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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
From Love Canal To The Flint Water Crisis: Government, Public Opinion, And Environmental Crises, Sarah Hughey
From Love Canal To The Flint Water Crisis: Government, Public Opinion, And Environmental Crises, Sarah Hughey
Honors Theses
After the rise of the modern-day environmental movement, environmentalism in the United States focused more and more on issues and crises related to the areas in which people lived and to the aspects that impacted public health. In particular, the crisis at Love Canal in Niagara Falls, New York during the late 1970s and early 1980s provided a starting point to the awareness and activism of modern environmental history. Recently, an environmental crisis related to drinking water occurred in Flint, Michigan in the mid-2010s that showcases how various aspects of the environmental movement have developed over time since the Love …
Dismantling Traditional Neighborhood Schools To Create An All Charter System: A Counter Narrative Of Experimental School Reform In New Orleans Post-Katrina, Chauncey E. Stephens
Dismantling Traditional Neighborhood Schools To Create An All Charter System: A Counter Narrative Of Experimental School Reform In New Orleans Post-Katrina, Chauncey E. Stephens
Honors Theses
No abstract provided.
Women In Gaming: A Study Of Female Players’ Experiences In Online Fps Games, M Allison Mcdaniel
Women In Gaming: A Study Of Female Players’ Experiences In Online Fps Games, M Allison Mcdaniel
Honors Theses
Existing literature has long been divided over whether the gaming world fosters violence and misogyny or provides a space for people to explore diverse identities. Not enough is known about how women experience videogames, especially the hypermasculine environment of first-person shooter (FPS) games. Competition, violence, and war, are dominant features of these games. The following thesis explores what harassment and discrimination women playing FPS games face, how they respond, and in what ways they find games to be empowering. A survey was distributed online to an international sample of 141 female FPS gamers. This research finds that women who play …
Culture Of Conflict: Watching The End Of The 1960s American Counterculture Through Documentaries About Rock Music, Matt Steinberg
Culture Of Conflict: Watching The End Of The 1960s American Counterculture Through Documentaries About Rock Music, Matt Steinberg
Honors Theses
The 1960’s was a complicated time in American History. The decade started with Chubby Checker’s “The Twist” and concluded on “The End” by The Doors. The explosion of a youth counterculture is captured and preserved on film; a medium that was rapidly becoming more mobile, personal, and artistic. The expansion of the documentary field coincided with a unique cultural blossoming centered around rock music and the results of these films leave us with an audiovisual history of extraordinary moments in time. This thesis closely examines the development and issues of performance or rock documentaries to better understand the violent demise …
The Smiling, The Sick, The Suffereing: Snapshots Of Syrian Displacement, Karlee Anna Bergendorff
The Smiling, The Sick, The Suffereing: Snapshots Of Syrian Displacement, Karlee Anna Bergendorff
Honors Theses
Photographic images of Syrian refugees - smiling, sick, or suffering - on the news and in the ads of human rights organizations have been employed to mobilize governments, armies, or businesses. These images are effective in mobilizing various forms of support or intervention because they have a strong emotional impact on the mass public. The emotionally driven connection between spectator and refugee, however, raises some troubling questions about whose interests the images serve, and how they are used for various efforts. Is it possible to depict the suffering of Syrian refugees without violating their dignity, agency, and autonomy? I argue …
Women: Indisputable Fans Of Baseball: An Ethnographic Study Of Female Baseball Fans, Shea Barickman
Women: Indisputable Fans Of Baseball: An Ethnographic Study Of Female Baseball Fans, Shea Barickman
Honors Theses
Baseball is known as America’s Pastime and has been a strong symbol of masculinity in American culture. The ratio of female to male fans, however, is actually the most equal of any major professional sport in the United States. This thesis examines that paradox. Drawing on participant observations at games, interviews with fans and an ethnographic study of a sports radio station in Kansas City, I find that the increasing participation of female fans is a result of baseball being experienced and marketed as a family-oriented game. This family experience gave women a point of entry and women have stuck …
Japanese Neet And Freeter: A Representation Of The Relationship Between Social Changes And Youth's Employment Pattern, Linh Hoang
Honors Theses
