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Architectural Representation And The Dragon’S Lair In Beowulf, Margaret Heeschen

Masters Theses

Since the early twentieth century, the dragon’s lair of Beowulf has been primarily associated with the early megalithic mounds of northern Europe. This interpretation of the space, however, does not account for the many contradictions present in the poet’s descriptions. In order to fully understand the quiddity of the dragon’s lair, we must resolve three major issues with previous interpretations: the use of rare words with unclear meanings, contradictions in descriptions of the physical space, and an assumption by scholars that the poet is describing a single type of space identifiable in the historical record. By addressing each of these …

Life Among Good Women: The Social And Religious Impact Of The Cathar Perfectae In The Thirteenth-Century Lauragais, Derek Robert Benson

Masters Theses

This Master’s Thesis builds on the work of previous historians, such as Anne Brenon and John Arnold. It is primarily a study of gendered aspects in the Cathar heresy. Using inquisitorial registers from the mid-thirteenth century to the early-fourteenth, as well as a few poetic and prose sources, it seeks to understand how the Cathar “Good Women” were perceived by their lay believers. The methodology of prosopography is utilized throughout to measure witness testimonies against one another and to compare the connections between the Cathar constituency and the female ministers.

Two main inquiries are investigated: the sacerdotal and pastoral roles …

An Analysis Of The Metal Finds From The Ninth-Century Metalworking Site At Bamburgh Castle In The Context Of Ferrous And Non-Ferrous Metalworking In Middle- And Late-Saxon England, Julie Polcrack

Masters Theses

This thesis opens with an investigation of the evidence for blacksmithing and non-ferrous metalworking in Anglo-Saxon England during the Middle- and Late-Saxon periods, c. 700-1066. The second chapter of this thesis focuses on knives and non-ferrous strap-ends during this period in order to discern any regional distinction in metalworking from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria. I initially conjectured that Northumbrian knives and strap-ends would show stylistic differences from knives and strap-ends made in other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, but in this chapter, I conclude that Northumbrian metal objects were homogenous with the assemblages from the remaining kingdoms. In the final chapter of …

Conformity And Digression: Change Of Narrative In A Chinese Peasant's Personal Writing, Danping Wang

Masters Theses

Rural China has gone through dramatic transformation from the Mao era to the post-Mao era. China scholars have been studying the institutional changes closely in the past few decades. However, Chinese peasants’ living experience and their memory and understanding of the past have not yet received enough attention and discussion. By examining personal writings of a peasant named Luo Xuechang in Jiande, Zhejiang province, this paper discusses the complex interactions between the state and the individual. This paper attempts to unfold the juxtaposition of state narratives and personal narratives embedded in Luo’s unpublished memoir, almanacs from 1972 to 1980, notebooks …

Springing Forth Anew: Progress, Preservation, And Park-Building At Roger Williams National Memorial, Sara E. Patton

Masters Theses

The process of local preservation, urban renewal, and national park building at Roger Williams National Memorial in Providence, Rhode Island, reveals important facets of the urban park idea. In 1958, the Providence Preservation Society and the Providence City Plan Commission jointly released the College Hill Study, which called for renewal of the College Hill neighborhood through preservation of the architecturally significant homes, selective demolition, and the creation of a new National Park Unit dedicated to Providence’s founder, Roger Williams. The new park, established in 1965, went through a lengthy planning process before opening in 1984. The planning process revealed concerns …

The Unaccustomed Vanishing Point, Procheta Olson

Masters Theses

The Unaccustomed Vanishing Point is an exhibition of miniature paintings and installations that explore the irregular and fluid terrains of multicultural exchanges in India. Although drawing heavily from Mughal and Persian painting traditions, the paintings are rife with allegories of the postcolonial history, politics, and visual and material culture of contemporary India in the age of globalization. The installations, on the other hand, navigate the intersection of sensory experience and memory while simultaneously examining the dynamics of transnational experiences. Together they map the overlapping boundaries of the personal and social to probe into the complex interplay of cultural hybridity, class, …

