Dedham Native Brendan O'Connor Named Stonehill SURE Scholar

EASTON, MA (04/10/2013)(readMedia)--  A total of 50 Stonehill College students will work with 32 faculty members on a variety of research projects over the coming summer of 2013 and Dedham native Brendan O'Connor, a junior at the College, will work with two other students and Linzy Brekke-Aloise, Associate Professor of History on Quantifying Early American Consumer Culture: Wardrobes and Wealth in Three Massachusetts Counties, 1780-1840.

Building upon data collected during the summer of 2010, this summer's SURE project seeks to determine the types of wardrobes Americans were able to accumulate and how they changed over time during the period of 1783-1845. O'Connor and another student, both history majors, will categorize objects listed in probate documents to build spreadsheets and databases and create graphs and then analyze this data. The third student, an economics and sociology major, will analyze the data from an economics and statistical perspective. In addition, the group will see if these observations reveal details about the price structures, production, fashion and consumer purchasing power of the time.

The students will also draft a conference paper to be submitted at the annual meeting of the American Historical Association and hope to publish it in the Journal of the Early Republic.

The scholars and their faculty mentors are the 18th group to work under the Stonehill Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) program, which provides students with an opportunity to perform significant, publishable research under the guidance of an experienced faculty researcher. The research experience will help to provide students with a competitive advantage in graduate and professional school applications and in post-college employment opportunities, as well as to provide assistance to faculty in research activities.

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Stonehill College is a welcoming, academically challenging community of 2,500 students on a beautiful, active campus located 22 miles south of Boston, offering easy access to internships, job opportunities, museums, sporting events, and more. Stonehill's dedicated and supportive faculty mentor students in more than 80 diverse majors and minors in the liberal arts, sciences, and business. Stonehill is a vibrant place where students learn to think, act, and lead with courage toward the creation of a more just and compassionate world.