Hinda Mandell Headshot

Hinda Mandell

Professor

School of Communication
College of Liberal Arts
Program Director - Journalism
hbmgpt@rit.edu
585-475-7723
Office Location
EAS-3272

Hinda Mandell

Professor

School of Communication
College of Liberal Arts
Program Director - Journalism

Education

BA, Brandeis University; MA, Harvard University; Ph.D., Syracuse University

Bio

Hinda Mandell is a professor in the School of Communication, which she joined in 2011. She conducts research at the intersection of sensational events with private lives. Since 2016, her research has focused on the intersection of craft and political events, examining craft as a gendered, communication tool that can subvert the social order.

She is editor of Crafting Dissent: Handicraft as Protest from the American Revolution to the Pussyhats(Rowman & Littlefield, 2019); co-curator and co-editor of Crafting Democracy: Fiber Arts and Activism(RIT Press, 2019, with the exhibition touring in the U.S. in 2019-2020); a co-editor of Nasty Women and Bad Hombres: Gender and Race in the 2016 US Presidential Election(University of Rochester Press, 2018); the author of Sex Scandals, Gender and Power in Contemporary American Politics(Praeger, 2017) and co-editor of Scandal in a Digital Age(Palgrave Macmillan, 2016).

Mandell’s website is omghinda.com, and she’s on Instagram: @crochetactivism.

Mandell is passionate about organizing crowd-created yarn installations in public spaces connected to the history of a region's social-reform movements. As a craft convener she has worked with thousands of makers on craft interventions engaging issues of place and social reform.

Her journal articles have been published in such venues as Women's Studies in Communication, Visual Communication Quarterly, Media Ecology and Journal of Feminist Scholarship.

A recipient of international fellowships, including the American Council on Germany's McCloy Journalism Fellowship and the Museum of Jewish Heritage's Auschwitz Jewish Center Fellowship, Hinda has reported from Germany, Poland, China, Dublin and Jerusalem. She is a former correspondent for the Boston Globe.

Her op-eds have appeared in USA Today, Politico, Chicago Tribune, Boston Herald, LA Times, the Guardian.com, Palm Beach Post, Oregonian, [Minneapolis] Star-Tribune, Star-Ledger and the Florida Sun-Sentinel. She blogs for the Huffington Post and Cognoscenti, the commentary site for Boston's NPR station. In 2018 she reported on "The Babies of the Trump Election" for Politico, and she completed a follow-up feature in 2020, “How Trump Changed Childhood.”

Mandell's award-winning documentary, 'The Upside Down Book,' chronicled her investigation into the origins of a Mein Kampf that her great uncle, a Jewish-American soldier, brought home from fighting overseas during WWII. The film originated as a three-part series for the Boston Globe.

hbmgpt@rit.edu
585-475-7723
Personal Links
Personal Website
Areas of Expertise
Craft activism
Political activism
Political scandal
Craft and social reform movements

