European Languages and Societies Commons^™

Poetic Explorations In Bill F. Ndi’S Worth Their Weight In Thorns: (De)Constructing Hegemonic National Integration And Debating Francophonecentric National Governance., Hassan Mbiydzenyuy Yosimbom

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

This paper explores “hegemonic national integration” and “Francophonecentric national governance” in The Cameroons (TC) poetic scape. The former refers to La République du Cameroun (LRC)-British Southern Cameroons (BSC) or Southern Cameroons (SC) interconnectedness dominated by Francophones. The latter is governance that promotes a Francophone cultural superiority that refuses to see the Cameroonian world through Southern Cameroonians’ eyes. Cameroonians live in a time of enormous fragmenting “Francophonizing” and “Anglophonizing” processes. To flesh this argument out, this paper borrows critical perspectives from Benhabib’s “democratic iterations” and “deliberative democracy” and Rosenau’s “six-governance typology’ as requisites for good governance. It contends that …

Socrates The Degenerate: Irony As Trope Of Decadence, Daniel R. Adler

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

Decadence is typically associated with a fall from, or an opposition to, ideals of civilization. Western Civilization traditionally traces its roots to the culture of Ancient Greece. While theorists of periodicity from Vico to Nietzsche and Deleuze, to Hayden White and other contemporary scholars, associate decadence with excess, artificiality and over-indulgence, they also recognize that decadence often incorporates pre-civilized, base or “Other” tendencies. Paradoxically, decadence as a degeneration of an original culture’s values can also rejuvenate that culture’s core values through mutation so that a new version of the original culture arises. In literature, degeneration has also been associated with …

Exploring The Margins Of Kotha Culture : Reconstructing A Courtesan’S Life In Neelum Saran Gour’S Requiem In Raga Janki, Chhandita Das, Priyanka Tripathi

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In their article, “Exploring the Margins of Kotha Culture: Reconstructing a Courtesan’s life in Neelum Saran Gour’s Requiem in Raga Janki,” Chhandita Das and Priyanka Tripathi discuss the invisible challenges in life of a famous courtesan Janki Bai Ilahabadi through close analysis of Neelum Saran Gour’s 2018 novel, Requiem in Raga Janki. In this novel, Janki belongs to the infamous kotha but she never fails to seek her subjectivity. This marginal place of Janaki’s belonging will be discussed by appropriating and the theoretical framework of Indian feminist Lata Singh’s (2007) for whom courtesans have been represented as “‘other’ …

Identity Reconfigurations, Memory And Personal History In Norman Manea And Saul Bellow’S ‘Spoken Book’, Simona Antofi, Nicoleta D. Ifrim

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In their paper, “Identity Reconfigurations, Memory and Personal History in Norman Manea and Saul Bellow’s Spoken Book, ”Simona Antofi and Nicoleta Ifrim analyze the book of interviews Settling My Accounts Before I Go Away: A Words & Images Interview, a two-authored mirror-like writing in which two biographical courses and two scriptural identities engage in dialogue. Their aim is to define a double reading effect embedded into the self-oriented narrative: a collective history of the Jewish exile from the communist totalitarian space (Soviet and Romanian) towards the “promised land,” with literary, cultural and political insertions; then, the legitimation of an …

“A Certain Brauch:” German-Georgian Palatine And Rhenish Immigrant Houses In Columbia County, New York And Their Vernacular Architectural Roots, Andrew J. Roberge

Senior Projects Spring 2022

In this archaeological and architectural survey of 18th Century Palatine and Rhenish immigrant houses in New York's Hudson Valley, specifically in Columbia County, I track the development of three houses from their earliest vernacular forms to those touched by the Georgian influence. The Georgian worldview, stemming from European Enlightenment ideals, began permeating colonial American society in the 18th Century. It's influence first began to touch the wealthy and elite most connected with mother Europe, and then trickled into more common society. I chronicle and analyze Germantown, NY's Reformed Sanctity Church Parsonage, Germantown, NY's Simeon Rockefeller House, and Clermont, NY's "Stone …

Is France Having A Populist Moment?, Emma Gilmore

Honors Theses

The word populism is often thrown around in news media and academic scholarship, but there is a lack of understanding of what it actually means as a political theory. In France, the two presidential candidates that made it to the second round in 2017, Emmanuel Macron and Marine le Pen, were both called populist, despite having vastly different campaign strategies and messages. This study used a computer-based method to analyze Campaign books from 24 candidates beginning in 1981 that determined that Populist language is on the rise, but not as aggressively as news media suggests.

