Events in the American Studies Program

 

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE AMERICAN STUDIES PROGRAM
2020 ACADEMIC AWARD RECIPIENTS:

The Dalton Fellowship for American Studies: Lydia O'Donnell, '20
The Muriel B. Kahrl American Women's Prize: Celina German, '21
The William R. Scott Award: Alli Beard, '20
Congratulations to: Emma Raible, AMST, '20 for The Hallstein Award through the Art Department

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AMERICAN STUDIES SENIOR CAPSTONE PRESENTATIONS:

THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2020
EMMA RAIBLE, 7:00PM, LOWER HORN GALLERY [105-A College-Park St., Gambier, OH]
Shaping the Narrative: Understanding Images, Words & Social Change Through the Eyes of Gordon Parks
Presentation Summary:
It is essential to examine the portrayal of events and people in popular culture in a critical way. As with the re-telling of history, the perspective and agenda of the author influences the narrative. Nowhere is this more important than with visual narratives, where the immediacy and perspective of an image can profoundly influence the viewer. In photojournalism, the photo editor, who selects a handful of images from the hundreds submitted by the photographer, shapes the narrative as much, if not more, than the photographer.

This project looks at exactly this issue in the context of the work of the photographer, Gordon Parks, for Life magazine. Parks worked in the mid-1900’s depicting life in Harlem, where he lived and for which he had a deep appreciation. At a time when racial tensions ran high in America, Parks was dedicated to challenging stereotypes of black life.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2020
MAGGIE GRABOWSKI, 8:15PM, UPPER HORN GALLERY [105-A College-Park St.,Gambier, OH]
"Ain't Nuthin' But A She Thing": Female Resistance Through '90's Hip-Hop Music
Presentation Summary:
This presentation will focus on the trailblazing female music artists who used hip-hop music as a way to vocalize their perspectives and experiences in response to racialized misogyny in the 1990s. It will explore the ways that '90s American society, the music industry, and the landscape of hip-hop each contributed to the stereotyping, silencing, and objectification of women, and how women in hip-hop contested these.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020
HARPER BEELAND, 7:00PM, CHEEVER SEMINAR ROOM [102 W. Wiggin St.,Gambier, OH]
"Living the Dream: Reimagining Life in Two Appalachian Neighborhoods"

Presentation Summary: 
Through in-depth historical research and digital storytelling, this presentation will tell the story of two planned residential communities in eastern Tennessee, as well as the cultural, economic, and aesthetic factors that went into their creation. Though developed for entirely different purposes, both neighborhoods were conceived in response to the larger forces of industrialization, poverty, and tourism. Their histories and unique aesthetics reveal popular American ideas about class, home life, leisure, folk culture, and the Appalachian region during the country’s interwar years. Come to hear about architecture, hydraulic engineering, gnomes, or just a good story.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020
LYDIA O'DONNELL, 8:15PM, CHEEVER SEMINAR ROOM [102 W. Wiggin St., Gambier, OH]
"Haunting the Docks: Deindustrialization and Great Lakes Ghost Towns"

Presentation Summary:
Focusing on the depleted Lake Superior Iron-Ore town of Ashland, Wisconsin I examine how towns around the Great Lakes have declined into "ghost towns," and how the residents of these towns conceive of living amongst economic ruins.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2020
ALLI BEARD, 7:00PM, CHEEVER SEMINAR ROOM [102 W. Wiggin St., Gambier, OH]
"From an Improved Future to Ultimate Failure: Perceptions of Pruitt-Igoe in Mass Media"
Presentation Summary:
My senior capstone presentation examines local and national mass media representations of the Pruitt-Igoe housing project, known by many as the biggest public housing failure in the U.S. I examine shifting attitudes about Pruitt-Igoe, observing how the project changed from the future of public housing into a national eyesore.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2020
GRACIE MOSES, 7:00PM, CHEEVER SEMINAR ROOM [102 W. Wiggin St.,Gambier, OH]
Teaching Rhetorical Sovereignty to Fifth Graders

Presentation Summary:
This presentation will discuss Native American histories as told by Native Women, and furthermore, how we can integrate these narratives at a younger age. With the hopes of inspiring an earlier exposure to specific Native narratives, I wrote a curriculum around Lousie Erdrich’s “The Birchbark House,” with the intention of introducing Ojibwe voices. In creating this curriculum, I hope the target students can henceforth continue to engage with the realities of Native American women, one layer at a time.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2020
RYAN O'NEIL, 8:15PM, CHEEVER SEMINAR ROOM [102 W. Wiggin St.,Gambier, OH]
Little Brother of War: Lacrosse, the Iroquois Nationals, and Sovereignty

Presentation Summary:
This presentation will track the relationship between Native Americans and the sport of lacrosse, from inventors of the game to protectors of its cultural significance. This presentation will also show how Native Americans, and the Haudenosaunee in particular, are using the sport to push for sovereignty.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020
MIA POTTER, 7:00 PM, CHEEVER SEMINAR ROOM [102 W. Wiggin St.,Gambier, OH]
Reagan, Rap and Resistance

Presentation Summary:
This presentation analyzes the ways in which Hip Hop groups, spanning from the mid 1980’s to early 90’s, utilized music as a form of resistance to the Reagan Administration. Specifically, how groups such as N.W.A, Public Enemy and Salt N Pepa responded to the AIDS crisis and the War on Drugs. This project dissects how traditionally marginalized groups relied on music as resistance and how race and gender interacted with the musical activism during these two crises.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020
LIBBY WOODWARD, 8:15PM, CHEEVER SEMINAR ROOM [102 W. Wiggin St.,Gambier, OH]
Standards of History: Exploring Democratic Narratives in Ohio U.S. History Textbooks

Presentation Summary:
U.S. History textbooks hold great power as agents of political influence and key classroom tools. The histories and voices included in these narratives set the precedents of what stories are important to democracy. This project examines Ohio U.S. History high school textbooks to analyze whether the narratives provided represent the diversity of the nation, continued colonial legacies, and hierarchies of power or perpetuate myths in an effort to protect hegemonies.