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Articles 1 - 30 of 33
Full-Text Articles in American Studies
Preservation And Public History In Mound Bayou, Mississippi, Walker Bray
Preservation And Public History In Mound Bayou, Mississippi, Walker Bray
Honors Theses
This paper is an exploration of the history of Mound Bayou, Mississippi, an all Black community in the Mississippi Delta formed by freedmen in the wake of Reconstruction. This paper also discusses the ways in which Mound Bayou citizens are working to preserve their history and make it known to a wider audience. In particular, this work discusses the recently opened Mound Bayou Museum of African American Culture and History and related efforts to restore and preserve historic structures in Mound Bayou. In addition, this work also seeks to explore ways in which the University of Mississippi can effectively supplement …
Women Without Bodies: Autonomy, Empowerment, And Embodiment In Southern Women, Martha Peyton Ford
Women Without Bodies: Autonomy, Empowerment, And Embodiment In Southern Women, Martha Peyton Ford
Honors Theses
This thesis explores the relationship between rural, upper-class, Southern, white women and their bodies. In my attempts to understand this relationship, I analyze sources from the fields of gender studies, philosophy, and psychology, utilizing concepts such as the Cult of True Womanhood, the newly-emerging field of body memoirs, and the long-lasting but elusive idea of Southern ladyhood to make sense of cultural expectations of Southern women and their bodies. This research, alongside my use of autoethnography and oral history, serve as an anchor for my analysis of women’s relationships to their bodies, in which I use myself, my mother, and …
Brain Drain In Mississippi, Clifford Adam Conner
Brain Drain In Mississippi, Clifford Adam Conner
Honors Theses
Brain drain is the out-migration of educated individuals from an area. It is a problem with which Mississippi is overly familiar. This thesis uses data gathered from a survey of 965 respondents to identify who is leaving the state and for what reasons. The data gathered suggest confirmation that brain drain is an issue for the state, with roughly two-thirds of respondents having left the state or seriously considering doing so. The impetus for this varies with each individual, but respondents underscore economic and societal factors within Mississippi as pushing them away from the state. Quality of life factors are …
The Iran Hostage Crisis: A Media Narrative, Catherine Claire Hausman
The Iran Hostage Crisis: A Media Narrative, Catherine Claire Hausman
Honors Theses
The Iran Hostage Crisis, from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981, was a defining moment in American foreign policy and US – Iranian relations. The news media – local and national newspapers and television – was saturated with coverage of the situation in Tehran and the subsequent US reaction. Americans watched the news over the 444 days, feeling sympathy and forging a collective national bond with the hostages; the international conflict was deeply personal for many Americans. The media played a central role in the establishment of the narrative of the hostage crisis, developing specific roles and personas of …
Art And Aids: Viral Strategies For Visibility, Stephen Baylor Pillow
Art And Aids: Viral Strategies For Visibility, Stephen Baylor Pillow
Honors Theses
“Art & AIDS: Viral Strategies for Visibility” examines the complex relationships between social stigma, healthcare, homophobia, and mortality, and how these impacted the lives of Western artists and manifested in their works. Most of the art discussed in this thesis was produced during the height of the AIDS crisis (late-1980s to mid-1990s). During this period, gay artists and their allies employed new strategies in their work to inspire activism, and convey intense emotions –– predominantly frustration, grief, and anxiety –– associated with HIV/AIDS. In the U.S., the inaction of the Reagan administration was largely due to widespread homophobia kindled by …
Country Fun: A Cultural History Of Opryland Usa, Nashville, And The Suburban South, William C. Nieman
Country Fun: A Cultural History Of Opryland Usa, Nashville, And The Suburban South, William C. Nieman
Honors Theses
This thesis centers around the history of Opryland USA, a theme park and “musical showplace” that existed from 1972 to 1997 in the suburbs of Nashville, Tennessee. Using a variety of primary sources including park ephemera, newspaper articles, and songs, I show how, over its twenty-five years, Opryland became a country music theme park after initially presenting a seemingly diverse picture of American popular music. I reveal that, despite local businessowners’ and musicians’ reluctance to embrace Opryland at first, the park was accepted by many Nashvillians to the point where it is now nostalgically mourned. Then, putting those primary materials …
Who Has A Voice: Issues Of Free Speech At The University Of Mississippi From 1955-1970, Neale Grisham
Who Has A Voice: Issues Of Free Speech At The University Of Mississippi From 1955-1970, Neale Grisham
Honors Theses
