Humanities News

Jennifer Dutch, an American Studies doctoral candidate, has received a $5,000 Alumni Association Dissertation Award from Penn State’s Graduate School for the spring 2012 semester for her dissertation “Someone’s In the Kitchen: The Value of Home Cooking Traditions in the Twenty-First Century.”

Dutch, of Hershey, is the first Penn State Harrisburg student to receive the award. She was recognized by the Graduate School Alumni Society on Saturday, March 24.

Dr. Peter Idowu has been appointed assistant dean for graduate studies at Penn State Harrisburg.

The position, designed to support the growth of the college’s graduate programs and serve as a liaison with the University Graduate School, “reinforces Penn State Harrisburg’s commitment to graduate education and consolidates its role as a regional leader in the field,” said Chancellor Mukund Kulkarni.

Two Penn State Harrisburg American Studies doctoral students received awards from the American Folklore Society Oct. 15 at the society’s annual conference in Bloomington, Ind.

Spencer L. Green, of Provo, Utah, received the William Wells Newell Prize for his paper, “Disastrous Alternatives: Boy Scout Disaster Stories and Legends and Imagining the Natural World.” During the conference, Green presented his paper, which was published in the “Children’s Folklore Review.” Green is the second consecutive Penn State Harrisburg student to win the prize, an international competition run annually since 1980.

Distinguished Professor of American Studies and Folklore Simon Bronner recently completed two books exploring current developments and philosophies of traditions: “Explaining Traditions: Folk Behavior in Modern Culture,” which he wrote, and “Revisioning Ritual: Jewish Traditions in Transition,” which he edited.