American Studies’ MA Student
Independent Projects
Jamie Bartholomew, Spring 2007, “The Paintings of the Wirt Collection” at the Mahoning
Valley Historical Society (museum exhibit)
From her introductory text for the exhibit:
Benjamin Franklin Wirt stands as one of the most prominent historical figures within the
Mahoning Valey, with a long career in local and state government, law and business. He was an
avid collector of numerous types of artifacts with a genuine affection for the development and
history of the Mahoning Valley.
It was Wirt’s greatest wish to leave behind a legacy, in the form of a museum, to help enlighten
and educate the citizens of our community. To this end Wirt amassed an amazing collection of
artifacts from around the world, including an impressive array of paintings from various artists
serving as great examples of late 19th and early 20th century painting. Wirt’s artistic selections
vary, from local and regional artists, to European masters, from landscapes of the English
countryside to Indians of the American West.
John Bralich, Fall 2009, Developing Methods to Establish an Urban Wetland Mitigation Bank
on Youngstown’s East Side (research paper/project)
From his proposal:
The purpose of this project will be to develop a set of methods for adaptively reusing large
sections of unimproved land on the city of Youngstown’s east side, and to develop a plan to
ensure no net-loss of wetlands in the Mahoning Valley through the establishment of a wetland
mitigation bank. This project will be completed in collaboration with the city of Youngstown
and the YSU Center for Urban and Regional Studies (CURS). The city has expressed interest in
providing funding to CURS for this project.
Michael Brenner, Spring 2008, Furry Culture and Fandom: A Look Inside a Subculture
(research paper)
From his paper’s introduction:
This paper focuses on a group of people who collectively call themselves “furries”. In parts of
this paper the term ‘furry fandom’ will appear. This is a term used by insiders (and some
outsiders) to describe furries as a whole. That is they are fans of ‘furry’ – non-human animals
and anthropomorphic animals included. The term ‘furry fandom’ lacks a precise definition
beyond this.
Anthropomorphic, according to the on-line Merriam-Webster dictionary may be defined as:
1: described or thought of as having a human form or human attributes. 2: ascribing human
characteristics to nonhuman things.1 Within furry I have seen this range from a talking, but
otherwise normal, cat to something that looks like a human with just a few animal attributes such
as animal ears and tails. There are also a few cases of animal/plant hybrids or animalistic robots.
These also may be considered both anthropomorphic so long as they have some human trait
(most commonly the ability to communicate in complex ways).
I come at this topic from an insider point of view, and have self-identified as a furry for several
years, however I intend to use this paper to introduce furry to the larger academic world. Though
I am coming from an insider’s point of view I am trying to be as informative and objective as
possible. While I may not be as objective as an outsider I also possess insider information an
outsider would lack.
Krystle Hively, Spring 2010, Plan for a Traveling Exhibit for the Children’s Center for Science
and Technology (museum exhibit plan)
From her proposal:
I will develop a plan for a traveling exhibit for the Children’s Center for Science and Technology
which targets fourth grade students.
Richard Mattson, Fall 2009, The Church in Aurora PowerPoint (PowerPoint presentation)
From his proposal:
My independent project will be to develop a PowerPoint presentation for The Church in Aurora
for the church’s bi-centennial celebration. The presentation will be a general overview of the
church’s history in the last 200 years.
Jennifer Mitchell, Spring 2008, “From Youngstown to Gotham: Examining American Themes
in Post 9/11 Newspapers” (research paper)
From her project presentation handout:
Most studies on the media response to 9/11 have analyzed television and the Internet. If there
are any on newspapers, they have analyzed their front pages, images, editorials, and websites, all
of them large-circulation or national newspapers. I wanted to see how smaller-circulation local
newspapers responded to the attacks, in comparison to the national newspapers—if any different.
Julie Robinson, Spring 2011, “Lordstown Safe Routes to School” (grant application and travel
plan)
Created a written School Travel Plan (STP) that outlined the community of Lordstown’s
intentions for enabling students to engage in active transportation as they travel to and from
school. The STP included: school travel policies, teacher, child, and parent surveys, mapping,
and community meetings. The STP was used to apply for grant money from the Safe Routes to
School grant.
Jessica Rohrdanz, Spring 2009, “Superheroes for a Superpower: Batman, Spider-Man and the
Quest for an American Identity” (thesis)
Her thesis abstract: Comic books, as items of mass culture, are designed to sell, designed to be
profitable. To generate profit, they have to be popular. Comic book titles that Americans could
not relate to did not sell and were then cancelled. Some of the most popular and long-standing
comic books are ones that star superheroes. Superheroes represent idealized American heroes.
Their superpowers give them the ability to protect Americans in a way that older pulp magazine
and dime novel heroes could not. By looking at superheroes during different points in time, we
can see what Americans during that time valued and what they feared. American hopes, fears,
and dreams can all be found in comic books.
