European History Commons^™

Waning Imperium: Valentinian I’S Projection Of Power, Philip Piscopo

History & Classics Undergraduate Theses

In my thesis, I argue that the reign of Valentinian I (364-375) was marked by two main themes. First, as the founder of a new dynasty, Valentinian was obsessed with legitimizing his reign and safeguarding it for future generations. Second, because of poor subordinates and poor communication, he was unable to adequately govern the provinces leading to instability and chaos.

I worked to add two aspects to the scholarly discussion of Valentinian’s reign. Most scholars have individually pointed out that it was important for Valentinian to cement his legitimacy and budding dynasty. I show that this was not merely an …

Terrorists Or Freedom Fighters : An Analysis Of The Irish Republican Army In Northern Ireland With Respect To The Idea Of Just War, Allison Jean Fritz

Honors Theses

For more than two decades, Northern Ireland has suffered the high social cost of a violent political conflict. Debates over the nature of this conflict have been wide-ranging, but the dominant view is that the conflict is criminal rather than political in nature. This view holds that the violence is widespread terrorism, with the Irish Republican Army (IRA) seen as the chief protagonist. But while this view is dominant, it is not ubiquitous. It is held neither by those who challenge the foundations of the Northern Irish state nor by those communities which are tolerant if not supportive of those …

The Stars Kept Shining: The Wartime Diary Of Esther Mathilda Sørensen, Larisa C. Neilson

Senior Honors Theses

In fulfillment of the Liberty University Honors Department Thesis requirement, the following is a creative thesis in the form of an historical fiction novella diary, written in the first person. The story follows the life of Esther, a young Danish woman, as she navigates what it means to be a Jew in World War II era Europe. Though the characters are fictional, the story presents possible real-life experiences for a person living during this time.

The style of this novella is popular among middle and high school teachers and can be an important teaching tool as it is an engaging …

Carpets As Signifiers Of Historical Change: The Azerbaijani Carpet Industry From The Mid-Nineteenth To Late Twentieth Century, Jill Boggs

Senior Theses

The Azerbaijani carpet industry, long recognized as an important piece of Azerbaijan’s cultural heritage, transformed dramatically between the mid-nineteenth and twentieth centuries in response to political, economic, and social changes that took place under the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. During this period, the carpet industry began to use modern weaving techniques and materials, favored factory production over traditional hand-woven designs, and created pieces for exportation rather than personal or community use. These developments contribute to two historical schools that view the Soviet Union as either a prison of nations, stifling non-Russian cultures, or a nursery of ethnic identities, …

A Comparative Analysis Of Political Climates In Lithuania, Poland, And Ireland In The Early 1900s Related To Us Immigration And Media Culture, Annelise Silkaitis

Senior Theses

This thesis explores the process and experience of Lithuanian, Irish, and Polish immigrants during the late 1800s and early 1900s, as well as the role of media, specifically newspapers and books, in creating the representation and portrayal of these immigrant groups. These different ethnic groups left Europe for a variety of reasons, mainly economic and political, and sought a better life in the United States. Upon arrival, each group struggled with the Americanization process, learning English, building connections, and forming a new society. Although some immigrant groups formed stronger networks and communities upon arrival, each group faced poverty and discrimination. …

Revising Mary Queen Of Scots: From Protestant Persecution To Patriarchal Struggle, Jennifer M. Desilva, Emily K. Mcguire

Journal of Religion & Film

Since Mary Queen of Scots’ execution in 1587, she has become a symbol of Scottish identity, failed female leadership, and Catholic martyrdom. Throughout the twentieth century, Mary was regularly depicted on screen (Ford, 1936; Froelich, 1940; Jarrott, 1971) as a thrice-wed Catholic queen, unable to rule her country due to her feminine nature and Catholic roots. However, with the rise of third wave feminism and postfeminism in media, coupled with the increased influence of female directors and writers, Mary’s characterization has shifted from portraying female/emotional weakness and religious sacrifice to female/collaborative strength in hardship and a struggle against patriarchal prejudice. …

Staging Reformation: Religious Theater In England, 1525-1553, Alexandra R. Whitley

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis analyzes and explores the role of privately sponsored religious theater and dramatic performance in the English Reformation, 1525-1553. In the sixteenth century, most theater was religious in nature, and audiences were accustomed to receiving clear moral and political messaging in the form of dramatic entertainment. Plays that were written and performed specifically for individual monarchs also include these commentaries and moral arguments, and can provide historians with significant insight into what messages were presented to monarchs. These insights are particularly illuminating in studies of the cultural progress of the English Reformation under Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Mary …

A Widened Angle Of View: Teaching Theology And Racial Embodiment, Mara Brecht

Journal of Global Catholicism

Today’s undergraduate students are digital natives, shaped by constant access to information and countless experiences of encountering the world through the convenience of a screen. The ostensible comfort students have with difference gives way to a paradox, and one that’s made especially apparent in the theology classroom: Students are comfortable with seeing difference and particularity at a distance, but not adept at locating difference and particularity “at home.” I contend that Catholics & Cultures can help students from the dominant culture—namely, white students who comprise the vast majority of Catholic college students—destabilize their notion of the Catholic tradition as tightly …

“Let Him Be Tried Before An English Jury; Let Him Be Tried Properly”: Race, Blackness, And English Justice In Mid- To Late-Victorian England, Hugo F. Stack

Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Precarious Manhood: Adolescence And Group Rape In Late Medieval Europe, Michelle Armstrong-Partida

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

Sexual assault, through coercion or violence, was omnipresent at every level of medieval society and perpetrated by males from all socio-economic backgrounds. This article argues that a specific type of sexual violence—group rape—committed by two or more individuals, was a phase of men’s social development. It explores the connection between adolescence and sexual aggression to show that collective rape was a feature of male youth culture used a form of recreation to gain sexual experience, forge bonds with peers, and publicly prove masculinity as adolescents transitioned from childhood to adulthood. Many young males first learned to rape in groups before …

Consumerism And Pride: The Fate Of Paris’ Marais “Gayborhood”, Christina M. Csensich

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the 1980s the Marais neighborhood in Paris, France, became a haven for queer people, specifically gay, white men, filled with queer-owned and queer-centric businesses. By the year 2020, however, these businesses had been priced out by name-brand international corporations. In the 1990s, French television commercials and programs would not speak the word ‘homosexual,’ even when a character was openly queer. By the 2010s, companies regularly featured queer people and gay pride imagery and slogans in their advertising. The queer community in Paris has a unique relationship with the consumer economy, one that ties aspects of queer identity directly to …

Infectious Ideas: Why Do Radical Innovations Take Root?, Steven Pfaff

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

"Living in the midst of a pandemic, we have all become familiar with the idea of contagion. An epidemic spreads through exposure to an infectious agent, like a novel virus. In a basic contagion model, the spread of a disease is a function of contact with the agent and its degree of infectiousness. Epidemiologists often model the risk of contagion as a function of contact (or frequency or level of contact) with the infected and the agent’s virulence.

When it comes to triggering radical institutional change, do ideas work the same way?

In a recent article, a team of …

The Effects Of Victorian Circulating Libraries On The Conventions Of Society, Kaitlyn M. Clary

Steeplechase: An ORCA Student Journal

As an era that is oftentimes categorized as one of the most prudish in British history, it is commonplace to see the Victorian Period as a time that imposed strict moral codes onto people of all classes, genders, and ages. Although the 18th century proved to be quite lenient with the manner in which social behavior was controlled, the 19th century proved to be an era of tension between the social order and individual desire, particularly for the middle and upper classes. With the aid of the Industrial Revolution, many governments found it essential to utilize the newly innovated printing …

A Historical Analysis Of The Causes Of The French And Indian War, Jake Althouse

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The current study attempted to answer the following research question: what were the causes of the French and Indian War between Great Britain and France in 1754? To do so, the current study researched secondary sources from a historical perspective, political theories regarding the causes of war, and primary sources from individuals involved in the build-up to conflict. Previous research by historians and political scientists have mainly attributed the causes of the French and Indian War to a security dilemma and the spiral theory of war. The current study does not support this assertion. Instead, the current study asserts that …

Searching For Truth, Searching For Feeling, Zamara Tomko

Scholarly Horizons: University of Minnesota, Morris Undergraduate Journal

History is not only found in textbooks. Historical fiction often utilizes depictions of historical events as a backdrop or plot device for a fictional story, and for many people, this is their only exposure to certain periods or events in the past. This essay looks at the validity of using fiction as historical evidence by analyzing Hans Fallada’s Every Man Dies Alone portrayal of German life in World War II and comparing it to academic sources. It argues that a novel evokes empathy by juxtaposing an imagined story alongside historical facts; however, the fictional account can also create a false …

Remix The Manuscript: A Chronicle Of Digital Experiments (2015-2020), Michelle R. Warren

Other Faculty Materials

Remix the Manuscript is a digital humanities research project centered around a single medieval manuscript, the Dartmouth Brut Chronicle (Rauner Codex MS 003183). This ongoing experiment with digital tools uses this one example to explore one broad question: How are the digital tools available today determining what we will know 100 years from now about things that happened 1000 years ago?

Black Gold, White Gold, And The Bear's Influence Over Central Asian Economies, Jennifer Leo

University Honors Theses

In examining the socioeconomic state of former Soviet republics in Central Asia, it becomes clear that the current economies of nations such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan have been shaped by a history of Russian dominance, followed by turbulent developments that took place during the "perestroika" and post-independence period. These periods were marked by significant changes in governance which allowed Central Asian nations to gain inclusion in the global economy, forge partnerships with economically thriving world superpowers (US and China), and emerge from the Soviet system of mono-product economies. As a result of such developments, former republics of the Soviet …

William & Mary Stakes Claim As Oldest University In America, Thomas J. Mcsweeney

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

Reading Agrippa Von Nettesheim’S De Occulta Philosophia Libri Tres: Textual Structure And Central Arguments, Allison Kavey

Accessus

Abstract: This article reads Agrippa von Nettesheim’s De Occulta Philosophia Libri Tres (1531/1533) as a comprehensive model of the universe that integrates magic as part of the original Creation. It focuses on the text’s structure to make sense of a book that has sometimes been dismissed as an encyclopedia or read primarily through the lens of Agrippa’s other works. It concludes that each of the three sections of this text provides evidence to support Agrippa’s model of the universe and that an early modern reader would have had the ability and reading style to put those pieces together. It further …

Full Issue: Volume 2, Issue 1, Editorial Board

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

The first issue in the second volume of the Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal.