Digital Commons Network^™

Review Essay: Ibn Khaldun On Sufism, Eslam Elbahlawan

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Springscape: The Nature Coast And The Making Of Modern Florida, 1820s-Present, Douglas E. Ponticos

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

According to an oft-repeated tale, the Florida we know today emerged as a dreamscape of tourism, retirement, and suburbanization during the second half of the twentieth century. Growth victimized nature. This dissertation deeply unsettles that story. The history of the Nature Coast exposes not just nature’s agency but its primacy in the development of modern Florida.

Using surveys, maps, census data, personal correspondence, government documents, business records, timber reports, advertising materials, and hydrological research, this dissertation follows time and water across landscapes, into the Upper Floridan Aquifer, and back out again. Each chapter explores a single landscape within the Nature …

Defeated By Victory: The Modern United States Navy In Retrospect, Nathaniel E. Whitten

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation examines the transformation of the United States Navy from the world’s largest and most powerful sea force in the history of the world in 1990 to a shell of its former self in only thirty years. The funding the Department of the Navy received during the Cold War to fight the Soviet threat all but dried up and as a result, policy was altered to face the new fiscal reality. A smaller, more agile, and flexible force was envisioned to fill a support role by projecting power ashore rather than fighting on the open ocean with a peer …

Harriet Beecher Stowe: Saints And Sinners Analysis Of The Moral Suasion And Motivations Behind The Creation Of Uncle Tom's Cabin, Makendric James Bowman

Student Summer Scholars Manuscripts

This project examines the motivations behind Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin (UTC), focusing on how her desire for both financial gain and moral reform shaped her writing. Stowe’s use of religious themes to expose the moral and human costs of slavery positioned her novel at the center of national debate, forcing both defenders and opponents of slavery to confront uncomfortable truths. Her book ultimately made her the best-selling author of the 19th century, selling 300,000 copies mostly by door-to-door subscriptions. This is equivalent to about 4.4 million Americans today who do not have access to Amazon or bookstores. Even …

Hidden In Plain Sight: Chinos, Casta, And La Florida, Kylie A. Culver

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

"Hidden in Plain Sight: Chinos, Casta, and La Florida" looks at the origin and use of the term chino/a within the Spanish casta system, focusing on its role in the St. Augustine Parish Archives from 1693 to 1754. In the St. Augustine parish registers, there were thirty-two separate entries that consisted of chinos/as. The presence of multiple individuals identified as chinos in Spanish Florida highlights the diversity of colonial Spain and demonstrates crucial understandings of the legal effects of casta. A careful analysis of these individuals reveals that the term chino/a did not necessarily refer to people of Asian origin …

“We Will Tend To It”: The Reconstruction Of The Wimauma, Florida’S Bethune Area Through Archival Research And Oral Histories, Alanah Cooper

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on heritage preservation efforts led by Wimauma community members interested in preserving the history and heritage of Wimauma’s Bethune Area—a historically African American community. This study aims to challenge the dominant narratives of Wimauma that erase/silence the tangible and intangible legacy of the Bethune Area. By collecting and drawing upon oral histories from community residents; engaging in participant observations; conducting archival research, my thesis will strive to construct an expanded narrative of Wimauma to include the history and heritage of the Bethune Area and the everyday lives of underrepresented people and families who helped shape Wimauma. This …

Rolling The Dice: The History Of Indian Reservation Gambling In The Upper Peninsula, Xavier Binkley

HS 390 Primary Research Papers

The History of Indian reservation gambling in the Upper Peninsula is of a struggle for expectance from the state government, and of the people in the state. The positive economic gain of states being one of the reasons behind why the rise of the gaming industry needed to happen. With the passing of The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act helping the regulation of reservation gambling and breaking down what was not allowed under the act. Newspapers and an interview with Frederick Dakota, give a personal look into the rise of the gaming industry and the struggle that the people were having …

The Lumberman, The "General," The Watchman, And The Comeback Queen: The Afterlife Of Slavery In The Bayou City From 1861 To The Present, Karen Kossie-Chernyshev

Faculty Publications

Using oral history and genealogical research, this essay examines the historical ties of a lifetime resident of Houston's historic Fifth Ward community to selected members of William Marsh Rice’s family from the period of slavery to freedom. This narrative reaffirms the role that oral history plays in our understanding of the afterlife of urban slavery in Houston, Texas, the nation’s 4th-largest city.

Alfred Russel Wallace Notes 35. Natural Selection By Evolution., Charles H. Smith

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Alfred Russel Wallace (1823?1913) is remembered, with Charles Darwin, as the co-originator of the concept of evolution by natural selection. But Wallace’s framing of the idea increasingly became one in which natural selection itself was regarded as a law of nature, not a theory per se.

Oceanic Wahhabism, Nicholas P. Roberts

Student Scholarship

At some point around 1810, a leading Wahhabi theologian in the capital of the First Saudi State fielded an intriguing question: Although Wahhabi leaders preached the ideals of enmity and violence toward non-Wahhabi peoples, could Wahhabi merchants travel to non-Wahhabi lands, do business with non-Wahhabi persons, and reside among them while pursuing commercial agend as? The theologian answered yes. I argue that this question and its answer reveal a lived reality in Najd that historians have yet to fully uncover. The theologian’s answer reveals how Arabia’s interior where Wah habismemerged was enmeshed alongside Arabia’s coasts within the broader Afro-Asian Indian …

Celtic Pagan Influence In The Early Irish Church: The Conversion Of Ulster, Cassidy M. Mcnally

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation explores the influence of Celtic Pagan traditions on the early Irish Church in Ulster, from the introduction of Christianity in the late fourth century to the Viking invasions of the twelfth century. By integrating historical texts, archaeological findings, and comparative religious studies, it investigates how pre-Christian beliefs and rituals were assimilated into early Christian practices. The study begins by examining the arrival of Christianity in Ulster, highlighting how Celtic Paganism, characterized by its pantheon, nature worship, and druidic traditions, shaped the Christian framework. It delves into how early Christian leaders, such St. Patrick and St. Brigid, navigated these …

Arctic Militarization: How The United States Developed The Arctic At The Cold War’S Beginning, 1945-1965, Daniel J. Morris

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

At the Cold War’s start, the United States conducted a robust Arctic militarization policy for North American defense against the Soviet Union. U.S. officials feared an Arctic invasion or an over-the-North-Pole attack. The Arctic policies created Alaskan statehood, the distant early warning (DEW) line radar stations, Greenland military installations, failed Arctic diplomacy, the International Geophysical Year of 1957-1958 (IGY), and Arctic military activities. In 1945, the United States started its Arctic militarization programs as its international relationship with the Soviet Union deteriorated. First, Alaska transitioned from a U.S. territory to a state, which federal money entered Alaska for national defense. …

Public Memory Through Memorialization, Sophie A. O'Brien

SPARK Symposium Presentations

This research project aims to contextualize the story surrounding various Nashville monuments that memorialize civil rights leaders. This project will explore the history of monuments and road names in Nashville. The history will span from the Confederacy to the civil rights movement and examine how public memory has evolved and changed with the removal of some statues and the changing of road names. It aims to show who we choose to memorialize and why, and how the civil rights leaders we choose to remember reflects public sentiment of the civil rights era.

