Digital Commons Network^™

The Grizzly, February 13, 2025, Kate Horan, Sidney Belleroche, Renee Washart, Nathaniel Nerone, Claudia Tracy, Emily Veasey, Hadley Whitman, Jesse Cherone

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

The Launch of Soulful Creations • Annual UC Career Fair Coming Soon! • CIE Syllabus Change Proposals • Professor Pairs • Behind Their Doors: Meet the New Staff of Ursinus • Valentine's Day: Friend or Foe? • Shattering Limits: Bears Break School Records • Basketball Bears Push Towards Playoffs!

Deuce Redemption: Grindhouse Cinema, Moral Panic, And Urban Renewal, Robert Brenner

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

If you consult standard histories of the “redevelopment” of 42^nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenue, AKA “the Deuce,” you will read that it was filled with nothing but criminals and pornographers, that decent people avoided it at all costs, and the only way the block could be “saved” was by seizing it via eminent domain, evicting all the current tenants, and replacing them with Disney and its fellow entertainment corporations.

The purpose of this thesis is to offer a more nuanced alternative to these standard histories. I will argue that the Deuce was a lower-class, multiracial, queer entertainment …

Gone With The Wind: The Confederacy's Trojan Horse, Skyler J. Shipp

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

This paper analyzes the film Gone with the Wind as a piece of Southern nationalist propaganda. This includes an exploration of the earlier Southern nationalist film Birth of a Nation, as well as a comparison to Margaret Mitchell’s 1936 novel Gone with the Wind. In my analysis of Gone with the Wind’s production process, including memos between producer David O. Selznick and other members of the production team, I find that Selznick maintained tight control over the film’s production and was extremely concerned with maintaining positive publicity for his film. This led him to allow a few seemingly progressive …

Curating Modernity: Carmen Giménez And The Shaping Of Post-Franco Spain, Ines Trafford

MA Theses

This thesis examines the interplay between political transformation and cultural development in Spain during the transition from dictatorship to democracy with a focus on the influential contribution of Carmen Giménez, a pivotal figure in modern and contemporary art. Spain’s recent history, marked by the profound fracture of the Franco regime, serves as the background for this exploration. The study highlights how Giménez’s curatorial vision and dedication to modernism have shaped the country’s cultural landscape in the post-Franco era. Born into a family deeply affected by the sociopolitical turbulence of 20th-century Spain, Giménez’s career reflects a nuanced understanding of the complexities …

Examining The Social And Cultural Implications Of Philippine Folk Dance To College Of Arts And Sciences (Cas) Students In One State University In The Philippines, John Michael D. Aquino

Journal of Urban Culture Research

The researcher aims to examine the social and cultural implications of Philippine Folk Dance to students in particular to their perceptions, attitudes, and how it affects the identity of the Filipinos. This study employed a phenomenological research design and purposive sampling in choosing the participant based on the given criteria. Semi-structured interviews was utilized and employed validated interview guide from the field expert and pilot testing. Thematic analysis was used in analyzing the data. The results revealed that the perception of the students profound admiration for the meaning, purpose, and beauty of traditional dances. Also emphasized are the value of …

Interpreting Literary Heritage : “Lilit Phra Law” Through Dance As Part Of Heritage Interpretation For The 21st Century, Naraphong Charassri

Journal of Urban Culture Research

This article explores how literary heritage can be reinterpreted through creative dance to sustain its relevance in the 21st century. It derives from a dissertation-length study entitled “Interpreting Literary Heritage: Lilit Phra Law through Dance as Part of Heritage Interpretation for the 21st Century.” The research employed six methods: literature review, personal experiential analysis, field studies, media exploration, symposium discussions, and structured interviews. Data collection was conducted in Thailand from March 2004 to April 2024, involving performing arts professionals, music and drama academics, senior practitioners from the Office of Performing Arts, the Fine Arts Department, Ministry of Culture, and both …

Memory And Pride Through Photographic Collage Arts : The Art Within - Collage Me Proud, Pornrak Chowvanayotin, Ithinath Tantivitittapong

Journal of Urban Culture Research

This article presents The Art Within - Collage Me Proud, an inclusive art initiative in Thailand involving undergraduate art students and persons with Down syndrome. Originating from photographic documentation of traditional Thai performance, the project developed into a participatory collage-making process that encouraged self-expression, co-creation, and shared memory. Through visual storytelling, participants selected meaningful photographs and transformed them into personal artworks with support from students and parents. Findings reveal consistently positive outcomes: participants reported pride, joy, and confidence; caregivers observed improved social interaction and wellbeing; and students demonstrated enhanced empathy, communication, and critical awareness of art’s role in society. Data …

