2015 American Studies Senior Thesis Schedule

March 18 – April 15, 2015

March 18

Phantom of the Operator: Negotiating Female Gender Identity in Telephonic Technology from Operator to Apple iOS – Mary Zost

Venus in Paris: Exploring Latino Representation in Jennie Livingston’s Paris is Burning – Salvador Rosas

“She is What a Girl Aspires to Be”: Fans and The Politics of Gender Representation in The Hunger Games Films – Elise Mixon

March 23

Choreographing Acceptance: How So You Think You Can Dance Performs Changing Attitudes on Gay Rights in America – Julia Jester

An Urban Paradox: The Transformation of the Loew’s Kings Theater and Flatbush, Brooklyn from 1950 to Present Day – Jennifer Bisgaier

Tailor-Made: Examining the Position of Asian American Fashion Designers in the Narrative of American Identity – Alison Ku

Hollywood Rogues: How John Huston and Humphrey Bogart Challenged the Red Scare – Allyn Faenza

March 25

Faith within Reason: Snapshots of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s Endorsement Test – Laura Higbee

Charm City: How Baltimore Became the Post-Industrial City of The Wire –John O’Donnell

New Age, Old School: Unpacking DuBoisian Talented Tenth Politics in 21st Century Social Media Movements – Danielle Bembry

A Voice on the Mall: Studying Sovereignty at the National Museum of the American Indian – Harvey Hinman

March 30

Big House, Little Lives: Slave Children in the Plantation Household – Julia Butz

Higher Education For All: Students with Down Syndrome Spark America’s Next Civil Rights Movement -Julia Bonner

Thank You For Your Service: The Conflict Between Contemporary Veteran Identities – Nevada Schadler and Christopher Buffone

April 1

It’s a Girl!: The All-Americans Girls Professional Baseball League as a ‘War Baby’ of World War II – Carolyn Clendenin

Strong in Faith and War: Charles Carroll and the Ethics of Revolution – Michelle Mohr

A Fair for Everyman: Westinghouse Electric Company and the Representations of Future Promises at World’s Fairs – Mary Bacon

“And the Tombstones Go Rolling Along”: How The Caisson Platoon Epitomizes America’s Relationship with Its Warrior Class – Chloe Nalbantian

April 8

Curating Camelot: Exploring Jacqueline Kennedy’s White House Restoration Project in the Age of Television – Meghan Brogan

Politicizing a Plague: An Investigation of the American Public’s Role in Reagan and Obama’s Domestic AIDS Policies – Rian Rendon

Legalizing Theft: Exploring Why Missouri Democrats Justified Jesse James’ Exploits in the Media, 1869-1876 -John Miossi

Throw Like a Girl: The Evolution of the American Female Athlete through the Lens of Sports Media – Jillian Carter

April 13

Ring Around the Rosie: Evaluating Magazine Media Coverage of Workingwomen During World War II – Lacey Henry

“Faith. Family. Ducks”: Duck Dynasty’s Secret to Success – Meredith Franco

Good Intentions Parish: Holocaust Education in the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. – Kathleen Brennan

‘More To The Picture Than Meets the Eye’: Neil Young, The Media, and Artistic Representation in 1979 – Timothy Barnicle

April 15

Rebel with a Dress Code: Reconciling the Geographic and Generational Implications of a Rise in Blue Jeans in 1950s America – Courtney Ingard

What’s in a Name?: Deconstructing the Redskins’ Mascot in 2015 – Nate Reilly

Sexual AcTVity: Evaluating the Staying Power of the Virgin-Whore Dichotomy on Teen Television – Carolyn Lehman