Casar Public Lecture: Will Trump End The Ukraine War?, The Prince Alwaleed Center For American Studies And Research Casar

Performances, Events, and Presentations

Trump wants to become the world’s Peace Maker, the Master of the Art of Making Deals. He promised to end this war in 24 hours. Yet the real question is whether Putin wants to end the war, or whether he is ready for a deal ? If so, then what kind of a deal? Could it be that Putin might have a different deal in mind than the deal Trump is willing to offer?? So what happens then??? The lecture deliberated about the possible answers to this very question from several perspectives, analyzing the impact on Egypt, the region & …

Swiss Good Offices In Afghanistan, 1979-1992, Dr. Liliane Stadler

Swiss American Historical Society Review

In February 2024, I published my first monograph on Switzerland’s good offices in Afghanistan after the Soviet invasion of 1979. In October 2024, I presented my book at Johns Hopkins University in Washington D.C., where I currently hold a two-year postdoctoral position at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs. I would like to thank the Swiss American Historical Society (SAHS) for reprinting my remarks in the SAHS Review, as well as Ambassador Dr. Ralf Heckner and Vincent Barras from the Swiss Embassy for joining us at Johns Hopkins for the event.

Laina Farhat-Holzman: Distinguished Iscsc Author, Incisive Thinker, Fearless Commentator, Innovative Leader, Joseph Drew

Comparative Civilizations Review

It is a sad duty to report that a luminary who was long associated with this journal and with the leadership of the International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations, Dr. Laina Farhat-Holzman, has died.

Full Issue

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Editor’S Note: Want To Help Develop A Textbook On Comparative Civilizations?, Joseph Drew

Comparative Civilizations Review

Is anyone here in the United States or elsewhere teaching a course in the comparative study of civilizations at the undergraduate level these days?

Since I was thinking about organizing the writing of a textbook on the topic, I began recently by considering what the major areas were to be covered in such a book. What, I wondered, have been the significant approaches scholars have taken over the past century or so to address the fluid, debatable, tenuous meanings and shapes of civilizations?

Russia’S Geopolitical Civilizational Narratives And Strategic Direction In The Contemporary Multipolar World Order, Sharyl Cross, Igor Okunev

Comparative Civilizations Review

This article sets forth the foundations for recent geopolitical civilizational narratives in Russia that are influencing Moscow’s contemporary foreign policy behavior and the future direction of the Russian “civilizational state” in the global multipolar world order. This article is not intended to provide justification for Russia’s foreign policy choices and actions, but rather the purpose is to explain Moscow’s official geopolitical narratives, and thus to provide a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the considerations informing Russia’s foreign policy behavior.

Vladimir Putin has been at the helm of leadership in Russia exerting unparalleled influence as President and Prime Minister since …

Christopher Dawson And The Challenges Of Interdisciplinary Studies, Joseph T. Stuart

Comparative Civilizations Review

The following interview was conducted by Ms. Bibi Pelic, the Director of Communications for the International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations. The recording is available on the ISCSC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so-hS2SdoZc

How The State Replaces Civilization: The Japanese Exception, Robert Bedeski

Comparative Civilizations Review

By conceptualizing civilization and state as integrated systems consisting of interacting subsystems, their similarities and differences can be analyzed. The central hypothesis is that civilization consists of three material subsystems — economy, government, and knowledge — and one non-material subsystem, transcendence. When the transcendent subsystem is diminished or destroyed by decree or overwhelming rational and scientific evidence, the emergence of the state occurs as in the cases of the Mongol Empire, the Soviet Union, and communist China.

The apparent universality of this observation is countered by an examination of the Japanese civilization and state, where imperial transcendence dominated and reinforced …

From Sonvilier To Canada To Illinois: A Remarkable Swiss Emigration Story, Jeanette Bowman Borich

Swiss American Historical Society Review

Author and genealogist Laurence Overmire stated, “History remembers only the celebrated, genealogy remembers them all.”¹ His words resonate as we consider the 1821 Swiss emigration to the Red River Settlement (in today’s Manitoba, Canada) followed by their subsequent emigration to the Galena, Illinois, area. Three recently published books on the history of Galena’s earliest days as a city² make no mention of the Swiss Red River families as early pioneers.³ A fourth book,⁴ Le Canada et les Suisses by E. H. Bovay, also relatively recently written, tells a different story. Genealogical research about one’s ancestors and …

