Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The "Indian" Alexander: Reworking Nationalism, Myth, And Sikandar, John Sexton

Madison Historical Review

This article seeks to expand scholarly inquiry regarding the Alexander Romance into twentieth century India and away the Near East of Antiquity and the Europe of the Middle Ages where it is usually confined. In particular this article will discuss the Alexander Romance’s impact upon and connection with the modern invention of the cinema. Besides the usual cinematic culprit of analysis, Oliver Stone's Alexander (2004), there is another less-discussed cinematic work regarding Alexander the Great. That being Sohrab Modi's Hindustani historical epic Sikandar (1941) from British colonial India. Regarding the Macedonian conqueror and his reputation among Indian scholars such as …

Considering The “Special Considerations”: The Treatment Of Female Inmates In The People’S Republic Of China Since 1994, Niklas Berry

Madison Historical Review

The purpose of this paper is to historicize contemporary gendered legal practices in the People’s Republic of China and to demonstrate that, despite rhetoric to the contrary, paternalistic assumptions rooted in Confucianism still inform the treatment of female prisoners today. Though China underwent massive political and economic shifts after the formation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 and the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, certain longstanding societal principles were preserved in modern China, including long-held paternalistic stereotypes about the physical and mental fragility of women. These precepts undergirded the PRC’s reforms of its judicial and criminal systems …

Toros, Moros, And Empire: The Sixteenth-Century Spanish Bullfight, David A. Gonzalez

Madison Historical Review

Toros, Moros, and Empire: The Sixteenth-Century Spanish Bullfight

By David A. González-2023

Relying on the methodological tools provided by New Historicism and Critical Race Theory, this paper evaluates the primary texts of Franciscan minor Francisco de Alcocer’s Tratado del Juego (1559) and the Spanish aristocrat Luis Zapata de Chaves’ Carlo Famoso (1566) and Varia Historia: Miscelania (c. 1595) to assess the extent of non-Europeans’ role and impact on the development of the early modern bullfight. These texts highlight the conflicting views over the bullfight’s European legitimacy. As such, they shed light on the larger debates between church and aristocracy over …

Fighting For The Franchise: African American Disfranchisement In Charlottesville, Virginia, Thomas R. Seabrook

Madison Historical Review

Around the turn of the twentieth century, white Southerners crossed the political aisle to disfranchise African American voters through a series of legislation at the state level. Though African Americans resisted these efforts to strip them of their citizenship rights, many historians believe that African Americans had been practically shut out of politics by 1900. Disfranchisement did not mean that African Americans stopped asserting their constitutional rights, however, as historians who trace African American organization and resistance have shown. In this article, I examine the response of African Americans in Charlottesville, Virginia, to disfranchisement and I consider the effect disfranchisement …

Is Humanitarian Aid Neutral? The American Ambulance Field Service And The American Red Cross, Laura Neis

Madison Historical Review

The United States did not outwardly join WWI until April of 1917. However, in the nearly three years in which the U.S. was neutral, they provided medical support to the suffering. This act has been dismissed as humanitarian charity work, and therefore not breaking with neutrality agreements, but it was actually a hotly contested act of foreign policy, and different propaganda campaigns were used to change the minds of American citizens.

Two different groups of medical volunteers show how humanitarian aid shapes perspectives on war. The American Ambulance Field Service drove ambulances for the French army on the front line, …

The Necessary Bargain: How Texas Education Utilized President Johnson’S Elementary And Secondary Education Act, 1965-1970, Kade L. Kahanek

Madison Historical Review

President Lyndon Johnson announced his “War on Poverty” campaign at the State of the Union Address in January 1964. Johnson’s address acknowledged that United States citizens suffered from poverty in many regions and enclosed a plan to relieve poverty in America. President Johnson’s administration administered “Great Society” programs under education, healthcare, and the job corps to help ease the burdening symptoms of poverty. It has been long debated whether Johnson’s policies to improve America’s society have succeeded, but many fail to recognize that his education plan was the centerpiece and perhaps not an instant cure to poverty; instead, something concrete …

Republican Manhood And The Disabled Revolutionary War Veteran In The Early American Republic, 1789 – 1797, Virgil Clark

Madison Historical Review

In the aftermath of the American Revolutionary War, several Disabled Continental Army soldiers scattered across the burgeoning Republic were driven by desperation to write letters, pleading with General George Washington for his support. The soldiers’ decision to draft these letters stemmed from their profound frustration and disillusionment with the post-Revolution American state. The soldiers' discontent resulted from the sense of neglect they experienced after the state rejected their petitions for a Disabled Veteran’s pension. As time passed and rent went unpaid, medical bills piled up, and the threat of vagrancy loomed over these men like a malevolent specter. Unable to …

Letter From The Editor, Kevin Johnson

Madison Historical Review

No abstract provided.

Mhr Volume 21 Full Issue

Madison Historical Review

No abstract provided.

