Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Saint Brigit And Her Habits: Exploring Queerness In Early Medieval Ireland, Jacqueline K. Stephenson

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

Saint Brigit's behavior and reception by society highlight an avenue by which women in the early medieval period could escape societal strictures, exercising agency over their bodies and their romantic choices, and carve out a distinct and unexpected place for themselves in a Christian patriarchal society. In Saint Brigit’s case, this is especially demonstrated by the breadth of her portrayed power as not just a nun but a saint, her extreme resistance to marriage, and her frequent comparisons to men. Indeed, her hagiography, written by Cogitosus in the seventh century, positioned her as one of the three principal and earliest …

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. …

A Historical Analysis Of Health Institutions, Professionals, And Advocates In The Civil Rights Movement In Columbia, South Carolina, Anusha Ghosh

Senior Theses

From 1900 to 1970, widespread racism severely restricted healthcare access for Black citizens in the South, leading them to establish and staff alternative healthcare institutions to support their community.

Such institutions faced debilitating issues such as chronic financial shortages and patient overflow. Despite these problems, oral histories, media, and primary written sources show that Black healthcare workers in alternative healthcare institutions demonstrated a greater ability to meet the health needs of Black patients due to cultural understanding and external community involvement.

Dr. Matilda Evans was an African-American woman physician who became a leader in medicine, public health, and education in …

The Third Horseman: Preventability Versus Apocalypse In The Great Famine Of 1315 And The Irish Potato Famine, Luke Ziegler

Honors Theses

Famine is a huge problem for societies, even in the modern world. Throughout history, famine has reared its ugly head and brought about demographic and societal collapse. The Great Famine of 1315 Famine and the Irish Potato Famine, despite their differences, had similar underlying factors of land management and overpopulation paired with an environmental catalyst, and also show that governmental response has the potential to both cause and prevent a famine, but only if the scale of the problem is limited. They both examine the question of national identity and create a multitude of debates in later historiography. Although these …

Survivor Accounts Of Sexual Violence In The Holocaust And Rwandan Genocide: A Comparative History, Marisa Silva

Honors Projects

This research seeks to analyze and understand the approach and treatment of victims of sexual assaults stories and accounts using case studies of the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide. Research was conducted by collecting and reading first-hand accounts of survivors and their experiences of sexual assault, then analyzing the historical response following the events. The two case studies are synthesized and compared in this project to understand which attributes of political and social policy effected the reception of stories of victims and witnesses of rape and assault. Both genocides are affected by unique struggles in collecting witness accounts, as well …

Children And The Cold War: Race & Hypocrisy Amid Fear Of Nuclear War, Richard D. Mctaggart Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

During the Cold War, American propaganda centered the wellbeing of the child in its messaging warning of atomic attack at the hands of the Soviet Union. However, despite American claims that all children were valued by the United States, this was proven untrue by its unequal treatment of Black children.

Preservando La Playa Del Pueblo, Tasha A. Sandoval

Capstones

After more than 80 years, the only queer beach in New York City, the People’s Beach at Jacob Riis, is in danger. In 2022, the city announced the demolition of the Neponsit Hospital, a long-abandoned structure that shelters the beach from the street, creating a sense of privacy and safety. Can Riis Beach live on as a safe and joyous utopia for queer communities without the presence of the hospital buildings? Some beach-goers are campaigning to ensure that whatever replaces the hospital space centers the queer community and preserves the beach’s queer history, including the legacy of Ms. Colombia, a …

Insane Asylums In Britain During The Nineteenth Century, Jeanna Mankins

History Theses

This thesis analyzes insane asylums, in Britain, during the nineteenth century and argues that government, society, and gender had a profound impact on insane asylums and determined the quality of care that female and male patients received as a consequence.

The Modern Wesley Class Meeting - Bringing Accountability, Practical Faith, And Personal Connection Into Established Local Congregations, Roger Graham Clayton Jr

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

This paper is an attempt to resurrect the Wesleyan class meeting in to the modern day congregation in order to build stronger and more vibrant communities. By examining the historical footprint of the class meeting in Wesley's Britain and the beginning of the American experiment, the core attributes of the class meeting are extracted to be accountability, vulnerability, and practical faith.