Catchwater Colonialism: Reshaping Hong Kong’S Hydrology, Infrastructure, Metabolism And Landscape, 1937–1968, Jack Greatrex, Florence Mok

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This article explores the development of hydrological infrastructure in colonial Hong Kong between the late 1930s and the late 1960s. Utilizing archival sources in Hong Kong and London, it shows how this infrastructure fundamentally reshaped Hong Kong’s geography. By way of concrete catchwaters and metal pipes, both ‘green’ and ‘urban’ Hong Kong became counter-intuitively interconnected. This interconnection created both unintended consequences and novel opportunities for colonial governance, driving forward natural conservation, state intervention into rural society and the development of new carceral institutions. Exploring these developments provides pivotal insight into the urban history of Hong Kong, with implications for global …

Mad At The System: The Mental Health Act Uk: Power And Control Of Racialized Women, Maithreyi Rajeshkumar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Whilst experiences of madness are multiple, fluid and multi-dimensional across spiritual and collective dimensions globally, the categorization and regulation of ‘madness’ have direct foundations in European colonial-capitalist-patriarchal frameworks, policies and systems. This work focuses on the institutions and structures of power, turning UK legislation and those who are trying to reform or change it, into objects of study. A particular piece of United Kingdom legislation is the primary case study for this work – the Mental Health Act 1983 which covers the rights, assessment and treatment of people diagnosed with a ‘mental disorder’. Women, who are detained under this Act …

Editors, Amy R. Gavello, Julia Taylor

The Forum: Journal of History

No abstract provided.

Scientific Racism: Insight Into Its Influence On Colonialism, Kenneth Macro

The Forum: Journal of History

No abstract provided.

Man, This Is Some Scary Sh*T: The Use Of Black Women As A Crutch For Comedy In Scary Movie, Collin Marfia

The Forum: Journal of History

No abstract provided.

Understanding The Transmission Of Deepavali Culture In Malaysia From The Perspective Of The "Circuit Of Culture ", Su Zihua, Mochamad Aviandy

International Review of Humanities Studies

As an important traditional festival in India, Deepavali carries profound cultural and religious connotations and has spread widely across Southeast Asia. Malaysia has become a typical example for articleing the transmisi of Deepavali due to its large Indian population and diverse cultural circulation. This article adopts a qualitative research method, gathering data and literature from various platforms and deeply analyzing three aspects of Deepavali in Malaysia: representation and identity, production and consumption, and regulation.The article finds that its cultural symbols construct Indian identity, and the multicultural integration of elements promotes the identification of shared values. Various activities and advertisements during …

The Coloniality Of Gender In Sports And Education: Colonial Legacies Of The Philippines’ Modern Gender System In Rookie (2023), Hestia Dwi Pratiwi, Darmoko Darmoko

International Review of Humanities Studies

This article discusses the lasting impact of colonial-era policies on the gender system portrayed in the Filipino LGBT coming-of-age movie "Rookie" (2023) by analyzing the gendered notions in sports and education. Rookie, directed by Samantha Lee, tells the story of Maria "Ace" Asuncion who is navigating and exploring life as a transfer student learning to master volleyball. As a rookie or newbie at school and in the sport, Ace comes across gendered notions in sports and education that reveal the state of the gender system. Using the concept of 'Coloniality of Gender' by Maria Lugones, this paper …

Determining Political Objectives, Milan Vego

Joint Force Quarterly

This article explains how political objectives shape grand strategy and national or coalition security strategy and argues that they must be realistic, achievable, and clearly articulated before military options are developed. Political leaders bear primary responsibility for determining these objectives but should incorporate the professional advice of senior military leaders. The author outlines a process that begins with a strategic estimate, identification and prioritization of national interests, and assessment of the enemy, available resources, and political assumptions. Political objectives may be offensive or defensive and limited or unlimited in scope, with their value and ambition affecting the level of effort, …