Geography Commons^™

Creando Las Estrellas: Determining The Quality Of The Dominican And Cuban Player Development Systems, Samuel C. Hearn

Honors Theses

Recently, there has been a huge rise in the number of Cuban ballplayers, or peloteros, as the baseball playing Latinos are known. Why do Major League Baseball (MLB) teams go to such lengths to sign Cubans, when a heavy presence already exists in Cuba’s Caribbean neighbor, the Dominican Republic? Through the comparison educational systems, statistics of each country’s elite players, and comparative accounts of the Dominican and Cuban player development systems, the contrast between the two systems is evident. Though the Dominican system creates a large return in the investment MLB teams make in the country, the socialized sport system …

Climb To The Ice, Richard Vaughan

Richard Vaughan

The article, originally presented as a lecture, discusses George Bird Grinnell's 1887 climb of the Montana glacier that eventually become known as Grinnell Glacier. Grinnell’s efforts to establish Glacier National Park are detailed. Grinnell's previously unpublished descriptions of the glacier and its surrounding area are analyzed by the author. Originally delivered as a lecture at the Montana History Conference, October 2, 2010. Full issue available at: http://issuu.com/um_crown_gye/docs/crownofthecontinent-autumn2012

To The Ice: George Bird Grinnell's 1887 Ascent Of Grinnell Glacier, Richard Vaughan

Richard Vaughan

This article discusses a climbing expedition undertaken by U.S. conservationist George Bird Grinnell to ascend what would come to be known as Grinnell Glacier in Montana. Grinnell’s efforts to establish Glacier National Park are detailed. Grinnell’s previously unpublished descriptions of the glacier and its surrounding area are analyzed by the author.

Broad Are Nebraska's Rolling Plains: The Early Writings Of George Bird Grinnell, Richard Vaughan

Richard Vaughan

Profiles the life of writer George Bird Grinnell (1849-1938) and the influence his first trip to Nebraska had in shaping his early writings about the American West. Among the works he published were several groundbreaking books about the Plains Indians of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Not only did this 1870 trip to Nebraska, as a member of O. C. Marsh’s first Yale Paleontological Expedition, influence Grinnell's scholarly endeavors, but his deep interest in the state also influenced his lifelong devotion to environmental preservation and established him as an important advocate for the protection and welfare of Native …

Mdocs Poster-2015-11-11, Sixty Years Young, Michael Zhou

MDOCS Publications

In support of the 60th anniversary of the Adult and Senior Center of Saratoga, Skidmore students prepared a video and exhibition, Sixty Years Young, drawing on the Center's archives and interviews, documenting its past, present and hopes for the future.

China's Nine-Dashed Map: Continuing Maritime Source Of Geopolitical Tension, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

The South China Sea (SCS) is becoming an increasingly contentious source of geopolitical tension due to its significance as an international trade route, possessor of potentially significant oil and natural gas resources, China’s increasing diplomatic and military assertiveness, and the U.S.’ recent and ongoing Pacific Pivot strategy. Countries as varied as China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia and other adjacent countries have claims on this region’s islands and natural resources. China has been particularly assertive in asserting its SCS claims by creating a nine-dash line map claiming to give it de facto maritime control over this entire region without regard to …

Transportation And Sanitation Drivers Of Land Use/Land Cover Change: Loss Of The Jamaica Bay Wetlands, Margaret Joy Cytryn

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents an analysis (1830-2014) of the historical events of land use/land cover change in the Jamaica Bay estuary, identification of the agents of change, and a perspective on the potential drivers of transportation and sanitation in land use/land cover change.

Delta Narratives: Saving The Historical And Cultural Heritage Of The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, Steve Boilard, Robert Benedetti, Margit Aramburu, Gregg Camfield, Philip Garone, Jennifer Helzer, Reuben Smith, William Swagerty, Marcia Eymann, Tod Ruhstaller, David Stuart, Leigh Johnsen, Dylan Mcdonald, Michael J. Wurtz, Blake Roberts, Margo Lentz-Meyer

College of the Pacific Faculty Reports

From August 2014 through July 2015, the Delta Narratives project, on contract to the Delta Protection Commission, addressed two questions. First, in what ways does the historical experience of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta contribute to an understanding of key themes in regional and American history? Second, how might Delta stories gain wider appreciation within the region, throughout Northern California, and among people in the rest of California and beyond?

Scholars on the project team documented ways the history of the Delta illustrates trends in land management and reclamation, technological shifts in transportation and agriculture, the impact of ethnicity and labor …

An Eerie Jungle Filled With Dragonflies, Sniper Bullets And Ghosts: Changing Perceptions Of Vietnam And The Vietnamese Through The Eyes Of American Troops, Matthew M. Herrera

Masters Theses

This thesis examines the changing perceptions of Vietnam’s landscape and the Vietnamese in the eyes of American troops throughout the Vietnam War. Throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Vietnamese were depicted as a people misguided by the French and in need of political mobilization by the American media and government. Following heavy investment and a rigged election in 1956, South Vietnam was painted as a beacon of democracy in Southeast Asia and an example of what American aid is capable of. As an increasing American military presence was being established in South Vietnam in the early 1960s, American …

Forest Prairie Edge: Place History In Saskatechewan By Merle Massie, Matthew Zantingh

The Goose

Matthew Zantingh reviews Merle Massie's Forest Prairie Edge: Place History in Saskatechewan.

