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"My Daughter, Flee Temptation!" "O, Do Go, Dear Mother!": Gender, Race, And Body Politics In Charlotte Brontë’S Jane Eyre And Harriet Jacobs' Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl, Harper Mccall

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The following thesis explores the constructs of gender and race in relation to the bodies of Jane Eyre and Linda Brent in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë and Harriet Jacobs. Particularly, 19th Century sociopolitical forces (e.g., British Imperialism, Antebellum American life, and the legacy of the Transatlantic Slave Trade) constrict the womens' bodies as they progress through the novels' plots. By using Frederick Douglass' "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave," both intertextual references and resonant comparisons can be made between the oppression and resistance narratives characteristic of Jane Eyre and Incidents. Such communicative frameworks reveal larger …

Two London's In Williamsburg: Using Historical Imagination To Reinterpret The Meaning Of Reconciliation And Memorialization In The Archive, Ethan Miller

Undergraduate Honors Theses

his is the story of two enslaved Black males, both named London, who lived in 18th and 19th century Williamsburg, Virginia. One was a body servant, which served a similar function to a personal attendant, to the sons of Carter Braxton, when they were students at William & Mary. The second London attended the Bray school, one of the first schools for free and enslaved African Americans in the continental United States. He was enslaved by a woman …. who owned and operated a tavern in the town. Since both London’s are largely absent from the archives, there is no …

A Journal Of Those Times, Alexander Wolff

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Alexander Lazarus Wolff Poetry. Based on confessional poets

France's Compliance Of The International Convention On The Elimination Of All Forms Of Racial Discrimination: French Universalism Versus Group Rights, Alex Earls

Undergraduate Honors Theses

There exists a constant battle between universalism and anti-racism in France, where universalism is positioned as the predominant force of western values and anti-racism as a dog-whistle for ‘wokeness’. This thesis will position that France is predisposed to incomplete compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) in part due to its rooted concept of French universalism and the nationalistic undertones therein that do not tolerate intermediate identifications between the individual and the Republic. The purpose of this argument is to generate an interpretive tool to observe and analyze France’s relatively weak civil …

“Grant Us Wisdom, Grant Us Courage:” Theology In The Organ Music Of Paul Manz, Justin Oei

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Through an investigation of the organ music of the American composer Paul Manz (1919-2009), this study will seek to link sacred music with the composer’s theological convictions, as well as with external circumstances that inform compositional practices. Manz’s organ works are widely performed in church and concert settings, especially in the American Lutheran tradition, and his motet E’en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come has become a staple of the sacred choral repertoire, selling over a million copies since its publication in 1954. Despite this, very little scholarship has been produced on his life and work. Broadly, this provides an avenue …

A World Half Created: The Imaginative Power Of Sound In The Poetry Of William Wordsworth, Trinity Myers

Undergraduate Honors Theses

William Wordsworth has long been considered one of the greatest British Romantic poets, and critical interest in his use of sound has grown since the mid-twentieth century. This paper investigates Wordsworth's fascination with "poetic musicality"—a phrase developed by the researcher to describe a poem's sensitivity to sound—and its effect upon the active imagination of a poem’s listeners. Such aural receptivity is explored in several of Wordsworth's early works, namely: the 1805 Prelude and selections from Lyrical Ballads. Rather than limiting conceptions of musicality to song and instrumentation, this project investigates how the power of sound can be extended to …

Searching For Satan In The Pre-War Devil Blues, Kyle Mahoney

Undergraduate Honors Theses

While many scholars have aimed to address the devil as he appears in the lyrics of the blues, scholars have yet to directly address Satan as he appears in the blues. This paper aims to fill that gap in the existing literature, seeking answers to why "devil" appears so much more frequently than "Satan." In reviewing the singular pre-war blues song which does mention Satan by name, Robert Johnson's "Me and the Devil Blues," the ways in which "Satan" and "devil" are used in the lyrics of other forms of African American music like the spiritual, and the cultural contexts …

Pastries And Plots: Food Rhetoric And Gender Struggles In Shakespeare’S Plays, Juliet Nierle

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Food is a common motif across the Shakespearean cannon. From early plays to late plays, comedies to dramas, food appears in a variety of instances, functioning in numerous ways. Frequently representative of social class or serving as a cultural marker, food in Shakespeare can be innocent and passive, but it has the potential to contribute to scenes of violence. Foodstuffs in Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, Titus Andronicus, and Coriolanus contribute to the brutal harms committed in the plays, specifically in scenes of violence against women. Characters use foodstuffs as pejorative metaphors, like the subjugation of Volumnia in the context …