The first chapter in this thesis discusses dime novels and pulp magazines as contributing to the
development of comic books. As works of popular fiction, aimed at the working class, dime
novels and pulp magazines are very much like comic books. The following chapters outline
periods in American history and provide insight into how comic books reflect the popular
attitudes and beliefs of Americans during these periods using two well-known superheroes,
Batman and Spider-Man. The willingness of Americans to accept super-powered heroes reflects
their belief in an all-powerful government and a super-powered nation. In a world where
America was all-powerful, Americans needed heroes that were just as powerful to show them
how to use that power responsibly. This thesis ends with a discussion of how the concept of
superheroes helps Americans deal with the disparate division of power in a republican
democracy and with the repercussions of being part of a superpower nation.
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Katie Sechler, Spring 2009, “The New American Dream: A Popular Culture Perspective”
(research paper)
From her introduction:
The concept of the American Dream began when the country was founded. The idea especially
took hold in an industrialized society when families realized that hard work and determination
could lead their family into home ownership and a prominent place in society. Jennifer
Hochschild in Facing up to the American Dream states, "...achieving the American dream
implies reaching some threshold of well-being, higher than one began but not necessarily
dazzling" (16). The traditional American dream focuses on working hard, at any cost, to achieve
wealth. However, the concept of the American Dream in industrialized society is changing. In
fact, it is not uncommon to hear and read reference being made to the “New American Dream.”
For example, Richard Florida in "The New American Dream, argues that "the new American
Dream is to maintain a reasonable standard of living while doing work that we enjoy doing" (1).
The American dream began to change in the 1960s and the country needs to embrace creative
and innovative methods of work and occupations to thrive in the 21st century. Many areas of the
country, though, have not realized the new American dream and are struggling because of it.
However, the new American dream is real and there are several indicators in popular music that
exemplify the importance of this shift in the United States. This essay will examine the
transition from the old to the new American dream, focusing on the political, economic, and
cultural context in which this change occurred. Most of the attention, however, will be devoted to
the role of young people in this transition and how the changes are exemplified in lyrics of
popular music throughout the decades.
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Jason Sotlar, Spring 2007, “Consumer Culture and Immigrant Assimilation/Americanization in
Youngstown (1890s-1920’s)” (research paper)
From his project proposal:
Consumption was a vital component in Americanizing immigrants from Southern and Eastern
Europe during the early twentieth century. The rise of consumer culture coincided with rapid
migration of SE Europeans from primarily agrarian villages to urban, industrial, and modernized
America. ..Consumption occurred on familiar terms as immigrants still held onto traditional
customs, yet bought American products and imitated American ideals of behavior…Primary
sources of inquiry included books written in the nineteen-teens and twenties about
Americanizing immigrants as well as newspapers from Youngstown in 1920 (Vindicator and
foreign press Slovenske (Slovak) and Il Cittadino (Italinan). Sampling the advertisements for
clothing/fashion and movies, I hope to show the effects of the visual elements of mass
consumption and its impact on Americanizing immigrants.
Krista Wagner, Spring 2007, “Farbs, Stickjocks, and Costume Nazis: A Study of the Living
History Subculture in Modern America” (thesis).
Her thesis abstract:
The focus of this thesis is to allow the reader to better understand the subculture of living
historians. Oral history interviews were conducted over a two-month period with ten living
historians from local reenacting groups and living history museums in the
Ohio/Pennsylvania/West Virginia area. The interviews wielded information which allows the
reader to better understand how the structure of the living history community works, especially
the private lives of historical re-enactors.
Chapter 1 of this thesis discusses the history of the two main subcultures of living
history; living history museums and historical reenacting. Chapter 2 describes the
interviewees and the structure of living history organizations. Chapter 3 contains many
sections, such as For Love of the Game, Edutainment, and Physical and Mental
Hardships. This chapter allows the reader to better understand the mindset of living
historians, the subculture in which they participate, and the value of living history as a
form of interpretation. Chapter 4 discusses the struggles living historians are faced with,
including criticism from academics, the public, and even each other and the changing
generations of reenactors. Chapter 5 concludes the thesis by discussing the future of
living history museums as well as historical reenacting.
With support from historical museums, reenactors, and academics, living history does not
have to be a dying art in America. Living history allows for an interactive education
which intrigues the minds of the audience both young and old. The professional field
which struggles financial to support such an intensive program and reenactments, with
numbers constantly dwindling, can work together to support one another for the success
of living history.
Pamela S. Zembower, Summer 2009, Mahoning Valley Water Shed (museum exhibit)
From her proposal:
My independent project is with the Children’s Museum of the Valley. It will be an exhibit that
will be very little reading, more visual and hands on for the children. It will be displayed in the
main entry way at the museum. The main purpose of the exhibit will show how the children’s
museum connects with the Mahoning valley water shed, how and where the location fits in with
the history of bocce ball, and it will all tie into Smokey Hollow.