The Economy Of Evangelism In The Colonial American South, Julia Carroll

Masters Theses

Eighteenth-century Methodist evangelism supported, perpetuated, and promoted slavery as requisite for a productive economy in the colonial American South. Religious thought of the First Great Awakening emerged alongside a colonial economy increasingly reliant on chattel slavery for its prosperity. The records of well-traveled celebrity minister and provocateur of the Anglican tradition, George Whitefield, suggest how Calvinist-Methodist evangelicals viewed slavery as necessary to supporting colonial ministerial efforts. Whitefield’s absorption of and immersion into American culture is revealed in his owning a plantation, portraying a willingness to sacrifice the mobility of the disfranchised for widespread consumption of evangelical thought. A side effect …

Triplex Enim Eleemosyna Est, Cordis, Oris, Et Operis: Pope Innocent Iii’S Spiritual And Rhetorical Approach To Almsgiving, Thomas J. Maurer

Masters Theses

The Libellus de Eleemosyna is a short work by Pope Innocent III on the topic of almsgiving. Historians have used this "little book" to understand better Innocent‘s thoughts on the virtue. I have discovered, however, that the Libellus was not originally a "little book", but rather a sermon. In this thesis I attempt to describe and understand the Libellus not as a "libellus" but as the preached sermon: Date Eleemosynam. No other historian has approached the Libellus this way. In the first chapter I examine the previous short studies done on the Libellus, how contemporaries viewed Innocent as …

“Clamor Validus” Vs. “Fragilitas Sexus Feminei”: Hrotsvit Of Gandersheim On The Agency Of Women, Caroline Jansen

Masters Theses

Hrotsvit of Gandersheim has generated interest among scholars of gender and sexuality due to her status as a woman and writer of Latin legends, epics, and plays in the Ottonian Empire. As the only prominent female playwright of her time, Hrotsvit presents an intriguing, complex treatment of female characters and their sexuality, particularly her plays, which rework both well-known lives of female saints and the tropes of the Roman playwright Terence’s comedies. One issue that has not been fully addressed, however, is the gendering of the heroines populating Hrotsvit’s plays—while some scholars refer to the characters as “overcoming femininity” others …

Factory Hot Rod: Carroll Shelby's Melding Of Detroit Industry And Hot Rod Culture, Ryan James Vohringer

Masters Theses

Everyday Americans depend on their cars, but few outside of automotive culture understand its evolution, and the impact of individuals like Carroll Shelby had upon it. During the 1960s, Shelby facilitated the development of a unique bond between Detroit industry and Southern California hot rod culture. After he retired from racing, Shelby, with Ford’s industrial backing and the ingenuity of hot rodders was able to develop the Cobra. This car became an instant icon by its ability to win races against some of the world’s best including Ferrari. Shelby would apply his formula to Ford’s internal racing effort with the …

“The Cracked Pots Of Humanity”: Post-World War Ii American Literary Perspectives On Psychiatric Treatment/Containment Of Mental Disorders, Jennifer Chichester

Masters Theses

This thesis examines the ways in which characters in Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House and The Bird’s Nest, Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces grapple with the concept of “madness” on individual and societal levels. Each of these Post-World War II novels question whether “madness” is a social construct. Is the person mad, or is society? These three novels, written in an era when inpatient psychiatric care was losing its prominence as a method for treating those deemed insane, reflect the growing trend of deinstitutionalization in the 1950s …

Silver Breathed Upon The Stage: The American Revolution As Drama And Mythology, Nathan Stone

Masters Theses

At the time of the American Revolution, several different intellectual influences were present within the American colonies: the classical tradition, taken from ancient Greece and Rome; Christianity, taken from the Bible and the Reformed, Calvinist tradition; and, Whig theory. The question that must be asked is: Were these different intellectual traditions brought together at the time of the American Revolution and, if so, by what means? By analyzing how the different traditions were present in the colonies as well as how the past was utilized through the eighteenth century understanding of time and history—particularly through the use of pseudonyms and …

An Archaeological History Of Qumran: With An Explanation Of Archaeological Techniques, Christy Connell

