Arts and Humanities Commons^™

A Collaborative Work: The Role Of University Students And Dissidents In Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution, Milena Rogers

Young Historians Conference

The 1989 Velvet Revolution is fairly unknown against the tumultuous historical backdrop of the Communist controlled Eastern Bloc in the second half of the twentieth century. However, it is arguably one of the most important events in the history of Czechoslovakia and remains as a powerful testament of the power of the people. This paper explores the collaboration of university students and established intellectuals in the forty years that Czechoslovakia was controlled by the Soviets, and examines how a bloodless uprising removed one of the world’s greatest entities in a peaceful transfer of power.

Marcus Garvey: A Legacy Obscured By Infamy, Gabriel A. Abdellatif

Young Historians Conference

Marcus Garvey was a 20th century Jamaican civil rights leader. Garvey is noted for founding the Universal Negro Improvement Association in an effort to promote black pride as well as establish black economic independence through the creation of negro owned businesses. Despite the contributions he made to civil rights efforts, much of Garvey’s career was shrouded in controversy. Drawing on primary sources including letters written by Garvey and articles written by the foremost thinkers of the NAACP, this papers examines the numerous professional scandals in Garvey’s life, specifically his ties to white supremacy, poor relationships with other civil rights leaders, …

The Interconnection Between Law And Christianity In Medieval England, Maria Isabel Caplazi

Young Historians Conference

In England, the influence of Christian morals and beliefs grew rapidly during the medieval era. Religious beliefs were evident in literature, laws, as well as social hierarchy. The extent of religious influence on medieval English law is undeniable, however historians have yet to attain a full understanding of religious reach because of institutionalized relativism -- the concept that varying environments affect how social regulations are established in their area. This paper discusses two of the most prominent ways Christianity influenced medieval English law -- through direct influence on laws themselves as well as religious impact on the individual administrators of …

The Communist Manifesto: A Case Study In The Class Politics Of Industrialization, Benjamin B. Goldberg

Young Historians Conference

Karl Marx is among the few historical figures whose influence was not fully apparent until after his death. When he penned his best-known work, The Communist Manifesto, “communism” was little more than a vague boogeyman employed by the political establishment of Europe to discredit movements among industrial laborers, but after he had long since passed, the students of his works, in the midst of World War I, seized power from the Tsar of Russia. Why the revolution occurred but the expected workers’ paradise failed to follow has been the subject of much debate. Opinions range from the White Russian …

Rasputin And The Fragmentation Of Imperial Russia, Jessie Radcliffe

Young Historians Conference

In 1917 the Romanov Dynasty ended as did Imperial Russia. Faced with years of political, social and economic instability tracing back to the Revolution of 1905, it was only a matter of time before everything fell apart. This paper analyzes the role in which Gregory Rasputin played in further polarizing the many facets of Russian society and priming the country for the Revolution of 1917.

Using “Evil” To Combat “Evil”: The Regulation Of Prostitution In Renaissance Florence, Lilah F. Abrams

Young Historians Conference

In accordance with the general opinions towards women at the time, the establishment of the Office of Decency (known as the Onestá) in Florence, Italy during the Renaissance served to dehumanize the women participating in the profession. While many argue that the Florentine Onestá was established to preserve the city’s image, the ultimate intention of the ordinances was to use women as tools to regulate male behavior. Drawing on the remaining ordinances established by the Onestá as primary source material, this paper identifies the utilization of prostitutes to restrict the defiling of “virtuous” women by men through regulations on attire …

Mo'ikeha's Voyage From Tahiti To Hawaii: A Look Into Polynesian Culture, Kalea Tetsuka

Young Historians Conference

The purpose of this paper was to explore the historiography and significance of Mo’ikeha’s voyage from Tahiti to Hawaii. Traced back to around the 13th century, Mo’ikeha sailed from Tahiti to Hawaii using traditional navigational skills mastered by Polynesian voyagers. For years this was merely dismissed as a myth by European scholars, but in 1976 the Hokule’a recreated this trip using the same navigational techniques and traditional boat. Today, Mo’ikeha’s story will continue to live on, inspiring movies like Moana and proving the historical and cultural value of Hawaiian oral history.

