History Commons^™

A Comparative Analysis Of Hiv/Aids In France And The United States: Historical Context And Preventative Actions, Rebecca A. Liebsack

Honors Theses

The HIV/AIDS pandemic is the result of transmission of a zoonotic disease known as simian immunodeficiency virus. The pandemic has had profound social and economic consequences and continues to be present today. France and the United States’ response to the discovery of HIV will be compared and the impact that HIV/AIDS had on their countries and future responses. They had rather similar responses, however, the United States had a slower initial response compared to France. Both had similar takeaways such as aiming at improving prevention and utilizing tactics developed during the start of the pandemic like frequent testing and vaccines.

A Grim End For Europe's First Civilization: The Fall Of Minoan Crete, Ashley Arp

Honors Theses

Early popular theories about the collapse of the Minoan civilization center around natural disasters, but geoarchaeological research from the past few decades has disproved these earlier theories. It is evident that the Minoan civilization continued to thrive for around a century after the volcanic eruption and subsequent tsunami that had previously been credited as the cause for the collapse. Evidence of manmade destruction has been uncovered across the island of Crete c. 1450 BCE and this period was quickly followed by a drastic cultural shift that included more Mycenaean elements than had been found on the island previously. These destructions, …

Remembering East Frisian Immigrants Who Settled Near German Valley, Illinois: A Family History Scrapbook, Derek M. Heeren

Genealogy Resources

In June of 1848, Jelle Heeren (age 25) married Taalke Park (age 15) near Rhauderfhen, East Friesland (German: Ostfriesland). One year later, on September 10, along with their infant son, they left everything that was familiar to them in Germany. Based on glowing reports of good opportunities for farming and raising a family on the American frontier, they set sail for the United States. After what must have been a traumatic voyage (including the death of their son), they entered the United States at New York City. Continuing onward, they arrived at a new East Frisian settlement in Illinois (later …

Die Deutsche Nationalversammlung Und Weimar: On The Creation Of Democracy In Weimar Germany, Jason Wendling

Honors Theses

This paper is a historical analysis of the creation of the Weimar Republic, as well as a political analysis of the Weimar Republic’s constitution. In reviewing both Weimar’s history as well as the constitution, I hope to inspire learners to look back to the Weimar Republic, and not focus primarily on the failures that led to the rise of the Nazi Regime, but rather celebrate the successes that the drafters of the constitution were able to achieve. I review the history of the 1918 November Revolution, the history and party programs of the three important parties of the Weimar Republic, …

The Evans Family: Familial Relationships In George Eliot's Life And Fiction, Hailey S. Fischer

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Biographers of George Eliot, when writing about her childhood, have focused on her close and complicated relationships with two of the most important men in her life, her father Robert Evans and brother Isaac Evans. Less discussed are Eliot’s relationships with her immediate female family members, her mother Christiana Pearson Evans and her sister Christiana (Chrissey) Evans Clarke. This thesis reviews the predominant interpretations of Eliot’s relations with her father and brother. It also pulls together the known information about Christiana and Chrissey from several major biographies and adds new insights from Eliot's letters in combination with two of her …

Keep Calm And Carry On: Uncovering The True Blitz Spirit, Lauren Niedergeses

Honors Theses

First shown by Britain’s civilian population during the Blitz, this Blitz Spirit is widely understood today as a heroic display of courage, cheerfulness, unity, and the ability to “keep calm and carry on” in the face of danger and discomfort. Drawing from radio broadcasts, photographs, propaganda posters and films, and the wartime morale reports of Mass-Observation, I seek to uncover the true Blitz Spirit and how it became an integral – if somewhat mythicized – element of Britain’s modern identity. First, I explore the emergence of the Blitz Spirit during World War II, identifying gaps between reality and propagandistic myth. …

“Hush Ma Cailín”: Irish Women And Egalitarian Nationalism, Velma Tomasova Lockman

Honors Theses

In October 1997, the members of the Army Executive of the Provisional Irish Republican Army who favored an end to the decades-long insurgency against British rule in the occupied six counties of Ireland outmaneuvered and forced the resignations of those who supported continuing the war. Among those forced to resign was the one woman on the Army Executive. She and her comrades would coalesce around Bernadette Sands McKevitt as the dissidents prepared to fight on under the banner of the Real Irish Republican Army while the majority of the insurgents laid down their arms. The Continuity Irish Republican Army simultaneously …

