Digital Commons Network^™

Minorities And Authoritarianism In The Middle East: A Case Study Of Muslim Alawites In Syria, Maher Al Tayara

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

Why are some minorities in the Middle East less inclined to support democratization or political liberalization efforts? Here, I examine if and how minorities differ in their support for democratization from the majority groups in the Middle East. I will analyze why some minorities prefer to support authoritarian regimes over supporting democratization. I examine how the religion of a minority affects its preference for regime type. I will also examine how historical backgrounds and international patronage affects those preferences. I will identify two historical moments in the Middle East that played a role in shaping those preferences: the post-World War …

Thomas Middleton And The Plural Politics Of Jacobean Drama, Mark Kaethler

Late Tudor and Stuart Drama

Thomas Middleton and the Plural Politics of Jacobean Drama represents the first sustained study of Middleton's dramatic works as responses to James I's governance. Through examining Middleton’s poiesis in relation to the political theology of Jacobean London, Kaethler explores early forms of free speech, namely parrhēsia, and rhetorical devices, such as irony and allegory, to elucidate the ways in which Middleton’s plural art exposes the limitations of the monarch’s sovereign image. By drawing upon earlier forms of dramatic intervention, James’s writings, and popular literature that blossomed during the Jacobean period, including news pamphlets, the book surveys a selection of …

Eagle Eye Vs. Gear Jammer, Jessica Danielle Ellis

Theses and Dissertations

Where similarities in class struggle have historically operated as a unifying force globally, the American crafted mythos isolates the individual and dehumanizes those that do not fall within the parameters of the cowboy archetype. The national protagonist is turned into a class traitor and an extension of government power.

"Rev." Donald Trump And The Christian Right — A Secular Transformation Of The Great Awakening Heritage, John Francis Burke

Political Science Faculty Research

Over the past five years, the curious relationship between Donald Trump and many conservative evangelicals has been at the intersection of US religion and politics. Explanations for this curious linkage include:

• John Fea’s accent on the historical fear of evangelicals of the other.

• Ben Howe’s claim that evangelicals have chosen power over values.

• Whitehead and Perry’s articulation of a U.S. Christian nationalism.

• Kristin Kobes Du Mez’s feminist critique of U.S. Christian masculinity.

• Timothy Carney’s connection between social collapse and Trumpism.

This paper argues that each of these arguments capture important parts of the Trump-evangelical nexus, …

Rioting For Resurrection: Masculinity, White Supremacy, And Religion At The U.S. Capitol Insurrection (Panel Transcript), Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Stephen C. Finley, Bradley Onishi

Rioting for Resurrection: Masculinity, White Supremacy, and Religion at the U.S. Capitol Insurrection

This file contains the video recording of the virtual panel and discussion. The official flyer for the event is also available here and contains the panel presenter's biographies.

Looking Back On Asean And The Sino-Us Rivalry In The Cold War, Wen-Qing (Wei Wenqing) Ngoei

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In discussions of the current Sino-US rivalry, talk of China eclipsing America as the world’s foremost power is popular. Analysts seeking signs of US decline can certainly muster suitable evidence with which to argue this case. In Southeast Asia, a major theatre of Sino-US competition for influence, trade and security ties, there are serious concerns over which of the two powers will end up predominant in regional affairs. In fact, America and its Southeast Asian allies faced a similar challenge in the Cold War. Then as now, most of the attention was on the big powers. But, the agency of …

The Migrant Diaries, Lynne Jones

International Affairs

What is it like to run away from bombing, lose your family, and work out how to take care of yourself in a foreign country when you are seven years old? What do you do when the woman who promised you a good job in Europe turns out to have sold you into prostitution? How do you escape from torture and detention in Libya? What is it like to almost drown in the Mediterranean and then be confined in a garbage and rat-filled settlement on a Greek island for years?