A Comparative Analysis Of Henry Fuseli's Nibelungen Series And Drawings Of Courtesans, Kathryn Long

James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ)

In a series of drawings completed in 1805, artist Henry Fuseli illustrated Kriemhild, the female protagonist of the medieval German epic The Niebelungenlied. Around the same time period, Fuseli was also creating highly sexualized illustrations of courtesans. While other scholars have proposed that Fuseli’s sketches of courtesans show that he held a positive view of women, this essay compares his images of Kriemhild and courtesans to suggest that Fuseli saw Kriemhild a symbol of righteous fury, loyalty and justice, and as a moral opposite to contemporary sex workers. Fuseli’s idealization of Kriemhild combined with his posthumously published lectures reveal …

Milton's "Lycidas": Elevating The Human Condition, Haylee Edwards

James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ)

John Milton’s 1637 poem “Lycidas” is a pastoral elegy told from the point of view of a shepherd grieving the loss of his friend, Lycidas. Written in honor of Milton’s late classmate, Edward King, “Lycidas” is a Christian allegory. This essay situates “Lycidas” within the history and characteristics of the pastoral elegy before analyzing how the poem at once inhabits and progressively deviates from the traditional form. Milton combines the traditional pastoral form with Elizabethan ideals and imagery to affirm his own religious, political, and existential views about death and the afterlife. The poem becomes increasingly complex, increasingly modern, and …

Tracing The Impact Of Migration In Bangladesh: From Partition To The Pandemic, Sabrin Sarwar

International Journal on Responsibility

The challenge of migration has been multidimensional, with ramifications that range from economic, social, cultural, and even psychological. People have suffered deep trauma, which is reflected through their experiences of homelessness, the act of leaving their homeland or known habitat behind and being forced to travel due to societal pressure. This paper attempts to study migration-based literature and films with a special focus on two films from Bangladesh, Chitra Nodir Pare (Quite flows the River Chitra) and Maati (Back to its Roots). The first part of the paper examines how partition affected the subcontinent and caused trauma to multiple people …

Journey, Movement, Affect And Rhythm: Migration Through North Indian Folk Songs, Sangeeta Gupta, Shambhavi Gupta

International Journal on Responsibility

This paper captures the lived experiences and affect associated with migration, through the folk songs of North India. While migration is usually studied as a larger demographic movement involving temporary or permanent displacement and departure, our project captures the pain and apprehension it entails. We have tried to retrieve the vital connection between gender and migration through an analysis of folk songs about the experiences of women. These songs passed down as a part of the oral tradition, articulate how a woman engages and interacts with migration – both due to her marriage and also when her husband leaves home …

Mapping Ecological Footprints Of Migrants: A Gandhian Perspective, Pooja Sharma, Nav Jadon

International Journal on Responsibility

Amid the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, migrants have suffered immensely not only across nations but also within the countries. Migration has been an inevitable phenomenon with the onset of globalization. With the commencement of globalization, humans are driven towards more and more consumerism. Thus, increasing levels of consumption have set further pressure on the limited resources in nature. On one hand, it is not ethically viable to cease migration, while on the other hand, while following their dreams or due to unavoidable circumstances, this international and inter-regional mobility results in a high level of consumption. The paper attempts to …

Emerging As A Scholar-Advocate Amid The Covid-19 Pandemic, Isabelle Hoagland

International Journal on Responsibility

No abstract provided.

Hierarchy Of Life: Whose Lives Do We Value?, Jessica Wiggins

International Journal on Responsibility

COVID-19 has heightened already existing health disparities amongst marginalized communities within the United States. In crisis, whose lives do healthcare systems value most and how are these decisions rooted in ableism and racism? Who is responsible for these inequities and in what ways? This multimedia presentation and companion paper explore these important questions.

Sickening Responsibility- Thoughts On Care Work From A Chronically Ill Scholar Activist, Samuel Z. Shelton

International Journal on Responsibility

What does it mean to focus practices of responsibility around sick/unwellness during pandemic times? Using a disability justice framework and drawing from my experiences as a chronically ill / sick person, in this article, I argue that responsibility takes on different meanings when examined through a critical framework that recognizes sickness as an ordinary aspect of life under interlocking systems of power, such as capitalism, White supremacy, ableism/sanism, and cisheteropatriarchy. In particular, I contend that beginning conversations about responsibility from the assumption of sickness - that everyone either sick or has the potential to become sick and that sick people …

About The Authors

Madison Historical Review

No abstract provided.

The Guangzhou Abolition Of Prostitution Movement And Thought In The Republic Of China From The 1920s To 1930s, Rui Li

Madison Historical Review

The 1920s and 1930s were the peaks of the abolition of the prostitution movement in Guangzhou during the Chinese Republican era. This paper will analyze articles from different sources of mass media and administrative reports of municipal government to restore public opinion and even specific measures to abolish prostitution in Guangzhou at that time. At the same time, the public opinion generated by different intellectuals and the actions taken by the Guangzhou city government to abolish prostitution is used to discuss the certainty of the existence of prostitution and the difficulties that would be encountered in abolishing it. In turn, …

Black Power & The Slave Trade: How The Memory Of Slavery Disrupted White Supremacy, 1959-1989, Melanie R. Holmes

