History Commons^™

Changes In Identity: How Mongolian Musicians And Performers Have Responded To Geopolitical Transition, Heather Cook

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

During Mongolia’s socialist period, traditional forms of Mongolian music were deliberately altered as the government, heavily influenced by the Soviet Union, attempted to modernize Mongolian culture. Throughout this period, traditional instruments were modified, the types of music that could be performed were strictly censored, and the structure of performances was set to strictly mimic those of Western orchestras. After Mongolia’s Democratic Revolution of 1990, the artistic freedom of Mongolian musicians has greatly increased, but even now, socialist cultural policies are deeply intertwined with Mongolian musical culture. Why is this the case? What is the common perception among performers about the …

Law Library Blog (June 2022): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

Lo Afrocubano: Exploring Afro-Cuban Culture In Music, Literature, & Art, Pre- & Post-Cuban Revolution, Grace Maffucci

Foreign Language Student Scholarship

Grace Maffucci ’22
Majors: Music Performance and Spanish
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Monica Simal, Foreign Language Studies

After the abolition of slavery in Cuba in 1886, Black Cubans struggled for equality and a place in a White-dominated society. The twentieth century brought about a deeper exploration of Afro-Cuban culture and identity through several forms of art. Despite the promise of racial equality guaranteed by Fidel Castro at the dawn of the Cuban Revolution, conversations about racial identity were silenced. This study delves into the music, literature, and art of twentieth century Afro-Cuban artists, notably poet Nicolás Guillén, painter Wilfredo Lam, and …

Changes In The Devadasi Tradition, Danika Bebe

Global Studies Student Scholarship

Danika Bebe ’23
Majors: Global Studies and Public and Community Service
Minor: Business and Innovation
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Trina Vithayathil, Global Studies

This creative research project examines the Devadasi profession in India. It seeks to understand the lived experiences of women who are temple prostitutes in current day India and their experiences of sexual exploitation and abuse. The findings from the research are shared through a poem entitled “around the sun”. A detail description of the stanzas and poem mechanism accompanies the poem.

Cultural Diplomacy With North Korean Characteristics: Pyongyang’S Exportation Of The Mass Games To The Third World, 1972–1996, Benjamin Young

Research & Publications

During the 1970s and 1980s, the communist government in Pyongyang sent Mass Games instructors to the Third World in order to improve the image of North Korea abroad and promote its version of socialist modernity. The Mass Games, a huge choreographic gymnastics event of 100,000 performers, artistically exhibited the North Korean idea of "ilsim-dangyeol (single-minded unity).” In the era of decolonization, postcolonial leaders in the emerging Third World turned to East Asia for developmental inspirations and some leaders, notably Idi Amin of Uganda, admired the North Korean model of collectivism and discipline. The Mass Games, epitomized the communalistic values of …

Flc- Implementing High Impact Practices To Address Dfwi Rates - History 140, David Yaghoubian

Q2S Enhancing Pedagogy

History 140 syllabus for Fall 2019 addressing DFWI issues.

Go Nation: Chinese Masculinities And The Game Of Weiqi In China (Book Review), Wenqing Kang

History Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

War, Fields, And Competing Economies Of Death. Lessons From The Blockade Of Leningrad, Jeffrey K. Hass

Sociology and Anthropology Faculty Publications

War can create a massive amount of death while also straining the capacity of states and civilians to cope with disposing of the dead. This paper argues that such moments exacerbate contradictions between three fields and “economies” (logics of interaction and exchange) – a political, market, and moral economy of disposal – in which order and control, commodification and opportunism, and dignity are core logics. Each logic and economy, operating in its own field, provides an interpretation of the dead that emerges from field logics of normal organization, status, and meanings of subjects (as legal entities, partners in negotiation, and …

Seeds Of The Real People: How Cherokee Folk Ways Conflicted With Colonial Culture, Christopher Gunn

Masters Theses

The diplomatic relationship between the Cherokee and English colonists (and later the United States) was complex and affected by many variables. Chief among them were the cultural differences between the two peoples and how those differences interacted. Because the two groups were from long separated and isolated continents, their cultural ways were almost entirely alien to one another, with only the shared nature of the human condition to give them any common ground. Initially they had much to offer each other, with trade and military alliance becoming the foundation of their relationship. As the two communities grew closer together, however, …

China's 80后 And 90后: The Next Generation Of Leaders In The World's Next Superpower, A Students-Teaching-Students Course, Patrick Slavin

Senior Honors Projects

In light of China’s recent reemergence as a global superpower, it is becoming increasingly important for westerners to understand its history and culture. For current college students, the culture of China’s youth is particularly pertinent.

In this project, a course, HPR 107: Chinese Youth Culture, was designed and taught through the Students-Teaching-Students program, which provides senior Honor’s Program students the opportunity to design and teach their own Honor’s Program course. The HPR 107 course focuses on China’s 80后 and 90后 generations, those born in the 1980s and 1990s, respectively.

