English and global media & digital studies major investigates presidential campaign music as storytelling tool

Originally from Morgantown, West Virginia, Julia Garrison ’25 came to The College of Wooster to study English and global media & digital studies (GMDS). She served as an executive board member at WOO-91 radio for four years and worked as news editor at The Wooster Voice. Her Independent Study, “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue: The Populist Songs of Modern America Through ​​Presidential Campaign Music” leaned into each of these academic and extracurricular endeavors as a combination of data journalism and storytelling, where Garrison analyzed how candidates in modern-day presidential elections use music. 

​​​“Populism principles and analysis, which pull from the framework of GMDS, coupled with close readings based on song lyrics and context for campaigns, provided the ultimate challenge for me when crafting my I.S. I am proud of the work I accomplished in such a short time and hope it will inspire others to pursue similar interdisciplinary research.”   

—Julia Garrison ’25 

MY I.S. 

Garrison: I collected research and catalogued all music played at presidential rallies from three key campaign years: 2000, 2008, and 2016. After I watched more than 2,000 C-SPAN videos of campaign rallies and collected information on the music genres and rally locations, I created an interactive website using StoryMaps to visualize the data. 

I also looked into populism theory and applied these theories to presidential candidates, asking the question: “Are all of these songs on a given candidate’s playlist truly just the music they listen to, or is there something more to the songs they chose?” The answer varies from candidate to candidate, but the question allowed me to facilitate interesting lines of dialogue and research related to each of the candidates I analyzed. 

​​​Many people, including me, jump to the conclusion that Republicans enjoy using a lot of country music, but I found that they really love using movie soundtrack music. The Karate Kid and Rocky both came up several times in my research. It was also interesting to see the playlist shift when there was a woman campaigning with Palin in 2008 and Clinton in 2016.  

EXCITING ASPECTS 

Garrison: What most excited me about my I.S. was the fact that research like this has really never been done to this level before—at Wooster or elsewhere. 

EMPOWERED IN MY FIELD 

Garrison: I.S. is a really special process because it bridges the gap between the things you’re able to do both in and out of the classroom. 

SUPPORTIVE SCOT COMMUNITY 

Garrison: My advisor, Dr. Jennifer Hayward, was one of the most supportive people during the I.S. process. Our weekly meetings facilitated a lot of genuinely great conversation and challenged me to think deeper about my topic. ​​Zach Sharrow in Andrews Library assisted me with my preliminary research, and ​​Gillian Lee in the Writing Center helped me make a finished product that I am extremely proud of. Dr. Ahmet Atay—who served as my academic advisor and second mentor for I.S.—was a lifesaver senior year. Both Dr. Atay and Dr. Hayward are absolutely wonderful professors and mentors, and I will miss them dearly. 

MY TAKEAWAYS 

Garrison: More than anything, I.S. has taught me that I am capable of doing large-scale projects and holding myself accountable. The process also empowered me to continue to pursue research that I am genuinely interested in instead of attempting to fit into a preexisting mold. Finding my niche has become less difficult. 

CELEBRATION! 

Garrison: I turned in my I.S. a little early so I could spend I.S. Monday with my friends. We spent most of the day playing games at a downtown brewery before coming back to campus to march through the arch. 

WHAT’S NEXT 

Garrison: In the fall I’ll be attending The University of Missouri to pursue a master’s in journalism with a specialization in investigative/data journalism. I received a full scholarship which will fund my two-year program. 

Featured image: Julia Garrison ’25 poses with the inflatable tootsie roll after turning in her I.S. Photo courtesy Julia Garrison.

Posted in Independent Study on June 20, 2025.