ALEXANDRA HARLIG
harlig.1@osu.edu | (812) 340-0409 | alexandraharlig.com
328 W. 47th St. 3B New York, NY 10036
EDUCATION
Ph.D. August 2019. Dance Studies The Ohio State University. Graduate Minor in Comparative Cultural Studies, Department of Comparative Studies.
Dissertation: Social Texts, Social Audiences, Social Worlds: The Circulation of Popular Dance on YouTube, an investigation of the production, reception, and economics of popular dance video on the YouTube video sharing platform. https://bit.ly/33BkFPy
Committee Members: Harmony Bench, Katherine Borland, Karen Eliot, Ryan Skinner
B.A. May 2010.Dance and Linguistics Cornell University. Magna Cum Laude; Dean’s List four semesters
Honors Thesis: The History and Aesthetics of Bronx-based B-boying 1975-1985 and Luanda’s Dança Kuduro: An Analysis of Development and Dissemination. http://wp.me/p19YGg-6D. Advisors: Allen Fogelsanger, Jim Self, Steve Pond
PUBLICATIONS
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
“‘Fresher Than You’: Commercial Use of YouTube-Native Dance and Videographic Techniques.” International Journal of Screendance 9 (2018): 50-71. https://bit.ly/2vjP5aX
Peer-Reviewed Contributions to Edited Volumes
“Communities of Practice: Active and Affective Viewing of Early Social Dance on the Popular Screen.” Oxford Handbook of Dance on the Popular Screen. Ed. Melissa Blanco Borelli. New York; Oxford UP, 2014.
Editor-Reviewed Publications
“Word Play Combinations, Metaphor, and Mimesis: Janelle Ginestra’s ‘7 Rings’ and a Few of my Favorite Things.” Peephole Journal 13 (2019). https://bit.ly/2PJNW7h
“The Madison Rises Again: History and Community at Columbus Ohio’s 1960s Dance Party.” Dance ACTions — Traditions and Transformations: Proceedings of International Conference of Nordic Forum for Dance Research and Society of Dance History Scholars. Trondheim, 8-11 June 2013. 131-139. https://bit.ly/2NYQz48.
Web
“Dancing the Francophone Postcolony on YouTube” PoPMoves. 19 Sept 2015. http://bit.ly/2xBjjG0
ReadyMadeBouquet: Solo-authored popular dance and internet culture blog. Selected posts:
- “PURPOSE: The Movement | Video Review” visual album analysis filmed with Elena Benthaus. 20 Nov 2015. http://bit.ly/2D19jY9.
- “Doing Style: Genre and the Ethnography of Performance.” 21 May 2014. http://bit.ly/2FYrWz6
- “Quick Thoughts Puma’s ‘Dance Dictionary.’” 24 May 2013. http://bit.ly/2oK8dM0
- “What Does Plagiarism *Feel* Like? More on the ‘Countdown’ Conversation.”
12 Oct 2011. http://bit.ly/2H8a3gi
- Rosas Danst Rosas and Beyoncé’s ‘Countdown.’” 7 Oct 2011. http://bit.ly/2oT6naN
- Encyclopedia of Bboying 1975-85. https://bit.ly/2PUQZqt
- Encyclopedia of Kuduro 2000-2010.https://bit.ly/2pr5E1c
Sartorial Scholars: Blogging collective at the intersection of fashion and feminist scholarship. Selected posts:
- “Black&White Wednesday: The Craft.” Intro essay: “Witches in (Pop-Culture) Context.”
- “Lookbook: Second Glass of Lemonade.” Essay on costumes and textiles in Lemonade.
- “Roundup: #WednesBey.” Introductory essay on Lemonade’s steamfunk aesthetic.
- “Purim Costumes As a Feminist Scholar.”
- “What to Wear: Downton Abbey Series Finale.” On 20s fashion and Downton costuming.
PRESENTATIONS
Conferences
2020 “The Aesthetic of the Follow: the Mobile Camera Online.” Internet Culture Area. Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association National Conference. Philadelphia, PA. 15-18 April. Conference Cancelled.
2019 “Dance to the Music: Fandom and/as Self-promotion in Hip-Hop Class Videos.” Fan Studies Network North America. Chicago, Illinois. 24-26 Oct.
2019 “One Singular Sensation?” Unison as Commons in Commercial Screendance practices.” Roundtable. Dance Studies Association Dancing in Common. Chicago, IL. 8-11 Aug.
