Education Commons^™

A Changing Tradition Comes With A Strengthening Of Bonds, Kyle J. Shaffer

CAFE Symposium 2024

Gettysburg College has many traditions that make it unique. One tradition that may not seem unique is Family Weekend, but at Gettysburg College, there is a vast history associated with the tradition. The weekend started as two separate-day celebrations in the fall semester and spring semester.

Student Protest Publications At Gettysburg College, Audrey U. Bergan

CAFE Symposium 2024

Student protest publications written in the 1950s and 1960s of Gettysburg College history were generally regarded as passion projects, as the campus did not foster an activist culture. However, these publications had various missions. Black Awareness aimed to educate the predominantly white student population on the experiences of Black students both on and off campus. College Crier published polling information about opinions on school, national, and international issues. EATSIT wanted to challenge the status quo and attempted to shock readers with vulgar illustrations and sexual references. Overall, this project aimed to discover what Gettysburg College students were writing about, and …

Gendered Stem Beliefs And Major Choice, Nicole T. Cesanek, Benjamin J. Durham

Student Publications

Beliefs and expectations about who can and should pursue STEM careers contribute to a student’s sense of STEM identity and may help to explain the gender gap in pursuing STEM in higher education. The formation of these beliefs is a long and complex process, starting very early on in an individual’s life. We analyze how gendered STEM beliefs of students, parents, and teachers in ninth grade affect a female student’s probability of majoring in STEM in college. We add to an analysis done by Sansone (2019) in an appendix of his paper by using actual majors instead of intended majors. …

Nazi Education In Vienna: The Solidification Of Antisemitism And German Nationalism In The Classroom, Abigail J. Seiple

Student Publications

In contemporary Austrian schools there is an alarming number of students who know little of Austria's involvement in WWII. They see Austria as a victim of Hitler and as a conquered nation. This post-war victimization myth has survived in schools that works to undermine feelings of Austrian responsibility in the days following the Anschluss. However, this victimization myth is threatened by looking at education on the eve of the Anschluss to Nazi policy and Nazi sentiments that had already existed for decades in Austria.

Theater & Identity At Gettysburg College, Spring 1971, Jamie A. Riches

CAFE Symposium 2023

In 1971, the country was still in the process of extreme social upheaval and transformation brought on by the 1960s, and that included small, secluded communities like Gettysburg College. In the Owl & Nightingale Society, the school's theater program, many students found ways to express and explore themselves creatively and personally. Both historically and currently, theater tends to draw in queer people, and can be a comfortable and interesting way to embrace your identity and learn to build and work with communities. These are things queer people often didn't--and still don't--have access to in their everyday lives, making theater a …

Gettysburg College Life In Fall 1963, Mary Huegel

CAFE Symposium 2023

The 1960s were a tumultuous decade full of social change and political conflict. This project explores Gettysburg College life in the fall semester of 1963 from a variety of scopes.

Bridging Communities Of Practice: Cross-Institutional Collaboration For Undergraduate Digital Scholars, R.C. Miessler, Clinton K. Baugess, Kevin Moore, Courtney Paddick, Carrie Pirmann

All Musselman Library Staff Works

At Bucknell University and Gettysburg College, an increasing focus on supporting creative undergraduate research as intensive, high-impact experiences has resulted in both institutions implementing library-led digital scholarship fellowships for their students. Gettysburg’s Digital Scholarship Summer Fellowship began in 2016, and Bucknell’s Digital Scholarship Summer Research Fellowship in 2017.1 While academic libraries have emerged as leaders on college campuses for digital humanities (DH) services, the programs at Gettysburg and Bucknell are distinctive in their structured curricula, a focus on independent student research, and the development of a local community of practice. Each program situates undergraduate research in the field of digital …

Homer Rosenberger: Learning Beyond The Classroom, Theodore J. Szpakowski

Student Publications

Homer Rosenberger, a Pennsylvania historian, cared deeply about sharing information. He collected books and articles on the history of PA, as well as meeting minutes for the many societies he participated in. All of this material is now stored in boxes available at Musselman Library in Gettysburg, PA. This paper is a combination of research and reflection on the experience of working with the Rosenberger collection, specifically a box that deals primarily with correspondence learning and public history.

