Other American Studies Commons^™

Tryna Be A Mountain, Aru Apaza

Senior Projects Fall 2023

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Arts of Bard College.

An Arbitrary Aesthetic: Cultural Reproduction And Hegemonic Canonical Formations In The Western Theatrical Academy, Sim C. Rivers

Theses and Dissertations

Theatre as an artistic practice has often been celebrated as an art of and for the people, being a modality that in theory the common person has access to learn, explore and experience. In recent years I have become preoccupied with the growing rarification and privileging of this art form, particularly in how it is cognized and taught in the academic world. As such, I set out to investigate the mechanisms at work at levels structural, artistic, and personal that determine how theatre is taught and understood within the western academy.

This thesis seeks to examine and unpack the perceived …

Fragmentation And Fabulation: Reflexivity And The New Black Documentary, Joanna Lehan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis concerns the photographic representation of Black bodies in new, reflexive documentary forms that have been increasingly produced and exhibited in the midst of America’s renewed discourse on race. Approaching this argument categorically, focused on the themes of fabulation and fragmentation, my task here is to uncover the gaps and overlaps between earlier critiques of the documentary image and more recent discourse on photography and race by exploring the specific methods through which select recent documentary projects embed and expand these critiques.

Fragmentation is a category of production I use to frame a movement of Black photographic artists …

Material Encounters: Making Memory Beyond The Mind, Ariel Wills

Masters Theses

Can acts of making carry the memories of our embeddedness within the world? This thesis explores how making things can nurture a sense of kinship that cuts across the organic and inorganic, erasing the distinction between living and dead, material and spiritual. Through handwork such as art-making, sewing, knitting, cooking, woodworking, and beyond, the burden of remembering and of archiving is shared across human and non-human bodies, cultivated through practices of making, and through the materials themselves. By recounting the stories of my family’s experience as Jewish immigrants in the United States, I aim to reveal how their domestic practices …

Sacred Music In Colonial Era Hispaniola: The Evangelization Of The Taino People, Tito J. Gutierrez

Student Theses

During the 15th-18th centuries, the major European religious orders; the Franciscans, Dominicans, Jesuits, and Jeronymites, journeyed to the newly colonized American territories in an attempt to convert the multitudes of natives peoples living there. Along with prayer books, crucifixes, and religious images, these missionaries brought sacred European music to American shores in an attempt to attract the native people to the Catholic faith.The use of music as a tool for conversion of native people in places such as Mexico, South America, California, and the South West United States, have been well researched and documented. However, the research of the spiritual …

Eagle Eye Vs. Gear Jammer, Jessica Danielle Ellis

Theses and Dissertations

Where similarities in class struggle have historically operated as a unifying force globally, the American crafted mythos isolates the individual and dehumanizes those that do not fall within the parameters of the cowboy archetype. The national protagonist is turned into a class traitor and an extension of government power.

In/Visible, Raymond Thompson Jr

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

My MFA thesis and supporting exhibition focus on challenging the United States’ photographic archive that often left out African-American people. The work, through the use of appropriation and alternative photographic processes, disrupts America’s historical visual archive and notions that surround the white gaze. Through the unsettling of this visual space, new speculative narratives can be created to help imagine new futures. This work is the beginning of a process of mourning histories I have never known and reclaiming a place for myself and my family in the American landscape that is free of racial trauma.

The Cottages That Almost Were Not Saved: A Preservation Perspective On Three Newport Mansions, Julia Boron

MA Theses

The Gilded Age in America was a time of swift and extreme economic expansion which caused America’s leading industrial families to become extraordinarily wealthy. Because the introduction of personal income tax had not yet been established, people pocketed every dollar they earned, and the people of the Gilded Age lived and spent lavishly. Having multiple homes was a status symbol, and the wealthy elite flocked to Newport, Rhode Island during the summers building elaborate mansions and sparing no expense. A myriad of economic factors around 1913 greatly changed the general view on wealth and spending. The majority of the summer …

The Museum As A Mirror: Reinterpreting And Delinking American Landscape Art From Colonial Narratives, Blythe C. Romano

Honors Theses

Art museums have recently been looking at their existing collections with heightened scrutiny, revisiting their decision to display colonial works uncritically in their gallery spaces, and reconsidering the idea that there is such a thing as a unified art historical canon. These conversations regarding reinterpretation are necessary for all museums that choose to display art with problematic histories, as this information is owed to visitors -- especially within the settler colonial context. The Colby College Museum of Art in Waterville, Maine is one site where such collection and gallery “reinterpretation” has begun to be implemented and discussed. For example, in …

Shifting Center, Walker Bankson

Senior Projects Spring 2021

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Arts of Bard College.

