Research

Dissertation: “The Grey Lady, the Peacock, and the Mouse: Corporate Media Influence in American Popular Culture”

The intersection of corporate & business culture and popular culture & media has been largely ignored within American studies as a discipline. How do iconic media corporations, such as The Walt Disney Company, The New York Times, and The National Broadcasting Company, influence American popular culture through their distinct corporate cultures? From the Sunday crossword to the Summer Olympics, media corporations influence most of what we consume. While many scholars tend towards the negative in their examinations of the influence of corporations, I seek to find other outcomes for the creative community and American popular culture. In short, it isn’t all bad.

Thesis: “No Man is an Island: Woody Allen and New York City”

For film scholars, the movies of Woody Allen are well-trod territory. However, the lens of American studies brings out new layers of analysis on some of his most popular films. I investigate the influences of the changes in New York City (primarily Manhattan) on Woody Allen’s films. Robert Moses may be responsible for some of Allen’s most acclaimed tales of the city. Specifically, I examine the growing car culture and its place in Annie Hall; the role of nostalgia for the “old” New York in Manhattan; and the variety of living spaces in New York and how they characterize those who inhabit Hannah and Her Sisters.

Honors Project (Undergraduate Thesis): “One Day, One Million Stories: Psychology, Oral History, and 9/11, Five Years Later”

In 2006, America paused to honor the 5th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. I took this opportunity to investigate the psychological phenomena surrounding the attacks and their aftermath, as well as to compile a psychologically driven oral history of the event. I am particularly intrigued by flashbulb memories and their effect on American character in this context.

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