Dustin Abnet, Ph.D

Associate Professor of American Studies 

Graduate Program Advisor

Photograph of Dustin Abnet

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  

CV, Spring 2023PDF File

 

Contact

dabnet@fullerton.edu

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)PDF File

AMST 300 Introduction to American Popular CulturePDF File

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

CV, Spring 2019PDF File

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)PDF File

AMST 300 Introduction to American Popular CulturePDF File

AMST 346 American Culture Through Spectator Sports 

AMST 350 Theories and Methods of American StudiesPDF File

AMST 401T--The Fifties (Summer)

AMST 401T--Victorianism to Modernism

AMST 408 Gaming and American CulturePDF File

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).