Stephen Duncombe

Stephen Duncombe is a Professor at New York University, holding dual affiliations with the Gallatin School of Individualized Study and the Department of Media, Culture, and Communication within the Steinhardt School. His research focuses on the intersection of culture, media, and politics, with notable works including Dream: Re-Imagining Progressive Politics in an Age of Fantasy and Notes From Underground: Zines and the Politics of Underground Culture. He co-authored The Bobbed Haired Bandit: Crime and Celebrity in 1920s New York and edited the Cultural Resistance Reader.

• Education: Prior to NYU, he taught at the State University of New York.

His activism spans decades, including co-founding a Lower East Side advocacy group and organizing with Reclaim the Streets. He co-created Open Utopia and Actipedia.org, digital platforms for creative activism. Duncombe is co-director of the Center for Artistic Activism and leads the School for Creative Activism, funded by the Open Society Foundations.

He has received teaching awards from both SUNY and NYU’s Gallatin School. Current projects include a book on propaganda during the New Deal era.