Digital Commons Network^™

Living In Paradise? Cameroonian Women In The American Diaspora, Joseph Takougang

Journal of African Policy Studies

For decades after independence, African migration was a phenomenon that could be attributed to a patriarchal culture that encouraged male domination. Later, that traditional mindset was reinforced by a colonial system that often marginalized the role of women in many African societies. Indeed, because young men were more likely to be educated than their female counterparts under the colonial system, they were advantaged after independence to attend institutions of higher learning abroad when it became necessary to train young Africans to occupy important government and other decision-making positions in the newly independent states. Recently, however, women have become important players, …

The Forgotten Hero: Greece During World War Ii, Liana S. Giannopoulos

Student Scholarship

“The combatants had not felt they were participating in wider events,” once wrote the well-known military historian Sir John Keegan. Perhaps, this is why most studies of World War II, popular history and academic history alike, leave out the people of Greece. They were simply fighting for their country, not the world. They simply did not know—or did not care—about the wider war all around them. From October 28, 1940 to May 31, 1941, Greece was the only free country in continental Europe still fighting the Axis Powers. It was in Greece that the “first British soldiers [were] openly back …

Restoring Context: Interdisciplinary Approaches To Art Conservation And Registration Challenges In Rural Museums, Jade Karas '25

Senior Scholarly and Creative Symposium

A prevalent issue for museums in rural areas is a lack of reliable registration methods. This occurs for a number of reasons whether it be a lack of resources (human, financial, spacial, etc.) or the erosion of knowledge overtime due to cultural reliance on generational knowledge. Additionally, different registrars often develop new methods for inventory without leaving behind instructions, leading subsequent registrars to devise their own methods. These gaps in the registration process frequently result in “registration problems”, objects that don’t get properly inventoried and thus have little to no context for their origins. This thesis aims to fill in …

Female Embodiment And Corporeality In Sanskrit Prognostication: A Study Of The Bṛhatpārāśarahorā Śāstra, Tara Sheemar

Journal of International Women's Studies

The connection between traditional Indian knowledge systems of astrology, medicine, and drama has been noted by scholars. Of particular concern for gender analysis is the reading of lakṣaṇas (bodily marks) that developed in astrology. The coded knowledge of astrology—the sharing of fundamental meanings with other Sanskrit knowledge systems—became a significant tool for gendered prognostication, which buttressed normative gender roles for men and women. In this paper, I attempt to unravel the code of lakṣaṇas given in the Bṛhatpārāśarahorā Śāstra, a text composed between the 7th and 9th centuries CE. The focus will be on the sections of the text …

Youth Participation In Local And National Development In Ghana, Ca. 1620–2013, Ransford Gyampo, Franklin Obeng-Odoom

Journal of African Policy Studies

While there has been a long tradition in development studies on analyzing types of participation and their effectiveness, the idea that participation is not stationary, but that it can evolve with variegated experiences, is relatively unexplored. This paper takes up the challenge of showing how participation in development planning can change, the role of underlying institutions, and the implications of evolutionary participatory development for policy making. It uses a critical postcolonial approach and zooms in on the role of the youth in development planning in Ghana. It knits together the diverse processes and dynamics of youth participation in postcolonial Ghana …

Of Corruption And Anti-Corruption Strategies In Nigeria: The More You Look The Less You See, Sylvester Olubani Fajonyomi

Journal of African Policy Studies

This statement from the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria reflects the outcome of the regime's efforts at fighting corruption in its first four years (1999-2003) in office: "Some members of the Nigerian public have expressed their opinion to the effect (that) our anti-corruption crusade in the last four years has been deficient in credibility because it appeared to lack the support of the Federal Executive Council who only rarely expressed their support in public. The situation has to change with the new cabinet. Each and every one of you must do more than give a nodding support for …

Body Of Light, Lucy C. Adams

Theses and Dissertations

Body of Light is a two channel video installation, incorporating a combination of archival material and present day footage to explore and speculate upon the traces of Audrey Munson’s life that remain, a ghostly presence creeping into our current world.