Fluchtpunkt Magdeburg: Documentation Of An Integration-Oriented Theater Project From The Perspective Of Theater Pedagogy And Language Didactics, Mona Eikel-Pohen, Sarah Dolbier

Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics - All Scholarship

Based on Dwight Conquergood's key concepts of play, power, process, and poetics/language, this paper documents the theater-pedagogical model project Fluchtpunkt Magdeburg 2015 to2019, in which young people with and without refugee experiences living in Magdeburg, Germany, developed three plays and a film under dance- and theater-pedagogical direction with the pronounced goal of promoting social and linguistic integration. The aim of this documentation is to systematically describe the project and to identify successful elements that make future projects sustainable and feasible for planning and implementation in the long term.

German Through Media Ger 302, Joanna Burkhardt

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

Economic Sanctions And Opportunism, Keith A. Preble

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Sanctions busting refers to instances where third-party states increase their material support for states targeted by economic sanctions by increasing trade as well as foreign aid and investment, which, in turn, minimize the economic costs that sanctions imposed on target states. This concept privileges the sender and contributes to the “sender bias” inherent in the literature on economic sanctions. My dissertation instead argues that the terms sanctions opportunism may better reflect the nature of the processes at work when third-party states engage in sanctions busting either for commercial profit or as a “black knight” (or a combination of them both). …

Representation Of Terror And Terrorism In Two Arab Films: Paradise Now (2005) By Hany Abu-Assad And Horses Of God (2012) By Nabil Ayouch, Mustapha Hamil

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

Middle Eastern violence and terrorism are not novel subjects in world cinema, especially American cinema. The Arab or Muslim other in these films is always presented as someone who epitomises a culture of violence, directed mostly against innocent civilians. Against the backdrop of Hollywood’s stereotypical representation of Middle-Easterners as advocate of indiscriminate terror and terrorism, Arab filmmakers have turned in recent years to the representation of terror and religious extremism. Paradise Now (Abu Assad 2005) and Horses of God (Ayouch 2012) address the controversial issue of suicide bombing with the same motivation: to examine the choice of suicide bombing within …

Resisting Pacification: Locating Tension In G'Ebinyo Ogbowei's Poetry, Niyi Akingbe, Paul Ayodele Onanuga

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

No abstract provided.

Where Are The Women?: An Ecofeminist Reading Of William Golding’S Lord Of The Flies, Hawk Chang

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

The absence of female characters and their voices in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies (1954) has been previously examined. On the surface, this fiction focuses on the struggle and survival of a group of boys who are left alone on a Pacific island against the background of nuclear warfare. The only presence of women in the story seems to be the aunt via a boy’s narration. However, when approaching the fiction through the lens of ecofeminism, we can find a range of feminized entities which are metaphorically embodied in the natural surroundings of the secluded island. The boys’ interactions …

‘Convicted Of Patricide?’: Robert Frost’S Nationalism In The Eyes Of Contemporary Arab-American Women Writers, Eman K. Mukattash

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

Given the culturally expansive nature of the American literary tradition of today, the question of the relevance of Robert Frost’s poetry to the poetry of contemporary Arab-American women writers is an issue worth digging into. Writing almost one hundred years ago does not make Frost’s poetry out of date. Frost’s poetry is as relevant to today’s America as it has been to the America of his days. And this can be ascribed to the multiplicity of perspectives he presents in his poetry as he examines crucial questions lying at the core of America’s “grand narrative of national development.” (Westover 2004: …

Taking The Waste Out Of Wastewater: Evaluation And Implementation Of Sustainability Measures At Base Aérea N.°5’S Wastewater Treatment Plant, Abigail Monahan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Wastewater treatment is a critical process by which the concentration of pollutants in wastewater are reduced to minimize the resulting effluent’s impact on human health and the environment. Base Aérea N.°5, an airbase located in Monte Real, Portugal, is striving to enhance their wastewater treatment methods to decrease the impact of the treated effluent on the environment. They can reduce the effluent’s impact by implementing more advanced wastewater treatment to decrease the concentration of micropollutants and pathogens in the effluent, and they can reuse the treated effluent to decrease the volume of freshwater they extract. This work seeks to evaluate …