This paper also attempts to show that these core principles of the class meeting are still present in the modern world outside of the church to great success within the military, non-denominational faith groups, and in the battle against …

American Fury: Catholic Responses To Spanish Anticlericalism (1936-1939), Paul Sanders Linker Jr.

Senior Theses

This thesis examines the roles, ideologies, attitudes, and arguments of American Catholics in debates over the Spanish Civil War from 1936-1939. Although the war only lasted between these years, these debates carried over into WWII as Spain’s neutrality came into question. Specifically, the focus is on how American Catholics grappled with historically unprecedented Spanish anticlericalism, the direct murder of roughly 7000 Catholic clergy and persecution of many more by Spanish Republicans, and why this anticlericalism drove most Catholics into a form of unapologetic pro-Francoism. This research is conducted by careful analysis of both mainstream and Catholic newspapers/journals. Mainstream pro-Republican press …

"Learning By Doing, By Wondering, By Figuring Things Out:" A New Look At Contemporary Homeschooling And Pedagogical Progressivism, Jacques Klapisch

History Honors Theses

Pedagogical progressive education, as defined through the work of John Dewey, Helen Parkhurst, and Carleton Washburne was the precursor to the contemporary homeschooling movement in ideology, practice, and rhetoric as defined by the writing and pedagogy of John Holt. Their shared beliefs in community, student freedom, and good experience as pertinent to education marked the relationship between these two pedagogical methods. Despite Holt's departure from the classroom through his unschooling method, the ideological consistencies between the movement are undeniable, suggesting we rethink the relationship between progressive education and homeschooling and our basic assumptions about the legacy of both movements.

History In Crisis: Museum Programming During The Covid-19 Outbreak, Lindsay Mcconnell

Honors Thesis

The subject of my research is how museums adapted their public programming in response to COVID-19. The goal of my research is to analyze how successfully museums shifted their community engagement programming to online platforms. Since I hope to work in the museum field of programming, I was motivated to conduct this research. Not much research can be found on this topic because COVID-19’s effects on museums are still unfolding. My research could provide a foundation of ideas to build on. To begin, I read articles about the relationship between museums and technology. I applied this knowledge to analyze how …

Has Maize Overtaken Our Reality? A Personal Briefing, Biochemical Comparison, Agrigenomics, And History Of Maize, Nader Pahlevan

Honors Theses

Maize (Zea mays ssp. Mays) is a revolutionary cereal grain that has raced to the world’s most popular staple crop, transforming societies and impacting history. This paper aims to build and portray the story maize has created through its journey to world domination. The important details that encompass this literature are maize’s cultural significance in my life’s story, the comparison of various starches broken down into amylose and amylopectin ratios, a summative historical account on maize’s spread throughout numerous parts of the old world, and the genetical analysis of maize that explains the key features that have led …

Perceptions Of Roane State Community College Presidents On The Events Shaping The Institution’S Leadership History, John Norris Brown

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A major focus of policymakers in recent years has been community colleges, which have been viewed as potential engines for economic advancement and student success. I examined the leadership history of Roane State Community College, a two-year institution of higher learning serving a nine-county service area mostly in rural East Tennessee as perceived by individuals who have served as the college’s presidents. Five current and former presidents were interviewed about their experiences as president and their perceptions of the college’s history. Narrative research was used to recount a history of Roane State Community College, and the key events and factors …

John Holladay Latané And American Diplomatic History In The Era Of The Lost Cause, Scott Dranginis

Senior Theses

This thesis examines the impact of the Lost Cause on the writings and ideas of John Holladay Latané, an American historian of foreign policy who was born in Staunton, Virginia in 1869, and died in 1932. Latané had ties to several prominent southern individuals and institutions throughout his life, such as Captain William Latané (his uncle) and Johns Hopkins University, which he both attended (both as an undergraduate and graduate student) and taught at. With this background in mind, a study of Latané’s stances reveals how the Lost Cause ideology intersected with analysis of foreign policy in the early twentieth …

Visit Which Scotland? Political Events Illuminating Two Competing Visions Of Re-Emerging Scottish Identity Since The Late Twentieth-Century, Erin W. Delaney

Senior Independent Study Theses

Since the late twentieth century, Scotland has undergone a series of political changes. I argue that a consequence of these changes has been increased support for a separate national Scottish identity. By analyzing competing visions of this identity through the tourism industry and Gaelic revival, this IS shows the complexities of this move towards nationalism. While many scholars have analyzed the re-emergence of Scottish identity since 1707, the relationship between Gaelic revival efforts and the tourism industry have not been connected to show the complexities of this re-emerging Scottish identity. This IS draws on a vast array of interdisciplinary sources …

