Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations And Its Interpretation With Christian Contemporary Thought, Audrey Kelley-Henroid

Young Historians Conference

Often regarded as one of the key Stoic works, Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations is a demonstration of the importance of self-reflection and Stoic ideals. His life was one of war and turmoil that influenced his possibly autobiographical writings over the years during his time campaigning during the Marcomannic wars. Since his death, the manuscripts remaining have been altered and interpreted in various ways. I speculate that Meditations being framed in the Christian lens is one of the most significant ways it's relevant today as it demonstrates the way contemporary ideas are imprinted onto classical work. Translators and readers of Meditations such …

Marshlands And Monasteries: The Impact Of Weapon Deposition On Medieval British Christianity, Maia Lippay

Young Historians Conference

This paper, using proven archeological evidence, time-specific literature, and references on monastic life, local tradition, and social concepts of mythology, draws a clear connection between the prevalent European Iron Age practice of ritual votive and weapon deposition into bodies of water and the state of Christianity in middle ages Great Britain. The ceremonial county of Lincolnshire, particularly the Witham Valley, is featured heavily for its high concentration of deposition and monastic sites in a verifiably close distance of each other. The paper explores the possibility that the existence of these pre-Christian ritual sites remained relevant throughout the Roman period through …

The Influence Of Plato’S Symposium: Love And Beauty Throughout Media & Culture, Anna E. Roberts

Young Historians Conference

The Ancient Greek philosopher Plato is unquestionably one of the most influential writers of philosophy in history. Through his various writings and works, Plato influenced the entire world's ways of thinking and discussion. In his dialogue The Symposium, Plato explores the humanistic complexities of love, beauty, and desire and shows various approaches to these topics, from mythological ideas to complex philosophical thought. The Symposium has managed to stretch far beyond the world of ancient Greece and has influenced the works of many different authors, artists, and writers. From Shakespeare in Renaissance-era England, to Freudian thought, the idea of Platonic Love, …

Ceremonial Sexual Sacrifice To Commercial Prostitution: The History Of Prostitution And The Social, Economic, And Religious Progress That Revolved Around The Profession, Katelyn E. Crowell

Young Historians Conference

From its believed origin in Ancient Mesopotamia, prostitution has not only survived but is a profession that has continued to play a culturally defining role through the centuries. While its initial emergence was through an act of religious ritual and sacrifice, it transformed into a commercial profession. Prostitution, despite it becoming a representation of sexual deviance, not only persevered but thrived across vast regions, cultures, and time periods. The profession's social ‘taboo’ and the forbiddenness of being associated with the institution has carried forward through time and across varying societal constructs, the attempts to hide or extinguish prostitution has never …

A History Of The Bracero Program As An Agent Of Transnational Modernity In The 20th Century, Lea H. Yonago

Young Historians Conference

The Bracero Program was an agreement devised between Mexico and the United States which provided a state-sanctioned avenue for Mexican men to work as contract laborers in the United States. It was originally intended to alleviate the World War II labor shortage in the United States, but would continue past the war until 1964. Its longevity was due to the central role it played in bringing Mexico and the United States into a modern, transnational relationship. I aim to examine the relationship between the two nations in two contexts: an historical-economic one, and an ethnographic one. These lenses are two …

Identity In Question: Middle Eastern Americans In Dearborn, Michigan, Julian F. Balsley

Young Historians Conference

In the 2020 United States Census, fifty-four percent of the population of Dearborn, Michigan, identified as being of Middle Eastern or North African descent. The story of how a small Detroit suburb became the American city with the largest proportion of Middle Eastern citizens is one of transnational relations between the U.S., its ally Israel, and the Middle East. The city’s Arab American community grew out of continuous wars that pushed people out of their homelands throughout the second half of the twentieth century, as well as the rise of the American auto industry. What makes Dearborn unique is that …

The Cambridge Five Spy Ring: The Notorious Bane Of The British Government, Jenna G. Mccomas

Young Historians Conference

Beginning with the communist recruitment of Kim Philby in 1934, this paper traces the decades-long espionage journey of the notorious Cambridge Five spy ring. Exploring the reach they had from the halls of the British government to Washington D.C, this paper highlights the building blocks of the Five’s legacy and their implications. This paper details the levels of and effects of British governmental incompetence in cementing the Five as international spy celebrities and enabling their Soviet espionage endeavors. Overall, it seeks to explore how the British were the agents of their own humiliation regarding espionage, and unnecessarily increased tension with …

