Cultural History Commons^™

Destandardization Of Art At Flash Mob Performance In Public Space : A Case Study Of Beksan Wanara From The Yogyakarta Court, Indonesia, R. M. Pramutomo, Sriyadi Sriyadi, Supriyanto Supriyanto

Journal of Urban Culture Research

Flash mob performances in Indonesia emerge in response to urban affluence. Flash mobs, as an activity, explore unconventional performance spaces. The goal of this article is not only to address previous research gaps but also to explain how flash mob art performances have challenged aesthetic standards. Information about traditional dance flash mobs is widely discussed on various social media platforms. Data were collected through an intensive literature study, including desk review and document analysis. The findings suggest that flash mob articles are successful in engaging people of all ages as participants in public space dance performances. Visually, flash mobs provide …

Art In Health : Angklung Musical-Based Interventions For Older Adults In Southeast Asia, Muhammad Asyraf Mohd Bakri, Mohammad Kamal Mohd Sabran, Asrenee Ab Razak

Journal of Urban Culture Research

Arts in healthcare can support emotional, cognitive, and social well-being among older adults. Angklung, a traditional Indonesian bamboo instrument recognized by UNESCO, has potential as a culturally grounded, music-based intervention in older adult care. This systematic review, guided by the PRISMA framework, examined Angklung-based interventions for older adults in Southeast Asia. Searches were conducted in PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar, with the final search completed on 19 November 2024. English-language studies published between 2010 and 2024 were included if they focused on Angklung-based or Angklung-related interventions involving older adults and reported outcomes related to well-being, cognition, emotion, social engagement, motor …

Analyzing The Transformation Of Urban Open Spaces In The Historical Process With Cultural Codes : The Case Of Konya Kültürpark, Ayse Tuzun Guner, Fatih Semerci, Suheyla Buyuksahin

Journal of Urban Culture Research

Urban spaces undergo significant physical and social transformations in response to changes in socio-cultural structures. In this process, the functions and meanings of public space are redefined. Urban open spaces, as key components of public space, provide important insights into social structure and cultural dynamics. This study examines Konya Kültürpark, located near the historical city center, through three main periods: pre-Republican, Republican, and post-Republican. The transformation of Kültürpark as an urban open space was analyzed through a literature review and interpreted using cultural codes. Cultural function diagrams were produced to represent spatial use, and a comparative analysis was conducted across …

Developing A Sustainability Framework For Enhancing Public Art Projects In Nigeria Toward Urban Regeneration, Peter Oluwagbenga Odewole, Olanrewaju Timothy Dada

Journal of Urban Culture Research

This study examines the role of public art towards urban regeneration, cultural preservation, and socio-economic development, addressing critical challenges in the Nigerian public art sector. It adopts a qualitative research design based on literature review, and Eisenhardt’s theory-building approach, drawing on secondary data to generate insights from case-based analysis. Two contemporary Nigerian public art initiatives were examined using within-case and cross-case thematic analysis. The study integrates placemaking, cultural economics, social capital, place attachment, and regulatory theories to develop a sustainability framework for enhancing public art practice and administration in Nigeria. The study’s findings indicate that sustainable public art interventions for …

Towards Rural Landscape Planning, The Importance Of Heritage Preservation In Oases In Mediterranean Countries – Case Studies : Siwa Oasis (Egypt), Ghardania Oasis (Algeria), Gafsa Oasis (Tunisia) And Figuig Oasis (Morocco), Mouatassim Souad, Anouk Den Ouden, Özge Özden

Journal of Urban Culture Research

As for this paper, it intends to evaluate the status of conservation of Mediterranean oases such as Siwa of Egypt, Ghardaia of Algeria, Gafsa of Tunisia, and evaluate Figuig of Morocco. The purpose is to outline the measures and recommendations that can be included in practice in order to reconsider heritage protection in Figuig with references to other oases. Hence, in this study, it analyses the main problems and solutions concerning heritage management based on the analysis of the literature and comparison of different cases. Thus, the results highlight the importance of sustaining the involvement of the local communities, the …

Governance, Smart Urbanism & Urban Resilience In The Western Balkans : Comparative Insights From Prishtina, Tirana, And Podgorica, Binak Beqaj, Shqiprim Ahmeti