Madison Historical Review

Memory is a useful methodology when studying how historical events are currently remembered. Not often has the methodology been applied to the Black Power Movement. However, the public memory of slavery was deeply rooted in the Black Power Movement beginning in the United States and throughout the African diaspora. This paper demonstrates slavery as the root public memory which energized the spirit of resistance within the Black Power Movement. Beginning with the unprecedented work of Pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey and his organization, the Universal Negro Improvement Association, this research takes a chronological journey through the lineage of Black Power leaders Garvey …

"Out Of Sheer Love"? The Abolition Of Widow-Burning In British India, Mihow Mckenny

Madison Historical Review

In this article, I provide a new interpretation on the abolition of widow-burning in British India, focusing on the interplay between local opinion, administrative priorities, and British officials' cultural and religious views.

Savages And Sable Subjects: White Fear, Racism, And The Demonization Of Creole Voodoo In New Orleans In The 19th Century, Christopher L. Newman

Madison Historical Review

Prior to the Haitian Revolution, the religion of Voodoo maintained a safe and uninterrupted presence in New Orleans. Practiced by free and enslaved Blacks, Voodoo thrived within the larger Creole culture of the Louisiana territory. However, after the rebellion, white slaveholders in New Orleans would come to regard Voodoo as an evil, savage superstition related to Haitian Vodou. The demonizing of New Orleans Voodoo would emerge from white slaveholders’ fears of slave uprisings inspired by the Haitian Revolution and a migration of Haitian rebels into New Orleans. Yet theological objections were not the primary impetus for white aggressions toward Creole …

Demons In The City Of Angeles: Gay Neo-Nazis In Southern California, Emma Bianco

Madison Historical Review

This article explores the perplexing history of self-proclaimed “Aryan homophiles:” the National Socialist League of Los Angeles. A neo-Nazi group made up of exclusively gay men, this organization’s reign from the 1970s to mid-1980s offers an atypical perspective into Southern California’s racial and political settings. Garnered from the ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, this story showcases how far from utilizing a “paranoid style,” the NSL’s brand of hate did not stray too far from that already clearly established in the mainstream environment. The NSL forces us to challenge our preconceptions about what makes up the “typical” racial extremist.

Intelligence Operations Conducted On Martin Luther King Jr. And His Loose Morals: The Changing Motivations For His Surveillance, Haley D. North Ms.

Madison Historical Review

The United States intelligence community took great pride in producing insightful intelligence for the protection of threats to their nation and its citizens. However, the government's intentions for surveillance under their administrations can be questioned when analyzing the individual governmental agendas for conducting surveillance against American citizens. One American consecutive administration targeted in particular was Martin Luther King Jr. Throughout Marin Luther King Jr.’s public career there was a constant effort on the part of the government to conduct surveillance of his every move. The National Security Agency’s (NSA) justification under project MINARET for the surveillance of King was claimed …

"'Joo Wa Dare?' Who Is The Queen?" Queen Contests During The Wartime Incarceration Of Japanese Americans, Bailey Irene Midori Hoy

Madison Historical Review

This paper examines beauty pageants held at incarceration centers during the Japanese-American internment. Although there has been literature created on beauty pageants before and after WWII, there is very little information on these war-era pageants, despite their prolific nature. Using mostly primary sources and material culture, the paper examines the coverage of the contestants, clothing, and presentation within the Center’s newspapers and in coverage by the Wartime Relocation Authority, whilst also problematizing uncritical readings of these documents. This paper highlights the difficulty in determining agency within spaces of incarceration, and calls for further research on the subject.

Letter From The Editor

Madison Historical Review

No abstract provided.

Mhr Volume 20 Full Issue

Madison Historical Review

No abstract provided.

Polished Memories: Zhang Xiaogang’S Bloodline: Big Family No. 3 And The Ideal Family Of The Cultural Revolution, Abby Wiggins

James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ)

Zhang Xiaogang’s series of paintings, Bloodline, is a strange, surreal, and haunting collection of family portraits. As a Chinese artist who was young during the Cultural Revolution of the 60s and 70s, Zhang has a complicated relationship with his own national history. The paintings of Bloodline are not photorealistic portraits; rather, they are constructions coming from within his mind, returning to these memories and feelings decades later. This essay examines Big Family No. 3, a painting for this series done in 1995, exploring the influences and processes that contributed to its creation. It argues that this work in …

White Supremacy And The Major Scale: Reframing Narratives To Teach The Blues, Improvise, And Check In With Students, John B. Bass Iii

Research & Issues in Music Education

Increasing diversity and equity in secondary and college music programs is a common thread in the scholarship across disciplines in the field. While crucial work is being done to decolonize curricula broadly, students often express difficulty relating to formal music study and teachers struggle to balance desires to diversify repertoire and incorporate alternative pedagogical strategies with their own training. Narratives of white supremacy and music have intersected for over 400 years, but the effect goes beyond the composers and pieces we choose to program or teach. It influences foundational concepts of theory, tuning, and even what notes are (the major …

Notes From The Editor

Research & Issues in Music Education

No abstract provided.