American Studies Commons^™

Rifles And Riflemen: Material Culture, Violence, And Early American Identity, 1720 -- 1820, John Bradstreet Weaver

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The rifle was one of many material objects which colonists of British North America brought with them from Europe. Starting in the early eighteenth century, German-speaking settlers in Pennsylvania began to manufacture rifles from locally made and imported parts. These rifles became associated with other material objects – namely a system of dress, which included wearing a whitetail deer’s tail in the hat, the hunting shirt, and forms of Native American dress – which became emblematic of some British colonists who used rifles in hunting and war. Rifles became militarily important in the Seven Years’ War, where Native American warriors, …

Intersectional Embodiment: An Exploration Of Women's Bodily Experiences In Contemporary American Literature, Olivia Marie Wertz

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

My dissertation, “Intersectional Embodiment: An Exploration of Women’s Bodily Experiences in Contemporary American Literature,” examines contemporary American novels written by women of color in order to illuminate how women of color protagonists realize, protect, and embrace their bodies as a source of power in a deeply oppressive society. Specifically, I analyze Kindred (1979) and the Parable novels (1993, 1998) by Octavia Butler, Displacement (2019), a graphic novel by Kiku Hughes, and Severance (2018) by Ling Ma. In these novels, women protagonists must account for their bodies to understand their identity, combat oppressive bodily control, and, above all, survive. Both neo-historical …

Centuries Of A Heavy Conscience: American Ecogothic In Cormac Mccarthy’S The Orchard Keeper And Stephen Graham Jones’ The Only Good Indians, Michaela Smith

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

With the rising concern about negative human treatment of the Earth, studies in the Gothic—a genre which always invites conversation about concerns and anxieties—have recently expanded to include the ecogothic. This critical framework at its core combines the Gothic with ecocriticism and invites conversation about the human impact on the natural landscape and its creatures. The American Gothic is already a genre that discusses guilt and remorse regarding the nation’s colonization of Indigenous people and role in slavery; however, the conversation about American emotions can be expanded to include ecogothic guilt. This sentiment is especially true when considering the ecogothic …

Roadmaps And Blueprints: Ecofeminism In The American Novel, Maegan Bishop

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The theory of ecofeminism in literature combines ecocriticism and feminism to articulate the overlap of environmental concerns and the subjugation of women and other vulnerable populations. In American Literature, the application of ecofeminist theory is a tool used to expose cultural anxieties throughout time by emphasizing the roles of women and the importance of their connection to the environment during moments of national progression. Current scholarship surrounding ecofeminism in American literature addresses this trend as it applies specifically to texts written by women writers of the 19th and 20th centuries, but does not extend further to legitimize ecofeminism as it …

Black Bodies On American Stages, Gabrielle Burton

Honors College Theses

The following study explores the character types that have been historically available to Black actors in American theatre and how that representation enforced, resisted, or ignored stereotypes. To examine the impact of those roles on the performers who played them, I examine the documented approaches Black actors have taken to embody their characters, as well as my own evolving process used to portray the eight characters I have inhabited in my personal college performance career at Georgia Southern University. This research and retrospective analysis reveal that while a lazy or performative indifference leads to harm, color-conscious inclusion, challenging conversations, and …

The Vietnam War And The Regional Context, Wen-Qing Ngoei

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This chapter traces Southeast Asia’s overall pro-U.S. trajectory from before and through the American war in Vietnam, a process in which the region’s anticommunist nationalists collaborated with the United States and Britain to gain, and remain in, power. Between the late 1940s through the early 1960s, indigenous anticommunist elites in Thailand and the Philippines rose to political dominance with U.S. assistance; in Malaya and Singapore they did so with British support. The United States and Britain, with their Malayan and Singaporean allies, would influence developments within Indonesia that precipitated the Indonesian Army’s rightwing coup of 1965, a transformative event that …

Embracing The Both/And: Learning From The Lived Experiences Of White Facilitators Of Racial Equity Workshops, Alicia M. Wargo

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study focuses on the lived experiences of seasoned White facilitators of racial equity workshops to understand how they navigate the complexity of occupying a White racial identity while working to challenge the belief systems of white supremacy ingrained in themselves and others. Through applying Critical Race Theory as a framework to grounded theory methodology, this study examined whiteness as a sensitizing concept in micro, meso, and macro levels of analysis, situating this dissertation in the theoretical exploration of the multifaceted and pervasive nature of whiteness. Much of the research on racial equity work examines White participants in nascent stages …

Mirrors Of The Reel: Black Women's Identity In American Cinema (2009-2024), Melanie-Penny Harrison

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study investigates whether white supremacy structures, embodied in Hollywood’s predominantly white leadership, drive negative portrayals of Black women in 31 mainstream American films from 2009 to 2024. Employing a mixed-methods approach—quantitative content analysis, qualitative content analysis (QCA), and narrative methodology—I code portrayals for racism, patriarchy, heterosexism, colorism, and internalized racism, classifying them as progressive (e.g., empowered roles), regressive (e.g., subservient stereotypes), or hybrid. Guided by Critical Race Theory and intersectionality, the analysis examines narrative structures, character agency, symbolism, and dialogue to uncover intersectional patterns (e.g., race, gender, class) across three periods: 2009–2013, 2014–2018, and 2019–2024. Across these periods, cultural …

Volume 11, Issue 3, Critical Currents And Pedagogical Shifts In Popular Culture And Pedagogy, Journal Dialogue

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

Volume 11, Issue 3 of Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy: On Confronting Identity and Global Challenges through Popular Culture and Pedagogy.