2018 “Replicating Scenes, Accusing Performers, and Beyoncé in a Snuggie: Side-by-Side Videos as Social Paratext.” Fan Theory Area.Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association National Conference. Indianapolis, IN. 28-31 March.
2017 “’Fresher Than You’: Commercial Use of YouTube-Native Dance and Videographic Techniques.” Dance Studies Association Transmissions and Traces: Rendering Dance. Columbus, OH. 19-22 Oct.
2017 “‘Unity in Diversity:’ Millennial Multiculturalism and Virtuosic Individuality in Hip-Hop Class Combination Videos.” Doctoral Theatre Students’ Association Conference Approaching Dance: Transdisciplinary Methodologies and Modalities of the Moving Body in Performance. City University of New York. 11 May.
2015 “DO Read the Comments, and Watch the Videos: The Discursive Negotiation of Genre, Ethics, and Sociality for Popular Dance Audiences on YouTube.” PoP Moves Annual Conference Popular Dance: Curating, Collecting, Reflecting.University of Roehampton, UK. 24 Oct.
2015 “Not Grammar Police but Genre Police: YouTube Comments as Art Criticism.” Internet Culture Area.Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association National Conference. New Orleans, LA. 1-4 April.
2014 “Failing at the Funky Chicken: Popular Dance Origin Myths and the Genres They Make.” Society of Dance History Scholars and Congress on Research in Dance Joint Conference Writing Dancing/Dancing Writing. University of Iowa. 13-16 Nov.
2014 “Show Me What You’re Working With: A Linguistic Analogy for Genre in 21st Century Popular Dance.” Dance Culture Area.Popular Culture Association/ American Culture Association National Conference. Chicago, IL. 16-19 April.
2014 “‘That’s Not [x]’: Subverting and Policing Genre in Mediated Popular Dance.”Annual IU/OSU Joint Student Conference in Folklore and Ethnomusicology Decentering Power: The Art of (Everyday) Subversion. The Ohio State University. 4-5 April.
2013 “The Madison Rises Again: History and Community at Columbus Ohio’s 1960s Dance Party” Society of Dance History Scholars Annual ConferenceDance ACTions—Traditions and Transformations. Trondheim, Norway. 8-11 June. [Topic: The reconstruction of The Madison at Heatwave, a retro 1960s dance party]
2013 “‘Skinny ties and bouffants welcome—but above all, come ready to dance’: History and Community at Columbus’s Heatwave Dance Party.” Dance Culture Area. Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association National Conference. Washington, DC. 27-30 March. [Topic: Influence of mediation on the kinesthetic re-presentation of 1960s culture]
2013 “‘Skinny ties and bouffants welcome—but above all, come ready to dance’: History and Community at Columbus’s Heatwave Dance Party.” Annual IU/OSU Joint Student Conference in Folklore and Ethnomusicology Publics and Networks: Discourse, Circulation, and Power. Indiana University. 1-2 March. [Topic:The Warnerian Public formed through Heatwave’s Facebook presence]
2012 “‘Skinny ties and bouffants welcome—but above all, come ready to dance’: History and Community at Columbus’s Heatwave Dance Party.” Midwest Popular Culture Association Conference. Columbus, OH. 12-14 Oct. [Topic: Kinesthetic and sartorial engagement, affiliation with Heatwave as a scene]
2012 “Mimetic Movement in Angola’s Dança Kuduro: Historically Layered Space and Sociality.” Society of Dance History Scholars Annual Conference: Dance in the Social City. Philadelphia, PA. 14-17 June.
2012 “What Does Plagiarism *Feel* Like? Considering Audience Intuition in Questions of Choreographic Copyright.” Intellectual Property Area. Popular Culture Association/ American Culture Association National Conference. Boston, MA. 11-14 April.
2012 “A Drunk Belgian Dances: Claims of Innovation and Authorship in Tony Amado’s Kuduro Origin Narrative.” Annual IU/OSU Joint Student Conference in Folklore and Ethnomusicology: (re)Framing & (un)Mapping. The Ohio State University. 17-18 Feb.
On Campus
2014 “Linguistic Analogies for Performance Analysis and How Puma’s Dance Dictionary Gets it Wrong.” Dance Department Graduate Research Forum. 31 March.
2012 “What Does Plagiarism *Feel* Like? Considering Audience Intuition in Questions of Choreographic Copyright.” OSU Literacy Studies Graduate Symposium “Literacy and the Arts.” 1 June.