Drag Magazine: A Study Of Community, Olivia Austin

Departmental Honors Projects

This research aims to understand the trans/drag community and its relationship to political activism and the lesbian and gay community in the 1970s and early 1980s. I aim to answer the following questions: How did Drag perceive the relationship between the gay/lesbian community and the trans/drag community? How did Drag function in the trans/drag community? How did Drag benefit its readers? Transgender individuals and drag queens were at the forefront of activism in the1960s during the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot and the Stonewall Inn Riots. Recently, there has been more attention to the critical transgender activism by Marsha P. Johnson and …

Whitewashed: A Look Into The Evolution Of Race Conversations In American Classrooms, Lily M. Walters

Senior Independent Study Theses

This paper seeks to follow the evolution of race conversations in the classroom through generations of people after the Civil War. My thesis is that curriculum excluded positive mentions of Black people after the Civil War until the Civil Rights Movement, when Black individuals crafted a more accurate and impartial curriculum. American curriculum’s exclusion of positive Black representation left white people unable to have positive race conversations in general. Additionally, through a case study of my family, I examine how generations of people shaped their ideas on race through conversations. The written portion of my IS begins with curriculum from …

Talk This Way: A Look At The Historical Conversation Between Hip-Hop And Christianity, Joshua Swanson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Christianity and Hip-Hop culture are often said to be at odds with one another. One is said to promote a lifestyle of righteousness and love, while the other is said to promote drugs, violence, and pride. As a result, the public has portrayed these two institutions as conflicting with no willingness to resolve their perceived differences. This paper will argue that there has always been a healthy conversation between Hip-Hop and Christianity since Hip-Hop’s inception. Using sources like Hip-Hop lyrics, theologians, historians, autobiographies, sermons, and articles that range from Ma$e to Tipper Gore, this paper will look at the conversation …

The Portrayal Of The Woman’S Suffrage Movement In High School History Textbooks, Michelle A. Devries

Masters Theses

The narrative of the woman’s suffrage movement in high school history textbooks varies from textbook to textbook and over time. Textbooks include different information, people, events, and interpretations of events. They employ different word choices and pictures. By using comparative analyzation of numerous popular high school textbooks, the pressure exerted by external economic, social, and political forces on the historical narrative can be seen. Studying the historical narrative in this way trains students to be discerning learners of history and equips them not only to recognize the bias in any historical narrative, but also to be able to analyze how …

Paper House: The Revolution, The Disappeared, And The Historicity Of Lebanon, Elsa Saade

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis will be an attempt to reenact events in relation to the disappeared and the Lebanese civil war, with the help of newspaper cuts, oral history, theories on historical writing, memories, and books on Lebanon. As a prospective historian, the writer will be tapping into the internal event of thought processes and meaning of the past, as advised by R. G. Collingwood in The Idea of History. (Collingwood, 1946 ) That critical inquiry will only be at the service of understanding the present from the lens of a self-reflecting inquisitor that has faced many silences in a past …

Time Machine Research And Approach, Tarek Bouraque

Theses and Dissertations

Time Machine is a hybrid documentary that explores the logics of enslavement, colonialism, eurocentrism and their interconnectedness in our globalized world. Mustapha Azemmouri, born in 1502, undertakes a journey to the 21st century to recount his own story of enslavement and exploration, and reflects on a collective puzzle of 500 years of hidden history.

Dissecting The Man Of Steel: The Evolution Of Superman As A Reflection Of American Society, Marie Gould

Undergraduate Theses

Since his debut during the Great Depression in 1938, Superman has become an American cultural icon. His symbol is not only known throughout the nation, but the world as well. Despite this, many consider Superman to be irrelevant and unrelatable to reality because he is written as an outrageously overpowered being with “boy scout” morals. However, he has not always been written this way. This research seeks to uncover the connections between Superman’s various narratives and the changing social and political ideas of American Society throughout history. Specifically, the objective of this study is to establish whether Superman has changed …

The Relationship Between Lgbtq+ Representation On The Political And Theatrical Stages, Brett V. Ries

