Digital Commons Network^™

Comparing The Social Responses Of Aids And Covid-19 Through Oral History, Elise Lee

Women's and Gender Studies Theses

In the past 40 years, the United States has faced 2 major public health crises: the AIDS epidemic, and the global COVID-19 pandemic. In this project I consider the various aspects of these public health emergencies such as sharing the burden of survival, the role of fear, the bastardization of identity politics, and queerness as a political project. I do this by analyzing oral histories and I argue that we can look at the AIDS epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic in parallel. During both AIDS and COVID, despite severely lackluster governmental responses, we saw overwhelming amounts of community organizing and …

Using Oral History To Explore The Migration Experience A Series Of Activities For Eng103: The Research Paper, Demetrios Kapetanakos

Open Educational Resources

This paper describes how I will implement an oral history component into my "ENG103: The Research Paper" course.

Charlotte Aexel Interviews Becky Brock, Rebecca "Becky" Brock, Charlotte Aexel

Collecting the Past

Charlotte Aexel interviews Becky Brock about being the first in her family to attend college and what Georgia State College for Women was like in 1965.

Listen to the podcast version here:

YouTube

https://youtu.be/XgFDYm092tU

Spotify

https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/By5r78iRgMb

Understanding Civic Engagement Through The Perspective And Experiences Of Mixed-Status Latinx Students In Higher Education, Alexandra Alcantar

Honors Capstones

This paper captures the perspectives and experiences of eight Latinx college-aged students from mixed-status families related to civil engagement. This paper identifies varied definitions of civic engagement and shows that students’ experiences within their mixed-status families and their academic experiences shaped how they understood their level of civic engagement and informed their career paths. The eight oral history interviews conducted as part of this project show that most of the participants consider their level of political involvement as insufficient. Interviews reveal an understanding of “civic engagement” that exists on an evolving spectrum of participation. Participants shared that work responsibilities and …

The U.S. Greek Cypriot Community: An Oral History From 1974, Diana Violaris Minakakis

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The 1974 occupation of Cyprus has been discussed and analyzed by government officials, political scientists and diplomatic relations experts for half a century but a substantial, documented narrative history is lacking. An oral history of those who journeyed to the United States during this time has not been collected. This paper includes interviews with members of the Greek Cypriot Community in the United States who were willing to share their stories for the purposes of documenting their experiences as part of an oral history. For the purposes of this thesis, Turkish Cypriots were not sought for participation.

In addition to …

Walter Kraft, Oral History Interview, 2024, Finn Vincent-Fix, Elizabeth Allen

Oral Histories

Walter Kraft is the Vice President for Communications at Eastern Michigan University, a position he has been in for over 14 years. In this interview, Kraft recounts how he got into communications, working his way from intern to News Director at Channel 7 in Detroit, and shifting from news to public relations after becoming Vice President of Caponigro PR. Kraft explains how he ended up in his current position at EMU, how the communications department has evolved since he started, and bringing the “You Are Welcome Here” slogan to EMU. Kraft describes the shift from “You Are Welcome Here” to …

The Contributions Of Nuevomexicanas To New Mexico Lowrider Culture, Traditions, And Rituals: The Significance Of Young Chicana Cultural Pachuca And Chola Aesthetics And Identity Expression In The Albuquerque Lowrider Community, Valerie J. Chavez

Chicana and Chicano Studies ETDs

The lowrider community in Albuquerque creates a space for families and individuals to gather and express themselves within Chicana/o/x culture. Nuevomexicanas have played a significant role in the teaching and preservation of the New Mexican traditions and rituals of lowriding. This research project is a visual and plática-based study. It explores how young Nuevomexicanas express their Chicana identity through la pachuca and chola cultural aesthetics and identity while actively participating in lowrider culture. This project utilizes the research methods of la resolana, querencia, and plática to understand, discover, and document the roles of young Nuevomexicanas in the Albuquerque …

Luke Young Interviews Sherill Jones, Sherill Jones, Luke Young

Collecting the Past

Luke Young interviews Sherill Jones on becoming a teacher and preserving memories.

Sydney Underhill Interviews Craig Amason, Craig Amason, Sydeny Underhill

Collecting the Past

Sydney Underhill interviews Craig Amason about his time working at Andalusia: the Home of Flannery O'Connor, being first introduced to O’Connor’s work, and working on an oral history project of his own.

Listen to the podcast version here:

YouTube

https://youtu.be/LeHMbBQAjOw?si=EAdgsmdK8HUc1NEZ

Spotify

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/flannery-oconnor-institut/episodes/Collecting-the-Past-Podcast---Episode-5-Craig-Amason--Sydney-Underhill-e2mkeag

Dawson Cowart Interviews Dr. Gwynedd Webster, Gwynedd Webster, Dawson Cowart

Collecting the Past

Dawson Cowart interviews Dr. Gwynedd Webster about moving to Milledgeville at a young age and exploring the O'Connor estate.

