Digital Commons Network^™

Arkansas’ Crippled Children’S Homes & The Politics Of Polio, Rylie Ford

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Most of the work in the field of disability history has centered on the Northeastern part of the United States and regions with large urban centers, therefore, excluding Southern and rural perspectives. This omission is particularly problematic when roughly 79% of the Black population in the United States lived in the South in 1940. The aim of this study is to contribute a Southern perspective to disability studies and Black medical history by tracing the development of services and aid for children with physical disabilities in Arkansas. Employing the frameworks from the social model of disability and Black disability politics, …

Reading Burney’S Mastectomy Letter: Presentist Thinking And Personal Responses In The Classroom, Heather Meek

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640–1830

Frances Burney’s mastectomy letter, in its graphic and detailed depiction of the operation she underwent without anesthetic in 1811, does not always lend itself immediately to standard, scholarly classroom discussion. It tends, rather, to incite unusually intimate responses, as well as conversations about medicine and health today. In my teaching of the letter in literature courses at Université de Montréal over the course of the past 13 years, I have found that students are inclined to seize upon the subject of breast cancer as especially contemporary in its relevance and to share their own anecdotal knowledge of the disease. I …

The Wanderers: Teaching The Literature Of Migration And Exile, Linda Zionkowski

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640–1830

In our current global landscape, exile—or forced, often permanent migration—appears a central rather than tangential experience, being driven by armed conflict, environmental destruction, economic collapse, and political repression. The climate on many university campuses reflects students’ awareness of and concern for the situation of displaced populations, and this awareness has influenced political discourse and political action inside and outside the classroom. My course titled “The Wanderers: Teaching the Literature of Migration and Exile” begins with  Frances Burney’s narration of exilic experiences in her life writings and The Wanderer. Burney’s texts offer a conceptual foundation for exploring instances of physical …

Poking The Bear: American Involvement In The Afghan-Soviet War, Daniel Gunnarson

Voces Novae

No abstract provided.

A Lineage Of Violence: Online Radicalization, The Great Replacement, And Far-Right Terrorism In The United States, 2011–2019, Kai Kawafuchi

Voces Novae

No abstract provided.

War On Walls: The Role Of Political Murals In Northern Ireland, Julianne Martin

Voces Novae

No abstract provided.

A World Without Literature? Tagore’S Words For His Times And Ours, Salmoli Choudhuri

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In 1907, Rabindranath Tagore delivered a lecture on world literature to an audience in Calcutta, the then capital of British India. Amid powerful and intersecting forces—colonialism and nationalism, industrial modernity and mass poverty—Tagore’s position on literature was neither disengaged nor defensive, insofar as he related it to the human condition and the capacity for world-making. Far from staking a representational claim to world literature on behalf of Indian or Bengali literature, I argue in this article, Tagore reconceptualized the idea from its earlier canonical formulation by Goethe. He departed from dominant nineteenth-century philosophies that conceived the world as a spatial—and …

Reconsidering Karl Marx’S Concept Of World Literature, Kenneth Cheng

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

It is widely assumed that Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels regarded world literature as an epiphenomenal product of the capitalist world market, and therefore as a symptom of rather than potential cure to the crisis of modern society. However, this conflicts with the fact that they designated the Communist Manifesto itself as a world-literary production—the joint work of communists of various nationalities—and opposed it to the national limitations of German socialist literature. This article challenges existing interpretations by outlining how Marx and Engels incorporated the humanistic idealism of the Goethean Weltliteratur tradition into the theoretical framework of historical materialism. It …

Śaṅkha-Dvīpa And The Swahili Littoral: Reconstructing India–East Africa Contacts Before The Common Era, Narendra Vijayasimha

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

This article is the first focused attempt to explore India–East Africa relationships in the Bronze Age and early Iron Age, approximately two to three millennia before the Common Era (3000–300 BCE) from a puranic perspective. While extensive scholarship exists on medieval and later Indo–African exchanges, the pre-Common Era period has remained underexplored. Drawing on Purāṇic cosmographies, Greco-Roman geographical accounts, African archaeology, and Indian Ocean trade studies, this research reconstructs possible networks of contact facilitated by monsoon navigation and long-distance exchange. Methodologically, the article integrates textual exegesis, comparative cosmography, and archaeological correlation. The findings suggest that Indian conceptions of Śaṅkha-dvīpa reflect …

The World Cup, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

We are now well into the 2026 World Cup, and the sports news outlets are full of reports on games, controversies, and personalities. I must confess that I am not a big fan of The Beautiful Game, probably because I never played football of the European variety or grew up in an area where soccer was followed. Whatever the reason, I am not all excited that the World Cup has once again come to the United States.