Journal of Urban Culture Research

The imperative for urban resilience is intensifying globally, yet its application in the transitional context of the Western Balkans remains underexplored. Cities in this region, such as Prishtina, Tirana, and Podgorica, navigate post-conflict recovery, rapid urbanization, socio-economic pressures, and escalating climate threats. While smart technologies and sustainable urban development paradigms offer promising pathways to resilience, their effectiveness is contingent upon robust governance and supportive institutional frameworks, which are often fragmented in these environments. A comprehensive approach is therefore essential for sustainable urban development in the region. This study aims to critically analyze the factors shaping urban resilience in the Western …

Creative Urban Care For Older Adults In Thailand : Drama Therapy And An Innovative Expressive Arts Framework For Better Urban Ageing, Dovrat Harel, Nisara Jaroenkajornkij, Bussakorn Binson, Meytal Fogel Simhony

Journal of Urban Culture Research

This article examines drama therapy with older adults across three institutional contexts in Thailand: Chulalongkorn Hospital, Thai Red Cross Society; Kwong Siew Foundation Hospital; and Sawangkanives Housing, Thai Red Cross Society. Drawing on a practice-based qualitative study involving 60 older adults, facilitator observations, semi-structured interviews, reflective writings, and institutional descriptions, the article explores how drama therapy was adapted across medical, chronic-care, and senior residential settings. The findings suggest that drama therapy supported memory sharing, emotional expression, social connection, belonging, and quality of life among participants. The article argues that drama therapy should be understood not merely as entertainment or supplementary …

Journal Policies, Jucr Staff

Journal of Urban Culture Research

No abstract provided.

The Birth Of Afghanistan: From Ancient Persia To A Modern-Day Multiethnic And Linguistic Country, Tyler A. Worm

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis offers a comprehensive historical analysis of the formation and evolution of Afghan identity from antiquity through the early medieval period, emphasizing the region’s role as a dynamic crossroads of civilizations. It traces the origins of Afghan populations to Indo-Iranian pastoralist migrations and examines the successive influence of major imperial formations, including the Median and Achaemenid Persian empires, the conquests of Alexander and the Seleucid period, and the rise of the Kushan, Parthian, and Sasanian states. Through this longue durée approach, the study demonstrates how Afghanistan’s geographic position facilitated continuous cultural interaction, economic exchange, and political contestation, producing a …

A Transnational Feast Of Our Lady Of Guadalupe: Globalization, Identity, And Collective Memory In Dodge City, Kansas, David A. Solis-Enriquez

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

This work examines the transnational connections of Dodge City’s Mexican immigrants and their celebration of the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe and how their cross-border activity were parts of larger systems like globalization, identity, and collective memory. With migration into Southwestern Kansas and the Oklahoma panhandle increasing intensely in the 1980s, because of the economic opportunities that the livestock and meat manufacturing industries offered, Dodge City’s Mexican population reached unprecedented heights. These migration waves mark the starting point of this thesis.

The incoming Mexican population flooded the city’s Catholic facilities, which prompted the community and the local diocese …

Tuberculosis In Jim Crow Virginia, 1900-1972, Elizabeth Dooley

Theses and Dissertations

Tuberculosis (TB) was a major public health concern in the United States, especially in the first half of the twentieth century. Transmission and treatment of the disease, which is spread between humans through close contact, was complicated by racial segregation laws in the South known as Jim Crow laws. Virginia subscribed to these laws, which played a role in how and where Black Virginians with TB could be treated. Segregated treatment facilities with an inadequate number of beds for the number of infected people and deaths in the state added to these complications of disease control and plan for eradication. …

Shadow Of The Rising Sun: How Japanese Culture Was Transferred To The United States Via Foreign Policy, Alex Pearson

Masters Theses

Post-World War II U.S. economic foreign policy towards Japan aimed to revitalize the war-torn country’s economy and spread democracy to the East. The economic foreign policy enacted by the United States to revitalize the Japanese economy resulted in an increase and “normalization” of Japanese culture in America. This thesis explores the connection of post-war American foreign policy to the increase of American exposure to Japanese culture that sparked normalization. By focusing on the efforts of U.S. policymakers and the positive media coverage of Japanese culture in the United States, a clear correlation between economic foreign policy and the normalization of …

Crafting The Right To Vote, Breana M. Mosher

Knowledge and Creativity Expo

This paper examines how British Suffragists between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries used traditionally feminine domestic crafts as tools of political protest and communication. Excluded from formal political speech and subjected to censorship, violence, and imprisonment, women in the suffrage movement transformed textiles such as banners, posters, embroidery, and postcards into powerful tools of visual propaganda. Through close evaluation of suffrage-era material culture, this paper argues that domestic crafts enabled women to reclaim their voices and publicly expose state violence and political repression. By employing symbolism, color, and slogan-based design, suffragists created a recognizable visual identity that countered …

Book Review: Macarthur As Spirit: A Review Of Spirit Power: Politics And Religion In Korea’S American Century, Jieon Yoo

Asia Pacific Perspectives

No abstract provided.

