Dustin Abnet, Ph.D
Associate Professor of American Studies
Graduate Program Advisor
Dustin Abnet is a historian and American Studies scholar who specializes in the cultural and intellectual histories of science and technology and work and leisure in the United States. He is the author of The American Robot: A Cultural History (U Chicago Press, 2020) which examines the development of the idea of the robot in America from the eighteenth century to the present as it relates to larger ideas of human identity and social power. He is currently working on his next book project which is tentatively entitled, “So You Want to Be a Hero”: Power, Purpose, and Play in the American Multiverse. In the book, he explores the larger cultural, social, and political implications of tranformations of play since the 1960s. At CSUF, he teaches courses on Popular Culture, Consumer Culture, Sports, Games, Technology, and Digital Culture.
Ph.D., Indiana University, 2013
M.A., Miami University, 2006
Contact
Voice: 657-278-3225
Fax: 657-278-5820
Dept: 657-278-2441
Office: Gordon Hall 413
Address
Cal State University, Fullerton
American Studies
800 N. State College Blvd. GH-313
Fullerton, CA. 92831
Courses Taught
AMST 201 Introduction to American Studies (Summer)
AMST 300 Introduction to American Popular Culture
AMST 346 American Culture Through Spectator Sports
AMST 350 Theories and Methods of American Studies
AMST 401T -- The Fifties (Summer)
AMST 401T -- Victorianism to Modernism
AMST 401T -- The American Multiverse
AMST 408 Gaming and American Culture
AMST 409 Consumer Culture
AMST 448 American Pop Culture and the World
AMST 459 Technology in American Culture
AMST 489 America 2.0: Electronic Culture and Community
AMST 502T -- American Technocultures
Current Course Schedule
AMST 408-01: W 7:00-9:45 PM
Office Hours
W: 4:30-6:30 PM
By appointment (email for Zoom link)
M.A. Theses and Examination Fields
Leisure and Consumption
Work and Class
Gender and Sexuality
Institutions and Ideals
The National and the Global
Publications
The American Robot: A Cultural History (March 2020, U-Chicago Press)
“Escaping the Robot’s Loop: Power and Purpose, Myth and History in Westworld’s Manufactured Frontier” in Antonia Mackay and Alex Goody, eds. Reading Westworld, (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2019).
“Americanizing the Robot: Popular Culture, Race, and the Rise of a Global Consumer Icon, 1920-1960” ICON, the Journal of the International Committee for the History of Technology, Summer 2022
Dustin Abnet, Ph.D
Assistant Professor, Department of American Studies
Bio / Description
Material and Popular Culture; Work and Leisure; Science and Technology
Degrees
2013, Ph.D, Indiana University
2006, M.A., Miami University
2004, B.A, Miami University
Research Areas
My research focuses on the relationship among science, technology, culture, and identity in the modern United States. Currently, I am finishing a book manuscript on the history of robots in American culture from the 1730s through the present. My next project will explore the intellectual and cultural history of gaming in America since World War II.
Courses Taught
AMST 201 Introduction to American Studies (Summer)
AMST 300 Introduction to American Popular Culture
AMST 346 American Culture Through Spectator Sports
AMST 350 Theories and Methods of American Studies
AMST 401T--The Fifties (Summer)
AMST 401T--Victorianism to Modernism
AMST 408 Gaming and American Culture
AMST 409 Consumer Culture
AMST 459 Technology in American Culture
AMST 489 America 2.0: Electronic Culture and Community
AMST 502T American Technocultures
Publications:
The American Robot: A Cultural History (March 2020, U-Chicago Press)
“Escaping the Robot’s Loop: Power and Purpose, Myth and History in Westworld’s Manufactured Frontier” in Antonia Mackay and Alex Goody, eds. Reading Westworld, (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2019).
