Digital Commons Network^™

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 …

Imperial Ideology And Subversive Practice In Arthurian Legend, Emma Katherine Keppler

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This project approaches Arthur and Arthurian legend as vital elements in British self-identification from the medieval period onward by examining narratives of national origin in legendary history, romance, and other forms of cultural production. In my readings of these texts, I am concerned with how national identity and otherness are constructed and negotiated in a literary space, how myths of utopian origins rely on the endorsement and glorification of cultures of violence that sustain and justify imperial enterprises in the Middle Ages and beyond. It is my argument that in the absence of actual voices of resistance, romance tropes often …

Angelic Wasting: The Impacts Of The Enlightenment, Evangelicalism, And The Industrial Revolution On Romanticization Of Tuberculosis In England, 1800-1850, Sara M. Sudano

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis aims to elucidate the intersections between the portrayal of tuberculosis in the Romantic era and the Enlightenment, evangelism, and the Industrial Revolution. This study aims to do so by locating and analyzing depictions in the primary source representations of the disease, then considering the effects of the three factors mentioned above on its representation. The Enlightenment, evangelism, and the Industrial Revolution interacted in a variety of ways, and the influence of all three factors was found within the representations of tuberculosis, albeit in often indirect ways. In the novels of Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell and Charlotte Brontë, tuberculosis was …

Mapping Homes Of Georgia's Governors And Their Westward Shift (1776–2024), Andrew J. Bramlett

Symposium of Student Scholars

Since the start of the American Revolution, seventy-seven men have served as Governor of Georgia. Over time, the state expanded westward from the coast to become the largest state east of the Mississippi River. Although individual governors have been studied extensively (particularly in James F. Cook’s The Governors of Georgia), their residences remain underexplored as indicators of electoral power shifts. Based on the information of seventy-seven governors collected from Cook, the New Georgia Encyclopedia, and Georgia Historical Quarterly, this research visualizes the residences of governors at the time of their election by using ArcGIS and reveals the state’s electoral …

Mobilizing Discord On The United States’ Many Borders: Critical Social Science And Geopolitical Complexity, Margath Walker

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

Attention to the political landscape connecting the United States, Mexico, and Central America has returned with glaring intensity, highlighting the visibly geostrategic elements of bordering practice. Scholars have focused on how state power materializes at multiple scales while at the same time being attentive to the contestable and mutable nature of myriad agentic forces. This talk operates similarly by considering prospects for a frictional and at times ambiguous spatial politics. I extend the notion of discord as a productive lens through which to consider securitization, mobility, and migration. I use two short examples—the border-industrial complex and migrant caravans—to illustrate my …

Editorial History

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

George C. Roberts Award Recipients

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

96th Annual Iass Conference Call For Papers

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Volume 27, Issue 2 Full Contents

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Author Biographical Notes

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Statement From The Indiana Academy Of The Social Sciences And Board Of Directors

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Editor-In-Chief's Note, Surekha Rao

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Mission And Editorial Policy

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Religiosity And Violence Prevention Programs On Violence Amongst Adolescents In The U.S., Ngoc Nguyen, John Paulson, Quentin Maynard, Thu T. Ha

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

Youth violence is a societal concern in the United States due to its negative consequences on individuals and communities. The current study aimed to examine the potential mitigating factors of violence prevention programs and religiosity in reducing youth violence among African American, White, Hispanic, and Asian American adolescents in the United States. It also tested the moderation effects of sex on religiosity and violence prevention programs with youth violence. Results of the main effects revealed that adolescents who attended violence prevention programs were generally less likely to engage in violence than those who did not; and that adolescents who were …

Reviewers And Referees

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Plantation Museums, Public Memory, And Historical Narratives: A Comparative Analysis Of Slavery Interpretation At Oak Alley And Lakeport, Gabrielle M. Stockand

ATU Scholars Symposium

Plantation museum sites are important in the public's understanding of the complex sociopolitical labor systems that dominated antebellum lifeways. This study examines modern museums' dilemmas when exploring expansive site narratives at plantation museum sites, using Oak Alley and Lakeport Plantations as case studies. Plantation Museum sites construct historical narratives using comparative exhibit analysis, critical discourse analysis of labor narratives, and landscape archaeology. Specific analysis of interpretive language, narrative construction, and site structure demonstrates a stark contrast: while one site marginalizes slavery in its guided tour with non-inclusive language and a self-guided slavery exhibit, the other integrates extensive research on enslaved …

A Crucial Western Foothold: Uyghur-Americans In The Fairfax-D.C. Metro Area, Jake C. Mccauley

