American Studies Senior Thesis Showcase: Thursday, May 2, 2024, 12:00– 3:00 pm, 3335 Dwinelle

Please join the American Studies community for our annual celebration of the fantastic research and writing conducted by UC Berkeley’s American Studies majors this year!

The 2nd Annual American Studies Senior Thesis Showcase will feature short presentations from 11 senior thesis students and an afternoon Q&A roundtable with presenters, who will share more about their senior thesis experience and their advice for future thesis students. The day will end with a reception for all attendees in Ishi Court from 3–4 pm.

Join us to see a range of what’s possible in a thesis, learn more about the process, get advice, and most of all congratulate our American Studies majors and minors. Whether you are a major, a minor, an alumnus, or are just curious about the senior thesis process, come learn and celebrate! This event is free and open to the UC Berkeley public.

Please RSVP for the Showcase using this online form (deadline to RSVP is Monday April 29)

Schedule:

12:00, Doors open

12:10, Welcome and Opening Remarks, American Studies faculty

12:20, First Session

Lauren Batza / Guilt Trope: Constructing the Epistolary Angel of the American Northeast from 1850 to 1899

Scott Underwood / From Jim Crow to Hee Haw: a History of the Banjo

Val Machado / Critical Interrogations of America: Funk and the Black Arts Movement

Roman O’Neill / Rockin’ Against Reagan

Adrian Davis / What it Means to be “For the People:” The Importance of Athlete Foundations

Brandon Dale Fellows / Juvenile Delinquency and Juvenile Incarceration: The Answer or the Problem?

1:20, Break

1:30, Second Session

Cat Stoehr / Dancer as Worker: Histories of Labor in Modern American Ballet

Alex Clark / Surrealist Animation of Max Fleischer

Junyoung Kim / American Orientalism and Speculative Fiction: Examining The Matrix and After Yang

Diana Choi / Limits of the Body: Pathology as Metric and Discipline in the American Horror Genre

Mia Scher / When Culture Clashes with the Law: The restitution journey of the Grunbaum Collection

2:20, Break

2:30, Q&A Roundtable with Presenters

 

3:00, Reception in Ishi Court