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Pressing Matters: American Print Culture And The Development Of Proto-Romanticism, Daniel Young

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This thesis explores the distinctive features of post-independence American print culture and their influence on the emergence of American Romanticism. Advancements in printing technology, the establishment of paper mills, and the proliferation of newspapers, magazines, and pamphlets created a dispersed and unrestricted print environment. This accessibility allowed for a dynamic exchange of ideas, disseminated revolutionary concepts, and cultivated a unique American ethos characterized by individualism and intellectual freedom. Key works such as Washington Irving's The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. and Charles Brockden Brown's Wieland and Edgar Huntly illustrate how early American Romanticism evolved to reflect the unique American …

Republicanism In The Age Of Democratic Revolution: The Democratic-Republican Societies Of The 1790s, Matthew Schoenbachler

History

No abstract provided.

Lands Lost: Tracing Displacement And Ecological Degradation Amongst The Tataviam, Kawaiisu, Kitanemuk, And Vanyume People Of Antelope Valley, Calif., Daisy Alvarez

Scripps Senior Theses

Exploring the historic and ongoing impact of settler colonialism in the Antelope Valley, this thesis argues the Tataviam, Kawaiisu, Kitanemuk, and Vanyume, the aboriginal tribes of the valley, are effectively erased from the valley’s narrative and imagination. Through a series of genocidal and colonization efforts, first from Mission San Fernando and then from the California State Government and arrival of Anglo American settlers, the valley’s tribes can be subjugated to acculturation, displacement, massacres, and marginalization. Recognizing the valley's moral responsibility to platform their living descendants, the thesis proposes a path forward through decolonization, calling out local governments (Lancaster and Palmdale) …

Commercial Attention Spaces: A Century Of Discourses, Measurements, And Models Of Attention In The Construction Of U.S. Advertising Markets, Jacob Saindon

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

A vast assemblage of networked devices populate our everyday spaces. Concomitant with the increasing ubiquity of media devices are advertisements. Indeed, many networked devices, specifically the “free-to-use” software applications, websites, or platforms displayed through them, are advertising-dependent. An assortment of firms within the commercial media industry—brands, agencies, publishers, vendors—work in concert to sustain a market for advertising. The core operation of the commercial media industry, I argue, is the production and exchange of attention as an economic object. In this study, I approach the production of attention and the framing of its markets as spatial processes. The continued growth of …

“A Wise Ending To A Singularly Foolish Beginning”: An Analysis Of The Chiriqui Colonization Project, Hayden C. Strittmatter

The Gettysburg College Journal of the Civil War Era

Ambrose Thompson, a Pennsylvanian entrepreneur, aimed to profit from his title to coal-rich lands in Chiriqui by negotiating with several presidential administrations. Thompson’s plan during the Buchanan presidency centered on constructing naval bases and extracting resources for the navy. Although the Buchanan administration withheld their approval of the scheme, Thompson pounced on the opportunity to renew conversations about his colonization project with President Lincoln. This article examines how Thompson targeted Lincoln's racial and political ideologies in letters to launch the project and explores the factors that ultimately molded Lincoln’s decision to abandon the Chiriqui scheme during the Civil War.

Do You Remember Me?: America's Racist Past And The Construction Of "Blackness", Shae South

SPARK Symposium Presentations

The United States has a dark and complicated relationship with the idea of race and what it means to belong to a specific group of people dating back to before the first enslaved African stepped foot onto its shores. The lynching case of Dan Davis showcases this precarious past, as the accounts of his brutal murder convey a level of excitement that was not unusual in these situations, yet he was quickly forgotten about and cast aside like many others who suffered a fate similar to his. This forgetting, the casting aside of traumas, has defined the Black experience since …

Faltered States: The Rise, Fall, And Containment Of Psychedelic Science In The United States, Baxter Brew

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis traces the history of psychedelic science in the United States and its implications for policymaking. In the postwar period, psychedelic researchers were enabled by a unique convergence of optimism in medical science and structural flexibility. But their hope blinded them to the deeper tensions of their field. As institutions grew increasingly rigid and risk-averse, the space for psychedelics began to close. Some scientists responded by fortifying the walls around them, developing socially and professionally acceptable research methods. Others tried to escape these walls entirely. But neither approach could prevent psychedelics from being squeezed out of formal inquiry. Yet …