My paper attempts to analyze the existence of NEET (No Employment, Education or Training – ニート) and Freeter (Freelancing part-time worker - フリーター), two common groups of young unemployed people and irregular workers in Japan. Throughout the study, the relationship between Japanese social changes, modernization process and Japanese NEETs and Freeters is thoroughly examined. The first social change related to the establishment of these two groups is the transformation of employment system. The combination of a seniority-based system and performance-based system as well as their contrasts has increased the competitiveness in the job seeking war while eliminating some of the …
German And The European Migrant Crisis: An Exploration Of German National Identity, Sarah Pollack
German And The European Migrant Crisis: An Exploration Of German National Identity, Sarah Pollack
Honors Theses
Since 2014, conflicts in North Africa and the Middle East have brought large inflows of asylum-seekers streaming into Europe. Germany has not only accepted the greatest number of these asylum-seekers, but it has additionally pushed for other European Union member states to accept more asylum-seekers as well, thereby earning an international reputation as a leading proponent of human rights in the European Union. While images of German citizens crowding train stations in Munich and other cities to welcome refugees have dominated news cycles, there is an increasing anti-immigration sentiment in Germany, which at its most extreme has manifested itself in …
La Paisana Jacinta: El Programa Que Causa La Risa Para Algunas Y El Sufrimiento Para Otros, Rachel Wyman
La Paisana Jacinta: El Programa Que Causa La Risa Para Algunas Y El Sufrimiento Para Otros, Rachel Wyman
Honors Theses
Examino el papel de la comedia en La Paisana Jacinta en la naturalización de la discriminación racial. La identidad denigrada que se asigna a La Paisana Jacinta origina en los estereotipos populares de la población indígena en Perú, no es solamente una interpretación de la cultura andina migrante. Entonces, analizo los comentarios de los usuarios fans en las redes sociales para entender como el programa ha ganado popularidad, incluyendo la reacción a la censura del programa. También, examino la reacción de las organizaciones humanas y indígenas que desean imponer la censura y el fin inmediatamente del programa. La Paisana Jacinta …
Uncharted Territory: Critical Social Artistic Practices In The 21st Century, Kyra M. Detone
Uncharted Territory: Critical Social Artistic Practices In The 21st Century, Kyra M. Detone
Honors Theses
Since the early 1990s, the American art world has witnessed the rise of critical social artistic practices that are largely collaborative projects driven by participatory experiences between artists and community. With its roots in the activist, protest, and public art movements beginning in the late 60s, socially engaged art steps out of traditional viewing spaces like the museum and directly confronts society’s object-based and monetary understanding of art. Driven by process and dependent on coalition building, creative problem solving, and public service rather than profit, socially engaged critical practice is complex and demands a new vocabulary through which to critique …
El Paralelismo Entre Los Cambios Demograficos Y Los Medios Sociales Y Su Impacto En El Activismo En America Latina, Ashley Beccia
El Paralelismo Entre Los Cambios Demograficos Y Los Medios Sociales Y Su Impacto En El Activismo En America Latina, Ashley Beccia
Honors Theses
En la segunda mitad del siglo XX, los avances sociales, especialmente en los ámbitos tecnológicos y médicos, cambiaron la manera en que viven los seres humanos. Los sectores demográficos empezaron a experimentar grandes transformaciones debido a la reducción de la tasa de mortalidad infantil y el crecimiento de la expectativa de vida (Saad 240). Como consecuencia, ha emergido una nueva época de vida, que se llama la edad de adulta emergente, que es caracterizada por la exploración y construcción de la identidad y creencias personales (Smith y Snell 6). Las nuevas estructuras sociales alrededor del mundo han requerido que los …
La Epoca De #Nofilter: El Impacto De Los Medios Sociales En La Imagen Corporal Latina, Rebecca Calvo-Cruz
La Epoca De #Nofilter: El Impacto De Los Medios Sociales En La Imagen Corporal Latina, Rebecca Calvo-Cruz
Honors Theses
Compartiendo fotos se ha convertido en un medio fundamental de comunicación que ofrece a los usuarios la oportunidad de un examen constante de sí mismos y otros. De hecho, a medida que más plataformas de medios sociales basados en fotos, como Instagram, ganan popularidad, cada vez es normal para los adultos jóvenes compartir fotos personales con el mundo en línea. Este año, el 54% de los usuarios del Internet mayores del año 18 dicen que “publican fotos originales en línea”, en comparación con 46% en 2012 (Duggan 2013). En Facebook, hay casi 300 millones de fotos publicadas cada día, que …
American Popular Culture, Politics, And Comedy: How Saturday Nigh Live Delivers The "News", Jillian Callanan
American Popular Culture, Politics, And Comedy: How Saturday Nigh Live Delivers The "News", Jillian Callanan
Honors Theses
