History Commons^™

Hiding Behind The Mask Of Contradiction: A Study Of Mardi Gras And Race In New Orleans, Amy M. Jacobson

CMC Senior Theses

In my thesis, I examine the racial history of New Orleans, Louisiana, through the lens of Mardi Gras. After the introduction, I begin with the history of the celebration and its European origin, in chapter two. Then, I move onto the discovery of New Orleans. In chapter three I look at the 1811 slave rebellion in New Orleans, which was the largest in United States' history. In chapter four I explore race and Mardi Gras in the nineteenth century, and the same in chapter five, but in the twentieth century. In chapter six I look at the twenty-first century in …

The Regeneration Of Hellas: Influences On The Greek War For Independence 1821-1832, Stefanie Chan

CMC Senior Theses

The paper attempts to analyze the greater influences of the Greek War for Independence through an assessment of the greater forces of the. Enlightenment, Romanticism, and Great Power politics

The Mexican Hydra: How Calderón's Pursuit Of Peace Led To The Bloodiest War In Mexican History? Will The Mexican People Inherit A Failed State In 2012?, Marco A. Pinon-Farah

CMC Senior Theses

THE MEXICAN HYDRA: HOW CALDERÓN’S PURSUIT OF PEACE LED TO THE BLOODIEST WAR IN MEXICAN HISTORY. WILL THE MEXICAN PEOPLE INHERIT A FAILED STATE IN 2012?

Abstract

Marco Antonio Pinon-Farah

The drug-war in Mexico (2006-present) has accelerated at a chilling rate, claiming the lives of 35,000 Mexican people. Since President Felipe Calderón assumed office, Mexico has been battling an internal beast unlike any it has known, the Mexican Hydra. Like the mythical creature, the Mexican cartels have proven capable of not only combating the government forces, but also of regenerating and strengthening themselves in the face of increasing government scrutiny …

The Value Of Youth In Major League Baseball, Jason Lee

CMC Senior Theses

In the fall of 2009, the New York Yankees claimed their 27th World Series title with a team that oozed capitalism and free markets. With over $200 million committed in its annual payroll, the Yankees capitalized on a strong free-agent class and some of the best known players in the game to generate their first World Series title since 2000. The feat was impressive, but the expectation in New York is always “championship or bust.” The following season, the Yankees fell in the American League Championship Series to the Texas Rangers who would go on to lose to the San …

The Weight Of Words: Discourse, Power And The 19th Century Prostitute, Yoshan A. Kennedy-Churnac

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis discusses discourses surrounding the urban prostitute in mid-nineteenth century Paris and London. During the nineteenth century, sexuality became a topic of increasing concern and an outpouring of literature on deviant sexuality and ways to regulate it appeared from moral commentators, social scientists, and physicians. Different historical moments saw the prevalence of different approaches taken, whether it was through the moral counsel of religious pamphlets, or through the methodological approach implemented by medical journals and social surveys. My study will trace the evolution of sexual discourses on prostitutes as well as how their authors influenced attempts to regulate these …

Football, The World's Game: A Study On Football's Relationship With Society, Dominic Lo

CMC Senior Theses

This paper looks at the way football affects society. Analysis includes a look into football in Victorian England, the notorious Glaswegian Rangers-Celtic rivalry as well as the role of football in the United States during the late 20^th century.

Fear And Loathing In Los Angeles: Industrial Decentralization And The Rise And Fall Of L.A.'S Periphery, Alexander Bargmann

CMC Senior Theses

During the 1920s, Los Angeles Boosters, fearing the congestion of East coast cities,developed ideas about urban growth that emphasized industrial decentralization and urban dispersal. Before, during, and after WWII, these fears intertwined with the rise of defense related industries, particularly aviation and steel. As the city continued to grow, becoming a regional metropolis, these defense related industries, long present in Los Angeles, were brought into peripheral hubs by local boosters looking to develop places like Palmdale and Fontana. These cities grew and became, as important manufacturing and defense centers, part of the larger regional economy. These forces and boosters were …

Community In Exile: German Jewish Identity Development In Wartime Shanghai, 1938-1945, Alice I. Reichman

CMC Senior Theses

Between 1938 and 1940 approximately 18,000 Jews from Central Europe went to the Chinese city of Shanghai to escape Nazi persecution. While almost every nation in the world refused to accept these desperate refugees, thousands found refuge in Japanese occupied Shanghai, which was an open port and one could immigrate there with no visa or passport. In an incredibly short period of time the refugees were able to develop a vibrant Jewish community. Relying primarily on the testimony of former refugees, this thesis seeks to address three main questions: What did exile in Shanghai feel like for the refugees? How …

The Human Color: Rooting Black Ideology In Human Rights, A Historical Analysis Of A Political Identity, Milan Reed

CMC Senior Theses

In the 20th century the relationship between African-Americans and Africa grew into a prominent subject in the lives and perspectives of people who claim African
heritage because almost every facet of American life distinguished people based on skin color. The prevailing discourse of the day said that the way a person looked was deeply to who they were.1 People with dark skin were associated with Africa, and the notion of this connection has survived to this day. Scholars such as Molefi Kete Asante point to cultural retentions as evidence of the enduring connection between African-Americans and Africa, while any person …

Lev Trotsky And The Red Army In The Russian Civil War, 1917-1921, John M. Kelsey

CMC Senior Theses

A study of Lev Trotsky's leadership role in constructing the Red Army during the Russian Civil War. Beginning with his appointment in March 1918, Trotsky transformed the Bolsheviks' military policy to adopt more conventional fighting techniques.

The Trials Of A Comfort Woman, Erica Park

CMC Senior Theses

The trials of a comfort woman was never revealed after the conclusion of WWII. More than half a century has passed before the name was uttered on the international stage. Why the sudden break of silence? What is the response of the Japanese government. In this paper, we discuss the issue of the comfort women and the the political implications it holds on Japan. Japan's failure to accept wartime reparation, largely due to Allied intervention, has resulted in the widening gap between Japan and Asia. This paper focuses on the combination of increased US influence as a result of the …

Bolshevik For Capitalism: Ayn Rand & Soviet Socialist Realism, Peter Jebsen

CMC Senior Theses

Since the late 1950s, Russian-American novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand has been “the ultimate gateway drug to life on the right.” Her philosophy – “Objectivism” – combined militant atheism, libertarian natural rights, and a philosophical commitment to what she called “the virtue of selfishness,” and earned her the admiration of such luminaries as Alan Greenspan: a remarkable achievement for an immigrant woman who learned to speak English in her late 20s. What is less-often observed is that Rand’s work, especially her mature novels The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957), bear a close stylistic resemblance to the Soviet Socialist Realist …