Exploring A Qualitative Approach To Arts Advocacy And Evaluation, Lycette C. Belisle

Undergraduate Theses

The quantitative impact of the arts has become an increasingly important factor in determining the overall value of a project, and is often used to determine acceptance of submissions, public recognition and funding disbursement. This project evaluates current understandings of how the arts function within society, popular methods for determining the value of the arts and explores how qualitative reasoning can be utilized to communicate the value of supporting artistic endeavors. While placing a numerical value on the arts based on data collection can be important, this project will aim to evaluate the implications of relying so heavily on facts …

This Month, Jennifer N. Figueroa

Theses

This Month is a series of collages that depict police violence at civil rights and Black Lives Matter protests. By pairing events from 1964 to contemporary protests that occurred in the same month, the collection draws a connection between the past and present.

Universe Of Things: A Human Presentation Of Food-For-Thought., Madeline Halpern

Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Papers

I present this statement under three loose categories: People, Objects and their Environment. I consider People as human, Objects as art objects, domestic objects, and food, and Environment as the shared space of the former groups. Food directs this statement as I present each concept and creative process as a metaphorical dish. Material exploration carried me from a direct practice of reorienting acrylic paint and questioning object functionality through personified sculptures into theoretical thesis work in which I use interpersonal relations and the idea of consumption to translate tactile, gustatory and olfactory sensations into digital film. In this meal I …

Constraint And Control, Patricia Ayres

Theses and Dissertations

I have long considered themes of the body. Drawing on my knowledge as a fashion designer, I bring materials and hardware from the fashion industry into my artwork transforming and rendering them non-functional. My sculptures relate to stories of isolation, separation, and confinement. The following pages will analyze how the United States penal system controls, constrains and restricts the body through physical and psychological wounds. Furthermore, they will examine how the Catholic Church controls people’s minds and behavior through a ritualistic belief system.

From Swing King To Swing Kids: The Jazz Era Of ‘Big Band Orchestras’ In World War Ii, Katie Victoria Burnopp

Student Scholar Showcase

Known as the ‘King of Swing’, clarinetist and band leader Benny Goodman (1909-1986) threatened the Nazi cause during WWII. With intent of improving music pedagogy, the purpose of this research was to investigate swing music during World War II. The particular problems of this study were to: (1) identify how the swing music of Benny Goodman (1909-1986) influenced adolescents in the United States of America, United Kingdom, and Germany; (2) explore the Nazi party view on ‘swing’ music of the era; (3) examine how the music of Charlie and his Orchestra became used as a tool for Nazi propaganda; and …

Alien Lands, Carissa Mosley

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

Alien Lands has been an academic year-long study and cross-media art endeavor, researching the history of palm trees in Los Angeles and documenting their current presence. I photographed and made videos of the palm trees in Los Angeles and ended the project with a ceremonial installation/performance, grieving the colonial history and unsustainability of palm trees by ironically commemorating them. This body of work is meant to provoke discussion of palm trees' iconicization, their ubiquitous invisibility in our environment, their colonial history, and their likely nonexistent future.

American Idyll: A Place To Call Home, Bowen Walsh Fernie

Senior Projects Spring 2018

I was raised in Italy from the age of five and when I returned to the United States at eighteen, I was surprised by the way I was affected by the landscape I had never known or explored. I found myself drawn to American culture as it is stereotypically represented in movies and TV - the quaint houses, the schools with cheerleaders and locker rooms, the drive-in movie theaters – and began to examine how those stereotypes are reflected in the real world. From this initial interest I began exploring the American space that I envisioned myself inhabiting throughout my …

Work/Death, Of Each In Their Own, Micah H. Weber

Theses and Dissertations

Writings in support of my visual thesis, including some background, and bibliographic information: Oregon/Death/Animation/Vocation and the artist as an agent of potential.

A Reception History And Conductor’S Guide To William Grant Still’S ...And They Lynched Him On A Tree, Harlan Zackery Jr.

