Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Inclusion And Hegemony: Reading Salmān Al-Fārisī'S Conversion Story, Stacey Zhang

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

In the otherwise expansive medieval Arabic literature, the scarcity of information concerning the conversion process of the early Islamic community piques interest in the handful of existing conversion narratives.One particular narrative that stands out is the conversion story of Salmān al-Farisi, recounting his transformation from a devout Zoroastrian to a dedicated companion of Prophet Muhammad. In the compilation of stories of Salmān al-Farisi by Louis Massignon named "Khabar Salmān," the persistence of many plot elements across different accounts of the story suggests a deliberate process of repetition and canonization. Recognizing the Salmān al-Farisi story as a site of memory, curation, …

A Market For Plenty: Immigrants And The Making Of The Fulton Fish Market, Alison Y. Zhang

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

Founded in the early nineteenth century at the southern seaport of Manhattan, New York, the Fulton Fish Market was, and remains, one of the largest seafood markets in the world. At its heart was a workforce capable of moving hundreds of millions of pounds of fish a year, that endured public suspicion and resisted activist reform, and which ultimately shaped the palate of not only New York City, but America as a country—a workforce that was, in its formative decades, predominantly immigrants. This article builds on pre-existing general scholarship regarding the Fulton Fish Market and introduces perspectives found in contemporary …

The Battle Over Memory: The Contestations Of Public And Familial Narratives In Remembering 9/11, Cheng-Yen Wu

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

On September 11, 2001, the four plane crashes marked the three sites of trauma that, to this day, sit in the heart of United States history. The paper examines the contested and often conflicting public and familial narratives at sites of memory and the recurring themes behind commemoration narratives. Drawing on newsletter articles and seven interviews with members of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows and The Peace Abbey, the paper concludes that national and public remembrances of 9/11 adopted a top-down approach that has repressed familial remembrances in three main ways: by glorifying the victims, co-opting the version told …

Rider Of The Black Horse, Theodore Schenck

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

This article explores the actions and ideology of the Russian revolutionary and terrorist Boris Savinkov through his final novel, The Black Horse. I argue that the book represents its author's attempt to come to terms with a world in which he feels politically homeless with the victory of his enemy, the Bolsheviks. Savinkov reckons with his fate through the liberal use of Biblical allusions and apocalyptic imagery.

“Into The Sea Of Forgetfulness”: An Analysis Of Anna Komnene’S Alexiad In Relation To The First Crusade, Breya D. Scarlett

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

Anna Komnene’s account of the First Crusade in her work The Alexiad provides invaluable insight into the Byzantine perspective of this pivotal event defining the 11th century. While shunned in a monastery, she wrote her celebrated work known as The Alexiad. Anna’s primary motivation for writing the biography stems from her desire to emphasize the accomplishments of her father, especially in regards to protecting the Byzantine Empire against invaders, both Latin and Turkish. For Anna, the crusade functions as a Western pretext for taking land away from the Byzantines. Comparing specific sieges in the First Crusade to their Latin …

Heroes, Victims, And Future Citizens: Representations Of French Children During World War I, Megan R. Outtrim

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

The effects of total war society in France during WWI dramatically altered the daily lives of both adults and children, witnessing increasing levels of patriotic rhetoric, wartime propaganda, and anti-German sentiment. Children were often made the focal point of this propaganda, as they represented the future of the nation. As such, three specific representations of children emerge from WWI propaganda in France: the heroic child, the victimized child, and the malleable future citizen. Some of these representations were depicted in propaganda meant for children specifically, while others were depicted in propaganda meant to mobilize adults in the name of children. …

“Now, What’S One Story I Wanted To Tell You?”: Oral History Exhibition Archives At The Chicago History Museum At The Turn Of The 21st Century, Arianne Nguyen

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

Starting in the 1970s, American history museums have undergone a shift away from seeing themselves collections-focused historical societies acting as “temples to the past.” In the face of broader political challenges—civil rights, increasingly multicultural urban audiences, and the “culture wars” of the 1980s, public historians have sought to reclaim their institutions’ relevance by seeking to share their authority and mission with those “publics” they serve.