This multi-faceted project includes: subject matter research, course development, pedagogy development, …

An Undergraduate Seminar On Irish Musical Culture In Ireland And The Irish Diaspora In America, Including The Influence Of Irish Music On Appalachian Folk Music Culture, Frieda Eakins

Masters Theses

The following project establishes a concise, yet multifaceted design for a seminar on Irish musical culture. While it was initially developed as a course for its author to teach in the undergraduate, on-ground classroom, this project provides a framework adaptable enough for use by other instructors and/or for additional music seminars. This project is unique in its two-fold purpose in that the design and resources are directed to assist the instructor with streamlining course curriculum preparation, while the course content specific to the project when utilized offers students in the undergraduate college classroom a better understanding of Irish musical culture …

Introduction: Continuity And Change In Russian Culture, Dmitri N. Shalin

Russian Culture

This project on Russian culture goes back to the Spring of 1990 when several American and Russian scholars converged at the Russian Research Center at Harvard University and decided to join forces in a study of changes sweeping the Soviet Union. From the start, the participants agreed that they would not try to chase fast breaking news from Russia -- a hopeless task given the pace of recent changes, but rather would focus on the continuity and change in Russian culture, on the long-term social forces that compel the Russian people to reexamine old ways and reevaluate old values.

Soviet Everyday Culture: An Oxymoron?, Svetlana Boym

Russian Culture

Mikhail Mishin, a Soviet satirist, wrote that Russians recognize themselves in the famous fairy-tale character Ivan the Fool. He bides his time napping on the heated furnace and gets up only to undertake major heroic feats. Ivan the Fool might be a great hero, but he has no idea how to survive his everyday life. Everyday life, captured in the Russian word byt, is a more dangerous enemy to him than the multi-headed fire-spitting dragon. The everyday is Russia 's cultural monster. The nation might worship its heroes and their fabled ability to withstand hell or high water, but …

Russian Literature In The Christian Context, Boris Paramonov

Russian Culture

In examining Russia’s cultural history one encounters an incontestable fact: the literary nature of its spirituality. At the same time, Russian literature is distinguished by its high caliber. If one examines Russia’s cultural significance in the context of the Western world, or generally attempts to evaluate the nation’s achievements on a Western European scale, one finds that Russian literature stands out with particular distinction. The West places Leo Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky on a par with Shakespeare, while Chekhov’s plays enjoy a popularity comparable with the Bard’s in the sheer number of theatrical performances, even in England, where Chekhov’s Western renown …

Norms And Survival In The Heat Of War: Normative Versus Instrumental Rationalities And Survival Tactics In The Blockade Of Leningrad, Jeffrey K. Hass

Sociology and Anthropology Faculty Publications

When war challenges civilian survival, what shapes the balance between normative and instrumental rationalities in survival practices? Increasing desperation and uncertainty can lead civilians to focus on their own material interests and to violate norms in the name of survival or gain—to the detriment of the war effort and of other civilians. Do norms, boundaries against transgressions, and considerations of collective interests and identities persist, and, if so, through what mechanisms? Using diaries and recollections from the 872-day Blockade of Leningrad (1941–1944)—an extreme case of wartime desperation—this article examines how three forms of cultural embeddedness shape variation in the strength …

Idealization And Desire In The Hundred Acre Wood: A.A. Milne And Christopher (Robin), Laura E. Bright

Honors Projects

Argues that A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner represent the conscious rejection, unconscious reproduction, and re-imaging of the author's traumatic Victorian childhood.

"You're Tearing Me Apart"! Investigating Ideology In The Image Of Teens In The 1950s, Danielle Bouchard

Honors Projects

Using cultural studies as a critical paradigm and ideological analysis as methodology, argues that gender, sexuality, and the nuclear family are core issues treated in two films and one television program from the 1950s featuring American teenagers. Focuses on the classic juvenile delinquent film, Rebel without a Cause, the quintessential clean teen film, Gidget, and the television series, Leave It to Beaver.

Why Have You Come Here? The Jesuits And The First Evangelization Of Native America. By Nicholas P. Cushner, Charlotte M. Gradie

History Faculty Publications

The article reviews the book "Why have you come here? The Jesuits and the first evangelization of Native America", by Nicholas P. Cushner.

Tattoo World, Agnieszka Marczak

Honors Projects

Presents a holistic look at the world of tattoo. Covers the history of the practice of tattooing in Europe, Asia, and the Pacific. Discusses such major issues as tattooing in relation to the body, authenticity, commodification and meaning, functions, medical and legal concerns, the impact of technological developments on the practice, and the increase in popularity of tattooing in recent decades.

The Discovery And Settlement Of The Mississippi Valley, Charles Clark Cross

Student and Lippitt Prize essays

An extensive history of the discovery and settlement of the Mississippi Valley, including references to Ponce de Leon, Hernando de Soto, Marquette, Joliet, Chevalier de Touti, La Salle and Beaujeu.