Hood College Arts and Humanities
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Item Conflict as the Accelerant of Social Change(2024-11) Rogers, Cameron; Verzosa, Noel; Dodman, Trevor; Campion, Corey; Hood College English & Communication Arts; Humanities (M.A.)Even as humanity has advanced and become “civilized” over its existence, conflict clings to it in varying scopes and impacts. The changing power of war, conflict, and bloodshed stretches far and wide, from benefits like medical advancements to its numerous detriments of killing, destruction, and crimes against humanity. While most conflicts are regarded as tragedies and needless bloodshed, they still spur change through the actions taken during or after their occurrence. Some small-scale conflicts can spark massive social changes, such as the Wounded Knee Occupation of 1973. Other conflicts can lead to gradual changes in perception about war and its necessity, such as the Wars in Vietnam and Iraq. In my portfolio, I will examine conflict’s ability to accelerate social change through specific engagements, arguing that it can serve as a harsh but necessary tool for societies to advance and to right past wrongs.Item Specificity of the Unlabeled Antibody Hemocyanin Bridge Method to Label Virion And Cell Surface Antigens Using Hyperimmune Serum and Monoclonal Antibodies(1981-05) Gregg, Marybelle; Hood College Biology; Biomedical and Environmental ScienceThe unlabeled antibody hemocyanin technique (UAHT) was evaluated for specificity of detection of retrovirus antigens gp70 and p15(E). UAHT used infected cell monolayers incubated stepwise with primary hyperimmune or monoclonal antibodies, secondary bridging antisera, tertiary anti-hemocyanin sera, and hemocyanin (hey) and was amplified by additional anti-hcy sera and hcy incubations. Further, the detection of p15(E) and gp70 by UAHT was compared with the antibody binding (AB) assay. UAHT using hyperimmune sera detected gp70 viral antigens at dilutions >10³ and was increased five-fold with amplification steps. Surprisingly, the detection of these same antigens decreased to <10³ using monoclonal antibodies in place of the hyperimmune serum. The AB assay however detected viral gp70 and p15(E) using monoclonal reagents: 16-11C1, 19-F8 and 19-IIIA2. The only positive UAHT detection of gp70 was with the monoclonal antibody 16-11C1 and 19-F8 for p15(E). The presentation of the antigenic sites may therefore be different in the AB and UAHT assays. Finally, detection of gp70 and p15(E) was determined by the UAHT assay during virus maturation. Hcy labeling was observed in the stages of virus morphogenesis in retrovirus-infected cell monolayers but not in the NSI/1 myeloma parent cell pellets although these cells contained intracisternal type A and extracellular type C viruses.Item DEVELOPMENT OF A METHOD TO IDENTIFY CANCER STEM CELLS IN SOLID TUMORS(2007-02) Gignac, Michelle; Hood College Biology; Biomedical and Environmental ScienceRecently, there has been an abundance of research on the presences of stem cells in solid tumors. Cancer stem cells are characterized as those cells capable of regenerating a tumor (1-3). Not all tumor cells have this ability. These cancer stem cells make up only a small fraction of the tumor, but are resistant to chemotherapies and radiation treatments (2). These cells may also lead to metastases to other locations (3). We propose to develop a method to identify the cancer stem cells in solid tumor biopsies. This will enable researchers to study the arrangement of the stem cells within the tumor and their interactions with the surrounding cells. If this method is adapted to the clinical arena, knowing the number of stem cells in a solid tumor could lead to better treatment selections and higher patient survival rates.Item IMAGES OF READING AND INTERPRETATION IN THE DIVINA COMMEDIA(2016-04) Fornwalt, Jessica; Hood College Arts and Humanities; HumanitiesThis essay looks closely at imagery and allegorical interpretation in the Divina Commedia by Dante Alighieri. Specifically, this paper explores the images of reading within the work and what appears to be Dante's attempt to shape his readers. In this essay, images of reading from all three sections of the Commedia: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. In Inferno, the images of blocked interpretation are discussed. It is in these images where Dante provides his readers with characters who are either unable to reach the allegorical interpretation, and these examples serve to educate the reader of the importance of being able to allegorically interpret images as they read the Commedia. In Purgatorio, the images of the Pilgrim's dreams are analyzed, looking specifically at the increasing capability of allegorical interpretation on the part of the Pilgrim. Finally, in Paradiso, the discussion focuses mainly on the shortcomings of human intellect. Here, examples of the Pilgrim's inability to interpret what he sees without divine intervention and how in retrospect, readers are able to more fully understand the allegory