Undergraduate Humanities Fellows
2002-2003

COLLEGE HOUSE HUMANITIES FELLOWS

Ariel Ben Amos (Ware)
Project: CITY AS TEXT: THE BIOGRAPHY OF PHILADELPHIA BUILDINGS AND THEIR SURROUNDINGS

Andy Arias (Gregory)
Project: THE HOUSE OF DICTION: THE HOUSE AS A CHARACTER WITHIN HENRY JAMES' NOVELS

Daniel Asen (Harnwell; AMES[Chinese])
Project: CHINA'S VIRTUAL GREAT WALL
The internet in China is an important topic on many levels. From a global perspective, the internet has penetrated a society open economically but closed politically. Closer to home, such an examination underscores how far China has come in the last twenty years, but also where China is going in the future. On a human level the internet can be an empowering force, but also a new reason for repression and the disregard of human rights. With all of this in mind, Asen poses two questions regarding internet use in China: how has the CCP attempted to control the internet?; and what consequences has this response had for China? Sources probed for this project include websites, reports, and interviews from international media and organizations that monitor human rights and international communications, as well as academic journals dealing with political science, communications, and economics.

Beandrea Davis (Harrison; Afro-American Studies & French)
Project: AFRICAN FEMINISM IN THEORY AND PRACTICE
Gender oppression in western Africa remains a perduring legacy of French colonialism. During colonialism, the ideology of Euro-male supremacy began to systematically undermine the cultural practices and patterns of social organization and African women's labor. In more recent times, African feminist thought has actively worked to rectify resulting gender oppression. However, what exactly constitutes African feminist thought? Are social and political changes necessary for fighting gender oppression? Or, does the incorporation of traditional African beliefs facilitate this project? With these questions in mind, Davis's study will establish a theoretical framework for understanding the various ways in which contemporary African feminist thought manifests itself. Comparisons and contrasts will be drawn between Francophone and Anglophone feminist traditions in Western Africa.

Rodrigo Fuentes (Hill)
Project: MARQUEZ AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Meredith Gamer (Hamilton)
Project: HISTORICAL STUDY OF RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL ICONOCLASM

Monica Park (Kings/English)
Project: MADNESS IN 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN LITERATURE: THE EFFECTS OF MADNESS ON FAMILIAL RELATIONSHIPS
Nineteenth and twentieth century American authors have much to say about madness and its effects on familial relationships. In their considerations of varying medical treatments and familial reaction and response, authors provide valuable insights into American society's changing attitudes about madness. In her investigation of madness, Park will explore these literary portrayals for what information they offer about actual illness, classifications of madness, and societal perception.

Cezary Podkul (Spruce)
Project: THE POLISH JOSEPH CONRAD
Joseph Conrad, one of the most important English novelists of the 20th century, was in fact born in Russia-controlled Poland in 1857. He departed from his homeland at the age of 17, and after traveling to various exotic locales he settled in England. Despite this early departure, Podkul asserts that events, people, places, and movements within the Poland of his time influenced his writing. Such influence has yet to be adequately gauged by the academic community. Thus, Podkul's project is explicitly concerned with uncovering the social, literary, and political contexts surrounding Conrad's early years, as well as identifying similarities between the writer's life in Poland and the structure, imagery, themes, content, and characters of his most prominent works.

Mahendra Prasad (Stouffer)
Project: THE RIGHTS OF TEENAGE EXPRESSION WITHIN THE AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL
Over the course of the 20th century, the conception of student rights has changed dramatically. During the 1910s, philosopher John Dewey argued that in order to properly socialize teenagers into democratic citizens, a high school education should incorporate democratic institutions. As a result, many high schools across America began student councils and newspapers. However, students did not have administrative control over these institutions. A series of court rulings during the 1960s and 1970s granted students more power to express themselves within high schools. However, in the 1980s and 1990s, the tide had turned; school administrators were given editorial control over school student councils and student newspapers. For this project, Prasad will examine high school activities and observe how students communicate their thoughts and feelings to administrators and faculty.

Yona Silverman (Woodland)
Project: "DADDY, I HAVE HAD TO KILL YOU:" HOW SYLVIA PLATH'S FEELINGS TOWARDS HER FATHER AFFECTED HER GENERAL ATTITUDE TOWARDS PARENTHOOD

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College House Fellows

Ariel Ben Amos (Ware)
Andy Arias (Gregory)
Daniel Asen (Harnwell)
Beandrea Davis (Harrison)
Rodrigo Fuentes (Hill)
Meredith Gamer (Hamilton)
Monica Park (King's Court)
Cezary Podkul (Spruce)
Mahendra Prasad (Stouffer)
Yona Silverman (Woodland)

Perspectives in Humanities (PiH) Fellows

Paul Flynn (Residential Fellow)
Elizabeth Donaldson
Lynn Huang
An Lam
Erica Miao

PERSPECTIVES in HUMANITIES (PiH) FELLOWS

Paul Flynn (English)
Project: MODERNISM AND TEXTUAL METAMORPHOSIS
Despite the presence of a wide variety of themes, locations, and characters in 19th century literature, the arrangement and appearance of the text on the page is uniform across works, authors, and cultures. Why was there so little variation in textual layout of 19th century literature? Did cost and available technology present an obstacle? Or, did such limitations stem from authors' cultural and artistic sensibilities? Nineteenth century attitudes concerned with textual appearance began to change in response to modernism's growth and influence. To better understand the impetus for and effects of 20th century textual revolution, Flynn will examine works by James Joyce (Ulysses, Finnegan’s Wake), William Carlos Williams (Imaginations), and Stéphane Mallarmé (Un Coup De Dés).

Elizabeth Donaldson
Project: JANEITES AND THEIR DISCONTENTS

Lynn Huang (English)
Project: THE CULTURAL STATUS OF THE NOVEL
Many 18th century authors were reluctant to call their works novels; the emerging genre was initially perceived as having only transient value. However, over time a shift in attitudes occurs. Perception of the novel changes from an unrespected label to an underestimated but respectable genre. Huang argues that the British novel's evolution as a genre in the 18th century has been influenced by its relationship to material culture. To study these shifts in cultural value, she takes a closer look at the labels that novelists assigned to their works in prefaces, dedications, and advertisements, as well as how they discuss novels within the text of their works. An examination of circulating libraries' content, as well as the accessibility of physical books in order to understand the literary market, similarly provides insights. This project is also informed by early and current theorizing concerned with the novel.

An Lam
Project: FROM PAINT TO BOOK: JOHN YAU AND THE USE OF NEW POETIC FORMS TO CAPTURE VISUAL ART
John Yau is an acclaimed contemporary American poet and art critic. Much of his poetry experiments with new poetic forms in order to create visual art. How is Yau able to translate the medium of art into the medium of language? That is to say, how does the mind conceptualize what is visually perceived in order to transform it into language? In this project, Lam will wrestle with concerns related to human perception and the creative mind. John Yau will serve as case study. How do his thoughts about the paintings he views transcribe into poetry? Lam will also consider the different (or lack of) affects one gets from reading a book of poetry as opposed to viewing a painting.

Erica Miao
Project: THE EVOLUTION OF HANDWRITING AND THE PRINTED TEXT

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