History Professor Researches Projects at the Library of Congress
Dr. Michael J. Kramer is the Spring-Summer 2023 Digital Studies Fellow at the Library of Congress’s John W. Kluge Center in Washington, DC, conducting archival research for two projects that will continue back at Brockport.
As the Spring-Summer 2023 Digital Studies Fellow at the Library of Congress’s John W. Kluge Center in Washington, DC, Dr. Kramer is conducting archival research for two book projects with digital dimensions.
The first is a study of technology and folk music in the United States from 1900 to the present. It examines how a diverse range of folk “revivalists” were not merely Luddite antimodernists, but rather embraced new approaches to cultural heritage and tradition. They turned to computation, informatics, cybernetics, and data analytics to make sense of the musical past.
The second research project investigates the 1976 US bicentennial celebrations. This was a key but understudied moment when Americans looked to their past through culture and commemoration in order to make sense of their present and it set the stage for subsequent “culture wars” that rage to this day in the United States. The project involves both a book and the development of a database and website about 1976 bicentennial events.
For Dr. Kramer, numerous archives located in Washington, DC serve as the basis for this research, which will continue back in SUNY Brockport in the fall of 2023 and thereafter, with ample opportunities for students to participate in project-based experential learning about history, digital curation, information literacy, diversity, project management, education, and other topics that combine the intellectual interests of students with robust professional development.