Young Historians Conference

Since the 1980s, the Uyghur people of East Turkestan, now known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, have migrated from their ancestral homeland in China in search of a better life. As an ethnically, linguistically, and religiously distinct group, the Uyghurs face severe oppression, with the Chinese state targeting them economically, socially, and physically. Since 2017, mass internment efforts have escalated, leading to the establishment of labor camps that claim to transition Uyghur labor from agricultural to industrial sectors but also serve as sites of ideological indoctrination, torture, and death. As a result of these human rights violations and other …

The Roots Of Ethno-Political Strife In Ceylon: The Dividing Power Of British Colonialism, Audrey Francioch

Young Historians Conference

A bloody civil war has rocked Sri Lanka for decades, as the Sinhalese and Tamil populations fight each other for recognition, access, and control. Since the 1950s, each group has feared domination by the other, resulting in bitter battles on the ballots and in the streets to assert or retain power and subjugate the culture of the other. Each conflict perpetuates the vicious circle of retaliation and retribution through the generations, and the roots of this divide can be directly traced to the colonial occupation of the island in the 1800s. What began with the Dutch and became refined by …

The Color Of Society: A History Of Textile Dyes, Tess L. Nestel

Young Historians Conference

This paper will examine how textile dyes have been linked to cultural status and hierarchy throughout history. The colors of clothing have long served as outward expressions of wealth and power due to the rarity of natural dyes. With a limited range of colors, each hue became symbolic and took on specific meanings. In China, a strict color code was enforced, with the emperor wearing the most important color; in the Byzantine Empire tyrian purple became the hallmark of royalty and power. Beginning in the 15th century, colonization opened up extensive trade routes that introduced American cochineal and created a …

Integrated Baseball In Ohio, 1883–1900: Sol White And Richard Male, Revised, Mark E. Eberle

Monographs

Two essays amend and expand what has been published about two Ohio natives who played baseball in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as the sport became increasingly segregated. The first essay clarifies the early years of Sol White, a Black ballplayer from Bellaire, Ohio, who played on integrated amateur teams in his hometown beginning in 1883, as well as the integrated first nine in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1886–1887 and the segregated Pittsburgh Keystones in 1887–1888. About this same time, Richard Male, who was born in Columbus but was a longtime resident of Cleveland, played under the pseudonym …

A Tale Of Two Faiths: Contemporary Protestantism In The Spanish-Speaking Catholic World, Jackson B. Mitchell

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the shifting religious landscape of the Spanish-speaking Catholic world through the lens of Protestant growth, particularly Pentecostal and Evangelical movements. Beginning with a historical account of Spain’s Catholic hegemony and its colonial export of Catholicism to Latin America, the study traces how Latin America’s religious identity has gradually diverged from its Spanish roots. Over the past half-century, Protestantism has grown rapidly across Latin America, challenging Catholic dominance and reshaping the region’s spiritual and social fabric.

The thesis then turns back to Spain, where rising immigration from Latin America and changing cultural dynamics have facilitated the reintroduction of …

Charity Begins At Home: A Case Study Of Rural Western Pennsylvania During The Great Depression, Jacob A. Battle, Colin J. Wood, Christian E. Mumpower

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

Rural Pennsylvania is often neglected when discussing the world-shaping events of the Great Depression. This study addresses a significant gap in historical research by exploring how a small-town in Pennsylvania, New Bethlehem, survived and even thrived during the Great Depression. New Bethlehem, situated in the fertile Redbank Valley, built its settlement on local resources and rural communalism. During the Depression, the townsfolk banded together through wealthy philanthropy, backyard gardens, and homegrown charity to withstand the crippling implications of the event. By examining church records, newspaper archives, and conducting oral interviews, this article reveals the resilience and resourcefulness of rural Pennsylvanian …

Windmills As Symbols Of Economic Development And Progress In West Texas From 1860 To 2011, Stacy Taylor

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

The outline of a windmill against the sky is a popular image of Texas found on many forms of media including illustrations, photographs, and other print media. How did the image of a windmill become symbolic to Texas? The purpose of this paper is to determine how and why windmills became an important symbol representing the Texas Plains. Methodology used included analysis of scientific information to explore the geography of Texas, which demonstrated why windmills were needed in West Texas. Critical analysis of journals and books were performed to determine the history of the introduction and evolving use of windmills …

Habitually "Ant-Eyeing": The Life And Work Of Billy Joe Tatum, Lauren Adams Willette

Student Theses and Dissertations

Billy Joe Tatum was a naturalist, author, and educator who grew up in Missouri and Arkansas during the 20th century. She is often compared to Euell Gibbons; her book titled Billy Joe Tatum’s Wild Foods Field Guide and Cookbook was the first of its kind to offer gourmet-style recipes for wild and foraged foods. She wrote many different columns for the Ozarks Mountaineer magazine which was distributed not only in the region but around the United States and internationally. Billy Joe was the first herbalist or “yarb doctor” at the Ozark Folk Center State Park, where she oversaw the first …

2025 Undergraduate Research Competition Program, Coastal Carolina University

Undergraduate Research Symposium Programs

16th Annual Undergraduate Research Competition, April 15-16, 2025.