Open Pedagogy & Wikipedia Historical Narratives, And The Five Pillars: Analyzing The U.S.-Mexico Past In Wikipedia, Luis Quesada Nieto

Open Educational Resources

This assignment directs students to critically examine how public historical narratives regarding Texas annexation, the U.S.-Mexico War, and U.S. expansionism are organized and presented on Wikipedia. Students are required to read assigned Wikipedia sections and review associated Talk pages to identify editorial debates surrounding terminology, neutrality, organization, and historical interpretation. Applying the principles of the Wikipedia Five Pillars, students must write a two-to-three-page analytical response and formulate an evidence-based "Wikipedia Intervention" that proposes constructive improvements to the collaborative digital platform.

History Happenings, Georgia Southern University

History: News & Publications

No abstract provided.

Historian David “Titus” Luthy (1941–2025): A Principled Convert, The Personification Of Academia Among The Amish, Cory Anderson

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

David Richard Luthy—Amish historian, bibliographer, editor, and the founding steward of the Heritage Historical Library at Aylmer, Ontario—died on Oct 21, 2025, in North Carolina, where he had gone two weeks earlier to be near his children after spending a last summer at his home in Aylmer. He was 84. Worthy of a New York Times obituary, his passing drew little notice beyond Amish and Plain Anabaptist circles, yet few figures of the past half-century did more to shape how the Old Order Amish remember themselves or what primary materials scholars have been able to access. By any reckoning, he …

"Your Problem Is Not At All An Uncommon One": Visibility, Black Men, And Sexual Orientation In The Anti-Apartheid And Civil Rights Movements, Wren Addison Weddell

Dissertations and Theses

The South African Anti-Apartheid Movement and the American Civil Rights Movement are two of the most well-known examples of racial liberation movements, but there are few scholarly works that offer comparisons between the two. Furthermore, the experiences of people who fall outside the bounds of heteronormative society are often overlooked in historical research on both movements. Despite the dearth in research, there are several key factors that are revealed when comparing the lives of Black non-heterosexual men among the activists for both of these movements, including the role of the global community, unique local cultures, and how the state polices …

Nazi Propaganda In The United States Prior To American Entry Into The Second World War, Trenton Alexander Bowen

ETDs from 2020-2029

This thesis examines the multifaceted nature of Nazi propaganda in the United States during the interwar years. I argue that these publications were not just a parade of familiar cliches about Jews or the wisdom of American neutrality. Rather, they and the organizations that disseminated them presented a jumbled patchwork of lies, hypocritical claims, contradictions, and distortions. In other words, I argue that Nazi propaganda was so dangerous in the United States because it relied on mixed and confusing messaging, and in turn, on the ignorance of Americans about the nature of the “new Germany.”

The 1778 Fort Pitt Treaty: U.S. Relations With The Lenni-Lenape Nation And The Unraveling Of Early Promises, Veronica E. Riddle

Masters Theses

This study examines the Treaty of Fort Pitt (1778), signed in present-day Pittsburgh, as the first formal diplomatic agreement between the United States and the Lenape (Delaware) Nation during the American Revolutionary War. Formed amid the military and political instability of the Revolution, the treaty promised mutual military assistance, recognition of Lenape sovereignty west of the Alleghenies, protection from settler encroachment, and the unprecedented possibility of Native representation within the emerging American confederation. However, following the deaths of key Lenape leaders, escalating frontier violence, and the failure of the Continental Congress to ratify or uphold critical provisions, the treaty rapidly …