In this book, Lynne Jones answers these questions by combining …

Heritage Politics And Museums During Japanese Occupation Period, 1942-1945, Ajeng Ayu Arainikasih

International Review of Humanities Studies

Before the World War II, approximately 25 museums were already established in colonial Indonesia. At that time, most of the museums were built by the Europeans to serve their interests. However, when the Dutch capitulated to the Japanese military government, what had happened to the existing museums in Indonesia were slightly known. Therefore, this research examines the history of the museum development during the Japanese occupation period in Indonesia in 1942-1945. The data gathered for this archival study are through magazine and newspaper articles published during the Japanese occupation period as well as through the archives of Arsip Nasional Indonesia, …

Reducing Crime Through The Theatre: An Analysis Of Foluke Ogunleye’S Jabulile, Nkiruka Jacinta Akaenyi

International Review of Humanities Studies

This study examines the connection between family conditions and the criminal behaviours of children. Over the years, drama has been used to address the socio-political, economic and security challenges in different societies. The goal of these dramatists is to chart the way forward for a harmonious political, economic and social system. It is in this wise that, Foluke Ogunleye used her knowledge of drama to address serious issues affecting the progress and stability of the nation. This study finds that the explosion of crime in the nation is linked to the fragile family system surrounding the children’s upbringing by their …

Coming Together Over Table: The Role Of Food In Georgian Conflict Resolution Practices, Raisa Wells

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Conflict resolution efforts seek to de-escalate conflict dynamics to bring conciliation and/or reconciliation to a conflict. One strategy to de-escalate a conflict is to use food during conflict resolution efforts. So, what specifically does consuming food and beverage do to break down conflict escalation cycles? Food-sharing brings several aspects to conflict that the literature suggests address how and why conflict escalates. This paper focuses on three prevalent aspects: how food-sharing signals vulnerability and trust building, perceived commonality, and a change in the conflict from competition to cooperation by providing new norms, changing the tone, and shifting frames. Because of the …

The Phenomenology Of Civilization: A Dialogue Between Profs. Gabriel Breton And George Drury At Monteith College Plus, Two Associated Commentaries On Civilization By George Drury, Kenneth Feigenbaum Editor

Comparative Civilizations Review

This dialogue on the nature of civilization took place on the stage at Wayne State University fifty- seven years ago on January 29, 1964, and shortly thereafter. It was part of an interdisciplinary course titled “The Science of Society,” given by Monteith College.

The Ancient Greek Roots Of Cross-Cultural Comparison, Stavros Moutsios

Comparative Civilizations Review

The paper traces the impartial comparative gaze of the Ancient Greeks, in relation to their ontological understanding of the world, and with respect to the domains of epistêmê, politics, and paideia, all operating in the field of logos, which underpinned the life of the democratic polis. The absence of any apocalyptic truth and predefined historical pathway in the Greeks’ conception of the world, their esteem for intellectual activity and philosophical inquiry, and their questioning of their laws and institutions as part of their educational and political life are all, as the paper demonstrates, at the root of …

Herodotus And The Histories: Accounts Of Intercivilizational Contact, Carlos Alberto Ríos Gordillo

Comparative Civilizations Review

The globalization of the earth, the old colonial dream of the sixteenth century, is still a challenge to historical understanding. In the contemporary debate, comparative history and global history have gained increasing interest as we try to explain the four parts of the planet in an overview, which allows us to think about the world, modernity, and universal history in a different way than a simple European expansion in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. The theater of observation has become global when it relates Japan to China, India to New Spain, Portugal to Spain, Britain to the Netherlands to Indians, …

The ‘Global South’ In The Study Of World Politics: Examining A Meta Category, Sebastian Haug, Jacqueline Braveboy-Wagner, Günther Maihold

Publications and Research

This introductory contribution examines the ‘Global South’ as a meta category in the study of world politics. Against the backdrop of a steep rise in references to the ‘Global South’ across academic publications, we ask whether and how the North–South binary in general, and the ‘(Global) South’ in particular, can be put to use analytically. Building on meta categories as tools for the classification of global space, we discuss the increasing prominence of the ‘Global South’ and then outline different understandings attached to it, notably socio-economic marginality, multilateral alliance-building and resistance against global hegemonic power. Following an overview of individual …

Violence Against Asians: When Is Racial Hate A Crime?, Anna M. Agathangelou, Kyle Killian

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

In this article we focus on the mass shootings of Asian women at Atlanta spas. After the perpetrator killed six Asian women, he told the police that he wanted to eliminate “all Asians” and spoke of the “temptation” of the massage parlors and spas. We ask at what point will these forms of anti-Asian violence first be acknowledged, and then seen as a clear and present danger? To answer these questions we trace the historical roots in US history, and domestic and foreign policies of such violence. We reflect on a history of imperial politics, the means and methods of …