Select Scholarship

Invited Keynote/Presentation
Mandell, Hinda. "Craft, Protest and Feminism: Disruptors Yesterday and Today." Invited talk, Zoom event. Carpenter's Hall and National Liberty Museum. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 2 Feb. 2022. Address.
Mandell, Hinda. "Invited panelist." The Douglass Women: Another Look at Anna Murray and Rosetta. 540 West Main. Rochester, New York. 10 Feb. 2022. Address.
Mandell, Hinda. "Critical Crafting In and Beyond Humanities Classrooms: 19th-Century Material Culture and 21st-Century Open Pedagogy." Crafting Communities Symposia. University of Manitoba, University of Alberta, and University of Victoria. Manitoba, Canada. 25 Feb. 2022. Address.
Mandell, Hinda. "Crafting Dissent, Crocheting Activism: Interactive Talk and Craft Workshop with Hinda Mandell." Convention Days 2022. Women's Rights National Historic Park. Seneca Falls, New York. 16 Jul. 2022. Address.
Mandell, Hinda. "Crafting Dissent Together Apart: A Legacy of Craft Action from a COVID Year." keynote talk as part of Dissent Made Material Symposium. George Mason's Gunston Hall. Lorton, Virginia. 18 Feb. 2021. Keynote Speech.
Journal Paper
Mandell, Hinda. "Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery (Sewing) Society: Handcraft as a Metaphorical tool for the Abolitionist Cause." Journal of Feminist Scholarship 20. 20 (2022): 49-66. Web.
Mandell, Hinda. "‘Monstrous’ Craft Activism: A City Yarn Installation that Wrought Controversy through Textile Togetherness and Community Engagement." Craft Research 12. 1 (2021): 31-50. Print.
Mandell, Hinda. "Handcraft as Urban Intervention: In Recognition of the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Sewing Society." Journal of Urban Cultural Studies 7. 2 and 3 (2020): 175-186. Print.
Mandell, Hinda and Meredith Davenport (photos). "Recreating and Reenvisioning Scandal: A Photographic Exploration of the Eliot Spitzer and Anthony Weiner Press Conferences." Journal of Feminist Scholarship. Spring 2018 (2018): Online. Web.
Mandell, Hinda and Gina M. Chen. "Scandal-clad Politicians, Scorned Wives and Salacious News: Reaction to Contemporary Sex Scandals and Spousal Support in Times of Public Crisis." Interactions: Studies in communication and culture 7. 1 (2016): 85-98. Print.
Mandell, Hinda. "Political Wives, Scandal, and the Double Bind: Press Construction of Silda Spitzer and Jenny Sanford Through a Gendered Lens." Women's Studies in Communication 38. 1 (2015): 55-77. Print.
Martin, Kelly and Hinda Mandell. "Faces of Political Sex Scandal: Investigating Pathways to Penance, Remedy and Resolution through Iconic Scandal." Visual Communication Quarterly 21. 4 (2014): 236-247. Print.
Book Chapter
Mandell, Hinda. "Craft Activism, Violence and Memory-Making: Jewish Hearts for Pittsburgh." Race, Gender, and Political Culture in the Trump Era: The Fascist Allure. Ed. Christine A. Kray and Uli Linke. Oxfordshire, United Kingdom: Routledge, 2021. 174-193. Print.
Mandell, Hinda. "Stigma, Shame, Sex Scandals, and Whiteness in Buffalo, New Yok." Gender, race, and social identity in American politics. Ed. Lori L. Montalbano. New York City, NY: Lexington Books, 2019. 43-58. Print.
Kray, Christine A, Tamar Carroll, and Hinda Mandell. "Introduction to Nasty Women and Bad Hombres: Historical Reflections on the 2016 Presidential Election." Nasty women and bad hombres: Gender and race in the 2016 US presidential election. rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 2018. 1-24. Print.
mandell, hinda. "Birthing Family: Narrative and Baby on Election Day." Nasty Women and Bad Hombres: Gender and Race in the 2016 US Presidential Election. rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 2018. 264-270. Print.
Carroll, Tamar W, Hinda Mandell, and Christine Kray. "Epilogue." Nasty Women and Bad Hombres: Gender and Race in the 2016 US Presidential Election. rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 2018. 337-350. Print.
Mandell, Hinda and Gina M. Chen. "Introduction: Scandal in the Age of Likes, Selfies, Retweets and Sexting." Scandal in a digital age. Ed. Hinda mandell and Gina M. Chen. NY, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. 3-14. Print.
Chen, Gina M. and Hinda mandell. "Predicting a New Scandal Environment in the 21st Century." Scandal in a digital age. Ed. hinda mandell and Gina M. Chen. NY, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. 209-216. Print.
Shows/Exhibits/Installations
Decker, Juilee and Hinda Mandell. Crafting Democracy: Fiber Arts and Activism. n.d. Anthony Mascioli Gallery, The Sculpture Center, Bevier Gallery, and more, Rochester and Cleveland. Exhibit.
Decker, Juilee and Hinda Mandell. Crafting Democracy: Fiber Arts and Activism. n.d. Anthony Mascioli Gallery, The Sculpture Center, Bevier Gallery, and more, Rochester and Cleveland. Exhibit.
Decker, Juilee and Hinda Mandell. Crafting Democracy: Fiber Arts and Activism. n.d. Anthony Mascioli Gallery, The Sculpture Center, Bevier Gallery, and more, Rochester and Cleveland. Exhibit.
Decker, Juilee and Hinda Mandell. Crafting Democracy: Fiber Arts and Activism. n.d. Anthony Mascioli Gallery, The Sculpture Center, Bevier Gallery, and more, Rochester and Cleveland. Exhibit.
Decker, Juilee and Hinda Mandell. Crafting Democracy: Fiber Arts and Activism. n.d. Anthony Mascioli Gallery, The Sculpture Center, Bevier Gallery, and more, Rochester and Cleveland. Exhibit.
Full Length Book
Decker, Juilee and Hinda Mandell. Crafting Democracy: Fiber Arts and Activism. Rochester, NY: RIT Press, 2019. Print.
Mandell, Hinda. Crafting Dissent: Handicraft as Protest from the American Revolution to the Pussyhats. New York City, NY: Rowman & Littlefield, 2019. Print.
Mandell, Christine A. Kray, Tamar W. Carroll, Hinda. Nasty Women and Bad Hombres: Gender and Race in the 2016 US Presidential Election. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 2018. Print.
Mandell, Hinda. Sex Scandals, Gender and Power in Contemporary American Politics. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2017. Print.
Mandell, Hinda and Gina M. Chen. Scandal in a digital age. NY, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. Print.