Listen to the podcast version here:

YouTube

https://youtu.be/jgZjJsUjviI?si=nmRpB_VmtKUU5Wmb

Spotify

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/flannery-oconnor-institut/episodes/Collecting-the-Past-Podcast---Episode-3-Gwynedd-Webster--Dawson-Cowart-e2m1u52

Taylor Swords Interviews Sarah Gordon, Sarah Gordon, Taylor Swords

Collecting the Past

Taylor Swords interviews Dr. Sarah Gordon, who was a Professor of English at Georgia College for 35 years, on her time teaching and living in Milledgeville and getting to know Regina O’Connor.

Listen to the podcast version here:

YouTube

https://youtu.be/HU0Tp8q2zJo

Spotify

https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/YlxgxhsdpMb

Aggie Markwalter Interviews Sandra Worsham, Sandra Worsham, Aggie Markwalter

Collecting the Past

Aggie Markwalter interviews Sandra Worsham on growing up in segregated Milledgeville and her extensive teaching background.

Listen to the podcast version here:

YouTube

https://youtu.be/-fLgkc8sLYo

Spotify

https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/RlAnPfsdpMb

Thomas Duke Interviews Bo Prosser, Bo Prosser, Thomas Duke

Collecting the Past

Thomas Duke interviews Bo Prosser on his experience attending seminary school and living on the grounds of Central State Hospital.

Audrey Burney Interviews Sister Kathleen Feeley, Kathleen Feeley, Audrey Burney

Collecting the Past

Audrey Burney interviews Sister Kathleen Feeley on advice for teachers and the impact of education.

Listen to the podcast version here:

YouTube

https://youtu.be/VKstrVEkArU?si=8st7R4Vc-JBN7whG

Spotify

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/flannery-oconnor-institut/episodes/Collecting-the-Past-Podcast---Episode-4-Sister-Kathleen-Feeley--Audrey-Burney-e2m6791

Sydney Harris Interviews Joanne Battle, Joanne Battle, Sydney Harris

Collecting the Past

Sydney Harris interviews Joanne Battle on being born in Milledgeville and attending Georgia State College for Women

Victoria Riva Interviews Mary Dean Lee, Mary Dean Lee, Victoria Riva

Collecting the Past

Victoria Riva interviews Dr. Mary Dean Lee about growing up in Milledgeville Georgia.

Listen to the podcast version here:

YouTube

https://youtu.be/a-VjHJIZ05A?si=sPAJgc_EMHEuE0TV

Spotify

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/flannery-oconnor-institut/episodes/Collecting-the-Past-Podcast---Episode-2-Mary-Dean-Lee--Victoria-Riva-e2lpk22

Jacob Lewis Interviews Meldra Harris Panchelli, Meldra Harris Panchelli, Jacob Lewis

Collecting the Past

Jacob Lewis interviews Meldra Harris Panchelli on what it's like living and growing in Milledgeville Georgia.

Listen to the podcast version here:

YouTube

https://youtu.be/fHjZpqUSxCU?si=6MPh41SJWBCGmniB

Spotify

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/flannery-oconnor-institut/episodes/Collecting-the-Past-Podcast---Episode-1-Meldra-Harris-Panchelli--Jacob-Lewis-e2lh7jf

Juliann Mackiewicz Interviews Sandra Rosseter, Sandra Rosseter, Juliann Mackiewicz

Collecting the Past

Juliann Mackiewicz interviews Sandra Rosseter on beginning her journey at Georgia State College for Women and the impact of Flannery O’Connor.

Listen to the podcast version here:

YouTube

https://youtu.be/7aCyKiL9Sxo

Spotify

https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/oKjIu9iRgMb

Libraries And Changing Humanities Fields, Peter Hesseldenz

2024 R&I Day

A description of a project which explores how Humanities fields are changing as they grapple with diversity and inclusion issues, focusing particularly on curricula and teaching methods. The project also seeks to understand how well libraries are working with and supporting these changes with particular emphasis on the role of Academic Liaisons.

Hamzah Dajani, Oral History Interview, 2024, Elizabeth Allen

Oral Histories

Hamzah Dajani is an international student from Jordan studying finance and accounting, and he currently serves as the Student Government President at Eastern Michigan University. In this interview, Dajani recounts his experience growing up in Jordan, how he became interested in math and finance, and how he decided to come to EMU. Dajani explains how he got involved in Student Government, his experience as an international student, the difficulties of adjusting to life in the United States, and the struggles of finding a job as a non-US citizen. Dajani describes how Student Government became involved in the Afghan resettlement process, …

President James Smith, Oral History Interview, 2024, Cassandra Mitchell, Finn Vincent-Fix

Oral Histories

James Smith is Eastern Michigan University's 23rd president, a role he has been in since 2016. In this interview, Smith recounts how he got into a career in educational policy, his time working in the K-12 public school system, and moving up the ranks from professor, to administrator, to dean, and finally to being a university president. Smith explores his passion for international issues, his commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and how he came to join the President’s Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration. Smith describes how he jumped at the chance to open on-campus housing to twelve Afghan …