While secondary literature on public history has generally agreed that museums pulled off this shift—and museums themselves have touted successful exhibits and outreach—this essay uses a specific case study to complicate the narrative. The Chicago …

With Liberty And Justice For All? The U.S. Internment Of Japanese Peruvians During World War Ii, Catherine T. Meisenheimer Miss

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the United States committed to a policy of interning more than 120,000 Japanese Americans. While Japanese American detention remains the most researched instance of wartime internment, the U.S. incarceration of Japanese Peruvians merits equal attention. The political forces behind Japanese Peruvian internment transcended the more common explanations that haunt so much of literature today. Racism and hysteria played their respective roles in this history of wartime internment, but as the war progressed, other reasons for Japanese internment emerged. On January 4, 1942, the Japanese began interning American civilians in the …

The Black American Revolution: The American Revolution As Experienced By African Americans, Amy Kurian

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

This paper focuses on how the American Revolution mobilized the enslaved and free black population in a way that constitutes a "Black American Revolution." In particular, the enslaved population engaged in multiple efforts for freedom, ranging from fighting in the Revolutionary War to writing petitions to state legislatures. First, I present how the "slavery metaphor" propagated by white Loyalists indicates the inherent differences in how the white and black populations experienced the Revolution. There is an overall discussion of the various methods the enslaved used in their attempts to gain freedom: military service, slave petitions, freedom suits, and escape. I …

A Spirit Of Revolution: The Story Of Lt. Colonel John Laurens, Sophia A. Fossati

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

Though he has become a figure all but forgotten or merely glossed over, John Laurens (1754-1782) was the purest form of an early American hero, a pioneer for proto-abolitionism in the South, and a queer historical figure. His complex character and legacy is deserving of recognition and remembering. In this article, I intend to do just that by giving a brief historical summary of his life and person.

Conflict, Resistance, And Resolve: Uncovering Lost Narratives In Japanese-American Internment, Hannah De Oliveira

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

By the end of 1942, the U.S. army and the national government had forcibly removed 120,000 Japanese descended individuals from their homes on the West Coast, confining them to ten internment camps across the nation. In an effort to construct a more accurate representation of the mindset of internees in the wartime era, my thesis hones in on conflict and division within camp life. I emphasize the heterogeneity of Japanese-American voices and push back against the oversimplification of the different internee subgroups: the Japan-born immigrants (“Issei”), U.S.-born citizens (“Nisei”), and Japan-educated Nisei who returned home before the war (“Kibei”). Throughout …

Swastikas At Swat And Student Holocaust Memorial Culture, Nathanael D. Brown

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

A series of antisemitic incidents on the campus of Swarthmore College in 2016 invoked a larger memory culture of the Holocaust for Jewish students. This phenomenon was not an aberration, but rather the product of a well-documented effort by Jewish organizations to create a Holocaust memorial culture that would leave a lasting impact on those who experienced it, especially students. By researching the larger picture of how Holocaust Memory culture was created, and using that and Maurice Halbwachs's “lieu de mémoire'' method of historiography as frameworks, we gain insight into how some Jewish students’ perceptions of antisemitism in 2016 were …

Manuscript Form, Craig Williamson, Raima Evan

Teaching & Learning Commons Digital Resources

This document discusses appropriate titles for papers, margins, double-spacing, and pagination, among other topics. It stresses the importance of proofreading and the use of citations to avoid plagiarism.

Outlines And Rough Drafts: Arguments And Evidence, Craig Williamson, Raima Evan

Teaching & Learning Commons Digital Resources

This document provides an overview of the paper-writing process: reading and taking notes, developing an outline, shaping individual paragraphs, and crafting a conclusion.

Revising Your Rough Draft, Craig Williamson, Raima Evan

Teaching & Learning Commons Digital Resources

This document provides a check-list for things one should keep in mind when revising and polishing a paper. It addresses fine-tuning the thesis, examining transitions between paragraphs, and commenting on textual evidence, among other topics.

