GAVIN BENKE Clements Center for Southwest Studies Southern Methodist University P.O. Box 750176 Dallas, TX 75275-0176 Office: (214) 768-9352 Cell: (347) 524-4672 gbenke@smu.edu gavinbenke@gmail.com ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS The Summerlee Fellow for the Study of Texas History, Clements Center for Southwest Studies, Southern Methodist University, 2014-Present Provost s Postdoctoral Fellow, University of South Florida, Department of History, 2012-2014 EDUCATION Ph.D. in American Studies, The University of Texas at Austin, 2012 Areas of Concentration: Business History, American History, Cultural Geography, American Literature Dissertation: Electronic Bits and Ten Gallon Hats: Enron, American Culture and the Postindustrial Political Economy Committee: Jeffrey Meikle (Co-chair), Steven Hoelscher (Co-chair), Mark Smith, Erika Bsumek, Brian Bremen Finalist for the Herman E. Krooss Prize for Best Dissertation in Business History awarded annually by the Business History Conference. M.A. in English, University of Virginia, 2004 Thesis: Defining the Decade: Wall Street Nonfiction of the 1980s Chair: Eric Lott B.A. in English; Minor in Music Theory and History, Georgetown University, 1998 PUBLICATIONS Book Manuscript Electronic Bits and Ten Gallon Hats: Enron, American Culture and the Postindustrial Political Economy (Under contract with The University of Pennsylvania Press, expected completion date: May, 2015). Journal Articles From Green Fields and Grey Pipes to Narrating Nothingness: Neoliberal Logic and the Move
Away From Environmental Responsibility in Enron s Rhetoric and Visual Style, American Studies Journal 53.2 (2014), 71-94. Electronic Bits and Ten Gallon Hats: Enron, American Culture and the Postindustrial Political Economy, Enterprise & Society, (December, 2013), 705-716. The Corporate American Dream: Class and Ethnic Struggle in Non-fiction Representations of Wall Street Culture, in Storytelling: A Critical Journal of Popular Narrative Special issue on non-fiction narrative, (2006), 115-122. Book Chapters Laughing All The Way to the Bank: Enron, Humor, and Political Economy in A Decade of Dark Humor: How Popular Culture Has Shaped Post-9/11 Politics. University Press of Mississippi, (2011), 197-213. Authenticity: The Search for the Real Thing, in Republic of Barbecue, University of Texas Press, (2009), 90-95. Online Publications I Look Forward to Working With You: Enron s Government Affairs Efforts in the 1990s, Business and Economic History On-Line: Papers Presented at the BHC Annual Meeting, Volume 10, (2012). Where Is Enron? Changing Perceptions of Geographic Relationships in the Deregulation of California s Energy Market, Business and Economic History On-Line: Papers Presented at the BHC Annual Meeting, Volume 6, (2008). In Progress Enron and the American Presidency: Shifting Visions of the Global Economy. To be included in an edited collection following the Alan B. Larkin Symposium Capitalism and the American Presidency since 1945, at Florida Atlantic University, 2016. BOOK REVIEWS Face Value: The Entwined Histories of Money & Race in America, by Michael O Malley, History: Reviews of New Books, Volume 42, Number 1, (2014). Invested Interests: Capital, Culture and the World Bank, by Bret Benjamin, e3w Review of Books, Volume 9, (2009), 31-33. Paul Bowles on Music in Book Notes, Virginia Quarterly Review, Volume 80, Issue 2, Online Edition, (2004).