The Virago Paradigm Of Female Sanctity: Constructing The Masculine Woman In Medieval Christianity, Angela Bolen

Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The Latin word virago, in its simplest definition, means “a man-like, warrior woman.” For Christian men and women in the Patristic era and the central Middle Ages, the virago represented a woman who denied all biological characteristics of her womanhood, fiercely protected her virginity, and fully embodied the virtues of Christian masculinity. The virago paradigm of female sanctity, a creation of male writers, reconciled a pervasive fear of the female sex with an obvious admiration for holy women. Additionally, the virago model maintained the supremacy of masculine virtues, upheld a patriarchal hierarchy, and created a metaphorical space that validated …

The Heart Of Academia: Medieval Universities, Textbooks, And The Birth Of Academic Libraries, Christopher Proctor

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The contemporary academic library occupies a crucial role in the teaching and learning mission of universities. This centrality is perhaps best exemplified by the popular saying that the library is the heart of the university. But has this always been the case since the inception of universities in the High Middle Ages? To help answer this question, the following discussion traces the creation of universities within the medieval world, the textual traditions that informed their scholarship and pedagogy, and the later birth of academic libraries within the college and university system. The author attempts to demonstrate that the rise of …

A Historical Analysis Of The Causes Of The French And Indian War, Jake Althouse

Honors Theses

The current study attempted to answer the following research question: what were the causes of the French and Indian War between Great Britain and France in 1754? To do so, the current study researched secondary sources from a historical perspective, political theories regarding the causes of war, and primary sources from individuals involved in the build-up to conflict. Previous research by historians and political scientists have mainly attributed the causes of the French and Indian War to a security dilemma and the spiral theory of war. The current study does not support this assertion. Instead, the current study asserts that …

The Oldest Post-Truth? The Rise Of Antisemitism In The United States And Beyond, Gerald Steinacher

Department of History: Faculty Publications

Antisemitism, the negative stereotyping and hatred of Jews, has overshadowed Western history for 2000 years. In the 20th century, antisemitism led to the Shoah, the systematic state-sponsored murder of 6 million Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies. In recent decades, antisemitism diminished significantly in the Western world, and there was hope that this plague would soon be consigned to the past. On the contrary, the past few years have witnessed a drastic increase of antisemitism in Western societies, often paired with far-right activism, racism, and xenophobia. In 2017 in Charlottesville, there were hundreds of marchers giving Nazi salutes, waving …

Introduction To Antisemitism On The Rise: The 1930s And Today, Ari Kohen, Gerald Steinacher

Department of History: Faculty Publications

We live in uncertain and unsettling times. Tragically, today's global culture is rife with violent bigotry, nationalism, and antisemitism. The rhetoric is not new; it is grounded in attitudes and values from the 1930s and the 1940s in Europe and the United States. Antisemitism on the Rise is a collection of essays by some of the world's leading experts, including Joseph Bendersky, Jean Cahan, R. Amy Elman, Leonard Greenspoon, and Jurgen Matthaus, regarding two key moments in antisemitic history: the interwar period and today. Ari Kohen and Gerald J. Steinacher have collected important examples on this crucial topic to illustrate …

A Civil Society: The Public Space Of Freemason Women In France, 1744–1944, James Smith Allen

University of Nebraska Press: Sample Books and Chapters

A Civil Society explores the struggle to initiate women as full participants in the masonic brotherhood that shared in the rise of France’s civil society and its “civic morality” on behalf of women’s rights. As a vital component of the third sector during France’s modernization, freemasonry empowered women in complex social networks, contributing to a more liberal republic, a more open society, and a more engaged public culture.

James Smith Allen shows that although women initially met with stiff resistance, their induction into the brotherhood was a significant step in the development of French civil society, including the promotion of …

Towards Consortship: Performing Ritual, Intercession, And Networking In Tudor And Early Stuart England, Courtney Herber

Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Historically, the study of consorts has largely focused on how women performed the role – generally analyzing how a particular queen acted as a royal wife, mother, and manager of her household. While this makes sense as most of the consorts in English history were women, this is not the whole picture of the varied political roles of a consort. Looking at all of the foreign-born consorts in the Tudor and early Stuart years, one can clearly see that while the duties of a wife were important for the majority of individuals who took on the mantle of consort, that …

Stories That Shape Us, Lauren Dubas

Honors Expanded Learning Clubs

This club is a Mythology Club that explores popular greek myths through fun and interactive activities. These actives are designed with 4th and 5th graders in mind, and are meant to provide an interesting way to interact with the mythology material presented during each lesson. The lessons do not build off of one another, and can be used in any order and still retain understanding of that myth.

