Digital Commons Network^™

Capacity Building In Cultural And Traditional Craft Enterprises For Ecotourism Development In The Sekyere Kumawu District Of Ghana, Dickson Adom, Ralph Nyadu-Addo, Steve Kquofi

Journal of Urban Culture Research

The study was aimed at developing the capacities of the local people in selected agricultural societies in the Sekyere-Kumawu district in the Ashanti Region of Ghana in cultural and traditional craft enterprises. The study utilized the embedded mixed methods design with phenomenology as the research design. The study involved 116 participants consisting of park officers, traditional leaders, elders in the traditional cabinet, elderly men and women as well as the youth in Kumawu, Bodomase, Yiribotiri, and Dagomba. The capacities of the study participants were developed in textiles, leatherwork, traditional culinary practices, and cultural services. Moreover the development of cultural museums …

Benin Kingdom's Art Traditions And Culture, Festus Osarumwense Uzzi, Afeez Babatunde Siyanbola, Daniel Omoruan

Journal of Urban Culture Research

This study works on Benin kingdom art traditions and culture. The methodology of these studies were based on field work and oral interview in writing the history of Benin kingdom and its monarchy. The various traditions in Benin City and its environs are also to be identified; potters, bronze casters were interviewed on the history of craft practice. The study also examines the symbolic meaning of each of the traditions. It projects the aesthetic qualities, and the effects of new ideas of the indigenous Benin people‘s craft, and how Benin culture in Nigeria are interpreted with respect to environmental influences …

The Museum That Leaps Over The Physical Wall : Museum Practices In Japan Under The Covid-19 Pandemic, Mengfei Pan

Journal of Urban Culture Research

Under the pandemic COVID-19, museums around the world are facing unprecedented challenges. This paper focuses on the museums in Japan and traces their practices between around February 2020 and March 2021. It presents a timeline of changes in the museum scene with along the spread of the Virus in the country and the policies, particularly the declarations of “State of Emergency.” To open to the public, an inherent purpose of a museum, becomes questionable when physical gatherings are undesirable with higher risk of virus spread and it is more expensive to remain open with much less visitors. This paper offers …

Live Music Performance Business In The Wind Of Change : A Case Of Popular Music In Thailand, Treetip Boonyam

Journal of Urban Culture Research

The objectives of this research were to study the factors affecting both the support and hindrance of the live performance business in popular music in Thailand during 2007 - 2017; to classify Thai consumer groups for popular music concerts, and to investigate the adjustment strategies of business operators in Thailand during that period. This research was conducted using mixed methods. The data was collected from three sources, which are in-depth interviews with five executives from Thailand's most reputable concert promoters, synthesis of news content during 2007 - 2017 and survey techniques using a questionnaire with the audience of 241 Thai …

Markets And The City : Planning Interventions & Markets In Guwahati City, India, Taz Mazinder Barua

Journal of Urban Culture Research

Older cities pre-existing the founding of modern Guwahati city were important trade centers in the Indian eastern region. From the nineteenth century, the colonial regime began reorganizing the spaces in Indian urban centers through town planning schemes. The article investigates how town planning schemes and modern urban planning in Guwahati city changed the forms and locations of the public markets with the city’s outwards expansion. An exploratory approach was taken to review the archival and documentary material available on Guwahati’s public markets, including the publicly available historical maps and master plans to understand the public rationale for the changes. Although …

Technology Singularity In Culture : The Urgency Of The Problem In The Covid-19 Pandemic, Tetiana Sovhyra

Journal of Urban Culture Research

In response to the global pandemic COVID–19, the possibility of organizing the artistic process without presence of a human being at the moment of the artifact’s manufacture is now being updated. This article discusses AI possibilities and prospects for the further development of technological art. The author explores the specifics and uniqueness of works created using AI technology. By the example of the paintings “Next Rembrandt” and “Kandinsky” it is evident that the images reproduce the creative styles of artists with exceptional accuracy, but are not a copy of famous works of art masters. The author finds out the possibilities …

Blood Money: 12th Century Trade Wars And The Fourth Crusade, Alexander Evgeniy Stalowski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The historiography of the Fourth Crusade has neglected long-term macroeconomic developments and its influence on the Fourth Crusade within the Byzantine Empire and the Italian states of Venice, Pisa, and Genoa. It is well-established that the Venetians rerouted the crusading forces to Constantinople which caused political, religious, and economic challenges that altered the Mediterranean world. Yet, the trend of writing on political events and short-term microeconomics and macroeconomics from 1180 to 1204, has done great disservice to the larger trans-regional disputes that engulfed the Mediterranean during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. This thesis will attempt to fill the void of …