Reconceptualizing Madness: Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Autobiography And The Cultural Landscape Of Insanity, Gender, And The Illness Experience, Claire Paley

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Project Tackle 12 Years Of Cia And Taiwanese Joint Reconnaissance Overflights, Maximilian Digiovanni

Honors Theses and Capstones

Project TACKLE was a joint collaborative project between the CIA and the Taiwanese government to facilitate U-2 spy plane missions flown by Taiwanese pilots over China. These missions, conducted from 1962 to 1974, provide critical insights regarding the US and Taiwan’s fluctuating relationship during this period. TACKLE missions played a crucial role in informing policymakers on a variety of subjects, such as the progress of China’s rapidly evolving nuclear weapons program. This paper situates the TACKLE missions within the broader political context of their time to highlight the constant prioritization challenge that plagued the program.

Healing Communities With Police Divestment: Seeking Abolition Through Transformative Reform And Community-Government Collaboration, Jessica E. Gillson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Concerns about the efficacy and sustainability of the U.S. carceral system have persisted throughout the country’s history, recently fueling renewed activism and bipartisan calls for reform. However, proposed solutions remain divisive. This thesis first defines the current status of our prison systems, then explores collaborative alternatives to incarceration and policing that support communities and break cycles of incarceration.

Focusing on partnerships among local governments, community organizations, justice-involved individuals, and law enforcement, this study examines holistic approaches to crime prevention, reentry, and reintegration. Using an interdisciplinary framework incorporating restorative justice, community resilience, and systems theory, it investigates how community-based strategies can …

In Search Of A State, Maeve Glass

Faculty Scholarship

This article offers a legal history of one of America’s earliest campaigns of state legislative resistance: the effort in Massachusetts to protest the national government’s perceived dismantling of an old Atlantic commercial order from 1803 to 1815. To date, scholars have either condemned this protest as a dangerous harbinger of the Civil War or vindicated it as an inevitable and salutary extension of the Founding. This article steers a different course. By focusing on the evolving language of protest and the complex hybrid of ideas and material realities from which this language emerged, this article illuminates how Federalist leaders who …

Critical Theory And The Decline Of American Patriotism, Caron L. Norton

Master of Arts in Classical Studies

Abstract

CRITICAL THEORY AND THE DECLINE OF AMERICAN PATRIOTISM

Caron Norton

Southeastern University, 2025

Nationwide there has been a progressive decline in patriotism since the turn of the 21st century. Instead of growing in affection towards their country, more and more American citizens reach adulthood frustrated and angry with the United States and its heritage. Some become consumed with hatred. Rather than honoring America’s forefathers, Americans have torn down and desecrated statues and symbols from the past. Where did this antipatriotic fervor come from? How did Americans become disillusioned? This shift in mood can be directly attributed to the rise …

Stamper, James W. - Volume 4, Carter County Genealogical Society, Olive Stamper, Howard Pollitt

Carter County Genealogy Collection

Genealogy of the James W. and Sarah (Moore) Stamper family in Carter County, Kentucky.

James is the father of William 'Tater Bill' and John R. 'Pewter John' Stamper

Graduate Portfolio, Cody Miller

Graduate Research Papers

No abstract provided.

Civilian Manufacturing And National Defense: Strategic Planning For Globalization's Challenges, Izeck Kohler

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

This thesis examines the interconnection between civilian manufacturing and national defense within the context of globalization. The study aims to identify the challenges faced by the United States in maintaining its manufacturing capabilities and to propose strategic solutions to address these challenges. Through a comprehensive analysis of historical data, case studies, and policy recommendations, the research highlights the critical role of specialized and process manufacturing sectors towards national defense. The findings suggest that the creation of a federal executive department, strategic investment, diversification, policy re-evaluation, and collaborating with allies are essential for sustaining national defense capabilities. The study concludes with …

