History Commons^™

Desperate Democrats In The Reagan Revolution: A Party Determined To Win The White House, Matthew Maxwell Akins

Senior Independent Study Theses

Bill Clinton’s 1992 election to the presidency as a Democrat ended a series of defeats for that party on the presidential level. Clinton may have won the White House, but he did not do it alone. In the decade before his victory, the “New Democrats” worked to moderate the Democratic Party from within, responding to the presidential losses of 1980, 1984, and 1988. Scholars have explored this topic from many angles, but none have explored it from the perspective of these “New Democrats” in a way that traces their story from Al From and Gillis Long to the DLC and …

The Nana Yaa Asantewaa War: Analysis Of The Political Institutions Of The Asante During The War Of The Golden Stool And The Existing Narratives, Angela Danso Gyane

Senior Independent Study Theses

The War of the Golden Stool was the last in the Anglo-Asante Wars, where the Asante fought against the British colonial agenda. According to the Asante oral history, Nana Yaa Asantewaa was at the forefront of this war. She was the commander, but most of the literature to not reflect this oral history. Therefore, this study seeks to address two essential questions: how did gender dynamics in the Asante Kingdom's political system shape their Resistance against the British in 1900- 01? Moreover, how does the analysis of oral histories from the matrilineal culture of the Asante decenter Western narratives of …

Visit Which Scotland? Political Events Illuminating Two Competing Visions Of Re-Emerging Scottish Identity Since The Late Twentieth-Century, Erin W. Delaney

Senior Independent Study Theses

Since the late twentieth century, Scotland has undergone a series of political changes. I argue that a consequence of these changes has been increased support for a separate national Scottish identity. By analyzing competing visions of this identity through the tourism industry and Gaelic revival, this IS shows the complexities of this move towards nationalism. While many scholars have analyzed the re-emergence of Scottish identity since 1707, the relationship between Gaelic revival efforts and the tourism industry have not been connected to show the complexities of this re-emerging Scottish identity. This IS draws on a vast array of interdisciplinary sources …

Whitewashed: A Look Into The Evolution Of Race Conversations In American Classrooms, Lily M. Walters

Senior Independent Study Theses

This paper seeks to follow the evolution of race conversations in the classroom through generations of people after the Civil War. My thesis is that curriculum excluded positive mentions of Black people after the Civil War until the Civil Rights Movement, when Black individuals crafted a more accurate and impartial curriculum. American curriculum’s exclusion of positive Black representation left white people unable to have positive race conversations in general. Additionally, through a case study of my family, I examine how generations of people shaped their ideas on race through conversations. The written portion of my IS begins with curriculum from …

Whose Line Is It Anyway? Rhetoric, Pathology, And The Jewish Race In Late Victorian England, Stephanie G. Pokras

Senior Independent Study Theses

This thesis examines how both late Victorian Anglo-Jews and Gentiles used rhetoric of race science and Jewish pathology to encode lines of difference, as well as the relationship between these discourses. My first chapter analyzes the role of Gentile discourse of disease and disability as the foundation of late Victorian anti-Semitism. My second chapter focuses on Jewish ‘expert’ engagement with race science. In this chapter, I argue that contrary to the dominant historical narrative, not only was the Jewish community engaged with race science, but their scholarly conversations were dynamic and diverse. Ideas about race and pathology became central to …

We're All A Little Bit Gay: Female Homoeroticism In Greek Art, Devon A. Matson

Senior Independent Study Theses

This study provides a close analysis of women in artwork from Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic Greece (700-30 BC). Such images have traditionally been considered from exclusively heteronormative and androcentric perspectives. I employ queer and feminist theory in an attempt to provide a new understanding of the images present on these examples of ancient art which showcase women’s relationships. I examine a terracotta figure, a stamnos, a psykter, and a cup that display women interacting with one another. Their interactions demonstrate both homosocial and homoerotic relations. In an effort to reach a broader audience, I have curated a digital exhibit that …

Contested Commemoration: The Relationship Between Politics And The Memorialization Of The Second World War In Polish Literature, Cinema, And Museums (1945-Present), Alexandria Joyner

Senior Independent Study Theses

This study examines the relationship between politics and the memory of the Second World War in Polish literature, cinema, and museums from 1945-Present. I argue that the memory of the Second World War has changed radically over the last seventy- five years as the Polish government, in both the communist and post-communist periods, pursued a politics of memory. I build this argument first by identifying three political turning points that caused the communist government to confront and reevaluate the narrative they promoted about the war: 1945, 1956, and 1967. I include a fourth turning point, 1989, to show how post-communist …

Remembering The City: An Augmented Reality Reconstruction Of Memory, Power, And Identity In Ho Chi Minh City Through Cartography & Architecture, Thuy Dinh

