Digital Commons Network^™

The Archives Magazine, 2024, Kayla Coghlan, Lillian Stadtmueller, Kara Armstrong, Katie Shank, Linda Zuniga, Abigail Miller, Lynda Feustel, Jacob Mankos

Kutztown University Archives

No abstract provided.

Diversifying The Archival Record Through Community Archiving, Natalie Pan

Library Research Scholars Pilot Program Spring 2024

Archives have long marginalized the narratives of oppressed American populations, owing to their lack of representation in mainstream archiving. In turn, communities have opted to create their own archives that become the catalyst for more dialogue surrounding their histories, called community archives. This study looks at how other universities have partnered with their local communities to document richer local histories that help maintain partnerships between the two. Conversing with other community archivists helps to realize the process of making a community archive in their respective institutions, which furthers the relationships between the university and local communities and institutions. By generating …

Illusions Of Freedom? A History Of Attitudes Toward Death, Dominick Bucca

All Theses

My thesis explores the historical question: “Is there any freedom from death?” through three figures within the Western metaphysical tradition: Thucydides (460-400 BCE), Augustine (354-430 CE), and Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616). In so doing, my thesis suggests the following: for Thucydides, freedom from death arose through the immortality of empire; for Augustine, through the immortality of God’s grace; and for Cervantes, through the immortality of narratives/attitudes of immortality. Moreover, I nest my claim within an exploratory narrative. Which is to say that, lifting a page from Martin Heidegger (1889-1976), I have attempted to break away from the near total …

The Divine Comedy: A Work Of Medieval Mythology, Jamie Alexander

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Prior to The Divine Comedy (1308-1321), ideas about Purgatory were in the early stages of development. Purgatory had loose rituals surrounding its existence and it lacked depiction in written works. Yet in the following centuries, the fear of Purgatory and the practices of penance and indulgences reached a fever pitch, ultimately leading to the Protestant Reformation. Purgatory as a celestial location, and not just the “purgatorial fires” of the Bible, only began to develop in the twelfth century, but its fearful description and imagery in The Divine Comedy not only solidified previously nebulous understandings of Purgatory, but also increased anxiety …

A Grim End For Europe's First Civilization: The Fall Of Minoan Crete, Ashley Arp

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Early popular theories about the collapse of the Minoan civilization center around natural disasters, but geoarchaeological research from the past few decades has disproved these earlier theories. It is evident that the Minoan civilization continued to thrive for around a century after the volcanic eruption and subsequent tsunami that had previously been credited as the cause for the collapse. Evidence of manmade destruction has been uncovered across the island of Crete c. 1450 BCE and this period was quickly followed by a drastic cultural shift that included more Mycenaean elements than had been found on the island previously. These destructions, …

How Design Depicted In Film Contributes To The Evolution Of Cultural Narratives, Catherine Vanhoose

Interior Design Undergraduate Honors Theses

Interior Design and its trends have had significant influence on pop culture and the general public through the course of human history. Acting as a universal language, design is a tool often used to help communicate ideas. The different interpretations of these ideas are what help to create cultural narratives. This capstone explores the relationships between film and design as creative arts, how they are affected by the current times and trends throughout the history of women, and as a result how women throughout history are influenced by these relationships. Findings provide insight on how interior design is used to …

Children Of The Grave: The Rise, Fall, And Experience Of Heavy Metal Music During The Latter Cold War From 1969-1991, Shelby Sibert

All Theses

The Cold War era saw the emergence of many different pop culture phenomena. Some were political, such as the Punk Rock and Hippie movements. Others were fashionable trends like Disco. However, Heavy Metal music is unique due to its opaque origins, skyrocketing popularity, and final disappearance after the end of the Cold War. Heavy Metal had a direct relationship with reflecting the fears and anxieties of the late Cold War period. It was a direct response to the Hippie activist counterculture rock n' roll of the 1960s, and it charters a new path of rock n' roll in the process. …

