Abby Emory, a senior Art History major from Glen Arm, Md., recently presented her senior capstone research at the Intercollegiate Art History Symposium at Gettysburg College. 

Titled “Mocking the Malicious: Investigating John Heartfield’s Anti-Nazi Photomontages,” Emory’s essay examined how the German Dada artist, John Heartfield, used photomontage to subvert Nazi propaganda during the 1930s. 

“This research is important to think about today because we are seeing a scary amount of similarities between the 1930s and now in politics and government,” Emory explained. “It is also important since it can give us examples of what to do to protest against what we don’t like about the people in power. It gives us hope that we can stand up and fight for justice, knowing that people did it before us.”

She explored Heartfield’s contributions to the Communist magazine AIZ, where he used visual satire to critique Hitler, expose Nazi dependency on money, and challenge the Nazi narrative of Aryan purity.

“What I hope people take away from my research is to not take everything at face value, to dig deeper into what the media is telling us, and to figure out what is really the truth instead of believing what people tell us to believe,” said Emory. “Heartfield took images that were designed to make people believe in the Nazis and changed them to reveal the truth. In a similar way, I want people who read my thesis to think about creating their own opinions and ideas with today’s media to expose the truth in it.”

At Arcadia, Emory is active on campus in the Cabaret Club, Crochet Club, and Orchestra, and serves as a Peer Mentor for the REAL Certificate Program. Spending time with students with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities has been good training for her future career.

“Being a REAL Peer Mentor has helped me work on my communication skills that I will definitely need as a teacher,” she said. “It helped me realize that everyone learns in their own way, and I shouldn’t assert my way of learning into students’ lives all the time. It is important to let them do what is best for them to learn and be there to guide them and take their needs into account in the classroom, so everyone succeeds.”

After graduation, she plans on pursuing a master’s degree in History at Arizona State University, with the goal of becoming a professor and author specializing in World War II history.