Clickbait Science: A Review Of Rhetorical Patterns Within The Royal Society, Bryan T. Le

Young Historians Conference

King Charles II of England gave birth to the Royal Society and the right for it to publish without interference in the seventeenth century. Out of this society came forth Philosophical Transactions, the first ever science journal. The journal, however, was not strictly bound to science. Articles within the journal exhibit a variety of unusual bits of information ranging from making water colors to constructing a bee-house. This paper shows that the Royal Society included articles that weren’t science but human interest to gather a following for themselves.

Tainted Benevolence: Sources Of Funding For The Liverpool School Of Tropical Medicine From 1898-1915, Lucy Cummins

Young Historians Conference

The final two decades of the nineteenth century saw a race among European powers to secure vast tracts of land in Africa for colonization and exploitation. However, the empires of the West soon found that effective occupation of this new continent would not end with a physical takeover. In order to benefit politically and financially from their new territories, colonial governments would have to confront a series of unforeseen challenges, one of the largest of which was the prevalence of so-called "tropical" diseases. Few doctors in Europe had any experience with or understanding of conditions from sleeping sickness to Guinea …

Subjective Retelling: The Influence Of External And Individual Factors On The Folktales Of The Brothers Grimm, Katherine R. Woodhouse

Young Historians Conference

Since a first edition of Children’s and Household Tales was published in 1812, the work of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm has been read, told, watched, and referenced all over the world. When the Grimms initially set out to construct the famous anthology, they intended to objectively uncover a breadth of traditional German folktales, preserving them in their purest possible forms. These stories, the brothers believed, held the essence of the nation’s declining culture and collective identity. However, the assumption that the stories of Children’s and Household Tales holistically represent the genuine German history and dialogue of oral storytelling is inaccurate. …

Progressive Era Aftermath-Analysis Of Municipal Housekeeping: Bertha K. Landes And Dorothy Mccullough Lee, Mary Potter

Young Historians Conference

Municipal housekeeping in America arose after the fall of the progressive era. The nation faced political corruption, high crime rates, and civic disarray. Elite clubwomen took it upon themselves to step forward and clean up their communities. In the Pacific Northwest, Bertha Landes and Dorothy McCullough Lee were two of the most influential municipal housekeepers. Bertha Landes was mayor of Seattle in 1926 and Dorothy Lee was mayor of Portland in 1949. Both mayors fought gender bias and prejudice while cleaning up their city’s streets and morals. From 1926 to 1949, the fundamentals behind municipal housekeeping did not change, but …

The Escalation Of Human Sterilization In The 1900s, Rebecca S. Lumbantobing

Young Historians Conference

The sterilizations of over 200,000 Americans is an often forgotten part of Western science’s not so distant past. Sterilization was proposed as a eugenic solution to combat societal issues attributed to genetics, such as criminality, pauperism, and feeblemindedness. Sterilization laws began to be implemented in several American states. However, it was not until the 1920s, that eugenics advocates E.S. Gosney and Paul Popenoe created the Human Betterment Foundation to introduce the complex conjecture of eugenics to the layman. Drawing upon the original publications by the HBF, Sterilization for Human Benefit and “Human Sterilization Today”, and contemporary reviews, this paper explores …

Paving The Pathway For Loving V. Virginia, Maia L. Insinga

Young Historians Conference

Interracial marriage laws have burdened jubilant couples throughout America’s history, making the stories of those that fought against the unjust laws a necessary topic of research. This paper discusses the history of Loving v. Virginia, a Supreme Court case that repealed all remaining interracial marriage laws on April 10, 1967, when the Court sided with the Loving couple. The credit of this event cannot be given entirely to the Lovings and their lawyers appeals to the Supreme Court, therefore this paper reviews supplementary events, court cases, research and media influences that paved the pathway to the ultimate decision of Loving …

The Influence Of Hellenism On The Literary Style Of 1 And 2 Maccabees, Dimitra S. Fellman

Young Historians Conference

The Jewish people living within Hellenistic Greece experienced great freedoms, and many assimilated into the non-Jewish societies around them. Yet, under the Seleucid King Antiochus IV in the 2nd century BCE, the Jewish people experienced oppression and persecution, which has been chronicled in the books 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees. At a glance, these books appear opposed to the blending of Hellenistic culture and society into surrounding Jewish communities, but a deeper analysis of both texts reveals that the authors depended on Hellenistic constructs to effectively tell their story. This paper explores the degree to which the authors of 1 …