Saturday Night Live has delved into the realm of politics throughout its forty-one seasons as a means of generating humor through satirical and parodical representations of politicians. This thesis explores Saturday Night Live during election years in particular, when the show generates a great deal of its content from the surrounding political atmosphere to comment on the issues at hand in a way that most often contrasts the style of reporting done by traditional hard news programs. The increasing role of entertainment in news delivery sheds light on the blurred lines between news and entertainment news, and this thesis will …
Las Madres De Plaza De Mayo Y Los Medios Sociales: La No Desaparicion De Los Desaparecidos, Matthew Christal
Las Madres De Plaza De Mayo Y Los Medios Sociales: La No Desaparicion De Los Desaparecidos, Matthew Christal
Honors Theses
El diccionario Merriam Webster define "desaparecer" de varias maneras: dejar de ser visible: pasar fuera de vista: dejar de existir: morir o desaparecer por completo: perderse: ir a un lugar que no se conoce. En el caso de las Madres de Plaza de Mayo, estas definiciones son referencias a sus hijos e hijas que desaparecieron durante la guerra sucia. Normalmente, cuando pensamos en periodos de historia muy oscuros, pensamos en eventos como el holocausto. La guerra sucia fue el “holocausto” para los argentinos entre 1976 hasta 1983. Las madres de los desaparecidos han sido la razón por qué las memorias …
Reforming Japan: Measuring The Success Of The Allied Occupation's Economic Educational And Constitutional, Gordon Duncan
Reforming Japan: Measuring The Success Of The Allied Occupation's Economic Educational And Constitutional, Gordon Duncan
Honors Theses
Following the surrender of Japan on September 2 of 1945, American forces occupied Japan in an attempt to remove Japan’s ability to wage aggressive war. From 1945 to 1952, Occupation authorities in Tokyo under General Douglas MacArthur undertook a number of reforms intended to ‘demilitarize’ and ‘democratize’ Japan, some of which left major structural changes to the pre-war Japanese system. This thesis will focus on three reforms: the dissolution of Japan’s zaibatsu (large industrial conglomerates such as Nissan), democratization of the education system, and Article IX of Japan’s Constitution which bans Japan from possessing military forces. I analyze the success …
Constructing A Narrative Of Irish Republicanism 1913 - 1921, Christopher Graff
Constructing A Narrative Of Irish Republicanism 1913 - 1921, Christopher Graff
Honors Theses
The Easter Rising of 1916 and subsequent Anglo-Irish War were two seminal events in contemporary Irish history, and are especially pertinent as the 100th anniversary of the Rising approaches this year. In this thesis, I examine the underlying causes of the Easter Rising, specifically the growing influence of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and an increase in Irish Nationalism. I then trace the planning, preparation, and execution of the Easter Rising, which was not a popular uprising, but rather an armed insurrection led by a small group of militarized radicals. I also analyze the political, social, and economic consequences of the …
The Price Of Democracy: Hong Kong's Identity Crisis In The Umbrella Revolution, Jen Keung
The Price Of Democracy: Hong Kong's Identity Crisis In The Umbrella Revolution, Jen Keung
Honors Theses
Most past research on the democratization of Hong Kong has been generally concerned about on the ramifications of institutional power dynamics, and aimed to inform an audience whose primary interests were in China. Accordingly, understandings of the culture and society of Hong Kong becomes limited, as they serve to support an argument for or against Chinese regional despotism. From public media coverage to scholarship articles, very little attention has been paid to the transformations of Hong Kong at the individual level. In a society that has been through constant social, economic and political transformations in the past decades, Hong Kong …
Democracy And Citzenship: A Counterintuitive Relationship Examined Through Ancient Athens And The Contemporary Crisis, Shivangi Mehta
Democracy And Citzenship: A Counterintuitive Relationship Examined Through Ancient Athens And The Contemporary Crisis, Shivangi Mehta
Honors Theses
Ancient Athens is often valued for being the birthplace of democracy, a form of government that is often believed to be “by the people, for the people.” With democracy came the emergence of citizenship. In ancient Athens, citizenship was created to outline the political community by defining who belonged to the community and who was excluded from it. Through time, as countries have been claiming they are becoming more democratic, more restrictions have been imposed. These restrictions have created boundaries, thus excluding individuals from citizenship status causing them to lose their rights and abilities, specifically in areas such as political …
Love Shouldn't Hurt: Akrasia As An Explanation For The Perpetration Of Domestic Violence, Elizabeth Murad