Complacency And Conformity: The Female Experience At Gettysburg College, 1956-1966, Greer Garver, Emily B. Suter

Student Publications

Women at Gettysburg College from 1956-66 received unequal treatment at a predominantly male school. Despite the 1960s being seen as a time of radical change, the majority of women on campus were content with the rules and social norms which held them in place. Changes and complaints were not widespread or outspoken, but they did exist in organizations such as the Women’s Student Government Association. Examinations of campus policies, dress codes, and dorm regulations illustrate the different standards men and women were held to on campus. Meanwhile Greek life, beauty contests, athletics and first hand accounts of social life reveal …

Co-Education And Collaboration: Women At Gettysburg From 1945-1955, Olivia N. Taylor, Mckenna C. White

Student Publications

Women studying at Gettysburg College in the years following World War II (from 1945 to 1955) were given many freedoms and opportunities not previously experienced by female students of the college. The inclusion of sororities and co-educational social clubs open to both men and women expanded the social lives of female students at Gettysburg. Meanwhile, the dormitory environment and intramural sports teams helped women at Gettysburg create a sense of community through healthy competition. With all of these new social, academic, and extracurricular opportunities, there were still setbacks for women. Rules dictated how a woman could dress in certain settings …

Academic And Intellectual Life For Gettysburg College Women, 1960-1980, Theodore J. Szpakowski

Student Publications

The women of Gettysburg College, students and faculty, faced unique barriers in their academic life from 1960 to 1980. The college was making curricular and calendar changes to benefit all students, women, but was slower to fix the inequities facing women. First, women had a harder time getting into Gettysburg College, due to a 2:1 sex ratio in admissions that required women to have higher qualifications than their male counterpoints. Some women also struggled to convince family members that college mattered to them rather than just being an expensive way to acquire a marriage match. Once there, women were expected …

Ms-286: Elizabeth And Elmer Mckee, Class Of 1944, Jessica A. Cromer

All Finding Aids

This collection contains over 500 letters, 17 V-Mail, and 25 additional items, including Elmer’s college transcript, military documents, and personal narrative. The bulk of the letters are written by Elmer (Chuck) to Elizabeth (Diz), but there are over 100 letters written by Elizabeth in the closing years of this collection (1945-46). These letters provide insight into the Gettysburg College experience during the early 1940’s and the daily life of men stationed in Europe during World War II. Many of the letters depict Elmer and Elizabeth navigating their personal relationship, whilst simultaneously navigating the complex time period in which they lived. …

The Relationship Between Perceived Stress And Disordered Eating In Undergraduate Students During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Caroline G. Martin

Gettysburg College Headquarters

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected and imposed challenges on nearly everyone, including college students. Despite their already stressful situations, previous research has demonstrated increased stress levels among college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, research has also shown an increase in disordered eating for college students during the pandemic. However, few studies have investigated the relationship between both perceived stress and disordered eating during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the present study used a correlational design to investigate a potential association between perceived stress and disordered eating among undergraduate college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. By administering the EAT-26, the CSSEC, …

Epidemiology In Higher Education: Scarlet Fever At Gettysburg College, Addison E. Lomax

Student Publications

Throughout the early 20th century, the relationship between higher education and the spread of epidemic disease evolved in the United States. Two notable epidemics of scarlet fever in 1915 and 1920 serve as a lens through which the larger roles of disease and higher education can be analyzed. By assessing the roles both the administration and the students played at Gettysburg College, then Pennsylvania College, historians can understand the process of combating health crises in the future. Although the Pennsylvania College scarlet fever epidemics of 1915 and 1920 impacted campus to a smaller extent than the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the …

The Religious Lexicon Embedded In Public American Curricula, Daniel R. Jones

Student Publications

What is the relationship between one's own religious beliefs and their everyday colloquial diction choices? Moreover, why is the subfield that encompasses the intersection of sociolinguistics, education, and religious studies one that has gained little scholarly interest in recent years, where one could argue the importance of religious belief, and other socio-political beliefs in education have come center stage in the heart of American political debate? This article will tackle this broad range of topics through a case study focusing on my primary research question: How does a teacher’s own religious identity affect the religious language utilized in their classroom …

From Bankers To Farmers: Finding A Sustainable Model For An Undergraduate Summer Dh Program, R.C. Miessler, Kevin Moore

All Musselman Library Staff Works

Librarians R.C. Miessler and Kevin Moore provide an overview of how summer Digital Humanities programs at Musselman Library entered their last year of grant funding with an eye toward securing a commitment of institutional support. The presenters will reflect upon the overall sustainability of Musselman Library’s Digital Scholarship Summer Fellowship program and share their plans for ongoing management of the program.