The Cold War And Abba, Samantha Foster

Masters Theses

ABBA was a 1970s Swedish pop group. Spending approximately ten years together as a group, their output included hits such as "Dancing Queen," "Waterloo," and "The Winner Takes it All," among others. During ABBA's time together, though, the Cold War was a known fact in everyday life for people worldwide. The Cold War impacted ABBA in a number of ways, thus making the group an example of the Cold War struggle over popular culture. The band was acceptable to the Soviet Union because they hailed from neutral Sweden and their music was unlike Western rock music of the 1960s and …

In Search Of Whitman's "Real War": Soldier Recreations During The American Civil War, Rebecca C. Felton

Masters Theses

When most people think of the American Civil War, they recall the agonies and ecstasies of combat, envisioning the bombardment of Fort Sumter, the glorious folly of Pickett’s Charge, or the ravages of Sherman’s March to the Sea. What gets left out of the history books is what the common soldier experienced more than anything else: camp life. This study sheds renewed light on what the soldiers of the Union and Confederacy did to pass the time between battles. It focuses specifically on what they did for fun, addressing three categories of recreational activities: sports, music, and literature. It finds …

Freedom In The Press: Black Print Culture And Antislavery Activism In The United States, 1772-1857, Bernard T. Baze

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Nineteenth century African American journalists employed the press as a political, legal, and moral instrument to challenge the legitimacy of the institution of American slavery and advocate for universal emancipation. Through an analysis of the Black press, including Freedom’s Journal, Colored American, North Star, Frederick Douglass’ Paper, Provincial Freeman, and the Christian Recorder, the study highlights the agency of Black abolitionists in shaping antislavery public discourse. It contends that these writers advanced a multifaceted antislavery strategy rooted in moral suasion, constitutional argumentation, legal denunciations, and religious advocacy. Through these efforts, they revealed the contradictions between slaveholding and the nation’s professed …

Editor’S Introduction, Michael D. Pante

Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints

No abstract provided.

Balancing Our Capacity To Serve: A Phenomenological Exploration Of Black Women Navigating Personal, Professional, And Community Leadership Roles, Shemeka K. Brathwaite

Student Theses

This phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of Black women community leaders as they navigate a balance between their professional, personal, and community leadership roles. The research design uses the theoretical frameworks of Black Feminist Intersectionality and Role Theory, specifically addressing the cultural burdens imposed by the Strong Black Woman archetype, which adds additional role strain. The study began with a questionnaire completed by 54 Black women community leaders, followed by 20 in-depth, semi-structured interviews selected from this pool. The study’s key findings are illustrated in a Black Women’s Sustainable Community Leadership Framework. Black women community leaders exude high self-efficacy, …

Objects Of Atrocity: Material Culture And The Challenges Of Difficult Histories, Robert M. Ehrenreich, Jane E. Klinger, Gabriel H. Pizzorno, Caroline Sturdy Colls

Purdue University Press Books

The vast majority of people throughout history have left few written traces. That is especially the case for those who were brutally forced from their homes, stripped of their possessions, and swiftly imprisoned, enslaved, or murdered. Objects of Atrocity: Material Culture and the Challenges of Difficult Histories addresses how we return humanity to these people in order to avoid their erasure from history. Academics and practitioners from a variety of disciplines and cross-disciplinary approaches grapple with the challenges and possibilities relating to the collection, conservation, storage, and display of objects in the aftermath of mass atrocities. This collection confronts a …

The Flight Of The Purdue Owl: An Institutional History, Harry C. Denny, Vicki R. Kennell, Garrett I. Colón

The Founders Series

The Flight of the Purdue OWL: An Institutional History chronicles both the widely known Purdue OWL website and the lesser-known but much-celebrated on-campus writing center. Purdue University is renowned for its world-class STEM curriculum as well as its intercollegiate athletics. The university also receives considerable attention, however, for the OWL website, which is one of the most used educational resources in the world. The on-campus OWL is also a highly regarded collegiate writing center. This book tells the history of how the Purdue OWL grew out of decades of faculty working with students and their desire for a laboratory where …

Making A Phrenological America: How The Science Of The Skull Influenced Reform Movements In The United States, Nathan C. Tamkin

History Undergraduate Senior Theses

No abstract provided.