Searching For The "Tender Places": Shoddy, Knowledge, And Material Culture In The Civil War Era, Robert William Novak

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In the American Civil War era, shoddy was difficult to understand. It was simultaneously seen as evidence of advancing western civilization as well as a disgusting amalgamation of refuse and disease that threatened those who touched it. Made from shredding woolen rags and tailors’ clippings, the recycled woolen fibers could by applied in myriad woolen blends that came to dominate the ready-made clothing industry that developed through the first half of the nineteenth century. Its application could soften coarse blends and refine the appearance of cheap cloth. When the American Civil War erupted in 1861, however, shoddy came to define …

Not Far Enough: The West Virginia Human Rights Commission And The Civil Rights Movement, David Solomon

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis investigates the West Virginia Human Rights Commission and its action surrounding the Civil Rights Movement. The Commission represented the liberal ideals that led white moderates to be potent allies of the Civil Rights Movement. Throughout the years following its inception, the Commission investigated and documented many instances of Jim Crow that were crushing Black communities in West Virginia. However, the limits of its liberal approach prevented it from creating solutions that would address the power structures that supported discrimination in West Virginia. By the late 1960s, Black frustrations with the lack of meaningful change boiled over into riots …

Cascadian Independence: A Rising Movement For An Independent Northwest Amid Growing Regionalism In The United States And Canada, Elias V. Savitt

Capstone Showcase

Because of the Civil War, secession is a sore topic to many Americans. However, the idea of secession has not been confined to this notorious example. My essay focuses on the idea that Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia could be the basis for a unified autonomous or even independent entity called Cascadia. First, I discuss the history of secession as such, and the arguments that have been made pro and con as to its legality and under what situations. I then situate this within the histories of the United States and Canada and the phenomena of regionalism and independent movements. …

U.S. And Russian Responses To The Syrian Civil War: A Comparative Analysis, Grace Dewitt

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The Syrian Civil War was among the most devastating conflicts in the 21st century and was defined by the involvement of various international actors, including the United States (U.S.) and Russia. The Syrian conflict was sparked by the Arab Spring movement. The Asad regime, which controlled the Syrian government at the time of the Arab Spring, reacted violently to the civilian protests and calls for reform. This led to the formation of organized rebel groups, creating a complex and violent civil war. The U.S. and Russia, as well as other international actors such as Turkey and Iran, became involved in …

From Curiosity To Controversy: American Perception Of Japanese Immigrants, 1853-1924, Chloe Elizabeth Curbelo

Theses and Dissertations

In the mid-nineteenth century, as the United States reached the Pacific through westward expansion, Asia emerged as a new stage for commerce and power. Japan, long isolated under the Tokugawa shogunate, became an object of American fascination when forced into relations. While early depictions cast Japan as an exotic yet uncivilized nation in need of Western guidance, Japan’s rapid modernization and the growing number of Japanese immigrants on the West Coast transformed curiosity into anxiety. My paper traces this evolution of perception from 1850 to 1924, arguing that shifting views of Japan and its people reflected America’s ethnocentric notions of …

Unveiling Legacies: Exploring And Analyzing Cultural Artifacts In The Higbee Collection, Samantha Staller

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Anthropology and the Cummings Center to find ways to properly analyze an archaeological collection's artifacts to understand the overall significance of everything better. Before starting my research, I came up with the following questions: Can any artifacts be considered culturally affiliated? Is everything in the collection authentic? What is the overall background of the collection? Does this collection have any connection to Ohio history? Can anything in the collection be dated? Throughout the research, I will create an Excel inventory list to include qualitative and quantitative data from the artifacts to give insight into what is included in the Higbee …

An Overview Of Nagpra And The 2024 Revisions, Emily V. Owens-Barber

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Section 11 of the National Museum of the American Indian Act (NMAIA) was added to public law in 1989. This required the Smithsonian Museum to repatriate any human remains or funerary objects associated with Native American Ancestry back to their tribes. In 1990, The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) was added to federal legislation expanding on this section and requiring that every federally funded institution in the United States that held Native American Remains or funerary objects in their collection must follow this regulation to continue to receive federal funding. Nearly 33 years later in the autumn …

