Nicole Colaianni
Research Associate
Contact Details:
Historisches Seminar der Universität Heidelberg
Grabengasse 3-5
D-69117 Heidelberg
Raum: 044A
Office hours: Mondays, 4 to 5 pm (or by individual appointment)
Dissertation Project:
"Obviously Bad for Business" - The Role of the U.S. Private Sector in the Conceptualization of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace, 1975-2017" (defended on July 3rd, 2024) Exposé
Profile:
Nicole Colaianni studied English and history with a focus on education in Heidelberg. During her studies she gravitated toward American Studies, an interest that was furthered by the year she spent studying at the University of New Mexico. Her Zulassungsarbeit focused on the framings and conceptualizations of sexual harassment as part of the culture wars in the United States. From October 2020 to September 2023 she was a doctorial candidate at the Curt-Engelhorn-Chair for American History at Heidelberg University and a research associate at the DFG-graduate group “Authority and Trust” at the Heidelberg Center for American Studies. She has been a research associate at the Curt-Engelhorn-Chair since October 2023. A detailed CV can be found here.
Research Interests:
- Gender, race and civil rights studies
- Social movements in US-American history
- Authority and trust in political institutions in US-American society
- US intellectual history
Publications:
Breaking the Silence - #MeToo and the Reclaiming of the Feminist Framing of Sexual Harassment, in: HCA graduate blog, 15.12.2021, online.
"Love Contracts" und "Non Disclosure Agreements" - Wie U.S. Firmen mit sexueller Belästigung umgehen, in: HCA Podcast "Quo Vadis USA?", 27.04.2022, online.
Conferences and Workshops:
Beyond the Dichotomy: Framing Sexual Harrassment, Research Colloquium North American History, John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies, Free University of Berlin, May 17, 2021.
"Zwischenwahlen in den USA - Eine erste Bilanz," Panel discussion with Nicole Colaianni, Martin Thunert and Welf Werner, at: Heidelberg Center for American Studies, November 9, 2022.
"A New Adversary. Feminist Action Against Employers. Developing a Legal Strategy," presented at: Roosevelt Institute for American Studies, Ph.D. Seminar, December 7-9, 2022.
"Who Gets to Decide? Discursive Authority on Sexual Harassment," GKAT Conference Practicing Authority and Trust, Universität Heidelberg, May 11-12, 2023.
Teaching:
Summer 2023, Proseminar: „The Personal is the Political“ – Die zweite Welle des Feminismus in den USA, 1966-1991.
Winter 2023/24, Proseminar: ""Men are from Mars, women are from Venus:" Geschlechterrollen und -beziehungen in den USA, 1945-heute.
Summer 2024, Übung: Gangsters, Gin, and Government: The Temperance Movement and Prohibition in the USA.