2011 “Investigating Identity in Writing on African Dance Practices.” The Ohio State University Department of African American and African Studies and Department of French and Italian Graduate Student Conference. 12 March.
Discussant
2015 “Obscuring Genre.” IU/OSU Joint Student Conference in Folklore and Ethnomusicology: The Familiar and the Obscure. Indiana University. 10-11 April.
2014 “LOLZ: Humor and the Internet.” IU/OSU Joint Student Conference Decentering Power: The Art of (Everyday) Subversion. The Ohio State University. 4-5 April.
2013 Panel on documentary Soul Train, The Hippest Trip in America. Dance@30fps Film Festival, Gateway Film Center, Columbus, OH, 4 April.
Invited Lectures
2020 “Internet (Popular) Screendance.” Dance in Film course. Department of Dance, Barnard University, New York, NY, 23 April. Zoom.
2018 “Commercial Use of Web-Native Dance and Video Genres.“ Hip-Hop Dance course, Department of Dance. Hunter College, New York, NY, 29 Nov.
2015 “The Flapper (1920) and Twenties Teenage Culture” in Women, Hollywood, and Film course, Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies. The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 29 January.
2013 Workshop on the Madison Line Dance, After-school program, Arts and College Preparatory Academy, Columbus OH, 25 Oct.
2013 “B-boying and the Birth of Hip-Hop Culture, South Bronx 1975-1985.” In Music History course, Capital University. Bexley, OH, 5 April.
HONORS AND AWARDS
Scholarly Awards and Fellowships
NEH Institute, Understanding Digital Culture: Humanist Lenses for Internet Research, 2020
Society of Dance History Scholars Graduate Student Travel Award, 2013
University Fellowship, 2010-2011, The Ohio State University
Research Travel Grants and Awards
The Ohio State University Department of Dance Semester Funding Initiative, Presutti-Madison Memorial Dance Fund, Chair’s Discretionary Fund, April 2015, October 2014, April 2014, March 2013, November 2012, April 2012. $300-$500 each.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
The Ohio State Department of Dance
Instructor
2015 “Dance in Global Contexts.” Two terms. Undergraduate cultural analysis course.
2011-2014 “Dance in American Popular Culture.” Eight terms. Undergraduate history course.
Teaching Assistant
2016 “Writing about Dance”
“Dance in American Popular Culture” Online Course
2014 “Dance in Global Contexts”
Course Development
2014 Development of online course and textbook for “Dance in American Popular Culture” with Kelly Klein, under Dr. Harmony Bench.
2012 Adaptation of “Dance in American Popular Culture” to semester format from quarters, addition of 21st century practices, theoretical readings.
SERVICE
Ohio State University Department of Dance
2014 Founder, Peer Advisor, DiGS, Department of Dance Graduate Student Organization
2014 Co-organizer, Dance Department Graduate Research Forum
2014 PhD Student Representative on New Faculty Search Committee
2013-2015 Workshops on teaching general education electives, online course system
Ohio State University
2015 University Teaching Orientation Facilitator “Designing Assignments and Exams” University Center for the Advancement of Teaching.
2014 Co-organizer, End Ebola Now Highlife Fundraiser for Médecins Sans Frontières.
2014 Grant writer, event planning Afro-Swedish Public Culture Symposium. 4-6 April.
2013-2016 Annual Conference Planning, Folklore Student Association
2012-2015 President, Hillel Graduate and Professional Student Organization
2011-2015 Founding Member, grant writer, EMIC: Graduate Student Interest Group for Expressive Culture. Interdisciplinary group focused on ethnographic methodology
Field
2015- Social Media Coordinator, Board Member, US branch of PoPMoves: International Research Group for Performances of the Popular
2014- Reviewer, International Journal of Screendance
2013-2014 Conference Organizing Committee, IU/OSU Joint Student Conference in Folklore and Ethnomusicology: Decentering Power: The Art of (Everyday) Subversion The Ohio State University. 4-5 April.
2011- Co-Founder, Moderator, ‘Dance Studies Grad Students and Young Professionals,’ an international Facebook group with 350 members
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
2018- Member, Fan Studies Network North America
2018- Member, Society for Cinema and Media Studies
2014- Member, PoP Moves: Int’l Research Group for Performances of the Popular
2012-2013 Member, Midwest Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association
2011- Member, Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association
2011- Dance Studies Association
Popular, Social, and Vernacular Dance Working Group
LANGUAGES
Reading proficiency and conversational French and Spanish, basic Swahili