Stories of the Susquehanna Valley Documentary: Priestly, Pantiscocracy, and French Azilum
Topic: Explore the utopian communities of the Susquehanna Valley in the 18th/19th century by comparing and contrasting Priestly’s legacy and Coleridge’s Pantisocracy in relation to French Azilum.
Argument: Utopian vision failed but still left a legacy and made a difference. They changed the course of development. Legacies left behind: french azilum town,landscape connections,myths of america, ideas of politics and nature, ideas of community, intellectual ideals within community, environmental impact, local history reimagined, financial investment, influence on american politics.
Susquehanna documentary production
1. Research problem: Why did utopian visions of very different types of communities emerge on the Susquehanna River in the wake of the removal of American Indians in the late 18th century, and how can the legacy of those long-ago utopias (tied to the early formation of America as a country) be portrayed in a way that is publicly accessible to people in the area today?
2. Interdisciplinary nature: Historical, literary, and cultural studies, as well as digital humanities and environmental humanities work (textual and spatial and visual).
3. Research environment and work plan: Working together with Prof. Siewers, Digital Scholarship Coordinator Andy Famiglietti, and Multimedia Instructional Technologist Brianna Derr intensively for three weeks in developing and producing the documentary. Project will also involve collaboration with WVIA-TV through board members Marty Walzer and Skip Wieder. Daily meetings and work in LIT studios, visit to WVIA, field visits to locations on the river for filming and interviews.
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