Below is a link to Beth Scannell's master's thesis from 1999.
In 1893, the American Frontier, as it was then known, was declared "closed". Almost immediately, Americans influenced by everyone from Buffalo Bill to Frederick Jackson Turner began to re-invent our perceptions about the West and the Frontier. This "imaginative" frontier has become a basis for many aspects of American culture, including our involvement in and influence on the newest frontier, Cyberspace.
This thesis focuses on how this imaginative mythology about the American Frontier is affecting the development of culture in cyberspace, by looking at cultural formation particularly in graphical virtual reality communities. Please take a minute and look around - I would be very interested in hearing your thoughts on what is presented here. For more explanation of some of the technical terms and jargon, Appendix A contains a glossary of terms.
If you have any questions about this document, feel free to contact Beth at:
