It all started with a little magic…
Once upon a time… at Penn State Altoona, I took an Intro to Sociology course as a general education requirement. To that point, I had never heard of sociology before. I found it absolutely fascinating and spent many afternoons after class discussing it with the professor, Dr. Nicholas Rowland. I approached him mid - semester to ask to reschedule an out of class exam. He inquired politely as to why I needed an alternative time. I informed him that I had to work at my company, Polar Princesses LLC, as a princess performer. I had a child’s birthday scheduled for the night of the exam, which was planning in advance of my enrollment in the course. He inquired as to what Princessing was and it became a running conversation between him and I throughout the semester. Towards the end of the term he invited me to join his undergraduate research lab, The Integrative Social Science Research Lab (ISSRL) to study this unique type of performance. Thus, the Penn State Princess Project was born (Please see the tab entitled Research, for more extensive details). Throughout the rest of my undergraduate career I participated in this lab. It gave me first hand experience in research and inspired me to apply for graduate school. With the support of the faculty at Penn State University Park and Altoona campuses, I graduated in the Spring of 2020 with a Bachelor’s of Arts in history, a minor in sociology, and a certificate in Holocaust and Genocide studies.
That Fall I started dual, non-integrated, Master’s of arts programs in sociology and history at Ball State University. The project was moved under the direction of Dr. Melissa Holtzman. The name was also updated to Social Science Princess Project. It hosted not only my Masters thesis but two undergraduate research projects back at Penn State Altoona as I continued to participate in the ISSRL. This allowed me to foster and mentor undergraduate students through the study of the princess and character performing industry, while also pursuing my Masters. Both teams participated in the Undergraduate Research Faire at University Park and at the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Faire at the Altoona Campus. In 2024, I finished and successfully defended my M.A. thesis entitled “Telling Their Stories and Saying Their Names: an Interdisciplinary Examination of Historical Interpreters Bringing the Past to Life” (Please see the tab Research for more extensive details.) I was very appreciative for my time at Ball State and looked forward to continuing my education. Following my graduation from Ball State I was admitted to the Penn State Department of Sociology and Criminology in their 2024 Ph.D. cohort. In addition to pursuing my major in sociology I am also working toward a doctoral minor in Holocaust and Genocide Studies through the Jewish Studies program. I have had many magical experiences since starting back at Penn State and I can’t wait to see what the future may hold! I appreciate you stopping by to learn more about me and the sociology of making magic!