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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
“Mecca For The Colored People”: Reexamining The Demolition Of Pittsburgh’S Lower Hill District, Avishek Acharya
“Mecca For The Colored People”: Reexamining The Demolition Of Pittsburgh’S Lower Hill District, Avishek Acharya
Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium
The Hill District of Pittsburgh is a neighborhood of national importance, having hosted jazz legends, nationally renowned newspapers, and artists. However, the Hill of today is much smaller than it has ever been; the destruction of the Lower Hill effectively separated the neighborhood from not only another part of the previously collectively one singular neighborhood but separated the neighborhood and its residents from the economic hubs in both down and uptown. The wholesale destruction of the Lower Hill District can be attributed to both the national trend of “urban renewal,” a series of misguided, often explicitly racist attempts to undo …
“Madam” Elizabeth: Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley’S Sisyphean Attempt To Join The “Cult Of True Womanhood”, Bella Biancone
“Madam” Elizabeth: Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley’S Sisyphean Attempt To Join The “Cult Of True Womanhood”, Bella Biancone
Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium
Nineteenth century notions of femininity and etiquette were governed by strict societal standards. “True Womanhood” was defined by four fundamental virtues– piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity. However, there was another pre-requisite for joining this revered cult¬: whiteness. No matter how pious or domestic a woman of color was, she could never hope to be considered a proper lady by Victorian standards. In discerning what it meant to be a member of that “cult of True Womanhood,” Black women were used to determine the boundaries of white womanhood; a “True Woman” was to be the antithesis of the stereotypical sexual and …
Ja Rusyn Byl (I Am Rusyn): Household Folk Music As Resistance To Oppression, Spencer Mcneill
Ja Rusyn Byl (I Am Rusyn): Household Folk Music As Resistance To Oppression, Spencer Mcneill
Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium
The Rusyns are a people indigenous to the Carpathian Mountains and its surrounding areas. Despite attempts by the Ukrainian government and surrounding nations to silently erase Rusyn culture from history, the Rusyn people have a distinct identity independent from that of any bordering nation. This unique identity is best outlined through Rusyn folk songs which depict pastoral images of the Carpathian homeland and patriotic tales of Rusyn ancestry. Much work to date has already been done documenting post Velvet Revolution revival of Rusyn culture. Because of this, I will instead focus on the lesser-known time prior and leading up to …
Interracial Relations: History And Cultural Identity In The Invention Of Wings, Taylor Hopkins
Interracial Relations: History And Cultural Identity In The Invention Of Wings, Taylor Hopkins
Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium
The historical fiction novel The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd displays a notable relationship between feminist and racial ideals during the nineteenth century. The story is based on the historical figure, Sarah Grimké, an American abolitionist and advocate for women’s rights. Over the course of thirty-five years, the narration alternates between the two main characters: Sarah Grimké and Hetty Handful Grimké, a young slave on the Grimké plantation. The interactions between the two begin when Hetty is presented to Sarah as a personal waiting maid for Sarah’s eleventh birthday. As the story continues, the dynamics between the two …
Songs Of The Sea And The Sailor: Demystifying The Mythology Of British Sailing Culture, Henry Strobel
Songs Of The Sea And The Sailor: Demystifying The Mythology Of British Sailing Culture, Henry Strobel
Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium
Sea shanties have generally been accepted as the main relic of the culture of British sailors: a mythology that permeates the 19th and 20th century describing the harsh, unforgiving and yet in many ways romanticized life at sea. The repertoire of this time was eventually written down and catalogued by folk music collectors such as Cecil J. Sharp, who were hoping to record and preserve the British identity for generations to come. However, in researching the etymology of these songs as well as the first-hand accounts of sailors, there is a significantly greater layer of complexity to this history than …
Mary Todd Lincoln: Duty And Depression, Bella Biancone
Mary Todd Lincoln: Duty And Depression, Bella Biancone
Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium
First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln was perceived by Victorian America as materialistic and unbalanced. Behind the closed doors of the Executive Mansion, however, lie a grief-stricken mother struggling to manage an undiagnosed and untreated mental illness. Her fragile condition was exacerbated with each death of her beloved family. Yet, this First Lady played an integral role in the White House, acting as hostess, advisor to the President, and activist in her own right. She was not a passive bystander as her husband worked tirelessly to preserve the Union, but an active participant in the war effort. Following Abraham Lincoln’s premature …
Female Roles In Antiquity: The Dichotomy Between The Stage And The Page, Bella Biancone
Female Roles In Antiquity: The Dichotomy Between The Stage And The Page, Bella Biancone
Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium
The women portrayed in Greek drama were often strong, courageous, and integral to the storyline. In contrast to their real-life counterparts (who may have not even been allowed to see the plays), these women stood out as individuals in their respective stories. They are bold, dynamic, intelligent and respected. They are meant to be seen and heard. Women in drama emerge as heroines of their own stories and serve to educate the audience on some aspect of women in Greece. On other hand, the women of Homeric epics tended to be subdued and traditional; they are background characters, merely present …
A Culture On A Loop: Baltimore, Josh Schmader
A Culture On A Loop: Baltimore, Josh Schmader
Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium
Police brutality has been at the fore front of American consciousness for almost a decade now. Numerous African Americans all over the country, both male and female, have lost their lives in situations where that end result was not justified. In response to each of these individual tragic events, peaceful protests rose up to demand for justice. After the death of Freddie Gray in April of 2015, however, Baltimore had a more aggressive response to the loss of one of their native sons. An initial peaceful protest turned into riot that raged through the streets of Baltimore for a series …
Women In The Late Nineteenth Century: Involvement In The 1893 Chicago World’S Fair, Maria Miller
Women In The Late Nineteenth Century: Involvement In The 1893 Chicago World’S Fair, Maria Miller
Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium
The Columbian Exposition of 1893, also known as the Chicago World’s Fair, was a clear example of the women’s rights movement in nineteenth century America. It exemplified the inclusion of women in male-dominated fields by establishing a Board of Lady Managers. This group of women held executive authorities over the establishment of a Woman’s Building. The Woman’s Building was a space dedicated to displaying the achievements of women throughout the world. This Building also gave female visitors hope for a future of expanded rights. Despite this, the Woman’s Building isolated women’s work into a distinct section within the Exposition. The …
The Redevelopment Of Brownsville, Tiffany Kent
The Redevelopment Of Brownsville, Tiffany Kent
Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium
Brownsville, a small town located in Southwestern Pennsylvania, witnessed its population decrease by 65% from 1940 to 2000, which has caused financial downfall culminating in town council members begging the town’s electricity provider not to turn off power to the streetlights in 2007. How did a town that held historical significance during events such as Lewis and Clark’s exploration, the French and Indian War, and the Underground Railroad decline so rapidly? Brownsville seems to be suffering from major deterioration largely because of the deindustrialization of the rust belt and the events leading up to it. The severity of Brownsville’s decline …