Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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Item REFRAME: CREATING A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON HISTOTRIC PRESERVATION THROUGH A CENTER FOR LOCAL PRESERVATION CRAFT(2023) Bernstein, Ben; Gharipour, Mohammad; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The Hampden Neighborhood of Baltimore developed and prospered as a mill town in the mid-nineteenth century. While the neighborhood declined socially and economically in the twentieth century as industry left the area it was able to regain a level of stability in the twenty-first century as new people entered the neighborhood and started to redevelop its character. These new residents are moving into housing stock that largely dates to the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. These domestic structures were built with historic techniques and have acquired architectural elements local to the Baltimore area. It is important that Baltimore’s architectural heritage is preserved in the renovations and repairs of domestic structures. The creation of a center for the teaching of local construction craft through adaptive reuse will prove instrumental for the preservation of the historic character of Hampden.Item Stitches as Seeds: Crafting New Natures(2019) Savig, Mary Beth; Corbin Sies, Mary; American Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)“Stitches as Seeds: Crafting New Natures” explores how fiber’s material specificity agitates universalizing notions of nature. The interpretive lens is inspired by the relational and iterative processes of much fiber art. Akin to patchwork quilting, the dissertation pieces together disparate practices including collage, needlepoint, paintings, photography, performance, and poetry together with readings of spaces such as museum dioramas, aquariums, sideshows, plantations, and parks. Queer and feminist theorizations of art history, material culture, and new materialisms frame the methodology. Ultimately, the dissertation reflects on how fiber advances more experiential possibilities for addressing urgent issues of social and ecological justice. Each chapter focuses on a fantastical invocation of nature. Allyson Mitchell’s installation Ladies Sasquatch (2006-2010) is a sculptural vignette of erotic and menacing lesbian sasquatches—pieced together with thrifted hobby crafts like macramé and latch hook hangings—cavorting in a utopian wilderness. Aaron McIntosh’s Invasive Queer Kudzu (2013-ongoing) facilitates quilting bees for Southern LGBTQ people to stitch their personal stories onto fabric kudzu leaves. Invasive marshals ever-growing vines of quilted kudzu to invade stereotypes of the American South. Margaret and Christine Wertheim’s Crochet Coral Reef (2005-ongoing) merges feminist politics with experimental mathematics to encourage an international network of volunteers to crochet the vibrant, hyperbolic shapes of coral reefs. The crocheted reefs orient their makers towards a radically empathetic perception of nature. As immersive and socially-engaged artworks, they illuminate the questions: Who defines nature and decides what is natural? Specifically, the fiber-based techniques leverage the historical denigration of the medium as a domestic and feminine hobby into a subversive and enduring tool of social activism. The artists’ stitches are like seeds. As they are sewn/sown, they fabricate new natures. These seductively artificial renderings of nature unravel the illusion that nature is actually natural, or neutral from surrounding cultural struggles. As such, the dissertation considers how the artworks entangle notions of the material, the social, and the spatial.Item DIFFERENT LAYERS OF A CULTURE: EMPOWERING TRADTIONAL TURKISH VILLAGE LIFE THROUGH ARCHITECTURE(2014) AYSIN, KEMAL KORAY; KELLY, BRIAN P; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Can an architectural intervention provide positive and sustainable cultural, economic and environmental developments for a Turkish village? The architectural formation of a cultural center that fortifies cultural traditions and creates bridges between locals and visitors, diminishes the negative effects of migration and brings economic dynamism to the area is the aim of this thesis project. Migration from villages to big cities is a common occurrence in Turkey. However, due to constantly increasing population and limitation of the resources in major cities, most of the time, people who migrate from villages with the desire to find better living conditions cannot fulfill their dreams. On the other hand, there are many qualities and aspects of villages such as agricultural production, unique arts and crafts and folkloric/traditional values. With proper coordination, these qualities may easily become economic, social and cultural drives. Therefore, a program that strengthens these values and makes them viable economic and cultural resources for village populations, may contribute to the development of villages and small-scale neighborhoods.Item Chincoteague in Transition: Vernacular Art and Adaptation in Community Heritage(2014) Sullivan, Kristin Marie; Chambers, Erve; Anthropology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In addition to serving aesthetic or representational purposes, art can express values related to heritage and identity politics. This dissertation discusses the ways in which the vernacular arts of hunting decoy and decorative wildfowl carving in Chincoteague, Virginia, as well as the closely related tradition of wildfowl hunting, express understandings of various forms of heritage in touristic and community exchange, representing and helping tell the story of the ways in which this locale's rural population has adapted to, resisted, and at times encouraged changes related to tourism development and environmental regulation. In the process this project considers how embodied cultural knowledge is presented through carving and closely related practices such as hunting, how environmental and community values relate to carving and carving-related traditions, and the ways in which community members negotiate identity and maintain the integrity of their communities through the production and appreciation of localized artistic expression. Research supporting this dissertation consists primarily of systematic participant observation and key informant interviewing with hunting decoy and decorative wildfowl carvers. It was conducted over the course of nearly two years living on Chincoteague Island, developing close relationships with wildfowl carvers and others associated with this tradition, for example shop owners, arts organizations, local historians, hunters, and museum specialists.Item Annapolis City Dock: A Sensory Exploration(2012) Gomez, Marisa; Noonan, Peter; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis reclaims the neglected waterfront of Annapolis City Dock by reconnecting to unique sensory experiences shaped by wind, water, and craft. A more engaging relationship between land and water is created by sculpting the city's edge and designing a maritime museum and boat building workshop. Sculptural elements of the building produce energy while mapping the movement of wind, and ideas from sailing inspire adaptable building elements which can be tuned to different wind conditions. The site and the building are designed to gracefully accept flooding through landscaping and wet flood proofing strategies. Physical making and the history of craft are reintroduced to a stagnant waterfront while the process of boat making inspires a tectonic expression of frame and skin. These ideas of wind, water, and craft create tactile experiences of place, which are woven into the built environment to reinforce Annapolis' identity as a sailing city.Item To Be "High" and "Fine": Quilts, Art, and Power, 1971-1991(2012) Dwyre, Megan Breen; Barkley Brown, Elsa; History; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis examines the status of quilts in the Western art world from 1971-1991 as point of entry into the complex process of classifying "art." Each chapter focuses on one of four art-world groups that represent the key contributors to the growing debate over quilts as art. Analysis of their strategies reveals the how quilts-as-art proponents advanced multiple agendas. The quilt became a symbol of power: for art museums and curators to demonstrate cultural hegemony, for art critics to legitimize their role as arbiters of taste, for feminist scholars to expose the oppression of women, and for collectors and dealers to enhance their economic and social status. At the dawn of the 1990s, the art world had granted only limited acceptance to quilts. Although the art world's prevailing gender- and class-based hierarchy remained largely intact, quilts' partial move into the art world had implications for the quiltmaking community.