Was Soft Power Used During The Cold War?, Drake C. Dewey

Capstone Showcase

On December 25, 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as the leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics which resulted in the formal conclusion of the Cold War. The Cold War was an ideological battle between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from the mid-1940s until 1991. I have decided to put the beginning date of the Cold War as March 5, 1946, while the end date is December 25, 1991. During the Cold War, there was a new form of power which was coined by Joseph Nye. Scholars have questioned the influence of soft versus hard …

Gun Control: Republican Views For Common Ground, Ruth Yazmin Molina

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractPublic and political opinion regarding gun regulation in the United States are sharply split across the political divide. The purpose of this research was to determine the common ground among the Republican Party supporters concerning gun control legislations in the United States. The frame for the study poised into determining in what ways does an affiliation to the Republican Party influence a supporters’ views on state and federal gun laws and if members of the Republican Party believe that a common ground may exist with Democrats for passable gun control legislation. Partisan motivated reasoning theory was used to frame the …

The Nana Yaa Asantewaa War: Analysis Of The Political Institutions Of The Asante During The War Of The Golden Stool And The Existing Narratives, Angela Danso Gyane

Senior Independent Study Theses

The War of the Golden Stool was the last in the Anglo-Asante Wars, where the Asante fought against the British colonial agenda. According to the Asante oral history, Nana Yaa Asantewaa was at the forefront of this war. She was the commander, but most of the literature to not reflect this oral history. Therefore, this study seeks to address two essential questions: how did gender dynamics in the Asante Kingdom's political system shape their Resistance against the British in 1900- 01? Moreover, how does the analysis of oral histories from the matrilineal culture of the Asante decenter Western narratives of …

Ethnic Conflict In Côte D’Ivoire, Ayouba Doumbia

Dissertations and Theses

Since the early days of independence, the African continent has been the theatre of many ethnic conflicts. While people, in general, assume these conflicts to be political and blame the conflicts on authoritarian regimes, they dismissed the fact that conflict between ethnicities is a phenomenon that has occurred for hundreds of years and in all corners of the Earth. Entire countries have been devastated by years of ethnic strife. Once ethnic conflict breaks out, it is difficult to stop. Conflicts in the Balkans, Rwanda, Chechnya, Iraq, and Darfur are among the deadliest examples from the late 20^th and early …

The Political Utility Of Poetry In Aristotle’S Thought, Stephen Eugene Clouse

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Aristotle’s political thought asks the serious student of politics to examine critically the way we use our leisure (σχολη) in the life of the city. This project aims at such a critical examination by exploring the relationship between poetry and the city. The task here is not to understand the political commentary of a specific poetic work but to understand the way that poetry has a use in the life of the city. Traditionally this relationship is explored through piety but I argue that Aristotle rejects this foundation and grounds the usefulness of poetry in how we learn mimetically. Because …

Dying To Fight: The Individual And Social Processes Of The Foreign Fighter Phenomenon, Michael James Schumacher

Dissertations

Why do individuals take the extraordinary risk of traveling abroad to fight, and potentially die, in another country's conflict? This dissertation compares the motivations behind the U.S. citizens who fought on behalf of the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and the Tunisian citizens who fought on behalf of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the Syrian Civil War (2011 - present). The study relies on personal narratives of individual foreign fighters collected through twelve weeks of archival research at the Tamiment Library in New York City and the Ernest Hemingway Archives in Boston dedicated …

The Great Upheaval: Women And Nation In Postwar Nigeria, Judith A. Byfield

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

This social and intellectual history of women’s political activism in postwar Nigeria reveals the importance of gender to the study of nationalism and poses new questions about Nigeria’s colonial past and independent future.

In the years following World War II, the women of Abeokuta, Nigeria, staged a successful tax revolt that led to the formation first of the Abeokuta Women’s Union and then of Nigeria’s first national women’s organization, the Nigerian Women’s Union, in 1949. These organizations became central to a new political vision, a way for women across Nigeria to define their interests, desires, and needs while fulfilling the …

Creative Nothingness: Dada As Art, Politics And Religion In Interwar Japan, James Mark Shields

Faculty Journal Articles

The decades immediately following the Meiji Restoration of 1868 saw Japan rapidly develop as a “modern” nation — replete with industrial technology, a powerful and sophisticated military, a burgeoning capitalist economy, a broad based educational system, and, by the early twentieth century, a massive influx of contemporary Western political, philosophical, literary and artistic ideals, including socialism, anarchism, and nearly all variations of avant-garde art and aesthetics. By the end of the Meiji period, however, with the crackdown on leftist activities in the wake of the High Treason Incident (1910–1911) and the slow but steady accretion of Japanese imperialist ideology through …

