Reading, Writing, and Teaching the Rust Belt: Co-creating Regional Humanities Ecosystems

FAIN: EH-288086-22

Ursuline College (Pepper Pike, OH 44124-4318)
Katharine Trostel (Project Director: February 2022 to present)
Jacob Waldenmaier (Co Project Director: February 2022 to present)

A two-week, residential institute for 25 higher education faculty members to engage in cross-disciplinary study of the Rust Belt region.

This summer institute for higher education faculty centers on interrogating, defining, teaching, and crafting the story of the Rust Belt region in which we live and teach from the inside out. For too long, the narrative of the Rust Belt has been one of emptiness, decay, decline, and vacancy—and often, our stories are neglected in the national sphere or controlled by cultural outsiders. This seminar would emphasize the power of regionally-based storytelling and the importance of uplifting local voices. Together, the faculty working group would think collectively about what it means to read, teach, and think from a rooted positionality. How do we leverage civically and publicly engaged humanities practices to equip our students to shape the future of the Rust Belt, identify and contribute to social solutions, and to reimagine the role of the humanities within this sphere? How do we read, interpret, and create the texts that define and map our regional experience?

Media Coverage

Ursuline awarded prestigious NEH grant for Rust Belt Summer Institute (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Ursuline College
Publication: Ursuline College
Date: 9/26/2023
Abstract: Press release announcing the grant.
URL: https://www.ursuline.edu/news/2022/09/26/ursuline-awarded-prestigious-neh-grant-for-rust-belt-summer-institute

Ursuline Awarded Prestigious NEH Grant for Rust Belt Summer Institute (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Phenomenal Women Magazine
Publication: Phenomenal Women Magazine
Date: 9/1/2023
Abstract: Re-printed press release
URL: https://issuu.com/phenomenalwomanmagazine/docs/sept_-_oct_2022-1

Ursuline Awarded Prestigious NEH Grant for Rust Belt Summer Institute (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Cleveland Jewish News
Publication: Cleveland Jewish News
Date: 10/9/2023
Abstract: Reprint of press release
URL: https://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/news/local_news/ursuline-awarded-neh-grant-for-rust-belt-summer-institute/article_4940632c-40f8-11ed-be3b-e35d24444e17.html

Sound of Ideas: Cleveland Mayor Bibb and Downtown Cleveland Alliance CEO discuss bringing people back to Downtown (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Ideastream Public Media (The Sound of Ideas)
Publication: Ideastream Public Media
Date: 10/31/2023
URL: https://ohiochannel.org/programs/program/the-sound-of-ideas-10-31-2022-cleveland-mayor-bibb-and-downtown-cleveland-alliance-ceo-discuss-bringing-people-back-to-downtown

From a galaxy far, far away to the Rust Belt: summer class roundup (Media Coverage)
Author(s): RACHEL ABBEY MCCAFFERTY
Publication: Crain's Cleveland Business
Date: 6/21/2023
Abstract: School might not be the first thing people think of when the summer months start, but Northeast Ohio's colleges and universities are far from shut down. In this series, we're highlighting some of the most interesting scholarship taking place on local campuses this summer. Read on for a look at a course learning about storytelling from well-known films, an institute finding news ways to tell stories about the Rust Belt, and more.
URL: https://www.crainscleveland.com/education/local-colleges-offering-education-star-wars-rust-belt

Theorizing the Rust Belt (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Ed Simon
Publication: Belt Magazine
Date: 6/17/2023
Abstract: Now, here is what my journalist friends call “burying the lede” (and rather egregiously in the final paragraph). Belt Media Collaborative, the 501(3)c company which publishes Belt Magazine and of which I’m the executive director, aims to assist in the purpose and mission of Ursuline’s Rust Belt Humanities Lab by being the publisher of a new academic journal to be called Rust Belt Studies.
URL: https://beltmag.com/theorizing-the-rust-belt/

40 Under 40 2023 (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Crain's Cleveland Business
Publication: Crain's Cleveland Business (Scott Suttell)
Date: 11/13/2023
Abstract: Trostel was featured as one of Cleveland's "40 under 40" for her work with the Rust Belt Humanities Lab.
URL: https://www.crainscleveland.com/awards/katharine-trostel-40-under-40-2023

Yeong Kim selected for NEH-funded Rust Belt Humanities Lab (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Ohio University
Publication: Ohio University Website
Date: 6/2/2023
Abstract: Yeong Kim(opens in a new window), associate professor of geography(opens in a new window) in the College of Arts and Sciences, was selected to participate in the Rust Belt Humanities Lab(opens in a new window), a two-week summer seminar for 25 college-level educators to focus on the people and places of the Rust Belt from June 4-18. "I hope to incorporate what I learn from the workshop into my GEOG 3260 Urban Geography course, particularly the section on revitalization efforts in post-industrial cities across the Rust Belt," Kim said.
URL: https://www.ohio.edu/news/2023/06/yeong-kim-selected-neh-funded-rust-belt-humanities-lab

McGinty selected for NEH’s Rust Belt Humanities Lab (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Slippery Rock University
Publication: Slippery Rock University
Date: 7/25/2023
Abstract: Patrick McGinty, a Slippery Rock University assistant professor of languages, literatures, cultures and writing, was among 25 scholars selected for the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Rust Belt Humanities Lab. The Rust Belt Humanities Lab was a residential institute for higher education faculty members, June 4-18, in Cleveland, Ohio, that focused on the importance of regional storytelling in fostering a sense of place. Participants were equipped to help their students shape the future of the Rust Belt, identify and contribute to social solutions, and reimagine the role of the humanities within this sphere.
URL: https://www.sru.edu/news/good-news-072523c