Integrating Pre-Colonial Indigenous Australian Art Into Global Art History, Allison Bell, James Hutson

Faculty Scholarship

Art history as a discipline remains dominated historically through Eurocentric frameworks, systematically marginalizing Indigenous artistic traditions, particularly pre-colonial Australian Aboriginal art. Despite evidence of profound antiquity and cultural richness, such art often occupies peripheral spaces in global narratives. This article addresses these limitations through an interdisciplinary approach, integrating precise archaeological dating methods—including radiocarbon analysis of mud wasp nests and uranium-series dating—with detailed art historical inquiry. Case studies focus specifically on landmark findings, such as the Gwion Gwion rock paintings in the Kimberley region (over 16,000 years old) and Australia’s oldest known in-situ kangaroo painting, dated approximately 17,300 years old. Comparative …

Gender And Sexuality In The American West: Forgotten Queer Histories Of The Nineteenth And Early Twentieth Centuries, Cassidy Marie Paulk

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The narratives of queer individuals are often overlooked in the construction of the history of the American West. This work focuses on the lives of queer individuals living in the American West during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. “The dearth of historical evidence should not be construed as the absence of it.”1 While finding sources that demonstrate queer historical experiences is difficult, nevertheless, their experiences significantly contribute to a more inclusive and accurate understanding of the history of the West. By examining a range of historical evidence through the lens of queer historical theory, this work reveals the forgotten …

Crossing The Mediterranean: The Italian Response To The Migration Situation (2014-2024), Avery F. Van Scoy

World Languages, Literatures and Cultures Undergraduate Honors Theses

As Europe increasingly mirrors aspects of its sociopolitical landscape from the first half of the 20th century, a critical examination of historical biases and identity has become imperative. The enduring myth of Italiani, brava gente, or Italians, good people, continues to shape national identity and inform attitudes toward irregular migration, contributing to a growing number of fatalities in the Mediterranean. These deaths are caused, in part, by migration policies that prioritize keeping irregular migrants from reaching Italy by outsourcing border enforcement and restricting access to resources for organizations that seek to aid vulnerable migrants. The endurance of Italiani, brava gente …

Nextgen Humanities: A Digital Art History Pedagogical Revolution, Analisa Soverns-Reed

Theses

In response to the urgent need for more accessible, inclusive, and technologically relevant humanities education, the NextGen Humanities project was conceived as a digital initiative to reimagine pedagogical practices within art history and the broader humanities. Traditional perceptions of humanities disciplines as elite and static have contributed to declining engagement, necessitating innovative solutions that integrate open-access resources, digital tools, and inclusive frameworks. This project developed a publicly accessible platform curating free, vetted resources grounded in artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), and open educational resources (OER), emphasizing critical engagement, cultural inclusivity, and technological adaptability. Methodologically, NextGen Humanities combined extensive literature …

Making Peace Among The People: The Development Of Brigham Young's Political Thought And Activity, 1838-1846, Garrett R. Elkins

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Brigham Young assumed the role as president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1838, as the Church began to face extreme persecutions by the state of Missouri. Although he was a mostly apolitical individual preceding his new role, over the next eight years Young would hold political office and help the Church navigate challenging relationships with local, state, and federal governments. By the time he led the Latter-day Saints to the Great Basin and became president of the Church in 1847, Young had gained significant experience over several years …

The Evils Of Illegitimacy: The Construction And Contest Of Kinship-Based Citizenship During Jamaica’S Nationalist Awakening (1930-1945), Ryan Doherty

Honors Theses

Illegitimacy, which refers to kinship units and births outside of the nuclear family, was a major issue in Jamaica. Following the 1938 Uprising, illegitimacy became even larger as an issue as the colonial administration blamed the lower class’s revolt on their kinship units. As for nationalists, the 1938 Uprising was a catalyst for them to rally the lower class to their side, but they, too, were concerned about their illegitimate kinship units. The colonial administration used illegitimacy as a way to push back against nationalists, while nationalists blamed illegitimacy on the colonial administration’s economic exploitation and mismanagement, as well as …

Public Memory Of World War Ii In Japan, Jeneva Grace Midgett

Honors Theses

Public memory often fails to encompass varied perspectives on past events, representing exclusively the collective understanding of one group or nation. Most nations shape history through personalized narratives, which remember their own motivations in conflicts, neglect their harms done against others, or memorialize past harms and traumas for reasons such as collective identity, nationalism, or guilt. However, while public memory is similarly controlled from nation to nation, various scholarship has illuminated changes within Japanese World War II education, and many scholars have discussed its potential impact to Japanese World War II public memory. To fully analyze Japanese public memory and …

