Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1963, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Economics

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 1899, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

MFA, Kent State University, 2024, College of the Arts / School of Art

This written thesis, Fibrous Beings and the Forces of the Body, addresses the research of social, political, personal, and art historical contexts around the making of the sculptural body of work of the same title. I explore the impacts of the rising evangelical neoconservative movement in America on the political and social environment of today, and the use of social media as a tool for aestheticizing a brand of neoconservative biological essentialism made desirable for women during at a time of repealed reproductive rights. I combine this research with personal experiences growing up on a cattle farm, and my involvement at a young age with the fundamentalist Christian Southern Baptist church. Realizing the potentials for my body, its processes, and its harms often came alongside the experiences of birthing calves and other animal husbandry as well as moralizing of the body through a biblical lens. Using fiber sculptural abstraction, then analyzing the work through Julia Kristeva's Theory of Abjection and Michelle Meagher's Feminist Aesthetics of Disgust, I formalize some of the bodily processes that are the underbelly of our physical beings that tie us to our aliveness, while questioning why we are taught to reject them.

Committee: Eli Kessler (Advisor); Isabel Farnsworth (Committee Member); John Paul Morabito (Committee Member); J. Leigh Garcia (Committee Member) Subjects: Fine Arts

MFA, Kent State University, 2020, College of the Arts / School of Art

The Sacred Transfigured are the cumulative results of researching textile processes as sacred ritual resulting in artifacts that can be engaged in a participatory manner by the viewer. Questions I aim to resolve through the artworks presented are: Why are textiles special? How can material like wool and linen be transfigured into precious artifacts? What about this construction process is sacred? What is the role of the artist in that process? These questions are explored through weaving, felting and stitching specifically to examine the unique and magic qualities of textiles that can serve as tools of communication between artist and viewer. The artifacts presented are both precious objects and theatrical garments serving to heighten the senses of the viewer and help construct a certain aura around the wearer.

Committee: Janice Lessman-Moss (Advisor); Isabel Farnsworth (Committee Member); Andrew Kuebeck (Committee Member) Subjects: Fine Arts; Performing Arts; Textile Research

MFA, Kent State University, 2018, College of the Arts / School of Art

This body of woven work results from my interest in exploring the concept of stress, a dominant aspect of living in our fast paced, technologically advanced society. It represents an attempt to focus and concentrate on meaningful content through active engagement in construction, such as hand weaving, felting and spinning; methods antithetical to the causes of contemporary stressors. I will be relying on the systematic nature of weaving as an organizational tool to express the natural urge to find balance and structure. In addition, the physical and metaphorical aspects of the textile medium will support the analogy between cloth and skin, as a form of literal and figurative protection. To acknowledge the cumulative nature of stress I will make a series of objects to reveal a sense of transformation over time. Through the use of the unique language of textiles I will be examining the effects of mental, physical and emotional stress generated by personal experience.

Committee: Janice Lessman-Moss (Advisor); Taryn McMahon (Committee Chair); Davin Ebanks (Committee Chair); Andrew Kuebeck (Committee Chair) Subjects: Cognitive Psychology; Fine Arts; Performing Arts; Sustainability; Textile Research

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1959, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Economics

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1953, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Economics

Master of Arts, University of Akron, 2014, History

Traditional military and political histories have tended to dominate historical scholarship on the U.S.-Mexican War. Despite a few notable recent publications, the input of social and cultural historians has been extremely limited. Several scholars over the last three decades—notably Robert Johannsen, Paul Foos, and Amy Greenberg—have drawn attention to the prevalence of non-sanctioned violence outside of organized combat during the war. These incidents ranged from petty theft and vandalism to rape, murder, and occasional mass killings. Scholars have offered some speculation on the social and cultural forces driving these acts, but they remain a peripheral and largely unexplored element of the war's history. Politicians, veterans, and the American press fiercely debated the truth and significance of non-sanctioned violence and directly contested its popular memory. This thesis presents an in-depth case study of perhaps the best-documented incident of non-sanctioned violence during the war: the killing of a group of unarmed Mexican civilians by American volunteers near the Mexican city of Saltillo in 1847. Using theory on collective memory, the study traces the rapid proliferation of multiple versions of the massacre, analyzing the ways in which various authors represented and understood it. It also connects the killings to broader historical trends in the United States—most notably collective social violence, Indian warfare, and the myth of the frontier—to show this incident as the extension of older cultures of violence.

Committee: Lesley Gordon Dr. (Advisor); Kevin Adams Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: American History; History; Latin American History; Military History

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2011, History

This dissertation examines the United States‘ execution of the military occupation of Mexico during the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). It argues that the occupation was successful and played an important role in achieving the American strategic objectives. The occupation succeeded because (a) President James K. Polk and his military commanders formulated a sound and flexible strategy, (b) a relatively competent corps of professional army officers executed that strategy, and (c) the United States Army maintained consistent military superiority over the Mexicans throughout the conflict. This dissertation examines the military occupation in terms of the American management of the Mexican population down to the city level, and the American reaction to Mexican resistance after the conventional army was defeated and driven from different parts of the country. The Americans were successful during the occupation because they applied an artful blend of conciliation toward the population, calibrated coercion, and co-option of much of the Catholic clergy and Mexican elite. The American victories on the conventional battlefield and conciliation of the population did not in themselves convince the Mexicans to cease resistance. The Army eventually succeeded by transitioning to a more punitive policy, targeting those who resisted or abetted resistance, particularly the elite, and by demonstrating to the Mexicans that they were committed to continuing the occupation indefinitely. Throughout the occupation the Americans demonstrated a flexible strategy that exploited social and racial fault lines in Mexican society. This dissertation does not ignore the faults of the American army in Mexico, often undisciplined and driven by its perception of racial superiority over its adversary. The army committed many atrocities against the Mexican population, and in other circumstances these acts might have undermined the overall effort. Yet the faults of the United States Army did not un (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mark Grimsley Ph.D (Committee Chair); John Guilmartin Ph.D (Committee Member); Kenneth Andrien Ph.D. (Committee Member); Randolph Roth Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: American History; Armed Forces; History; International Relations; Latin American History; Military History; Military Studies

Master of Fine Arts, The Ohio State University, 2009, Art

My artwork deals with my experience of everyday spaces. I include subtle color and translucent layers of white paint along with collage elements. Decorative patterns move across the surface in contradiction to spare architectural components suggesting an overlaying of interior and exterior spaces. The resulting image is an abstracted and atmospheric depiction of surface and space, time and memory. I am most fascinated by images that document small histories, identifying where something once was and how it has been transformed or changed by time. Chipped paint, aged buildings, old signs, and the residue of flyers on a wall are all sources for my work. I am specifically interested in evidence of human interaction with spaces and how those interactions, however small, affect my experience of that space.

Committee: Pheoris West (Advisor); Laura Lisbon (Committee Member); Sergio Soave (Committee Member) Subjects: Fine Arts