The Memory Of A Nation: How Spanish Political Parties And Their Electoral Manifestos Address Historical Memory, Aidan G. Coohill

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

After years of silence, the last two decades have seen Spain begin to seriously confront its own historical memory for the first time since its transition to democracy. This text aims to deconstruct the ways that Spanish political parties address historical memory and what memories they choose to address. This is accomplished by using data gathered from all major national parties’ political manifestos from 2000 to present. Manifestos, as demonstrations of political rhetoric and popular opinion, give us a valuable insight to the ways that parties and Spanish society as a whole approach historical memory. The data gathered shows foremost …

Political Processes Of Displacement In Infrastructure Development: The Case Of Aldeia Da Luz And The Alqueva Dam, Cordelia Walz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In 2002, the residents of Aldeia da Luz left their village for the final time, displaced to make room for the Alqueva Dam, a massive regional hydropower and irrigation project almost half a century in the making. The Alqueva Multipurpose Project was marketed by the Portuguese government as a way to develop the impoverished region of the Alentejo and bring innovation to the agricultural sector. The village of Luz was the only physical obstacle to this goal and, therefore, its residents were dispossessed, sacrificed for the development of the greater Alentejo region. However, unlike many other large-scale infrastructure projects that …

Public Perception Of Forest And Fire Management Policy In Portugal, Jensen Rocha

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The impacts of forest fires are growing as climate change creates more frequent ideal temperature conditions for extreme wildfires. With the devastating fires it experienced in 2017, Portugal stands as an example of the impacts of dangerous wildfires and is working on developing a plan to protect its country from this rising threat. Important in the plan development is the opinion of the many stakeholders involved and the public whom the fires impact. Using an interview and survey approach, this study gathers public and stakeholder opinion on the forest and fire management policy in Portugal to understand what issues in …

Purple Shadows In Catalonia: Josep Pla, Great Questions Of Literature, And The Bid For Catalan Independence, Caya Greenspan-Layman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

No abstract provided.

Draagmoederschap: Surrogacy In The Netherlands, Olivia Murray

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In this paper, I investigated surrogacy in the Netherlands by interviewing four surrogates and one intended parent about their experiences. I found that the participants shared several common experiences and opinions, especially related to why they chose to be surrogates, how surrogates and intended parents negotiate their relationship during and after pregnancy, the tensions of passing on parenthood and merging families, the (non-binding) contracts that surrogates and parents create, Dutch law, and commercial surrogacy. I argue that much of the discourse around surrogacy relitigates many of the arguments made in favor and against sex work, in that it sets surrogacy …

An Analysis Of The Role Of Gender In Political News Media Coverage, Clare Atkinson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Although there has been a decrease in specific exclusionary rules in governments around the world, most nations are very far from a governing body which represents the diversity that exists within their borders. There are many issues which may dissuade previously marginalized populations from political participation. One of these problems when it comes to female participation, is differential political news coverage. This study looked at how media sources set the political agenda and frame news stories in terms of the gender of a politician, and how this can create an additional challenge for women in government. The investigation found that …

Representation And Recommendations: Participation Of People Who Use Drugs In Un-Level Policy-Making, Lily Knudsen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Although participation in health policy-making is a popular topic in the literature and a stated priority of the United Nations, very little research has been published examining the full spectrum of participation by people who use drugs (PWUD) at the UN level. This study aims to describe and evaluate this participation through a combination of a literature review that looks at academic sources, UN publications, and publications by organizations of PWUD, and a series of interviews with representatives of organizations of PWUD who have participated in UN level policy-making.