Skeletons Vs. Mummies: Osteological Trauma On Bog Bodies As A Measure For Cultural Change In Ancient Europe, Miranda Hoodenpyl

University Honors Theses

Bog bodies are some of the most well known archaeological finds in the world, and are preserved human remains found in wetlands. Researchers use the information stored in the bones of bog skeletons and mummies to learn about cultural lifestyles, travels, diet, and diseases throughout time in Northern Europe and the British Isles. Through multiple cultural changes and migration, the "bog body phenomenon" has remained an unusual treatment displayed throughout time. This literature review looked at skeletal trauma on bog remains to identify cultural change over time in Northern Europe and the British Isles, spanning the Neolithic, Bronze, Iron, and …

The Possibility Of Post Binary Reflexivity: A Genealogy Of Binary Logic In Western Philosophy, Vaughan A. Bidois

Critical Humanities

This article traces a genealogy of binary logic within Western philosophy, from its origins in Platonic metaphysics through to its deconstruction in poststructuralist theory. Drawing on the genealogical methods of Friedrich Nietzsche and Michel Foucault, it critiques how oppositional structures, such as mind/body, reason/emotion, and truth/error, have persisted through shifting intellectual paradigms while shaping knowledge, power, and subjectivity. Structuralist and linguistic theories are examined for their role in reinforcing binary meaning-making, while poststructural critiques (notably Derrida and Foucault) are explored for their attempts to subvert such hierarchies. However, the article argues that these critiques remain paradoxically ensnared within the same …

Enhancing Access And Social Mobility: Metro State University's Liberal Arts Mission In Action, Kristen Lillvis, Kate Ries

Critical Humanities

This article examines how a liberal arts framework has guided Metropolitan State University’s responses to political, financial, and social pressures on higher education. Drawing on the university’s history as an access-oriented, urban institution, the authors present two case studies—the North Star Promise scholarship and emergency grant funding—to demonstrate how mission-driven investments in students’ basic needs advance social mobility and strengthen institutional sustainability. The authors argue that prioritizing student supports, including those available through short-term or contingent opportunities, yields long-term benefits for learners, their communities, and the university.

Submitted: April 13, 2026

Accepted: May 21, 2026

Welsh, British, And Argentine: Identities Of Convenience In The Welsh Colonies Of Patagonia, Benjamin Welch

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

In this thesis, I examine the Welsh colonies in Patagonia (in Welsh, Y Wladfa) and how the Welsh negotiated their complex identity. Founded in 1865 as a nationalist project intended to preserve Welsh language, culture, and religion, the colony faced extreme hardships and was forced to ask for help. Drawing on British, Welsh and Argentine sources, I argue that Welsh colonists adopted a pragmatic approach to identity, emphasizing their Welshness, Britishness, or Argentinity as needed. While this flexibility was necessary for the colony to survive, it undermined the original goal of a Welsh homeland free of outside influence. Ultimately, the …

Industrial Democracy: Unionization, Power, And Control In Rockefeller’S Southern Colorado, Ava Welty

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

By 1914, democracy was clearly connected to America’s political ethos, and Wilson and Frank Walsh only amplified the term. Against this backdrop, labor and CF&I sought to define their movement as aligned with the national project of industrial democracy, despite having divergent understandings of the term. CF&I and Rockefeller built upon decades of social betterment, in addition to new ideas of company unionism to create their definition of industrial democracy, while workers returned to union recognition as a tool of power to construct their definition of industrial democracy. This paper argues that conflicting definitions of industrial democracy after the Ludlow …

The Permanent Emergency: The Anti-Fascist And Anti-Colonial Intersections Of James Joyce’S Ulysses And Roberto Bolaño’S 2666, Lily V. Mcmanamy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My thesis is going to explore the (Irish) Anti-Colonial and (Spanish) Anti-Fascist parallels between James Joyce’s Ulysses (1922) and Roberto Bolaño’s 2666 (2004). Using the major epic novels of two exiled authors, I hope to explore the intersections of poetic fiction and political resistance. I read these texts as bookends spanning the pre- and post-war periods, highlighting the continuities of colonialism, totalitarianism, and fascism, and the way these authors develop a post/modernist narrative that nods towards these themes. I plan to draw on Alberto Toscano’s LateFascism (2023) as a means of situating these authors’ novels with our own political moment …