Jesse Draper

I’m married (20 years!) with three kids, a dog, and two cats and we live among a tribe of beautiful people in the Lansing / East Lansing Michigan area. I spent the 90s trying to be a rock star and the aughts getting an M.A. in American Studies and a PhD in 20th Century Urban American History.

By day, I am an Academic Specialist with the MSU History Department and the Executive Director for H-Net: Humanities and Social Sciences Online, an independent, non-profit scholarly association that offers an open academic space for scholars, teachers, advanced students and related professionals. I began working with H-Net in 2013 as a Content Developer while finishing my PhD in U.S. History. I joined the organization as the Associate Director of Networks in October 2014 and became Interim Executive Director in January 2020. In November 2022, H-Net named me Executive Director. I am also a Core Faculty member for DH@MSU.

By night, I focus on waking up, healing up, and showing up for myself, my family and the world.

My dissertation, A Diamond in the Heart of Downtown: Stadium-Driven Urban Renewal, 1955-2000, analyzes the processes behind post-World War II stadium-driven urban renewal in three major American cities: Los Angeles, Chicago and Detroit. The historical and political contexts varied dramatically within these cities, allowing for an analysis of similarities and reoccurring trends in the processes of stadium-driven urban renewal that transcend the limitations inherent in an analysis of one particular place or time in history. My dissertation examined the clusters, or the connected associated interests, involved in the process of stadium construction. The history of postwar stadium-driven urban renewal demonstrates that the American city has been, and continues to be, refashioned for those willing to spend their discretionary income in rising urban tourist economies, often to the detriment of a once proud and increasingly displaced urban working class.

My current research interests focus on Digital Humanities as a large-scale scholarly project. H-Net’s transition from listservs to a more robust content management system, the H-Net Commons, has presented many questions about how and why scholars use digital spaces for research and teaching. This has prompted discussion about digital publishing, peer-review, and how to utilize these new platforms to meet the needs of scholars in an increasingly digital 21st century.

In 2023, I am overseeing the release of a new Drupal 9-based platforms for the H-Net Commons, H-Net Job Guide and H-Net Reviews and working to broaden employment opportunities for PhDs on H-Net’s Job Guide to include more robust and consistent Alt-Ac career opportunities.

I also teach courses for the university from time to time including:

HST 203: U.S. History since 1876

HST 201: Race and Labor in the Development of 20th Century Detroit, Spring 2016.

HST 110: What We Want, What We Believe – #BlackLivesMatter Activism in Historical Context, Spring 2017.

DH 340: Digital Humanities Seminar, Spring 2019-2020.