Escaping The Pedagogical Cabin In The Woods, Tony Kemerly, Davis Ritenour

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

The American educational system, because of its seemingly innocuous yet ubiquitous nature, has become, to borrow a term from Roland Barthes, naturalized. By being naturalized, it has become a system that has somehow slipped beneath the radar of the American populace and operates on an autopilot of sorts that allows it to employ practices that don’t necessarily have the best interests of its constituents at heart. Murray Rothbard (1979) argued that compulsory schooling is not guided by altruism, but rather a desire to coerce the population into a mold that is desired by those possessing power in society. This need …

Building Transferable Skills In An Interdisciplinary Science And Science Fiction Capstone Course, John D. Carrell, Robert G. Weiner, Alexandria Prather

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

College graduates are entering an ever-competitive workforce. Interdisciplinary course experiences are critical for developing analytical abilities and learning and these courses can provide valuable skills that will aid students beyond the classroom. These transferable skills include communication, teamwork, analytical and critical thinking, and creativity. To provide a unique learning experience and, through it, the development of transferable skills, the Honors College at Texas Tech University created an upper-level Capstone course titled “Superheroes, Super Villains, AI, Time Travel, and Film in Science and Popular Culture.” The class is an interdisciplinary look at science and science fiction taught by an engineering faculty …

Leaps And Bounds In Popular Culture And Pedagogy Dialogue: A Note From The Editor In Chief And Associate Editor, Anna Cohenmiller, Karina Vado

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

No abstract provided.

Self-Sacrifice And Civilization: American Everyday Heroism And The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission In The Progressive Era, Simon Wendt

Heroism Science

This article examines the multi-layered meanings of civilian heroism around 1900. It argues that the Progressive Era was an important transition period in the history of heroism in the United States, during which definitions of what was regarded as heroic multiplied and no longer revolved solely around military valor or political leadership. Especially everyday heroes received unprecedented media attention. They were seen by many as evidence of the continuing progress of American civilization, which appeared to allow for a peaceful coexistence of individual self-interest and social consciousness. The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, established in 1904, contributed much to such interpretations …

It's Funny When You Think About It: Formal Complexity And Emotional Engagement In Twentieth Century American Humor, Noel Stanger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

It is generally accepted by scholars of humor that humor requires an observer to take on a perspective of “critical distance” – or a perspective through which the observer can be critical of the target of humor. Consequently, work in the field is dominated by an assumption – whether implicit or explicit - that humor (and, especially, twentieth century American humor) necessitates that the observer disengages emotionally from the target of humor. In this project, I challenge this assumption and argue that humor has the potential to be extremely emotionally engaging. Focusing on written humor and building on both classic …

Re-Indigenizing And Collaboratively Tending Urban Greenspaces, Divinity Nnenne Adewale

University Honors Theses

This work details the active process of land tending with the intention of re-Indigenization in the Pacific Northwest at several Portland sites; The Native American Student Community Center, PSU Oak Savanna, and the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. Land tending is an intuitive process, one rooted in love and respect for life of all forms as well as becoming the perpetual student; land tending is not a skill to be mastered, only practiced. Unlike environmental management, tending cannot be done separate from the earth, in a classroom or otherwise. Connections are what tending is built on top of: the foundation; effort …

Finding Racial Identity: Analyzing Eddy L. Harris’S Journeys Through Africa And The Southern United States, Veronica G. Johnson

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

American Public Opinion And Media Representations Of The Crimean War (1853–1856), Anurag Shah

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

During the Crimean War (1853–1856), France and Britain sided with the Ottoman Empire to curb Russian expansion. Though an ocean away, the American public was not only aware of this conflict but often held strong opinions on the war and its participants. American media representations of the Crimean War are indicative of this, and a systematic examination reveals some significant trends in reporting, aligning closely to and providing nuance for larger trends in American history.

The most significant trend in newspaper reporting of the Crimean War was a North-South geographical divide. Northern states supported Britain and France throughout the conflict, …

The State Of The City's Bridges, Leo G. Miranda

Capstones

An analysis by NYCity News Service of 2024 federal bridge inspection found that 118 segments of city bridges are in poor condition, around 8% of all bridges citywide. Among these are segments of major highways and bridges like the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, FDR Drive, Harlem River Drive, Grand Central Parkway and even a part of the iconic Brooklyn Bridge. On a single stretch of highway, where the Grand Central Parkway and the Whitestone Expressway meet in Queens, there are seven parts of highway or ramps in poor condition.

Bridge segments can be any raised roadway that passes over another parkway, …

Modern Agricultural Servitude: The Modern Farm Worker Experience In The Salinas Valley, Jesus E. Tavarez

Chicana and Chicano Studies ETDs

The prevailing narrative in Chicanx studies focuses on the historical labor activism of the United Farm Workers (UFW) in the 1960s and ‘70s. I am particularly interested in examining the contemporary campesino experience in the Salinas Valley by discussing the history behind Mexican cheap labor, low wages, exploitive work conditions with inadequate healthcare, agrochemical exposure, and historical consciousness of farm workers. I will argue that farm workers are in dire need of a migratory reform as an approach to improve the working conditions of farm workers throughout California. This research aims to shed light on how the multi-billion-dollar agribusiness industry …

The Social Matter Of Opioids: Glitches In Immunity Beyond The Human, Nathan A. Leach

American Studies ETDs

The Social Matter of Opioids: Glitches in Immunity Beyond the Human examines the contemporary opioid crisis and its relationship to capitalism, imperialism, and biomedicine. This dissertation also considers how the twin processes of crisis and racialization relate to how human-opioid entanglements perform and transgress normative anthropological assumptions of difference. Through theories of biopolitics, Black feminism, queer of color critique, and psychoanalytic insight, I argue for a more critical account of the entanglement of humans with opioids where processes of capitalist and imperial crisis produce novel forms of social ontology. I substantiate this by examining speculative tissue economies, interspecies relationality, draconian …