Senior Independent Study Theses

Cartography and architecture are official channels that facilitate remembrance in Ho Chi Minh City. Maps and buildings serve as sites for actors of memory to manipulate the city's narratives and shape its collective identity. Power enables the production of space and knowledge through sites of memory. The ruling regimes of Ho Chi Minh City have leveraged control over the natural environment and the local population to create new forms of materials that propagate their ideologies and ideals for the city. Alterations to the natural and built environments in the city legitimize the authorities' official narratives for its history and future …

Boy Meets War: A Critical And Creative Analysis Of Civilian Masculinities In Britain During The Second World War, Savanna Hitlan

Senior Independent Study Theses

During the Second World War, the hegemonic masculinity, that is, the dominant masculinity, resided with the Royal Air Force (RAF). Pilots epitomized what it meant to be a man in war due to their heroics in the Battle of Britain. Civilian masculinities therefore had to negotiate their identities to fit their new roles in society. The two types of civilian men that I mainly look at are men in the reserved occupations and conscientious objectors. I examine this question: how did cultural representations portrayed by the government affect the civilian men on the homefront? Furthermore, I explore how these men …

Pedagogía Política: Un Análisis De La Enseñanza De La Dictadura De Pinochet Y Los Derechos Humanos En Chile, Emily Elizabeth Xiubei Beuter

Senior Independent Study Theses

As Chileans continue to struggle with reconciling with their past in post-dictatorial Chile, this same struggle plays out in the classroom with the teaching of the dictatorship and human rights. While there is a vast corpus on memory historiography and pedagogy literature, researchers have overlooked the role of teaching in memory formation and the perspectives of those actively forming student memory. This study analyzes how various spheres of education on the dictatorship and human rights reflect larger societal tensions and are themselves spheres of contested memory. Further, I argue for complexity as there are numerous educational spheres who are in …

An 'Answer To Hopes And Dreams': Utopianism, Progressivism, And The American Spatial Tradition In The New Deal Resettlement Community Of Greenhills, Ohio, Jared M. Berg

Senior Independent Study Theses

The purpose of this project is to explain what historical forces led to the construction of Greenhills, Ohio. The goal is to show that Greenhills is one example in a very long line of planned residential communities in American history which have been designed in order to solve contemporary societal issues. This has been done by examining how Americans have constructed space in preceding planned communities. Upon examining these examples, it is clear that Greenhills is very much part of what I identify as an American spatial tradition, a community which especially borrows from the utopian and progressive elements of …

“Marching Mothers”: The Battle For Desegregation In Cleveland Public Schools, 1957-1976, Theresa Dunne

Senior Independent Study Theses

In 1957, the Cleveland Municipal School District’s (CMSD) Board of Education implemented a relay program to address issues of overcrowding in Cleveland public schools. Solely affecting schools that served a predominately black student body on Cleveland’s rigidly segregated East Side, this program split the school day into two three-and-a-half hour sessions to accommodate increasing student body sizes, shortening the school day for African American pupils by an hour-and-a-half compared to the five hours in the classroom given to white peers. As mothers of children on the relay program realized that this was the Board of Education’s permanent solution to overcrowding, …

For Country, Liberty, And Money: Privateering And The Ideologies Of The American Revolution, Scott D. Wagner

Senior Independent Study Theses

Along with service in the Continental Army and Navy and the various state militias, American patriots during the Revolutionary War had the option of sailing aboard privateers, private ships authorized to attack British commerce during the war. Where studies analyzing other military forces during the Revolution have been more nuanced, scholars that have looked at privateering have either focused on its strategic effectiveness during the conflict or merely written it off as a profit-driven phenomenon of maritime plunder. Privateering played a role in the course of the Revolution to a degree, but more importantly the practice was influenced by the …

"Don't Read This!": Lemony Snicket And The Control Of Youth Reading Autonomy In Late-Nineteenth-Century Britain, Brittany A. Previte

Senior Independent Study Theses

This independent study investigates adult authority in youth literature in late-nineteenth-century Britain. Examining both sensational literature known as “penny dreadfuls” and the didactic magazines The Boy’s Own Paper and The Girl’s Own Paper, this project analyzes how rhetoric enforced middle class ideology outside of the classroom and shaped the youth reading experience. In an urbanizing, industrializing Britain, anxiety about social mobility ran high, and youth consumption of penny dreadfuls received suspicion due to their supposedly subversive content. This study argues that penny dreadfuls actually reinforced the social order, mirroring didactic literature in their construction of conservative adult authority. In …