Racing The Tides: Three Virginia Islands Threatened By Climate Change And The Challenge Of Preserving Their Stories, Sean M. Restivo

History Honors Projects

Among the tidal marshes of Virginia’s York River, there are three relatively obscure groups of uninhabited islands, all with fascinating stories, and all rapidly disappearing: the Goodwin Islands, the Catlett Islands, and Poropotank Island. These islands have been almost entirely overlooked by existing historical and archaeological research, and they are all imminently threatened by climate change-induced sea level rise and erosion. In the summer of 2023, I embarked on an interdisciplinary research project to study cultural heritage sites scattered across the islands. Drawing on my experience of studying these islands, as well as other related case studies, I demonstrate that …

Georgia Ghosts: History, Folklore, And The Roots Of The Southern Gothic, Katherine M. Mcdowell

Master's Projects

There is something quintessentially human about ghost stories, yet particular regions tend to be more powerfully associated with haunted folktales than others. One of the regions is the southeastern United States. In fact, these oral traditions appear to have influenced the area's best-known literary subgenre: the Southern Gothic.

Why is the South considered haunted? Are there particular qualities in historical events that make them more likely to engender ghost stories? What makes the South's folkloric spirits so powerful that they appear even in modern literature? Most of all, what connects the region's history and folklore with the Southern Gothic? By …

Compositional Practices In The Accompaniment Of Celtic Trad Music, Mason Taylor

Composition/Recording Projects

n this research paper, I look at how traditional Irish folk musicians—“Trad” as it is commonly referred to by musicians in the style––approach, think of, and perform accompaniment, specifically the contrapuntal style that is common amongst mandolin and bouzouki players. Trad has evolved greatly over the years. Originally, Trad was performed without any form of accompaniment—no guitar, no piano, no cello. Many solo instruments, such as the flute and the fiddle, would play the same melody with the only harmony occurring at moments where performers would momentarily diverge from the melody with an improvised ornament. Somewhere along its varied history, …

Witches On The Wind: Weather Magic In New England Folktales, Zephyros Quinn Craven

Thinking Matters Symposium

The English language folktales collected from coastal New England in the 19^th and 20^th centuries display a prominence of weather magic motifs compared with folktales from other regions of the United States. This paper aims to explain the success of the weather magic theme in New England folklore collections and to serve as a starting point for scholarly discourse on the subject, which has hitherto been sparse. This study utilizes climate research, both scholarly and popular collections of folktales, local travel guides, and colonial and labor histories. Through a combination of historical analysis, comparative study, and textual analysis, …

Catalysts For Change: The Sacralizing Impulse Of The Second Great Awakening And Its Transformative Impact On American Higher Education, Blake S. Hart

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation delves into the profound impact of the Second Great Awakening on American higher education and its enduring social consequences. Examining the period from the late eighteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century, the research uncovers the core belief that drove the Awakening—that America and its citizens were chosen for a divine purpose, endeavoring to manifest the kingdom of heaven on Earth. It explores how Protestant-led revivalism and social reform movements fueled by this core belief influenced the establishment and evolution of American higher education. Through in-depth case studies of Andover Theological Seminary, Lane Seminary, and Oberlin College, the research …

Modeling Archaic Land Use And Mobility In North-Central Belize, Marieka Brouwer Burg, Eleanor Harrison-Buck

Faculty Publications

The Archaic period has not been as widely studied in Mesoamerica as it has been in other parts of the Americas. This problem stems from intractable issues such as low archaeological visibility and high post-depositional disturbance. And, while existing Archaic data from northern Belize indicates that foraging groups practiced diverse adaptations, little theoretical effort has been dedicated toward developing frames of reference for understanding the coupled human-landscape interactions ongoing during this period. Here, we outline a multi-method approach for situating hunter-gatherer-fisher-emergent horticultural land use behaviors, including comparative ethnographic data, extant archaeological information, and geospatial modeling. We set out a series …

Modeling Archaic Land Use And Mobility In North-Central Belize, Marieka Brouwer Burg, Eleanor Harrison-Buck

