Department of Communication and Media
Analyzing media texts, historical approaches to media and technology, international and comparative media.
dvail@umich.edu
Office Information:
phone: 734.615.0449
Science, Technology, and Society Program
Education/Degree:
Ph.D., University of Chicago; B.A., Yale University
About
Professor Vaillant is an historian appointed in communication studies at the University of Michigan. His research has focused on the social and cultural history of American music, sound studies, and the history of broadcasting in the U.S. and in France. He is the author of Sounds of Reform: Progressivism and Music in Chicago, 1873-1935 (Chapel Hill, 2003). His current book project, Across the Waves: Radio and U.S.-French Aural Culture in the Twentieth Century looks at broadcasting as a transatlantic technological, social, and cultural medium linking France and the U.S. in the twentieth century. He has previously worked for a number of educational media companies, including research and production in association with award-winning series at NPR and PBS with Bill Moyers.
Field(s) of Study
- Historical Approaches to Media and Technology
- International and Comparative Media
- Sound Studies
- Popular Music and Media
