Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Culture Wars And The School District Of Philadelphia's African American History Mandate: 1980-2005, Ruby Schlaker , '22

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

In February 2005, the School Reform Commission of the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) convened and unanimously passed the “Resolution for African American Studies.” The resolution made Philadelphia the first and only district in the United States to mandate a year-long, African American history course as a graduation requirement. In the years since 2005, district-level mandates and requirements to, in some capacity, incorporate African American history into curricula have proliferated nationwide. Still, to date, Philadelphia is the only school district in the nation with a mandate to teach African American history (AAH) through the specific policy mechanism of a mandated, …

Superdome Services, Inc.: Tracing The Convergence Between Black Enterprise And Neoliberalism In A Post-Civil Rights Era New Orleans, 1974-1977, Daniel Pantini , '22

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

Utilizing records drawn from New Orleans’ Times Picayune and Louisiana Weekly newspapers, this research paper will attempt to explore early manifestations of neoliberalism during the 1970s Superdome controversy. In 1974 a predominantly-Black firm, Superdome Services, Inc. (SSI) was awarded a multi-million-dollar contract to manage the new Superdome, making them the largest Black-owned public contractor in the country. Within 3 years, political and media campaigns emphasizing on the company and its leaders’ alleged incompetence, theft, and criminality led to the cancellation of their contract and privatization of Superdome management. This paper will attempt to relate the press coverage of this era …

Korean Transnational Adoption As An Act Of Violence, Isabelle Titcomb , '22

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

Building on an emergent  eld of critical adoption studies, this paper traces the transformation of the Korean orphan into adoptee through the army camp, orphanage, women’s magazine, and family. In doing so, it demonstrates how Korean transnational adoption stood at the nexus of discourses concerning U.S. militarism, American consumerism, Cold War Orientalism, and white heternormative kinship formation. It concludes that adoption was not the radical act that its architects heralded it to be, rather it reproduced and rei ed pre-existing notions of race, gender, and sexuality founded in Orientalism.

Behind The Smoke Screen: Literary Resistance To The Trujillo Dictatorship, 1943-1947, Sokeyra Francisco , '22

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

Several scholars have engaged with the era of the Dominican Republic’s history, approximately 1930-1961, defined by Rafael Trujillo’s dictatorship, focusing on the political and economic repercussions of the regime. However, studying the era of the Trujillo dictatorship from the perspective of its social history reveals the extent to which the dictatorship permeated Dominican society and its citizens both on the island and in exile. This essay will expand on the history of the era through a focus on the efforts of writer activists living in the country and in exile to resist the dictatorship and its rhetoric, investigating the ways …

Panic At The Picture Show: Southern Movie Theatre Culture And The Struggle To Desegregate, Susannah Broun , '22

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This paper explores the complex desegregation process of movie theatres in the southern United States. Building off of historiography that investigates regulations of postwar teenage sexuality and recent scholarly work that acknowledges the link between sexuality and civil rights, I argue that movie theatres had a uniquely delayed desegregation process due to perceived sexual intrigue of the dark, private theatre space. Through analysis of drive-in and hardtop theatres, censorship of on-screen content, and youth involvement in desegregation, I contend that anxieties of interracial intimacy and unsupervised teenage sexuality produced this especially prolonged integration process.

Remembering “Der Noether”: The Gendered Image And Memory Of Women In Mathematics, Gwendolyn Rak , '22

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

German mathematician Emmy Noether (1882-1935) is known today for her contributions to abstract algebra and a 1918 theorem foundational to many theories of physics. She is also remembered as one of the most notable women mathematicians of the early 20th century and a significant figure in the history of women in science. Due to her position as an early female mathematician, her memory has been continually gendered in the decades since her death, reflecting the ways in which the image of the mathematician has frequently been constructed as heroic and masculine.

“Either On Account Of Sex Or Color”: Policing The Boundaries Of The Medical Profession During Reconstruction, Adam Lloyd-Jones , '22

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

In 1868, the American Medical Association (AMA) was asked to permit consultation with female physicians and admit them as delegates. In 1870, a delegation of Black doctors sought entrance to an Annual AMA meeting. The AMA refused entrance to both female and Black physicians. This paper argues that these meetings, and the question of inclusion for Black and female practitioners, arose out of the political climate that Reconstruction created. Expanding from previous scholarship, this paper further analyzes the role of Chicago doctor Nathan Smith Davis in the perpetuation of a white medical profession.