Forced Sterilizations And Reproductive Control: A Legacy Of Eugenics And White Supremacy In The United States, Bshara Alsheikh

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Women of color have suffered racial reproductive abuse by the hands of government-funded white supremacist institutions. From federal government agencies to the highest court of the land, they have all played a crucial role in the reproductive oppression of women of color and have failed to protect their bodily autonomy. This thesis examines legal cases like Buck v. Bell, Madrigal v. Quilligan, and Relf v. Weinberger to showcase how the bodies and reproductive capacities of women of color have been targeted and controlled under the guise of public health, to advance supposed economic stability, and through a racially charged eugenics …

“Raise Your Keffiyeh:” Headdress As A Lens For Understanding The Arab Revolt In Mandatory Palestine, 1936-1939, Kathryn Kf Butler

All Theses

In the fall of 1938, approaching the apex of the most intensive period of violence during the Arab Revolt against the British government in Mandatory Palestine (1936-1939), a seemingly unassuming change occurred for Arab men in cities throughout the region: they donned a new headdress. Sartorial shifts in the early post-Ottoman period were not unique to Palestine. During the Interwar period, changes in male headgear occurred throughout the greater Middle East in Turkey, Afghanistan, Iran, Syria and Iraq, to name a few. These transformations of dress signaled a shift in something either societal or political and oftentimes both. I argue …

The ‘Monuments Men’ And Art In World War Ii, Sylvester M. Felder

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This research focuses on the 'Monuments Men,’ a group of civilian and military personnel from amongst the Allied Nations in World War II who dedicated themselves to protecting, preserving, and reclaiming Europe's artistic and architectural marvels. The thesis statement is art was highly valued by both sides during the war and fell into their operational and tactical planning and that the 'Monuments Men' were crucial to rescuing looted art and helping to establish some of the finest art institutions of the Western world, aiding in art provenance research and restitution. The dominant research question is why was art sought after …

Rising Sun And Morning Calm : A Comparative Historical Study On The Response To Christianity In Korea And Japan, Gregory S. Whyte

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Center And Edge A Flourishing Relationship : Encouraging Best Practices In A Mixed Ecology, John Marsh

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Wwii Service On Black South African Soldiers, 1939-1950, Zachary Wilmoth

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the experiences and motives of black South African soldiers who were a part of the Native Military Corps during the Second World War. It argues that these Black South African soldiers gained a growing sense of racial consciousness as a result of their service and corresponding experiences. In doing so, this thesis challenges previous historical interpretations of the Native Military Corps that have perpetuated the notion that Black veterans gained little political or racial understanding as a result of their service. Previous historians have predominantly relied on archival governmental records to substantiate their claims. However, such source …

Tres Escrituras Del Exilio Latinoamericano Del Siglo Xx Y El Conflicto Armado Interno: El Asco, Purgatorio, Y La Muerte Y La Doncella (Camilo Rodríguez, Pp. 85-95), Camilo Andrés Rodríguez Mora

Intersecciones Hispánicas: Revista de Cultura, Literatura y Lingüística

¿Cómo contar el dolor que deja la guerra? Es una pregunta que subyace en incontables obras de arte a lo largo de la historia. Desde tiempos remotos, la expresión literaria cuenta y documen- ta testimonios bélicos. Sin embargo, en la segunda mitad del siglo XX ocurre algo singular: ante el advenimiento de las dictaduras militares en América Latina, una oleada de autores y autoras deciden narrar el dolor resultante del conflicto armado pero sus voces se manifiestan desde situaciones como el exilio, la clandestinidad y la cárcel, espacios de enunciación marcados no sólo por el riesgo sino también por la …

From Prison Cells To Parliament: How The H-Block Hunger Strikes Transformed Sinn Féin To Enable Peace In Northern Ireland, Madeleine E. Wallenberg

Young Historians Conference

The 1988 Good Friday Agreement signed in Belfast is regarded as a landmark feat of diplomacy. Allowing for a non-violent redistribution of power, the Good Friday Agreement marked the end of a nearly thirty-year period of violence known as The Troubles. The efficacy of this agreement relied on the participation of members of the I.R.A. and Sinn Féin, something that likely would not have happened if not for a 1981 Hunger Strike that changed the public’s perception of the Irish Republican movement and launched the platform for Sinn Féin as a legitimate political organization. This paper explores the development of …

Through The Looking Glass : Diversity Through The Eyes Of A Dress Form, Amara Copeland

LSU Master's Theses

This article aims to look into educational institutions and how they address diversity using curatorial displays. Does fashion and costume curation add to the seclusion of luxury? Looking into this correlation, this study aims to answer these next couple of questions. How does museum curation add to fashion social norms? Is it a subconscious or conscious decision when deciding on a mannequin or dress form? How do museum and fashion curations add to the exclusion of minorities in the world of luxury? What is costume luxury, and who do we say can obtain it?

