Photo of Christopher Elias

Christopher Elias

Visiting Assistant Professor of American Studies, American Studies

Education & Professional History

Brown University, PhD

I was born and raised in Massachusetts. At Carleton, I teach a number of courses dealing with American cultural and political history, with a focus on issues of sexuality, gender, memory, immigration, and film.

My scholarship focuses on culture and identity in twentieth century America. I’ve written on a variety of topics, including 1950s gossip magazines, spirituality and gender in the work of filmmaker Terrence Malick, masculine nationalism in James Joyce’s fiction, and national identity in German war cemetery design. I also have interests in contemporary fiction, 20th century American art, the US War on Terror, and the history of Lebanon.

My first book, Gossip Men: J. Edgar Hoover, Joe McCarthy, Roy Cohn, and the Politics of Insinuation, was released in 2021 by the University of Chicago Press.


At Carleton since 2023.

Current Courses

  • Fall 2024
    AMST 115: Introduction to American Studies
  •  
    AMST 238: 9/11 and the War on Terror in American Culture
  • Winter 2025
    AMST 217: Race, Gender, and Sports in America
  • Spring 2025
    AMST 115: Introduction to American Studies
  • Fall 2025
    AMST 115: Introduction to American Studies
  •  
    AMST 239: The Death Penalty: An American History