All Your Basecamp Are Belong To Us: Managing Undergraduates To Create A Dh Toolkit, R.C. Miessler, Kevin Moore

All Musselman Library Staff Works

Adapting Digital Humanities instruction to meet the needs of students and faculty members working remotely became a priority as COVID-19 canceled plans for on-campus, in-person classes at our small, liberal arts college. The eventual solution was to develop an online resource to provide asynchronous DH support or to flip synchronous DH instruction. This project, the DH Toolkit, is a collection of tutorials and documentation open to anyone working on digital projects. Specifically, it covers how to use key digital tools, develop accessible user experiences, and navigate copyright concerns.

The Unfinished Sermon: A Tribute To Rev. John Vannorsdall, Devin Mckinney

Gettysburg College Faculty Books

This volume is collected tribute to Reverend John Vannorsdall, who served as chaplain for Gettysburg College, 1962-1976. It includes excerpts of Vannorsdall's writings and interviews, as well as reflections from students, colleagues, and family.

'Shut Up And Take The Mellon Money!': Adapting A Library-Led Digital Humanities Program To Accommodate Grant Funding., R.C. Miessler, Kevin Moore

All Musselman Library Staff Works

This presentation discusses how the team of librarians who facilitate Musselman Library's Digital Scholarship Summer Fellowship program have negotiated the shift from local to grant funding, focusing on how we have organized our team and adapted program outcomes, assessment, and reporting to fit the requirements of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Presidential Leadership Grant. We review some unexpected challenges when working with grant funding and how we have successfully worked within the parameters of the grant to fit our needs locally.

Examining The Impact Of Climate Change Film As An Educational Tool, Brittany Bondi, Salma Monani, Sarah M. Principato, Christopher P. Barlett

Student Publications

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of film in communicating issues related to climate change. While previous studies demonstrate an immediate effect of a film post-screening, this study also considered if a film can inspire long-term effects, and if supplemental educational information plays a role on participant understanding.

Design/methodology/approach: Using surveys, we assessed undergraduate students’ climate change responses pre-, immediately-post, and 9-weeks post watching the climate change documentary The Human Element (Prod. Earth Vision Institute, 2018). In the 9-week interim before the final survey, half of the participants received weekly information on climate change via …

After The Golem: Teaching Golems, Kabbalah, Exile, Imagination, And Technological Takeover., Temma F. Berg

English Faculty Publications

The golem is an elusive creature. From a religious perspective it enacts spirit entering matter, a creation story of potential salvation crossed with reprehensible arrogance. As a historical narrative, the golem story becomes a tale of Jewish powerlessness and oppression, of pogroms and ghettoization, of assimilation and exile, and sometimes, of renewal. As the subject of a course in women, gender and sexuality studies, the golem narrative can be seen as a relentless questioning of otherness and identity and as a revelation of the complex intersectionalities of gender, class, sexuality, race, disability, and ethnicity. As a philosophical motif, the ambiguous …

College Campus Sexual Assault And Retention Rates, Abigail R. Hauer

Student Publications

Increased media attention on college crime, specifically sexual assault, has led to greater prioritization of campus safety when deciding whether to continue attending a college. This, coupled with society’s view of a four-year college education as a necessity to succeed in the labor market, creates a potential tradeoff between safety on campus and future employment success. To analyze such tradeoff, I use data from the US Department of Education from 2014 to 2017 to examine whether college campus sexual assault at four-year American institutions impacts retention rates. Such results have implications for college policies to combat sexual assault on campus …

Hbcus Importance To The Black Community, Jarrett A. Torromeo

Student Publications

This paper looks at the importance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the Black community. It explores how they are necessary in order to bring a sense of belonging to the Black community and how they can grow. They are critically underfunded compared to other universities/colleges but this can change with the sports that they have to offer.

