English Literature & Art History
Justin Demsky, justin_demsky1@baylor.edu
Baylor University, with Dr. Joshua King
English Literature
Distracting or Didactic: Understanding the Purpose of Dialect in Victorian Scottish Working-Class Poetry
For around 100 years, scholars have disregarded Scottish working-class poetry from the Victorian era due to its supposed irrelevance, leading to a gap of knowledge in the field. Many believed that the poetry’s heavy use of dialect placed it in a category that did not need to be studied because it did not realistically represent the people of the Victorian era, but by avoiding the study of this body of literature, scholars have strayed away from understanding the class of individuals that it represents—the working class. This study aims to combat the stigma of irrelevant Victorian working-class poetry by researching a set of dialect poems published in and near Glasgow between 1866 and 1882 within the context of greater historical movements to understand their cultural relevance. It was discovered that these poems speak more truthfully to the people they represent than previously researched literature by working as a means to preserve, grow, and represent working-class values and traditions.
William Lento, willjlento@gmail.com
University of Nevada, Reno, with Dr. Justin Gifford
English Literature
Reading the 20th Century as Liminal Space in the Early Writings of Joan Didion
A reading of several early works written by American author Joan Didion, with an emphasis on liminality theory and cultural context, will provide readers with an expanded perspective on how culture transitions between significant periods and how literature allows for such transitions to be observed. Liminality is a branch of literary theory that attempts to analyze cultural practices, codes, rituals, and meanings in-between aggregate structures and uncertain outcomes (Horvath et. al.). Conducting this research involves performing a close reading of the primary texts as well as primary source documents and supplementary scholarly articles concerning both liminality theory and previous scholarship on Didion’s works. Completion of this research is expected to provide readers with a novel perspective from which the works of Joan Didion may be read and interpreted from a standpoint that emphasizes the interrelatedness of culture and literature. Not only does this work allow for the concept of liminality to be integrated into literary discourse in a new manner, but close analysis of the works of Joan Didion continues to offer readers a unique perspective on the twentieth century and how transient or liminal periods function in the scope of cultural and literary studies. Following conclusion of this study, future researchers may reference the work done here in order to further apply theoretical frameworks to the works of Joan Didion and her contemporaries for the purposes of understanding their cultural significance. Additionally, using liminality in this novel approach may prompt further use of the theory in similar texts.
Camellia Valencia, Camellia_Valencia1@baylor.edu
Baylor University, with Dr. Julie Holcomb
Art History
The Decolonization of the African Collection from the Martin Museum of Art
This research project aims to study the provenance and ethical practices used during the creation of the Martin Museum’s Permanent African Collection and connect their current practices to museums worldwide. The first part of the project focuses on the museum's creation, the formation of the African Collection, and its provenance. The second part of this project focuses on three objects from the Martin and addresses contemporary museum topics related to each piece. Issues discussed in this project's second half include colonization's impact on African art, tourist objects and their authenticity, and the decolonization of museum spaces. This research is important because museum ethics have evolved immensely since the 1970s when most of the African Collection was acquired. Furthermore, the Martin Museum and other institutions have begun addressing ethical issues arising from their permeant collections to decolonize their spaces. This project required a mix of archival research, library research, and research on museum policy. This study uncovers ethical problems from the past but also shows a positive change in institutional practices today. This project concludes by discussing what Martin Museums is doing to prevent ill practices in the future and how their reflections on past actions make them better institutions today.
Session Location
- Foster 228
Session Date/Time
- Thursday, 1:45 - 2:45pm
Session Type
- Oral Student Presentations
- Student Presentations