Just Southern Food: Food Justice For The Mississippi Delta, Christian Tabor Owen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The primary objective of this research is to promote food justice for the Mississippi Delta by investigating facts about the intersections of extreme poverty, food insecurity, and chronic illness in the Mississippi Delta. By exploring relevant literature and highlighting current initiatives, this work looks at the semantics of food justice and related terms, discusses challenges unique to the Mississippi Delta, and broadly characterizes public health models with the greatest potential for food justice advancement in this region. Pivotal to interpreting food justice not only for the Mississippi Delta or the Global South, but for any community, is a clear understanding …

Changing Representations Of The Second World War: Why We Fight, Victory At Sea, And The World At War, Maiah Vorce

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Día De (Los) Muertos - The Revered Mexican Holiday Of Death, Logan Johansen

Undergraduate Research Journal

In recent years, Americans have become enthralled with what many might refer to as Mexican Halloween. Notably, the Disney film Coco in 2017 portrayed a fantastical interpretation of the holiday, combining music and a wholesome story typical of the company’s many animated films. Although the celebration falls just after October 31st, the traditional holiday is not an imitation of the Americanized All Hallows’ Eve. Yes, there are costumes, candy, and lots of partying, but the purpose and intent of the holiday is entirely different. With rapidly growing popularity in the United States and even across the world, it is important …

Feminine Intervention: The Bosnian War And Women’S Roles In Instigating Peace, Ashly Helfrich

Undergraduate Research Journal

Women played a significant role both during and after the Bosnian conflicts throughout the 1990s, as they prioritized their continuation of traditional roles in their homes and families, while also promoting gender equality and women’s roles in peacekeeping processes. Women who were directly involved in the aftermath of the Bosnian war often reinforced traditional gender stereotypes through their connections to their roles as mothers and wives, and their emphasis on the relationship and care of individuals who had been physically and mentally traumatized by the war. In response to the brutal rapes and human rights violations that occurred during the …

Maledictum Bulgaricus: Bulgaria’S Perpetual Stagnation Due To Its Negative National Narrative And Political Nostalgia, Yoana Sidzhimova

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis explores how Bulgaria has internalized negative outcomes in occupation, war, and it's transition to a democracy to fuel a negative national narrative and lead to the rise of political nostalgia. Then negativity and degree of political nostalgia in Bulgaria has only increased with time, stagnating the nation's development.

What Produced Four Lynchings In Duluth, Minnesota In 1918 And 1920?, Gabriel Das

Pomona Senior Theses

This thesis explores the context of Duluth, Minnesota between the years 1918 and 1920, and how the history, politics, and society of Duluth contributed to two separate lynchings within two years of each other. A brief history of Duluth will be established which describes its demographics, race relations, politics, and work environment in the early 20th century. The lynchings will be discussed in chronological order. Olli Kinkkonen’s murder in 1918 is analyzed within the context of World War One, nationalism, workers’ rights, and anti-Finnish sentiment in Northern Minnesota. The lynchings of Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson, and Isaac McGhie will be …

Review Essay: "America's Hometown" Revisited, Drew Lopenzina

English Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Making And Breaking Kings: Generational Kingship And The Masculinities Of The Last Plantagenet Kings Of England,1308–1399, Richard Merrell

History Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this project, I apply ideas on hegemonic and chivalric masculinity to four generations of Plantagenet kings of England during the fourteenth century—Edward II, Edward III, Edward the Black Prince, Richard II. My aim is to decenter men from their default position at the normative gender. I specifically recontextualize kingship form the canonical frameworks of patriarchal power and privilege and reconfigure it in terms of new research on masculinity studies to understand how masculine identities interact with ideas on the generational component of kingship. This project has implications for other fields of study such as chivalry and medieval masculinity. I …

Chinese Paradox : Where Are Chinese Monuments?, Alberto Castelli

Journal of Urban Culture Research

The bareness of the Chinese monumental landscape is the result of various factors, the analysis of which deserves an inquiry into Chinese modus vivendi. Daoist imprimatur and its recognition of nature’s superiority is but one. Buddhist sectarianism, Chinese fluid conception of time, Chinese iconoclasm, are phenomena that, largely, have concurred on creating a periodic tabula rasa of cultural heritage. Making sense of this is simply to recognize that artistic representations are not only metaphors for understanding social dynamics, but also a magnifying glass on the relation between people and their past.