Faculty Publications

The Archaic period has not been as widely studied in Mesoamerica as it has been in other parts of the Americas. This problem stems from intractable issues such as low archaeological visibility and high post-depositional disturbance. And, while existing Archaic data from northern Belize indicates that foraging groups practiced diverse adaptations, little theoretical effort has been dedicated toward developing frames of reference for understanding the coupled human-landscape interactions ongoing during this period. Here, we outline a multi-method approach for situating hunter-gatherer-fisher-emergent horticultural land use behaviors, including comparative ethnographic data, extant archaeological information, and geospatial modeling. We set out a series …

An Innovation Diffusion Ideal-Type On The History Of American College Football Stadia, Patrick Tutka, Chad Seifried

Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics

No abstract provided.

Digitizing Delphi: Educating Audiences Through Virtual Reconstruction, Kate Koury

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

Implementing a 3D model into a virtual space allows the general public to engage critically with archaeological processes. There are many unseen decisions that go into reconstructing an ancient temple. Analysis of available materials and techniques, predictions of how objects were used, decisions of what sources to reference, puzzle piecing broken remains together, and even educated guesses used to fill gaps in information often go unobserved by the public. This work will educate users about those choices by allowing the side-by-side comparison of conflicting theories on the reconstruction of the Tholos at Delphi, which is an ideal site because of …

Place-Conscious Vs. Place-Bound, Julie Avetisyan

Theses and Dissertations

Julie Avetisyan’s installation of sculptures, paintings and printmaking works are driven by an exploration of constructed identity that is not place-bound, but place-conscious. In this paper, she explores how her art practice generates world building under the context of the Armenian Diaspora – considering histories of indigeneity, migration, and assimilation.

The Color Of Disease: Race Science, Pandemic Influenza, And The Rise Of Epidemiology In The Segregated South, Andrew Kishuni

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

This thesis evaluates the relationship between race science and eugenics, statistical epidemiology and Southern public health thought, African American health, and the 1918-1920 influenza pandemic. Historians have neglected the flu as an important epidemiological event in Southern history and historiography. To demonstrate the significance of the flu, this thesis makes several arguments based on research from new qualitative and quantitative evidence. The chief argument is that African Americans suffered disproportionately compared to whites in the South, challenging the consensus that the flu affected both races equally. Segregation did not protect African Americans from the flu. In some cases, African Americans …

Hss 404-006: Movement Of Migrants And Refugees, Elektra Kostopoulou

History Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Hss 404-004: Movement Of Migrants And Refugees, Elektra Kostopoulou

History Syllabi

No abstract provided.

New York City’S Health Governance And Activism From The 1950s To The 1970s, Andres Valcarcel

Theses and Dissertations

New York City's expansive network of hospitals and preventative health services has an intense history outside of the popular narratives of biomedical and technological advancement. This thesis will discuss the period between the 1950s and 1970s and the various movements and parties that shaped the city's health and hospital system. During this period, New York City's healthcare delivery system became increasingly privatized and commercialized; processes that improved the quality of healthcare yet simultaneously barred the poorest from accessing it. Communities, healthcare workers, and civil rights organizations worked to address perceived faults and extend their agency in health and hospital policy; …

Niipáitapiiyssin: How Blackfeet Ways Of Knowing Impact Identity And Well-Being, Mikalen Running Fisher

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis explores the vital role of history, traditional knowledge, traditional ecological knowledge, artifacts, and language in shaping the identity and well-being of Indigenous communities. It emphasizes how these components are vital for the survival and growth of Indigenous cultures. Using the Blackfoot Confederacy as a case study, the research highlights the significance of these elements in maintaining cultural continuity and resilience. The analysis is grounded in literature authored from an Indigenous perspective, ensuring an authentic representation of the values and insights inherent in these communities. This work aims to bridge existing gaps in the literature by demonstrating the profound …

Preserving Reflections Of Ourselves: The Past, Present, And Future Of Alaska's Museums, Angela J. Linn

