Cultural History Commons^™

Chasing The Albino Pygmy Giraffe, Charles H. Haddad

School of Communication and Journalism Faculty Publications

It's never a good sign when someone is knocking on the door of your hotel room at seven in the morning. That's especially true if you have been schlepping eight college students across Western China, as I had been for the past week. I now heard in this soft rapping the death knell of my fledgling professorial career. Wrapping a ratty, threadbare pillow around my head, I tried to shut out the insistent rapping. Of course, that didn't work. Bad news has a way of butting in.

So begins my novel “Chasing the Albino Pygmy Giraffe.” It is a laugh-aloud …

Championing Food Studies Within The Field Of Irish Studies: A Serendipitous Autoethnographic Journey, Mairtin Macconiomaire

Doctoral

Food permeates every aspect of life and society, from birth to death—from the new-born’s first suckle to the food traditions associated with Irish wakes and funerals. Essential for survival, it has historically proven academically elusive, hidden in plain sight. Entangled with the domestic and the feminine, it was traditionally regarded as too mundane and too quotidian for consideration. Depending on how you define it, Irish Studies has somewhere between 50 and 100 years of history as an academic discipline. Food Studies is a more recent academic phenomenon, which has been steadily growing internationally since last decade of the twentieth century. …

The Grizzly, October 31, 2024, Kate Horan, Renee Washart, Sophia Kumar, Caitlin Cunnane, Emily Veasey, Adam Denn

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

Beetlejuice Breakout: Grizzly Edition • Spooky Scary STDs • UC Theater Presents an Agatha Christie Double Bill! • The Monsters are Due on Main Street • Creating "Bullshit" • Opinions: The Yap With Emily Veasey • Nerf Club: A Merry Melee • Spooky Stars of the Week! • Maples Hall-Oween

Casar Student Debate Series #5 : 'The 2024 Us Elections On Gender & Reproductive Rights', The Prince Alwaleed Center For American Studies And Research Casar

Performances, Events, and Presentations

Every semester, CASAR AUC holds miscellaneous student debates discussing the hot controversial topics in the US, Egypt and from around the world in hopes of raising awareness about these topics & broadening the perspectives of our students as they learn to engage in fruitful discussions as they share different opinion on the topic being deliberated. At this CASAR Student Discussion event #5 in light of the current 2024 US Elections, we debated about who should win strictly from a gendered lens. A brief into was given by event moderator CASAR Assistant to Director and Adjunct Faculty Yasmeen El-Ghazaly, followed by …

Beyond Boundaries: Evaluating Bl/Yaoi Subject Headings In Academic Library Classification, Cecilia Zhang

Journal of East Asian Libraries

This study critically evaluates the effectiveness of the newly established Library of Congress Subject Headings, "Boys' Love (Gay Erotica)" and "Yaoi (Gay Erotica)," in classifying and facilitating the retrieval of information related to these genres. By examining the complex history of these terms within fan communities in Japan, China, and Korea across different historical periods, this research argues that the current LCSH oversimplifies the genre's rich cultural context and ongoing innovation, creating barriers to effective information retrieval and access. Additionally, the use of the term "Gay Erotica" is misaligned with the nuanced nature of BL/Yaoi, further complicating its classification. This …

The World Series Begins, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

It seems that the biggest news in baseball this week is off the field. Usually, that is not a good thing. Yesterday, the Commissioner of Baseball, Rob Manfred, announced that Pete Rose and sixteen other players have been re-instated from baseball’s  “permanently ineligible” list. Among the sixteen others are several players caught up in the Black Sox scandal of 1919.

The Grizzly, October 24, 2024, Kate Horan, Renee Washart, Benjamin Cuccolo, Max Matalavage, Caitlin Cunnane, Ella Schneider, Adam Denn, Mary Lauren Franz

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

Zach the Bear's Birthday Party! • Ursinus Baseball Investing in the Future • Bear Bazaar is Back • "A Republic, If You Can Keep It" • Autumn Word Search • Opinion: Ursinus First Impressions • Ursinus Football Shows Improvements, Thwarts Conference Rivals • Men's Basketball Gears Up for Takeoff!

Remembering And Forgetting: National Identity Construction In Tolkien’S Middle-Earth, Sara Brown

Journal of Tolkien Research

The medieval period in Europe saw the development of vernacular literatures, grown out of oral tradition and classical mythology, in which epic poems were a means of preserving culture, sharing a moral code, and offering solace in times of hardship. These epic poems, usually transcribed or translated in monastic scriptoria, were passed down through generations and enabled the sharing of memory via storytelling. In many ways, this early literature, rooted as it was in both the religious and the secular aspects of life in this time, was as much a part of the identity of the various European peoples as …

Democracy Can Be Dangerous Work: The Story Of Youthbuilders Civic Education Program 1938-1948, Jessica Shiller

Democracy & Education

This article describes the work of a civic education program in New York City schools called Youthbuilders, which existed from 1938 to 1948. Youthbuilders' aim was to engage youth in civic education projects and teach them about their place in a democracy and worked with them to support racial and social equality. Shortly after World War II, they were attacked by a conservative Catholic organization that was working to eliminate groups associated with so-called Communist beliefs like social justice and racial equality. Youthbuilders shut their doors by 1948. The story is one that helps us understand the fragility of working …

The Grizzly, October 10, 2024, Kate Horan, Zach Cosme, Caitlin Cunnane, Caroline Bennett, Sidney Belleroche, Hadley Whitman, Adam Denn

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

My Big Fat Greek Cleanup • Bear Necessities Draws Big Brother Concern • Free Speech Lecture by Samantha Harris • A Bit About the B'Naturals • IIE Launches Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration • Opinions: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Clamer Hall • Men's Soccer Out to Triumphant Start • Cross Country Gears Up for Strong Finish!