“The Music Did All The Talking:” Community, Resistance, And Improvisation In Louis Armstrong’S Cultural Diplomacy, Leo Posel , '22

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This paper examines the many meanings and implications of Louis Armstrong’s role in the Jazz Ambassadors program, and his tours of West and Central Africa in the 1950’s and 60’s. Specifically, I argue that musical evidence is crucially important in a comprehensive understanding of this program, as well as the politics of creating and consuming Black American music at this time. By relying on live recordings, documentary footage, and radio interviews as well as a rich historiography that relates this music with American Cold War culture, I demonstrate the underlying connections between Armstrong’s performances and American notions of race, diaspora, …

Confronting Colonial Violence: Pueblo Women Using Indigenous History For Community Activism And Healing, Sierra Mondragón , '21

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

Combining a critical dive into the archives of Indigenous history, a survey of Indigenous historiography, and recorded interviews with Pueblo women-led organizations Tewa Women United and Three Sisters Collective, this research focuses on how contemporary Pueblo Indigenous women use Indigenous models of history to confront ongoing forms of colonial violence. The programming and activist efforts of both organizations are highlighted for their ability to confront historical issues of sexual and physical violence, family disruption and trauma, and forced sterilization. The connections made between Indigenous history and the narratives of TWU and 3SC reveal successful models for how Indigenous history can …

Redefining Belonging: Memory And Place-Making For Peruvians Of Chinese And Japanese Descent In The 21st Century, Tiffany Wang , '21

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

The first arrival of Chinese migrants to Peru was documented over 170 years ago; today, third-, fourth-, and fifth-generation Peruvians of Chinese and Japanese descent have carved a space for themselves in Peruvian society, celebrating both their Peruvian identity and Chinese or Japanese heritage. My thesis discusses the process of identity formation among third- and fourth-generation Peruvians of Chinese and Japanese descent through retellings of family histories and personal experiences living in Peru and abroad. I center my work on seven people, three who speak to their Japanese heritage and four to their Chinese heritage. I think through how events …

Media’S Changing Perspective On Muhammad Ali’S Greatest Fight, Jason Meuth , '21

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

Muhammad Ali is best known as being a fighter who transcended the sport of boxing during his time in the ring, yet a pivotal moment in his life occurred outside the ring with his protest of the Vietnam War draft. Newspapers during the era of Vietnam were the primary form of media consumption and they possessed the power to influence how the American people perceived the events that surrounded the Vietnam War such as Muhammad Ali’s draft protest. The New York Times is one such newspaper that provided extensive coverage of Muhammad Ali and his draft protest allowing for an …

Soccer And Sectarianism: Derry City F.C. And Irish Nationalism, Sectarian Tension, And The Catholic Community, 1970-1985, Nick Hirschel-Burns , '21

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This paper explores the role of Derry City F.C. in the sectarian conflict of The Troubles in Northern Ireland from 1970 to 1985. The experiences of Derry City as a soccer team were deeply intertwined with the pervasive sectarianism of Northern Ireland; through its sporting ventures, Derry City provided space to dream of a better future for Catholic nationalists in Northern Ireland.

Land Of The (Un)Free: Slavery And Memory At The President’S House, Sophia Stills , '21

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

In 2002, historical research revealed that Philadelphia’s new Liberty Bell Pavilion was to be built at the former location of President George Washington’s Philadelphia home—a site where America’s first President held nine slaves in bondage through a legal loophole. A public controversy soon erupted over the paradoxical coexistence of liberty and slavery during America’s founding, the importance of recognizing slavery’s centrality in American history, and the inclusion of Black Americans within the country’s commemorative landscape. The controversy ultimately illustrates the contested nature of slavery’s legacy and the challenges inherent in public memory construction.

Rape-Revenge Films During The Antirape Movement: 1972-1988, Elisabeth Miller , '21

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This paper explores rape-revenge films released during the 1970s and 1980s, which coincided with the antirape movement, an extension of second-wave feminism that sought to bring attention to, and eliminate, rape from society. By analyzing how several films portray rape victims and their experiences with law enforcement, which I refer to as the woman-state axis, this paper shows how these films fail to reflect the feminist values of the time, and therefore cannot be classified as inherently feminist films.