Anthropology

While museums are very good at collecting, preserving, documenting, and interpreting the histories of our communities, we have not done a very good job with our own histories. No comprehensive publication holistically examines the development of museums in Alaska, let alone looks critically at the "big three" (Alaska State Museums, University of Alaska Museum of the North, and the Anchorage Museum) with a goal of establishing a connection between the historical context, the individuals who shaped those museums, and the institutions' current states of being. This dissertation uses the academic fields of history, museology, and ethnography to discover and analyze …

Cohen, Ruthie, Sophia Maier Garcia

Bronx Jewish History Project

Ruthie Cohen is a second generation American, with her paternal grandparents immigrating from Poland. When she was born, her family lived at 2805 Sedgwick Avenue, but moved nearby to another two-family home at 2805 Webb Avenue. She remembers how her immediate neighborhood and school was predominantly Jewish, but Italians and Irish also lived nearby and attended parochial schools. Cohen felt very little antisemitism from them. She was the youngest of four children in a relatively observant family.

Cohen’s father was a teacher who was very involved in the larger community, and education and tolerance were important values in her family. …

Hist 213 - 101, 003, 105: The Twentieth-Century World, Ilektra Kostopoulou

History Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Memory, Violence, And Detours: Strategies Of Resistance To Epidermal Invisibility Within The French Republic, Claudine E. David

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The subjection of black citizens in France and their invisibility in the (post)colonial space has been marked by segregation in peripheral urban zones, with a hardening of policing methods and controls based on racial appearanc. I argue that monumental representation in public space is not neutral but participates in the promotion of a specific ideology. I show thé ellipses in French patrimonial monumental glorification, including the appropriation of the memory of revolutionary heroes such as Louis Delgrès and Toussaint Louverture, concomitant with the occultation of many other black figures. I argue that representation matters, that France must repair this asymmetrical …

The Hidden Aspects Of A Century Of Substance Use Policymaking In Iran, Emran Razaghi, Mohammad Binazadeh, Rahimeh Negarandeh, James T. Bradford, Kaveh Khoshnood

Faculty Works

The use of substances, especially opiates, has been a longstanding and significant problem in Iran. In response, Iran has experimented with a wide range of policies including nonintervention, regulation, legalization, prohibition, and criminalization. Exploring Iran’s substance use policies suggests that the Iranian government has been more concerned with byproducts of policies such as financial revenue, promoting diplomacy, and maintaining power, rather than genuinely alleviating the substance trade and addiction. First, we explore how opium taxation was the core substance use policy before oil became the main source of government income. Second, we discuss how conflicts of power between the health …

Dancers Of The Book: Yemenite, Persian, And Kurdish Jewish Dance, Quinn Bicer

Anthós

Despite the cultural significance of dance in Jewish communities around the world, research into Middle Eastern Jewish dance outside of the modern nation-state of Israel is sorely under-researched. This article aims to help rectify this by focusing on Yemenite, Persian/Iranian, and Kurdish Jewish dance and explores how these dancers have functioned and been received within the societies they have been a part of. The methods that have gone into this article are a combination of analyzing primary source recorded dances and existing secondary source research into the dance of these communities. Through these methods, this article reveals how Yemenite, Iranian, …

An Amazonianist And His History, Victor Cova, Juan Pablo Sarmiento

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

No abstract provided.

Silent Voices, Stolen Imagery, And Subjected Violence: Plains Native American Women In Historiography, Bobbie J. Roshone

Great Plains Graduate Review

This paper delves into the historiography of Indigenous women’s history and experiences on the Great Plains have been recorded. The main question when approaching this subject was, “what does a review of the historiography reveal about how historians have addressed Indigenous women’s history in the Great Plains?” The overwhelming consensus was that Indigenous women’s history of the Great Plains was minimal in regard to articles, however, there was a growth of autobiographies and other historiographical works throughout the same time period. This would lead to a directed look at how individual women in Indigenous Plains history had a larger impact …