PATTeRN Research Opportunities

PrintBay Independent Study

Faculty Lead: Dr. J. Peter Moore
Fields: Art and Design, Printmaking

This independent study runs during the second 8-weeks of each semester and offers students a hands-on introduction to the Honors College PrintBay, a fully equipped center for the experiential study of letterpress printing. Letterpress is an analog process that allows the user to physically compose layouts, and work within a completely unique set of visual constraints. The resulting prints testify to the beauty of irregularity, the joy of a meditative tactile practice, and the benefits of collaboration. Students will receive instruction in the following skills: grid layout, typesetting, form lock-up, make-ready, press operation, plate etching, press maintenance, and all relevant safety precautions. No previous experience necessary.  

Japanese Illustration and Book Design, 19th and 20th Centuries

Lead Faculty: Pedro Bassoe, Assistant Professor, Japanese Department
Fields: Art History, Print Culture, Literature

Dr. Bassoe will work with students to identify, purchase, catalog, and eventually exhibit a collection of illustrated Japanese books from the 19th and 20th centuries. The first year of the project would involve acquiring books and creating a database, with an exhibition to follow in the 2024-25 academic year.

Copying and Reading The Prick of Conscience in Late Medieval England

Lead Faculty: Michael Johnston, Associate Professor, Department of English
Fields: English, Medieval Studies, History of the Book

Dr. Johnston is producing a catalogue and set of essays about the manuscripts of The Prick of Conscience, which was the most popular English verse text from the Middle Ages. With 128 surviving copies, these manuscripts offer evidence about the history of literary production and reading from fourteenth- and fifteenth-century England.

Photomechanical Materials Research in Printmaking & Letterpress and Creative Research in Artist Books

Lead Faculty: Jennifer Scheuer, Assistant Professor, Printmaking
Fields: Art and Design, Printmaking

Researchers will utilize photomechanical methods to explore tone and value in letterpress photopolymer, intaglio photopolymer, photolithography and silkscreen. The primary investigator will attend a creative workshop and develop an artist book using one method, and a digital manual for photomechanical printing will be created to support artists and students.

USIPB (United States International Poster Biennale) Purdue Exhibition: from Curation to Promotion

Lead Faculty: Hyungjoo A. Kim, Assistant Professor in Visual Communication Design
Fields: Communication Design, Poster, Exhibition Curation and Promotion, Communication, Advertising

This is a collaboration project with USIPB, the Purdue Galleries, the College of Liberal Arts, and other external collaborators. As one of the USIPB organizing committee members, Assistant Professor Kim will curate the Purdue exhibition with the students and other collaborators.

Escaping Conspiracy Theories

Lead Faculty: Matthew Hannah, Assistant Professor, School of Information Studies
Fields: Information Studies, Media Studies, Internet Studies

Conspiracy theories have become an omnipresent reality in contemporary American society. From QAnon to the Great Replacement, we live in the most paranoid era in American history. As more Americans access information, more conspiracies proliferate, suggesting there is something intrinsic to the internet which drives conspiracy theories.