Bargaining For Statehood: The Intersection Of Capitalism And Politics In The Creation Of West Virginia, Kristen L. Bailey

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This project explores the original architecture of West Virginia. The plans and deliberate construction of the new state not only represented the longstanding desire of western counties for equitable representation in its legislature but also rested on the economic and political ambition of the movement’s leaders. Not all western counties supported independent statehood, and a substantial number of counties favored secession. Without a cohesive citizen consensus to embark upon statehood, traditional narratives that the western counties embarked on statehood solely to protect republican interests bears further investigation. Lacking a unified front, political and business leaders steered the movement through the …

Plantation Matters: The Black Production Of Space In Southeastern Louisiana, 1830 To 1912, Noura Jabir

Pomona Senior Theses

Taking one Louisiana sugar plantation as a starting place, I demonstrate how African-descended laborers created life-sustaining spaces within/beyond the death-driving plantation complex during and after slavery.

Who Owns The Dead: The Unequal Access To Repatriation In Us Law, Sydney Blum

Honors Program Theses

No abstract provided.

Defining ‘Un-Americanism’ In Culture And Art: The Dies Committee’S Investigation Of The Federal Theatre Project, Matthew G. Summers

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis explores the House Un-American Activities Committee’s (HUAC) expansive definition of ‘Un-Americanism’ through the body’s 1938 investigation of the Federal Theatre Project (FTP). The committee, then known as the Dies Committee after its chairman Martin Dies (D-TX), publicly presented the hearings as an attempt to root out communism in a deeply compromised government program. And indeed the FTP, an ambitious New Deal Program to provide work for unemployed professionals in the theatre, had an undoubtedly leftist bent. However, the hearings were consistently focused on the project's progressive stances on issues of race and gender, and effectively exposed the underlying …

Bridging History And Policy: A Comparative Study Of Vocational Education And Training (Vet) In The U.S. And Switzerland, Dr. Jackie Vorpe

Swiss American Historical Society Review

Switzerland is globally renowned for its mountains, banks and chocolate, in addition to the quality of its education system, flourishing economy, and low unemployment rate (around 2.5% in 20241). At the heart of this efficient and inclusive economic model is the dual Vocational Education and Training (VET) system, allowing direct entry into the job market. Nearly two-thirds of Swiss youth aged 15 to 18 choose the apprenticeship path, either through dual training in companies or in full-time vocational schools. These apprentices are vital to the Swiss economy and are ubiquitous across various sectors. Beyond Switzerland, this system is celebrated as …

Highlighting Black Students At Colorado Law, 1896-1968, Rebecca Ciota

Publications

No abstract provided.

The Cut Worm Forgives The Plow, August Neuscheler

Theses and Dissertations

The explorations in this thesis writing are centered on William Blake’s proverb “The cut worm forgives the plow.” It has been reinterpreted as an allegory of history and energy. A theory of their relation is proposed based on forgiveness, a theory that accepts the palimpsest of orders as evidence for the abundance of the present moment. The writing focuses on questions of proportionality, scale, archaeological screening methods, planar cutting, and a critique of entropy as grounds for this theory. Some of its subjects include the Statue of Liberty, Kate Raworth’s donut economic model, sashimi, triangulation, Joseph Beuys’ “7,000 Eichen,” semiconductors, …

From Civil War To Cold War: China, The Us, And The Korean Conflict, Ethan Paul Foss

Honors Theses and Capstones

This history honors thesis investigates US foreign policy in East Asia during the early Cold War, specifically from 1945 to 1953, focusing on the Chinese Civil War and the Korean War. This thesis argues that American policymakers misjudged Chinese communism, Korean nationalism, and regional dynamics due to ideological assumptions and Cold War anxieties. The research examines missed diplomatic opportunities with Mao’s China, the flawed occupation of South Korea, and the escalation of the Korean Conflict, revealing how rigid anti-communist policies contributed to the Korean War's outbreak and strengthened communist alliances. Ultimately, it argues that the Korean War was less an …