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English Identity In The Writings Of John Milton, Hannah E. Ryan

Honors Theses

John Milton is an essential writer to the English canon. Understanding his life and thought is necessary to understanding his corpus. This thesis will examine Milton’s nationalism in several major and minor poems as well as in some of Milton’s prose. It will argue that Milton’s nationalism is difficult to trace chronologically, but that education is always essential to Milton’s national vision of England.

Perceptions And Realities Of The Irish Republican Army During The Second World War, L.B. Wilson Iii

Master's Theses

This thesis investigates the British and German perception of the IRA and claims that the organization represented an insurmountable obstacle to the progress of both German intelligence and British counter-intelligence. The IRA was also the primary contributor to the political troubles oflrish neutrality during World War II. It examines the perceived threat of the IRA in the minds of the Irish Prime Minister Eamon de Valera and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and those ministers' respective governments. The thesis looks at official debates in the British Parliament and the Irish Dail as well as interwar newspapers and official records. Additionally, …

What Makes Finzi Finzi? The Convergence Of Style And Struggle In The Life Of Gerald Finzi And In His Set Before And After Summer, Op. 16, Trevor Dangerfield Smith

Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is two-fold: to discuss the nationalistic characteristics in Gerald Finzi’s life and in his mature compositional style, and to discuss both the beliefs he held and the struggles he faced during his life, and how these themes are integrated into his work for voice and piano Before and after Summer, op. 16.

Before and after Summer was not conceived as a cycle, but its songs are tied together by similar poetic themes and emotional impact, so despite the fact they were composed as individual entities they form a coherent collection from beginning to end. …

Werner Jaegerhuber's “Messe Folklorique Haitïenne”: A Conductor's Guide, Lauren Michelle Brandon Lindsey

Dissertations

Werner Jaegerhuber (1900-1953), a composer and leading ethnographer from Haiti, lived a life and career committed to bringing the folk music of Haiti to international recognition. His most significant work, Messe Folklorique Haïtienne, the background leading to its composition, performance of the work and a conductor’s analysis is the focus of this study. The folk music of Haiti consists primarily of Vodou melodies which are performed in Vodou ceremonies. Haiti’s long history of colonization, slavery, chronic economic struggle, African roots, and Catholic influence all play unique, but significant roles in the life of Werner Jaegerhuber and his passionate study. …

Jimmy Carter’S Post-Presidential Rhetoric: Faith-Based Rhetoric And Human Rights Foreign Policy, Daniel Eric Schabot

Dissertations

Former President James Earl Carter is well known for his rhetorical efforts to promote human rights. Carter’s human rights advocacy is motivated and sustained by his belief that God duty-bounds him to assist those less fortunate than himself. Scholars generally concede, however, that as president, Jimmy Carter’s human rights accomplishments were minimal and that he failed to develop or institute consistent policies. This dissertation compares and contrasts Carter’s presidency and postpresidency with respect to human rights accomplishments, arguing that he was better able to serve an advocacy role when out of office. Carter, free of separation of church and state …

Virtue For Commercial Purpose: A Look At Production Code Censorship In The 1930s, Jacob Key

Honors Theses

This paper is a study of the conservative political bias inherent to the Motion Picture Production Code as it applies to Great Depression cinema. Many films in this period attempted to explore progressive themes but were edited or prohibited outright under the Code’s authority. Father Daniel Lord, the Code’s author, greatly feared cinema’s cultural and moral influences, but may have been unaware of the political ramifications of his work. On the other hand, his boss, Will H. Hays, was an ambitious man fully in support of the Code’s ability to censor politics that differed from his own. The unlikely partnership …

Stories Over Miles: Religious And Political Coping Among Tibetan Former Political Prisoners, Dylan Harris

Honors Theses

Tibetan former political prisoners suffer before, during, and after imprisonment; however, their distinct coping mechanisms, in this case, specifically Buddhist coping and political coping mechanisms, allow them to overcome suffering. By examining Tibetan culture and contemporary history and concepts of suffering and coping specific to Tibetan former political prisoners, this thesis will answer the question: to what extent do Buddhism and politics effectively aid coping in the lives of Tibetan former political prisoners exiled in McLeod Ganj, Dharamsala, India?