Critically Assessing Forms Of Resistance In Music Education, Brent C. Talbot, Hakim Mohandas Amani Williams

Education Faculty Publications

In their classrooms, music educators draw upon critical pedagogy (as described by Freire, Giroux, and hooks) for the express purpose of cultivating a climate for conscientização. Conscientização, according to Paulo Freire (2006), “refers to learning to perceive social, political, and economic contradictions and to take action against the oppressive elements of reality” (p. 35). This consciousness raising is a journey teachers pursue with students, together interrogating injustices in communities and the world in order to transform the conditions that inform them. Learning to perceive social, political, and economic contradictions often leads to multiple forms of resistance in and …

Education In Nazi Germany, Ian R. James

Student Publications

This essay investigates the sweeping educational reforms that the Nazi government implemented to use elementary education to further its political goals. Along with the major laws concerned, it concentrates on several personal accounts of families and students during this era to better understand how these educational reforms affected Germans. Additionally, it analyzes the Hitler Youth and other such recreational organizations that the Nazis created to continue to mold students’ ideologies. It examines the stories of several people who were children in these organizations and what their impressions were of the groups. Finally, it places these Nazi reforms in the context …

Sororities At Gettysburg College During The Haaland Era, 1990-2004, Elizabeth C. Hobbs, Madeleine M. Neiman

Student Publications

From 1990 to 2004, Gettysburg College’s Greek system dominated student social life and, due to its prominence (and notoriety), attracted the attention of not only students but also faculty and administration during the era of President Gordon A. Haaland. Although fraternities were often the more influential and problematic Greek organizations on campus, Gettysburg’s sororities played a major role in the lives of female students -- offering women a chance to join a community of other women, participate in philanthropy events, and engage in Greek social life. Throughout the Haaland era, Gettysburg’s sororities consisted of a combination of Sigma Kappa, Alpha …

Expansion And Acquisition: The Built Environment Under Gettysburg College President, Gordon Haaland, 1990 To 2004, Hannah M. Labovitz, Lillian Shea

Student Publications

Gordon Haaland presided over Gettysburg College from 1990 to 2004. His goals included improving the national status of the college by increasing the student body, developing the academic departments, and creating a dynamic campus community. This paper outlines Haaland's attempts to fulfill these goals through a plethora of construction projects, ranging from building a state of the art science center and extensively renovating a historic theater, to updating dormitories and revitalizing the appearance of campus. Some of the construction included projects that were planned under the previous president and carried out by Haaland, as well as scandals that accompanied these …

Drinks, Hijinks, And Policy Change: Fraternities At Gettysburg College In The Haaland Years (1990-2004), Lindsay R. Richwine, Lindsay K. Waller

Student Publications

This paper establishes what the fraternity structure was like at Gettysburg College during Gordon Haaland's presidency. Between 1990 and 2004, we explore the roaring party dynamic that was continually threatened by the administration and examine how the switch to sophomore rush tried to tame it. With testimonies from fraternity brothers during this era we try to capture the good, bad, and ugly of fraternity life. While Haaland's administration did not get ride of the fraternity system, it certainly made it safer and reigned it in significantly.

A Tradition Of Bells: Glatfelter Bell And Hall, Shannon R. Zeltmann

Student Publications

Every hour, students and staff hear the tolling of a bell. Some students hear it and count the number of times it rings to see what time it is. Others hear it and realize they are late to class. And many come back after they have graduated and are happy to hear the bell toll once more. There are many times when the bell is rung today. The bell is rung at graduation, funerals in the Chapel, and alumni and donor recognition. The Glatfelter Bell has been part of the Gettysburg experience since 1892. This bell is housed in one …

A Monument To Culture And Achievement: The Samurai Suit Of Armor And Katana At Gettysburg College, Carolyn Hauk

Student Publications

Of the many artifacts found in Gettysburg College’s Musselman library, perhaps the most unusual and seemingly out of place may be the centuries-old replica of a samurai suit and katana standing guard over visitors and students from an oversized glass case on the first floor. Though hard to miss, their connection with Gettysburg College is not so obvious. A plaque located below the suit reads, “Samurai Armor and Warrior Katana; Late 19th Century; Gift of Major General Charles A. Willoughby; Class of 1914.” These artifacts represent hundreds of years of the ancient Samurai tradition in Japan, a crucial element of …