Dr James Fortuna
Associate Lecturer in the History of the United States post-1850
Teaching
- Approaches to the American Century (MO4810)
- The United States in the Cold War and the Cold War in the United States (MO3359)
- Themes in Late Modern History (MO1008)
- History in the Making: Theories, Approaches and Practices (MO5625)
- Global Times – Plural Spaces (MO5151)
Research areas
I am a historian of the American experience with an interest in transatlantic and transpacific people, places, and spaces. My research focuses primarily on the twentieth century and is situated at the intersection of cultural and diplomatic history. I am especially interested in the architectural production of the interwar period and its relationship to the (re)construction of national identity.
I received my Ph.D. from the University of St Andrews in 2023 and worked as an adjunct assistant professor at Santa Fe College before stepping into my current role in 2024. I studied for a BA in History and English at West Virginia University and completed two MPhil degrees, one in Classics at Trinity College Dublin and the other in Modern European History at the University of Cambridge.
I am a founding member of the Institute for the Study of International Expositions and have organized several conferences since its inception in 2021. I have also organized panels for the 2021, 2022, 2024, and 2025 annual meetings of the American Historical Association.
I welcome suggestions for public engagement or other outreach opportunities.
Selected publications
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Franklin D. Roosevelt and the sea
Fortuna, J. J., 20 Nov 2023, In: White House History Quarterly. 71, p. 7-19 13 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Designing the transatlantic cruise liners of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany
Fortuna, J. J., 1 May 2022, Art and the sea. Roberts, E. (ed.). Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, p. 157-178 21 p. (Studies in port and maritime history).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Review of Nazi Buildings, Cold War Traces and Governmentality in Post-Unification Berlin, by Clare Copley. German History, 2021.
Fortuna, J. J., 2021, In: German History. 39, 4, p. 654-57Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review › peer-review
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The New Deal and the Old Frontier: American identity, environmental design, and the Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-42
Fortuna, J. J., 2021, In: Environment, Space, Place. 13, 1, p. 37-73 36 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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‘Un’arte ancora in embrione’: International Expositions, Empire, and the Evolution of Fascist Architectural Design
Fortuna, J. J., 2020, In: Modern Italy. 25, 4, p. 455-476 22 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Fascism, National Socialism, and the 1939 New York World’s Fair
Fortuna, J. J., 17 Dec 2019, In: Fascism: Journal of Comparative Fascist Studies. 8, 2, p. 179-218 40 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Neoclassical Form and the Construction of Power in Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany
Fortuna, J. J., 2018, Brill's Companion to the Classics, Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. Roche, H. & Demetriou, K. N. (eds.). Leiden, Boston: Brill, p. 435-456 21 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter