General World's Fair Materials

Dissertations

• Ackermann, Marsha E. "Cold Comfort: The Air Conditioning of America." Ph.D. Dissertation: University of Michigan, 1996.
  

  Ackermann addresses the historical role of air conditioning in the transformation of American life. Chapter III in particular examines the relationship between the 1930s American world's fairs, their promotion of futuristic, "utopian" living, and the power of technology as a means of achieving a perfect, climate-controlled environment.

• Aso, Noriko. "The Emergence of a Discourse on Traditional Japanese Arts and Crafts, 1868-1945." Ph.D. Dissertation: University of Chicago, 1997.
  

  Following the Meiji Restoration, Japan dealt with issues such as the relation of tradition to modernity and its position as a nation-state in an international context. The discourse on native arts and crafts provided one arena through which these issues could be debated. The first chapter of this dissertation focuses on official Japanese representations from international exhibitions in the last half of the nineteenth century, as was determined by government officials. Includes bibliography and numerous illustrations.

• Beezley, Paul Richard. "Exhibiting Visions of a New South: Mississippi and the World's Fairs, 1884-1904." Ph.D. Dissertation: University of Mississippi, 1999.
  

  Mississippi's exhibits at the industrial expositions between 1884 and 1904 show the evolution of how Mississippians wanted to recreate their society in the years following the Civil War. New South boosters led this effort, but were assisted initially by both white women and African Americans. Each group created their own exhibit, reinforcing this forward looking ideal without reference to the late war or white supremacy. Each group used their exhibit to remake their national images.

• Benson, Gwen Young. "The Façade and the Reality: World's Fairs Celebrate Progress and Unity While American Novelists Reveal Social Disparity and Individual Isolation." Ph.D. Dissertation: Oklahoma State University, 1997.
  

  Benson explores the question of identity for the nation and the individual by looking at American world's fairs and the imagery of the home in American literature. She explains that although American representation at the fairs projected an image of national progress, prosperity, and unity strengthened by Victorian ideals, American authors of the time reveal through their writing a different image. The image they construct is one in which the individual is highly uncertain and is grasping for a place and identity in a society which is changing rapidly. The industrialism, materialism, and expansionism that the fairs promote have confounded the once simple life of the individual and the literature tells of the individual's effort to cope with these changes. Benson examines in particular the 1876 Centennial Exhibition, the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, and the 1915 Pan-American Exhibition. Illustrations and a bibliography are included.

• Burris, John Paul, Jr. "Religion and Anthropology at Nineteenth-Century International Expositions:From the Great Exhibition to the World's Parliament of Religions,1851-1893." Ph.D. Dissertation:University of California, Santa Barbara,1997.
  

  Burris looks at the development of the history of religion in the historical context of international expositions. He focuses in particular on the Crystal Palace exposition and the World's Columbian Exposition. He also looks at the first World's Parliament of Religions while assessing the implications of the omission of African and Native Americans from the parliament. Includes a bibliography.

• Dymond, Anne Elizabeth. "Exhibiting Provence: Regionalism, Art and the Nation 1890-1914 France." Ph.D. Dissertation: Queen's University at Kingston, Canada, 2000.
  

  Dymond looks at regional groups that resented the nation's homogenization of diverse cultures. Of particular interest is her second chapter looking specifically at the Paris 1900 Exposition Universelle and the 1906 Exposition Coloniale de Marseille.

• Edwards. Douglas Michael. "Fair Days in the ‘Zone of Plenty': Exhibit Networks and the Development of the American West." Ph. D. Dissertation: University of Maryland College Park, 2001.
  

  From the 1876 Centennial Exposition to the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition, western states and territories continually exhibited their commitment to "progress."

• Elkin, Noah C. "Promoting a New Brazil: National Expositions and Images of Modernity, 1861-1922." Ph.D. Dissertation: Rutgers University, 1999.
  

  Over the course of the six decades between 1860 and 1922, the Brazilian government used expositions and elaborate pageants that comprised an inventory of Brazil's economic, social and cultural resources to define and project an idealized image of a modern Brazil. Even as Brazil slowly industrialized, expositions consistently fashioned a vision of a nation rich in resources and potential.

• Endersby, Linda Eikmeier. "Expositions, Museums, and Technological Display: Building Cultural Institutions for the ‘inventor citizen' in the late 19th century United States." Ph.D. Dissertation: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1999.
  

  Focuses on the intersections between industry, engineers, international expositions, and museums in the nineteenth century by considering the cases of the Smithsonian's National Museum and the Field Columbian Museum.

• Fernsebner, Susan R. "Material Modernities: China's Participation in World's Fairs and Expositions, 1876-1955." Ph. D. Dissertation: University of California, San Diego, 2003.

• Harvey, Bruce Gordon. "World's Fairs in a Southern Accent: Atlanta, Nashville, and Charleston." Ph.D. Dissertation: Vanderbilt University, 1998.
  

  During the last two decades of the nineteenth century, southern leaders endeavored to involve their region in the international exposition movement in order to boost the southern economy and integrate it on a national scale. The South also looked at expositions as a way of improving their regional image and bringing the South in line with the rest of the country. Includes a bibliography.

• Heaman, Elisabeth Anne. "Commercial Leviathan: Central Canadian Exhibitions at Home and Abroad During the Nineteenth-Century." Ph.D. Dissertation: University of Toronto, 1996.

• Hoffenberg, Peter. "To Create a Commonwealth: Empire and Nation at English, Australian, and Indian Exhibitions, 1851-1914." Ph.D. Dissertation: University of California, Berkeley, 1993.
  

  Hoffenberg analyzes international expositions from the Great Exhibition to the Festival of Empire Exhibition and the impact these events had on imperial relations between England, Australia, and India. He argues that these events helped to establish and regulate the economic and political imperial roles of different racial groups. Includes a bibliography.

• Jayes, Janice Lee. "'Strangers to Each Other': The American Encounter with Mexico, 1877-1910." Ph.D. Dissertation: American University, 1999.

• Larson, Judy L. "Three Southern World's Fairs: Cotton States and International Exposition, Atlanta, 1895; Tennessee Centennial, Nashville, 1897; South Carolina Inter-State, Charleston, 1901/2" Ph.D. Dissertation: Emory University, 1998.
  

  World's fairs were a way in which cities could construct and promote new images of themselves. In the South, fair organizers felt the need to address two issues - first, the image of the South as "coarse" and backward, and second, the perceived division and animosity between the North and the South. The Fine Arts Buildings, Woman's Building's, and Negro Buildings at each of the three fairs are assessed to explore these themes. A bibliography is included.

• Lockyer, Angus Edmund. "Japan at the Exhibition, 1867-1970." Ph.D. Dissertation: Stanford University, 2000.
  

  This dissertation examines Japanese participation in and representation at international exhibitions between 1867 and 1970, together with the domestic expositions modeled on these. Expositions never functioned very efficiently to communicate truths about Japan. Exposition design was the outcome of lengthy bureaucratic negotiation, exhibits were not easily subordinated to didactic purposes, and visitors tended to see what they wanted, rather than what they were meant to.

• Mehta, Binita. "India as Spectacle: The Representation of India in French Theater." Ph.D. Dissertation: City University of New York, 1997.

• Murphy, Joseph Claude. "Exposing the Modern: World's Fairs and American Literary Culture, 1853-1907." Ph.D. Dissertation: University of Pennsylvania, 1997.

• Staackman, Gloria Starr. "Fifteen American Impressionists: Genteel Traditionalists in a Changing World." Ph.D. Dissertation: University of Hawaii, 1994.
  

  Staackman argues that American Impressionism, the dominant and accepted art form between the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 and the Panama Pacific International Exposition of 1915, was forgotten in the light of Modern Art because it did not respond to the changes of the time. American Impressionism made its debut at the 1893 exposition and the prominence of the style amongst the paintings featured at the 1915 exposition indicate the height of the movement. Modern Art, however, had been introduced in 1913 and by 1930 it had come to dominate the art world. The lives of 15 artists are studied in this work. Includes biographies of the artists and a bibliography.

• Venable, Charles L. "Silver in America, 1840-1940: Production, Marketing, and Consumption." Ph.D. Dissertation: Boston University, 1993.
  

  Technology, transportation, and new tariffs caused a boom in the production of silver. World's fairs were one way in which silver wares were advertised and marketed to consumers. World's fairs boasted the "most spectacular" silver marketing exhibitions. The participation of several manufacturers in the world's fairs is discussed in Chapter 5.

Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, London 1851

Dissertations

• Auerbach, Jeffrey A. "Exhibiting the Nation: British National Identity and the Great Exhibition of 1851." Ph. D. Dissertation: Yale, 1995.

Expositions Universelles, Paris 1867

Dissertations

• Nikou, Mehrangiz. "National Architecture and International Politics: Pavilions of the Near Eastern Nations in the Paris International Exposition of 1867." Ph.D. Dissertation: Columbia University, 1997.
  

  The concept of national pavilions was debuted at the 1876 exposition. However, instead of Near Eastern countries of the Ottoman Empire defining their own identity through national architecture, their cultural identity was determined by the representations constructed by European commissioners and architects. These representations reflected the interests of Napolean III's political agenda. Includes illustrations and a bibliography.

United States Centennial International Exhibition, Philadelphia 1876

Dissertations

• Giberti, Bruno. "The Classified Landscape: Consumption, Commodity Order, and the 1876 Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia." Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California, Berkeley, 1994.
  

  Giberti explores the discourse that surrounded the order and classification of objects at the Centennial Exhibition. The order and classification of objects determined all aspects of the exhibition's structure such as the organization of the site and architecture of the buildings and helped to develop a consumer-oriented environment. [Based on abstract from Dissertation Abstracts Online]

• Laidlaw, Christine. "The American reaction to Japanese Art 1853-1876." Ph. D. Dissertation: Rutgers University, New Brunswick, 1996.
  

  Japanese art affected American art in the 1860s and 1870s and had an impact on art, architecture, and views of nature. This influence became much more widely dispersed to the public at the International Exposition in 1876.

• Owen, Nancy Elizabeth. "Women, Culture and Commerce: Rookwood Pottery, 1880-1913." Ph.D. Dissertation: Northwestern University, 1997.
  

  Chapter 4 of this dissertation is dedicated to the presence of Rookwood pottery - "the largest, longest lasting, and arguably most important American Art Pottery," according to the author - at international expositions. She notes that the American Art Pottery movement began as a result of the perceived inferiority of American ceramics at the Centennial International Exhibition of 1876. The first part of Chapter 4 looks at Rookwood participation at the fairs and the effort to distinguish the ceramics internationally. The second part consists of a case study of objects that were considered to be key examples of "American" art. Includes a bibliography and illustrations.

Exposition Universelle, Paris 1889

Dissertations

• Cooley, Kristin Nicole. "The 1889 and 1900 Paris Universal Expositions: French Masculine Nationalism and the American Response." M.A. Thesis: University of Arizona, 2001.
  

  Universal expositions of the later nineteenth century were opportunities for the host country to reinforce its sense of nationalism and to showcase its technological progress or, read differently, the progress of man. This thesis examines nationhood as defined in terms of masculinity at the 1889 Paris Universal Exposition, which demonstrated French technological, colonial, and artistic superiority over all other nations

• Fernandez, Maria Auxiliadora. "The Representation of National Identity in Mexican Architecture: Two Case Studies (1680 and 1889)." Ph.D. Dissertation: Columbia University, 1993.
  

  The author uses the government commissioned Pavilion of Mexico from the Universal Exposition as her 1889 case study. She argues that perspectives on national identity can be extracted by looking at Mexican architecture. She adds that foreign influences play a major role in formulating the national identity of a colony. The structure is analyzed in the context of Mexican social and political history. Includes illustrations and a bibliography.

• Portebois, Yannick. "Le Fauters d'Orthographe: Les Ecrivains et la Reforme de l'Orthographe, de l'Exposition Universelle de 1889 a la Premiere Guerre Mondiale." Ph.D. Dissertation: University of Montreal, 1996.

World's Columbian Exhibition, Chicago 1893

Dissertations

• Brittain, Randy Charles. "Festival Jubilate, Op. 17 by Amy Cheney Beach (1867-1944): A Performing Edition." Ph.D. Dissertation: University of North Carolina, Greensboro, 1994.
  

  Brittain asserts that the first prominent American woman composer in choral music was Amy Cheney Beach. Beach was commissioned by the Board of Lady Managers of the Chicago world's fair to compose music for the opening of the Woman's Building. Festival Jubilate, op. 17 was the resulting piece. In this work, Brittain produces a new edition of the piano-vocal score of Festival Jubilate.

• Canfield, Amy Taipale. "Discovering Woman: Women's Performances at the World's Columbian Exposition Chicago, 1893." Ph.D. Dissertation: Ohio State University, 2002.
  

  A pivotal event in the adjustment of America's attitudes towards women was the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. Because the images that women performed, both on-stage and off, in conjunction with the Exposition, reached so many people, this occasion can be considered a landmark in the shaping of public attitudes towards women in theatre and in general. This study examines the performances of three groups of women: the Board of Lady Managers, which had official responsibility for activities relating to women at the Exposition; actresses who performed in the legitimate drama in Chicago during the Exposition; and the women who formed part of the village performances and living ethnological exhibits on the fairgrounds.

• Dillon, Diane. "'The Fair as Spectacle': American Art and Culture at the 1893 World's Fair." Ph.D. Dissertation: Yale University, 1994.
  

  Dillon examines the intersection between American capitalism and American culture and aesthetics as was seen in the World's Columbian Exposition. She focuses on the American art exhibition on at the Fine Arts Palace, analyzing the works and then contextualizing them within the larger framework of American culture and history. Includes illustrations and a bibliography.

• Garfinkle,Charlene."Women at Work:The Design and Decoration of the Woman's Building at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition:Exterior Sculpture,Stained Glass,Interior Murals." Ph.D. Dissertation:University of California,Santa Barbara,1996.
  

  Garfinkle analyzes the Women's Building, designed and built entirely by women, as "a visible manifestation of the New Woman" at the turn of the century. She does so by looking at its architecture and art. She also asserts that the building, under the direction of the Board of Lady Managers, was designed to send a strong message which would "transcend the limited existence of the building."

• Harding, John Sheldon. "Mahayana Phoenix: Japan's Buddhists at the 1893 World's Parliament of Religions." Ph.D. Dissertation: University of Pennsylvania, 2003.
  

  A group of Japanese Buddhists traveled to Chicago's Columbian Exposition in the 1893 Parliament of Religions. These delegates combined religious aspirations with nationalist ambitions. Their portrayal of Buddhism mirrored modern reforms in Meiji Japan and the historical context of cultural competition and religious exhibition on display at the 1893 World's Fair.

• Hubbard, Ladee. "Mobility in America: The Myth of the Frontier and the Performance of National Culture at the Chicago World's Fair of 1893." Ph.D. Dissertation: University of California, Los Angeles, 2003.

• Potter-Hennessey, Pamela. "The Sculpture at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition: International Encounters and Jingoistic Spectacles." Ph.D. Dissertation: University of Maryland, 1995.

Cotton States and International Exposition, Atlanta 1895

Dissertations

• Coons, F. H. Boyd. "The Cotton States and International Exposition in the New South: Architecture and Implications." Master's Thesis: University of Virginia, 1988.
  

  Created to espouse the positive traits of the New South, the Cotton States and International Exposition occurred at a time of "renewed regional identity." The layout of the fairgrounds as well as the disunity of architectural style amongst the buildings were indicative of the New South's unresolved identity issues. Includes photographs and a bibliography.

