The Department of American Studies

 Ph.D. and M.A. Recipients

(A Partial List)

Ph.D. Recipients, Dissertation Titles & Advisors

2009

Han, Sanjoon"American Movement:  Nature and Civilization in Tunner, Cooper, Twain and Cather"

Kolodczak, Debra"Canoe Links:  Work, Play, Symbol and Show in North American's Native/Newcomer Encounter"

2008

Bitterman, Albert Eric.  Brandtopia:  a critical consideration of the evolution and future of place branding.  Advisor: Bruce Jackson.

Hayes, Lisa.  Theatricalizing Oral History:  How British and American Theatre Artists Explore Current Events and Contemporary Politics in the Journey from Interview to Performance.  Advisor: Michael Frisch

Kim, EunhYoung.  The American Renaissance, the Sectional Crisis, and Individualism:  Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville, and Their Response to Slavery and Racism.  Advisor: Kenneth Dauber.

Penfold, Joshua.  Deconstructing Constructed News Events.  Advisor:  Elayne Rapping.

Rowley, Kelley.  "I Think About this Dream Often" Nostalgic Visions of Native Americans During the Progressive Era 1890-1930.  Advisor: Dennis Tedlock.

Zambrano, Nahirana.  Images of the Other, Narratives of the Self:  Representations of Venezuela in the U.S. Printed Press 1982-2002.  Advisor: Michael Frisch.

2007

Goble, Luke J.  Indians and the National Unconscious:  Discourses of Nationalism and Democracy in the United States and Bolivia, 1780-1850.  Advisor: Galen Brokaw.

Joo, Jeongsuk.  Beyond Binaries: Globalization, the Korean Film Industry and Hollywood Hegemony.  Advisor: Michael Frisch.

White, Kevin Haudenosaunee Worldview Through Iroquoian Cosmologies: The Published Narratives in Historical Context.  Advisors: Bruce Jackson and John Mohawk.

Zinni, Christine.  Interweaving Memory Through Machines.  Advisor: Dennis Tedlock.

2006

Wegner, Kyle David.  Children of Aztan: Medican American Popular Culture and the Post-Chicano Aesthetic.  Advisor: David Schmid.

2005

Ackley, Kristina.   We Are Oneida Yet: Discourse in the Oneida Land Claim Advisor: John Mohawk.

Amos, Sharon L. Richardson.   Whose Dust is Rising? Historical and Literary Narratives of the Northern Migration of African American Women.  Advisor: Alexis DeVeaux.

Harris, Ena.  The (Un)Clear Race Configuations of Whiteness in Anglophone Literature of the Caribbean Diapora. Advisor: Alexis DeVeaux.

Miller-Smith, Arlette.   Speaking the Song, Spreading the Word, Lifting the People: The Reimagination of Community Through Vocal Music Activism.  Advisor: Alexis DeVeaux.

2004

Broughton, Candace.  Gendered Justice: Emma Wimple and the Story of Murder Hill.   Advisor: Alexis DeVeaux.

Eaton, Erica.  Learning in Mono, Living in Stereo: Media Literacy Education.  Advisor: Henry Sussman.

Roure, Jodie Genine.  International Human Rights Law as a Resource in Combating Domestic Violence: Transcending Legal, Social and Cultural Obstacles in Brasil and the United States.  Advisor: Michael Frisch.

Washington Lacey, Brenda.   Feet Don't Fail Me Now; A Study of African American Females Performing on School-Based Drill Teams.  Advisor: Alexis DeVeaux.

Wilson, Minnie Clara.  Embracing the Shadow: Black Women's Narratives as Recovery and Restoration.  Advisor: Alexis DeVeaux.

2003

Nathanson, Jessica.   The Politics of Identity: Bisexuals, Multiracials and the Challenge of Community.

Rossi, Jennifer Christianna.   Souls Across Spaces: Ambiguity as Resistance and a New Generation of Black Women Writers.

Santiago, Janine.  Weaving Fiction, History, Memory and Orality in Four Puerto Rican Women Writers.    Advisor:

Michael Frisch.

2002

Brooks Bertram, Peggy.   Drusilla Dunjee Houston: Uncrowned Queen in the African American Women's Literary Tradition.  Advisor: John Mohawk.

