Students

List of Student Thesis Projects

Gallery of Student Work

Notable Student and Alumni Awards

Society of Architectural Historians Oglethorpe Student Chapter — link

List of Student Activities and Accolades:

Spring 2013

Emily Polgardi (M.A. current student) was awarded on April 2, 2013, the 2013 Colonial Dames of America in the State of Georgia Scholarship through the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation.  In addition to the scholarship, she has been awarded a one-year membership in the Georgia Trust.  She’ll formally receive the  scholarship during the Georgia Trust’s Annual Meeting in Millegeville on April 27th.  The scholarship is based on leadership, academic achievement, as well as a desire to work in Georgia to protect its heritage through historic preservation or a related field — namely architectural history.

Winter 2013

Olivier Maene (B.F.A. current student) presented a paper, “Urban Renewal before Urban Renewal: Postwar Modernism in Savannah, 1945-1960,” at the 8th Savannah Symposium: Modernities Across Space and Time, hosted by our department, on February 8, 2013.

Meghan Nagle (M.F.A. current student) and Olvier Maene (B.F.A., current student), along with students from the University of Bologna, presented papers at the symposium in New York City on January 25 marking the opening of the exhibition “Becoming Savannah: Slow Urbanism, Italian influences and the Ideal city: Urban lessons from Italy and Savannah, Georgia by Students of the Savannah College of Art and Design” at the Italian Cultural Institute in New York, on display January 25-February 25, 2013.

Olivier Maene (B.F.A. current student), a native of Belgium, works as the Telfair Museum Audio Guide Coordinator, translating recorded interpretative tours for the Owens-Thomas House museum in Savannah.

Fall 2012

Lauren McCardel (M.F.A. current student) presented a paper, “Women on the Wall:  The Role and Impact of Women on Hadrian’s Wall,” at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians in October 2012 in Athens, Georgia.  Her’s was one of only five student papers of 52 accepted papers.

Olvier Maene (B.F.A., current student) was profiled in the Historic Savannah Foundation’s website in their My HSF Story page: “Olivier Maene’s Story” highlights his participation in the foundation’s Savannah Tour of Homes and Gardens as a docent.  See http://www.myhsf.org/join-today/my-hsf-story/

Summer 2012

Lauren McCardel (M.F.A. candidate) conducted a summer internship working at Huntington Castle, Clonegal, Ireland, authoring an architectural history of the Castle, the information from which will be used for tours.

Michela Davola (M.F.A. candidate) conducted a summer internship working at the Metropolitan Planning Commission in Savannah identifying, organizing and cataloguing historic photographs of buildings throughout Savannah.

Kathy Schnurr (B.F.A. candidate) worked as a gallery assistant at the Telfair Museum for summer 2012.

Olivier Maene (B.F.A. candidate) has been hired as one of the ten Savannah-campus SCAD student representatives — a prestigious honour for our department .

Spring 2012

Olvier Maene (B.F.A., architectural history, current student) was profiled in the Historic Savannah Foundation’s website in their My HSF Story page: “Olivier Maene’s Story” highlights his participation in the foundation’s Savannah Tour of Homes and Gardens as a docent.

Fall 2011

Michela Davola and Kimberly Barnard (both MFA candidates) and Olivier Maene (BFA candidate) led walking tours of historic downtown Savannah in support of the November 12th SCAD Day admissions events.

Olivier Maene and Erin McMahon (both BFA candidates) led walking tours of historic downtown Savannah in support of the October 8th SCAD Day admissions events.  

Summer 2011

• Erin McMahon (BFA candidate) conducted a month-long gardening internship in England in August, spending three weeks at a private garden near Stratford and one week at the garden of Hampton Court.  McMahon wishes to study landscape garden history following the completion of her BFA.

• Kimberly Barnard (MFA candidate) served as a research intern at the  Western Reserve Historical Society in Ohio.

Spring 2011

• Kelly Bressler (MFA candidate) delivered a paper — “Sex on the Street: How Storyville Transformed Basin Street through Sex, Architecture and Legislation” — at the annual meeting of the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) in New Orleans, April 2011.  This was the first time one of our students had a paper accepted at this national conference.
• Kelly Bressler (MFA candidate) received  the 2011 Keepers Preservation Fellowship to support her attendance at the SAH Annual Meeting in New Orleans in April 2011.
• Architectural History students Mallorie Chase (MA candidate), Brittany Bryant (MFA candidate), and Bradley Allen (BFA candidate) attended the SAH annual meeting in New Orleans in April.
• The department’s student club, “The Oglethorpe Chapter,” hosted its largest event to date — a screening of the film “My Architect” (about American architect Louis Kahn seen through the eyes of his son Nathaniel Kahn — attracted over 50 students.