Louisiana Purchase International Exposition, St. Louis 1904

Dissertations

• Harper, Christine Froechtenight. "The Water Wizard: John F. Wixford and the Purification of the St. Louis Water Supply in 1904." Ph.D. Dissertation: St. Louis University, 2001.

• Luftschein, Susan Elise. "The Changing Face of an Expanding America: The City Beautiful Movement, the Myth of the Frontier, and the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis, 1904." Ph.D. Dissertation: City University of New York, 1996.
  

  This fair was dedicated to the one-hundred year anniversary of Jefferson's purchase of the Louisiana Territory and embodied the City Beautiful Movement. This work looks at the "artistic achievements" of the fair and analyzes them with respect to historical context. Two aspects of the fair, the layout of the grounds and the free standing sculpture, are focused on. Illustrations and a bibliography are included.

Jamestown Tercentennial Exposition, Jamestown, VA. 1907

Dissertations

• Watkins, Sarah Howard. "The Negro Building: African American representation at the 1907 Jamestown Tercentennial Exposition." M.A. Thesis: College of William and Mary, 1994.

• Wilkes, John Thomas. "Enough Glory for Us All: the 'Negro Exhibit' at the Jamestown Tercentennial Exposition, 1907." M.A. Thesis: University of Richmond, 2003.

Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco 1915

Dissertations

• Bolton, Marie. "Recovery for Whom?: Social Conflict After the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, 1906-1915." Ph.D. Dissertation: University of California, Davis, 1997.

• Lee, Anthony Wallace. "Public Painting in San Francisco: Diego Rivera and His Contemporaries." Ph.D. Dissertation: University of California, Berkeley, 1995.

• Powell, Chandra A. "A Study of James Earle Fraser's 'End of the Trail': A New Interpretation for the Image of the Defeated Native American." Master's Thesis: Oklahoma City University, 1998.

Panama California Exhibition, San Diego 1915-1916

Dissertations

• Barnd, Natchee Blu. "Erasing Indians in the Making of Paradise: Race, Space, History and San Diego's Panama - California Exposition of 1915." M.A. Thesis: University of California San Diego, 2002.

• Bates, Cheryl Lei. "The Life and Times of Gilbert Aubrey Davidson." M.A. Thesis: University of San Diego, 1995.

• Bokovoy, Matthew Francis. "San Diego's Expositions as ‘Islands on the Land', 1915, 1935: Southwestern Culture, Race and Class in Southern California." Ph.D. Dissertation: Temple University, 1999.
  

  Topics covered include the myths of agricultural boosterism, the role of popular anthropology in the construction of ethnic identity, and the representations of Native American culture and Indian resistance within ethnic dioramas during the 1915 exposition. The section on the 1935 San Diego fair analyzes New Deal policy, the California Dream, and the “culture of abundance.”

• Jansen, Gail Ann. "The Political - Economic Aspects of Architectural Choice at the Panama California Exposition, San Diego 1915: Why Bertram Goodhue?" M.A. Thesis: University of California Los Angeles, 1999.

• Kropp, Phoebe S. "All Our Yesterdays: the Spanish Fantasy Past and the Politics of Public Memory in Southern California." Ph.D. Dissertation: University of California San Diego, 1999.
  

  The author states that a movement to construct a tourist mission road, El Camino Real, established the popularity of the Spanish past in the early years of the century. The staging of the Panama-California Exposition in San Diego in 1915 provided a key moment for a definition of the region in terms of its Spanish image.

British Empire Exhibition, Wembly 1924

Dissertations

• Ramsay, Ellen Louise. "The Promotion of the Fine Arts in Canada, 1880-1924: The Development of Art Patronage and the Formation of Public Policy." Ph.D. Dissertation: University of London [United Kingdom], 1988.
  

  This dissertation traces the growth in art patronage and public policy during these years from the formation of the Royal Canadian Academy (RCA) in 1880 to the celebration of the first school of national landscape painters at the British Empire Exhibition in 1924.

Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes, Paris 1925

Dissertations

• Gronberg, Tag. "Cite D'Illusion: Staging Modernity at the 1925 Paris Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes." Ph.D. Dissertation: Open University [United Kingdom], 1994.
  

  Situated in the heart of Paris, the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes was criticised at the time for its overtly temporary and artificial architecture--for being a 'cite d'illusion' and a 'decor de theatre' as opposed to a 'cite reelle'. The Exhibition's emphasis on ostentatious and luxurious display was also widely attacked.

Sesquicentennial International Exposition, Philadelphia 1926

Dissertations

• Cleary, Calista Keller. "The Past is Present: Historical Representation at the Sesquicentennial International Exposition." Ph.D. Dissertation: University of Pennsylvania, 1999.
  

  The fair offered a forum in which Philadelphians confronted some of the most pressing issues of the early twentieth century: urbanization, consumerism, the changing role of women, immigration, racism, racial diversity and mass culture. Even though the fair's organizers touted peace, the event proved to be battleground, an arena in which numerous interests fought to control the depiction of the past in order to control the shape of the future.

• Wilson, Martin Willever. "From the Sesquicentennial to the Bicentennial: Changing Attitudes toward tourism in Philadelphia." Ph.D. Dissertation: Temple University, 2000.

Exposition Coloniale Internationale, Paris 1931

Dissertations

• Ezra, Elizabeth Rose. "The Identification of Difference: Raymond Roussel, Rene Crevel and the Colonial Exhibitions in Interwar France." Ph.D. Dissertation: Cornell University, 1992.Dissertations
  

  This thesis examines the construction of group identities in French colonial discourse of the 1920s and 1930s through readings of literary texts with colonial themes, and through studies of archival data pertaining to the 1931 Exposition Coloniale Internationale and the colonial section of the 1937 World's Fair, both held in Paris.

Century of Progress, Chicago 1933-1934

Dissertations

• McDaniel, David Paul. "A Century of Progress? Cultural Change and the Rise of Modern Chicago." Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1999.
  

  By 1933, the Midway's forces of popular culture had achieved cultural hegemony: in the rise of popular entertainment, mass-production-based consumer culture, and a rise in beliefs in the power of science.

• Schrenk, Lisa Diane. "The Role of the 1933-34 Century of Progress International Exposition in the Development and Promotion of Modern Architecture in the United States." Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Texas at Austin, 1998.
  

  During the years that the Exposition was designed and built, architects were searching for design solutions appropriate for the rapidly changing world. The Exposition provided an opportunity for architects to explore a wide range of new ideas reflective of the times.

Exposition International des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne, Paris 1937

Dissertations

• Fiss, Karen A. "Deutschland in Paris: the 1937 German Pavilion and Franco-German Cultural Relations." Ph.D. Dissertation: Yale University, 1995.
  

  Designed by Albert Speer, the German pavilion at the 1937 Paris Exposition international was the most elaborate pre-war manifestation of National-Socialist culture outside of Germany. It contained a carefully orchestrated program of conservative official art, juxtaposed with the most advanced products of German technology.

• Moentmann, Elise Marie. "Conservative Modernism at the 1937 International Exposition in Paris." Ph.D. Dissertation: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1998.

• Udovicki-Selb, Danilo. "The Elusive Faces of Modernity: The Invention of the 1937 Paris Exhibition and the Temps Nouveaux Pavilion." Ph.D. Dissertation: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1995.

Golden Gate International Exposition, San Francisco 1939-1940

Dissertations

• Meyn, Susan Labry. "More than Curiosities: A Grassroots History of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board and Its Precursors, 1920 to 1942." Ph.D. Dissertation: University of Cincinnati, 1997.
  

  In the midst of a revival of Indian arts in the Southwest and the growing destitution of the Indian people, Congress passed the Indian Arts and Crafts Act in 1935 to encourage economic development through their artistic products. One result of this act was the creation of the Indian exhibition at the San Francisco exposition. Chapter 6 of this work looks closely at the exhibition. Bibliography included.