Love Shouldn't Hurt: Akrasia As An Explanation For The Perpetration Of Domestic Violence, Elizabeth Murad
Honors Theses
Domestic Violence (DV) is a prominent issue that affects people of all demographics, and can be defined as the perpetration of psychological, emotional, physical, or sexual abuse against (typically) an inferior other. A dear friend, Alex, lost her life at the hands of her boyfriend of almost two years, and I still struggle to understand how one could do such an atrocious thing to a loved one? The Perpetrator, Clayton, claimed that he “just snapped” when he “killed [his] girlfriend.” It is from this case, and more specifically the statement: “I just snapped,” that I have based my research; I …
Baby Cribs In Prison Cells: Assessing Opinions About Prison Nursery Programs By Humanizing Incarcerated Mothers, Erin Ostheimer
Baby Cribs In Prison Cells: Assessing Opinions About Prison Nursery Programs By Humanizing Incarcerated Mothers, Erin Ostheimer
Honors Theses
Through my research, I analyzed prison nursery programs in the United States. Prison nurseries are programs that exist in nine states that allow mothers who are pregnant when they are incarcerated to keep their infants with them in prison for a finite amount of time. Previous scholarship on the topic has shown that prison nurseries are effective in reducing rates of recidivism and fostering a bond between mother and infant. My research explored the question of why these programs are so rare given their success. I assessed Union College student and professor attitudes about maternal incarceration to better understand how …
Remember The Holocaust And The Killing Fields: A Comparative Study, Ilan Levine
Remember The Holocaust And The Killing Fields: A Comparative Study, Ilan Levine
Honors Theses
Why is the Holocaust almost universally remembered as the most horrific event in the modern age while the Cambodian genocide is hardly remembered both in and outside of Cambodia? Do the two events share similar aspects despite their differences, and what implication does that have on a wider understanding of both genocides? This thesis explores these questions by examining how the Holocaust and Cambodian genocide (killing fields) have been remembered over time. Examining both shows the respective roads of memorialization that each have taken and reveals where the two catastrophes share major aspects: notably, the tactics used by the perpetrators, …
Voter Identification Laws: In The Name Of Reform Or Suppression?, Melissa Rodriguez
Voter Identification Laws: In The Name Of Reform Or Suppression?, Melissa Rodriguez
Honors Theses
Voter identification laws have been at the center of controversy in political discourse for some time now. Proponents of voter identification laws claim that they are necessary in order to curb public opinion regarding voter identity fraud. Even if there were no evidence of fraud in the system, they would still be necessary to protect the integrity of the system. Opponents counter back that due to the lack of evidence of voter identity fraud, these requirements are a part of partisan politics in which the right wing is attempting to disenfranchise groups that tend to vote democratic. These attempts are …
The Philadelphia Catto: Bridging The Racial Gap In The City Of Brotherly Love, Rachel Wyman
The Philadelphia Catto: Bridging The Racial Gap In The City Of Brotherly Love, Rachel Wyman
Honors Theses
This thesis seeks to examine African American activist Octavius Valentine Catto's social and civic contributions to the African American community in Philadelphia and the nation during the Reconstruction era. Catto's militancy, courage, and devotion to the black cause, as a result of major religious and secular revolutionary ideology, offers an alternative view of the black experience in the North which was overshadowed by the myriad of research on Reconstruction in the South. Octavius Catto is part of a long tradition of black activists who led a wave of antislavery reform rooted in the secular political ideology of the American Revolution, …
Voices Trapped Within The Portrait: Annetje Kool Pieter Vanderlyn And The Expectations Regarding Gender In Public And Private Spheres In A Burgeoning Nation, Abigail Hollander
Voices Trapped Within The Portrait: Annetje Kool Pieter Vanderlyn And The Expectations Regarding Gender In Public And Private Spheres In A Burgeoning Nation, Abigail Hollander
Honors Theses
The main subjects of this study, Pieter Vanderlyn, the attributed artist of “A Portrait of Annetje Kool” (c.1740), and Annetje Kool, the sitter, both had subversive identities relative to the sociocultural expectations of New Netherland, a Hudson River Valley based settlement. The oil portrait on canvas depicts a young woman in an elaborate dress with lace and gilt embellishments. To understand this portrait’s historical context, this thesis examines how male and female voices functioned on the margins of the moral boundaries that shaped expectations of gender appropriate thought and action during the colonial, revolutionary, and post-revolutionary eras in New York …