Martyrs Made In The Sky: The Zénith Balloon Tragedy And The Construction Of The French Third Republic’S First Scientific Heroes, Patrick Luiz Sullivan De Oliveira

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Following the balloon's invention in 1783, the French greeted the technology with enthusiasm, speculating extensively about its potential scientific and practical applications. However, the lack of progress in navigating against the winds discredited ballooning, and in the following decades it became the domain of spectacular forms of entertainment and of swindlers trying to defraud public subscriptions. All of this changed after the 1870–1871 Franco-Prussian War, during which balloons were used to breach the siege of Paris. This essay explores how the aeronautical community, led by the recently established Société Française de Navigation Aérienne, mobilized the memory of the war to …

Preparing Law Students For The Future Of Work, Technology, And Globalization, Tashfeen Ahmad

Journal of Global Awareness

This paper aims to assist lecturers, universities, and their administrators in improving their law degrees. This is in the context of the future of work. This paper will reflect on how to tailor a law degree to improve the employability of students with this degree. This piece emerged as a viewpoint to identify best practices to prepare a law student for better employability. Significant benefits and opportunities can be unlocked if educators apply and incorporate the findings from this piece. Educators should rethink how they deliver law degrees, keeping in mind the emerging trends in their respective job markets. This …

Music For One World: Moroccan Musical Experience Of Diversity, Fusion, Happiness, Healing, And Peace, Mark Reimer

Journal of Global Awareness

Although steeped in Islamic religion and culture, Morocco is a land of varying influences and histories, including those of the native Berbers, the Moors and Jews driven out of Spain, those who follow the pious Sufi culture of Islamic spiritualism, and the Gnawa slaves who were brought into southern Morocco by Arabs. The music, customs, values, and everyday lives of these disparate peoples continue to not only blend with each other’s but also to fuse Moroccan music and culture with those of Europe, Africa, and America. The influence of Moroccan music continues to play a vital role in shaping contemporary …

Tribute To John S. Mbiti, Joseph G. Healey, Mm

The Journal of Social Encounters

We continue to mourn John S. Mbiti, the Kenyan professor, author and theologian who died in Switzerland on 6 October, 2019 at the age of 87. He was one of the founders of our African Proverbs Project and the African Proverbs Working Group. He was one of cornerstones of our African Proverbs, Sayings and Stories Website.

Propaganda And Media Portrayal: U.S. Imperialism And Cuban Independence From Spain And The United States, 1896-1903, Amarilys Sánchez

PANDION: The Osprey Journal of Research and Ideas

Cuba has been an object of U.S. fascination since the early nineteenth century and the acquisition of the Louisiana Purchase. When Cuba rose up in revolution against Spain, the United States purposefully portrayed the struggle to the American public as a situation necessitating a U.S. intervention. This involved the making of political cartoons and emotional appeals of war accounts from the perspective of an American journalist, Richard Harding Davis. Once the United States and Spain entered a war in 1898, the manipulation of the image of Cuba shifted to portray the question of U.S. acquisition and the imperial anxieties involved. …

Reflective Writing In Prisons: Rehabilitation And The Power Of Stories And Connections, Sandeep Kumar

VA Engage Journal

The United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. Even though the rate of crime is dropping, incarceration rates remain fairly steady. What’s more, recidivism (i.e., re-offending after conviction for other crimes) is also very high in the US. If offenders continue to offend, even after completing their sentences in a correctional system designed to address their underlying criminal activity, what is the point of having such a system? Can the system be made more accountable and better? Have we considered all the options for criminal reform? This article explores these questions using effective rehabilitation principles to …

Building For Culture: How Municipal Ownership Of Cultural Facilities Influences Annual Arts Funding In American Cities, Adam M. Sachs

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis explores how local government support for arts and culture varies across 24 American cities. It has proven to be challenging for researchers to accurately measure municipal arts support. Research on cultural policy has also often focused on the federal level, despite total city expenditures far exceeding national or state government support. This thesis attempts to take an accurate pulse of city expenditures in 2017 and correlates those spending levels to the variation in city ownership of arts facilities. Rooted in the historical perspectives of the ‘new institutionalism’ and path-dependency, this paper argues that past decisions about taking ownership …