Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2005, Journalism (Communication)

If a magazine's achievements can be measured in part by whom and how many it infuriated in the shortest amount of time, then surely Scanlan's Monthly deserves to be honored. The brainchild of former Ramparts editor Warren Hinckle and former New York Times law reporter Sidney Zion, Scanlan's printed only eight issues in 1970 and 1971. But during its short lifetime the magazine drew the attention and often the ire of business, labor, law enforcement, and government leaders including Vice President Spiro Agnew and President Richard Nixon. In the midst of such special attention, Scanlan's managed to print some of the most provocative muckraking journalism of its time. Scanlan's published the first examples of Hunter S. Thompson's now-celebrated Gonzo journalism; and two years before anyone outside of Washington, D.C., had heard of Watergate, Scanlan's called for President Nixon's impeachment. Scanlan's' 2019; eighth issue, dedicated to the subject of guerilla violence in the U.S., was subjected to a nationwide boycott by printing unions, and was then seized by Montreal police after it was printed in Quebec. The issue, which turned out to be Scanlan's' last, finally appeared in January 1971 after a three-month delay. Scanlan's' insistence on taking on and not backing down from power doomed it to an early death, and its brushes with the U.S. government demonstrate the extent of the Nixon administration's war on the dissident press. Scanlan's is a sobering lesson on how government power can be wielded to harass, and in some cases silence, the press.

Committee: Patrick Washburn (Committee Chair) Subjects: History; Journalism; Mass Communications; Mass Media

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2023, English/Literature

This project explores the ideological implications of Hunter S. Thompson's 1971 novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream by exploring the physical journey described within the text, the contrast between the novel's two central characters Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo. Building off of existing scholarship on the journalistic nature of the novel, I explore how the novel suggests a libertarian conception of the “American Dream” by constructing Duke, a stand-in for Thompson himself, as a libertarian. In doing this, I explore how the novel can be understood as a journalistic chronicle of the historical moment where libertarianism, in the United States, emerged as third-way ideology amidst the failures of the left-counterculture in the 1960s and the resurgence of traditional conservatism under President Richard Nixon. I explore how physical journey detailed in the novel reveals this emergence of libertarianism through contrasting depictions of San Francisco, home to the left- counterculture, and Las Vegas, a city that the novel frames representative of cultural conservatism in the United States. Further, I explore how Dr. Gonzo and Duke demonstrate contrasting responses to the collapse of the left-counterculture, with Dr. Gonzo falling into hedonism and Duke adopting a libertarian stance.

Committee: Philip Dickinson Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Jolie Sheffer Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: American Literature; American Studies; Journalism; Literature

Master of Arts in English, Cleveland State University, 2017, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

"The Other Side of Fun" is a collection of creative non-fiction essays that examine the relationship between several cultural pastimes and our society as a whole. The thoughts, feelings, and observations made throughout these essays are reflections of my time spent working various jobs pertaining to some form of entertainment. "Mayflies" explores my time as a game-day security worker for the Cleveland Indians, examining the relationship between unionized labor and the lifestyle that encompasses it. "Spiders" chronicles my time spent as a Resident Assistant at Cleveland State, investigating the deep web and the potential dangers that technology can bring. "House Rules" details my experiences at the Jack Casino, exploring society's obsession with wealth. "Ghosts" looks at society's use of tradition, documenting an evening spent working as a bouncer at one of the busiest bars the night before Halloween. Last is "Cutting Weight", an essay that discusses the world of organized cage-fighting and the impact it has had on both our culture and my own life. These essays serve as a critique to the way our world operates; a collection of observations that look to challenge the reader's perception of our societal ideologies and values.

Committee: Ted Lardner Ph.D. (Advisor); Caryl Pagel MFA (Committee Member); Imad Rahman MFA (Committee Member) Subjects: American Literature; Journalism; Language Arts; Modern Literature; Sociology

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2008, Journalism (Communication)

This thesis argued that Hunter S. Thompson's writing style, commonly known as Gonzo journalism, was a style that formed slowly and remained dynamic after its inception. The changes in his writing style were linked with major events in his life, his experiments with drugs and alcohol, and his public persona. This was done through books of his letters, interviews, oral histories, and other published works about his life and writing. The thesis included an in-depth analysis of all of his published articles between 1962 and 1976 and studied how he experimented with his style based on the presence or absence of eight of the main elements of Gonzo journalism.

Committee: Patrick S. Washburn PhD (Committee Chair); Joseph Bernt PhD (Committee Member); Ellen Gerl MS (Committee Member) Subjects: Journalism