of the Commedia just as the Pilgrim is able to fully understand everything in the moment of his epiphany at the end of the poem.Item Ritualistic Power: Harmony and Renewal in House Made of Dawn and Ceremony(2009-12) Ellis, Dorothy; Hood College Arts and Humanities; HumanitiesAuthors of the Native American Renaissance, a literary movement beginning in the 1960s, use the tradition of storytelling in a non-traditional way (written, rather than oral) to demonstrate how healing rituals offer a solution to an ailing people, an ailing nation. Authors of this renaissance have moved from depicting the mythic mystical Indian that America idealized to portraying contemporary Native Americans who battle dichotomies such as modernization versus tradition and assimilation versus loyalty. While reservation life is often hard and assimilation into the mainstream culture offers escape, abandoning traditions often proves detrimental to the Native American culture and to the psyche of the individual. Contemporary authors' works offer another solution: not a complete dismissal or conversion, but rather an evolution within tradition. N. Scott Momaday, in House Made of Dawn, and Leslie Marmon Silko, in Ceremony, both create characters with damaged psyches as a result of failed attempts at escape. These characters experience healing by reconnecting with cultural traditions and rituals, specifically, with a contemporary version of the Navajo Night Chant. In my capstone, I will summarize and interpret the ancient version of the Navajo Night Chant whose power I suggest lies chiefly within the words; draw parallels between the key elements of the ancient and the modernized versions offered by Momaday and Silko; and examine the dynamics presented by the emerging hybrid Native American in search of the balance and harmony that the Night Chant offers. First, I will illustrate that the rituals of the Navajo are already hybrid as the ceremonies combine spiritual and ceremonial aspects from the Pueblo and the Navajo prior to the "great Pueblo revolt against the Spaniards at the end of the seventeenth century" (Hultkrantz 126). Rituals are subject to change with the impact of modernization. I will be utilizing John Bierhorst and Washington Matthews to outline the details of the ancient Navajo Healing ceremony and Gary Witherspoon and others to explore the importance of words in the ceremony. In The Night Chant, A Navajo Ceremony, Matthews details the ceremony from his observations in the late nineteenth to early twentieth century. Then John Bierhorst used Matthew's detailed work as a resource in his compilation, Four Masterworks of American Indian Literature, where he combines a basic outline of the Night Chant with commentary and interpretation that point to the true power of the ceremony: words. As Witherspoon notes in Navajo and Art in the Navajo Universe, "Navajo philosophy assumes that mental and physical phenomena are inseparable, and that thought and speech can have a powerful impact on the world of matter and energy... Ritual language does not describe how things are; it determines how they will be. Ritual language is not impotent; it is powerful. It commands, compels, organizes, transforms, and restores" (Witherspoon 9, 34). Rituals enable a journey. Second, I will examine the way in which Momaday and Silko integrate into their novels the transformed versions of the Navajo Night Chant to address issues faced by modern Native Americans on a journey toward balance and harmony. I will explore the impact of the words in the Night Chant that alter the path of Abel's and Tayo's journeys from ones wrought with turmoil, struggle, and isolation to ones that embrace peace, harmony, and community. Momaday speaks to the power of words in Native American tradition in The Man of Words, "Words are intrinsically powerful. Words are magical. By means of words can one bring about physical change in the universe" (16). Momaday's and Silko's respective protagonists, Abel and Tayo, are riddled with a pain that encompasses hybrid ancestry, disconnectedness with the community, an inability to participate in positive traditions, and post war trauma. They are searching for relief with behaviors that beget negative consequences, until they begin a healing process through the Night Chant. Finally, I will explore the impact of the emerging hybrid Native American on reviving, maintaining, and/or affecting tradition. I will synthesize the opinions of several sociologists on the emerging hybrid identity to support the theory that those Indians receptive to change will bring revival, with adaptations, to the culture and will enable the core of the old traditions to survive in an ever changing, progressive world.Item THE USE OF RACIST AND NATIVIST ARGUMENTS IN THE WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT: 1890-1920(2009-12) Ehrlich, Kate Aileen; Hood College Arts and Humanities; HumanitiesThis paper explores the evolution and significance of racist and nativist arguments throughout the women's suffrage movement. Particular focus is given