American Studies Commons^™

The Ethos Of The Blues: An Ethnography Of Blues Singers And Writers, Zoë Emilie Peterschild Ford

Senior Projects Spring 2020

Dawn Tyler Watson, a blues singer based in Montreal, QC, performs a variety of genres. No matter what she performs, however, she continually expresses a blues ethos. Through improvisation and her resolute individuality Dawn writes and sings narratives always with a nod to the blues. What I call the “ethos of the blues” refers to a blues spirit that exists not only in music, but in literature, and in everyday life. Dawn’s practice reveals that blues is a music that values protective, generous, and exploratory narrative. As important as its storytelling quality is the genre’s Americanness. Blues, derived from a …

"She Believes She Is Herself, Which Isn't Complete Madness:" Becoming The Female Subject Through Womanhood As Relation, Isabel Rudner

Senior Projects Fall 2020

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Languages and Literature of Bard College.

Fruit Of The Spirit: An Investigation Of How French Colonialism Trans-Nationally Created The Creolized Black Dance In New Orleans, Called Secondline, Through The Lens Of An Original Treme Babydoll., Micah Theodore

Senior Projects Spring 2020

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

Despite The Blues: Richard Wright And Ralph Ellison’S Blues Based Works, Miranda Virginia Reale

Senior Projects Spring 2020

Ain't got no mother, ain't got no culture

Ain't got no friends, ain't got no schoolin'

Ain't got no love, ain't got no name

Ain't got no ticket, ain't got no token

Ain't got no god

–Nina Simone, “Ain’t Got No-I Got Life,” from the album Nuff Said (1968).

In between human intention and reality lies a disproportionate space that Albert Camus labels “the absurd.” Modern man’s affliction is thus absurd, as orthodox systems turn obsolete, the traditional virtues of the past cease to be familiar. The epistemology of the absurd may not have developed from American soil; but I …

“No Place” In Cyberspace, Scarlett Sinay

Senior Projects Spring 2020

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

Feta, Blintzes, And Burritos: The Evolution Of The Diner And Immigrants' Role In Defining American Food Culture, Alexis Kimberly Maresca

Senior Projects Spring 2020

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

"Yells Of Life In Constant Change": The Sonorous Criticism Of Amiri Baraka, Jack Luis Mckeon

Senior Projects Spring 2020

My research engages intersections of the racial and the sonic in the cultural criticism of poet and playwright Amiri Baraka. Focusing primarily on his music and political criticism published between 1961 and 1971, I am interested in questions of vernacular performance, as well as tensions between the verbal and the vocal that arise in his work. This project began with an interest in locating and understanding the moment in Baraka’s work where he began to turn away from the poetic style of contemporaries such as Frank O’Hara and Gary Snyder, choosing instead to shift towards a style reminiscent of jazz …

From Colonial Agriculture To Community Resilience: A History Of The United States Gulf Coast, 1718-2005, Olivia Champion Johnson

Senior Projects Fall 2020

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

Civil Rights And The Black Experience During The New Deal Era: Limitations And Possibilities 1932–1948, Garth Sutherland

History - Master of Arts in Teaching

I. Synthesis Essay………………………………3

II. Primary Documents and Headnotes……….27

III. Textbook Critique……………………………39

IV. New Textbook Entry…………………………47

V. Bibliography…………………………………..53

For The People: The Historiography Of The Black Panther Party And Black Community Politics And Activism, Josh Perez

History - Master of Arts in Teaching

I.Synthesis Essay………………………………..3

II.Primary Documents and Headnotes………..26

III.Textbook Critique…………………………….36

IV.New Textbook Entry………………………….41

V.Bibliography…………………………………...49