American Studies
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY
COLLEGE OF LETTERS & SCIENCE
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American Studies

Sarah Gold McBride

Lecturer - American Studies

Office Hours

Spring 2025
In-person drop-in meetings (no appointment needed!): Tuesdays 11 am – 12 pm and Wednesdays 3–4 pm
Appointments on Zoom: Mondays 1–2:30 pm and Thursdays 10–11:30 am
To make a Zoom appointment and see more information about office hours, visit Prof. Gold McBride’s office and advising hours calendar.

Sarah Gold McBride (she/her) is a historian who specializes in the social and cultural history of the nineteenth-century United States. Her research and teaching focus on the lives of ordinary Americans: the books and newspapers they read, the art and science they created, the plays and freak shows they attended, the museums and world’s fairs they visited, and the information they found meaningful as they tried to understand race, gender, and national identity. Dr. Gold McBride’s first book, Whiskerology: The Culture of Hair in Nineteenth-Century America, will be published by Harvard University Press in June 2025.

A graduate of UC Berkeley’s Department of History, Dr. Gold McBride has been a member of the American Studies faculty since 2019. She has received several awards from the university in recognition of her teaching and mentorship, including the Faculty Award for Outstanding Mentorship of Graduate Student Instructors in 2019, a Lecturer Teaching Fellowship in 2020, and the American Cultures Excellence in Teaching Award in 2023. Dr. Gold McBride also serves on the board of the Western Association of Women Historians and as the Faculty Sponsor for American Studies 98/198, an undergraduate-led DeCal course on Cal history, spirit, and traditions.

Dr. Gold McBride teaches one or more sections of senior thesis seminars (American Studies 191 and H195) each semester. Current and prospective American Studies majors are welcome to visit her office hours to discuss their senior thesis, including preparations, topic brainstorming, and research advice.

Dr. Gold McBride’s recent lecture and seminar courses include:

  • American Studies 10: I’ll Be There For You: Friendship in America (co-taught with Christine Palmer)
  • American Studies 101AC: Americans and Their Stuff: Object Lessons from the Civil War Era
  • American Studies 101AC: P. T. Barnum and Other Scams
  • American Studies 102AC: The Great American City: Chicago in the Nineteenth Century
  • American Studies 102AC: Beaches in Mind: The Beach in American Culture
  • American Studies 102AC: Berkeley in the (18)60s: Uncovering the Origins of a Public University
  • American Studies H110: Remains: The Making and Unmaking of the American Body

 

Photo portrait by Junyoung Kim (American Studies alumnus, class of 2024)

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