Review Of Developing Quantitative Literacy Skills In History And The Social Sciences: A Web-Based Common Core Approach By Kathleen W. Craver, Victor J. Ricchezza, H L. Vacher

Numeracy

Kathleen W. Craver. Developing Quantitative Literacy Skills in History and Social Sciences: A Web-Based Common Core Standards Approach (Lantham MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc., 2014). 191 pp.
ISBN 978-1-4758-1050-9 (cloth); ISBN …-1051-6 (pbk); ISBN…-1052-3 (electronic).

This book could be a breakthrough for teachers in the trenches who are interested in or need to know about quantitative literacy (QL). It is a resource providing 85 topical pieces, averaging 1.5 pages, in which a featured Web site is presented, described, and accompanied by 2-4 critical-thinking questions purposefully drawing on data from the Web site. The featured Web sites range from …

Constructing Childhood: Place, Space And Nation In Argentina, 1880-1955, Melissa Malone

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

During the vastly transformative stages of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, notions of the urban and definitions of childhood mutually intersected to create and define a modern Argentine landscape. The construction of new urban environments for children defined and reflected larger liberal elites’ definitions of childhood writ large. To better understand the production of this modern childhood in Argentina, this dissertation examines its other through the spatial-discourses behind constructions of childhood for the socio-economic lower classes - children who largely did not meet the expectations of the elite.

I employ the use of both published and archival sources, …

Dialogical Interspecies Ethics: Ataraxia, Desire And Hope In The Post-Human World Of Anne Carson's Pastoral, Thomas Bristow Dr

The Goose

This review essay implicitly revisits human and non-human power relations within a critical animal studies context that understands the affective conjunction between the manipulation of our worlds (action, partly through knowledge) and degrees of involvement with these others that live in our worlds (comportment via emotions). I take Louise Westling’s new study as the platform for an analysis of two book-length poems, The Autobiography of Red (1998) and red doc> (2013), which centre on the life of a shepherd, Geryon. Rather than revisit classical pastoral, these texts extract power-relations that classical myth and pastoral spatialise. In so doing, I argue, …

The Foundation Of Cistercian Monasteries In France 1098-1789: An Historical Gis Evaluation, Jon Eric Klingenberg Rasmussen

Masters Theses

Historical geography focuses upon those relationships which have shaped the evolution of place and landscape over time. One fundamental approach used to achieve this objective is the set of theories associated with spatial diffusion. This includes the spatial and chronological paths, the periodicities and rates of spread, as well as the identification of areas of void or avoidance. An emerging trend in historical geography is the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). A GIS provides the researcher with the necessary tools to re-evaluate and challenge long-standing interpretations of any given event, historical or otherwise, as well as develop new insights …

Central Government And Secession, Tyler Zuch

Political Science Capstone Research Papers

Governments and countries throughout history have risen and fallen while some have carried on through the years. However, some countries look very different from when they existed in previous times. Rulers and leaders have utilized many responses to rebellions and secessionist movements. These responses range from bloody and/or political repression, devolution, simply declaring secession unconstitutional or illegal, economic concessions/incentives, or even simply ignoring the problem. There is not only the debate as to what is the best way to put down a rebellion or secessionist movement, but also what is the right/moral response that the government should do to keep …

Sanaaq: An Inuit Novel By Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk, Translated By Bernard Saladin D’Anglure, Zoe Todd

The Goose

Review of Sanaaq: An Inuit Novel by Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk and translated by Bernard Saladin d’Anglure.

Introducing Crhr Research Reports, Robert Z. Selden Jr.

CRHR Research Reports

Intruduction to CRHR Research Reports.

Trammel's Trace On Printed Maps Of The 19th Century, Kelley A. Snowden

CRHR Research Reports

Trammel’s Trace was a nineteenth century road that traversed East Texas. Recognized today as a historic cartographic feature, this road appeared in different ways on nineteenth century printed published maps over time, and in the mid-to-late nineteenth century was reduced from a route to a fragment. This study is the first to examine the portrayal of the Trace as a historic cartographic feature, how it was presented to the general public, how its portrayal changed over time, and why it appears on the maps at all. In addition, this study is the first to use geographic information systems (GIS) to …

Animals As Neighbours: The Past And Present Of Commensal Animals By Terry O'Connor, Derek Woods

The Goose

Review of Terry O'Connor's Animals as Neighbours: The Past and Present of Commensal Animals.

Using Historic Maps From The Congressional Serial Set And Nineteenth Century Collections Online, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Creative Materials

Historic maps can be used to document all kinds of history: political, military, economic, business, scientific, religious, cultural, genealogy, diplomatic etc. Databases such as ProQuest Congressional and Nineteenth Century Collections Online (NCCO) offer many ways to help users study the past through maps.

The Discourse Of Souls In Tana Toraja (Indonesia): Indigenous Notions And Christian Conceptions, Kathleen M. Adams

Kathleen M. Adams

No abstract provided.

