Kim Kardashian, America's Putin and Lilac Daze
Varieties of American experience and identity come under the scholarly gaze
by MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson
The nine American studies majors in the class of 2016 are in the final stretch of their senior seminar, and the original research they're performing is an interesting mix, from a critical evaluation of Kim Kardashian-era feminism to postwar prison culture to death-metal rage.
The work springs from the senior seminar, a yearlong course that brings all seniors within the major together each week as they prepare their senior theses. With guidance from 2015-16 faculty advisor Cotten Seiler, associate professor of American studies, the students offer one another feedback and support as they tackle the largest scholarly project of their undergraduate careers.
This year’s topics are:
- Tyler Clauson-Wolf – It's Funny Because It's True: Social Commentary in Stand-Up Comedy
- Drew Crowley – Purity Balls: Virginity as a Gendered Construct
- Jason Denaburg – 21st Century Czar: American Imagination of Russia and Vladimir Putin
- Sam Drabkin – ‘Wastin' My Life in Altered States': Death Grips and Avant-Garde Rage
- Peter Hass – Declarations and Incarcerations: Race, Audibility, and Citizenship in the Postwar U.S. Prison
- Patti Kotrady – Consuming Authenticity: Deconstructing 'Do-It-Yourself' Punk Rock Ethics in Philadelphia
- Jahmel Martin – What Does a Broken Black Body Mean to You?: Digital Spectatorship of Police Brutality
- Angela Medrano – East Loves West: Mixed Race Identity and the Filipina-American Marriage Market
- Catherine "Marley" Obrecht – Making a Celebrity: Social Media, Feminism and the Spectacle of Kim Kardashian
In some cases, the projects build on preliminary research the American studies seniors completed as part of a prior class. They also can seize the opportunity to bring a personal passion or interest under the scholarly lens.
Denaburg, for example, became interested in images of Vladimir Putin while studying in Russia last year through the Dickinson in Russia program. He's now researching the cultural meanings underlying past and present images of the Russian president, as seen in America. Kotrady has played bass since age 12 and has performed in a punk band, Lilac Daze, for four years. Informed by critical theory and pop-music history, she’s conducting ethnographic research in Philadelphia to gain insights into the region’s do-it-yourself punk culture.
“As I started taking American studies courses, I began to question what it means to be ‘punk,’ whether punk is a genre of music or a lifestyle, and what specific, yet often unspoken rules or etiquette of the subculture work to construct the politics of punk identity,” Kotrady said, adding that she’s enjoying conducting interviews onsite at regional homes where punk concerts are staged.
And, like thesis writers past and present, she says it’s helpful to be able to check in with the group as she interprets the data and fine-tunes her written analysis. “The seminar encourages me to keep the big picture in mind,” she explains. “Like, what does the current movement in Philadelphia punk say about broader power relations in the United States?”
Learn more
- “Where RuPaul Meets Amazing Man”
- Department of American Studies
- Research at Dickinson
- Students as Scholars
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Published March 7, 2016