"Looks Like Cotton Candy": Deconstructing Fascism In Post-War Japanese And Italian Horror Cinema, Nicholas Hall

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The giallo films of Italy and the pink films of Japan are often written off as "B-film trash" by the public, journalists, critics, and even sometimes academics. Yet as "cliche" or "gratuitous" as these films tend to be, they are deeply engaged with the fascist pasts of the nations. This thesis argues that the rampant historical and cultural revisionism that plagued (and continues to plague) post-war Italy and Japan are responsible for this unprecedented boom in horror cinema. Furthermore, this thesis posits that the horror film is the most well-equipped cultural tool for deconstructing the fascist pasts of Italy and …

Peace Discourse In Postwar Japan: Emergence, Continuity, And Transformation, Xiuyu Li

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Postwar Japan has often been described as “pacifist.” This is because Japan has not engaged in a single major conflict since the end of WWII and because of the kind of peace thinking developed by its war-weary populations. While it was considered natural for humans to desire peace, this momentum was generated from the memory of Japanese people as both perpetrators and victims of war over the course of the country’s modernization. The Japanese intellectuals not only cherished the peaceful condition in the wake of WWII as a generous gift from the Allied powers but also dedicated themselves into rebuilding …

The People Of Seljuq Baghdad, 1069-1089, Henry Stratakis-Allen

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In recent years, scholars of the Islamic Middle East have fiercely debated the nature and underlying causes of the so-called ‘Sunni Revival’, a period of Sunni political resurgence and theological consolidation centered around the city of Baghdad that lasted throughout the eleventh century. Despite the importance of this period, which witnessed the crystallization of mainstream Islamic thought as it is known to the present, scholars have been unable to synthesize its phenomena into a single convincing narrative. This shortcoming is owed largely to scholars lacking a robust structural understanding of Islamic society during this period, particularly with respect to Baghdad. …

The Cult Of The Nymphs: Identity, Ritual, And Womanhood In Ancient Greece, Ivana Genov

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Examining archeological and epigraphic evidence in its historical context, in this thesis I explore the Cult of the Nymphs venerated across ancient Greek poleis. I analyze the nymph’s profound cultural and historical impact that is often overlooked in the study of ancient Greece. Nymphs were female deities thought to embody ecological sites, such as fountains and springs, and became fundamental to polis identity. Their locations were often central to city plans, and their faces, depicted on coinage, became representative of the city itself. In the community, nymphs were integral to rituals for major life events, most often in the lives …

Rethinking ‘Feminicide’: The Role Of Organized Crime Groups In Increased Rates Of Feminicide In Mexico, Giselle Figueroa

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Why has feminicide significantly increased in Mexico over the past two decades? Previous feminicide research in Mexico has centered around the idea that the introduction of neoliberal politics changed family structures and increased the vulnerability of women as they entered the workforce. However, this explanation does not fully explain patterns of political violence against women in Mexico. I argue that Mexico’s War on Drugs and the intrinsic patriarchal ideologies and structures of organized crime groups (OCGs) reinforce gender hierarchies and increase the vulnerability of women. To evaluate my argument, I analyze state-level public government data on organized crime and feminicide …

Beyond A Partnership Ethic: Evolutions Of Ecofeminism In The Post-Apocalyptic Landscapes Of Margaret Atwood's Maddaddam Trilogy And Jean Hegland's Into The Forest, Catherine Lashley

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this paper, I analyze two contemporary post-apocalyptic novels, Jean Hegland’s novel Into the Forest and Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy, through an ecofeminist lens to argue that they establish a framework for an existence that decenters the human and rejects Eurocentric, masculinized conceptions of individualism. I put these novels in conversation with Eduardo Kohn’s book How Forests Think: Toward an Anthropology Beyond the Human, and the ecofeminist works of Carolyn Merchant, Donna Haraway, and Val Plumwood. My paper is split into three sections, Women/Nature, Human/Nonhuman, and Individual/Collective. I use the slash as a glyph to denote moments of non-dualism, unquantifiable …

"The Unlucky Rebel": William Claiborne And The Evolution Of The Kent Island Dispute, Adam Pleasants

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis attempts to present a more complete view of the often-overlooked conflict over Kent Island between the merchant and early Virginian politician William Claiborne and the Lords Baltimore by presenting it in the evolving cultural context of the Atlantic world.