The Grizzly, October 3, 2024, Kate Horan, Renee Washart, Ashley Adam, Estella Bower, Caitlin Cunnane, Hannah Teitelman, Sophia Kumar, Hadley Whitman, Adam Denn

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

Upcoming Performance by Mina Choi • Swing Into This Club • Latin Jazz Social at the Berman • Dungeons & Dragons and Denn, Oh My! • Women in Technology and Science Club • Opinions: Give Me My Money! • "Moneyball" Comes to Collegeville: New Sports Analytics Club • Patterson Field Gets Massive Upgrade

Constructing The Enemy: How Us Media Framed The Ussr In The 1980s, Tyler J. Buchanan

The Exposition

Tyler Buchanan, Constructing the Enemy: How US Media Framed the USSR in the 1980s. This paper examines the presentation of media in the United States on American citizens through an analysis of the use of commercials and advertisements,. Ultimately, the media in the United States from the 1980s reveal a clear and apparent message the US media portrays the USSR to instill fear into the average American citizen. The 1980s was a hotbed for the ideological and political rivalry between the United States and the USSR during the Cold War. The United States sought to promote democracy and capitalism, …

From Adoption Papers To Shopping Lines: Decoding The Cabbage Patch Kids Craze Of U.S. Shoppers In The 1980s., Jeffrey J. Wilson

The Exposition

No abstract provided.

Satanic Panic: A Case Study Of Snakeland In Buffalo, New York During The 1980s, Emily Jarnot

The Exposition

No abstract provided.

Cramped, Narrow, And Overfilled: What Drove The Renovation Of Rochester’S Can Of Worms In March 1989, Declan S. Morrow

The Exposition

Constructed in the 1960s and rebuilt in the 1980s, the I-490 Interchange situated east of Rochester, New York was a source of constant controversy by the motorists who used the freeway to journey from the suburbs where they lived to the downtown districts where they worked. This infamous interchange became known to Rochesterarians as “the Can of Worms” because of its winding ramps and narrow roads that would often leave those who traversed it confused and at the mercy of other drivers if they had not already experienced its design. To explain why this freeway was so terrible to drive …

Bridging Boarders: Ngo Involvement With Moroccan Immigrants In Andalusia, Stephen Allgeier

Global Studies Senior Capstone

This paper examines the cultural, economic, and political barriers that legal and documented Moroccan immigrants experience throughout their assimilation journey and analyzes the various roles NGOs play to help them navigate these challenges to integration. Furthermore, it will attempt to explain the limitations that these NGOs encounter as well as offer suggestions to better their efforts in supporting Moroccan immigrants in Andalusia.

"Is There Any Possibility That They Might Have Remained Alive?": The George Barlaz Papers And The Search For Family After The Holocaust, Jacob Kahn-Samuelson

Student Publications

The paper explores the topic of American Jews searching for their families after the Holocaust. The paper uses the George Barlaz Papers, to argue that after the Holocaust Jews used Jewish organizations to search for family. Charity organizations like HIAS, Jewish newspapers like The Forward and various Landsmanshaftn were all used by George Barlaz to look for his family. From the search for family, new relationships were formed between searchers and those who were helping them find their family. George Barlaz developed a strong friendship with Moses Feinblüt who helped him search for his family and connect him with the …

“Indescribable But Never To Be Forgotten”: Challenging The Gender Roles Of Victorian Era Women And Expanding Cultural Horizons Through Travels Abroad, Camryn Counsil

Student Publications

Between the years of 1862-8, the Webb-Black family traveled the world on a Grand Tour to countries such as Italy, Austria, and France. In letters home to their aunts, half-sisters Augusta, Menah, and Julia detailed their journeys within the physical and cultural spheres of the places they visited. Later copied into a bound volume, these epistles gave voice to women’s thoughts, emotions, and conflicts when exploring the realm of the unknown. From a young age, Victorian girls were taught to suppress their opinions and merely expect a life of motherhood. However, the women of these letters pushed beyond what was …

The Historian And The Past In The Present Age: Omolewa And Adesina’S Inaugural Lectures In Perspective, Ikeoluwapo B. Baruwa

Journal of Research Initiatives

In their inaugural lectures, Omolewa and Adesina emphasized the importance of history in studying the changes that have occurred over the years across all aspects of humanity, particularly in education. This paper aims to examine the contributions of Omolewa and Adesina, delving into their arguments and insights. While this paper may adopt a critical approach, it also acknowledges the value of their work. It presents a dissenting view from Omolewa's perspective on historical education, particularly regarding his analogy of history as a rearview mirror and the objectivity of historians. The paper contends that historians must be aware of historical texts' …

The Grizzly, September 26, 2024, Kate Horan, Caitlin Cunnane, Sidney Belleroche, Ella Schneider, Henry Probolus, Estella Bower, Adam Denn, Grace Lynch

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

New Member Education Begins • October is Lantern Submission Month • Yik Yak Culture • Madeline Hepburn is Missing: A Short Story by Ze'ev Shaheen • Love of the Craft • Opinions: PSA: Flush the Toilet! • Women's Soccer Soars to Great Start! • Men's Soccer Kicks Off With Success! • Performance of the Week