Unveiling Laïcité: Secularism Algerian Muslims And The Headscarf Affair In Modern France, Coleen Nugent
Unveiling Laïcité: Secularism Algerian Muslims And The Headscarf Affair In Modern France, Coleen Nugent
Honors Theses
The historical relationship between the French state and its form of secularism, laïcité, and the French Muslim population is fraught with conflict, misunderstanding, and ambivalence. Laïcité, is a form of secularism unique to France, thus why it refuses to be translated from its native French. France also has a unique colonial relationship with Algeria, which was considered an integral part of France during France's colonial empire. Both the history of laïcité and the history of this colonial relationship help to explain the modern relationship between laïcité and the French Muslim population. In order to analyze this conflict, the "Head Scarf …
The Endless Long Hot Summer: A Study Of Urban Riots And The Kerner Report, Taylor Anderson
The Endless Long Hot Summer: A Study Of Urban Riots And The Kerner Report, Taylor Anderson
Honors Theses
This thesis examines the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders’ (Kerner Commission) investigation from 1967 to 1968 of the urban violence that occurred throughout the late 1960s in the United States. The study focuses on the process by which the Kerner Commission’s research and investigation became the conclusions and recommendations found in the Final Report they produced. For purposes of analysis, three sections of the commission’s research and findings were examined—the relationships between urban violence and racism, the police and minorities, and the press and urban violence. The commission’s methodology was a combination of investigative fieldwork that included interviews and …
An Interdisciplinary Approach To Domestic Violence In The Legal System: The Importance Of Victim Advocates, Joanna Chalifoux
An Interdisciplinary Approach To Domestic Violence In The Legal System: The Importance Of Victim Advocates, Joanna Chalifoux
Honors Theses
Domestic violence is an aspect of the legal system where there typically is a lack of communication among the institutions involved. Therefore, the benefit of an interdisciplinary approach to domestic violence in the legal system is assessed by emphasizing the importance of the presence of victim advocates in the courtroom. In this dissertation, the issue will be evaluated through a feminist point of view— with the belief that domestic violence is a gendered phenomenon in which the majority of the perpetrators are male and the victims are female. In order to research this, several judges, lawyers, and victim advocates who …
Les Refugies De La Mer: L'Histoire La Sociologie Le Cinema Et La Litterature Des Immigres Vietnamiens Apres La Guerre Du Vietnam(1978-1995), Kathryn Dowling
Les Refugies De La Mer: L'Histoire La Sociologie Le Cinema Et La Litterature Des Immigres Vietnamiens Apres La Guerre Du Vietnam(1978-1995), Kathryn Dowling
Honors Theses
In the years following the Vietnamese War, more than one million refugees left Vietnam. Many of these immigrants arrived in France, diversifying an already well-established Vietnamese community. These immigrants have a unique history, social identity, and cultural contributions. Yet, Vietnamese immigrants in France are an understudied group. The current research examined the history, sociology, and cultural contributions of Vietnamese immigrants in France.
A Microcosm Of The American Public Education Crisis Surrounding Race And Income, Janey Fine
A Microcosm Of The American Public Education Crisis Surrounding Race And Income, Janey Fine
Honors Theses
This thesis studies the effects that race and socio-economic status have on a student’s academic achievement in the American public education system. It compares the experiences of students from Schenectady, New York, a low-income, minority-populated small city, and neighboring Niskayuna, a predominately white, affluent community, by looking at graduation rates, school budgets and resources, teacher salaries, household income, and rates of poverty. Despite the annual budgets and student expenditures being similar amongst the two districts, the rates of poverty and racial disparities are dramatic. Therefore, this research exposes how there are countless variables outside of the school itself that impact …
The Evolution Dynamics And Trends Of The Content Of Chinese Exports From 1995-2011, Megan Kerbs
The Evolution Dynamics And Trends Of The Content Of Chinese Exports From 1995-2011, Megan Kerbs
Honors Theses
There is no question that China’s role in the international economy has grown over time, as it seems to be claiming more and more of center stage in the global arena. Back in the early 1990’s, the phenomenon of globalization enabled China to expand its reach, inserting itself into intricate production hierarchies that began to define the global marketplace. China experienced a massive export boom in 2000, and since, has evolved to become a highly sophisticated, high-tech country that now plays an integral role within not only the East Asian region, but also the rest of the world. This thesis …