ASRA Past Recipients
A Case Study of 15th Century Gregorian Chant Leaves
Nicholas Grieneisen
About the project: University of Pittsburgh’s Hillman Library Special Collections Department holds 29 Gregorian chant leaves ranging from the 12th to 17th centuries from multiple locations in Western Europe. One set of six leaves, dating from the 15th century Netherlands, Is particularly interesting in that many of the originally scribed neumes, and occasionally the corresponding text, were erased and replaced with newly scribed neumes and text. My goals for this project were: 1) to analyize the musical differences between the pre-edited and post-edited chants, and 2) to research the socio-cultural atmosphere of the Catholic Church in 15th century Netherlands to determine what compelled the scribe to make these edits. In order to accomplish these tasks, I transcribed each of the pre-edited and post-edited versions of the chants using Sibelius notation software and subsequently analyzed the chants musically, as well as consulted multiple digital and print sources on subjects ranging from general church practices during the 15th century to specific performance practices in Netherlands. This project is meant to serve as a case study that will augment the growing knowledge base of Gregorian chant.
Year: 2016
Faculty Mentor: James Cassaro
Faculty Department: University Library System
Librarian / Archivist: James Cassaro
A Critical Look at Mechanical Reproduction and the Withering Aura of Art
Kenneth Wahrenberger
About the project:
Historical analysis of the medieval European facsimiles
Year: 2019
Faculty Mentor: Shirin Fozi
Faculty Department: History of Art & Architecture
Librarian / Archivist: Kiana Jones
A Historical Analysis of Women in Pittsburgh Broadcast News
Charlotte Scurlock
About the project:
Evolution of feminine representation in Pittsburgh broadcast news reporting.
Year: 2019
Faculty Mentor: Dana Och
Faculty Department: English
Librarian / Archivist: Miriam Meislik
A Rainbow of Gay Life: A Comparison of Pittsburgh’s Gay Communities in the 1970’s
Regina Futcher
About the project:
I am interested in how institutionalized queer advocacy groups function differently from underground groups that have no university affiliation. I want to investigate the similarities and differences in topics the groups advocate for, their access to resources, and level of community engagement. I intend to achieve this goal by utilizing both the Rainbow Alliance archive and Pittsburgh’s Underground Press. Specifically, the Student Underground Press and the Gay Underground Press (Pittsburgh’s OUT magazine).
Year: 2020
Faculty Mentor: Julie Beaulieu
Faculty Department: Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies
Librarian / Archivist: Megan Massanelli, Ben Rubin, David Grinnell, Zach Brodt
Deliverables: Poster, Video Presentation
Affective Experience of Queer Nostalgia in the Archives
Zachary Grewe
About the project: The number of educated black youths has vastly grown since the end of slavery. With this increase in education comes an increase in the black child’s exposure to literature. As black children read in the early twentieth century, they found few books that depicted characters in a positive light. When the Black Arts movement grew during the Civil Rights era, which is only a cross section of history that differs in significant ways from what has come before and after, many authors sought to write and illustrate more books that were depictive of the rising black minority population. Some of these books were targeted specifically at children in hopes that the children will start learning about the importance of the black race early. These children’s book authors focused on three main points, which mirrored those that were being preached to adults during Civil Rights, and most importantly, the depiction of black people succeeding in society by dreaming, working hard, not being discouraged, and caring for one another. The children reading these works would not only be educated but also be instilled with a yearning to aim for a brighter future for themselves and for the black race.
Year: 2016
Faculty Mentor: Julie Beaulieu
Faculty Department: Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies
Librarian / Archivist: Robin Kear, Jennifer Needham
Deliverables: Tumblr Post 1, Tumblr Post 2, Tumblr Post 3, Tumblr Post 4
All Power to the People:Creating the Artistic Culture of the Black Panther Party
Maureen Jones
About the project: Maureen has studied the artwork of the Black Panther newspapers to see how they reflect African and African American artistic and cultural practice and determine if they share any visual commonalities with other leftist publications during the time period.
Year: 2017
Faculty Mentor: Gretchen Bender
Librarian / Archivist: Jennifer Needham, Arif Jamal
Deliverables: Poster
An art, historical, and bibliographical investigation of the Albertina Facsimile
Angelina Veneziano
About the project:
In depth study of the Albertina Facsimile
Year: 2019
Faculty Mentor: Christopher Nygren
Faculty Department: History of Art & Architecture
Librarian / Archivist: Kiana Jones
An Examination of Gender as Constructed and Perpetuated by Nineteenth-Century Children’s Literary Annuals
Caroline Waters
About the project: Study of 19th Century transatlantic Juvenile Periodicals from the Elizabeth Nesbitt Collection in the context of their reinforcements/representations of gender. My analysis of these primary sources builds upon my understanding of historical English texts, will expand upon my understanding of the implications and construction of children's literature, and will use my Film Studies experience to scrutinize the visual relationships in these periodicals.
Year: 2022
Faculty Mentor: Stephen Carr
Faculty Department: English
Librarian / Archivist: Clare Withers
An In-Depth Analysis of a 15th-Century French Book of Hours
Claudia Haines
About the project: Claudia conducted an in-depth analysis of the 15th-century Book of Hours to gain a better understanding of the book’s artistic imagery, devotional features, and provenance by comparing it with manuscript facsimiles and authentic medieval manuscripts.
Year: 2018
Faculty Mentor: Elizabeth Archibald
Faculty Department: History
Librarian / Archivist: Kiana Jones, Jim Cassaro, Jeanann Haas
Deliverables: PDF and Poster
Analyzing Uncle Tom's Cabin and Associated Works Through a Children's Literature Lens
Allyn Reynolds
About the project: Allyn’s research centered on the depictions of race in historical children’s texts such as “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”.
Year: 2018
Faculty Mentor: Mary Grycko
Faculty Department: English
Librarian / Archivist: Clare Withers, Bill Daw, Kathy Haines
Deliverables: Poster