Fragments Of A Dream: Armenia And The Shadow Of Genocide, Ada A. Camp

Young Historians Conference

Amidst the shadows of the war in Ukraine, in September of 2023, Azerbaijan’s military advancement into an ethnic Armenian enclave called Nagorno-Karabakh ended a thirty year conflict in just one violent day. The next morning, hundreds of thousands of Armenians fled, fearing ethnic cleansing and retaliatory killings. While the more recent history of this conflict is tied to the fall of the Soviet Union, Armenia and Azerbaijan’s disagreements have lasted for generations. The threat of ethnic violence and forced migration is not new to the Armenian people, and unfortunately still remains relevant. This paper deals not only with questions of …

A Matter Of Ultra Importance: How Ultra’S Decryption Of Enigma Impacted The Outcome Of World War Ii, Lia S. Hansen

Young Historians Conference

During World War II, one of the most prominent unsung heroes were the Allied codebreakers of Ultra who, under the thick blanket of absolute secrecy, worked tirelessly throughout the war to decrypt the German Enigma cipher. Efforts to break the Enigma cipher were underway since the beginning of the war but yielded little success until 1943 and Alan Turing’s Bombe. After this point, Allied forces were able to more effectively combat Axis forces, especially German U-boats in the Atlantic ocean, while keeping the whole operation under wraps to avoid suspicion and changing of the code. This paper explores how Ultra’s …

The Freedom And Danger Of Crinoline, Kaiya Williams

Young Historians Conference

“Hoop skirt” is a broad term encompassing many underskirt garments changing the shape of the skirt. Crinoline is often used interchangeably, but such use is incorrect. Crinoline is a specific design of hoop skirt. The developments of other forms of hoop skirts, such as farthingales and panniers led to the crinoline. The crinoline then led to more garments that fall under the term of “hoop skirt”, such as the crinolette and bustles. Just as women’s fashion today is debated as to the balance between the freedoms it offers and the “scandalous” nature of it, crinoline was debated when it was …

34th Annual Young Historians Conference Program, Portland State University History Department, Portland State University Challenge Program

Young Historians Conference

This is the 2024 Young Historians Conference schedule and abstracts.

Finding The Right Partner: Japan And Netherlands’ Relationship In The Edo Period, Sarah Weeks '24

Senior Research Symposium

This thesis paper seeks to enhance the understanding of the Japanese-Dutch relationship during the Edo Period. Despite Japan being a closed country during the Tokugawa Shogunate, it uniquely permitted the Netherlands as the only Western country to have access to trade. This decision was challenging to make due to Japan’s previous failed experiences with the West, such as the Portuguese, whose spread of the Christian religion led to major conflict. When Japan expelled out all Western foreigners, they allowed the Dutch to remain. The Netherlands then became the exclusive Western country allowed in Japan for over 200 years. This relationship …

Georgia And Russia: A Tenuous Relationship, Ani Rostomyan

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

In 1801, the Tsar of Russia signed a decree in order to incorporate Georgia into the Russian empire. The decree was very unpopular among the Georgians and caused much unrest. After 1905, Joseph Stalin, a Georgian, became a revolutionary in the country and eventually lead the Soviet Union. In 1922, the Soviet Union forced Georgia to be a part of a Socialist Republic with its surrounding countries, upending the local population and disrupting historic boundary lines. Despite many religious and cultural similarities, Russia’s rule was deemed erratic and domineering. Unfortunately, being ruled under Communism caused the country to become extremely …

Witches On The Wind: Weather Magic In New England Folktales, Zephyros Quinn Craven

Thinking Matters Symposium

The English language folktales collected from coastal New England in the 19^th and 20^th centuries display a prominence of weather magic motifs compared with folktales from other regions of the United States. This paper aims to explain the success of the weather magic theme in New England folklore collections and to serve as a starting point for scholarly discourse on the subject, which has hitherto been sparse. This study utilizes climate research, both scholarly and popular collections of folktales, local travel guides, and colonial and labor histories. Through a combination of historical analysis, comparative study, and textual analysis, …

Shang Yang And Skirmishes: Warfare And Philosophy In Warring States China, Levi Berg

Scholar Week 2016 - present

Ancient history is often complex. The 21st century is so far removed from the epoch that not only is understanding the sources a problem, but so is the quantity and quality of the sources themselves. However, what we have along with the archaeology is enough to determine at least some historicity of the epoch. Other questions are raised, however, when one starts to examine ancient history. For instance, what caused the philosophical upheaval during the political and social upheaval called the Warring States period in China? During this period in ancient China, when the states were in a struggle to …

