Tom Scheinfeldt
Center for History and New Media, George Mason University
4400 University Drive, MSN 3G1, Fairfax VA 22030
(703) 993-4213 | jscheinf@gmu.edu | chnm.gmu.edu
EDUCATION
University of Oxford
D.Phil. in Modern History. Doctoral thesis explored inter-war interest in science and its history in diverse cultural contexts, including museums, universities, World’s Fairs and the mass media. Teaching responsibilities included lectures, tutorials and discussion seminars. 1999-2003.
University of Oxford
M.Sc. in History of Science: Instruments, Museums, Science, and Technology. Course work included lectures, seminars, Oxford tutorials and the design and production of an online history exhibition. Dissertation examined the implications of constructivism for museum education and received marks of distinction. 1998-1999.
Harvard University
A.B. cum laude in History and Science. Senior honors thesis explored the history of geology. Related courses in philosophy and religion. Term-time and summer work included positions as a teaching assistant for an introductory geology course, a library staff member and a long-distance bicycle tour guide. Dean’s List. Harvard College Scholarship. 1992-1996.
EMPLOYMENT
George Mason University
Managing Director of the Center for History & New Media and Research Assistant Professor in the Department of History & Art History. Administered all aspects of internationally-recognized research center. Set strategic vision and managed day-to-day operations, including production and maintenance of more than two dozen popular online history projects. Provided oversight for diverse research, education, and technology development activities. Coordinated fundraising and media relations. Initiated and maintained partnerships with local and national organizations. Negotiated external contracts and managed client relations. Administered operating budget of more than $2,500,000. Supervised graduate students and staff of forty. 2002-present.
Colorado Historical Society
Assistant Coordinator, Colorado State Roadside Interpretation Program. Helped administer State of Colorado roadside historical markers project. Supervised interns and part-time staff. Wrote grant proposals and secured federal funding. Consulted with community organizations, historical societies, scholars and government officials. Researched, designed and produced more than thirty full-color, photo-illustrated roadside exhibits throughout Colorado. 1997-1998.
University of Northern Colorado
Research Coordinator for the Hewit Institute’s Doing History, Keeping the Past project. Managed initial research activities for project aimed at providing teachers and students with greater access to history museum resources through information technologies. Collaborated with teachers and museum professionals nationwide to evaluate museum outreach programs and to produce needs assessment. Drafted grant proposal and secured funding. 1996-1997.
SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
Executive Producer of Omeka, a free and open source web publishing and online exhibitions platform for museums and cultural institutions, Center for History and New Media, George Mason University.
EXHIBITIONS & COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS
THATCamp, Center for History & New Media, George Mason University
Bracero History Archive, Center for History and New Media, George Mason University; Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History; University of Texas at El Paso; Brown University
Gulag: Many Days, Many Lives, Center for History and New Media, George Mason University
The Object of History, Center for History and New Media, George Mason University; Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History
Papers of the War Department, 1784-1800, Center for History and New Media, George Mason University
Mozilla Digital Memory Bank, Center for History and New Media, George Mason University; The Mozilla Foundation
Hurricane Digital Memory Bank, Center for History and New Media, George Mason University; University of New Orleans
Critical Infrastructure Oral History and Digital Archive Project, Center for History and New Media, George Mason University
September 11 Digital Archive, Center for History and New Media, George Mason University; American Social History Project, CUNY Graduate Center
Echo: Exploring and Collecting History Online - Science, Technology, and Industry, Center for History and New Media, George Mason University
Exhibition Advisor, Katrina, Louisiana State Museum, New Orleans, LA
Project Partner, September 11: Bearing Witness to History, Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History
Project Partner, Witness and Response: September 11 Acquisitions at the Library of Congress
Project Partner, The Sonic Memorial Project, National Public Radio’s Lost & Found Sound
Cosmographia: A Close Encounter, Museum of the History of Science, Oxford
Coordinator, multiple roadside historical exhibits, Colorado Roadside Interpretation Program
Research Coordinator, Doing History, Keeping the Past, University of Northern Colorado
Production Assistant, There Was a Time, Rocky Mountain Public Television
PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS & LECTURES
“Open Source for Consumers and Producers: Zotero and Omeka”, Jefferson Library, Monticello, Charlottesville, VA, February 2008.
“Omeka: A Free, Open-source, Standards-Based, Easy-to-Use Web Publishing Platform to Bring History and Heritage Museums into the Era of Web 2.0”, American Historical Association, Washington, January 2008
“Resources and Tools for Teaching the History of U.S. Foreign Relations”, Society for History of American Foreign Relations, Reston, VA, June 2007
“Realizing A Shared Authority: Presidential Sites in a Web 2.0 World”, Presidential Sites and Libraries Conference IV, American Association for State and Local History, Hyde Park, NY, June 2006.
“Exploring and Collecting History Online: Working with Businesses and Nonprofits”, Oral History Association Annual Meeting, Providence, November 2005.
“The Century of Progress: The History of Science and The History of the Smithsonian on display at Chicago’s Second Fair”, Association for Museum History, Washington, October 2005.
“Lessons from a Born-Digital Archive: The September 11 Digital Archive, or Ten Things I Wish Somebody Told Me”, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, October, 2005.
“Technology and Collaborative Exhibition: Prospects for the Bracero History Project”, Smithsonian Affiliations National Conference, Washington, June 2005.
“September 11: Collection, Exhibition and Education” (Panel Chair), American Historical Association Annual Meeting, Washington, January 2004.
“History in the Making at the September 11 Digital Archive”, National Council for Public History Annual Meeting, Houston, April 2003.
“Science, History, Hope and the Smithsonian”, Smithsonian Institution Archives Research in Progress Lecture Series, Washington, March 2003.
“How Has Life Changed Since September 11?”, National Museum of American History Panel, Washington, March 2003.
“Archives & Terrorism”, University of Pittsburgh School of Information Sciences Panel, Pittsburgh, September 2002.
“Science and History in the British Empire Exhibition, 1924-5″, University of Oxford Problems in the History of Science Seminar Series, Oxford, January 2002.
“Robert T. Gunther, Historian of Science”, British Society for the History of Science Graduate Conference, Oxford, December 2001.
“Science History and Attitudes Toward Material Culture Between the Wars”, XIXth Symposium of the Scientific Instrument Commission of the International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science, Oxford, September 2000.
“Constructivist Historiography: Some Implications for Museums”, Fourth British/North American Joint Meeting of the British Society for the History of Science, the Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Science and the History of Science Society, St. Louis, August 2000.
“Why Don’t Historians of Science Care About Science Museums?”, Science Communication, Education and the History of Science Conference, Royal Society of London, July 2000.
“Science Museums and Constructivism”, British Society for the History of Science Graduate Conference, Cambridge, January 2000.
MEDIA
Found History, Unintentional, unconventional, and amateur history all around us
History Conversations, An occasional dialogue with historians and history lovers about their interests, their ideas, and their lives in history
Digital Campus, A biweekly discussion of how digital media and technology are affecting learning, teaching, and scholarship at colleges, universities, libraries, and museums
OTHER SERVICE
Appearances in numerous media outlets including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the BBC, CNN and MSNBC.
Smithsonian Institution Archives Research Associate, 2001-present.
Science Museum, London, Fellow, 2008-present.
REFERENCES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST