Scholarship & Research

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The changing face of folkloric transmission: bigfoot and the American psyche
(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2020) Davenport, Hannah Marie; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Robert Rydell
The purpose of this research is to better articulate the role that podcasts play in the transmission of oral narratives within the world of modern folklore. The use of podcasting as a medium for folkloric transmission will be examined through the lens of the bigfoot stories in North America. The research will be primarily comprised of two separate studies. The first is an examination of the bigfoot stories found in North America beginning with the traditional narratives of the Native Americans and First Nations people, which shed light on the building blocks of the bigfoot archetype, and follow the stories as the become the modern narrative that we hear today. The second study is an examination of the role that podcasts play within our culture in relation to the dissemination of information on a mass scale. These analyses are followed by an assessment of how podcasting has become a popular medium for oral storytelling, and how this medium has facilitated the expansion of the bigfoot folklore. The research found that podcasts, combined with other social media platforms, have created digital folklore collections that may help push interdisciplinary research within the scientific community. The methodologies used for the research are a combination of textual literature, digital literature, and audio files (podcasts).
Locating the transgender other: alterity in 21st century America
(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2018) Medicine Horse, Cassidy Anne; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Matthew Herman
Discussions directed toward amending past stigmatizations associated with transgender identity have expanded in the 21st-century. Contemporary debates concerning the sociocultural pariah of mid-20th-century America have swung wide the doors of denounced identity. As this has happened, a more extensive text has emerged concerning the notion of alterity. Designators of non-binary gender expanded during the middle of the last century and grew to include ideas of anti-nationalism, civil disruption, and sexual perversion. A plethora of politically motivated social agendas resulted in scholarship that did not keep up with contemporary realities. Perpetrated distortions of the 'trans-other' have disaffiliated more than 1.5 million American citizens. Dramatic increases in 'hate crimes' and a striking disparity in transgender suicide rates present a worrisome illustration of trans-alterity. This treatise centers on how the location of transgender Story has shifted and revealed new ways of discussing gender distinctiveness. There is an opportunity for a scholarship to develop that incorporates the history of trans-exclusion with contemporary advances in technology. Stories of the trans-subject are instantly communicated, and knowledge of the past acts to eliminate transgender alterity. The art of telling stories is an underutilized tool of scholarship. Trans-emergence is a story about contemporary reality and recording knowledge about the history of a marginalized culture. By looking back, it is possible to see a future that does not merely re-theorize or restate a call for inclusion but informs scholars that society is experiencing a 'Transgender Renaissance.'
Our storied sea: crafting a collective narrative of the ocean through accompaniment
(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2017) Savoie, Gianna M.; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Michael Reidy
Never before have we had such broad access to scientific information about the sea, yet as the world's oceans slip into a state of crisis, the American public's grasp of the issues is far from firm. But how do we begin to understand something as vast as the ocean, an area that covers more than two-thirds of our planet, when less than ten percent of it has been explored? The ocean we "know" represents many things to many people; for some, it is a realm to be feared, for others, it is a resource to be exploited, and yet for others, it is a home to protect. This dissertation tracks an ever-evolving narrative of the ocean and examines how we come to infuse it with meaning. I contend that many Westerners relate to this space that we call the sea as a place not through a personal history, but via a translated history by those who have conveyed that experience to the public through visual storytelling. As we have been primarily on the receiving end of narratives "owned" and dictated by select voices, I argue there has remained a disconnect with the sea that has troubled our relationship with it. In today's rapidly expanding media landscape, we now have the opportunity to participate in the ocean's story as never before. I propose we disrupt the notion of "narrative ownership" as it may serve to limit understanding, and turn instead to a shared narrative that embraces diverse perspectives in order to broaden our depth of knowledge and our relationship with the sea. Further, this work examines the ways in which the shifting digital and social media terrain is enabling ocean scientists to blur the lines between science and advocacy in order to invest the public in stewardship. I argue that in order to be effective, the science narrative can no longer simply inform; it must engage the public by incorporating human agency into the story of the ocean. Only when we share a collective narrative of the ocean, will we be able to fully invest in its protection. To that end, I explore how the confluence of science, storytelling and the human experience has culminated in my establishment of the non-profit organization, the Ocean Media Institute which serves to expand the public's understanding of ocean science through the collaborative creation and open distribution of innovative visual media and artistic approaches to ocean literacy.

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