Reclaiming Presence: An Anthropological Study Of Digital Disconnection And Meaning-Making, Leslie De Paz

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Human attention is increasingly at risk in an unregulated digital ecosystem where overconsumption shapes neurological function, social interaction, and the ways people make meaning of everyday life. Dominant discourse around digital overuse tends to medicalize the problem, framing it as individual addiction or clinical dysfunction. In this thesis, I argue that such framing obscures what a cultural phenomenon is fundamentally, one in which people are actively questioning their relationship with technology, building awareness, and developing practices that help them slow down and reclaim agency within algorithmically mediated environments. This study draws on 22 semi-structured interviews with Gen Z and millennial …

Reframing “Southern Justice”: Public History And The Cultural Legacy Of The Civil War In Orlando, Sarah M. Boye

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Civil War memory has shaped historical consciousness throughout the American South, sometimes in surprising and unexpected ways. An unusual example of this phenomenon can be found in Orlando, Florida. Unlike in other Southern cities, in Orlando, Civil War memory did not grow out of wartime experience. Instead, it developed decades later during the post-Reconstruction period as generations removed from the war itself constructed their own understanding of the war’s history and its meaning. As the city grew, Greenwood Cemetery became a key site where Civil War remembrance functioned in Orlando. Women’s organizations played a major role in shaping Civil War …

To Print A Remake: An Analysis Of Hollywood Remakes And Their Cultural Value, Connor F. Seaton

Honors Undergraduate Theses

In recent years, audiences and movie critics have expressed concern that Hollywood’s growing reliance on remakes, sequels, franchises, and similar adaptations has led to a broader worry that originality is fading from modern cinema and that the industry is instead focused on using adaptations to maximize profits. Although adaptation is often seen as a commercially driven framework for reproducing existing intellectual property in a new media format, this thesis argues that it should be recognized as an autonomous cultural category with its own artistic, historical, and social significance and merit. By analyzing adaptation scholarship and reviewing its complex historical development, …

Reflection In Still Waters: Generative Ai's Production Of Language, Jonathan D. Hawks

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Language is a conceptual process of meaning-making as well as a social construction as defined by Saussure, Bakhtin, and Lacan. Large Language Models (LLMs) engage with neither process and instead present language as a finished and consumable product which undermines its fundamental aspects. The difference between representing language through probability and its structural components instead of its more inherent qualities is not a pointless distinction. This paper utilizes Narcissus as a central metaphor to show how people misread the outputs of LLMs as language which imparts to those reflected words meaning on par with our own conceptualizations of reality. People …

“An Extremely Dangerous Institution:” The Cultures And Controversy Of Public Social Dances In Montana, 1900-1930, Danielle Allison Brown

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This paper explores public social dances east of the Continental Divide in Montana from 1900 to 1930. Rural social dances in schoolhouses and urban dances in dance halls created two different dance cultures. The relaxed nature of rural dances preserved the traditional values of nineteenth-century social dances, which reinforced community and family ties. Urban dances reflected the modern fads of the roaring twenties and challenged traditional values with sexual suggestiveness. Progressive Era moral reformers concerned about the possibility that social dance promoted illicit sexuality participated in an anti-dance movement and pushed for regulations of social dances. The anti-dance movement in …

Something To Say: Nativism, Prohibition, And The Loss Of Political Alignment In Davenport, Iowa’S German-American Community 1848-1922, Clayton R. Schuler

Graduate Masters Theses

This thesis ends with the municipal elections of 1920 in Davenport, Iowa. Amid the First Red Scare, the Socialist Party was swept into power. The party won under inauspicious national conditions thanks in part to a successful campaign on local concerns; the party had something to say. An examination of the years prior to the election, however, reveals that other factors contributed to political unalignment for the city’s large German descended population. Frustrated with Republican and Democratic parties that seemed to have no place for them, these voters had something to say as well. Ultimately the opportunity that this unalignment …