Amidst the upheaval of American society in the 1960s, the University of Mississippi’s administration found itself in a precarious position. A long-standing institution that prided itself on its ties to the Old South, the university was being challenged by integrationists and liberal notions of equality and social justice. The university was forced to decide between abetting the alumni that padded university pockets and the tides of change that were rippling through the university campus. Their main way of combatting this was through the surveilling of students and the vetting of potential guest speakers who may spread “controversial ideas.” While students …
“We Got More Yesterday Than Anybody”: Child Ghosts And The National Trauma Of Anti-Black Racism In American Literature, Megan Swartzfager
“We Got More Yesterday Than Anybody”: Child Ghosts And The National Trauma Of Anti-Black Racism In American Literature, Megan Swartzfager
Honors Theses
This thesis examines the roles of haunting in the context of racial violence in three texts: Beloved by Toni Morrison, Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward, and Wolf Whistle by Lewis Nordan. In each of these texts, a parent is responsible for the death of a child. In the former two texts, both by Black authors, a Black parent kills a Black child in what they believe to be a protective act in the face of violence by white people. Wolf Whistle, however, written by a white author, is animated by the ghost of a character based on Emmett Till. …
Pecking The Hands That Feed Them: How Society And Government Have Allowed The Poultry Industry To Exploit Labor And The Environment In The American South, Sophie M. Kline
Pecking The Hands That Feed Them: How Society And Government Have Allowed The Poultry Industry To Exploit Labor And The Environment In The American South, Sophie M. Kline
Honors Theses
Americans eat an average of ninety pounds of chicken in one year, but where does that chicken come from? Immigrants and African Americans are the majority of the labor population in poultry processing plants located in the American South. In an effort to highlight the racism, sexism, insecurity, and environmental degradation in the poultry industry, I analyze a variety of ethnographies, articles, and science journals as well as U.S Supreme Court decisions and policies enacted by the U.S federal government in this thesis. Upon examination, I answer why society is pecking the hands that feed them. The analysis concludes that …
Tales As Old As Time: The Origins Of Selected Fairy Tales And Their Legacies In Popular Culture, Ann Louise Jackson
Tales As Old As Time: The Origins Of Selected Fairy Tales And Their Legacies In Popular Culture, Ann Louise Jackson
Honors Theses
This thesis seeks to analyze a selection of fairy tales and their film adaptations. The research centers on the origins of these selected stories and their cinematic derivatives, with particular focus given to authorial and cultural influences as well as audience perceptions of these works. The evolution of character through these fairy tales is an area of interest in this thesis, with an emphasis on agency and the depiction of the heroines through the stories and their adaptations. Including two well-known fairy tales and one that is more obscure, this thesis aims to understand how each variation is conceived and …
Reevaluating Religion: A Case For Inclusivity Of Lgbtq Christians In The Church, Amber Erin Dupree
Reevaluating Religion: A Case For Inclusivity Of Lgbtq Christians In The Church, Amber Erin Dupree
Honors Theses
This thesis project is focused on understanding the discrimination that is rampant amongst Southern churches regarding their LGBTQ members and offering solutions to this problem that has occurred throughout the many generations of Christianity. In order to understand this discrimination, three books were consulted for the research aspect of this project. The three books include the following: Sweet Tea by E. Patrick Johnson, Don't Be Afraid Anymore by Troy Perry, and Our Tribe by Nancy Wilson. A Questionnaire was also given to people who identified as Southern, Christian, and LGBTQ in order to gain an understanding of the current sentiments …
Haunted Mississippi: Ghosts, Identity, And Collective Identity, Hailey Cooper
Haunted Mississippi: Ghosts, Identity, And Collective Identity, Hailey Cooper
Honors Theses
This thesis wrestles with the duality of the terms haunting and ghosts in relation to Mississippi and its collective identity and narrative. Ghostlore and haunted tourism provide insight into shared cultural constructs and indicate an absence of certain perspectives from more generally held ideas of identity. Analyses of ghost stories from around the state explore these hauntings of history and ghosted narratives, so it is ghosts v. ghosted and hauntings v. haunted. I use ghost stories from Natchez, MS to explore postsouthern spaces and performances of southernness and the narratives around female apparitions to study the role of southern womanhood …
A Modernized Fairy Tale: Speculations On Technology, Labor, Politics, And Gender In The Oz Series, Zachary Hez Hollingsworth
A Modernized Fairy Tale: Speculations On Technology, Labor, Politics, And Gender In The Oz Series, Zachary Hez Hollingsworth