It’S A Bird! It’S A Plane! No, It’S Just My I.S.: An Historical Exploration Of Superheroes And American Identity, Caroline G. Breul

Senior Independent Study Theses

This Independent Study traces the changing notions of what makes a superhero “super” throughout periods in American history. By doing three case studies on popular heroes in distinct eras, this study reveals that superhero comics have been growing steadily more overtly political, in ways that are increasingly subversive. I approach Wonder Woman in the 60s, Batman in the late 80s, and Captain America in the early 2000s, and tackle each moment individually. 60s Wonder Woman is not as stale as comic book enthusiasts suggest, and in fact reveals a progressive view of womanhood that contrasted sharply with the reigning view …

In Black And White: The Sociopolitical Rhetoric Surrounding Anti-Miscegenation Attitudes In Ohio, Sarah Mccrea

Senior Independent Study Theses

In this study, I argue that the appearance of anti-miscegenation writings in Ohio spiked during periods that saw massive threats to the notion of white male supremacy, such as the months just prior to the onset of the Civil War, several especially tense points during the Civil War and the Reconstruction period, and the early to middle years of the 1880s. During these times, Ohioans used at least one of three major rhetorical strategies—each of which coincided with a major trend in national events and politics—to justify and explain their anti-miscegenation attitudes.

When the Ohio State Legislature first debated the …

Still A Rivalry: Contrasting Renaissance Sodomy Legislation In Florence And Venice, Nicolaus J. Hajek

Black & Gold

The article focuses on comparing the functions of two institutions that castigated sodomy in Renaissance Italy: Florence’s the Office of the Night, and Venice’s Council of Ten. The author analyzes court cases from both Renaissance institutions as well as other first hand accounts of the culture of male sodomy in the region, explaining that Florence’s persecution of homosexual behavior was a secular tool to check the power of any political threat, while Venitian persecution originated from a theological mandate to save sinners from relinquishing their eternal salvation.

Masculine Space: The Final Frontier; A Historical Analysis Of The Spatial Politics Of Gender Through The New Woman’S Access To Brassieres, Bicycles, And Higher Education In The United States From 1890-1930, Shelby Kirst Goldman

Senior Independent Study Theses

1890-1930 was a time of major social and cultural shifts as the Victorian conventions clashed with progressive and changing ideas of gender, race, and class, resulting in the liberated American New Woman. This thesis examines the transition of the opportunities for increased physical movement for women allotted by the popularization of the brassiere, bicycle, and access to higher education. Examining the brassiere and bicycles’ impact on women’s liberation lends insight into how the physical placement and movement of female bodies confronted gender norms, while expansion of women’s education made women intellectual threats to the patriarchal structure. My analysis of advertisements …

American Quaker Activism: Emerging Leadership, Evolving Faith, And Extraordinary Change, Catherine Gillette

Senior Independent Study Theses

This project examines the involvement of American Quakers in social justice and peace movements in U.S. history. Specifically, it focuses on three case studies--the Quaker involvement in abolishing slavery, the Alabama Quakers who moved to Monteverde, Costa Rica, and the Quaker activists of the Vietnam War Era.

Mastering The Patrol: A Look At The Importance Of Training For American Pilots In The Battle Of The Atlantic, Ethan M. Feinstein

Senior Independent Study Theses

This thesis studies the role of training in the Allied victory in the Battle of the Atlantic. I argue that training played a significant role in this decisive battle in World War II. I detail the different stages of training for both the Navy and Army Air Force.

For The General Diffusion Of Knowledge: Social, Juvenile And Mercantile/Mechanic Libraries In Colonial America And The Early Republic, Gwenlyn Symons

Senior Independent Study Theses

This thesis examines the evolving educational purposes of social, juvenile, and mercantile/mechanic libraries in British North America from 1731 to 1830. Analyzing contemporary accounts about these libraries, their book catalogs, and social libraries' rules and regulations demonstrates that these institutions constructed their educational missions in response to regional attitudes towards education, republicanism, social attitudes towards children and youth, and educational reform movements. Parallels can be drawn from this work to modern ideas about the role of public libraries that explains our attitudes towards libraries in education and society today.