to the period between 1890 and 1920, when the movement gained momentum following the creation of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and the formation of an active women's rights movement in the South. It is the actions of suffrage leaders, pertaining to their use of racist and nativist arguments, and the motivations behind the adoption and widespread use of these arguments within the context of American politics which is of primary concern.Item LEOPOLD BLOOM, EVERYMAN AND NOMAN: THE SIMULTANEOUS EBB AND FLOW OF CONSCIOUSNESS, TIME, AND NARRATIVE STRUCTURE IN JAMES JOYCE'S ULYSSES(2013-04) Eason, Megan; Hood College Arts and Humanities; HumanitiesJames Joyce's Ulysses contains many radical and challenging narrative structures that change from episode to episode, constructed by an amorphous narrative presence called the arranger. Though the novel relies on Homer's Odyssey for its skeletal structure, the changing narrative styles provide the true journey for the reader. Thinkers such as Henri Bergson applied philosophy to the problems of identity and disillusionment faced by their modernist contemporaries. He created a theory about achieving wholeness of identity secularly and authentically. Bergson called this process duration, an ideal unity in a person's identity that implies simultaneous blending knowledge of one's unconscious, memories, and new perceptions. In these terms identity is not fixed, but is an everchanging river of permutations as new experiences merge with conscious and unconscious memories. This paper explores the interaction between these philosophic concepts and the changing narrative styles on the character development of Leopold Bloom, creating a space for him to achieve pure duration. First, this paper examines the "Circe" episode and how it delves into Bloom's unconscious, analyzing the importance of repressed memories and archetypes on identity forming. Next, this paper examines the "Eumaeus" episode and how Bloom's consciousness blends with a narrative collective consciousness and how he experiences irruptions from his unconscious. Lastly, this paper explores the narrative style of catechism in the "Ithaca" episode with Bloom's continued journey of self-discovery. Most importantly, this paper argues that Bloom achieves pure duration at the end of "Ithaca," reaching a greater understanding of himself and humanity through the narrative spaces provided by the arranger.Item THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AESTHETICS AND FUNCTION IN JAPANESE RITUAL DRINKING VESSELS(2008-05) Dirks, Melissa; Hood College Arts and Humanities; HumanitiesThis paper will explore the relationship between function and aesthetics in ceramic drinking vessels used in the Japanese tea ritual. My primary focus will be on Japanese tea bowls from the 11th century to the 17th century. I will follow the sequence and evolution of tea drinking in Japan from aristocratic to religious to modern popular consumption. I will also consider the implications of those developments, especially the interplay of function and design over time. From its inception, the tea ceremony was intertwined with aspects of aesthetics, medicine, religion and social order. During the 5th century A.D., tea drinking vessels were used by the upper classes of Japanese society for formal tea competitions. By the 11th century, the tea drinking ceremony had developed into an ostentatious display of wealth and power. The event gradually transformed from a class-based ceremony to a religious ritual. Some of the first official tea masters were Zen Buddhist monks. By the 15th century, even lay tea masters conducted ceremonies that had spiritual attributes. For several centuries the partaking of tea was reserved for special ceremonies. Over time, the drinking of tea has become a ritual accessible to people of all levels of society in daily life. In modern Japan, tea is a symbol of national identity. Leaders, including all Prime Ministers, are photographed participating in the tea ceremony. Every visiting head of state is entertained with a tea ritual. According to tea scholar Jennifer Anderson, "Tea is a special area of culture set aside as sacred and precious. Many Japanese seem to feel that individual experience with tea is irrelevant as long as the institution is available to symbolize Japanese values and aesthetic sensitivity."