Woodland Period Sites In The Middle Trinity River Basin, Houston And Madison Counties, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

CRHR Research Reports

Woodland period sites of the inland Mossy Grove tradition are common in the middle Trinity River basin in East central Texas. The study of lands along the Trinity River and several tributaries in Houston and Madison counties identified an abundance of Woodland period sites dating from 2155-1180 years B.P. on alluvial landforms and terraces as well as upland landforms overlooking the Trinity River floodplain. Several of these Woodland period sites have midden deposits and features that are indicative of more intensive and permanent settlements along the Trinity River, and the earlier Woodland period sites are marked by Gary and Kent …

Cultural Implications Of Late Quaternary Environmental Change In Northeastern Texas, Michael B. Collins, C. Britt Bousman

CRHR Research Reports

Northeastern Texas is one of the most intensely studied archaeological regions of the state, principally for the two reasons that (1) archaeologically-rich Caddoan manifestations have long attracted interest and (2) many large land-modifying projects, such as reservoirs and strip mines, have occasioned environmental studies which include investigations of cultural resources. This greater amount of activity relative to other regions in the state has generally prevailed for more than a century (Guy 1990) and prospects are good that archaeologists will continue to intensely research the area in the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, however, they will be hard-pressed to keep pace with the …

3d Scan Data Of Caddo Burial Vessels From The Mcspadden Site Near Frankston, Texas, Robert Z. Selden Jr.

CRHR Research Reports

In the spring of 2013, three Caddo burial vessels from an unrecorded site near Frankston, Texas were documented at the McSpadden residence in College Station, Texas. All three vessels are intact and are not reconstructed. Scan data was collected using a ZScanner 700CX running VXElements 2.0 via the scanner direct control function in Geomagic Design X. Post-processing of these data occurred in Design X, and quality control for missing data leveraged both Design X and Verify. These data will be used in a study aimed at the 3D geometric morphometric analysis of Caddo vessels. In addition to the study of …

Swenson Center Report, Dr. Christopher Strunk

Swenson Center Faculty Research Stipend Reports

As a migration scholar, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to spend a week this summer conducting research in the Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center. During my three years at Augustana, my students and I have explored urban development and recent patterns of immigrant and refugee settlement in the Quad Cities. In places like the Floreciente neighborhood of Moline, located about a mile from Augustana’s campus on the west side of the city, the Mexican and Mexican American community is transforming a landscape that had already been influenced by a much earlier wave of migration from Sweden.

Identity, Heritage And Memorialization: The Toraja Tongkonan Of Indonesia, Kathleen M. Adams

Anthropology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

Raising Grain In Next Year Country: Dryland Farming, Drought, And Adaptation In The Golden Triangle, Montana, Caroline M. Stephens

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Climate change has already and will likely continue to impact agriculture in the Western United States, threatening water supplies for both irrigated and rainfed agriculture (Calzadilla et al. 2010; Chambers and Pellant 2008; MacDonald et al. 2010; Pedersen et al. 2009). In the Golden Triangle, a region in north central Montana, known for its dryland grain production, the same is true. There is a need for in-depth, fine-grained, place-based, and qualitative research about the process of climate change adaptation in agriculture (Miller et al. 2013). Drought challenges farmers in the Triangle, which is semiarid and receives 10-15 inches of annual …

Alpine Experiments: The National Parks And The Development Of Skiing In The American West, Jeffrey T. Meyer

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In 1886, the U.S. Army mounted cavalry soldiers on skis to patrol the winter landscape of Yellowstone National Park. Prior to Yellowstone's skiing soldiers, the U.S. government had no formal relationship with skiing. In Yellowstone, the Army initiated the U.S. government's intimate and enduring relationship with skiing in the American West. When the National Park Service (NPS) took over the management of Yellowstone, the government's involvement with western skiing transferred over to the NPS. Upon its creation in 1916, the NPS inherited a national park system primarily carved from the high western mountains and embraced the promotion of recreational skiing …

Renewing Spokane: A Study Of Motivating Forces Behind Downtown Revitalization Projects, Kara K. Mowery

All Master's Theses

This study examines the motivating forces behind downtown urban renewal projects through qualitative interview research. Using Spokane, Washington, as a case study, interviews were conducted with key players in downtown revitalization, including public administrators, private developers, and non-profit representatives. While neoliberal theory indicates that economic return serves as the primary motivation for investment, interview questions were designed to uncover whether additional motivating factors stimulate renewal work. Results indicate that those conducting renewal projects are primarily motivated by economics, but additionally cite heritage preservation values and community development as significant factors. Moreover, contemporary renewal projects are found to be small-scale endeavors, …

Mapping The History Of The State: The Historical Atlas Of Maine, Stephen J. Hornsby

Maine Policy Review

This article describes the creation of the Historical Atlas of Maine, one of the most significant scholarly achievements in the humanities to come out of the University of Maine. Conceived in the late 1990s, the atlas was published by the University of Maine Press in 2015. It represents an enormously ambitious attempt to map the historical geography of the state from the end of the last ice age to the end of the millennium in 2000.