Currently Teaching

COMM-142
Introduction to Technical Communication
3 Credits
This course introduces students to current best practices in written and visual technical communication including writing effective email, short and long technical reports and presentations, developing instructional material, and learning the principles and practices of ethical technical communication. Course activities focus on engineering and scientific technical documents.
COMM-272
Reporting and Writing I
3 Credits
This course introduces students to the principles and practices of gathering, evaluating, investigating, and presenting information to general audiences. Rights and responsibilities of the press will be analyzed. Although special emphasis will be given to writing and reporting for print publications, other media will be addressed. Special attention will be given to the qualities of writing, especially organization, accuracy, completeness, brevity, and readability. Assignments must conform to Associated Press style.
COMM-343
Technology-Mediated Communication
3 Credits
Technology-mediated communication (TMC) was originally defined as a form of electronic written communication. As networking tools advanced, TMC expanded to include new software developments, such as instant messenger and the web. Today, the term technology-mediated communication is used to refer to a wide range of technologies that facilitate both human communication and the interactive sharing of information through computer networks. Through readings, discussions, and observations of online behavior, students will be introduced to TMC terms and theories to further develop their TMC communication and critical thinking skills.
COMM-374
Opinion Media
3 Credits
Opinion Media teaches students how to craft persuasive personal essays, commentary and op-eds, and get them published on news sites, in trade magazines, in newspapers and on influencer blogs. By drawing upon the ethical deployment of evidence, including argument, anecdote and statistical data, student authors will learn how to become influencers and thought leaders through the deployment of the written word and multimedia texts, including writing scripts, and producing video, for their own social media channels. This course is ideally suited for those seeking to sharpen their persuasive writing skills to sell their ideas, vision, expertise and life experience to a targeted media audience.
PRFL-489
Special Topics
3 Credits
Allows examination of a special problem or topic area in the theatre, dance, music, visual arts, and other performing and fine arts. Topics and specific content and methods vary from term to term. Each term’s offering, however, features an introduction to a historical period, movement, phenomenon, practitioner(s), or other subfield of study within performing arts and/or visual culture. In so doing, students develop theoretical and experiential knowledge of an artistic period, movement, phenomenon, practitioner(s) or other subfield of study within performing arts and/or visual culture.

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