The Notion Of Madness In Literature, Philosophy, And Tragedy: Evolving Conceptions Of Mental Illness In Athens, David Z. Bartolome

Young Historians Conference

It is a basic understanding of modern medicine that mental illness is a disorder of the mind. But from where did this notion originate? In Homer’s popular epics, mental afflictions such as madness and depression are described as divine punishments rather than true mental illness. By the Hellenistic Age, Greek medical journals show a rejection of this divine explanation in favor of the mind. What changed in Greece? This paper tracks the Greek's understanding and conceptualization of madness throughout history and unites disciplines of literature, politics, tragedy, and philosophy to argue that modern understanding of mental illness has its earliest …

Confucianism: How Analects Promoted Patriarchy And Influenced The Subordination Of Women In East Asia, Lauren J. Littlejohn

Young Historians Conference

Analects, compiled by Confucius’ disciples, helps historians understand the origin of Chinese philosophy and women’s role in society. Analects created a separation of gender that assigned women the domestic role and granted men the authority to handle public affairs. Furthermore, Analects influenced the work of other philosophers who published similarly patriarchal works. Additionally, the subordination of women in Analects, resulted in the practice of female-infanticide, concubinage, and ghost marriages. Analects and the application of Confucianism offers historians an opportunity to study how women in East Asia were treated in the past and helps explain why women continue to …

Biochar Derived From Cotton Fiber Feedstock: Characterization Of Material And Potential For Adsorptive Capacity, Lucas Marshall, William Wei, Megan Fuller

CSHLA Scholar Day

Introduction

Anthropogenic contaminants in surface waters have increased in complexity as the use of chemicals in all sectors of society has grown [1]. Water scarcity and quality issues will require robust, low-cost, and sustainable solutions.

Biochars are particularly compelling as adsorptive solids because they repurpose wastes [2, 3] from other industries and are often carbon neutral, if not carbon negative. Cotton is the most common cellulosic fiber on the global fiber market, and as such, a significant contributor to municipal waste streams [4]. This research investigates the use of undyed, unbleached, 100% cotton muslin fabric as the fuel for making …

The First Crusade: The Forgotten Realities, Jonathan Chang

Young Historians Conference

In the Middle Ages, Europe saw a great amassing of thousands of lords, knights, and ordinary people for an extraordinary expedition into the Holy Land. This event was called the First Crusade. The First Crusade was one of the more successful crusades, however, this fact is overshadowed by the negatives of the crusades. My paper explores the reasons for how the crusaders were able to be victorious in the First Crusade.

Cultural Bias In The European Translations Of Thomas More's Utopia, Alisa M. Folen

Young Historians Conference

Throughout history, the translators of Thomas More’s Utopia have altered the text to align with their religious, political, or national beliefs. This paper explores how cultural bias influenced the translations and paratexts of Utopia using examples from England, Germany, and Poland from the seventeenth century to the twentieth century. It examines the similarities and differences between the original text and the translated text by considering the social, political, and economic context of both. This paper demonstrates how Utopia is a powerful unit of analysis to study European cultures during the modern age.

An Examination Of Franz Edmund Creffield And The Holy Rollers, 1900-1907, Sophie Koh

Young Historians Conference

This paper outlines the story of a religious cult from Corvallis referred to as the “Holy Rollers” and led by Franz Edmund Creffield. I researched the causes for his followers’ behavior from 1900 to 1907, relating the investigation to the press, people, and social roles surrounding the sect. Because his following was dominantly female, hysteria was the popular argument during the early twentieth century. To explore these claims, I researched the possibility of insanity in these women and why they may have agreed to all of Creffield’s ridiculous demands, as well as why the public responded the way they did.

