Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Representing The Ali'i And Monarchy: Dress, Diplomacy, And Featherwork In Hawai'i, Tess Anderson

Scripps Senior Theses

When Native Hawaiians and haole (foreigners) first met, both participants belonged to fashion systems unknown to the other, composed of different materials, styles, tastes, standards, and construction techniques. As the outside world was introduced to the cultural heritage of Hawaiian hulu manu (featherwork), kūkaulani (chiefly fashion), and European skewed conceptions of Hawaiian indigeneity; the ali‘i (chiefs) and kama‘āina (commoners) received and adapted to incoming materials, technologies, and information. When these encounters transitioned into “prolonged contact” and settlement, dress and adornment proliferated in new ways. Analyzing the case studies of historic pā‘ū, holokū, ‘ahu'ula, and military uniforms shows the significance of …

Empire And Ruins In Nineteenth-Century Egypt, Adin Becker

Pomona Senior Theses

Modern Egypt began as a site for academic exploration and exploitation. Its tremendous archeological riches, indisputable centrality within the world of Islam, and complex multifaceted cultural makeup have piqued the interests of academics worldwide. For centuries, scholars have fantasized about “what lay beyond the water,” a land where they knew “colossal relics of the oldest-known human civilization were concentrated along the Nile in crumbling piles between two vast, usurping deserts, amidst a modern population that professed faith in Islam.”1 Absent material motives, however, Egypt long remained a land of mystery for the West, ripe for discovery and exploration. Egypt’s obscurity …

Symmetry And Measuring: Ways To Teach The Foundations Of Mathematics Inspired By Yupiaq Elders, Jerry Lipka, Barbara Adams, Monica Wong, David Koester, Karen Francois

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Evident in human prehistory and across immense cultural variation in human activities, symmetry has been perceived and utilized as an integrative and guiding principle. In our long-term collaborative work with Indigenous Knowledge holders, particularly Yupiaq Eskimos of Alaska and Carolinian Islanders in Micronesia, we were struck by the centrality of symmetry and measuring as a comparison-of-quantities, and the practical and conceptual role of qukaq [center] and ayagneq [a place to begin]. They applied fundamental mathematical principles associated with symmetry and measuring in their everyday activities and in making artifacts. Inspired by their example, this paper explores the question: Could symmetry …

Old Masterpieces, New Mistress-Pieces: Cindy Sherman's Reinterpretations Of Renaissance Portraits Of Women, Caitlyn D. Marianacci

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis examines a selection of eight photographs in the History Portraits series by American photographer, Cindy Sherman, produced from 1989 to 1990. The photographs are based on Renaissance paintings of biblical and secular women painted by old master artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, and Raphael. Sherman focused on the female types of Biblical mother and femme fatale, as well as wives and models. These types are defined in their relation to men and are depicted by men. In Sherman’s reinterpretations of their portraits, she retells the stories of these women in ways that reaffirm their independence …

Listening To The Quiet Revolution: The Implications Of Voluntary Simplicity For A Sustainable Society, Katherine M. Barton

Pomona Senior Theses

This thesis assesses the viability of voluntary simplicity as part of the solution to the material culture that is pushing the planet beyond its carrying capacity without making us happier. Voluntary simplicity is a philosophy and way of life that emphasizes material simplicity, do-it-yourself projects, personal fulfillment, small-scale systems, and spending less time working. Described as “the quiet revolution” and “a life that is outwardly more simple and inwardly more rich,” voluntary simplicity is at once mainstream and countercultural. Voluntary simplifiers are mainly white, middle class, and well educated, and they come from all types of communities all over the …

Structurally Cosmic Apostasy: The Atheist Occult World Of H.P. Lovecraft, Brian J. Reis

LUX: A Journal of Transdisciplinary Writing and Research from Claremont Graduate University