To Have Sex Or Not To Have Sex: An Exploration Of Medieval Christian And Jewish Sexual Values, Rachel Zaslavsky

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis is an exploration of Medieval Jewish and Christian conceptions of sex and aims to challenge the notion of Judeo-Christian values. Medieval Judaism and Christianity are at odds with each other in their understandings of sexuality. By considering Judaism, the belief that medieval religion was averse to sexuality and sexual pleasure is disproven. An analysis of religious works, such as those produced by Christian theologians and Jewish rabbis, yields the following conclusion: medieval Christianity restricted sex on the basis of abstinence, while medieval Judaism restricted sex on the basis of ritual impurity but mandated sex for procreation and female …

Exploring Moral Saints, Ruyu (Evelyn) Wang

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In “Saints and Heroes,” J. O. Urmson (1958) defines moral saints by reference to their supererogatory actions. He believes that saintly actions are praiseworthy but not obligatory. However, Andrew Flescher (2003) and Tom Dougherty (2017) argue that people have duties to improve themselves morally and to increase how much they sacrifice for others gradually. In this paper, I will propose an Aristotelian-inspired definition of “saint” and discuss the moral duties of saints and ordinary people (i.e., people who are not saints) based on Dougherty’s dynamic view of beneficence. I hold that ordinary people have prima facie duties to become saints, …

Sing Of Arms And Disobedience: Reading Vergil's Aeneid In Milton's Paradise Lost, Brooke Braden

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines the extent to which Vergil’s Aeneid influences the characters, themes, and epic style of Milton’s Paradise Lost. Focusing primarily on the Carthage episode of the Aeneid in which Aeneas meets and falls in love with queen Dido, this thesis explores how the figures of Aeneas, Creusa, Dido, and Sychaeus parallel those of Milton’s Satan, Sin, Eve, and Adam, respectively. This thesis also shows how the appearance of epic themes such as fate in both texts affects characters’ personal motivations in similar ways, such as Dido’s suicide and Eve’s consumption of the infamous apple. Through an exploration of …

Man, Myth And Medicine: The Exchange Of Healing Deities In The Bronze Age Mediterranean, Ryan Vincent

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper is an in depth analysis of the Bronze Age interactions between Egypt and Greece and the legacy of physicians and physician gods in the region through an exploration of religion, medicine and linguistic exchange. The Egyptian physician Imhotep bears a striking resemblance to the Greek god Asklepios. It seems this similarity may be a result of Asklepios and his predecessor Paieon actually being based on the story of Imhotep, brought to the Mycenaeans during the Bronze Age.

Inalienable For Whom? Activism And The Politics Of Decolonial Restitution In French Museums, Alexandra Byrne

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis will interrogate the relationship between French museums, activists, and the government as it relates to postcolonial restitution of cultural heritage, often stolen from its country of origin under uncertain or exploitative circumstances. I will seek to understand 1) how museums address colonialism and restitution in their public rhetoric, 2) the legal and geopolitical barriers to restitution, and 3) the role of activists. I construct a theory of a pyramid of pressure, theorizing that museums push restitution issues beyond their galleries to larger legal and geopolitical barriers, but that these barriers are now being questioned by increased activism. I …

Goodbye... Ripples, Yaxi Xiao

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Through a sliver in that aged curtain

wind blows from winter to spring

silently, wrinkles all rubbed in

leaves scattered around

stained black by the soil

skeins of shadow, knitted as one

gently lift up the new buds

swaying in rhythm, they dance and giggle.

“Pass The Pickles”: Viewing Class And Dining In Virginia City, Nevada Through The Pickle Castor, Sage Boucher

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis employs a material culture methodology, which understands people through the objects that they interacted and applies it to the study of the pickle castor; this 19th-century American dining object represents an intersectionality between the unique social and economic space of Virginia City, Nevada in its silver rush Bonanza (1859-1882) and 19th century dining processes. The study will first walk through the history of the pickle castor itself, showing the food culture it is connected to, and the production processes. It will then pivot to setting this historical stage of Virginia City, Nevada in the silver rush, showing it …

A Spectral Return: Non-Metaphorical Ghosts, Monsters, And Hauntology, Kit Bauserman

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Uses of hauntology within academic scholarship are peculiarly metaphorical and British. This project aims to combat the overabundance of such readings to create more breadth in academic discourse on the spectral. This project does not seek to replace metaphorical or British renderings of hauntology, but to exist alongside it as overreliance on a particular formulation creates detrimental limits and barriers to scholastic innovation. The first essay examines the ghosts of Theodore “Wes” Wesley and Samuel Isaac Bailey within Unwell: A Midwestern Gothic Mystery (2018-2023) and The Sheridan Tapes (2020-present). Examining these category-defying ghosts which exhibit mass, warmth, and breath through …