German Immigration And Its Ties To Landscape Change In Nebraska, Lindsey Labrie

Honors Theses

This thesis uses a multidimensional approach to frame the different waves of German immigration within the context of land use change in Nebraska. By recounting the historical challenges and struggles Germans faced in their homelands, this thesis provides similarities between historical immigration patterns throughout the state. Observing the timing of these movements of people paints a clearer picture of how these immigrants might have helped change the farming and cultural landscapes of Nebraska. Knowing and recognizing historical immigration in Nebraska cultivates a deeper appreciation for the current relations between immigrants and Nebraska’s physical landscape.

From Student To Citizen: The Impact Of Personal Narratives In University-Level Genocide Education, Ari Kohen, Gerald Steinacher

Department of History: Faculty Publications

What follows, then, are some of the lessons gleaned from the first ever long-term, multi-phase, interpretative case study conducted in higher education; a complete exploration and analysis of the data collected in the project is beyond the scope of this short essay. Using more than one thousand surveys, in-person interviews, and other evaluative materials gathered over the course of five years, our research team sought answers to the questions posed above and looked specifically at the ways in which certain types of instructional materials make impressions on students.

What is argued here is that narrative sources such as autobiographies, diaries, …

Rearing The Collective: The Evolution Of Social Values And Practices In Soviet Schools, 1953 – 1968, Svetlana Rasmussen

Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study examines the functioning of the Soviet school system and how the generation of Soviet children born from 1945 to 1952 internalized Soviet ideology in the school setting. The study argues that the knowledge, skill sets, and social networks Soviet schools provided the postwar generation were forged in the school collectives in the complex negotiation of suretyship relationships. Ideological and administrative agendas of the regional, city and district departments of education forced teachers and students to establish and maintain the relationships of poruka or mutual responsibility for the obligation imposed from above.

The study focuses on the administrative, teaching, …

“Against The Good Widdow No Harme We Doe Know:” Examining Aristocratic And Gentry Widows’ Roles And Influence In England From 1500-1650, Alyson D. Alvarez

Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation explores how English aristocratic and gentry women utilized their widowhoods to actively craft their personal image as well as influence and alter their communities. Free from the common law principles of coverture, English widows gained new legal autonomy. Additionally, many affluent women received substantial inheritances at the deaths of their husbands thus providing them with the financial freedom.

While widowhood offered English women new independence, it was also accompanied by a multitude of expectations. Sixteenth and seventeenth century authors and scholars developed and perpetuated specific conduct deemed appropriate for widows. The behaviors for created for widowed women contributed …

Nationalism And Education: A Case Study Of Germany And Japan, Sarah Vrtiska

Honors Theses

In this piece I ask the question: How has education contributed to the formation or prevention of nationalism in Germany and Japan? In examining this, after defining the standard conceptions of nationalism, I apply these definitions to pre-war and post-war Germany and Japan. Ultimately, I conclude that the goals of education, concepts of national identity that are taught, history curricula, and control of education all historically have the potential to contribute to the rise of nationalism within a country. Based on these fields, I find that although there are similar nationalist trends in both countries during the pre-war period, in …

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. …

Englands Happie Queene: Female Rulers In Early English History, Emily Benes

Honors Theses

This paper examines the historical records and later literature surrounding three early mythic and historical British queens: Albina, mythic founder of Albion; Cordelia, pre-Roman queen regnant in British legend; and Boudica, the British leader of a first-century CE rebellion against the Romans. My work focuses on who these queens were, what powers they were given, and the mythos around them. I examine when they appear in the historical record and when their stories are expanded upon, and how those stories were influenced by the political culture of England through the early seventeenth century. In particular, I examine English attitudes toward …

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 …

The Importance Of Frankfurt Printing Before 1550. Sebald Beham Moves From Nuremberg To Frankfurt, Alison Stewart

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Faculty Publications and Creative Activity