This research aims to understand the …

Chaos And The Human Experience: An Intertextual Study Of Job, Qohelet, And Jonah, Andy Tse Chang

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Hermann Gunkel’s landmark work Schöpfung und Chaos was a pioneering work in biblical studies, largely in part because it highlighted the importance of considering the language, culture, and context of the broader Ancient Near East with regard to Old Testament imagery. While Gunkel’s claims that the Genesis 1 account of creation was borrowing from Ancient Near East myths is now largely rejected, still, the enduring value and legacy of Gunkel’s work is that biblical scholars see the importance of contextual studies in exegeting the Old Testament texts, as well as how to apply the material exegetically to the Old Testament. …

An Empire In A City: Foundations Of Washington, D.C., 1776 To 1861, Ronni Desjardins

Madison Historical Review

This research project will examine the foundations of Washington, D.C., and how the city’s map and construction identify imperial inspirations that influenced its design and use. It will also examine how these imperial frameworks were intentionally created to sustain historical narratives about the American people and their government. Using correspondence from James Madison and other Founding Fathers, the intention behind the construction of the national capital city becomes significant to our understanding of the political and national philosophy that exists in the current national atmosphere. By placing the capital at the geographic and economic center of the empire, the government …

Pain For Profit The Motivations Of Slave Surgeons In The Eighteenth To Nineteenth Century Caribbean, Gabe Smock

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

When late eighteenth- century British surgeon Dr. Alexander Falconbridge ventured belowdecks to check on the hundreds of slaves chained there, he had no illusions about the horrors of the Middle Passage. After all, this was not his first voyage providing medical care for slaves until they disembarked at the infamous markets of colonial Kingston, Jamaica. He took a moment to brace himself, then ventured down into the damp air below only to encounter a sight so awful that it was difficult to put into words when he recounted the experience years later to Parliament. As a consequence of being packed …

An Investigation On Food Restriction In The Medieval British Church, Cope Makechnie-Hardy

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

When Seaxburh, Queen of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Kent, retired to her sister’s newly established religious house at Ely in 665 she was a physically broken woman, with “wan cheeks from fasting” and a body frail from years of food restriction.1 Already throughout her life Seaxburh had used her body as an integral part of her devotion to Christ, and after arriving at Ely “signed her stomach with the mark of Christ so that she might not burden it with food.”2 Nearly six hundred years later, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary would engage in a similar practice, referred to by historians …

Editor's Note, Cope Makechnie-Hardy

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

The medieval historian William of Malmesbury wrote that the legendary King Arthur was “worthily deserving to be celebrated, not by idle fictions, but by authentic history.”1

Parody And Mis-Unda-Stendings In Comics Art World: Bridging The Gap With New Criteria, Yannis Koukoulas

SANE journal: Sequential Art Narrative in Education

The word parody and its many cognates such as appropriation, adaptation, pastiche, travesty, forgery, homage, tribute, swipe, etc., have often been at the centre of fierce debates within the traditional Artworld and various criteria have been proposed for the critical evaluation of visual and literary works. In particular, parody as a dominant practice in postmodern art is a concept that is subject to misunderstandings as to its content and meaning. In Comics Artworld, however, within which recontextualizing practices are very common, often with humorous content, the attempt to describe artists' works and intentions by the criteria applied to other arts, …

The Emotional World Of Ex-Confederate Expatriates In Latin America, 1865–1870, Chase H. Mccarter

History ETDs

From 1865 to 1870, tens of thousands of ex-Confederate soldiers, officials, and citizens fled the South for destinations in Latin America. They did so because their defeat in the U.S. Civil War instigated an emotional and identity crisis. Ex-Confederates felt that they could no longer live in the South given the changes wrought by Reconstruction. Rather than remain in the region, many looked toward Latin American states, such as Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, and British Honduras (Belize), where they believed they could create a way of life like that experienced in the Old South. To do so, ex-Confederates sought settlement in …