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European History

The College of Wooster

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Visit Which Scotland? Political Events Illuminating Two Competing Visions Of Re-Emerging Scottish Identity Since The Late Twentieth-Century, Erin W. Delaney Jan 2021

Visit Which Scotland? Political Events Illuminating Two Competing Visions Of Re-Emerging Scottish Identity Since The Late Twentieth-Century, Erin W. Delaney

Senior Independent Study Theses

Since the late twentieth century, Scotland has undergone a series of political changes. I argue that a consequence of these changes has been increased support for a separate national Scottish identity. By analyzing competing visions of this identity through the tourism industry and Gaelic revival, this IS shows the complexities of this move towards nationalism. While many scholars have analyzed the re-emergence of Scottish identity since 1707, the relationship between Gaelic revival efforts and the tourism industry have not been connected to show the complexities of this re-emerging Scottish identity. This IS draws on a vast array of interdisciplinary sources …


Contested Commemoration: The Relationship Between Politics And The Memorialization Of The Second World War In Polish Literature, Cinema, And Museums (1945-Present), Alexandria Joyner Jan 2020

Contested Commemoration: The Relationship Between Politics And The Memorialization Of The Second World War In Polish Literature, Cinema, And Museums (1945-Present), Alexandria Joyner

Senior Independent Study Theses

This study examines the relationship between politics and the memory of the Second World War in Polish literature, cinema, and museums from 1945-Present. I argue that the memory of the Second World War has changed radically over the last seventy- five years as the Polish government, in both the communist and post-communist periods, pursued a politics of memory. I build this argument first by identifying three political turning points that caused the communist government to confront and reevaluate the narrative they promoted about the war: 1945, 1956, and 1967. I include a fourth turning point, 1989, to show how post-communist …


Boy Meets War: A Critical And Creative Analysis Of Civilian Masculinities In Britain During The Second World War, Savanna Hitlan Jan 2020

Boy Meets War: A Critical And Creative Analysis Of Civilian Masculinities In Britain During The Second World War, Savanna Hitlan

Senior Independent Study Theses

During the Second World War, the hegemonic masculinity, that is, the dominant masculinity, resided with the Royal Air Force (RAF). Pilots epitomized what it meant to be a man in war due to their heroics in the Battle of Britain. Civilian masculinities therefore had to negotiate their identities to fit their new roles in society. The two types of civilian men that I mainly look at are men in the reserved occupations and conscientious objectors. I examine this question: how did cultural representations portrayed by the government affect the civilian men on the homefront? Furthermore, I explore how these men …


"Don't Read This!": Lemony Snicket And The Control Of Youth Reading Autonomy In Late-Nineteenth-Century Britain, Brittany A. Previte Jan 2016

"Don't Read This!": Lemony Snicket And The Control Of Youth Reading Autonomy In Late-Nineteenth-Century Britain, Brittany A. Previte

Senior Independent Study Theses

This independent study investigates adult authority in youth literature in late-nineteenth-century Britain. Examining both sensational literature known as “penny dreadfuls” and the didactic magazines The Boy’s Own Paper and The Girl’s Own Paper, this project analyzes how rhetoric enforced middle class ideology outside of the classroom and shaped the youth reading experience. In an urbanizing, industrializing Britain, anxiety about social mobility ran high, and youth consumption of penny dreadfuls received suspicion due to their supposedly subversive content. This study argues that penny dreadfuls actually reinforced the social order, mirroring didactic literature in their construction of conservative adult authority. In …


Still A Rivalry: Contrasting Renaissance Sodomy Legislation In Florence And Venice, Nicolaus J. Hajek Apr 2015

Still A Rivalry: Contrasting Renaissance Sodomy Legislation In Florence And Venice, Nicolaus J. Hajek

Black & Gold

The article focuses on comparing the functions of two institutions that castigated sodomy in Renaissance Italy: Florence’s the Office of the Night, and Venice’s Council of Ten. The author analyzes court cases from both Renaissance institutions as well as other first hand accounts of the culture of male sodomy in the region, explaining that Florence’s persecution of homosexual behavior was a secular tool to check the power of any political threat, while Venitian persecution originated from a theological mandate to save sinners from relinquishing their eternal salvation.


Whose Britain Is This Anyway: Questioning Race, Class, Immigration And Nationality In Great Britain Between 1948 And 2011, Christina Jayne Cruce Jan 2012

Whose Britain Is This Anyway: Questioning Race, Class, Immigration And Nationality In Great Britain Between 1948 And 2011, Christina Jayne Cruce

Senior Independent Study Theses

This work discusses how questions of race, class, immigration and nationality have changed since 1948. To answer it I looked at the 1981 Brixton race riot and the 2011 UK urban youth riots. I argue that, despite improvements in black and white race relations, British society has continued to discriminate against black-Brits on multiple levels. I have also found that since the 1980s there has been a governmental and, more generally, a societal neglect of the working-class population as a whole. In regards to the findings of other scholars and historians, my work looks at both urban, poor blacks and …


Rex Quondam, Rexque Futurus: Arthurian Legends As Indicators Of British National Identity Throughout History, Audrey Ellen Wimbiscus Jan 2012

Rex Quondam, Rexque Futurus: Arthurian Legends As Indicators Of British National Identity Throughout History, Audrey Ellen Wimbiscus

Senior Independent Study Theses

By looking at the texts of Arthurian legends such as Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, T.H. White's The Once & Future King, and Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon, one can gain a historical perspective of the time in which each work was written. Through this historical perspective and by looking at each author's personal life, a picture of Great Britain's national identity at the time of writing can be seen. As such, the Arthurian Cycle can be used to exemplify British national identity throughout history.


The Eloquence Of Stone: Propagandistic Function Of Monumental And Funerary Art In Nineteenth Century Paris, Lauren Close Jan 2012

The Eloquence Of Stone: Propagandistic Function Of Monumental And Funerary Art In Nineteenth Century Paris, Lauren Close

Senior Independent Study Theses

This I.S. concentrates on the role that various socio-economic groups played in the development of a new monumental and funerary art aesthetic in the aftermath of the French Revolution. In particular, this work focuses on the cultural influence of the French military elites, Grands Hommes and the bourgeoisie within the public spaces of nineteenth century Paris.