Common Errors, Craig Williamson, Raima Evan

Teaching & Learning Commons Digital Resources

This document addresses common errors and provides examples of how one would correct them. Topics discussed include ambiguous language, clichés, crutch words,comma splices, and dangling modifiers, among others.

Thesis, Craig Williamson, Raima Evan

Teaching & Learning Commons Digital Resources

This document discusses what makes a good thesis. It stresses that a thesis must be specific, concise, and provocative.

Han-Nationalism Throughout The Ages, Weiying Wu

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

Beginning in the 1980s, a trend of traditional studies known as “guo xue,” (国学) meaning national studies, proliferated in the wake of socioeconomic changes in China. In particular, it encompassed the revival of Confucianism, giving rise to related activity such as the establishment of “national studies institutes” (国学院) and “Han study centers”. Yet despite its popularity, the legitimacy of “national studies” came under the critical scrutiny of historians who argue that that contemporary “national studies” have either consciously or subconsciously co-opted Han traditions and practices over other ethnic cultures that made up the social fabric of past and present China, …

Political Economy Of The Middle East: Historiography And The Making Of An Episteme, Jordan Rothschild

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

The Great Divergence accelerated a process of Western European states dominating the majority of the world’s geography and people economically and geopolitically. Given the stakes of this shift and its ramifications for all of the history that followed, and the significant way that the divide continues to shape our world, this phenomenon is subject to considerable debate within the historiography. This paper uses the Great Divergence as a departure point to analyze the different schools of political economic history, from the flawed sociologies of the early 20th century theorists to the World Systems Theorists and beyond. A key aspect of …

Attempted Book Bans: The Censorship Of Queer Themes In The 1950s, María J. Quintana-Rodriguez

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

This article aims to explore queer book banning during the 1950s in response to Cold War national defense tactics. The decade witnessed the formation of the first public LGBTQ+ rights organizations in the United States as well as a rise in queer literature and publications. This publicization of queerness in society was seen as a rejection of traditional societal norms and threatened the Cold War-imposed gender ideology. In addition, the fear of Communist expansion led to the conflation of homosexuals and Communists, categorizing queerness and queer-related themes as immoral and as an interference in the United States' fight for democracy. …

Silence From The Great Communicator: The Early Years Of The Aids Epidemic Under The Reagan Administration, Jacqueline A. Ortiz

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

1981 not only commenced Ronald Reagan’s presidency but also marked the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). The early framing of the disease as an exclusively homosexual affliction disadvantaged gay communities. This sexually transmitted disease proliferated across the United States; yet, the AIDS epidemic failed to reach the Reagan administration as a top priority until it was too late. When discussing the Reagan administration’s early response to AIDS, historians tend to follow one of two positions: avoid mentioning the disease and in its entirety; or blame Reagan’s homophobia for the deaths of thousands of …

“Spreading The Gospel Of Good Taste”: Home Design And American Character, Anna Maher

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

During the early twentieth century, a plethora of design pamphlets, magazines, organizations, exhibits, lectures, and more were established to fill a perceived demand for guidance on interior home design. Home decoration emerged as an important method to create an American taste that reflected democratization, emphasizing thrift, hard work, and intelligence in design across the class spectrum; the nation’s unique interaction with its own history and the history of the world; and the growing capabilities and responsibilities of a professional design community. Primarily through discussions of furniture, color schemes, and wall and floor decoration, popular magazines and guidebooks from the early …

The Limits Of Solidarity: Leftist Jewish Israeli Activism For Palestine In The 1960’S And 2010’S, Ryann M. Hubbart

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

What does it mean for Jewish Israelis to engage in Palestinian solidarity? How do they navigate their positions of privilege in their activism? To explore these questions, I begin with a historical trajectory of the rise and fall of leftist Jewish Israeli activist organizations in response to global and local developments. I focus on two periods and their organizations: The Israeli Socialist Organization in the 1960’s and 1970’s and Ta’ayush and Physicians for Human Rights Israel in the 2010’s. In both cases the individuals in question are a very small minority of Israelis. From there I analyze these organizations and …

The Desert A City: A Study Of Antony The Great’S Life, Hanyang Chen

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

This paper attempts to provide an insight of asceticism and its development in Egypt through the literal work Athanasius's Life of Antony. It sets out to explain how the peculiar geography and environment in Egypt contributed to the development of asceticism and how the practices of St. Antony reflected the contemporary ideas on soul and body.

