American Studies Commons^™

A United, Not A Divider: Community, Identity, Performance & The Tomato Krewe Parading Group Of East Nashville's Tomato Art Festival, Allison Cate

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis is an ethnographic study of the “Tomato Krewe,” a social group that participates in the parade of East Nashville’s annual Tomato Art Festival. Drawing on participant-observation, interviews, and my own experiences as a member of the krewe and resident of East Nashville, I examine krewe members’ narratives about the festival, the material culture that they create for the parade, and the levels of performance that they engage in while parading. Central to my analysis is how krewe members understand the Tomato Art Festival as an expression of East Nashville identity.

On Being Trans: Narrative, Identity, Performance, And Community, Chloe Jo Brown

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis focuses on various topics related to transgender identity and culture. Through a combination of ethnographic and secondary research, I studied transgender coming out narratives, trans media representation, transgender performance and identity, and conceptualizations of group and chosen family in a community of trans students, the WKU Transgender and Non-Binary Student Group.

The three chapters of my thesis address some of the traditional milestones of a trans person’s acculturation: coming out, constructing one’s newly discovered trans identity, and finding community. Chapter 1 explores coming out as transgender, and the way in in which coming out is valued and discussed …

Ua1c6/8 Exhibit Photos, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Images of exhibits at Western Kentucky University.

Nightmares In The Kitchen: Personal Experience Narratives About Cooking And Food, Sarah T. Shultz

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis explores personal experience narratives about making mistakes in the preparation and serving of food. In order to understand when these narratives, referred to in the text as “kitchen nightmares,” are told, to whom, in what form, and why, one-onone and group ethnographic interviews were conducted. In total, 13 interviews were conducted with 25 individuals (men and women) ranging in age from 19 to 70. Six major themes of kitchen nightmare narratives are identified in Chapter One. Chapter Two explores one of these themes, resistance, in the context of the kitchen nightmare stories of heterosexual married women. Chapter Three …

Gipson, Kenneth Todd (Fa 80), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 80. “Occupational Folklore of Monument Makers.” Interviews with Carroll Monument Company employees regarding their occupation and related stories. Includes one summary and one transcript.

Morse, Rebecca D. (Fa 67), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 67. Thesis: “Tinsley Bottom Tennessee: An Historical Reconstruction Utilizing Oral Narrative Traditions” by Rebecca D. Morse in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts, Department of Folk and Intercultural Studies at Western Kentucky University.

Mercer, Fannie (Guy), 1855-1940 - Collector (Sc 176), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) Manuscripts Small Collection 176. Printed invitation, 15 June 1932, to Miss Sarah Leat for a July 4th ball at B. Vance's Hotel, Bowling Green, Kentucky, and newspaper clipping, 1929, concerning the invitation. Also holographic copy of lyrics of "Old Folks at Home."

Pannell, Jennifer Lynn, B. 1985 (Fa 555), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text (click on "Additional Files" below) for Folklife Archives Project 555. Ethnography project on three deer hunters, focusing on motivation, skills, equipment, and venison preparation. Project was completed for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University.

Doyle, Kathina Jo., B. 1990 (Sc 553), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text paper (click on "Additional Files" below) of an ethographic project on Tim Doyle, a clock repairman in Glasgow, Kentucky. Rosalie McCuiston, a clock enthusiast from Glasgow, Kentucky who repairs her own clocks, was also interviewed for this project.

Wronski, Genevieve Elissa, B. 1980 (Fa 556), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text (click on "Additional Files" below) for Folklife Archives Project 556. Ethnography project focused on three tattoo artists and their art in Glasgow, Kentucky. Focuses on skills, training, procedures, machinery, aesthetics, and artist inspiration. Also provides a brief history of tattooing. Project was completed for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University.

Threlkeld, Matthew Kohl, B. 1985 (Fa 552), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text paper (click on "Additional Files" below) for Folklife Archives Project 552. Ethnography project focused on Prince’s Hookah Lounge in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The cultural and social aspects of a hookah lounge are explored, with particular focus on its importance to Saudi Arabian students at Western Kentucky University. Project was completed for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University.