The Enduring Mystery At Town Creek: New Interpretations At A Rural North Carolina Museum, Elizabeth Henry

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Town Creek Indian Mound is a rural museum and historic site located in Montgomery County, North Carolina. Archaeological excavations at Town Creek historic site have occurred in varying capacities for nearly ninety years. Since 1955, Town Creek’s museum has served to represent archaeological endeavors occurring at the historic site. Therefore Western-trained and white archaeologists have been the sole voices presented within the museum space. Town Creek’s current museum exhibits are stuck in a state of pastness, only representing a small portion of Native lifeways; namely discourse on ritual, ceremony, and death. Current exhibits and historical interpretations at Town Creek’s museum …

Landscapes Of Silence At The First Baptist Church, Victoria R. Gum

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The Historic Area of Colonial Williamsburg is often presented as a “town which time passed by” (Yetter 1988:30). This narrative implies that the museum landscape reflects the actual past and that restoration efforts simply returned the town to the way it used to be. However, the Restoration was accomplished according to specific ideological goals. Colonial Williamsburg was created as a shrine to traditionalist, conservative values (Greenspan 2002; Handler & Gable 1997; Lindgren 1989; Lindgren 1993) which are intrinsically linked to the global structure of systemic White supremacy. These values were enacted during the Restoration, as Black residents of the future …

An Unsettled History: Measuring Settlement Population And Sedentism In The Late Woodland Potomac River Valley, Matthew Anthony Borden

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

This thesis investigates what information accumulations research can provide on settlement population and sedentism in the Late Woodland Potomac River Valley. Accumulations research is a flexible method that mathematically models the relationships between past populations and the archaeological record they leave behind using the discard equation. This study reviews the available data for several different variables in accumulations research, including settlement population, use duration (occupation length) and residential stability (seasonality), and uses the discard equation to evaluate the data. My research focuses on five archaeological sites in the Potomac River Valley, which was home to several different cultural groups during …

An Examination Of High School Music Course Offerings In Virginia: A Mixed Methods Study, Natalia Goodloe

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

High school music education is not mandated by the Standards of Quality, the Virginia state educational law, and courses offered on the high school level vary among Virginia school divisions. This explanatory mixed methods dissertation study provides an overview of history of development of high school music education in Virginia, reveals what high school music courses currently offered in Virginia school divisions (N = 131), and surveys approaches to development of programs of studies of a representative sample of Virginia school divisions (n = 14). The study generated three major findings. First, 29 various courses are offered among Virginia school …

Healing Culturally Induced Trauma From Marvin’S Room To The Indian Boarding School, Angie Jocelin Leiva

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

This master’s thesis portfolio is analyzing the music of contemporary hip-hop artists and the autobiographical work of 20th-century Indigenous writer and political activist Zitkala-Ša. A close reading methodology is used to analyze all the writing included in this body of work. The purpose is to examine the importance of community building within Black and Indigenous communities in the wake of political and social injustice. This portfolio uses the theoretical work of Audrey Lorde, Sianne Nagi, and Robert Warrior to provide support for the central thesis. All the subjects in this portfolio are writing from a first-person point of view and …

"I Wish I Was In Dixie / Away, Away": American Emigration, Cultural Negotiations, And The Confederados / "Play Free Bird!": Southern Anthems As "New Dixies" And The Perpetuation Of The Lost Cause, Shannon Baker

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

“I Wish I Was in Dixie / Away, Away”: American Emigration, Cultural Negotiations, and the ConfederadosThis paper focuses on the Confederados, Southern white Americans who emigrated to new countries, primarily to Brazil. This paper analyzes the reasons for this mass organized outmigration, with attention paid to both push and pull factors for the migrants. This paper also looks at the Civil War memorial activities perpetuated by the Confederados and their descendants, examining the negotiations between Southern U.S. and Brazilian culture. In addition, this paper argues that Confederado studies can be strengthened by further research from the framework of the United …

A Black Mount Vernon: Exploring Enslaved Homespace And Family At Mount Vernon Plantation, Heather L. Little

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

This thesis utilizes a theoretical approach that draws on Whitney Battle-Baptiste's (2011) homespace framework combined with network theory and cultural geography to explore the enslaved community's domestic lives and social structures at Mount Vernon Plantation in the late 18th century. I argue that using homespace and network theory in conjunction with one another allows for a more complex and nuanced exploration of enslaved communities at a household level. Three datasets have been utilized that embody both quantitative and qualitative data. The first is archaeological data from the Mount Vernon excavations, obtained from the Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery (DAACS). …