Dr. Ryan Acton

I am a cultural and intellectual historian of the twentieth-century United States. I am working on a book about how some Americans came to believe that the nation was a "meritocracy" in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. More broadly, I am particularly interested in the histories of business, capitalism, socioeconomic class, and political culture. I am also particularly interested in social and critical theory. As a teacher and researcher, I am committed to using history to help us think about how we should live today.