Tracy, Janet (Fa 40), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 40. Collection consists of interviews with Artie Emmet Lemaire about his business selling merchandise at flea markets and roadside stands in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Interviews also include biographcial data about Lemaire.

Smith, Corey William, B.1989 (Fa 549), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text paper (click on "Additional Files" below) for Folklife Archives Project 549. Joke collected from Joe Lohden by his stepson Corey Smith, which was told to Smith during his childhood. This project was a requirement for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University.

Fisher, Lucas Samuel, B. 1987 (Fa 547), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text (click on "Additional Files" below) for Folklife Archives Project 547. Paper titled: "Bowling Lingo," written by Lucas Samuel Fisher about the folk speech of bowlers, gathered in Glasgow, Kentucky, and nationally through an online bowling forum. This project was a requirement for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University.

Wronski, Genevieve Elissa, B. 1980 (Fa 544), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text (click on "Additional Files" below) for Folklife Archives Project 544. Paper titled "The Monkey Walk" written by Genevieve Elissa Wronski in which she documents Brian Greever's ape imitation performed at social parties. Includes colored illustrations and video.

Mcnulty, Sara Jane (Fa 529), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 529. Interviews, conducted by Sara Jane McNulty, with Logan County, Kentucky residents about their memories and association with the Shakers or the subsequent Shaker Museum at South Union, Kentucky. An index and transcription accompanies each interview.

Glynn, Luanne Carol (Aylesworth) (Fa 518), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 518. This collection contains tape recorded interviews (28) conducted by Luanne Glynn with Ellis Yeargin Hurt (1900-1994) of Cadiz, Trigg County, Kentucky. The interviews relay Ellis's life history. The project also includes an interpretive paper, a project proposal and summary as well as tape indexes. This project was the result of a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University.

Gibbs, Marissa (Fa 478), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Collection 478. Taped interviews conducted by Marissa Gibbs about the "Giles Cabin" built by Henry Giles and Janice Holt Giles near Kinfley, Adair County, Kentucky. Also includes a paper about the house. This project was completed as part of a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University.

Ua35/11 Student Honors Research Bulletin, Wku Honors Program

WKU Archives Records

The WKU Student Honors Research Bulletin is dedicated to scholarly involvement and student research. These papers are representative of work done by students from throughout the university.

• Anderson, R. Scott. Anglo-Italian Relations During the Unification of Italy, 1859-1860
• Clark, Anne. Can Extra Fat Make Healthier Hogs? The Effects of Dietary alpha-Linolenic Acid on Antibody Production in Swine Following Stimulation by Red Blood Cells and by Pasteurella Multocida (Serotype A)
• Gottfried, Victoria. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A New Look at an Old Problem
• Halbert, Christy. The Stereotype of the Female Athlete
• Hannah, Kathleen. Innocence and Corruption in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet …

The Altered Mobile Home: A Stationary Image Of Work And Value, Gregory Kendall Jenkins

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

As the medium cost of conventional housing rises, many people unable to incur such an expense look for alternative forms of adequate housing. In rural areas surrounding Bowling Green, Kentucky, several families have utilized the mobile home as a base to expand, embellish, and personalize, creating a larger more conventional-looking home. Many of these altered homes possess gabled roofs, rock exterior walls, and expansive interior space. Of primary concern is: why have these families undertaken a project of this nature?

As material culture scholars and folklorists examine our built environment, they find relationship between construction and the builders. What can …

Ua35/11 Student Honors Research Bulletin, Wku Honors Program

WKU Archives Records

The WKU Student Honors Research Bulletin is dedicated to scholarly involvement and student research. These papers are representative of work done by students from throughout the university.

• Basham, Penny. The Ritalin Controversy: Hyperactive Children and Medication
• Buote, Kim. The Transmission of Negative Feedback: Obstacles, Effects and Suggestions
• Cowan, James. The 1988 Presidential Primaries: Search for Bandwagons
• Durfey, Suzanne. AIDS: Nutrition and Its Implications
• Felty, Jeff. Gay and Lesbian Couples
• Gilliland, Linda. Muffins and Aspartame or Sucrose
• Graham, Ken. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
• Grubbs, Morris. Conflicts and Synthesis in Robert Penn Warren's Blackberry Winter
• Medeiros, Lynne. Problems of Democratic Republicism in …