PRESENTATIONS AND CONFERENCES Upcoming: 2016: Enron and the American Presidency: Shifting Visions of the Global Economy. Invited presentation at the Alan B. Larkin Symposium on Capitalism and the American Presidency since 1945. Florida Atlantic University. Boca Raton, FL. National: 2014: A New Energy and Environmental Order: Enron and the Globalization of Houston and Green Business. The Histories of American Capitalism. Cornell, NY. 2014: A Bunch of Con Men Enron and the Structural Roots of Corporate Crime. Shady Business: White Collar Crime in History. GHI Historical Institute, Washington, DC. 2013: Futurology as Neoliberal History: John Naisbitt s Use of History in Megatrends. American Studies Association. Washington, DC. 2013: Krooss Dissertation Plenary. Business History. Columbus, OH. 2012: We Look Forward to Working With You: Enron s Government Affairs Efforts in the 1990s. Business History Conference, Philadelphia, PA. 2011: Brain Intensive Businesses: Anti-Intellectual Impulses in the Wake of Enron's Collapse. American Studies Association. Baltimore, MD. 2010: Deregulating Texas: Enron, Bush and the Contradictions of Neoliberalism. American Studies Association. San Antonio, TX. 2010: Company Town: The Fraught Relationship between Enron and Houston, TX. Association of American Geographers. Washington, DC. 2010: Shifting Focus: Enron's Change in Corporate Rhetoric and Practice. Business History Conference. Athens, GA. 2008: Where is Enron? Changing Perceptions of Geographic Relationships in the Deregulation of California s Energy Market. Business History Conference. Sacramento, CA. 2005: The Corporate American Dream: Class and Ethnic Struggle in Nonfiction Representations of Wall Street Culture. Popular Culture/American Culture Conference. San Diego, CA. Local: 2014: A Western Wall Street Enron, Finance, and the Remaking of Houston in the 1990s. Clements Center for Southwest Studies Noon Talks. Southern Methodist University. Dallas, TX. 2013: The Promise for a Cleaner World Enron, Sustainability, and Corporate Social Responsibility in a World Risk Society. University of South Florida Postdoctoral Symposium, Tampa, FL. 2004: Critique of Capitalism in Oscar Wilde s Fairy Tales. Northeast Modern Language Association Convention. Pittsburgh, PA. FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS 2014: Summerlee Fellowship in Texas History, Clements Center for Southwest Studies, Southern Methodist University
2013: Finalist: Herman E. Krooss Prize for Best Dissertation in Business History 2012-2014: Provost s Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of South Florida 2010: David Bruton, Jr. Graduate School Fellowship, University of Texas at Austin 2009: College of Liberal Arts Graduate Research Fellowship, University of Texas at Austin 2006: Dean s Excellence Award, University of Texas at Austin 2004: University Fellowship, George Washington University TEACHING EXPERIENCE The University of South Florida Department of History, Provost s Postdoctoral Scholar, 2012-2014 U.S. Business History Political Economy United States, 1914-1945 The University of Texas at Austin Department of American Studies, Assistant Instructor, 2010-2012 Intro to American Studies Globalization and U.S. Culture 1970s in America Department of American Studies, Teaching Assistant, 2008-2010 Department of Rhetoric and Writing, Assistant Instructor, 2006-2008 Rhetoric of Globalization Rhetoric and Writing The Victoria College Department of English, Adjunct Assistant Instructor, 2006-2007 Composition and Rhetoric Austin Community College, 2005-2006 Department of English, Adjunct Assistant Instructor, 2005-2006 Composition and Rhetoric PUBLIC HISTORY EXPERIENCE The University of Texas at Austin Oral History Interviewer, 2007-2008 Texas Barbecue Trail Oral History Project PROFESSIONAL SERVICE 2014: Manuscript Reviewer for Enterprise & Society. 2014: Manuscript Reviewer for Information & Culture: A Journal of History. 2013: Panel Organizer, Genealogies of Neoliberalism, The American Studies Association. Washington, DC.
2013: Panel Chair, The Rhetoric and Imagery of Business in the Cold War. The Business History Conference. Columbus, OH. 2010: Panel Organizer, Market Ideologies. The American Studies Association. San Antonio, TX. 2009: Section Editor, e3w Review of Books, Volume 9. PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION MEMBERSHIPS American Historical Association Business History Conference American Studies Association NON-ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE 2011-2012 Anaxos, Inc., Austin, TX Freelance Writing and Research for The International Directory of Company Histories 2001 2002 Technologic Partners, New York, NY Venture Capital Researcher 2001 Skillgames.com, New York, NY Trivia Writer 1999 2000 Vorhaus & Company Inc., New York, NY Public Relations Assistant Account Executive 1998-1999 The History Factory, Chantilly, VA Research Associate