European Languages and Societies Commons^™

Blessed Assurance: A Postmodern Midwestern Life, Marcelline Hutton

Zea E-Books Collection

In this book, a historian of women’s lives turns the lens on her own experience. Her story is “Midwestern” for its work ethic, modesty, faith, and resilience; “postmodern” for its sudden changes, strange juxtapositions, and retrospective deconstruction of the ideologies that shaped its progress. It describes a life in and out of academia and a search for acceptance, recognition, equality, and freedom.

The author of three books on women’s experiences in Russia and Europe, Dr. Marcelline Hutton traces her personal journey from traditional working-class La Porte, Indiana, through college, graduate school, marriage, motherhood, divorce, and independence in Iowa City, Southampton, …

Thank You, Samizdat!, Hana Waisserova

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Faculty Publications

This autumn we celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, when a chain of events all across Central and Eastern Europe gradually brought the weakening yet persistent Communist system to its knees. Though the melt was paradoxically coming with Gorbachev’s reforms from the Kremlin, the Czech hardliners seemed to resist. They had a much stronger grasp over the society than the Communist governments of Hungary and Poland. Nevertheless, the domino effect was there and change finally came.

The geopolitics notwithstanding, sometimes we might forget that samizdat and independent literary culture played a major role …

Envisioning New Switzerland: A Founding Document For The Swiss Colonists At Vevay, Indiana, Ellen Stepleton

Zea E-Books Collection

During one of the most tumultuous decades in the history of Switzerland, a small group of Vaudois republicans chose to secure their children’s familial, cultural and spiritual patrimony by relocating to the New World. In April 1800, at Le Chenit in the Vallée de Joux, five families framed a compact intended to organize a communal settlement in the Northwest Territory. Recently discovered, their pact is presented here in its original French and in English translation, along with an accompanying letter; additionally, another letter and an English translation of the compact as prepared by Jean Jaques Dufour in 1801 is supplied. …

Coming And Going: Identity, Institutions, And The United Kingdom's Resistance To The European Union, Lauren Bruning

Honors Theses

In 2016, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, a decision widely known as ‘Brexit’. This analysis compares two competing theories – institution and identity – to explain why. Four historical events, chronologically ordered from 1945 to 2016, are examined with both identity and institution analysis to explain British integration and its subsequent withdrawal from the European Union. Through this analysis, one can conclude the United Kingdom’s decision to withdraw in 2016 stemmed from a variety of reasons, but each of these can be explained by identity (a sense of nationalism), or institution (EU relationships).

Nationalism around …

Embodied Transitions In Michel De Montaigne, Nora Martin Peterson, Peter Martin

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Faculty Publications

Sixteenth-century French philosopher Michel de Montaigne was one of the first writers to reflect on embodiment. “I am myself the matter of my book,” he proclaims in the introduction to his Essays. Montaigne writes about various moments of embodied transitions: a near-death experience, reflections on aging and cognitive decline, and a lengthy discussion of how to cope in the face of devastating loss. Taking an interdisciplinary perspective by analyzing the relationship between embodiment, health representations, and geropsychological themes, this chapter analyzes Montaigne’s in-between moments, arguing that Montaigne’s essays—innovative in their own time—remain important in discussing embodied transitions today.

Socialist Paradise, Sexual Paradise? Meditation On “Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism” (2018) By Kristen Ghodsee, Hana Waisserova

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Faculty Publications

Women have better sex under socialism claims title of Kristen Ghodsee’s recent book (2018) that highlights female economic independence as a main factor leading to greater freedom and thus more sexual pleasure for women in “socialist paradise”. This critical approach opens up new perspectives and frameworks to re-consider socialist advantages that benefit women, and it also invites further discussion of the thought-provoking premise of “female comfort and pleasure” in various socio-cultural and socio-economic orders. Though the text serves primarily as a critique of current capitalism, it also explores available frameworks and generates reasoning for current campaigns concerning women’s sexuality as …