Winter 2011

• Senior Bradley Allen and junior Erin McMahon assisted with the leading or walking tours of downtown Savannah during the departmentally sponsored 7^th Savannah Symposium in February

• Kelley Stroup (MFA candidate) delivered a paper entitled “Architecture of Continuity: Coptic Orthodox Churches in the United States,” at the 7^th Savannah Symposium in Feb. 2011

• Bradley Allen (BFA candidate) secured a summer internship working for the Historic American Building Survey assisting with compiling a history of the program from its WPA-era origins to the present day.

• MA-candidate Brittany Bryant conducted an internship at the Metropolitan Planning Commission in Savannah in winter quarter, leading to her being hired part time in March.

Fall 2010

• Masters students Bridgid Byrne (MFA candidate) and Mallorie Chase (MA candidate) both travelled to Europe during the December break  to conduct research for their respective Master Thesis projects; Byrne travelled to Dublin, Ireland, while Chase travelled to Lisbon, Portugal.

• Three Architectural History students delivered papers at the annual meeting of the Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians in Chattanooga, TN, in October 2010:

Bradley Allen (BFA candidate), “Eleanor, West Virginia: The Test Continues”

Kelly Bressler (MFA candidate) “Hierarchy of the Harem: Architectural Interpretation of Politics, Culture and Influence at the Harem of Topkapi Saray”

Kelley Stroup (MFA candidate) “Architecture of Displacement: Coptic Orthodox Churches in the United States”

• Brittany Bryant (MFA candidate) taught a five-hour SCAD community workshop in Nov. 2010 focusing on Architectural Elements.  Her workshop entailed both an in-class lecture and a walking tour.

• Kim Irby (MFA candidate), undertook analytical fieldwork and drawing and model making related to an 18-19thcentury church in Beaufort, SC – fall 2010, supervised by Daves Rossell

• Brittany Bryant (MFA candidate) served as a research intern at the Metropolitan Planning Commission, Savannah – fall 2010, supervised by Robin Williams

Summer 2010

• Ruben Acosta (MFA candidate) served as a research intern at the Georgia State Historic Preservation Office, Atlanta – summer 2010, supervised by Robin Williams.

• Three architectural history students Brittany Bryant (MFA candidate), Bridgid Byrne (MFA candidate and Lindsey Olmstead (BFA candidate) led tours of downtown Savannah in support of the SCAD-sponsored Art Educator Forum program in July 2010.

Spring 2010

• Bradley Allen (BFA candidate) delivered a speech in May to the local Toastmasters meeting in West Virginia, where he is studying this quarter via e-learning classes.  He used the opportunity to talk about his internship experience last summer with Preservation Piedmont and about the research project he did with the Rosenwald schools.

Fall 2009

• Architectural History graduate student Kelly Bressler (MFA Candidate) presented a paper entitled “Lights Out: The Rise and Fall of the American Red-Light District” at the Mid-Atlantic Popular and American Culture Association (MAPACA) Conference in Boston, November 5-7, 2009.

• Undergraduate architectural history students Kristin Rourke and Bradley Allen (BFA candidates) led tours of downtown Savannah on October 23 for many of the 200 students participating at the AIAS South Quad conference, hosted by SCAD’s AIAS chapter.

• Claudia Rosa Lopez (MFA candidate) served as a teaching intern to Prof. Jorge Lizardi in his class “The invention of a classic legacy” (Arch 4211) in the School of Architecture at the University of Puerto Rico during fall quarter.  She completed her internship in November 2009.

• Undergrad Bradley Allen and Graduate student Kim Irby attended the “Jefferson, Palladio, and the Fine Arts in America Symposium” at the University of Virginia on Nov. 7 and 8, 2009.  Alumna Julie Smith also attended.

• Architectural History students did the department proud, playing an active role at the annual meeting of the Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians held in Jackson, Mississippi, on Oct. 29-31, 2009.  Four students delivered talks:

L-R: Evan McWilliams, Kristin Rourke, Bradley Allen, Kelly Bressler and Nicholas Fuqua

Kelly Bressler (MFA candidate), “Success at Arlington: The Rise and Demise of the Freedman’s Village”

Nicholas Fuqua (MFA candidate), “Hidden in Plain View: The Sites and Structures of Slave Processing in Charleston, SC, 1670-1865”

Evan McWilliams (MA candidate), “The Reredos at St. John’s Church, Savannah: Gothic Imitation and Innovation in the Twentieth Century”

Kristin Rourke (BFA candidate), “The Guiding Star: The Starland Dairy and the Development and Redevelopment of a Suburban Community”

They were joined by undergraduate student Bradley Allen, attending paper sessions, tours, receptions and keynote addresses.  Nicholas Fuqua was awarded one of three student travel awards (Bressler received one at last year’s SESAH meeting).  The students actively networked during breaks and receptions, meeting scholars from other institutions.  They also helped out as volunteers at the business meeting.