¹ No other ritual is as important to the cultural identity of the country. As the tea ceremony developed the style of utensils employed evolved. The one utensil that altered the most dramatically, with the change in styles of tea, was the tea bowl. Three main tea styles will be examined: warrior tea, merchant tea and wabi tea. I will investigate the influence of individual tea practitioners, from each style, on the design of tea bowls used in their ceremonies. My analysis will cover the changes in tea bowl designs that led to the dominant style being used in today's ceremonies. ¹ Jennifer L. Anderson. An Introduction to Japanese Tea Ritual. (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1991), 220.Item PHILANTHROPY AS AN EXPRESSION OF FEMINISM: ALIGNING A TRADTIONALLY MASCULINE CONCEPT WITH A DECIDEDLY FEMINIST IDEAL(2010-05) Diehl, Betsy Duncan; Hood College Arts and Humanities; HumanitiesOn the surface, philanthropy and feminism do not necessarily seem to be compatible. Philanthropy is often viewed as an elitist, masculine pursuit, thanks in part to Industrial Age philanthropists such as Rockefeller and Carnegie who added a capitalistic and patriarchal flavor to the concept in the early twentieth century that lingers to this day. Feminism, by contrast, may seem at odds with a potentially oppressive social construction that appears to be the manifestation of possessing money and power. However, extensive research and investigation into both philanthropy and feminism reveals a provocative truth: that philanthropy and feminism are not only aligned, but also that philanthropy, in its purest form, may in fact be considered a powerful expression of feminism. This paper, through an in-depth analysis of philanthropy and feminism that eradicates the stereotypes associated with each, exposes some fundamental congruencies between the two and demonstrates that philanthropy can and does express feminist ideals. A case study featuring one of the largest philanthropic foundations in the world, the Ford Foundation, supports this theory and reveals some significant, and perhaps surprising, truths about conducting philanthropy with a feminist consciousness. This paper illuminates the fact that understanding philanthropy as a vehicle for expressing feminist objectives has important implications for fundraisers who seek to attract female donors to their causes and for women who seek to have increased influence on the areas of society that are touched and shaped by philanthropy.Item LA NOVELA NEGRA EN LA LITERATURA ESPANOLA MODERNA Y POST-MODERNA(2009-05) Cordova, Laura; Hood College Arts and Humanities; HumanitiesItem ROSIE THE RIVETER: A MISREPRESENTATION OF THE EXPERIENCE OF WORKING WOMEN DURING WORLD WAR II(2009-12) Colwell, Tess; Hood College Arts and Humanities; HumanitiesWorld War II opened employment doors for many women who otherwise would not have had the opportunity. The images of Rosie the Riveter have become the visual representation of this labor shift. Rosie evolved into a cultural and feminist icon. Yet much of what Rosie represents today is not an accurate portrayal of the experiences of working women at the time. Not all women were young, beautiful and housewives- turned-laborers as the images portrayed. Many female workers were working class, minority, and had already been in the labor force for some time. Rosie the Riveter represents feminism today, but at the time her creation represented nationalism. The postwar view of women reverted to pre-war standards; women returned to their homes as wives and mothers. Though change was not outwardly apparent at the war's end, women who entered the labor force during the war planted the seeds that bloomed into the woman's movement of the late 1960s and 1970s. To view Rosie as a feminist is to view the real working women during WWII out of historical and cultural contexts.Item PLAYING IN THE MARGINS: MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE MARGINALIA(2010-05) Cole, Helena Elizabeth; Hood College Arts and Humanities; HumanitiesThis study explores the differences and similarities (in content, intent, purpose and effect) in Renaissance and medieval marginalia, exploring at what point the marginalia cease to be, by definition, "marginal" and instead become, through their various interactions with texts they surround, integral and indispensable to the work itself. Attention is paid to the historical contexts in which the marginalia were written or, as in the case of medieval marginal images studied, depicted. The primary argument of the study is that the marginalia of both periods play with their parent texts through multiple framings and layers, and that these games were intentional on the part of the authors and/or artists who had set out deliberately to create sub-texts within others' (or sometimes their own) works. The study also examines the history of marginalia throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance, as well as the reasons behind its use's demise in the immediate subsequent centuries. An in-depth analysis of the marginalia in one work—Sir Thomas More's Utopia—demonstrates how this practice "played out" in this particular, and heavily marginated, text. Attention is also paid to Utopia's prefatory and post-script materials, which in turn add another layer of play—doing to the text as a whole what the marginalia did to the page.Item STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS NARRATION IN VIRGINIA WOOLF(2012-05) Cochran-Smith, Kelly; Hood College Arts and Humanities; HumanitiesIn the Modernist era, writers reflected the disillusionment of their times by rebelling against conventional methods. The intention was not merely to express new content, but to fundamentally change the process