Data collected demonstrates that there is no comprehensive system for the …

Evaluating The Pragmatic And Moralistic Approach To Drug Policy And Addiction In Opioid Epidemic Outcomes, Brielle Seidel

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Drug use, policy and outcomes differ in all countries; however, trends exist in response to these circumstances and can typically be evaluated through a pragmatic and moralistic lens. The public health, and evidence-based pragmatic approach differs from the law enforcement-centered moralistic approach, specifically in outcomes of people suffering from substance use disorder. Particularly for opioid use disorder, countries that have taken the pragmatic approach in response to opioid epidemics have had dramatic results. Two of the countries discussed include Switzerland and Portugal, with additional information on the Netherlands. In contrast, current opioid epidemics exist in certain countries who maintain a …

Review Of Catholic Social Teaching And Theologies Of Peace In Northern Ireland: Cardinal Cahal Daly And The Pursuit Of The Peaceable Kingdom, Kathryn Lamontagne

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Religious Women And Peacebuilding During The Northern Ireland ‘Troubles’, Dianne Kirby

The Journal of Social Encounters

The focus of this essay is on the critical and various roles, still largely unrecognised, played by religious women during the conflict in Northern Ireland. Working at the margins of society rather than in the corridors of power, they made important contributions to peace-building that ranged from grass-roots activism to secret talks. As well as contributing to the crucial work of community groups, educating the young and tending to the old, religious women established innovative and independent organisations offering succour and support to victims of the ‘Troubles’. Motivated by faith, they adhered to a value system that eschewed the violence, …

Material Encounters: Making Memory Beyond The Mind, Ariel Wills

Masters Theses

Can acts of making carry the memories of our embeddedness within the world? This thesis explores how making things can nurture a sense of kinship that cuts across the organic and inorganic, erasing the distinction between living and dead, material and spiritual. Through handwork such as art-making, sewing, knitting, cooking, woodworking, and beyond, the burden of remembering and of archiving is shared across human and non-human bodies, cultivated through practices of making, and through the materials themselves. By recounting the stories of my family’s experience as Jewish immigrants in the United States, I aim to reveal how their domestic practices …

Sacred Music In Colonial Era Hispaniola: The Evangelization Of The Taino People, Tito J. Gutierrez

Student Theses

During the 15th-18th centuries, the major European religious orders; the Franciscans, Dominicans, Jesuits, and Jeronymites, journeyed to the newly colonized American territories in an attempt to convert the multitudes of natives peoples living there. Along with prayer books, crucifixes, and religious images, these missionaries brought sacred European music to American shores in an attempt to attract the native people to the Catholic faith.The use of music as a tool for conversion of native people in places such as Mexico, South America, California, and the South West United States, have been well researched and documented. However, the research of the spiritual …

A Tale Of Two Biennales: How Contemporary Art In Italy Reflects Current European Politics, Hannah Rosabel Capucilli-Shatan

CISLA Senior Integrative Projects

No abstract provided.

Time Decay: Assets, Authoritarianism, And Anxiety About The Future, Jack Davies

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

This article identifies a basic formula in the Freudo-Marxist take on twentieth-century authoritarianism. This is the incommensurability of inherited past development with the pace and demands of industrial social life, damming up a tremendous excess that seeks reactionary outlet. Authoritarianism, here, breeds in the contradiction between the symptoms of the Oedipal drama and the commodity form. The implicit “repressive hypothesis” for sexuality and developmentalist teleology make this theorization of authoritarian formations untenable today. This article, however, identifies moments of promise in this literature, and turns to materials available to these thinkers—specifically interwar psychoanalytic theory on anxiety and economic theory on …

Defending “Western” Values: Reactionary Neoliberalism In The Americas, Gabriela Segura-Ballar

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

Right-wing populism and authoritarianism are on the rise globally after the financial crisis of 2008. This reactionary trend has widely channeled anxieties created by neoliberal insecurities into cultural and nationalistic backlash against the ostensible enemies of “Western” values (e.g., immigrants, racial and sexual minorities, feminists, and leftists). President Jair Bolsonaro’s “Brazil above everything, God above everyone” and President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” are the most conspicuous examples of the resurgence of a populist reactionary right in the Americas. This continental trend promotes ultra-nationalism and more coercive neoliberalization processes combined with a reactionary authoritarianism that celebrates essentialized “Western” values, …

Incipient Fascism: Black Radical Perspectives, Alberto Toscano

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

The sordid twilight of the Trump presidency raised the stakes of the debate on fascism. While much of the discussion has been magnetised by the legitimacy of analogies with the 1930s, this article argues that a rich and complex tradition of Black radical critique of right-wing authoritarianism provides a vital resource for thinking through the problem of US fascism beyond analogy – beginning with the DuBoisian insight that a racial fascism forged by chattel slavery and settler-colonialism anticipated the ascendancy of European fascisms. The article homes in on Black radical theories of fascism developed in the wake of the movements …