The Process Of Creating A Work Of Art From Sensory Integration Of Students With Intellectual Disabilities Of The Panyanukul Schools In Eastern Thailand, Tuenrudee Rugmai

Journal of Urban Culture Research

The research was based on creating art together with children with intellectual disabilities. In this study, art therapy was applied along with sensory integration. The objectives are to determine the process of creating art from sensory integration of children with intellectual disabilities in order to develop model activities for art classes and explore how to develop products from artworks created by children with intellectual disabilities, which can generate income for the children and the communities. In this qualitative research, the data were collected as a volunteer in the field and analyzed to determine the process of creating a work of …

Futurism In Conceptual Textile Art : An Approach To Improving Sanitation In Ghana, William Badoe, Frederick Boamah

Journal of Urban Culture Research

Century old art movements have become relevant in modern art especially in conceptual art to address societal issues. Ghana is confronted with sanitation issues of which government interventions have proved futile in dealing with the situation. This art studio experimental study explored the philosophy concept of futurism through conceptual textile art towards sanitation improvement in Ghana. The Studio-Based research approach was employed with adoption of Aesthetico-Action Research model in generating the results. The results revealed that conceptual textile art could be used as a communicative tool through the concept of futurism as the driving force. The results proved the possibility …

"To Claim That Greatness For Themselves”: A History Of The Kentucky Horse Park, Emily Elizabeth Libecap

Theses and Dissertations--History

The Kentucky Horse Park describes itself as the world’s only equine theme park. However, the park is not entirely without historical precedent; instead, world’s fairs, amusement parks, and theme parks all form a century-long pedigree chart through which the park can trace its ancestors. The Kentucky Horse Park’s links to these predecessors deepen our understanding of how the park is a reflection of the world around it and the motivations for how and why it was built. From its inception in the late 1960s, to when it opened in 1978, through the present day, the Kentucky Horse Park was and …

A Holy Tug Of War: Us Christians Against The Contras (1970-1990), Mark Maxwell Brown

Theses and Dissertations--History

After the Sandinista revolution of 1979 ousted the longstanding Somoza dynasty of Nicaragua, the small Central American nation became an obsession of US foreign policy as the Reagan administration committed its efforts to deposing the leftist revolutionary government through the funding and training of the Contras, a counter-revolutionary guerrilla group. With the Cold War at a boiling point, continued control and influence over Central America became a pillar of US anticommunist agenda. Uniquely, many of the most ardent critics of the Reagan administration during this period of violent intervention were Christian missionaries. The Sandinistas were able to defeat the Somoza …

The People's Court: On The Intellectual Origins Of American Judicial Power, Ian C. Bartrum

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

This article enters into the modern debate between “consti- tutional departmentalists”—who contend that the executive and legislative branches share constitutional interpretive authority with the courts—and what are sometimes called “judicial supremacists.” After exploring the relevant history of political ideas, I join the modern minority of voices in the latter camp.

This is an intellectual history of two evolving political ideas—popular sovereignty and the separation of powers—which merged in the making of American judicial power, and I argue we can only understand the structural function of judicial review by bringing these ideas together into an integrated whole. Or, put another way, …

“The Spirit Of Revolution:” The Impact Of Rum On The Formation Of The United States, Charles Streator

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis explores the impact of rum, be it the distillation, consumption, or trade of it, upon the formation of the American Revolution and the desire of American Colonists for independence. Through the analysis of three distinct subfactors: rum as an economic force, rum as a political tool, and the cultural and societal impacts of the rum trade and its subsequent removal from the American ethos, this project contends that rum as a commodity became a driving factor in the creation of the United States. While much has been written on the roles of stamps, sugar, and tea in the …

Maiden Voyagers: Exhibiting The Autonomy Of Travelling Women To Western Australia, 1818-1830, Toni Church

