Derek W. Vaillant

Derek W. Vaillant is an historian whose research embraces 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) and Across the Waves: How the United States and France Shaped the International Age of Radio (Urbana, 2017). His latest book looks at how U.S.–French interaction developed international broadcasting as a transatlantic technological, social, and cultural medium in the twentieth century. He has previously worked in public/educational broadcasting, including research and production for a Peabody award-winning series NPR and several PBS projects with Bill Moyers. His current book  project examines racial formation and the history of American radio in the twentieth century.

Field(s) of Study

• Historical Approaches to Media and Technology
• International and Comparative Media
• Sound Studies
• Popular Music and Media