Machida, Margo.  The Poetics of Positionality: Art, Identity and Communities of Imagination in Asian America. Advisor: Michael Frisch.

Tang, Suet-Ling Shirley.  Enough is Enough!: Struggles for Cambodian American Community Development in Revere, Massachusetts.  Advisor: Michael Frisch.

Ward, Patrick Dennis.   The Idea of Progress and the Rationalization of Terrorism in Western Colonization.    Advisor: John Mohawk.

2001

Drajem, Linda.  Life Stories: Successful White Women Teachers of Ethnically and Racially Diverse Students.  Advisor: Ruth Meyerowitz.

Plastas, Melinda Ann.   A Band of Noble Women: The WILPF and the Politics and Consciousness of Race in the Women's Peace Movement, 1915-1945.

Valandra, Edward.  The Lakota Response to Public Law 83-280: 1950-1959.   Advisor:  John Mohawk

2000

Taylor, Lori.  Telling Stories About Mormons and Indians.  Advisor: John Mohawk.

1999

Agoes, Irid Farida.  Indigenous Jakartans and Globalization.  Advisor: Robert Dentan.

Rockenbach, Leslie Jane.  The Mexican-American Border: NAFTA/Global Linkages.

Smith, Eliot.  The Romance of Crossover: The Cultural Production of Fandom in American.  Advisor: Michael Frisch.

Tobol, Amy.  Badge of Honor: The Law Students Civil Rights Research Council.  Advisor: Michael Frisch.

1998

Bonner Fenty, Shirley.  Paleolithic Anatomically Modern Ancestral African Khoisan Migrated to Asia and America as Indicated by Genetic Cultural and Linguistic Evidence.

Boukari, Safoura Ashaby Salami.  Retrouvailles: A Comparative Meditation on the Experiences of African Descended Women and the Quest for Sisterhood toward Syncretic Paradigm.

Coppola, Marie Saccomando.   Toward a Missing Link in the Identity of Italian American Women: Oral Histories of Sicilian and Sicilian American Women.

Hampton, Bonita.   A Comparative Study of Risk Factors Associates with Exposure to HIV Among a Sample of African American Women.

Henderson, Behjat.  Reversing the Lens: Voices and Images of Iranian Women.

1997

Bauza, Yadmilla.  "Yo Lo Que de Catalina Loango . . . ": Orality and Gender in the Caribbean

Advisor:  Francisco Pabon.

Ragona, Melissa.  A Geneology of Spectacle: Fascism, Consumerism and the Mimetic Body.

Smith, Jennifer Bradford.  An International History of the Black Panther Party.  Advisor:  Henry Taylor.

1996

Dion-Buffalo, Yvonne.   Four Generations: A Story of a Family of Plains Cree Women.

Fairchild, Charles.   Community Radio and Public Culture, Being an Examination of Media Access and Equity in the Nations of North America.  Advisor: Charles Keil.

Neal, Mark Anthony.   Discursive Soul: Black Popular Music, Communal Critique and the Black Public Sphere of the Urban North.   Advisor: Alexis DeVeaux.

Pragler, Josef Anton.  Encountering Islam: Essays in Cultural History and Representation.

Zandy, Janet.  Working-Class Bildung: Class-Consciousness and Praxis

1994

Collins, John.  The Ghanain Concert Party: African Popular Entertainment at the Crossroads.

Dougherty, Jim.  The Struggle for an American Way of Life: Coal Miners and Operators in Central Pennsylvania , 1919-1933: A Videodocumentary and Curriculum Guide Approach to a Working Class History and Qualitative Treatment of Americanism.

Mohawk, John.  A View from Turtle Island : Chapters in Iroquois Mythology, History and Culture.

Rickard, Jolene.   Indigenous and Iroquoian Art as Knowledge: In the Shadow of the Eagle.

1993

Dove, Nah Dorothy E.  Racism and Resistance in the Schooling of Afrikans.

1992

Barreiro, José Taino.  The Journal of Diago Col?n Indian Adopted Son of Christopher Columbus, Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A Historical Reconstruction.

DeVeaux, Alexis.  Concealed Weapons: Contemporary Black Women's Short Stories as Agents of Social Change, 1960s to the Present.

1991

Niman, Michael Ira.  The Rainbow Family: An Ethnography from Within.  Advisor: Robert Dentan.

