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Day Of The Woman?: Feminism & Rape-Revenge Films, Kayley A. Viteo

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis examines the horror film sub-genre of ‘rape revenge’ for the ways it reflects and helps to constitute broader public debates about women and feminism. In order to do so, it examines two well-known representatives of the sub-genre, Last House on the Left and I Spit On Your Grave. Both of these films were initially made in 1972 and 1978 respectively and were recently remade in 2009 and 2010. This thesis examines both the originals and the remakes of these films within and against their socio-historical context, with a specific focus on dominant discussions about feminism and women taking …

Immigrants As Americanizers: The Americanization Movement Of The Early Twentieth Century, Alexis Claire Hanley

Graduate Masters Theses

This thesis aims to prove that the Americanization movement was crucial in that it provoked immigrants to devise their own ways in which they could demonstrate their loyalty to America and forge links between Americanism and their cultural pride. Immigrants transformed themselves into a new type of American by exhibiting love for both their home and adopted countries. On the one hand, they were acutely aware of the ever-present demand to exhibit their dedication to America during the Great War, but they also took much of the patriotic ardor that was forced upon them and reshaped it in order to …

A Family Affair: The Pre-Kansas Saga Of James Henry Lane, James Robert Bird

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Historian Craig Miner suggests that territorial Kansas between 1854 and 1861 was "a nursery of weird and manic figures." Foremost among the weird and manic figures of Kansas history stands James Henry Lane, formerly a U.S. congressman from Indiana, and destined to become one of Kansas' first pair of senators. Writing at the midpoint of the twentieth century, Albert Castel pronounced Jim Lane "the most colorful and fascinating personality in the history of Kansas," adding that "Very likely, too, he was mentally unbalanced and paranoid."

Yet, James H. Lane never set foot on Kansas soil until he was well into …

American Propaganda, Popular Media, And The Fall Of Jacobo Arbenz, Zachary Carl Fisher

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In June 1954, President Jacobo Arbenz Guzman of Guatemala resigned in the face of a coup led by Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas. While the United States publicly denied involvement, the coup was in fact the culmination of a plan called PBSUCCESS (CIA codeword), led by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Although PBSUCCESS lived up to its namesake, it was aided (both intentionally and unintentionally) by various U.S. media outlets. For the duration of Arbenz Guzman's regime, he and his country had been the subject of U.S. suspicions of undue Communist and Soviet influence. A general anti-Communist attitude permeated virtually all …

A General Among Diplomats: General James Van Fleet, The Truman Doctrine, And The Greek Civil War, Oliver R. Garland

Theses & Honors Papers

The object of this study is to examine and assess the major decisions and impact of General James Van Fleet in his role as executor of the Truman Doctrine during the Greek Civil War from the period of February 1948 to the early part of 1950. Though only in charge of the military side of the Truman Doctrine, Van Fleet often bettered his political and diplomatic counterparts in their own arenas. As the economic and military objectives of the Truman Doctrine aid program became increasingly political, Van Fleet successfully assumed the new role of soldier-diplomat and bridged the political and …

Forecasting The Future: The Early United States Weather Bureau, Robert T. Canning

Honors Theses

The national weather service of the United States came into being in 1870 for the practical utility of the American people. The interaction between weather, agriculture, and commerce provided the impetus for the inception of the service. Many historians put forward the notion of an obdurate weather bureau, a scientific backwater with no interest in modernization until after World War II. I disagree with this popular historiography and instead offer a history of the weather bureau’s attempts to institute the latest meteorological practices that takes into consideration the burdens and obligations of the bureau, as well as the historical context. …

The Professional Cherokee: Elias Boudinot And The Negotiation Of Indian Political Identity, 1817-39, Irina Rogova

Senior Projects Spring 2012

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.