Jacob Kramer
Associate Professor
Social Sciences, Human Services and Criminal Justice
EMAIL: jkramer@bmcc.cuny.edu
Office: N-669
Office Hours: Monday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and Tuesday 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Please e-mail for a Zoom link.
Phone: +1 (212) 220-8000;ext=5258
Jacob Kramer is an associate professor of history at BMCC. He teaches the two halves of the American history survey from the colonial era to the present and the History Methods course required of majors. His research focuses on the interactions between those who want to reform the American government and economy and those who want to change it more deeply and rapidly. His book, The New Freedom and the Radicals, which covers the first quarter of the 20th century, was published by Temple University Press in 2015. He is currently working on extending the story of the interactions between these groups into the 1930s and 1940s.
Expertise
Intellectual History, Gilded Age and Progressive Era, History of Radicalism
Degrees
- Ph.D. City University of New York Graduate Center, American History, 2006
- M.A. Columbia University, United States History, 1998
- B.A. Columbia University, History, 1993
Courses Taught
- In this course, the history of the United States from the Colonial period to the Civil War is studied and the major political, economic, and social problems of the new nation are analyzed.
- This continued study of American history emphasizes the emergence of an industrial economy, an urban society, world responsibility and the expanded federal government.
- This course will provide a culminating experience for students enrolled in the History Major by allowing them to explore a topic in-depth, engage in independent research, develop their analytic abilities and critical thinking skills, and apply concepts and theories to new cases. The course will focus on special topics within the field and expertise of the instructor. It will introduce students to major theoretical perspectives, basic research methodologies and research design issues, and central analytical models in history. The course will call upon students to write historical research papers involving library research and analysis of multiple sources. Students will spend the first third of the semester reading and analyzing examples of academic historical work. They will then write their own research papers, based on topics of their own choosing, while working in conjunction with both peers and the instructor to revise these papers. Prerequisite: ENG 201 and [(HIS 101 and HIS 102) or (HIS 115 and HIS 116) or (HIS 120 and HIS 125) or Departmental Approval]
Research and Projects
- “Radicalism and Reform in the Progressive Era.” Encyclopedia article.
- “David Lilienthal’s Views on Labor.” How the director of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s views on workers and labor unions changed from his years at Harvard Law School to his time as director of a massive public project during World War II.
Publications
- Review of The Red Coast: Radicalism and Anti-radicalism in Southwest Washington, by Aaron Goings, Brian Barnes, and Roger Snider. Labor: Studies in Working-Class History 18, no. 1 (March 2021): 107-109.
- “Remembering the 1920s Backlash.” North Philly Notes, April 12, 2017 (online).
- Review of Lillian Gilbreth: Redefining Domesticity, by Julie Des Jardins. The History Teacher, 50, no. 1 (November 2016): 137-39.
- Review of Progressive Inequality, by David Huyssen. Journal of American History 103, no. 1 (June 2016): 228-29.
- “This is the Question Hillary and Bernie Voters Need to Decide.” History News Network, February 14, 2016 (online).
- “A Woman Out of Time.” North Philly Notes, May 20, 2015 (online).
- The New Freedom and the Radicals: Woodrow Wilson, Progressive Views of Radicalism, and the Origins of Repressive Tolerance. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2015.
- “Occupy Wall Street and the Strikes of 1933-34.” Socialism and Democracy 26, no. 2 (July 2012): 39-4.
- “Obama Shouldn’t Be above Criticism by Progressives.” History News Network, October 29, 2011 (online).
- Review of Democracy’s Prisoner: Eugene V. Debs, the Great War, and the Right to Dissent, by Ernest Freeberg. Labor History 52, no. 4 (November 2011): 579-80.
- “Revisiting the Personal Essay with Ben Hamper’s Rivethead.” The History Teacher 44, no. 2 (February 2011): 297-301.
- Review of Uncle Sam Wants You: World War I and the Making of the Modern American Citizen, by Christopher Capozzola. The History Teacher 42, no. 3 (May 2009): 370-71.
- “Wars of Incorporation.” Review of New Spirits: Americans in the Gilded Age, 1865-1905, by Rebecca Edwards and The Genesis of Industrial America: 1870-1920, by Maury Klein. Reviews in American History 36, no. 2 (June 2008): 223-30.
- “Taylorized Academic Labor.” History News Network, January 13, 2008 (online).
Honors, Awards and Affiliations
- Faculty Fellowship Publication Program, 2011
- PSC/CUNY Research Award, 2008
- Mellon Dissertation Fellowship, 2004
- Colonial Dames of New York Fellowship, 2004
- E. P. Thompson Fellowship in U.S. History, 2003
- Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., Dissertation Proposal Award, 2003
- Graduate Teaching Fellowship, 1999-2001
- Vartan Gregorian Fellowship, 1998
Member of American Historical Association, Organization of American Historians, and Labor and Working Class History Association.