New York World's Fair, 1939-1940

Dissertations

• Barrington, Thomas M. "A Vision of a Modern Future: a Fantasy Theme and Rhetorical Vision Analysis of the New York World's Fair of 1939." M.A. Thesis: Southwest Texas State University, 1992.

• Cusker, Joseph P. "The World of Tomorrow: the 1939 New York World's Fair." Ph.D. Dissertation: Rutgers University, 1990, 1992.

• Frydrych, Valerie Ann. "Building the Consumer of Tomorrow: Social Messages of the Spectacle at the 1939 New York World's Fair." Smith College, 1992.

• Hagan, Carol A. "Visions of the City at the 1939 New York World's Fair." Ph. D. Dissertation: University of Pennsylvania, 2000.

• Morshed, Adnan. "The Aviator's (Re)Vision of the World: An Aesthetics of Ascension in Norman Bel Geddes's Futurama." Ph. D. Dissertation: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2002.

• O'Malley, Christine Grace. "The ‘Design Decade' and Beyond: American Industrial Designers and the Evolution of the Consumer Landscape from the 1930s to the 1950s." Ph. D. Dissertation: University of Virginia, 2002.

• Post, Pamela Lee. "East Meets West: The Model Homes Exhibits at the 1939-40 New York and San Francisco World's Fairs." Ph. D. Dissertation: University of California Santa Barbara, 2000.

• Scullin, Kevin. "All the World's a Film: Multimedia Exhibits at the 1939 New York World's Fair." M.A. Thesis: Western Washington University, 1999.

• Todd, Jesse T. "Imagining the Future of American Religion at the New York World's Fair, 1939-40." Ph. D. Dissertation: Columbia University, 1996.

• Zimnica, Elizabeth. "Making History: Poland at the 1939 World's Fair in New York." M.A. Thesis: Queen's University [Canada], 1999.

Brussels's World's Fair of 1958

Dissertations

• Haddow, Robert Hamilton. "Material Culture and the Cold War: International Trade Fairs and the American pavilion at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair." Ph.D. Dissertation: University of Minnesota, 1994.
  

  The American Pavilion at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair, the focus of this study, displayed the largest collection of American art and artifacts of any international exhibition during the 1950s, and was itself one of the most dramatic symbols of American culture ever created.

• Kint, Johanna Maria Lucia. "Expo 58 as the Expression of a Humanist Modernism." Ph.D. Dissertation: Technische Universiteit Te Delft [The Netherlands] , 2001. [Dutch]

• Nilsen, Sarah Dawn. "Projecting America: Films at the Brussels World's Fair of 1958." Ph. D. Dissertation: University of Southern California, 2000.

Century 21 Exhibition: 1962 Seattle, Washington

Dissertations

• Schlimgen, Veta R. "Defining Participation and Place: Women and the Seattle World's Fairs of 1909 and 1962." M.A. Thesis: University of Washington, 2000.

Montreal Expo 67: Man and His World

Dissertations

• Kicksee, Richard Gordon. "Scaled Down to Size: Contested Liberal Commonsense and the negotiation of ‘Indian Participation' in the Canadian Centennial Celebrations and Expo '67." M.A. Thesis: Queen's University at Kingston [Canada], 1996.

• Miedema, Gary R. "Canada's Sake: The Re-visioning of Canada and the Re-structuring of Public Religion in the 1960s." Ph.D. Dissertation: Queen's University, 2000.

• Whitney, Allison. "Labyrinth: Cinema, Myth and Nation at Expo 67." M.A. Thesis: McGill University, 1999.

Louisiana World Exposition: New Orleans 1984

Dissertations

• Hagan, Peter Edward. "The History and Impact of the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition." Master's Thesis: Tulane University, 1994.

• Srinivasan, Sumitra. "New Life for Old Fairs." Master's Thesis: University of Texas at Austin, 1991.