Music, Terror, Disaster, Healing, Zuzana Jurková, Oldrich Podebradský, Zuzana Gulová

Journal of Urban Culture Research

On December 21, 2023, a student of Charles University in Prague, one of the safest places in the world, shot dead 14 academics and students. Amidst omnipresent grief and mourning, the process of coping and “healing” started immediately, manifested in particular through a series of events called the “Month for the Faculty.” This text is based on participation in and research of these activities. The theoretical part uses the Durkheim's concept of piacular rites, the aim of which is to “reconfirm [a] community's solidarity.” Following the recommendations of Bin Xu (2016), we investigated who the main agents were in the …

The Figures Of (Sound/Noise) In The Thai Art Context, Haisang Javanalikhikara, Suebsang Sangwachirapiban

Journal of Urban Culture Research

This study explores the evolution of sound art in Thai modern and contemporary art from the 1960s to the present. Early artists visualized sound using traditional elements, while the 1990s saw a shift toward media, video, and performance art, driven by global trends and new art spaces. The 2000s brought international recognition, with artists integrating interactive and conceptual sound elements. By the 2010s, those with music backgrounds introduced sophisticated sound systems and interdisciplinary collaborations. However, challenges persist, including inadequate exhibition spaces, limited funding, and a lack of technical expertise. These constraints slow down innovation and the broader recognition of sound …

Revolutionizing Dance : Advanced Choreographic Trends Of The 21st Century, Dharakorn Chandnasaro

Journal of Urban Culture Research

The study, "Revolutionizing Dance: Advanced Choreographic Trends of the 21st Century," provides an in-depth examination of the contemporary dance landscape. This paper underscores the significance of emerging dance paradigms in the 21st century, artfully blending time-honoured traditions with cutting-edge innovations, promoting artistic ingenuity, stringent discipline, and synergistic collaborations. Central principles highlighted include interdisciplinary partnerships and a heightened awareness of environmental issues, both of which contribute substantially to the broader dance discourse. Additionally, the work accentuates the essentiality of copyright awareness and the diligent deterrence of dance plagiarism, pivotal in safeguarding choreographers' rights and advocating for an ethos underscored by respect …

Problems Of Contemporary Art In The Regions Of Great Altai, Yelena Lichman, Mikhail Popandopulo, Abdrashid Raimbergenov, Abdulkhamit Raimbergenov, Adilgali Sagimbayev

Journal of Urban Culture Research

The relevance of the study is due to the fact that at present the topic of modern art is studied all over the world. The purpose of study is the complex study of factors that influence the activities of young artists in the art sector, their genre preference and the choice of unique forms to convey their own thoughts. To achieve this goal, theoretical and empirical methods such as statistical analysis, synthesis, induction and deduction were mainly used. The result of the research was a full analysis of the works of modern Kazakh, Mongolian, Chinese and Uzbek artists working in …

Musicking And Identities In And From Religious Places Of Thai Diasporas In Chicagoland, Matthew Werstler

Journal of Urban Culture Research

Thai Americans are constantly imagining, sustaining, and performing their Thai identity to varying degrees, and this can be seen in the Chicagoland area. Regardless of the differences in musical genre or form, Thai diaspora communities perform and negotiate identity within sacred spaces through musicking. The act of musicking is important for Thai Americans to share their life with one another. With the onset of the Covid-19 Pandemic, Thai musicking communities of religious spaces in the Chicagoland area turned to virtual and outdoor mediums to perform and create. While changes were needed so that musicking opportunities could continue during the pandemic, …

Lakhon Rong Songs Of The Nakhon Bantoeng Troupe (Mae Bunnak Kanlayanamit) & The Phenomenon Of Music In Siam, Tharanat Hin-On, Poonpit Amatayakul, Narongchai Pidokrajt, Anak Charanyananda, Nachaya Natchanawaku

Journal of Urban Culture Research

This study examines the evolution of lakhon rong, a form of Thai musical theater, within the context of Siam’s socio-political and cultural changes during the early 20th century, particularly under the influence of Western modernization. The research focuses on the Nakhon Bantoeng Troupe, exploring how adaptations in lakhon rong performances reflected and contributed to the broader societal efforts towards crafting a modern Thai identity. The integration of Western musical elements with traditional Thai forms exemplifies strategic cultural negotiation, aligning with theories of adaptation and appropriation. Through an analysis of play scripts and historic recordings, this study highlights how cultural practices …