Faculty member Matthew McLeskey selected for NEH institute on Rust Belt (Media Coverage)
Author(s): State University of New York at Oswego
Publication: State University of New York at Oswego
Date: 5/9/2023
Abstract: Matthew H. McLeskey, an assistant professor of criminal justice, was selected for a two-week summer project funded by National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), focusing on the importance of regional storytelling in fostering a sense of place.
URL: https://www.oswego.edu/news/story/faculty-member-matthew-mcleskey-selected-neh-institute-rust-belt

Associated Products

Raised By The Rust Belt: The Power Of Emplaced Humanities (Blog Post)
Title: Raised By The Rust Belt: The Power Of Emplaced Humanities
Author: Katharine G. Trostel
Author: Valentino Zullo
Abstract: This blog post appeared on The Metropole: THE OFFICIAL BLOG OF THE URBAN HISTORY ASSOCIATION
Date: 2/22/23
Primary URL: https://themetropole.blog/2023/02/22/raised-by-the-rust-belt-the-power-of-emplaced-humanities/
Primary URL Description: The work of the Rust Belt Humanities Institute at Ursuline College is rooted in imagining and co-creating new futures. As two native Clevelanders (raised by the Rust Belt) teaching at a local institution—the majority of our students are firmly anchored in the greater Cleveland region—we occupy a unique position: we live in, work in, think about, grew up in, and invest in our collective community. Our students remain here too, for the most part, after graduation. And yet, when asked about the region in which they live, they self-define their home first and foremost as a place to leave. As a word cloud generated in one of our English classes in the fall of 2021 revealed, the Rust Belt was both a place they called home but also a label associated with words like “abandoned”; “bad”; and “condemned.” It was clear to us, as educators and believers in the power of the humanities lenses, that we needed to center our teaching practices in place by embedding them in the physical site of Clevela
Blog Title: Raised By The Rust Belt: The Power Of Emplaced Humanities
Website: The Metropole

Theorizing the Rust Belt (Blog Post)
Title: Theorizing the Rust Belt
Author: Ed Simon
Abstract: The mark of a brilliant idea, I would argue, is how jealous it makes you feel when you first learn about it. By that criterion, I was incredibly jealous of the organizers of the Rust Belt Humanities Lab.
Date: 06/17/2023
Primary URL: https://beltmag.com/theorizing-the-rust-belt/
Primary URL Description: Link to the blog post.
Blog Title: Theorizing the Rust Belt
Website: Belt Magazine

Northeast Ohio Humanities Luncheon (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Northeast Ohio Humanities Luncheon
Abstract: Network with fellow humanities professionals in higher education. • Learn about regionally-focused humanities projects and programming. • Brainstorm strategies for increasing engagement with the humanities at our institutions and in our communities. Hear presentations from: • Rebecca Asmo, Executive Director, Ohio Humanities • Ursuline College’s Katharine Trostel, Assistant Professor of English, and Valentino Zullo, Anisfield-Wolf Postdoctoral Fellow in English and the Public Humanities; creators of the Rust Belt Humanities Lab, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities
Author: Katharine G. Trostel
Author: Valentino Zullo
Date: 9/15/23
Location: Cuyahoga Community College
Primary URL: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2023-northeast-ohio-humanities-luncheon-tickets-691977682877?aff=oddtdtcreator
Primary URL Description: Link to registration website.

Reading, Writing, and Teaching the Rust Belt: Cocreating Regional Humanities Ecosystems (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Reading, Writing, and Teaching the Rust Belt: Cocreating Regional Humanities Ecosystems
Abstract: Innovation Room: A Digital Repository Welcome to the digital repository for the Language and Literature Program Innovation Room at the MLA Annual Convention, which showcases successful and promising new programs, courses, collaborations, educational resources, and other pedagogical initiatives in MLA fields. All content is member-generated: thanks to all the presenters for generously submitting a digital resource to the repository, which was established in June 2021 and will be updated annually. For questions please contact Lydia Tang at ltang@mla.org.
Author: Katharine G. Trostel
Author: Valentino Zullo
Date: 01/06/2023
Location: Modern Language Association Annual Meeting 2023 (San Francisco, CA)
Primary URL: https://www.maps.mla.org/Resources/Innovation-Room-A-Digital-Repository
Primary URL Description: Digital Repository from the MLA Innovation Room.

Rust Belt Futures: Building the Rust Belt Humanities Lab at Ursuline College (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Rust Belt Futures: Building the Rust Belt Humanities Lab at Ursuline College
Abstract: Ursuline College’s Rust Belt Humanities Lab is invested in discovering place-making methodology that allows students and communities to uncover their power as civic actors; to invest in their role as the stewards of regional stories; and to re-center the Rust Belt region as a site from which we envision collective futures.
Author: Katharine G. Trostel
Author: Valentino Zullo
Date: 04/15/23
Location: Bowling Green State University
Primary URL: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/classcon/2023/003/
Primary URL Description: Link to conference schedule.

Rust Belt Studies: Journal (Web Resource)
Title: Rust Belt Studies: Journal
Author: Katharine G. Trostel and Valentino L. Zullo
Abstract: Rust Belt Studies uses the framework of the public and emplaced humanities in order to define, explore, and map an understudied region: The Rust Belt. The journal seeks articles which focus on the importance of regional storytelling in fostering a sense of place, identifying and contributing to social solutions, and reimagining the role of the humanities within this sphere. Because so much of the United States’ problems and promise converge on the Rust Belt, the journal aims to model ways to use the humanities to find new solutions, tell better stories, and empower teacher-scholars to imagine new models for fostering civic engagement within their rooted context.
Year: 2023
Primary URL: http://rustbeltstudies.com
Primary URL Description: Open Access Statement: This is an open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful non-commercial purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.

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