by which meaning could be gleaned from this content. Modernist writers such as Virginia Woolf forced readers to redefine and recreate the act of reading. One of the most characteristic techniques these writers employed was 'stream of consciousness,' a term employed to various degrees in both Mrs. Dalloway and The Waves. In analyzing stream-of-consciousness, this paper first delves into the genre's philosophical and psychological influences, with an emphasis on the prespeech levels of consciousness and Bergson's theory of "durational flux." It then examines nonlinear narration in these two works, with a focus on memory, desire and the so-called "Modernist Paradox." Because stream-of-consciousness literally changed the shape of the novel form, this paper next examines the concept of space as a conduit for time, a juxtaposition of internal and external, and also a new definition of "narrative space." An evaluation of the increased emphasis on sound and other sensory input beyond the visual follows, particularly the influence of, and parallels between, stream-of-consciousness and musical forms. Ultimately, this paper argues that the myriad impressions conveyed in stream-of-consciousness literature, particularly that of Virginia Woolf, is represented in the subjective meaning-making.Item THE DEPICTION OF JEWS IN SELECTED WORKS BY PAOLO UCCELLO AND PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA(2010-01) Clavelli, Gloria; Hood College Arts and Humanities; HumanitiesThe purpose of this Capstone Project is to investigate the depiction of Jewish peoples in the art of artists Paolo Uccello and Piero della Francesca, fifteenth-century painters in Italy. Many Italian city states could not function without their Jewish populations, and yet Jews were persecuted, ridiculed, segregated from the general Catholic population, and vilified in the religious art of the period. The project will focus on two works: The Miracle of the Profaned Host predella by Paolo Uccello for the Confraternity of Corpus Domini at Urbino and The Legend of the True Cross fresco cycle by Piero della Francesca in the Franciscan church of San Francesco at Arezzo. The paintings will be examined to determine if they portray Jews in the stereotypical manner of the times, and what or who may have influenced the complex way Jews are depicted in these works by two renowned Italian artists of the Quattrocento.Item LEAVE THE GUN, TAKE THE CANNOLI: THE AMERICAN DREAM AND THE GODFATHER TRILOGY(2008-01) Chumbris, Aaron Michael; Hood College Arts and Humanities; HumanitiesWhile most Americans are familiar with the concept of the American Dream, it is rather difficult to define in certain terms. Geela, author of "The American Dream," sees it as a social attitude "based on perspiration, innovation, risk and reward with the focus on a wholesome values system, integrity, family, community and a strong work ethic."¹ Historian James Truslow Adams, often credited with coining the phrase "American Dream," believed it to be a social order in which each person is able to reach the highest potential "of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position."² Whichever definition one chooses, the Godfather films embody this dream through the lifelong struggle of Vito Corleone to rise above his lowly birth in a pseudo-feudal society to become a man of wealth and power through his own cunning and mind for business. Yet American society has often set barriers to deter immigrants from seeking to improve their lot in life, and Vito's pursuit of the American Dream—as well as his son Michael's subsequent pursuit of the same—becomes instead a perversion of its ideals: wholesome values are replaced with a bloody honor code, the traditional family structure is supplanted by a hierarchy of Mafia dons, lieutenants, and street soldiers, and the community is ruled alternately through goodwill and fear. It is this perversion of the American Dream that forms the basis of this paper, beginning with Vito's early experiences in America and how discrimination and societal influences molded him and his underworld offspring. The second section examines the Mafia's influence on society ¹ Geela, "The Politics of the American Dream," Women's Radio News, http://www.womensradio.com/contentitemplates/?a=31&z=,(accessed 10 June 2007, 1). ² James Truslow Adams, The Epic of America. (Boston: Little Brown & Company, 1931), 214. and its role as an alternative version of the American Dream to those whom society had shunned and abused. The final section explores the reality of modern Italian-American life and how it is represented—or misrepresented—in the films. As a whole, this paper will argue that while society made it impossible for Vito or Michael to achieve conventional success, the criminal enterprise they created in its place bore the unmistakable influence of the American Dream, degraded as it was.Item TRANSGRESION FEMENINA EN LA NOVELA ESPANOLA DEL SIGLO XIX(2011-05) Cifuentes-Bailey, Karina; Hood College Arts and Humanities; HumanitiesItem WEAK BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE