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Art Blake

Art Blake

EducationBA (Hons), American Studies, University of Sussex. PhD, History, American University, Washington, D.C.
OfficeJOR 527
Phone416-979-5000 Ext. 553456
Areas of ExpertiseU.S. 20th century cultural history; urban history; gender and sexuality.

Dr. Art Blake specializes in 20th-century urban and cultural history with particular focus on the construction of race and racialization, gender identities, and sexualities. His current research examines national and international support networks among trans women in post-1960 US, Canada, and the UK. That project connects to related research into clothing and gender, represented in his 2018 article in Fashion Studies “Re-Dressing Race and Gender: The Performance and Politics of Eldridge Cleaver’s Pants.” (external link)  Blake’s most recent book is Radio, Race and Audible Difference in Post-1945 America: The Citizens Band (Palgrave, 2019) (external link)  concerning the role of sound (voices, street sounds, radio technologies) in constructing and deconstructing difference. His first book, How New York Became American, 1890-1924 (Johns Hopkins, 2006) examined the place of New York City in the American national imagination and the role of the tourist industry in remaking the city’s image.

Dr. Blake teaches U.S. History courses as well as courses included in TMU’s LGBTQ2S+ Minor, such as HST 627 Transgender Histories, HST 375 LGBTQ2S+ Histories, and HST 658 Sex in the City.

Dr. Blake is a member of the Graduate Faculty. He teaches and supervises graduate students in the TMU-York University Joint MA and PhD Program in Communication and Culture.