The conflict between materialism and spiritualism has a long and sordid philosophical history. Both schools of thought attempted to address the problems of the unknown through varying methods. There are two figures, who i their own ways, one subtle ad the other not so subtle rejected both means. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky sought to counter Spiritualist claims by venturing into her own occult philosophy—Theosophy—seeking to uncover spiritual truths, debunking religious traditions as well as seeking to undermine scientific materialism that had begun to sweep the intellectual life of the 19^th century. To do so, she claimed to have translated an …

Collections Containing Articles On Presocratic Philosophy, Richard D. Mckirahan

Pomona Faculty Publications and Research

This catalogue is divided into two parts. Part 1 (pages 1-5) presents basic bibliographical information on books and journal issues that consist exclusively or in large part in papers devoted to the Presocratics and the Sophists. Part 2 (pages 6-42) lists the papers on Presocratic and Sophistic topics found in the volumes, providing name of author, title, and page numbers, and in the case of reprinted papers, the year of original publication. In some cases Part 2 lists the complete contents of volumes, not only the Presocratic and Sophistic-related papers.

Annual updates are submitted as additional files below.

New Media, An Academic Perspective, Dashiel D. Escrofani

CMC Senior Theses

This Senior Thesis is intended to provide a new perspective about New Media as its own medium and discuss the implications of having one world-wide medium by which to communicate with others.

Island Inquiries: Nature, Culture And Environmental Management, Leah Plaisier Mortensen

Scripps Senior Theses

I looked at the restoration of Santa Cruz Island National Park to examine the interconnected relationship between nature and culture in the United States. I conducted literature research on the changes in conceptual construction and environmental policy, and grounded my analysis in interviews I conducted with National Park Employees involved in the Primary Restoration Plan. Through the language of their responses, I analyzed how specific words, process and possibility, affect the restoration and consequently our concept of nature.

Demon At The Doorstep: Lilith As A Reflection Of Anxieties And Desires In Ancient, Rabbinic, And Medieval Jewish Sexuality, Lauren Kinrich

Pomona Senior Theses

No demon has gained as much notoriety, recognition, or infamy in Jewish culture at the she-demon Lilith. Tracing her origins back to similarly-named demonesses in Ancient Sumeria, Babylonia, and Canaan, Lilith developed throughout Jewish history into a fully-realized seductress, succubus, murderer, and tormenter of men, women, and children. A well-known demoness during the ancient, rabbinic, medieval, and, to some extent, modern periods of Judaism, Lilith was associated with multiple ills of the sexual sphere including masturbation (or onanism, so named for the biblical figure Onan who “spilled his seed on the ground”), adultery, nocturnal emissions, impure thoughts, and bastard children. …

The Ascension Of Yahweh: The Origins And Development Of Israelite Monotheism From The Afrasan To Josiah, Andrew Halladay

Pomona Senior Theses

INTRODUCTION: THE SEARCH FOR THE GOD OF ABRAHAM TEXT AND HISTORY: THE FORMATION OF THE ABRAHAMIC DEITY Recent years have seen substantial changes in the study of ancient Israelite religion. These changes have created ample work for scholars of religious studies and related fields as virtually all disciplines have something to say about recent archaeological and scholarly developments concerning Yahwism and its early development. In this scholarly milieu, it is difficult to present anything that is wholly new, but certainly possible to enter a spirited discourse about ancient questions. To discuss the origins and evolution of the Abrahamic deity—as I …

History At The Madrasas, Nita Kumar

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

Madrasas: In the archival records of the British colonial state, as well as in the private records of members of the Indian intelligentsia, the indigenous school of North India is referred to by the generic term 'madrasa'. There is no exclusive implication of this institution as Islamic. This is close to the literal meaning of 'madrasa' which is 'the place of dars': dars being teaching, instruction, a lesson, or lecture.

X-Ray Rock Art Of Australia And Southeast Asia, Paul Faulstich

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

Throughout the world, cultures have expressed social, economic, and religious concerns through art. As the oldest surviving artistic form, rock art illustrates mankind's continuing effort to understand his place in the material and immaterial worlds. The study of rock art can lend an important insight into prehistory, as it provides the earliest illustration of beliefs, technologies, and activities.