FAMILY DYSFUNCTION AND THE AMERICAN DREAM IN TENNESSEE WILLIAMS'S CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF(2010-08) Cascella, Laura M.; Hood College Arts and Humanities; HumanitiesThis project evaluates how dysfunctional filial relationships in Tennessee Williams's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof are a metaphor for the failed American Dream of happiness, success, and comfort. First published in 1955, Cat portrays the tragic and hostile relationships of one Southern family during the 1950s a fragile time in American history. This analysis of the family dynamics in Cat will help explain the tensions, pressures, beliefs, and values that the family unit generated, and how those aspects related to and reflected American society at large during the 1950s. This research will build on existing scholarship dedicated to American domestic drama and will help explore the ways in which family relationships shape individual and national identity, and how, like theatre itself, the American family in drama serves as a microcosm of the American experience. For this research, a number of sources were used, including the text of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof scholarship focusing on the portrayal of the family in American drama; literary criticism and interpretation of Williams and the aforementioned play; research that examines and analyzes themes, patterns, symbolism, and methods in American drama; cultural studies of the American family, gender identity, and sexuality in mid-twentieth century America; and historical analyses of America during the 1950s and the social and political climate during the postwar and early Cold War years.Item "SORRY HONEY, FOR THIS PART WE NEED AN AMERICAN": LATINA ACTRESSES IN HOLLYWOOD(2013-08) Canton, Yolanda Perez; Hood College Arts and Humanities; HumanitiesThis study examines the evolution of the kinds of roles that Latina actresses have had access to in Hollywood cinema, from the 1920s to the 2010s, in relation to the marketing of their star personas and their ethnic features. There have been two marketing paths open to Latina actresses in mainstream films: embodying the "Latin look" and fitting into stereotypes about Latinas, or attempting to appear more Anglo-American and play any type of roles. This study uses feminist film theory and critical race theory to understand Latinas' positions as women and as ethnic "Others." The paper is divided into three periods, classic Hollywood (1920s-1950s), postwar Hollywood (1950s-1970s), and contemporary cinema (1980s-2010s), and each section focuses on the Latina actresses who exemplified the era: Dolores del Rio, Lupe Velez, Rita Hayworth, Rita Moreno, Raquel Welch, Rosie Perez, Salma Hayek, and Jennifer Lopez.Item A Comparison of the Male Persona in Western Literature(2016-01) Burtner, John T.; Hood College Arts and Humanities; HumanitiesThe essay follows a selection of Western Literature including Homer's Odyssey, Marquez' s One Hundred Years of Solitude, Kundera' s The Unbelievable Lightness of Being, selected poetry by Walt Whitman and Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof to examine the male persona as portrayed in different genres beginning as long ago as the writings of Homer and as recently as Tennessee Williams. While all have some similarities, there is a move toward recognizing the validity of a changing male persona in today's society. While there remains a definite perception of maleness, there is an apparent fluidity in the expectations and realities of being male.Item A STUDY OF EARLY SUCCESSION IN THE MARYLAND PIEDMONT(1986-05) Bergmann, Carole Fantom; Hood College Biology; Human SciencesEarly plant succession in the upper Montgomery County portion of the Maryland piedmont was studied over a two year period during the 1984-1985 growing seasons. Analysis of vegetation was made in seven old fields ranging in age from 1 through 30 years. Each year plant species, number, and percent coverage were tabulated for each site. The . botanical nature of the plant cover growing on early succession fields in the Maryland piedmont and the changes in these communities with respect to time were thus recorded and examined. Following a short period of annual dominance (0-1 year), Aster spp. were found to be dominant during 1 through 4 years; Solidago species increasingly gained importance throughout this period. Solidago species assumed dominance by year 5 and retained dominant status in the herbaceous level through year 30. Sharing dominance with Solidago were Lonicera, japonica in the 10-15 year field, Lonicera japonica, Rubus flagellaris and Lespedeza procumbens in the 15-20 year field, and Rhus radicans in the 25-30 year field. Succession proceeds somewhat more slowly in the Maryland piedmont than in other areas reported in the literature, with the change in species neither as quick nor as distinct as in the North Carolina piedmont. No marked trends in density, species richness, diversity, or evenness were noted over the 30 year span.