol. 26 No. 3 May 2003). (Books and Publications: Other Article) 2003 "'Nor Can I Reduce This Experience to a Medium': Race and the Visual Arts in the Work of Jean Toomer," in Dream-Fluted Cane: Essays on Jean Toomer and the Harlem Renaissance, edited by Geneviève Fabre and Michel Feith (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2001). (Books and Publications: Chapter) 2001 Awards, Honors and Fellowships The Claire Tow Distinguished Teacher Award (Awards and Honors) 2009 Wolfe Fellowship (Grants and Fellowships) 2009 PSC-CUNY grant, 2006-2007 (Grants and Fellowships) 2007 PSC-CUNY grant, 2005-2006 (Grants and Fellowships) 2006 Tow Faculty Travel Fellowship, Brooklyn College, 2005 (Grants and Fellowships) 2005 Swann Memorial Foundation Fellowship for Cartoon and Caricature, Library of Congress, September 2001-September 2002 (Grants and Fellowships) 2002 Research Activities NYU FRN Summer Seminar, "Harlem and Its Landmarks: A Physical and Institutional History of the Black Metropolis." 2008 NYU FRN Summer Seminar, "Multiculturalism, Cosmopolitanism, and Contemporary New York Writing," 2007 2007 NYU FRN Summer Seminar, "New York City, American Literature, and the Cosmopolitan Ideal," 2006 2006 Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums "A Tree Grows in Bajan Brooklyn: Paule Marshall's Transnational/Multicultural Space," American Tropics: Toward a Literary Geography, 2009 (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2009 "The Outside, the Block, Dean Street: The Cartographic Impulse in Brooklyn's Literary History", Dreamland Pavilion: Brooklyn and Development Conference, 2009 (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2009 "High School and College Faculty Collaborating to Help Students Succeed," Woodrow Wilson Foundation Early College High School Convening, 2008 (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2008 "Backwards Mapping: Unifying Expectations," Kellogg/ECHS Literacy Network Meeting, 2007 (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2007 "The Harlem Renaissance and Beyond in Image and Text," St. John's University English Department Colloquium, 2007 (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2007 Panelist, "The Harlem Renaissance," Harry C. Ransom Center, University of Texas, 2007 (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2007 Reading from Enter the New Negroes: Images of Race in American Culture, Wolfe Institute, 2007 (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2007 "Two Worlds Revisited: Assuming New Roles and Responsibilities in College H. S. Partnerships," Teachers for a New Era Network, Second National Meeting, Work in Progress, 2006 with Roberta Matthews and Deb Shanley. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2006 Chair and Commenter, "Seeing American Portraiture in Transnational Visual Economies," American Studies Association, 2006 (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2006 Commenter, "Staking Claims, Bracing for Conflict: Case Studies in Urban Transformation," NYMASA, 2006 (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Contributed Talk) 2006 "Portraits and the Harlem Renaissance," Modern Language Association, 2005 (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2005 "Public Faces, Private Spaces: The Portrait in the Harlem Renaissance." American Studies Association, 2005 (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2005 "Enter Locke's New Negro: The Harlem Renaissance in Word and Image" at "Temples of Tomorrow: The Harlem Renaissance" New Readings and Contexts, 2004 (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2004 "Race, Image, Text: The Crossroads of Southern Road," American Studies Association, 2004 (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2004 Dialogue with Glenn Ligon, Visiting Artists Lecture Series, Art Department, Brooklyn College, 2004 (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2004 Organizer and commenter on "Race, Word, and Image in Turn-of-the-Century British and American Culture," Modern Language Association, 2004 (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2004 Panelist, Discussion of Jacob Lawrence, Langston Hughes, Alain Locke, and the Harlem Renaissance, Boston University, 2004 (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2004 "Envisioning Violence: Race, Lynching, and the Illustrated Text," American Studies Association, 2003 (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2003 Professional Leadership Panelist, "Teaching in Diverse Academic Environments," Career Options Day, Harvard University, 2004 (Professional Leadership: Public Service) 2004