Dissertations

William Grant Still’s lynching drama …And They Lynched Him on a Tree is a rarely performed work for white choir, black choir, contralto soloist, narrator and orchestra. The title and subject matter of the work have been significant hurdles for many conductors who have considered the piece for performance. Additionally, the piece exists in several editions, and among each edition there are inconsistencies in terms of scoring and text, further making the piece difficult to program. Further, the piece, published as a choral ballad, is often labeled as a cantata, oratorio, ballad or play. It is true that the piece …

From Pants To Pearls: Rodgers And Hammerstein’S Affect On Post Wwii Women, Alison Dees

Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

This Must Be The Place: A Return To The Borscht Belt, Ezra Glenn

Senior Projects Spring 2012

This Must Be the Place: a Return to the Borscht Belt

The Borscht Belt is a region in and around the Catskill Mountains, primarily in Sullivan and Ulster counties, which was once home to over 1,100 resorts, country clubs, golf courses, hotels, and bungalow colonies.

Shortly after the beginning of the 20^th century, the first waves of Jewish immigrants arrived from Eastern Europe to New York City in droves. Small Jewish farming colonies that had sprung up in the mid-19^th century began opening their doors to vacationers from the city as makeshift boarding houses, in order to supplement …

The Rhetoric Of Crisis: How We Talk About The Vulnerability Of Youth, Casey Cramer

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

The classical definition of rhetoric is generally understood to be the art of persuasion. Originating in ancient Greece, rhetoric was one of the three original liberal arts. It focused on effective use of language, most often in the arena of politics and public discourse (Brummett, 35). By mastering persuasive language, politicians were able to shape and sway public opinion in their favor. Conversely, by understanding the mechanics of rhetoric, citizens were able to recognize and interpret speech that was purposefully constructed. The prevalence of rhetoric in political speech made it an integral part of a democratic society - politicians needed …

Black Indians, Zulus And Congos; Transformation And Transference Of Community Traditions In New Orleans And Panama, Elizabeth Rhodes

Textual Resources

This paper is a comparative study of three traditions that reflect the African diaspora: the Zulus of New Orleans, the black Indians of New Orleans and the Congo ritual of Panama. In all practices, the participant is transformed from citizen/worker/family member into an empowered being whose role is intricately connected to the reinforcement of cultural and community ties. In addition to presenting an overview of each tradition, I will discuss shared themes, parallel characterization, approaches to masking and comment on the interest of established practitioners to transfer their talents and histories to younger members of the community.

November 15, Usm Special Collections

Batchelder-Haley Letters

In this letter, dated to approximately 1916, Abbie writes to Mrs. Tibbets about several topics, including her teaching job, attending an exhibition, seeing the Emperor pass on the street, tea services, and describes in detail her accommodations. She says that she is very happy in Japan now that she is more used to the climate.

July 23, 1907, Usm Special Collections

Batchelder-Haley Letters

Cora writes to Mrs. Tibbets about her vacation trip from where she was staying in Tokyo to several different places around Japan. She writes of her stay in a Japanese style hotel. She also writes about the scenery around her, and about how long it takes her by rail to get to her travel destinations. She also writes of a traveling companion named George, and how she has invited Abbie to come and visit her and meet George.

April 11, 1907, Usm Special Collections

Batchelder-Haley Letters

In this letter, Cora writes to Mrs. Tibbets about life in Japan. She writes about the climate, and how she finds she cannot do as much due to the "enervating" nature of the climate there. She describes a "sword walking" ceremony, in which one climbs a ladder made of swords. She then writes of the beginnings of spring in Japan and how there is a fair coming to Japan, "the largest ever held in Japan."

January 18, 1907, Usm Special Collections

Batchelder-Haley Letters

In this letter, Abbie writes to Mrs. Tibbets about the "glorious" scenery where she is staying. She writes of the mountains, streams, tall oak trees, and blossoms as the season changes from winter to spring.

December 26, 1906, Usm Special Collections

Batchelder-Haley Letters

In this letter, Cora writes to Mrs. Tibbets to thank her for the Christmas gifts. She describes the table that they set for a traditional western-style Christmas. They invited a Japanese couple, who were described by Cora to be very fascinated with the Christmas decor. She also tells Mrs. Tibetts about her coming vacation with George to Oshima, as there is a volcano there that they are intending to climb.