Marina Dobronovskaya (2013) on “The Material Culture of Stalinism: The City of Novgorod, Urban Reconstruction, and Historic Preservation in the Soviet Union after World War Two (1943-1955).”
Marina Dobronovskaya’s research focused on the post-war reconstruction of destroyed cities in the USSR—the largest state-planned reconstruction project of the twentieth century. The process and politics of this process were examined: how decisions were made, what was actually done, and the impact of reconstruction on contemporary society, especially on the professional development and philosophy of historic preservation. Marina's research contributes to fledgling efforts to protect historical heritage in Russia and in other areas of the world and will be relevant to ongoing international efforts to reconstruct historic sites destroyed by wars and natural disasters. Produced during her doctoral studies, Marina's book on historic preservation in Moscow—entitled Ob’ekt okhrany: Moskva. K 95-letiu obrazovania sistemy organov okhrany pamiatnikov. Documenty i svidetelstva [Object of Preservation: Moscow. Ninety-five years of historic preservation. The Moscow Historical Preservation Agency]—has thus far won two awards: The Moscow Mayor’s Award for the best book on historic preservation of the year (2012) and second prize, category Best publication on architecture and architects, Annual Moscow International Festival “Architecture” (2013). [Committee: Robert Warren (Urban Affairs and Public Policy), Ritchie Garrison (HIST), David Ames (CHAD), Karl Qualls (Dickinson), Bernie Herman (UNC, Chapel Hill).]
Amanda Norbutus (2012) on “New approaches for the preservation of outdoor public murals: The assessment of removable protective coatings for mural paintings and painted architectural surfaces.”
Amanda Norbutus’s research evaluated the quality and performance of several coatings systems designed to protect outdoor murals from the chemical, mechanical, and physical stresses of everyday environmental exposure. Five solvent- and water-borne coatings systems were examined using Scanning Electron Microscopy, Fourier Transform-Infrared Spectroscopy, Raman Spectroscopy, Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry, and Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. Amanda worked with mural artists, civic leaders, arts advocates, mural arts commissions, and community leaders on the murals in Philadelphia and with Heritage Preservation’s Rescue Public Murals project. Amanda's first position after graduation was as the Mendel Science Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Department of Chemistry at Villanova University, Villanova, PA. [Committee: Joyce Hill Stoner (ARTC), Joseph Weber (ARTC), Andrew Teplyakov (CHEM), Thomas Learner (Getty Conservation Institute), Richard Wolbers (ARTC).]
Christina Cole (2010) on “The Contextual Analysis of pre-1856 Eastern Woodlands Quillwork Dyes Through Identification by Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry.”
Christina Cole's research focused on the scientific analysis of natural dyes on early Eastern Woodlands quillwork using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), fiber optic reflectance spectroscopy (FORS), and X-ray fluorescence (XRF). Her contributions include a nondestructive sampling technique for LC-MS, and a better understanding of Native North American dye technology from Contact to 1856. Analysis of quillwork collections housed by three major North American ethnographic museums provided evidence of an uninterrupted material culture tradition based on indigenous North American dyes that is at odds with the sense of acculturation implied by the quillwork dye literature. Christina's first position after receiving her Ph.D. was a two-year Mellon Teaching Fellowship at the University of Delaware. [Committee: Vicki Cassman (ARTC), Jay Custer (ANTH), Bruno Pouliot (ARTC), Joseph Weber (ARTC), Suzanne Lomax (National Gallery of Art).]