Sadaf Ali, Oral History Interview, 2024, Elizabeth Allen, Finn Vincent-Fix

Oral Histories

Dr. Sadaf Ali is a professor of Digital Media, Cinema, and Journalism at Eastern Michigan University, and has been working at EMU since 2012. Ali recounts how she became interested in news media, what led her to pursue a career in broadcasting, and her career working in journalism and broadcasting prior to coming to work at EMU. Ali describes her commitment to covering diverse stories, creating audio story and writing an article for WEMU about the Afghan refugee led cooking class coordinated by Zuzana Tomas’s Academic Service-Learning class, and the cultural importance of food as a person of Pakistani descent. …

Regional Folk Beliefs, Edward D. Ives

Dr. Edward D. Ives Papers

This accession contains over 4,000 folk beliefs organized on individual, 4x6-inch index cards. A majority of the belief cards were collected by students participating during the 1960s as part of the American Folklore course taught by Dr. Edward D. “Sandy” Ives. Folk beliefs originate primarily from Maine and the Maritimes, but occasionally extend into other areas. Each download contains a copy of the 1965 syllabus for American Folklore, explaining the assignment given to students.

Please Note: A significant number of these cards are handwritten and are not currently available as typed transcriptions. The belief cards are organized into categories noted …

The Famine Foods Co-Op / Bluff Country Co-Op Oral History Project, Michael William Doyle

Famine Foods Co-op / Bluff Country Co-op Oral History Project

The Famine Foods Co-op / Bluff Country Co-op Oral History Project collects the oral narratives of people associated with the member owned, cooperatively run natural foods grocery store in Winona, Minnesota. The Project was launched in 2022 by Michael William Doyle, a founding member of the Co-op and a retired History professor, in commemoration of the Co-op’s 50^th anniversary year. It is endorsed by the Co-op’s board of directors and sponsored by Winona State University and the Winona County Historical Society.

This enterprise began as a buying club in spring 1972, inspired by the example of North Country Co-op …

Connecting The Past To The Present: The Tiger Tales Oral Histories Digital Exhibit, H. Andrew Tincknell, Brian Gribben

Kansas Library Association College and University Libraries Section Proceedings

The Tiger Tales Oral History Digital Exhibit began in 2018 as an effort to promote Forsyth Library’s self-service video studio and Special Collections. The project is a marriage of the creative technologies of the library’s Learning Commons Media Lab paired with images from its archives to capture the stories of Tiger alumni, students, faculty, and staff spanning generations about their time at Fort Hays State. Forsyth’s Outreach Team adds their talents to the project recruiting interview subjects, often in collaboration with the FHSU Foundation and Alumni Office. Over its five-year history, these connections have served to gather first-hand stories from …

Backboards And Backlash: The Experiences Of Women's Intercollegiate Basketball Players Under Title Ix, 1975-1992, Meredyth Dwyer

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Enacted as a provision of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, Title IX dramatically reshaped intercollegiate athletics opportunities for young women at American institutions of higher education. Yet, discrimination in intercollegiate athletics continued in the decades after the law went into effect. Using the oral history testimony of ten narrators, each a woman who played intercollegiate basketball between 1975 and 1992, this thesis explores the experiences of women’s basketball players in the first two decades after the passage of Title IX. Approaching the Title IX era through the lens of social history, this thesis asks two major questions: whether female …

Anonymous, Ypsi Pride Interview, 2023, Katie Delahoyde

Oral Histories

In June of 2023, The Eastern Michigan University Archives Oral History Program brought the EMUA Aerie to Depot Town in Ypsilanti during the Ypsi Pride festival to record the pride stories of the local community. Here, a community member talks about finding belonging at Ypsi Pride, and celebrating LGBTQ love and joy despite hardships the community may endure.

Michael Faunce, Ypsi Pride Interview, 2023, Akaiia Ridley

Oral Histories

In June of 2023, The Eastern Michigan University Archives Oral History Program brought the EMUA Aerie to Depot Town in Ypsilanti during the Ypsi Pride festival to record the pride stories of the local community. Here, Michael talks about attending Ypsi Pride over the years, and being part of an open and affirming church.

"The Second Side" A Historic Retelling Of African American Life In Iberia Parish, Louisiana, Breighlynn Polk

Master of Arts in American Studies Capstones

In 1834, new living quarters emerged in the Main Street District of New Iberia for the Weeks family, who were prominent white sugar cane planters that owned a fully operating plantation twenty-five miles away. With their sixteen-room home sited twenty feet above the banks of the bayou, the Weeks family earned the reputation of flamboyant community members whose wealth was accumulated through the exploitation of enslaved African Americans. However, the ability to savor riches generated through the institution of slavery was short lived as the Union Army’s strategy of “Total War” threatened the prosperity of slave-owning families in the South. …

Radical Routes: The Formation Of The Boston School Bus Drivers Union Local 8751, Maci Mark

Graduate Masters Theses

This thesis is both a history and an examination of the formation of the Boston School Bus Drivers Union, situating their formation in both the labor movement of the 1970s and desegregation. Thrown into the midst of the storm of desegregation the drivers are set up for failure by the Boston School Committee. Forced to unionize due to unsafe working conditions and pay cuts, the unique make-up of the drivers allow for the success. Filled with community organizers, feminists, anti-war protestors, anti-racists, members of the LGBTQ+ community, leftists, and socialists, they use new tactics, willing to challenge established union leadership …