M.A. Recipients, Thesis Titles & Advisors

2009

Mohamed, Mohamed"U.S. Strategic Interest in Somalia:  From Cold War Era to War on Terror"

2008

Antone, Robert.  Haudenosaunee Relational Knowledge (teaching) and Impact on Cultural Revitalization - Seven Spans Paradigm.  Advisor: Donald Grinde.

Corrigall, Tracy.  Creating a Successful Non-Profit Organization to Mentor Today's Youth.

Dixon, Tamara.  "The Novel as Geometry of Desire:"  The Erotic Metafiction in Carole Maso's The Art Lover, Rikki Ducornet's The Fan-Maker's Inquisition, and Joanna Scott's The Manikin.  Advisor: Kari Winter.

Howard, Peter.  Relations Between Native Americans and those of African Descent in the South, 1526 to 1907.  Advisor: Donald Grinde.

Kazmierczak, Dennis.  Changing American Culture One Household at a Time.  Advisor: Donald Grinde.

2007

Jones II, Clarence.   Racial Disparities in Criminal Justice: Academic Reflections from the Life of a Probation Officer. Advisor: Carl Nightingale

Price, Erin Melissa.

Williams, Vicky.

Wu, Hsin Ching.   (Re)Producing Memory of the Forgotten: The Representation of Minority Cultures' Memories, Histories, and Identities in Museums.  Advisor: Kari Winter.

2006

Alfieri, Gabrielle.  Mass Incarceration in America: A Social Problem Advisor: John Mohawk.

Barry-Arredondo, Christopher.  The Talking Paper: Interpreting the Birch-Bark Scrolls of the Ojibwa Midewiwim. Advisor: Galen Brokaw.

Kristianto, Bayu.  Man and The World in Emerson, Heidegger and Native American Philosophy.  Advisor: Donald Grinde.

Li, Zhanhong.  Biblical Origins and Echoes: Modern American Literature and Biblical Archetypes.  Advisor: Diane Christian.

Ting, Yi-Chya.   Seeking a New Spiritual Home: The Study of Chinese Christian Churches and Communities in the United States.  Advisor: Susan Moynihan.

2005

Chamberlain, Taylor.   The Oren Lyons Archival Project.  Advisor: John Mohawk.

Kang, Hyo sung.  The Significance of Father Figures in Richard Wright and Sherman Alexie.  Advisor: Kari Winter.

May, Oliver.  How the War Was Sold: Shaping Public Opinion Through Fear, Power, and Influence.   Advisor: Kari Winter.

McClellan, Emily.  Dreaming America : Television, Hegemony, and American Culture.  Advisor: Elayne Rapping.

Napierala, Nancy.   Haudenosaunee Clan Mothers: The Role of Tranditional Clan Mothers in the Formation and Survival of the Iroquois Confederacy.  Advisor: Donald Grinde.

Pittman, Christopher.   Reflections on the Land Rights of The Western Shoshone in Nevada.  Advisor: John Mohawk.

Ploetz, Elmer.   James Blue, Buffalo and the Complex Urban Documentary.  Advisor: John Mohawk.

Schwaller, Shawn W.   The Doctrine of Whiteness: National Supremacy and Manifest Destiny.   Advisor: Kari Winter.

2004

Ding, Wei.  Cosmetic Surgery in American Consumer Culture.  Advisor: Elayne Rapping.

Hatakeyama, Nozomi.   Living Wage Strategies: Lessons from Buffalo, New York.  Advisor: Ruth Meyerowitz.

Hoang, Quan.   Individualism and Inequality in Vietnam after the Doi Moi Era.  Advisor: Michael Frisch.

Keegan, Caitlin.  Disappear, Queer: Popular Media, The Public Sphere, and The Struggle for Queer Liberation in American Culture and Politics.  Advisor: Elayne Rapping.

Li, Zhen.  Veiled Reality: The Distance Between The Blithedale Romance and Brook Farm.  Advisor: Robert Daly.

2003

Han, SangJoon.   Space and Nature in James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales

Lamb, Kathy Rae . Who Owns Grand Island? A Critique of the Decision of Seneca Nation of Indians v. New York. Advisor: John Mohawk.

Mitchell-Chapman, Ellyn J.  Project on American Indian Education.  Advisor: John Mohawk.