Honors Theses
On the surface, L. Frank Baum's Oz series would appear to merely be fourteen books of inventive children's fantasy, but in truth Baum communicates several personal progressive beliefs to his youthful audience through the use of his fantastical world upon closer examination. For my research, I reread every book in Baum's original Oz series and made note of any potentially relevant allegorical or metaphorical themes. Once I started to notice a trend of themes regarding technology, labor, politics, and gender, I settled on these themes to be the overall focus of my thesis's discussion. I read as many academic essays …
Out Of Darkness, Have I Cried Unto Thee: An Examination Of The Treatment Of African Americans At The Mississippi State Lunatic Asylum During Reconstruction, James Gerald Paul
Out Of Darkness, Have I Cried Unto Thee: An Examination Of The Treatment Of African Americans At The Mississippi State Lunatic Asylum During Reconstruction, James Gerald Paul
Honors Theses
The area of my research concerns the treatment of the mentally ill at the Mississippi State Lunatic Asylum during Reconstruction particularly mentally ill African Americans. My primary research came from reviewing archival documents regarding the asylum at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in Jackson, MS. The annual reports from the superintendent and board of trustees of the asylum provided the greatest amount of information. In addition to these documents, I also drew input from scholarly works on lunatic asylums including Whitney Barringer and Adia Brooks as well as writers on Reconstruction and the development of black culture in …
All Things Loved And Unlovable: Discovering Southern Identity In Black Migration Novels, Michael Holman
All Things Loved And Unlovable: Discovering Southern Identity In Black Migration Novels, Michael Holman
Honors Theses
This thesis traces the development of the ways that the South figures in the imaginations of black writers by examining Southern identity in three novels centered around migratory protagonists. The thesis examines the ways in which folk identity, urban landscapes, remigration, and gender shape the migration experience in each novel. The novels discussed here are Nella Larsen's Quicksand, Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, and Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon. Quicksand posits the South as a place of unique danger, especially for black women, Invisible Man characterizes it as a place defined by oppressive memory that may be utilized as a resource …
Nella Larsen: An Untold Story Of Race Through Literature, Bria Stephens Stephens
Nella Larsen: An Untold Story Of Race Through Literature, Bria Stephens Stephens
Honors Theses
This study explores the life of Nella Larsen, investigating how her unusual childhood and early adulthood provided substance for her to make critical and unique views on race relations and racially dichotomized communities. The study shows how the Harlem Renaissance was essential in providing this outlet to Larsen; it was an era where African American art was lauded. The investigation required research into Larsen's childhood and early adult life using several different pieces of biographical works. After detailing impactful events in her early life, the study developed further with critical analyzation of her fictional short stories and novels. Additional research …
Everybody's Story: Gertrude Stein's Career As A Nexus Connecting Writers And Painters In Bohemian Paris, Elizabeth F. Milam
Everybody's Story: Gertrude Stein's Career As A Nexus Connecting Writers And Painters In Bohemian Paris, Elizabeth F. Milam
Honors Theses
My thesis examines how the combination of Gertrude Stein's career, Paris, and the time period before, during, and after The Great War conflated to create the Lost Generation and affected the work of Sherwood Anderson and Ernest Hemingway. Five different sections focus on: the background of Stein and how her understanding of expression came into existence, Paris and the unique environment it provided for experimentation at the beginning of the twentieth century (and how that compared to the environment found in America), Modernism existing in Paris prior to World War One, the mass culture of militarization in World War One …
Photographic Representations Of The South: Eudora Welty And Doris Ulmann, Molly Maher
Photographic Representations Of The South: Eudora Welty And Doris Ulmann, Molly Maher
Honors Theses
Eudora Welty and Doris Ulmann both photographed African Americans living in the South during the 1930s. Ulmann photographed the unique Gullah community in South Carolina, documenting their agricultural work, religious traditions, and lifestyle. Welty photographed the African American community within her home state of Mississippi. Despite a parallel interest in subject matter, Welty stated that she did not like Ulmann's photography. This thesis examines the differences between Welty and Ulmann's techniques and their relationships to the South, their subjects, and literary texts in order to identify why Welty explicitly expressed a dislike for Ulmann's photographs.
