Kenneth Wahrenberger

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
Deliverables:
Bryce Yoder

Sounds of the Time: Examining the History of the Heinz Chapel Choir and Changing Campus Culture

Bryce Yoder
About the project:

American choral tradition evolution into extracurricular and secular groups

Year: 2019
Faculty Mentor: Susan Rice
Faculty Department: Music
Librarian / Archivist: Jim Cassaro
Deliverables: Research Paper, Poster

Examining Narratives on the Homestead Strike

Sarah Chu
About the project:

The Homestead Strike of 1892 was one of the important turning points in American labor history, emphasizing the importance of organized labor. With resources from the archives, I aim to investigate the economic actions of management during the event and retrace the experiences of laborers after the strike. With this, I aim to create a narrative with a humanistic approach in the conflict between management and labor.

Year: 2020
Faculty Mentor: Niklas Frykman
Faculty Department: Niklas Frykman
Librarian / Archivist: Zach Brodt
Deliverables: Poster

The Music of the Middle Ages

Madeline Fox
About the project:

This project will begin with a translation of Gregorian chants from Latin to English, focusing on the neumes below repeated words and phrases. This will begin my study of the importance of melodic repetition. This will then lead me to a cultural and philosophical study of the importance Gregorian chant ritual had throughout the Middle Ages in not only the Catholic church, but in medieval society as a whole.

Year: 2020
Faculty Mentor: James Cassaro
Faculty Department: Finney Music Library
Librarian / Archivist: James Cassaro
Deliverables: Poster, Research Paper

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

Portrayals of Black Women and 19th Century Black Face Minstrelsy

Rachel Hopkins
About the project:

This project seeks to analyze popular portrayals of Black women and their bodies in cover art, songbooks, and songsterswithin19th century black face minstrelsy and what that reveals to us about early conceptualizations of Black women during that time. Their portrayals as unappealing, hypersexual, and mannish strikingly contradict traditional feminine ideals of beauty, frailty, and sexual restraint. Despite this characterization of woman existing as a form of oppression and social control for many, acknowledging it as a privilege denied to Black women and other categories of women is crucial for an intersectional appreciation of American women’s historical struggles

Year: 2020
Faculty Mentor: Kaniqua L. Robinson
Faculty Department: Africana Studies
Librarian / Archivist: Kathy Haines, Chris Lynch, Bill Daw, Jim Cassaro
Deliverables:

Transatlantic Constructions of Childhood in the Late 19th Century

Ren Jordon
About the project:

This research exists as a continuation of an ongoing project that examines transatlantic constructions of girlhood in 19th-century periodicals. The proposed project will consist of performing a close reading of reader correspondence in St. Nicholas: An Illustrated Magazine for Young Folks. Following this close reading will be an examination of the ways in which St. Nicholas conceptualized and shaped girlhood and girls’ experiences. As a result, this project will contribute to the field of childhood studies by bringing to light the presence of girlhood in content frequently associated with boys and masculinity.

Year: 2020
Faculty Mentor: Amy Murray Twyning
Faculty Department: English
Librarian / Archivist: Clare Withers, Jeanann Haas
Deliverables: Poster

Art as Activism: an Exploration of activism through art in the era of the Black Panther

Brianna Mims
About the project:

My research seeks to explore the black female identity as a psychological and artistic concept. Up until recently, my creative process has been solely informed by my own experiences and environments. After having completed the Brackenridge fellowship this past summer, I’m looking for a more historical perspective to inform my artistic practice. With this temporal focus in mind, I’d like to create a series of artwork that is inspired by archival research.

Year: 2020
Faculty Mentor: Lindsey French
Faculty Department: Studio Arts
Librarian / Archivist: Jeanann Haas, Kate Joranson
Deliverables:

The Elisabeth Lloyd Papers and Feminist Philosophy of Biology

Ann Sippel
About the project:

My project will utilize the correspondences of Elisabeth Lloyd in order to investigate how working as a woman in science and philosophy effected the way that she did research and how it was received. I will also be contacting Ms. Lloyd to hopefully speak with her about her experiences.

Year: 2020
Faculty Mentor: Marian Gilton
Faculty Department: History and Philosophy of Science
Librarian / Archivist: Jon Klosinski , Lance Lugar, David Grinnell
Deliverables:

Caricatures of Violence: Representations of Gendered Violence in Philipon's La Caricature

Clare Stacey
About the project:

I propose to do an in-depth visual and textual analysis of Philipon's "La Caricature" which is housed in the Frick Fine Arts Library. My proposed analysis will focus on the depiction of gendered violence throughout the journal. I plan to supplement this analysis by studying representations of women and violence in other modern and contemporary French publications. My project will combine my interests in French culture and gendered violence. It will contribute to previous scholarship on the volumes by examining them through a specifically feminist lens.

Year: 2020
Faculty Mentor: Chloe Hogg
Faculty Department: French & Italian Languages & Literatures
Librarian / Archivist: Kiana Jones, Leslie Poljak
Deliverables: Poster