Talking Black And Sleeping White... Talking White And Sleeping Black: A Socio-Legal Examination Of Interracial Marriage In America, Kailey J. Schwallie

Senior Independent Study Theses

A historical socio-legal examination of interracial marriage and the transformation of the institution of marriage in the United States from 1883 to 1967. Focuses on miscegenation legislation, the social and legal reasons behind bans on interracial marriage, and the progressive liberalization of society and concurrent legal changes, which resulted in an overturning of the legal prohibitions on interracial marriage. This thesis presents a close examination of three critical Supreme Court cases in regard to interracial marriage, and the social climate of American race relations at the time of each case. There is also a comparison drawn between the historical debate …

Klotzen, Nicht Kleckern (Strike Together, Not Divided!): The Panzer Divisions As New Dominating Strategy Of Modern Warfare, Stefano Alianelli

Senior Independent Study Theses

The beginning of the Second World War was dominated by a new type of strategy developed by German General Heinz Guderian that overwhelmed the Allied armies in Poland and France. Guderian argued that the best way to win on the battlefield and avoid the stalemate of World War I should be done through the use of tanks grouped together in formation: the product of this strategy was embodied in the Panzer divisions that, through mobility and coordination of multiple weapons, were able to breach the enemy's defensive lines with devastating effects.

Resisting Colonialism: Cultural Syncretism, Indigenous Agency And Exploition In Colonial Potosí, Isaac Galef-Brown

Senior Independent Study Theses

I analyze the transition indigenous peoples made from their native Andean communities to the Spanish colonial city of Potosí­ in modern day Bolivia. Although most historic study focuses on the infamous mita system of forced indigenous labor, I study the transition through the indigenous lens to find example of their economic gains as well as the cultural interactions they had with Spaniards. This alternative focus gives Potosí's past a very different characterization, defined less by exploitation and more by cultural syncretism.

Re-Framing The Slaughter: Remembering The Rwandan Genocide, Jordan C. Broutman

Senior Independent Study Theses

This project looks at both official and silenced discourse pertaining to Rwandan genocide remembrance. I look specifically at discourse at museums, memorials, memoir, and film. I argue that the Rwandan state exists in the midst of a political conflict that has produced dual memories of victimization. While the genocidal violence inflicted on Tutsi should be commemorated as uniquely cruel and inhumane, many Hutu experienced similar acts of genocide in the 1972 Burundian genocide and in eastern Congo at the hands of the Rwandan Patriotic Front. The Rwandan state faces the challenge of rebuilding in a context in which both sides …

Social Relevance Of Speakeasies: Prohibition, Flappers, Harlem, And Change, Joseph Collins

Senior Independent Study Theses

This Independent Study looks at the various aspects of speakeasies during Prohibition, and social changes that occurred during this time for Women and African Americans. Flappers were the main focus when discussing the social changes for women. The Harlem Renaissance, Jazz, the Great Migration, and Prohibition were topics covered when discussing the social changes of African Americans.

Whose Britain Is This Anyway: Questioning Race, Class, Immigration And Nationality In Great Britain Between 1948 And 2011, Christina Jayne Cruce

Senior Independent Study Theses

This work discusses how questions of race, class, immigration and nationality have changed since 1948. To answer it I looked at the 1981 Brixton race riot and the 2011 UK urban youth riots. I argue that, despite improvements in black and white race relations, British society has continued to discriminate against black-Brits on multiple levels. I have also found that since the 1980s there has been a governmental and, more generally, a societal neglect of the working-class population as a whole. In regards to the findings of other scholars and historians, my work looks at both urban, poor blacks and …

Gender Divide: Re-Examining The Feminization Of Teaching In The Nineteenth Century With Emphasis On The Displaced Male Teacher, Matthew Fegan

Senior Independent Study Theses

This thesis explores the intersection of the formalization of schools and the feminization of teaching in the nineteenth century. Specifically, it shares the perspective of the displaced male teacher who often re-located into newly formed administrative positions in the field of education.

Chilean Cultural Identity: A Case Study Of Contemporary Mapuche Poetry, La Identidad Cultural Chilena: Un Caso De Estudio De La Poesía Mapuche Contemporánea, Christopher Culbertson

Senior Independent Study Theses

The topic is approached in three different manners: hybrid theory, academic perspectives, and poetry analysis. An application of hybrid theory facilitates the understanding of cultural identity within Chile. A discussion by three Chilean professors reveals the important themes of geographic location, generation, and language in both the production and reception of written contemporary Mapuche poetry. An analysis of selected of written Mapuche poetry depicts the unique conceptualizations of identity by contemporary Mapuche poets. As a result, this independent study shows how written contemporary Mapuche poetry is an appropriate indicator of the evolution of Mapuche hybrid identity.

Rex Quondam, Rexque Futurus: Arthurian Legends As Indicators Of British National Identity Throughout History, Audrey Ellen Wimbiscus

Senior Independent Study Theses

By looking at the texts of Arthurian legends such as Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, T.H. White's The Once & Future King, and Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon, one can gain a historical perspective of the time in which each work was written. Through this historical perspective and by looking at each author's personal life, a picture of Great Britain's national identity at the time of writing can be seen. As such, the Arthurian Cycle can be used to exemplify British national identity throughout history.