My name is Sean F. Cashbaugh. My pronouns are he/him/his. I’m an interdisciplinary scholar with expertise in American cultural history, cultures of American Leftist radicalism, political aesthetics, cultural theory, and twentieth century underground cultures. I am a postdoctoral lecturer in the Princeton Writing Program at Princeton University. I completed my doctorate in American Studies in the Department of American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, where I also received certification in the graduate portfolio program in cultural studies at the Américo Paredes Center for Cultural Studies. My writing has appeared in Lateral: Journal of the Cultural Studies Association, the Journal for the Study of Radicalism, Quarterly Horse: A Journal of Brief American Studies, Syllabus, H-Net Commons, In Media Res, The End of Austin, WorkingUSA: The Journal of Labor and Society, and Science & Society: A Journal of Marxist Thought and Analysis. I’ve taught courses about writing and rhetoric, science fiction, American Marxism, and dissent in American culture.
I have two major research projects underway. The first, based on my dissertation, is a monograph tentatively titled Underground Culture: Excavating the History of an Alternative. It explores the emergence of the idea of “the underground” as a cultural concept in postwar America. The second explores the relationship between culture and labor-power in cultural studies to develop a theory of culture’s socially reproductive capacities.
I was born in Seoul, South Korea and spent most of my life moving around the Middle East and the United States. After seven years in Austin, I now live in New York City with my family. I teach writing in the Princeton Writing Program at Princeton University. Outside of my research, I enjoy hiking and landscape photography. Also, I’m a Star Trek devotee: Deep Space 9 is the best series, without a doubt.