Mentor Areas
Francesca Russello Ammon is a social and cultural historian of urban planning and the built environment. Her research focuses on the built environment of American cities, from World War II to the present. Professor Ammon is particularly interested in the history of urban revitalization, with an emphasis on urban renewal; the dynamic relationship between cities and nature; public history as a tool for community-based research and engagement; and the ways that visual culture has shaped understanding of what cities are, have been, and should be. For further info, please see her personal website: https://www.francescaammon.com/. For another recently completed digital humanities project, see: Sunset Over Sunset (https://www.sunsetoversunset.org/).
Description:
Ongoing research into the history of urban renewal and historic preservation involves archival research into architectural and planning records, development of a neighborhood-wide database of individual property characteristics, conducting and transcribing oral history interviews, integrating interview audio into a virtual walking tour, developing a map of historical data (GIS), and other activities. This research supports both a public history website (https://preservingsocietyhill.org/) and more traditional academic publishing.
Preferred Qualifications
Basic familiarity with historical research methods (developing databases, reviewing archives, etc.) is necessary. Also useful, but not necessary as possible research and design tasks can vary, are: GIS skills, web design skills, and experience conducting oral history interviews.
Project Website
Learn more about the researcher and/or the project here. Preserving Society Hill
Details:
Preferred Student Year
First-year, Second-Year, Junior, Senior
Academic Term
Fall, Spring
I prefer to have students start during the above term(s).Volunteer
Yes
Yes indicates that faculty are open to volunteers.Paid
No
Yes indicates that faculty are open to paying students they engage in their research, regardless of their work-study eligibility.Work Study
No
Yes indicates that faculty are open to hiring work-study-eligible students.