The 2025 CCU Undergraduate Research Symposium included 168 oral and poster presentations (51 oral presentations and 117 poster presentations) and an additional 20 team pitch presentations composed of 57 students who participated in the inaugural year of the Wall College’s Chant’s Tank Pitch Competition.

Presentations at the Undergraduate Research Symposium were judged by over 80 faculty and staff, and prizes are awarded in three categories: Best Oral Presentation, Best Poster Presentation, and Best Chant’s Tank Pitch Presentation. Here are the following award winners in their respective categories:

Best Oral Presentation:

• 1st Place: …

How Discriminatory Housing Policies Segregated Kalamazoo, Jacob Walsh

Honors Theses

This thesis investigates the historical and contemporary legacy of racially discriminatory housing policies in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Using primary documents, census data, and secondary literature, it examines how government-sanctioned practices like redlining, racially restrictive covenants, urban renewal projects, and exclusionary zoning contributed to the segregation of Kalamazoo’s Black residents. Contrary to the narrative that residential segregation in northern cities was merely “de facto”, the thesis emphasizes the deliberate nature of these policies, carried out by federal, state, and local institutions in collaboration with real estate and banking industries.

The research focuses on the lasting economic impacts of redlining, especially in neighborhoods …

From Riches To Rags : Deindustrialization And The Fall And Rise Of The Upstate Mill Towns Of South Carolina, Brian Patrick Worrill

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The collapse and subsequent deindustrialization of the textile industry in the late 20th century devastated dozens of small communities across the Piedmont. With the loss of their primary economic engine these towns struggled with the outmigration of professional services and small businesses, crippling poverty, high unemployment, and rampant crime. As South Carolina’s economic model evolved to adapt to the globalized economy of the 21st century its government funded reindustrialization efforts have focused on its already well developed urban core, a strategy that often neglects rural areas. Yet, despite having been overlooked the majority of these orphaned mill towns did not …

Resilience And Empowerment: The Impact Of Gullah And Maroon Cultural Preservation On Pan-Africanism And Civil Rights Movements, Shantae' L. Streeter

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation investigates the history of the cultural resilience and advocacy of the Gullah people of South Carolina and the Maroons of Jamaica, with a particular emphasis on their function as role models for the empowerment of descendants of the formerly enslaved (DOFE). This investigation examines how enslaved communities preserved cultural identity, resisted systemic injustice and influenced Pan-Africanism and Civil Rights movements in the 20th and 21st centuries. This research emphasizes the experiences of the Gullah people who maintained cultural identity through acculturation, and the enslaved populations from South Carolina’s interior regions and other Southern states, who faced assimilation. Additionally, …

Houston Nationalism: The Life And Politics Of United States Senator Sam Houston, Jeremy Ager Pedigo

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Sam Houston had a long and distinguished career in public service, gaining the most notoriety as General of the Texas Army and President of the Republic of Texas. However, he served in the United States Senate longer than any other position he held. This dissertation examines the impact of his life events and political ideology on the decisions and actions he undertook as a Senator, culminating in the proposal of a new ideology called “Houston Nationalism.” This belief system was based on three principles; nationalism, engagement, and recognition, which are defined throughout the study. Nationalism represents Houston’s support for the …

A Saddlebag Doctor Of The Mahantongo Valley Of Pennsylvania: The Life And Practice Of Reuben Harris Muth, M.D., 1826-1899, Lawrence K. Knorr

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The life and medical practice of Reuben Harris Muth, M.D., a rural saddlebag doctor, is reconstructed from an extant set of physicians’ daybooks, chronicling his professional activity from 1858 until 1898, including patients seen and the fees charged. The daybooks also provided a modicum of hints at other activities in his life, including his farming business and the whereabouts of his wayward son. However, there were no personal letters or diaries available. Thus, other primary sources and local newspaper accounts were utilized to fill out the most likely details and actions of his life, approximating his movements, key decisions, and …