Réforme, Religion, Et Républicanism? The “Three Rs” Of Education In Nineteenth-Century France, Emma Novak , '22

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

The French Third Republic under Minister of Education Jules Ferry used public education to breach the sociopolitical divide between urban and rural France at the tail end of the nineteenth century. Ferry’s calls for secularization, centralization, and “republicanization” were countered by the Catholic Church, local governments, and rural families.

Fascism, Traditionalism, And The Reconquista In Franco-Era Educational Materials, Cameron Johnson , '21

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

The authoritarian nationalist government of Francisco Franco aggressively pushed the idea that Spain was a unified nation and culture. However, Spanish culture has always been varied, and possesses a great deal of influence from peoples considered to be deeply and fundamentally different – in particular, North African, Arab, and Muslim cultures. This influence has a long history, though Spanish nationalists in particular were inclined to present it as a brief foreign incursion that was ended by the Reconquista, which restored Spain back to its natural state.

Similarly, the nationalist government itself possessed a significant variety of political thought, with a …

Philosophy : Algorithm :: Game : Sport: The Formation Of The Modern Nba From Sports Analytics Research, Lucas F. Katz , '21

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This paper focuses on the modern NBA as a sports institution and entertainment business that has become increasingly entrenched in sports analytics as a means to understand and improve the game of basketball. It examines broader questions of race, spectacle and media in American history.

Politeness, Self-Mastery, And The Shameful Sodomite: Disciplining Masculinity And Sexual Practice In Eighteenth-Century Britain, Jissel Becerra , '20

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This thesis sets out with the aim of making an intervention in the study of gender and sexuality in the eighteenth century by centering shame in the construction of polite masculinity and sodomy in eighteenth-century Britain. Utilizing key insights from Habermas’ idea of the ‘public sphere,’ and theories of gender and sexuality by Randolph Trumbach, this paper proposes that the figure of the fop and the sodomite, together, became shameful models in their lack of proper masculinity and ‘excess’ of vice. Through this analysis, this paper highlights how eighteenth-century emphasis on manners, politeness, and Protestant morality, and pubic virtue facilitated …

"To Make Their Bid For Democracy For All People Under All Circumstances…": The 1944 Philadelphia Transit Strike And New Deal Black Activism In World War 2, Joe Mariani , '20

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

No abstract provided.

Progressive Ambivalence: Upholding And Upending Tradition In Philadelphia’S First Public Bathhouse, Gabriel Hearn-Desautels , '20

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

Philadelphia’s first, charity-run public bathhouse was established in 1898 by the Public Baths Association of Philadelphia. By the turn of the century, bathing had become inexorably linked to a series of social beliefs, particularly regarding hygiene, morality, and domesticity. In this paper I examine the development of these beliefs and discuss the ways in which the PBA’s first bathhouse became a site in which they were simultaneously upheld and challenged. In doing so, I hope to shed light on the relatively ambivalent nature of bath reformers’ feelings toward the city’s poor.

The Morris Worm: Cyber Security, Viral Contagions, And National Sovereignty, Roman Shemakov , '20

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This paper analyzes the history of cybercrime rhetoric through the 1989 hacking of the earliest internet network, ARPANET. The event is useful for understanding how contagion rhetoric of the computer science professionals imprints onto the public consciousness, security agencies, and legal institutions. By drawing on notes from the meetings of the National Computer Security Center, Congressional Hearings, Court Cases, and National Legislation in the aftermath of the Morris Worm, the author explores how contagion discourse constructs protectorate institutions in its image. From the birth of the computing industry in World War II, to the Computer Eradication Act of 1989, this …

L’Affaire D’Antoine: Colonial Tensions Of Freedom And Power, Marisa Mancini , '20

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

In 1774, living in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, Antoine bought his freedom from the Gentil de Paroy, only to be arrested by his former master two years later and accused of using poison. With his mother, Lisette, a free woman of color, advocating for him, the local courts in Le Cap Français found Antoine innocent of the alleged crime and upheld his freedom only for this freedom to be revoked by the French monarchy. Situating Antoine’s case into the history of Saint-Domingue highlights the social and political contradictions surrounding citizenship and sovereignty that were inherent to colonial society in …

Una Iglesia Desaparecida: The End Of An Era For The Chilean Catholic Church, September S. Porras , '20

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This article aims to investigate the changing political alignment of the Chilean Catholic Church following the fall of the dictatorship in the early 1990’s. The author brings together a primary source collection of of new articles, photographs, and interviews, as well as a secondary source collection of sociological surveys and historiography, to interrogate the process and outcome of this political transition. The article maintains that desires for hierarchical control and a rejection of past, progressive theology motivated Church leaders to transition the Church away from community based leadership, to clerical control.

