معرفی
Mary Simonson holds the Daniel C. Benton ’80 Endowed Chair in Arts, Creativity, and Innovation and serves as Professor of Film and Media Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Colgate University, where her work bridges historical performance studies with media analysis.
Education:
- Doctorate in Critical and Comparative Studies in Music, University of Virginia
Research Focus: Professor Simonson specializes in performance across media during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with particular emphasis on American filmic, musical, and cultural contexts. Her scholarship investigates the interplay between live performance and mediated forms in early entertainment cultures, including musicals, dance, and silent cinema. Current research examines vocal technologies in 1920s American silent films, while her foundational work explores intermediality in pre-1917 entertainment. Key methodologies integrate gender studies, musicology, and film history to analyze how performance knowledge circulated across emerging media platforms.
Professional Leadership: She serves on the Council of the American Musicological Society and chairs the Society for American Music’s Music, Sound, and Media Interest Group. Previously, she led the New York State-St. Lawrence Chapter of the American Musicological Society as president and co-founded the Mellon Humanities Corridor Performance/History Faculty Working Group. Educational initiatives include directing Colgate’s Film and Media Studies New York City Study Group and co-organizing an immersive Cannes Film Festival program with the Gotham Film & Media Institute.