Theses

My thesis appraises critical problems of current museum practice concerning women, particularly interpretations of the physical female form and autonomous behaviours, through a wide-ranging field work study and in-depth analysis of recent Australian museum exhibitions and surveys of international exhibitions online. A working understanding of New Museology and empathetic museum practice was derived from this fieldwork experience and complemented by an academic study of museological theory to formulate future museum best practices. The second part of the thesis critiques written records and other artefacts to investigate autonomous behaviours in the experiences of European women who travelled to Western Australia in …

Contested Civic Space: The Piazza Della Signoria In Medicean Florence, Joanne Wisely

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

The heart of civic life in Renaissance Florence was an open square called the Piazza della Signoria. The piazza was the site of debates, executions, and power struggles, making it the most contested space in the city. Florentines held tremendous pride in their republic and often commissioned sculptural works to represent their civic values, displaying them publicly in the piazza. This research examines the shifting messages of sculptural works in the Piazza della Signoria during three distinct periods: from the piazza's creation in 1300 until 1494; from the expulsion of the Medici in 1494 until their return in 1512; and …

Representation, Narrative, And “Truth”: Literary And Historical Epistemology In 19th-Century France, Samuel A. Schuman

Honors Papers

My thesis examines the fluid boundaries between French historical and literary writing in the 19th century, and the shifts in “historical consciousness” that occurred in both fields as the century progressed. I examine three exemplary French writers—Jules Michelet, a historian, and Honore de Balzac and Emile Zola, both novelists—considering each primarily as a historical thinker, regardless of whether they considered themselves to be one. I argue that as the 19th century progressed, the broad shift in French institutions towards positivist epistemological and explanatory frameworks was reflected in literature, as well as in history. Both disciplines, one increasingly academic and one …

Dancing On The Dead: Death, Entertainment, And Respectability In Victorian London, Noa H. Segal

Honors Papers

As industrializing nineteenth-century London found itself in the position of a prominent world capital, the city faced problems of overcrowding, high poverty, and waves of epidemics, making the dead progressively more visible in public spheres of society. This thesis examines different forms of publicly-spectated death in Victorian London, moving from anatomical dissections to funerals to burials, following the Victorian corpse in these moments of dealing with the dead and the level of media involvement in structuring and marketing each of these spectacles to the public. While the current historiographical debate surrounding spectacles of death in nineteenth-century Europe agrees that death …

Women And World War One: Perspectives On Women's Role In Wwi Literature, Rachel Michelle Brown

All Master's Theses

This thesis analyzes the changing gender roles of British women who served as caretakers in World War One. Often overlooked for their contributions, the women who worked on the frontlines of the war defined the changing role of women during and after the war in several crucial ways: 1) the general expectations of women’s gender role, 2) how women perceived and acted in motherhood, and 3) how women constructed and maintained heterosexual, homosocial, and platonic relationships. Using a gender theory approach, this thesis analyzes two semi-autobiographical fictional texts, Evadne Price’s Not So Quiet: Stepdaughters of War, published in 1930, and …

Gender And Conservation: A Comparative Study Of The Bison And Wild Horse Conservation Movements, Holly Charlotte Fleshman

All Master's Theses

The focus of this thesis are the American bison and wild horse conservation movements. The goal is to address how these movements utilized and manipulated gender as a driving force for conservation. Throughout the nineteenth century, bison and bison hunting became identified with American manliness, which provided an opportunity for men like Theodore Roosevelt to establish and develop their masculinity through bison hunting narratives. When bison populations plummeted in the late nineteenth century, these men turned conservationists, and equated bison preservation with preservation of white American manliness. They developed idiosyncratic views of Darwin’s theory of natural selection, which allowed conservationists …

Korean Fusion: Consuming A Globalized Korea Through Food And Music, Ashley Hong

Honors Theses

In Koreatown, Los Angeles, one of the largest centers of Korean immigrants in the Western hemisphere, restaurant owners are constantly creating new forms of Korean cuisine that both challenge and preserve traditional methods of Korean culinary methods. Based on participant observation and semi-structured interviews conducted in Koreatown, Los Angeles in December 2020, I examine how Korean restaurant owners are navigating the current food scene while also maintaining their ethnic identity in a globalized landscape such as Los Angeles. I conceptualize the idea of a “twist” which can be understood as components of fusion food that allow Korean restaurant owners to …

Hungry America And The African Solution: How Hippopotami Nearly Fed America, Tyler Dennis

Vulcan Historical Review

pp. 39-46