It’S Complicated: Field Hockey And Feminism In The United States, Dara Anhouse

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

Only in the United States is field hockey considered a "women's sport," and the story of its unusual transformation of male-dominated “hockey” from the British Isles to women’s-only “field hockey” in America reveals a deeper connection between sport, feminism, and society. A symbol of unlocked freedom for the "New Woman" at the turn of the twentieth century, under Title IX the sport becomes a case study in how gender is reproduced in modern society.

Full Issue: Volume 1, Issue 2, Editorial Board

Crossings: Swarthmore Undergraduate Feminist Research Journal

No abstract provided.

On Becoming A Woman: A Body Horror Examination Of Dance Nation, Marley Goldman

Crossings: Swarthmore Undergraduate Feminist Research Journal

This paper explores how the darker recesses of the human body’s potential, that of blood and seeping carnage, have long been associated with the feminine; and women themselves find dark catharsis in the genre of body horror. The concept of the monstrous feminine has been studied extensively in fields of gender studies, media studies, and psychoanalysis, all seeking to explain why the gendered experience can be portrayed so aptly through horror. The paper close reads Dance Nation, a feminist play exploring puberty and gendered anger, alongside two works of body horror: Jennifer’s Body (2009) and Hatching (2022). The paper …

Landmarks: “Throwing Like A Girl: A Phenomenology Of Feminine Body Comportment, Motility, And Spatiality” And A Room Of One's Own Applied, Grace Benson

Crossings: Swarthmore Undergraduate Feminist Research Journal

This essay seeks to understand the author’s relationship to her body through theoretical feminist texts. It uses Iris Marion Young’s “Throwing Like a Girl: A Phenomenology of Feminine Body Comportment, Motility, and Spatiality,” Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own, and the author’s own life to examine the relationship between perception, queerness, and self-confidence. The account put forward here applies Young’s discussion of feminine bodily comportment and spatiality to the author’s experiences learning to fight and subsequently accept her own body. Tying Young’s comparison of the body to feminine existence to Woolf’s discussion of a room of one’s own, …

Multispecies Kinship In Fabrizio Terranova’S Haraway: Story Telling For Earthly Survival, Nicole Daly

Crossings: Swarthmore Undergraduate Feminist Research Journal

This piece examines how director Fabrizio Terranova's 2016 documentary Haraway: Story Telling for Earthly Survival argues for embracing a framework of multispecies kinship between humans and non-human others. While telling the story of Haraway's life and her contributions to feminist scholarship, his documentary highlights various "contact zones" between humans and non-human animals in ways that destabilize the human/ non-human animal hierarchy and urge viewers to pay attention to the inevitability of non-human animal involvement in the process of becoming(-with). In my analysis of the film, I incorporate a variety of Haraway's works in addition to ideas from theorists of feminist …

A Meditation On Afrosurrealism, Black Gender, And The Non-Human, Logan K. Shanks

Crossings: Swarthmore Undergraduate Feminist Research Journal

Quotidian Black life is characterized by our ability to alchemize violence into generative life-sustaining properties of matter. In this paper, I will measure Black matter based on anything produced and engaged by Black collectives. While Black existence is not tied to white violence, descendants of enslaved Black people enter our worlds of worlds greeted by a white captor. It is not until we consciously recognize that we are in his dream that we can work to escape the white captor’s circadian rhythms. Through this paper, I will tease out the contradictions of our Black living-unliving. I will employ an anti-methodological …