• Undergraduate Architectural History major, Bradley Allen, served as one of six panelists invited to speak at the 3^rd Annual School of the Building Arts Sophomore Career Networking Social held Thursday night, Oct. 22, at the Pei Ling Chan Gallery.  Bradley had been invited following the posting to YouTube of his mini-documentary that he made of his summer internship.

The six student panelists included three interior designers, a historic preservationist, an architect, and Bradley representing architectural history.  They were on hand to discuss their internship experiences, and give positive insight to the internship process.  Students also had the opportunity to ask questions, talk to advisors from career services, and of course network with fellow classmates.

Valuable issues concerning the internship process were discussed including: lodging, salary, basic job requirements, location, personal obstacles faced, results and opportunities of employment that may have came out of the experience. Many attended the event, including students from other SCAD departments outside the School of the Building Arts.

• Nicholas Fuqua (MFA candidate) led a successful community workshop on Oct. 17 entitled “The Untold Stories of Savannah Architecture,” which addressed sites of slavery in Savannah and compared them to similar sites in Charleston.  It was offered through SCAD’s Community Workshop programs.  Nicholas is finishing up his Master’s thesis on the Architecture of Slave Processing in Charleston.  His workshop was very well received, prompting one participant to comment: “As a history geek, I am always excited to learn more about the city I now live in and your workshop taught me a lot of stuff other tours ignore. “

• Architectural History students in the Research Methods in Architectural History class this fall are focusing their class efforts on doing research on the Ardsley Park-Chatham Crescent neighbourhood, which will celebrate its centennial in 2010.  In preparation for that anniversary, the department was invited by Jo Hickson, President of the Ardsley Park-Chatham Crescent Garden Club, to research and write a commemorative booklet examining the history of the neighbourhood, its defining urban and architectural features and discuss its significance as one of the earliest automobile suburbs in America.  Hickson visited our Research Methods class today to present an overview of information about the neighbourhood and to plan out the topics to be studied.  They will be analyzing such topics as profiles of the original developers, the relationship of its urban design to the City Beautiful Movement, the prevailing architectural forms and features of houses, the impact of zoning issues and development covenants or restrictions, the role of subsidiary outbuildings (such as chicken coops), and demographics of representative households.

SUMMER 2009

• Bradley Allen (BFA candidate) discusses his summer internship at Preservation Piedmont in Virginia:

• Claudia Rosa Lopez (MFA candidate) undertakes teaching internship in Puerto Rico during fall 2009.

• Nicholas Fuqua (MFA candidate) was awarded in August 2009 one of three $400 student travel awards to attend the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Southeast Society of Architectural Historians (SESAH), where he will deliver a paper on the “Architecture of Slave Processing in Charleston”.

• Jessica Van Buren (MA candidate) completed her summer internship at the Owens-Thomas House in Savannah, where she served as a research assistant. She focused her work on researching the life of Andrew C. Marshall in support of a tour program at the house.  Marshall was an African-American born into slavery and who eventually became the pastor at First African Baptist Church and a successful Savannah businessman.

• The following Architectural History students undertook internships around the country during summer 2009:

Kristin Rourke (BFA candidate) was a summer intern at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston working at Bayou Bend house museum.

Bradley Allen (BFA candidate) was a summer intern with Piedmont Preservation in Virginia, working at different sites including Monticello.

Jessica Van Buren (MA candidate) was a summer research intern at the Owens-Thomas House in Savannah.

Ruben Acosta (MFA candidate) was a summer intern at the Georgia State Historic Preservation Office in Atlanta.

Claudia Rosa-Lopez (MFA candidate) was a summer intern at an architectural firm in Puerto Rico.

• Bridgid Byrne (M.F.A. candidate) was awarded a European Travel Scholarship by SCAD in support of her participation on the Italy Off-Campus program in June 2009.

Winter 2008:

Alesha Hauser (M.F.A. candidate) accepted a position with the National Park Service researching cultural landscapes.  She will be working at the Midwest regional office in Omaha, Nebraska.

Fall 2007:

Jennifer Adams, M.A. candidate, had an article published in the most recent volume of ARRIS, the journal for the Southeast Chapter of Society of Architectural Historians.  “Atlanta and Collective Memory: The Legacy of the 1996 Olympic Aquatic Center,” vol. 18 (2007): 42-52.

Summer 2007:

Andrew Needham (M.A. candidate) secured a position working in acquisitions for the Oregon State Archives.

Megan Harrison (M.A. candidate) accepted a position with the Louisiana Division of Historic Preservation as a Project Developer with the Historic Building Recovery Grant.  Ms. Harrison will be working with grantees to assess hurricane damage and develop a building / repair plan in accordance with the Secretary of Interior’s Standards, as well as work with contractors to make sure the plan is implemented correctly.