1st Mississippi Mounted Rifles: Mississippi’S Union Battalion In The Civil War, Beau Johnson

Honors Theses

In the Civil War era, Mississippi was a house divided. Secessionists were in a never ending conflict with pro-Unionists in the 1850’s and into 1860 over secession. These clashes even spilled over into the war as Confederates skirmished with pro-Unionists, as well as groups of people that became known as anti-Confederates (these being people that did not support the Union, but did not agree with the policies of the Confederacy). The division in Mississippi had become so bad that many men refused to join the army, some deserted after conscription, while others supported the Union in any way possible. In …

The Influence Of Residence Hall Design On College Students' Grade Point Averages, On-Campus Involvement, And Sense Of Community, Katrina Rutledge

Honors Theses

Residence halls have a large impact on college students' experiences. Residence hall design can help foster higher GPAs, encourage more involvement on campus, and create a stronger sense of community among students. Colleges and universities should consider these factors when designing and constructing new residence halls or renovating existing halls. Different residence hall design styles can foster different results in the above mentioned categories. This study compares transitional style residence halls to suite-style residence halls. The purpose of this study was to gather results from surveying upperclassmen living in both types of residence halls to determine if one design style …

Slavery And Empire: The Development Of Slavery In The Natchez District, 1720-1820, Christian Pinnen

Dissertations

“Slavery and Empire: The Development of Slavery in the Natchez District, 1720- 1820,” examines how slaves and colonists weathered the economic and political upheavals that rocked the Lower Mississippi Valley. The study focuses on the fitful— and often futile—efforts of the French, the English, the Spanish, and the Americans to establish plantation agriculture in Natchez and its environs, a district that emerged as the heart of the “Cotton Kingdom” in the decades following the American Revolution. Before American planters established their hegemony over Natchez, the town was a struggling outpost that changed hands three times over the course of the …

What’S In A Test? Constructions Of Literacy And Its Implications For English Proficiency Test Design, Josye Marie Brookter

Dissertations

Although college-level composition pedagogy is becoming more open to language diversity, some crucial current-traditional vestiges remain, particularly in proficiency exams. Too often these exams only identify students who are slipping through the cracks of literacy instruction, while the definition of English represented by this test limits alternate notions of writing and literacy. The test represents local, institutional values about written English, although those values must also be consistent with national standards. Typically, administrators, teachers, and students feel compelled to choose traditional forms of writing over postmodern ones, a choice that is seldom discussed in the literature. Conflicting perspectives of English …

The Invisible Woman And The Silent University, Elizabeth Robinson Cole

Dissertations

Anna Eliot Ticknor (1823 – 1896) founded the first correspondence school in the United States, the Society to Encourage Studies at Home. In the fall of 1873 an educational movement was quietly initiated from her home in Boston, Massachusetts. A politically and socially sophisticated leader, she recognized the need that women felt for continuing education and understood how to offer the opportunity within the parameters afforded women of nineteenth century America. With a carefully chosen group of women and one man, Ticknor built a learning society that extended advanced educational opportunities to all women regardless of financial ability, educational background, …

The Friendly Yeti, Daniel S. Capper

Faculty Publications

Most images of yetis in Western popular culture and scholarly literature portray them as secular, predatory monsters. These representations overlook important religious dimensions of yetis that are hidden in the current literature, so I take a new look at yetis in Tibetan religions in order to clarify our understanding of these legendary creatures. Following a phenomenological approach that sets aside the issue of the ontological existence of yetis, I examine texts, art, ritual, and folklore in order to propose four yeti personal ideal types: the Buddhist practitioner, the human religious ally, the friendly yeti, and the mountain deity yeti. These …