The Viking Warrior Woman? Birka Chamber Grave Bj 581, Emily A. Stolp

ATU Research Symposium

On a very small island called Björkö in the middle of Lake Mälaren, in southern Sweden, was a Viking settlement called Birka that was occupied for about 200 years. This town was the perfect trading area where merchants and tradesmen came with goods from all over Europe, and other parts of the world. Beginning in the late nineteenth century some 1,100 graves were excavated by Swedish antiquarian Hjalmar Stolpe. One of these graves in particular, labeled Bj 581, seen as remarkable at the time of excavation would later become a significantly controversial grave. The individual in grave Bj 581 was …

Women And Food In World War I Era Arkansas, Emily A. Stolp

ATU Research Symposium

On July 1st, 1917, in the midst of The Great War, Arkansas’s Governor Charles Brough appointed Ida Frauenthal as chairwoman to the state’s new Woman’s Committee of the Council of Defense for Arkansas. The report created by the Woman's Committee allowed the committee to first: organize the results of the efforts of many civil groups and second: immortalize the women’s wartime efforts. Women’s war efforts in this era naturally focused on the home front. The need to conserve food, a national and local concern, occupied much of women’s wartime efforts. Fear mongering and propaganda used to push the food conservation …

Silent Cycles: Unveiling 19th-Century Perspectives On Menstruation, Women's Agency, And Societal Transformations, Anna Bennethum

Campus Research Day

In the 19th century, menstruation was a topic often vieled in silence and misinformation. Nonetheless, it is pivotal in discussions on women's agency and societal shifts. This paper explores 19th-century medical perceptions, the dissemination of reproductive knowledge through women's publications, and a case study of Adventist health publications. Through primary source analysis, this paper reveals how access to medical knowledge empowered women, especially in pursuing higher education. Additionally, examination of Adventist health publications showcases alternative remedies to menstrual disorders, granting women control over their reproductive health. This study illuminates the intersection of menstruation, women's agency, and societal change, emphasizing the …

Genderless And Sexualized: Caribbean Enslaved Women In The 18th Century, Amy Van Arsdell

Campus Research Day

This study focuses on the uniquely-gendered experiences of enslaved women in the Caribbean in the 18^th century. First, I examine the racialized views of femininity and how enslaved women were denied the privileges of white femininity and forced to do the same work as men, yet were still valued less than their male counterparts because of their gender. The study goes on to highlight the sexual oppression enslaved women experienced, and its adverse effects on their health. The study concludes that despite the intersectional racism and sexism they faced, enslaved women were able to use their gender to resist …

Revolutionaries And Counterrevolutionaries: An Academic Poster Session, Bryson Doering, Carter Benton, Nicholas Stratton, Sophie Nagi

Scholar Week 2016 - present

This academic poster sessions contains work produced by students in the Fall 2023 course HIST 362 The Age of Revolutions to the Age of Extremes: Modern Europe. Exploring European Ideas, Culture, and Politics in the wake of the French Revolution, students were tasked with conducting original biographical research on a revolutionary individual and then, alongside their written papers, developing their research into an academic poster presentation. These academic posters convey the biography and revolutionary as well as counterrevolutionary character of pivotal European figures since 1789. As a result, they represent a concise academic presentation of key transformative individuals from Europe's …

Hgs-3 The Influence Of A Tandem Cycling Program In The Community On Physical And Functional Health, Therapeutic Bonds, And Quality Of Life For Individuals And Care Partners Coping With Parkinson’S Disease, Leila Djerdjour, Jennifer L. Trilk

SC Upstate Research Symposium

Purpose Statement: Several studies have shown that aerobic exercise can have a positive impact on alleviating symptoms experienced by individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD). Despite this evidence, the potential benefits of exercise for both PD patients and their care partners (PD dyad) remain unexplored. This research project investigates the effectiveness, therapeutic collaborations, and physical outcomes of a virtual reality (VR) tandem cycling program specifically designed for PD dyads.

Methods: Following approval from the Prisma Health Institutional Review Board, individuals with PD were identified and screened by clinical neurologists. The pre-testing measures for PD dyads (N=9) included emotional and cognitive status …

Gender Matters, Collin Stiles, Elizabeth Rantuccio

Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Fellow Symposium

Within each process of genocide, there is a penchant for targeting groups that cannot resist the oppression laid upon them. As such, the role of gender in the perpetration, experience and aftermath of these processes is vastly overlooked. This project looks over three major case studies to better understand gender within the process of genocide; China, Myanmar and Rwanda. Using the lenses of gender studies, sociology and history, we seek to understand the methodology behind gendercide as well as the social, malicious and religious motivations behind it. Within China, we look at the Uyghur population, a culturally Muslim minority which …

Pirates And An Acadian Huguenot, Elizabeth Starkey

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

A discussion of a piracy trial in 1726 Boston and an Acadian merchant.

Pedro Mexía And The Politics Of Translation In The Early Modern World, Erin Fairweather, Robert Fritz

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Spanish humanist Pedro Mexía (1497-1551) wrote two highly influential texts in the sixteenth century, the Silva de varia lección (1540) and the Historia imperial y cesárea (1545), which were, notably, written in Spanish, a vernacular language, as opposed to Latin, the academic language of the age. As these books presented previously inaccessible scientific and historical knowledge to the common person, they were soon translated into several languages, achieving widespread fame and influence. However, the texts have been mostly forgotten and have seen little study in recent times. Nevertheless, the Silva and the Historia can help us better understand the politics …

A City Of Global Ambition: Duke Cosimo I De’ Medici’S Florence And The Americas, Jillian Hauer

Capstone Showcase

The Age of Conquest marked a turning point in global history, facilitating cross-cultural exchanges between the Eastern and Western hemispheres and paving the way for colonial expansion. Despite Italy's lack of direct involvement in the exploration of the Americas, various city-states eagerly sought to acquire objects and knowledge from the recently exploited lands. This essay focuses on Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici and his efforts to portray Florence as a global center through the collecting, commissioning, and cultivating of objects from and related to the Americas. I investigate mirabilia (objects that evoked wonder or astonishment) associated with the Medici collection, …

Islands Of Suppression: Japanese Internment In Hawaii Vs. West Coast 1941-1945, Carson Brown '24

Senior Research Symposium

The United States' involvement in World War II resulted in the internment and relocation of people of Japanese descent on the home front. The Territory of Hawaii was comprised of over a hundred thousand Japanese residents, who were also slated to be relocated. By exploring the differences between the military generals placed in charge of the West Coast (General John L. DeWitt) and the Territory of Hawaii (General Delos C. Emmons), the treatment of the ethnic Japanese in the areas shows a broader context of morals and racial profiling in the United States.

World War Two Propaganda: Analyzing And Comparing German And American Strategies, Chandler Schubert '24

Senior Research Symposium

No abstract provided.

Disney, Slavery, And Education: How The Conversation Of Racial History Influenced The Depiction Of Uncomfortable Historical Realities, Annika Garwood '24

Senior Research Symposium

Looking to theme parks in the 1990s in Virginia, one can see the attempt to implement racial history in the conversation of everyday life. Coupled with changing educational standards, there was an obvious attempt to acknowledge the dark parts of America’s past. However, theme parks and the education department faced pushback when that reality was too real and uncomfortable for people to want to talk about.

Daughters Of Sexual Politics: The Fujiwara's Rise To Regency Through Romantic Poetry And Marriage, Gavin Keesee '24

Senior Research Symposium

Through focusing on the patriarchal authority of Heian society, this essay seeks to establish a framework for the Fujiwara reconstructing the Heian political system. The primary idea will be to explain how the Fujiwara utilized poetry and marriage practices to conduct themselves to be integrated into the imperial family. The first section will provide background contextualization regarding aristocratic society, its cultural aesthetic focus, the functionality of the Heian ranking system, and the foundational court government, and explain how all of these aspects relate to the poetry and marriage systems. From there, the discussion will be focused on explaining the structure …

Crisis In The Heart Of Darkness: Navigating The Complexities Of The Congo Crisis 1960-1961, Jaxon Stutz '24

Senior Research Symposium

The Congo, placed in the heart of Africa, is filled with landscapes that are Often compared to descriptions of heaven. A country approximately the size of Western Europe with an estimated $24 trillion worth of minerals buried deep within the heart of darkness. The Congo could be the jewel of Africa, if not one of the most prosperous countries in the world. But a further gaze underneath the lush canopies of the Congolese jungle would find nothing but the ghosts of millions of Congolese victims to the Europeans and Americans. Whose greed and savagery turned this once thought of paradise …