Goucher College MA in Cultural Sustainability
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In this era of increasing homogeneity and globalization, local history, traditions, and ways of life are among our most endangered resources and precious assets. By strengthening and building on the foundations of these resources-whether artistic, linguistic, musical, economic, or environmental-we can begin to counter the powerful forces that endanger communities around the world. Our M.A. in Cultural Sustainability brings together knowledge from anthropology, history, folklore, ethnomusicology, communications, business and management, linguistics, and activism to teach students how to effect positive, community-driven change in the cultures they care about most-whether it be an African village, an American inner-city neighborhood, a remote tribe in Asia, or a threatened public space just down the street. The discipline of cultural sustainability can be and will be applied wherever valued ways-of-life are at risk.
Recent Submissions
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Street Business: From Graffiti Artist to Entrepreneur
(2018-07)This Capstone project examines and explores current cultural transitions of one modern graffiti artist. For many graffiti and street artists, the transition from the streets to the gallery is nothing new, but for an artist ... -
Reclaiming Indigenous Landscapes
(2018-05-16)The goal of this capstone is to present the results of research on the history of the naming of geological places in Connecticut. Many sites carry names that refer to "satan," "devil," or “hell,” names which were not used ... -
Building a Movement Through Partnerships and Public Engagement:One Organization, Many Communities, and a Landfill
(2018-07-10)This reflective paper will explain and summarize a community engagement capstone project focused on building a partnership with Friends of Lackawanna (FOL), an organization that has been developed in order to oppose a 50 ... -
Building Pentimento: A Framework for Maintaining Cultural Identity in Urban Development
(2018-05)This paper examines the theoretical frameworks of cultural identity in the context of urban developmental applications in Atlanta, Georgia. By providing a brief historical overview of urban development practices in the ... -
Traditional Dance Arts in Education; Embracing our Diverse American Tapestry
(2018-06-05)We live in a very diverse world and the United State of America is a country of immigrants. I use the term American Tapestry as a metaphor to represent the multitude of ethnicities, races, languages, customs, beliefs and ... -
Cultural Sustainability Assessment Toolkit
(2018-05-25)The Cultural Sustainability Assessment Toolkit is the synthesizing of concepts learned in the MACS program into a structured yet adaptive approach for assessing the cultural sustainability of communities and using the ... -
The Missing Peace: Offerings from the Study of Adoption, Culture, and Identity
(2018-05-24)The purpose of this capstone is to expand cultural sustainability practice by investigating how emerging adult Chinese adoptees living in the United States negotiate identity formation and belonging. To understand the ... -
Porn Stars and Politicians
(2018-01-04)”Porn Stars and Politicians” is an exercise in media literacy, personal consciousness and value constructions of ideal and real culture. The project design invites Internet users to engage in an exercise of value constructions ... -
American Beer: Community, Tradition and Culture
(2017-01-03)American Beer: Community, Tradition and Culture is an exhibition about people, constructed with two eras in mind, the pre-craft beer era (approximately 1800-1980) and the craft beer to present era (approximately 1980-2017). ... -
Restringing Pathways to the Ancestors: An Indigenous Family History Project
(2017-12-19)This autoethnography examines how my genealogical research and critical examination of the stories of my family through a decolonial and indigenous lens is a resistance to the contemporary colonial mandate…to eradicate ... -
La Comunità: Programming for Italian-Americans in Providence, Rhode Island
(2017-07-02)This capstone outlines the research and process of developing in dialogue with community members a series of public programs that focus on the Italian-American community in the Providence, Rhode Island area. The programs ... -
Extreme Poverty in Kansas City; Dynamics of Power in Attempting to Create Visual Ethnography
(2017-06)This project focuses on a small sampling of the eleven percent of the total population in Kansas City experiencing poverty (United States Census Bureau 2014). The focus of this project is to record and represent the lived ... -
In This Place: Port Orchard
(2015)The framework of this Capstone project has taken form throughout my time participating and living in the community of Port Orchard, WA. The project has worked towards adapting methods for collecting ways individuals connect ... -
The Intersection of Commercial Fishing and Tourism: An Exploratory Research Project
(2016-12-22)This paper examines the relationship between traditional maritime culture; such as commercial fishing, and tourism in the Republic of Croatia. Its emphasis is on the effects of tourism development in the small towns and ... -
“WHAT WOULD JANE DO?” SUSTAINING FOLKLORE VILLAGE’S FUTURE THROUGH COLLECTIVE MEMORY
(2017-01-13)In 1967, folk dancer Jane Farwell opened a rural and traditional arts organization in the middle of Southwest Wisconsin. She called it Folklore Village, “a happy personification of fine recreation, combining game, music, ... -
Partnerships in Meaning-Making: Digital Storytelling as Cultural Sustainability Practice
(2016-12-30)This reflective paper summarizes research that explored digital storytelling as a potential method for cultural sustainability practice. The digital storytelling process involves the production in a facilitated workshop ... -
Where All Thrive: Understanding the Intersection of Culture and Thriving in College for Students from Immigrant Families
(2016-12-08)This research considers the cultural experience of first and second generation immigrants in the United States as they aim to thrive in college. Children of immigrants live in the intersection of cultures—the culture of ... -
Revitalizing History, a Participatory Museum Experience
(2016-12)This capstone outlines an exhibition proposal which combines oral histories and community narratives with more traditionally viewed historic collections to create a different look at Kansas City history. Based on the idea ... -
Poverty Alleviation through Tourism in Appalachia: Policies and Practices in Three Sites in Eastern Tennessee
(2016-12)This thesis provides a critical analysis of tourism trends in the northeastern corner of Tennessee. My intended audience is policymakers at the regional and local level, who can use this document to understand the effects ...
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