Five hundred years ago, Sebald Beham had reasons enough to leave Nuremberg and more than enough reasons to move to Frankfurt. That town's attraction as a printing center became one of the factors that resulted in Beham's settling permanently in the city on the Main in 1531, leaving behind his home town of Nuremberg, best known as the artistic center of the Renaissance master Albrecht Durer. Despite the high regard the Franconian town and Durer received, the authorities there did not treat other painters in Durer's circle particularlywell. The dubbing of Beham as 'godless painter' in 1525 constituted one of …

W. G. Sebald’S Austerlitz : Architecture As A Bridge Between The Lost Past And The Present, Rumiko Handa

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Architecture has a way of bringing the past to the present for us. It is an important asset, for the experience of the past constitutes a positive moment in our everyday conduct of life, allowing a contemplation on our existential meaning. It is an often neglected aspect, as it lies outside of architecture's aesthetic, functional, or structural realms. Mechanisms at work in effectuating this feature can vary, among which the following are notable: A building may commemorate a particular event or individual by being a monument. A building may refer to the time of its origin by way of its …

Viewing Heaven: Rock Crystal, Reliquaries, And Transparency In Fourteenth-Century Aachen, Claire Kilgore

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

This thesis examines reliquaries and objects associated with medieval Christian practice in fourteenth-century Aachen. The city's cathedral and treasury contain prestigious relics, reliquaries, and liturgical items, aided by its status as the Holy Roman Empire's coronation church. During the reign of Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV (r. 1349-1378), reliquaries, pilgrimage, and architecture reflect late medieval interests in vision, optics, and transparency. Two mid-fourteenth century reliquaries from the Aachen Cathedral Treasury, the Reliquary of Charlemagne and the Three-Steepled Reliquary, display relics through rock crystal windows, in contrast to the obscuring characteristics of earlier reliquaries. Not only do the two reliquaries visually …

Review Of La Memoria De Los Maquis: Miradas Sobre La Guerrilla Antifranquista, By Rachel Linville., Iker González-Allende

Spanish Language and Literature

Este libro analiza la representación de los guerrilleros antifranquistas, conocidos más popularmente como “los maquis,” en la narrativa y el cine españoles desde 1936 hasta 2010. Como explica la autora, el término “maquis” se usaba en su origen para referirse a los que participaron en la resistencia francesa contra los nazis entre 1940 y 1945, entre los que había españoles exiliados que posteriormente regresaron a España para oponerse a la dictadura de Franco (11). Uno de los aciertos del libro es que recoge la producción literaria y fílmica de los dos bandos, el franquista y el republicano, comparando la manera …

Behind The Shadows, Selena Ramirez Ahilon

Nebraska College Preparatory Academy: Senior Capstone Projects

The nineteenth century is classified as the Victorian era, a period in which the middle class rose in power as a result of industrialization. As the middle classes living standards rose the middle class became reliant on utilitarianism values. This ideal appeared to offer a more comfortable life for both men and women, however, by classifying the position of women as the “heart” and men as the “head” of the house, women were hindered to a society in shadows. Women were restricted in every aspect of life because men were in power, and the ideal Victorian woman became the one …

Jonathan Swift: Ideology And Influences, Ricky Romero

Nebraska College Preparatory Academy: Senior Capstone Projects

This project will analyze the ideology and influences Irish author and satirist, Jonathan Swift had in cultivating theories on society/economy and thoughts especially relevant in his novel Gulliver’s Travels. The information is worth noting because of the bigger than life themes he suggests in liberal thoughts and social interactions between people. Ultimately, remorseful thoughts on monotheistic governments, European influences, and pro-world-peace examples were found as prominent ideas conveyed by Jonathan Swift.

Overall, it is morally correct to agree with Jonathan Swift’s ideology of a world based upon freedom and liberty. It is fairly simple to sympathize with Swift’s thoughts on …

Acercamiento Al Pensamiento Mágico Y La Superstición En El Discurso Literario De La Primera Modernidad Española: Miguel De Cervantes Y María De Zayas, Miguel Magdaleno Santamaria

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this thesis is to serve as a first approach to magical thinking and superstition in the literary discourse of Early Modern Spain, by examining these topics in Miguel de Cervantes’ first Quijote (1605) and María de Zayas’ Novelas Amorosas y Ejemplares (1637). The methodology followed in this thesis fundamentally includes the points of view of four fields of study. These are: anthropology, history, literature and historical linguistics. Accordingly, this study is thematically divided into four big sections: first, a discussion around the concept of ‘magical thinking’ in relation to religion (from an anthropological point of view); second, …