If We Must Die: Armed Self-Defense During The Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1967, Martin Palomo , '19

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This paper looks over the Civil Rights Movement between 1954 and 1967 and analyzes the role that armed self-defense played during this period. By looking at the violence that erupted following the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court Case, it becomes evident that African Americans, both men and women, used arms to protect their communities while simultaneously challenging Jim Crow through nonviolent civil disobedience. By the mid-1960s, armed self-defense groups, which had typically been small and informal, began to evolve into more organized paramilitary groups that defended nonviolent protesters and openly challenged white violence.

Regulating Paradise: Following The Changing Culture Of Smoking In Buenos Aires, 2003-2018, Naomi Caldwell , '19

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This paper examines the rapid change in smoking culture in Buenos Aires, from celebrated to medicalized, following the ratification of the World Health Organization’s treaty for tobacco control in 2003. It attempts to use the cigarette to pen the narrative of how cultural habits, sociability, and expressions of national and individual identity are transformed and regulated by both global and local actors, to evaluate how the global tobacco agenda has been translated to the local realities of Buenos Aires.

Political Goals: Soccer As A Language Of Politics In Kenya, Dan Siegelman , '19

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

Soccer is Kenya’s most popular sport, watched by almost every Kenyan. Soccer has a long history in Kenya, beginning with its introduction in the colonial period, when it was used by British colonists as a way to teach Kenyans European morals and values. In the postcolonial period, football was a similar political tool for Kenyan nationalist leaders, who built a sense of Kenyan identity on the back of the national team. But the Kenyan team has largely failed to produce results based on its level of support. Faced with political challenges like corruption and the persecution of dissidents, soccer has …

No Last Words: Class, Cultural Production, And The Black Radical Tradition In The Pre-Classical Civil Rights Movement, 1909–1948, Anna Livia W. Y. B. Chen , '18

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This paper argues that the strategic shape of the 1954–1965 classical civil rights movement was neither inevitable nor a simple progression of American values, but was the result of extensive ideological contestation during the pre-classical civil rights movement. Between the inflection points of 1929 and 1948, two ideologies, one rooted in Progressive Era racial stewardship and the other in the Black Radical Tradition, engaged in a Gramscian “war of position” for leadership of their coalition against white supremacy. An important tool in this Pre-Classical War of Position was cultural production.“

Crossing The Century: Cross-Dressing In Turn-Of-The-Twentieth-Century San Francisco, Alexander Jin , '19

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This paper explores cross-dressing in the San Francisco Bay Area at the turn-of-the- twentieth-century (c.1890-1910) and narrates the extraordinary lives of Edward James Livernash and Milton Matson, two individuals who were arrested on cross-dressing related charges in 1891 and 1895/1903 respectively. I attempt to show how the criminalization of cross-dressing was closely intertwined with the rise of modern sexuality, arguing that anti-cross-dressing laws operationalized the policing of bodies, the creation and maintenance of (fictionalized) fixed identities vis-à-vis binaries, and the reassertion of male power. I further argue that these shifts in how the state defined and regulated bodies demonstrates one …

The Women Of Father Knows Best, The Andy Griffith Show, And Julia, Elizabeth Curcio , '19

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

Father Know Best, The Andy Griffith Show, and Julia enforced traditional gender roles through their depiction of women as a mother, wife or an object to admire. Focusing on the themes of motherhood, women’s roles in society, women in the professional world and portrayal of race within the episodes, this paper discusses how the shows limited women’s roles on television to traditional gender norms of women as domestic beings.

Agent Provocateurs Invade The Cottages: An Examination Of Norms, Space And The Consequences Of Policing Practices In 20th Century London, Marit Vike , '19

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This essay examines the relationship between the police, the public, and those who engaged in homosexual practices in the nineteenth century in London. By specifically looking at a case study of the agent provocateurs in London’s public urinals using newspapers, individual confessions, and public committee reports, this essay attempts to show how this space battle to regulate public space can be an example for how the broader regulation of sexual deviancy has been exercised. I contend that the fact that the compromising methods of agent provocateurs in the twentieth century provoked counter investigations and public backlash, demonstrates how increased efforts …