Masters Theses

Khirbet Qumran is an archaeological site located on a plateau in Qumran National Park near the Dead Sea in Israel. Although it is a site rich in archaeological history and has been visited by tourists since the early nineteenth century, it only recently became a household name in the mid-twentieth century with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the caves surrounding the plateau. While the Dead Sea Scrolls are generally the area of focus for most scholars, much archaeology has been done in Qumran focusing on the community and its ruins as well. This thesis focuses on the …

American Controversy: Nudity In Art And Its Discontents, Sarah Katherine Mcphaul

Masters Theses

While walking through an exhibit at the East Tennessee Historical Society last year, I witnessed one of the curators tape sheets of white paper on top of some of the paintings. The exhibit served to remember the artwork of the Knoxville artist Lloyd Branson (1853 – 1925). His paintings consisted of mostly portraits, large-scale history scenes, and peaceful landscapes. Of the portraits displayed in the gallery, a few of them showed nude women. One of the paintings titled The Weeping Magdalene referred to a biblical narrative of Mary Magdalene crying. The other painting was not a biblical story, but one …

Notker’S Demons: Entertaining And Edifying Charles The Fat Through The Gesta Karoli Magni, Klayton Amos Tietjen

Masters Theses

This thesis examines the curious depictions of demons found in the biography of Charlemagne written by Notker the Stammerer in the late ninth-century. The demons appeared in tales that were unrelated to the biography’s subject matter. Historians of earlier generations dismissed the biography altogether as uninformative to a historical understanding of the late Carolingian empire. More recent historians, however, have revived Notker’s text to show that it has much to offer modern readers in understanding the ninth-century. This study shows that the demon stories are informative for a historical understanding of the period as well. They illustrate a special relationship …

"A Babe In The Woods?": Billy Graham, Anticommunism, And Vietnam, Daniel Alexander Hays

Masters Theses

This thesis focuses on famous evangelist Billy Graham's role in the Vietnam War, both as a public supporter and private advisor. It argues that, contrary to his self-depiction, he was no "babe in the woods," no mere neophyte or bystander. Rather, America's most famous preacher was an active participant in promoting and even planning the war. Graham's evangelical theology, with his premillennialist beliefs, led to his intensely anticommunist worldview, where communism was the Antichrist. His public support buttressed the presidents prior to and during the Vietnam War and, sometimes, Graham even delved into policy recommendations for the war.

Graham's role …

Incarcerated, Transported And Bound: Constructing Community Among Transported Convicts From Britain To The Chesapeake, 1739-1776, Michael I. Bradley

Masters Theses

"Incarcerated, Transported, and Bound: Constructing Community among Convicts Transported from London to the Chesapeake, 1739-1776" explores the movement, migration, the malleability of identities, and development of communal ties among transported convicts. This thesis utilizes information on more than 3000 convicts brought to the colonial Chesapeake region. Precise details are currently available for more than two hundred transported convicts. In many cases the convicts can be followed from their birthplace to London to their trial and imprisonment, continuing to their transportation to the Americas, their new lives in the Chesapeake, and, in some cases, their flight and return to Great Britain. …

The Power Of The Periphery: Aid, Mutuality And Cold War U.S-Ghana Relations, 1957-1966, Moses Allor Awinsong

Masters Theses

This project interrogates how economic self interest motivated periphery states such as Ghana to use foreign policy as a vehicle to attract improved development assistance from superpowers, in this case the United States. While the United States viewed its aid program in Ghana in stringently Cold War terms, Kwame Nkrumah and his advisors were less inclined to get deeply concerned about Cold War ideology. This project shows that Ghanaian agency was manifested in the Cold War through the new state's construction of a foreign policy image that made it a prominent African voice globally. It then examines how that image …

A Long Strange Trip Through The Evolution Of Fan Production, Fan-Branding, And Historical Representation In The Grateful Dead Online Archive, Anna Richardson

Masters Theses

This study explores how a digital music archive tells the story and contributes to the public memory of cult bands. Utilizing the Grateful Dead Archive Online (GDAO) as the primary data source, the researcher obtained a population of 26,835 items and categorized them by the production method of fan or band, item type, era, and logo. Content analysis illustrated themes within the archive in relation to the fannish production and activity within the fandom of the Grateful Dead. The span of this specific fandom spreads across five decades and sheds light onto the ways in which the fandom surrounding cult …