Digital Commons Network^™

Understanding Ethno-Nationalism: Sikh Diasporic Imaginings In Southwest Michigan, Rory G. Mccarthy

Masters Theses

Diaspora as a category is both useful and troublesome for researchers in the discipline of anthropology. It is useful, for it allows anthropologists to approach cultural studies from a position that recognizes flaws in the conception of culture as geographically bounded. Studying diasporic populations, therefore, enables anthropologists to apply new theoretical approaches to culture, without reifying and essentializing social practices. Conversely, using diaspora as a category can homogenize groups by glossing over differences in ethnicity, religion, and migratory expenence.

This study aims at bettering the understanding of diversity within a diasporic population by examining the role that religion plays in …

The Significance Of Shape-Shifting And Transformation In Medieval Welsh And Icelandic Literature: The Ingenuity Of Medieval Writers, Samanatha J. Cairo

Masters Theses

The folk-motifs of shape-shifting and transformation are an important mechanism in both Medieval Welsh and Icelandic literature. To better understand these motifs it is important to consider the ideas behind and the belief in these concepts. The role of the shaman and the separable soul, the Double, and the psychological projection all form a basis for shape-shifting in Medieval literature.

The Welsh literature will include: Pwyll, Prince qf Dyfed, Manawydan Son of Llyr, Math Son of Mathonwy, Lludd and Llefelys, Culhwch and Olwen, Peredur Son of Efrawg, The Hanes Taliesin,/em>, and the transformational poetry of Taliesin. The Icelandic literature …

Spatial And Ethnic Patterns Of Real Estate Control Affecting Upward Mobility Of Immigrants In A Nineteenth Century Industrial Community, Debra S. Alfonso

Masters Theses

The subject of immigrant success has previously been analyzed in the context of ethnic characteristics, individual heroism, worker solidarity, and advancement of industrialization. Most immigrants start at the bottom of the social-economic ladder. The mechanisms of advancement vary depending on both ethnic values and the constraints of the socioeconomic system. The key variable is normally thought to be advancing occupational status.

The problem addressed is how did recent immigrants to a 19th century steel-town obtain home ownership and advancement in spite of declining industrial wages. Using a GIS system to link and analyze geographic and historical records I was able …

Survival Strategies Of Black Kalamazooans: Migration, Kinship Networks And Work In A Midwestern Village, 1860-1900, Carson Jeanne Leftwich

Masters Theses

An investigation of the lives of African Americans in a small Midwestern village in the second half of the nineteenth century finds that paradigms vary significantly from that of urban Northern or rural Southern black lives. Three survival strategies are explored: work, migration, and kinship networks. Residential and home ownership patterns are explored, as is the structure of the village, neighborhood, and home. The work of men and women, education, state of birth and subsequent migrations, household structure, and kin relationships are analyzed.

The study uses only public records: manuscript census records from 1860, 1870, and 1880; Kalamazoo City Directories …

The Politics Of Arthurian Legend In The Plantagenet Empire: A Study Of Literary And Historical Sources From The Time Of Henry Ii To Edward I, Laura J. Radiker

Masters Theses

This study looks at both medieval chronicles and romances--the primary sources of Arthurian legend--to seek mutual influences between the politics of the Plantagenet Empire and Arthurian legend. The authors of the works used in this study performed within the sphere of the Plantagenet Empire, during the time period with which this study concerns itself. Secondary sources provide background information, such as the historical, literary, and cultural milieu surrounding the primary works, archaeological and linguistic evidence, and current scholarly debate.

From the evaluation of the primary sources and their historical framework, several aspects of Arthurian legend emerge which have connections with …

Culture Conflict As It Relates To A Psychocultural Therapeutic Model For Chicanos, Armando Tena

Masters Theses

Since the Chicano culture is the synthesis of the Mexican and Anglo/Saxon cultures that meet in the American society, social and behavioral scientists have developed the idea of how the concept of culture conflict can be utilized in the psychological assessment and treatment of Chicano clients.

The authors reviewed in this work have expounded on the concept of Culture Conflict to develop a psychocultural mode for the Chicano population. This clinical strategy is based on the premise that the Chicano individual, because of his life experiences in this society, will find himself in situations where his cultural identity is not …

Walsingham And Burghley: Factionalism In The Privy Council Under Elizabeth I, John W. Nott

Masters Theses

Introduction

The Elizabethan Age was the age of Shakespeare and Marlowe, when the English literacy renaissance attained a claims; the age of Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher, when English sea power asserted its genius. It was also the age of great statesmen and political improvisation, for England was beginning to emerge as a world power. Headed by a queen whose primary claim to fame rested with her ability to inspire her people and manage her talented ministers, the island kingdom soon attained the status of a major nation. At Elizabeth's accession the government was in a state of decline but skillful …

The Conception Of The Proper Work Of A Missionary In The Correspondence Of Boniface, Albert Crawford

Masters Theses

First Paragraph:

The seventh through the tenth centuries witnessed a great expansion of the Roman Catholic Church to the north into lands that were partially or completely pagan. As one of the great missionary periods of the Church it demands the attention of the Church historian. As an important step in the civilization of Europe it demands the attention of the secular historian, as an expression of the contemporary doctrine of the nature of the Church and what is essential for the expansion of that Church into other cultures, it demands the attention of the theologian. The importance of this …

The Building And Establishment Of Washington, 1788-1809, Robert C. Harris

Masters Theses

Preface

The following research concerns the beginnings of our national capital. Of the people who have contributed to its development, many were Americans, while others were immigrants striving for freedom in their newly established nation. To all the most important task was to find a permanent site for their national capital.

Millions of Americans have visited Washington, D. C. since 1800, leaving their beloved city with diversified ideals for its future. Dr. H. Paul Caemmerer has several quotations from famous American personalities regarding the national capital.

Gladstone, The Irish Home Rule Question, And Its Effect On The Liberal Party, Kenneth John Van Dellen

Masters Theses

Introduction

Purpose

The Victorian Age of English history produced many great political leaders. Among the best known are Chamberlain, Disreali, Palmerston, Salisbury, and Gladstone. These politicians were able to pacify many dissatisfied groups and produce many reforms. Yet one of the biggest problems they had to face was left unsolved throughout the Victorian period, and the later Edwardian period as well. This problem was Ireland.

This research project will deal with the man who made one of the most persistent efforts of the nineteenth century to solve the Irish problem. It will attempt to show how William Ewart Gladstone become …