First Update

Since my introductory post, I have honed in on a specific project which I will use to expand my experience in archives and hopefully contribute to ongoing conversations about archival principles of arrangement and description. I will be working on a collection housed at the Rochester Public Library of the personal records of Dr. Lewis Lansky, a former MCC History professor and member of the civil rights action group F.I.G.H.T. (Freedom, Integration, God, Honor, Today), and the later group Friends of F.I.G.H.T., established for non-black allies in Rochester. 

Through some initial research I have found an oral history interview with Dr. Lansky, along with two articles he wrote for the MCC student paper on his first-hand experiences marching with Dr. King and working with other civil rights leaders.

I am so excited to begin working on this project, which will involve fully processing it and will culminate in a finding aid created through ArchivesSpace. 

Update: From Living History to Visual Culture Theory

 Due to sickness this past Monday, my first project update arrives a week later than my peers. I am actually glad that it worked out this way as prior to the submission of the first draft of the lit review I likely would have focused the uncertainty in my ability to actually complete that assignment, having never done one before. In the wake of our first submission, I am reflecting on some gaps in my project that are included in my thesis but not supported by the exhibition at present. For example, an exhibition in the University Gallery is advantageous for numerous reasons. The fact that it's a white cube type of infrastructure lends itself well to the problem I address through my criticism of Modernist curatorial methodology. Additionally, it also functions as an event space so audiences with varying levels of investment in and understanding of art exhibitions will experience my subversive method of curatorial praxis. However, I do not have access to the institutional documentation that supports that gallery space and it does not have an interpretive development policy in the way that art museums ideally would. In this way, the gallery space is almost a transplant environment and my exhibit analogous to a traveling show. Communal response should directly influence RIT Archives institutional management approaches. This presents a unique challenge as visitors are disassociated from the Archives central collection and exhibit spaces when interacting with my exhibit. I'm currently mulling over a tagging interactive that could be utilized by the art team once the exhibit comes down.

The most significant change my project has underwent since I last posted is that I am no longer primarily pulling from living history and am instead am focusing on different visual culture theorists like Eileen Hooper-Greenhill, Grant Kester, Amelia Jones, and Tracey Warr. Feminist performance art remains one of the primary arbidges between passive and active viewership, and for the most part the project has stayed fundamentally the same. I'm looking forward to further developing curatorial text for my exhibition in the coming weeks.

First Update: Danni Kuntz

 Hello again!

I feel as if a lot has happened since my first post. Firstly, and most importantly, I chose a specific topic: Everyday Life in Ancient Rome. I think this project has a lot of potential, and it is helping me prepare for my future plans. In the time since my last post, I've compiled my sources and annotated them, written an abstract, and even have started to work on a literature review for my project. It's been a lot of work, but I've also had a lot of fun delving into my topic of choice. 

Capstone Update 10/01/2026

Since last blog post, I have changed the goals and output of my capstone. I decided to go from a paper to a project because it will allow me to gain tangible experience in operating as a museum professional. The project will still be centered around LGBTQIA2S+ representation in a GLAM setting, like my proposal originally was. The main difference is what my thesis has changed into. Now I plan on gathering an oral history interview with a steward of LGBTQIA2S+ resources within a library setting. This interview will be the basis of my capstone, complimented by research on both the standards of conducting the oral history interviews of queer communities and on the operations of an LGBTQIA2S+ library.

Because of this change of plans, I am not quite as on track as I had hoped to be at this point in our fall semester. My first order of business since this reorientation is to find all of my sources, annotate them by next class and work on a full draft of a literary review. I also need to identify a subject for the project and receive their permission for an interview. My methods are not yet determined for the interview portion, and I do not have any present experience with oral history, but I hope to consult with Museum Studies and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies staff members to come up with a solid plan on how to approach the session. 

-Bella