Description of Research Expertise

Areas of Expertise
Negotiation of identity, historic built environment, material culture, urban life, 20th-century Yugoslavia
Disciplinary history
Qualitative research methods

Professional Biography
Prior to joining GSE’s staff in 2011, Dr. Aplenc worked as a folklorist, university administrator, and adjunct faculty member. Most recently, at Rosemont College she served as dedicated academic coach to at-risk students from inner-city schools, providing them with academic and other assistance in the transition to a college environment. She additionally coordinated retention efforts for the undergraduate student body, provided advisor training for new faculty members, served as a pre-major advisor, co-coordinated the Honors Program, and managed numerous non-academic functions of the Undergraduate College.

Dr. Aplenc’s work as a folklorist and preservationist has included exhibit coordination, historical research, and archives consulting. She has developed and taught courses on the politics of culture, on gender and folklore, and has supervised master’s theses. She served as an adjunct instructor at Penn (2000-2001) and Rosemont College (2008-2011). Her research work has been supported by a Rosemont College research leave, a Fulbright grant, and an IREX Public Policy grant.

Research Interests and Current Projects
Dr. Aplenc’s current research explores the relationship between historic sites, folklore sites, and state power to address the negotiation of modern ethnic identity in 20th-century Yugoslavia. Her research interests include the local negotiation of modern identity; vernacular architecture in urban settings; the politics of culture; folklore’s and historiography’s disciplinary histories; and everyday life under Yugoslav socialism.

Her current research project traces the development of a “modern” neighborhood in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana through the interwar and post-war periods. The monograph she is preparing outlines the interplay of state and local beliefs that ultimately led to the physical transformation of an iconic, village-like gardening district into a socialist neighborhood of high-rises and sprawl, while allowing for its continued discursive construction as a site of the national folk.