Towards A Sustainable Play-Ground : Performance Ecosystems For A Livable Bangkok Neighborhood, Pornrat Damrhung

Journal of Urban Culture Research

This article examines an effort to turn urban research into creative placemaking by using performances to make a livable Bangkok neighborhood more vibrant. Research explored diverse stakeholders of Samyan-Banthat Thong in central Bangkok during COVID-19. This exploration found opportunities to link the neighborhood’s entrepreneurs, students, visitors and property managers, and discovered key characteristics of the complex and changing neighborhood. We used this knowledge to design a small festival bringing performing artists into the area’s main park and to important sites surrounding it for a weekend of live performances, workshops and demonstrations. By using performance to attract diverse publics to the …

Defining ‘Un-Americanism’ In Culture And Art: The Dies Committee’S Investigation Of The Federal Theatre Project, Matthew G. Summers

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis explores the House Un-American Activities Committee’s (HUAC) expansive definition of ‘Un-Americanism’ through the body’s 1938 investigation of the Federal Theatre Project (FTP). The committee, then known as the Dies Committee after its chairman Martin Dies (D-TX), publicly presented the hearings as an attempt to root out communism in a deeply compromised government program. And indeed the FTP, an ambitious New Deal Program to provide work for unemployed professionals in the theatre, had an undoubtedly leftist bent. However, the hearings were consistently focused on the project's progressive stances on issues of race and gender, and effectively exposed the underlying …

Workable Seams, Jackson Mills Smith

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In Jackson Mills Smith’s Workable Seams, readers encounter the stories, landscapes, and lives of rural Knox County, Indiana, from the oscillating vantage of a Hoosier boy raised with a Cajun sensibility. After relocating from Louisiana to the river bottoms of the crossroad state at a young age, the speaker gradually uncovers a local history only previously understood in fragmentary shards and fading glimpses.

Alternating between semi-lyrical embodied experiences and memories, documentary pieces in conversation with the state’s historical archive, and the retelling of exaggerated local yarns, poetry is a means of inquiry in Workable Seams. Topics range from …

Pickelfleisch, Pastirma, And Beyond: An Overview Of The Myths Of The Origin Of Pastrami, Angela Hanratty, Diarmuid Cawley

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

This paper investigates the assertion by Claudia Roden that pastrami is an invention of New York City delicatessens, a claim that refutes the accepted etymology of the word “pastrami” as being linked to a seasoned air-dried meat, sometimes referred to as basturma/pastirma, from Romania or Turkey. The probability that the roots of this iconic American delicatessen favourite can originally be found in two similar meats, pickelfleisch and homen, both originating from the areas today known as Alsace, France and the southeastern section of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate will also be explored. Ashkenazi food culture is predominantly identified as having …

The Future Of U.S.-Mexico Relations, Dr. Abelardo Rodriguez Sumano, Dr. Jorge A. Schiavon, Dr. Rafael Velazquez, Patricia Pinzon Sanchez

LAII Events

Monday, November 18, 2024 | 03:00 pm

National Hispanic Cultural Center | Wells Fargo Theatre

About:

Join the UNM Latin American and Iberian Institute, the Mexican Consulate in Albuquerque, and the National Hispanic Cultural Center for a panel discussing the future of US-Mexico relations.

The purpose of this panel is to discuss the nature of the current relationships between Mexico and the United States. The participants will also try to foresee the perspectives of the future interaction between both countries. As the relation embodies both promising opportunities and reasons for alarm, the panel will explore the context of the two …

The Rise And Fall Of An Aryanization Bank: The Romanian Credit Institute, 1941–1951, Stefan Cristian Ionescu

History Faculty Books and Book Chapters

Probably the most important domestic project of the pro-Nazi Antonescu regime, the policy of Romanianization of the economy had ambitious goals. It aimed to seize Jewish-owned real estate and to redistribute it to “deserving” Romanians, state agencies, and welfare organizations and to increase the share of ethnic Romanian entrepreneurs and skilled employees through purchasing Jewish companies, adopting business and labour restrictions against Jews and “foreigners,” training and funding ethnic Romanian professionals and would-be entrepreneurs, and establishing new companies to displace minority and foreign competitors. While this project looked feasible on paper, in practice, it faced major obstacles, including a lack …

0886: Ken Reffeitt Collection, 1852-2023, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Ken Reffeitt was employed by Marshall University Special Collections for many years and was a member of a number of fraternal organizations. His extensive collection of materials on this subject was donated in 2024.