Tanaka, Mayumi.   Eastern European Jewish Immigrants. Advisor: Ruth Meyerowitz.

Toro Sepu'lveda, Kalia Beline's.   Architectural Hispanophilia in Early Twentieth Century Puerto Rico:  Mapping the Space of Cultural Identify.

 

2002

Harris, Jennifer.  Stop Pulling at My Roots.  Advisor: Sarah Elder.

Kolodczak, Debra.   Century Turns: 1901-2001 (video program) and PHS Cologram (3D artwork).  Advisor: Michael Frisch.

Nance, Aprille.   Of Stories, Great Camps and Fieldwork: The Story of The Story of John Hoy.  Adviser: Michael Frisch.

2001

Cimasi, Kathleen.  Adolescent Pregnancy:  A Study of Two Current Programs Utilizing Multifocal Palliative Paradigms.

Kolodczak, Debra.  Multi-media project.  Advisor: John Mohawk.

Kraus, Kris.  Inner City Griots: The Cultural Assimilation of African and African American Oral Traditions, Musical Visions and Revolutionary Ideas into New York City Hip-Hop Culture.  Advisor: Oren Lyons.

Ochsendorf, Euguene.   Crossing the Great Educational Divide: TRIO interventions In Education and Culture in West Virginia.  Advisor: Michael Frisch.

2000

Iida, Miki.  Different Narratives of Female Relationships:  Early Female Comic Book Culture in Japan, 1955-1963.

Kitawaki, Michiyo.

Nieves, Luis.   American Culture and Global Interaction: Designing, Teaching and Revising Three Courses.

Advisor: Michael Frisch.

Malfa, Sonia.  La Sangre Llama.  Advisor: Charles Keil.

Richards, Elizabeth.  We've Come a Long Way Babies, but is it Feminism?:  Television and the "Girl Power" phenomenon.

Rowley, Kelley.

Sarmiento, Shirley.

White, Kevin.   The Impact of "Indian? on Global History, American and Native Literatures.  Advisor: John Mohawk.

Zinni, Christine Frances.

1999

Helbringer, James.  Analysis of Men's Roles and Culture in the U.S.A.  Advisor: Ruth Meyerowitz.

Hill, Babara-Helen.   Healing the Spirit - How We Can Learn From Each Other Studies in Anti-Racism Through Literature.  Advisor: Michael Frisch.

Hill, Susan Marie.

Kogawa, Motomi.

Krysty, Stephen.

Padin, Daiansa.  Slavery: Some of Its Effects on Cuban Society, Religion, Culture and Politics.

Advisor: Michael Frisch.

Smith, Eliot.  King The Romance of Crossover:  The cultural Production of Fandom in America.

Snyder, Cindy.

1998

Borden, Anne Seeley.  "Wiggers" "Race Traitors" and the Politics of "Posing:"    Construction of Whiteness of Popular Culture.

Farmelo, Allen.  Imagining Bluegrass : Essays on the Social Construction of Race Through Stories About Music. Advisor: Charles Keil.

Kashimoto, Tomoko.  Race, Class and Ethnicity: The 1992 Los Angeles Riots. Advisor: Charles Keil.

Kiesbye, Stefan.   The Wistern: Owen Wister's The Virginian and the Construction of an American Working-Class Hero.  Advisor: Ruth Meyerowitz.

Obomsawin, Elizabeth.

Rosser, Eric.   The African American Male in United States Society.  Advisor: Michael Frisch.

Stephens, Dionne.  Intercourse:  Creating a Womanist Based Alternative to Current Sexuality Education Resources for Young Black Women.

1997

Boukar, Safoura Ashaby Salami.  Gender and Cultural Issues in LGBO Society:  A Study of Flora N'wapa's Efura.

Brassel, Elizabeth.  The Construction of Identity and History in the Writings of Lesbians of Color.

Dihaan, D. Sylvester.  The History of a Community Based Organization, Sunship communications, in Buffalo, 1972 - 1978 Advisor: Francisco Pabon.

Harding, Jason.  Repatriation: Looking to the Future by Bringing Back the Past.  Advisor: John Mohawk.

Hernandez, Angela. Spiritual Power and Caribbean Women's Literature:  An Examination of Some of the Works by Maryse Conde', Rosario Ferre', Jamaica Kincaid and Paule Marshall.

Ichikawa, Yukiyo.  Comparative Studies of Ainu and Native Americans: The Impact of Invasion and Colonization. Advisor: John Mohawk.

Jordon, Yvette.

King, Amy. The Poetics of Anarchy.  Advisor: Ruth Meyerowitz.

Kittaka, Louise.  The Foreign Wife in American-Japanese Intercultural Marriage: Comparing the Experiences of American Women in Tokyo and Japanese Women in Buffalo, New York.  Advisor:  Elizabeth Lapovskky Kennedy

Neeson, Kathryn Colman.  Memoirs of a Rockette.

Onosaka, Junko.

Power, Josephine.  Between the Historical Lines: Oral Histories of First Generation Syrian-Lebanese American Women.  Advisor: Elizabeth Kennedy.

Sugar, Marvese.  Invisible Women:  A Chronicle of Black Women in Film from a Womanist Perspective.

Zaslow, Emilie.  In the Business of Little Girls:  Pleasant Company's Construction of American Girlhood.

1996

Albizu, Wanda.

Barylski, Deborah Lynn.

Bauza-Vargas, Yadmilla.

Crays, Linda.  Women and the Internet:  Interactions and Ramifications.

Gaston, Kenneth.

Gonzalez-Albarran, Maria.   How Meditation Creates the Ideal Space for Creativity and Possible Repercussions in the Learning Process.  Advisor: Alfredo Matilla.

Hamel, Martha.

Harris, James.  Coal People: Contemporary Images of Northern Appalachia.  Advisor: Michael Frisch.

Hernandez, Gladys.  Chronicles of Puertorican History and Culture.

Hernandez, Marisol.

Kline, Carrie Nobel.

McKenzie, Carla.

Miyake, Emi.

Nathanson, Jessica.

Oh-Willeke, Sharon Jeanie.  Moving Beyond the Model Minority Myth: First and Second Generation Korean Women in Buffalo and the Culture of Successing Oneself.  Advisor: Liz Kennedy.

Perez, Luis.  Pedro Albizu Campos and the Nationalist Party in Puerto Rico.  Advisor: Francisco Pabon.

Peterson, Melissa.   The Needs of United States Capital and the Rise of Fertility Control in Puerto Rico.  Advisor: Hester Eisenstein.

Sacco, Lynn.  Incest Survivors and Feminist Activism:  A Historical Examination of the Relationships Between the Recovery Movement and Social Challenges.

Simon, Brian.  Cultural Survival Under Occupation.  Advisor: Francisco Pabon.

Wakefield, Darcy.  There May be Flies on Ma and Pa, but There Ain't no Flies on Bill:  An Oral History of a Rural Maine Woman, 1916 - Present.

Ward, Patrick.  Church and State: Western Spirituality and Colonization.  Advisor: Lawrence Chisolm.

Wilson, Minnie C.  The Concrete Reservation: Autobiography as a Process of Self-Validation.  Advisor: Alexis DeVeaux.

Wise, Gregory.

1995

Avery, Anthony.   Men's Roles and American Culture: (Re) Defining Maculinities. Advisor: Lawrence W. Chisolm.

Dimitriadis, GregCurriculum Development Project on "Musics of the World: Rap."  Advisor: Charles Keil.

Pastewka, Kevin.  Community Response to Deindustrialization.  Advisor: Michael Frisch.

Rockenbach, Leslie.  Justice in the Maquiliadoras:  Thoughts, Interviews, and Inquiry into a United Struggle Against One U.S. Multinational.

1994

Michalski, David.

Rainville, Roger.  The Status Question for Puerto Rico and Quebec: Cultures and Languages. Advisor: Francisco Pabon.

Santiago, Phillip.  Critical Readings of Fernando Picos' Sources on His Historia General de Puerto Rico.  Advisor: Francisco Pabon.

1992

Carey, Corinne.

1987

Brascoupe, Simon.

1984

Moore, James Robert.  History and Analysis of the Arts and Crafts Inside New York State Prison System.  Advisor: Al Celecki.

1982

Garcia, Carmen M.  Un llanto que no se oye (A cry that can't be heard)

1980

Santiago. Evelyn.

1978

Concepcion, Angel L.   Project on the early years of the American occupation of Puerto Rico.

1974

Philips-Palo, Linda.