Economic Enchantment In Eudora Welty's A Curtain Of Green, Elizabeth Moore
Economic Enchantment In Eudora Welty's A Curtain Of Green, Elizabeth Moore
Honors Theses
This thesis analyzes Eudora Welty's short story collection, A Curtain of Green, and the interactions between its characters and the Mississippi economy. The paper takes into account Eudora Welty's work with the WPA during the Great Depression and her experiences photographing Mississippians throughout the state. Additionally, this thesis uses Welty's terminology when describing her experience of shopping as a child, specifically the enchantment of goods. This material is used to argue that Eudora Welty does address economic elements in her early short stories. Furthermore, this collection demonstrates a difference between gender participation in the economy, particularly among salesmen and female …
The Mockingjay Phenomena: A Study On The Position Of Young Adult Women In Dystopia, Hannah Hultman
The Mockingjay Phenomena: A Study On The Position Of Young Adult Women In Dystopia, Hannah Hultman
Honors Theses
The purpose of this research is to explore the messages and impact of three young adult dystopian trilogies, The Hunger Games, Divergent and The Uglies. In particular, the role of the American female teenager in political, economic and social spheres is discussed through examining the three female teenaged protagonists of these novels. For comparative purposes, George Orwell's 1984 and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World function as counterpoints to the young adult novels; the analysis of these different novels will prove that young adult dystopian novels show young adult women that their choices and actions can be integral to their societies …
Read Me: The Emergence Of Female Voice In American Epistolary Fiction, Allison Melissa Ramsey
Read Me: The Emergence Of Female Voice In American Epistolary Fiction, Allison Melissa Ramsey
Honors Theses
The objective of the thesis was to study how the letter, as a narrative device provided by the epistolary genre, supplies unheard female characters with an avenue to speak when their worlds do not allow it. In the novels, the letters not only permit a female character to practice building a voice, but also provide a self-reflection and identification experience, which enables the woman to see where she is, rewrite her role, and control where she wants to go. Through reading Hannah Webster Foster's The Coquette, Alice Walker's The Color Purple, Lee Smith's Fair and Tender Ladies, and Maria Semple's …
Colorism And African American Women In Literature: An Examination Of Colorism And Its Impact On Self-Image, Jakira Davis
Colorism And African American Women In Literature: An Examination Of Colorism And Its Impact On Self-Image, Jakira Davis
Honors Theses
The purpose of this study is to explore how African American women in literature have been impacted by colorism. Through this study which included a fictional novel from the twentieth century and a non-fictional novel from the twenty-first century we are able to see how women of color have been impacted by colorism. This thesis explores evidence of the impact of colorism and its impact on the image of African American women and young girls. This thesis suggests that there is evidence of colorism found in literature and thus colorism is a real issue in the African American community that …
Revisiting The Ghosts Of Vatican Ii: Gender In Catholic Horror Cinema Of The American 60s And 70s, Currie D. Mckinley
Revisiting The Ghosts Of Vatican Ii: Gender In Catholic Horror Cinema Of The American 60s And 70s, Currie D. Mckinley
Honors Theses
This thesis contextualizes 1960s and 1970s American horror films against the historical backdrop of Vatican II with the intent of discovering how the texts, reception, and legacies of the films could illuminate the gender politics of the various changes implemented over the course of Vatican II. The first chapter analyzes the text of Rosemary's Baby as a metaphor for restrictive policies on birth control on the part of the post-Vatican II papacy. The second chapter considers the implications of disagreements between the author and director of The Exorcist with regard to how different individuals wanted the Catholic Church to present …
An American Prophet: Wendell Berry's Community Ethic, 1965-1977, Joel Garrott
An American Prophet: Wendell Berry's Community Ethic, 1965-1977, Joel Garrott
Honors Theses
This thesis provides a detailed commentary on Wendell Berry's agrarian ethic as articulated in his early literature of the 1960s and 1970s. It is part biography of Berry's early life, part history of his early thought, and part literary interpretation of his early work. It expounds on the significance of Berry's personal connection to place, and situates Berry's agrarian argument for community life in the context of the social issues addressed in his early literature. The central argument of this project is that Berry's agrarian ethic was grown out of his relationship with his native place in Kentucky, and that …
