Jesse Ritner
Department of History • The University of Texas at Austin
Twitter: @jesseritner8
Education
The University of Texas at Austin: Austin, TX
Ph.D. in History, expected May, 2022
Dissertation Title: “Making Snow: Weather, Technology, and the Rise of the American Ski Industry, 1900-present”
Advisor: Dr. Erika Bsumek
M.A. in History, May 2019
Master Report: “A More Perfect Nature: The Making of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, 15,000BCE-present”
Skidmore College: Saratoga Springs, NY
B.A. in History and Government, May 2015
Honors Thesis: “The Maximization of Liberty or the Pursuit of Happiness?”
Advisor: F. Flagg Taylor
Fellowships, Grants, and Awards
2020, American Meteorological Society Graduate Fellowship in the History of Science ($20,000).
2020, Handbook of Texas Women Summer Research Fellow, Texas State Historical Association, Austin, Texas.
2020, American Heritage Center Travel Grant, The American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming.
2020, Bordin-Gillette Researcher Travel Fellowship, The Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
2020, The Hart Center Travel Grant, Rubenstein Library, Duke University.
2020, History Department Research Fellowship, University of Texas at Austin.
2020, Linda Hall Library Fellowship, Linda Hall Museum, Kansas City, Missouri.
2020, Graduate Student Assembly Travel Award, University of Texas at Austin.
2019, Professional Development Award, Department of History, University of Texas at Austin.
2019, Handbook of Texas Women Summer Research Fellow, Texas State Historical Association, Austin, Texas.
2018, Best Historical Materials List, by the History Section’s Historical Materials Committee of the American Library Association’s (ALA) Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) for “The Public Archive” (in conjunction with other participants).
2017, History Department Recruitment Fellowship, Department of History, University of Texas at Austin.
Presentations
November 13, 2020, “Making Snow: The Ski Industry’s Solution to Drought in the Mountain West,” The Western History Association.
November 10, 2020, “Nuking the Slopes: How the Ski Industry Used the Cold to Overcome the Weather,” The Society for the History of Technology. (Panel Organizer)
March 18, 2020, “The Metrics of Radness: Artificial Snow and the Rise of a New Ski Culture.” Jacob Barnes Foundation Graduate Conference, Temple University.
February 13, 2020, “The Indians New World,” University of Texas at Austin, Austin Texas. Guest Lecture for U.S. History 1492-1865. Class taught by Dr. Robert Olwell.
January 3, 2020, “Neo-Materialist Archives: Approaching Historical Environments Through Agential Realism,” The Radical Archives Project, New York University, New York City.
November 24, 2019, “Making Snow: Technological Innovation and the Production of a New Ski Culture,” Mediating Mountains, AAAS Konferenz, University of Innsbruck, Austria.
November 1, 2019, “Making Snow and Designing the X-Games: Technological
Innovation and the Production of a New Ski Culture,” Symposium for the History of Philosophy and Science, University of Texas at Austin.
August 16, 2019, “The Ethics of Algae,” Master Class on Museums and Environmental Humanities, University of Stavanger, Norway.
December 7, 2018, “Damning the Dam: Infrastructures of Conservation in the Delaware River Basin, 1962-2002,” Currents of Atlantic History Across Four Centuries, University of Texas at Austin.
May 1, 2018, “Frederic Allen Williams: A Citizen Artist with a Magic Lantern,” The Public Archive: Doing History in Public and Online, University of Texas at Austin.
Peer Reviewed Publications
Under review, “’White Gold’: snowmaking technology and skier experience in the East 1945-1971,” The International Journal of the History of Sports.
Other Publications
March 5, 2021, “When Ghost Towns Lack Ghosts,” Not Even Past.
January 5, 2021, “Chilling the Industry,” Technology Stories.
December 8, 2020, “This Land is ‘Our Land’: Nationalism & Exclusion in Outdoor Recreation,” Edge Effects.
March 18, 2019, “The Anthropocene and Environmental History,” Not Even Past.
November, 13, 2018, “Letter to the Editor: Response to remarks on ‘Paying for Peace: Reflections on the Lasting Peace Monument’”, Not Even Past.
November 12, 2018, “Austin Historical Atlas: Development During World War I”, Not Even Past.
November 12, 2018, “Austin Historical Atlas: Mapping Austin’s Historical Markers”, Not Even Past.
April 16, 2018, “Death, Danger, and Identity at 12,000 Feet”, Not Even Past.
April 2, 2018, “What Makes a Good History Blog”, Not Even Past.
March 5, 2018, “Paying for Peace: Reflections on the Lasting Peace Monument”, Not Even Past.
October 30, 2017, “The Curious History of Lincoln’s Birth Cabin”, Not Even Past.
Book Reviews
2020, Skiing Into Modernity: A Cultural and Environmental History by Andrew Dunning. In H-Environment, H-Net: reviews, June 24, 2020.
2020, Review of, Mohawk Interruptus: Political Life Across the Boarders of Settler States by Audra Simpson. In E3W Review of Books, vol. 20.
2019, Mother Is a Verb by Sarah Knott. In Not Even Past.
2018, Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England, by William Cronon. In Not Even Past.
Professional Experience
Winters 2015 – 2019 – Ski Instructor, Aspensnowmass Ski Company, Snowmass, CO
August 2018 – August 2019 – Assistant Editor, Not Even Past, University of Texas, TX
May 2016 – August 2017 – Historic Preservationist, The National Park Service, Frederick, MD
June 2014 – September 2015 – Research Assistant, Dr. Kate Graney, Skidmore College, NY
Digital Humanities & Public History
History Blog: “The Lift Line,” Founder.
Digital Archive: Ritner, Jesse, “Frederic Allen Williams: A Citizen Artist with a Magic Lantern” 2018.
National Park Service, Historic Preservation Training Center, multiple locations, 2017.
Student Conservation Association, Delaware Water Gap National Park, Historic Preservation Team, 2016.
Certifications
2020, Advanced Teaching Preparation Certificate, Faculty Innovation Center, University of Texas, Austin
2016, Professional Ski Instructor of America, Certification Level 1, Rocky Mountain.
Service
2018-present, Founder and Coordinator of the Environmental History Reading Group, The Department of History, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX.
2019-2020, Co-coordinator of the Symposium for the History of Women and Gender, The Department of History, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX.
Teaching Experience
2020, Summer AI (primary instructor), United States History, 1492-1865.
2020, Spring TA, United States History, 1492-1865, taught by Bob Olwell
2019, Fall TA, Intro to Native American History, taught by Erika Bsumek.
Professional Organizations
American Historical Association
American Society of Environmental Historians
History of Science Society
Society for the History of Technology
Western Historical Association
Jesse Ritner 