Place-based histories from eighteenth- and nineteenth-century USA

In this session, two School of Advanced Studies PhD students will share their place-based research. Both projects are focused on the USA in the 18th and 19th centuries.   

Justin Muchnick: Samuel Phillips, Jr., Classical Education, and the Academy Movement in Eighteenth-Century New England  
Toward the end of the eighteenth century, a new form of what might anachronistically be described as “secondary education” emerged in New England and eventually spread throughout the nascent American nation. The new form of schooling, known as the academy, built upon the existing model of the grammar (or Latin) school while also charting a new pedagogical path. This presentation sets out to explore the ideological and curricular origins of the incorporated New England academy, and in particular those of Phillips Academy Andover (Andover, Massachusetts, founded 1778). By examining the educational philosophy of Phillips Academy’s young and idealistic founder, Samuel Phillips, Jr, this presentation seeks to contextualize Phillips Academy within the shifting scholastic landscape of a New England community in transition. Special attention will be paid to Samuel Phillips’ thoughts on classical education—a mainstay of the conventional grammar school system, but a tradition called into question amidst the social and religious upheavals of Phillips’ era and locale.  

Justin Muchnick is a PhD student at the Institute of Classical Studies. His research centers on the history of the classical curriculum at two New England boarding schools, Phillips Academy Andover and Phillips Exeter Academy. He lives on the campus of Phillips Exeter Academy, where he serves as the school’s head wrestling coach. In addition to his PhD, he is at work on an academic monograph on the wrestling movie Win Win.  


Phillip Webster: Alice’s Wonderland: Alice Pike Barney, Toy Theaters and Ludic Exploration of Dramatic Space in 19th Century Cincinnati   
My research posits that by utilizing period-appropriate methods of reconstruction and reenactment we can create immersive, experiential reimaginings of lost performance spaces that are both widely accessible and participatory. My first case study examines the youthful play of the noted painter and philanthropist Alice Pike Barney and her toy theatre, as it may have occurred in Cincinnati in the 1860’s and how she might have reconstructed Pike’s Opera House (built by her father) and reenacted its performances on the toy stage. Utilizing the methodology described in Visualising Lost Theaters: Virtual Praxis and the Recovery of Performance SpacesI created a reconstructed Pike’s to serve as “virtual laboratory” and a “living system” in order to explore the kaleidoscopic possibilities of performance reflecting what we know about the theatrical and artistic environment in which Barney she spent her childhood.  

Phillip Webster joined Thomas More University (Kentucky) in Fall 2023 as an assistant professor and the Director of Theatre.  He is also the founder and managing director of SouthBank Shakespeare which provides free outdoor Shakespeare productions to Northern Kentucky’s river cities. In addition to his work as a musician, actor and director, Webster is a proud United States Air Force veteran and spent four years serving as an Arabic language analyst. Upon leaving military service, he earned a MBA from the University of Maryland, focusing on entrepreneurship and innovation in the creative sector. He also holds a BFA in theatre performance from Northern Kentucky University and a MA in world theatre from Aberystwyth University in Wales. He is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of London’s Institute of Historical Research writing a dissertation on the endlessly fascinating and mostly forgotten Pike’s Opera House in Cincinnati, Ohio.  

All welcome- this seminar is free to attend, but advance registration is required.