In Another Day: The Historical And Cultural Relevance Of Gone With The Wind, Cody Rentz
In Another Day: The Historical And Cultural Relevance Of Gone With The Wind, Cody Rentz
Honors Theses
Although it was a massive success in its time and won a Pulitzer Prize, critics today tend to discard Gone with the Wind as a piece of low-quality, racist, historically inaccurate literature. However, the novel, through no intent of its author, parallels the Great Depression in many ways, a fact that likely contributed to its popularity. As such, the novel can be a useful tool in studying the culture of the 1930s. To study the cultural connections, I began by reading the novel, watching the film, and speculating as to the connections to Depression-era culture. I then researched the author, …
Big T-Shirts And Running Shorts: A Female Uniform And Southern Womanhood On The Ole Miss Campus, Abigail Abide
Big T-Shirts And Running Shorts: A Female Uniform And Southern Womanhood On The Ole Miss Campus, Abigail Abide
Honors Theses
This thesis attempts to understand why white female sorority members wear oversized t-shirts as a uniform to their classes and how this outfit affects the construction of white southern womanhood on the Ole Miss campus. In this exploration, I have interview male and female, black and white, undergraduates. I also used an online survey that I separated by sex. I have found that oversized t-shirts are related to ideas of social status, sexuality, class, constructions of ideas about the female body, and southern identity with in the Greek community. These ideas intensely affect the daily lives of Ole Miss students …
Suffering And Coping In The Novels Of Anne Tyler, Camden Story Hastings
Suffering And Coping In The Novels Of Anne Tyler, Camden Story Hastings
Honors Theses
Through an exploration of the causes of the characters' suffering and their mechanisms for coping, this thesis shows that by developing the perseverance necessary to navigate ordinary, everyday obstacles, Tyler's characters cope with extraordinary circumstances causing them pain. They also realize that victories in the little things lead to discoveries about themselves and the sources of their distress. The six novels discussed here include The Accidental Tourist, Saint Maybe, The Beginner's Goodbye, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, Ladder of Years, and Breathing Lessons. Nine major characters from these six novels are explored and, while various causes lead to their individual …
The Chamberlain Estate Or: How Investors Will Learn To Stop Worrying And Give Me Money To Make My Movie, Connor King
The Chamberlain Estate Or: How Investors Will Learn To Stop Worrying And Give Me Money To Make My Movie, Connor King
Honors Theses
The purpose of this thesis is to have developed a competent pre-production packet for a feature length indie movie set in the South that would pique the interest of potential investors, while having ascertained the knowledge and skill set to fully realize the script as a leader of the project. Methods to achieve this goal include working on movie sets from all angles to gain first hand experience—from directing to holding sound equipment—and researching the market potential from films of a similar genre to see if this venture is worthwhile financially for myself and other stakeholders. After working on sets …
A Study Of The Life And Legacy Of Son House On The Identity And Character Of Blues Culture, Kyle Crockett
A Study Of The Life And Legacy Of Son House On The Identity And Character Of Blues Culture, Kyle Crockett
Honors Theses
This thesis explores the unique and pivotal life of Son House, a Mississippi bluesman from Lyon, Mississippi, who did much to change the identity and perpetuate the existence of blues music and culture. Furthermore, House was influential in shaping blues music as a medium for historical research, as they revealed a strikingly honest perception of the tumultuous and evil circumstances for African Americans in the South during the early twentieth century. Research on Son House was a unique experience, in that it called not only for academic exploration, but also human exploration. When researching the importance of blues music in …
Physicians, Patients, And Poets, Mary Ball Markow
Physicians, Patients, And Poets, Mary Ball Markow
Honors Theses
I examined the works of William Carlos Williams, Peter Pereira, Rafael Campo, Tory Dent, Lucia Perillo, and John Rybicki to gain a better understanding of the field of medicine. I selected these authors based upon their varied experiences with illness, disease, and loss. Their prose and poetry illuminate the nature of medicine and provide insight into human nature as well. The thesis has been edited for the SMBHC Thesis Repository to protect the copyright interests of some authors and publishers. The table of contents has been edited to reflect the changes.