Simon J. Bronner Bio:
Simon J. Bronner received his Ph.D. in Folklore and American Studies from Indiana University. He became editor of the Encyclopedia of American Studies, then he became editor of the journals Material Culture and Folklore Historian and now edits book series entitled Material Worlds for the University Press of Kentucky and Jewish Cultural Studies.

He has edited numerous books: a four-volume encyclopedia of American folk life, a cultural history of consumer society, folklife studies from the Gilded Age, creativity and tradition, the writing of Lafcadio Hearn, the writing of Alan Dundes, American folklore and nationalism, and folk art and material culture.

He has been invited all over the country and abroad to speak on his research and consult with American Studies programs, and he won Penn State Harrisburg's awards for research, teaching, and service. Back home he is a highly regarded teacher; he won the Jordan Award for teaching from Penn State in 1985, and the Mary Turpie Prize from the American Studies Association for teaching, advising, and program development. He was visiting distinguished professor of American Studies at the University of California and he served as Fulbright Professor of American Studies at Osaka University in Japan before becoming the Walt Whitman Distinguished Chair at Leiden University in the Netherlands.