Honors Thesis

This thesis examines the relationship between LGBTQ+ representation on the political and theatrical stages. During some decades, LGBTQ+ theatre was dictated by the politics of the time period. During other times, theatre educated and filled the silence when the government and society turned the other way. By examining LGBTQ+ plays, musicals, and political events over the past century, there are clear themes that emerge. In both the theatrical and political arenas, LGBTQ+ representation has been limited by a concept called “repressive tolerance.” Every step of progress has been met with another restriction, ranging from stereotypical caricatures to legal discrimination. In …

Boy Meets War: A Critical And Creative Analysis Of Civilian Masculinities In Britain During The Second World War, Savanna Hitlan

Senior Independent Study Theses

During the Second World War, the hegemonic masculinity, that is, the dominant masculinity, resided with the Royal Air Force (RAF). Pilots epitomized what it meant to be a man in war due to their heroics in the Battle of Britain. Civilian masculinities therefore had to negotiate their identities to fit their new roles in society. The two types of civilian men that I mainly look at are men in the reserved occupations and conscientious objectors. I examine this question: how did cultural representations portrayed by the government affect the civilian men on the homefront? Furthermore, I explore how these men …

The Impact Of The World Wide Web On 21st Century Elections In The U.S., Phillip Barr

History | Senior Theses

Traditionally, Presidential candidates would go door to door and town to town, sharing their political ideas in the hope of gaining supporters. This paper aims to analyze the evolution, contribution, and the future of internet use in terms of gaining support and its crucial ability to help persuade American citizens to vote. Focusing primarily on the elections from the year 2000 to 2012, data and research will be used to analyze how web usage has evolved from president to president. The future of campaigning will continue to revolutionize through the internet because of its ability to alter the traditional methods …

Broken Households: Black And White Baptists And Methodists In Transition In Post-Emancipation Texas, Timothy "Ashton" Reynolds

History Theses and Dissertations

The end of slavery in Texas and the South undercut more than just the economic, labor, and social foundations in Texas. It undercut doctrinal certainty for white Baptists and Methodists and called into question two of their most valued beliefs: the biblical legitimacy of slavery and the divine appointment of white (and male) supremacy. This thesis asks and attempts to answer the question of how white Baptists and Methodists reacted when they were no longer able to practice slavery as a legally sanctioned religiously underpinned institution. By examining denominational documents, church minute books, writings by influential Baptist and Methodist figures, …

The Gay Commute: On The Development Of Queer Community And Identity In The Windsor-Detroit Borderlands, 1945-1980, Graeme Sylvio Sylvestre

Major Papers

The development of queer community and identity has always necessitated the delineation of queer-friendly spaces as a locus for socialisation, sexual expression, and freedom from animosity and hostility towards queer sexuality. Within the urban area of post-war Windsor-Detroit, the threat of exposure and possible arrest affected the everyday lives of queer individuals, which necessitated a quest for private locales that were amenable to the expression of queer sexuality and gender identity. What is here referred to as “the gay commute” was a defining characteristic of the lived experiences of the white middle-class gay residents in the Windsor-Detroit borderlands through the …

“Of Nobler Song Than Mine”: Social Justice In The Life, Times, And Writings Of Fitz-James O'Brien, John P. Irish

Graduate Liberal Studies Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation will be a detailed study of the life, times, and writings of a mid-nineteenth century Irish-American writer, Fitz-James O’Brien. This will be the first full length study of O’Brien’s thought and writings. O’Brien was known, during his day, for two different types of writing: fiction of the supernatural and his writings on social justice, written in the emerging style of literary realism. It is his writings on social justice which this dissertation will explore. O’Brien’s writings on social justice covered three main topics: children, women, and animals. I look at how the historical context, O’Brien’s life, and his …

Selling Childhood: How The Middle Class Used Children In The Anti-Tuberculosis Movement (1930s-1940s), Hannah Fisher

Senior Theses

During the anti-tuberculosis movement of the 1930s and 1940s, children were chosen as focal points, with their roles shaped by society’s changing view of childhood, the emergence of the middle class, and the socioeconomic and political climate. Children were used by middle-class reformers as conduits through which to disseminate information and enact controls on the working class. Health education in schools had two main goals: (1) for educated children to become educated adults, and (2) for educated children to transform the behaviors of adults around them. Although researchers have studied middle-class interventions into children’s health, few have analyzed the role …