The Ken Reffeitt Collection consists of annual reports and other documents of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) of West Virginia, the Rebekah Assembly, I.O.O.F., the Improved Order of Red Men, the Department Council Patriarchs Militant, I.O.O.F., the M. W. Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons of the State of West Virginia, and other organizations. The collection also includes a number of books …

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

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 …

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, …

Edward's New Welsh: The Foundations Of English Colonialism, 1282-1343, Joshua Lembke

University Honors Theses

This thesis, Edward’s New Welsh: The Foundations of English Colonialism, 1282-1343, examines the tumultuous period following the English conquest of the last independent Welsh kingdom, focusing on the English Crown's efforts under King Edward I to integrate Wales administratively and culturally. By reevaluating the appropriation of the Prince of Wales title, the study highlights the creation of a 'New Welsh' identity aligned with English interests. Key legal acts, such as the Statute of Rhuddlan and the establishment of English-style boroughs and castles, are analyzed to reveal the Crown's strategic embedding of English governance and suppression of native Welsh resistance. …

L’Évolution Du Libéralisme Dans La Littérature Au Xixe Siècle, Sophie Hardy

World Languages and Cultures Senior Capstones

This presentation is a dissection of a quote made by Victor Hugo during the preface of his work Hernani (1830), where he wrote that, “romanticism is just liberalism in literature". This presentation strives to contradict this statement by analyzing Hugo’s early works before the revolution of 1830 to prove that not all of his works discussed liberalism. This presentation will also analyze the works of Alphonse de Lamartine and Alfred de Musset during this romantic era and compares Hugo’s earlier statement to their works.

Resistencia Artística Bajo Dictaduras En Argentina Y España A Través De La Lente De Las Teorías De Comunicación, Adrian Self, Adrian Self

World Languages and Cultures Student Papers and Posters

Under dictatorships in Spain and Argentina, artists used their mediums to criticize the actions of the Catholic church and oppressive conditions enforced by the government, using allegories, metaphors, and symbolism in their art. While many artists tried to create works that fell within authoritarian guidelines, others intentionally created cinema and literature criticizing the Argentine and Spanish governments, values, and practices, knowing the works would be banned. This investigation uses examples of cinema and literature created and published deliberately to be prohibited or censored under the regimen of Francisco Franco from 1939-1975 in Spain or the last civil-military dictatorship from 1976-1983 …

The Grizzly, March 21, 2024, Marie Sykes, Sean Mcginley, Ellie Burns, Renee Washart, Caitlin Cunnane, Carlota Corral Elejabeitia, James Rapp

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

Talking Campus Antisemitism and New Social Science With Professor Kopstein • Deadnaming Emails Resolved • Joey Nolan Named Watson Fellow • Drug Delivery Via Carbon Nanotubes • Breakaway Student Productions and WVOU Present: Mircalla • Studying Abroad as a Fulbright Fellow • Softball Spring Break Senior Catch-up and Their "Revenge Tour" • Ursinus Men's LAX Crossword

Comic Legacies Of The Japanese Silver Screen, Aaron Gerow, Xavi Sawada, David Baasch, Eugene Kwon, Adam Silverman, Anna Tropnikova, Chloe Yan

Film Series Commentaries

Pamphlet created for the film series “Comic Legacies of the Japanese Silver Screen” presented at Yale University from February to April, 2024. Starting with an introduction outlining the history of Japanese film comedy, the pamphlet contains plot summaries and commentaries on the following films:

Buddhist Mass for Goemon Ishikawa (1930, Saitō Torajirō) Fighting Friends (1929, Ozu Yasujirō) Romantic and Crazy (1934, Yamamoto Kajirō) Singing Lovebirds (1939, Makino Masahiro) Akanishi Kakita (1936, Itami Mansaku) Tange Sazen and the Pot Worth a Million Ryō (1935, Yamanaka Sadao) Room for Rent (1959, Kawashima Yūzō) Doctor’s Day Off (1952, Shibuya Minoru) Oh, My Bomb! …

Pedro Mexía And The Politics Of Translation In The Early Modern World, Erin Fairweather, Robert Fritz

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Spanish humanist Pedro Mexía (1497-1551) wrote two highly influential texts in the sixteenth century, the Silva de varia lección (1540) and the Historia imperial y cesárea (1545), which were, notably, written in Spanish, a vernacular language, as opposed to Latin, the academic language of the age. As these books presented previously inaccessible scientific and historical knowledge to the common person, they were soon translated into several languages, achieving widespread fame and influence. However, the texts have been mostly forgotten and have seen little study in recent times. Nevertheless, the Silva and the Historia can help us better understand the politics …