Sappho's Queer Female History, Tess M. Waxman

Young Historians Conference

Sappho was a queer woman in ancient Greece. Scholars have researched her sexuality, promiscuity, and sexual orientation, often instead of analyzing her works. Sappho’s poetry provides historians a rare view into the lives of queer women in ancient Greece, shaping the largely untold female LGBTQ history. She introduces a unique viewpoint; she brings complex ideas, such as the justice of Aphrodite, active versus passive lover roles, and erotic culture. Sappho’s distinctly queer poetry is important to explore in an attempt to better understand the past of more people.

Breaking The Mold: Joan Of Arc's Unyielding Individuality, Sierra Ha

Young Historians Conference

During the Hundred Years’ War, Joan of Arc became known for her unusual dress, piety, and leadership. While these aspects of Joan’s personality have been studied independently by historians, through a comprehensive study of these characteristics, it becomes clear that Joan stood out from her peers because of the strict obstinacy with which she maintained her unique lifestyle. Her mannerisms caught the attention of her English rivals and even the French, whom she fought to protect. Because of the individualistic ways in which she dressed, exercised her faith, and guided others that broke social expectations and the unyielding persistence with …

Lesbians In The Middle Ages: Bietris De Romans, Maggie A. Benware

Young Historians Conference

Sexuality, particularly homosexuality, in the Middle Ages was heavily enshrouded by a culture saturated in religious values. Coupled with a lack of voice of women in this time, it is no wonder that evidence of lesbians is sparse. In lieu of this, historian Judith M. Bennett has offered the classification of a “lesbian-like” woman. This paper not only supports her assertion, but also offers the example of author Bietris de Romans as a “lesbian-like” woman.

27th Annual Young Historians Conference, Portland State University History Department, Portland State University Challenge Program

Young Historians Conference

This is the 27th Young Historians Conference schedule and abstracts.

Leading The Field Of Music Through Three Premieres At Sfa, Brad Meyer

Symposium on Arts and Research

In the fall of 2016, I gave premiere performances of three new works for solo percussionist with electronics: Pulsar, The Taos Hum, and Ojibwe Song. I was the consortium director for Ojibwe Song, and I was a consortium member for Pulsar and The Taos Hum. Each piece utilized electronic audio components that accompanied solo percussion instruments: Ojibwe Song was written for vibraphone, Pulsar was written for concert snare drum, and The Taos Hum was written for timpani. Being on the leading edge of the field of percussion helps SFA's music department and myself stay on the forefront of what is …

Stem, Steam, And German Language Acquisition: Modified Project-Based Learning In A German Conversation Course, Louise Stoehr

Symposium on Arts and Research

This project describes an investigation into the efficacy of employing a modified project-based learning model to enhance the presentation and conversation skills of students in German 235: Intermediate German Conversation. Unlike usual language conversation courses that rely on expensive textbooks and focus on reading selections followed by discussion questions, GER 235 sought to engage students in a journey of discovery as they explored topics typically more at home in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics courses (STEM) and that were supplemented by the arts: STEAM. The impetus for this course developed out of a teaching unit that I created on the …

Classical Forms In Modern Popular Music, Emily Williams

Undergraduate Research Conference

Popular music can be used as background knowledge by music educators in order to educate students on elements of classical music, such as form and compositional devices.

An In-Depth Look At The Original Production Of Ordo Virtutum By Hildegard Of Bingen, Marie Phillips

Undergraduate Research Conference

Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) was a German abbess in medieval times. She has been a saint of the Catholic church only since 2012, but she was a genius of her time. A woman of many talents, she was a composer, a theologian, an early scientist, writer, and so on. In her lifetime, she only wrote one play, Ordo Virtutum (or The Order of the Virtues), which was performed in 1152. This project sought to seek as much information as possible on why she created this play and its place in the history of theatre.

From The Cabildo To The Creole Cottage: Historic Architecture In The French Quarter Of New Orleans, Justin C. Oakley, Perky Beisel

Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

Abstract-Glaze Testing: Methods And Results, Hannah Perry

Undergraduate Research Conference

Floating blue is a glaze that appears to have a blue layer floating over an earthy undertone, giving it the illusion of depth. The base of the glaze floating blue was taken aside while its original colorants (rutile, red iron oxide, and cobalt carbonate) were added in different increments with other ones to get different hues. The main goal was to produce a green version of floating blue, that is, a glaze that has the same textural and visual effect as floating blue that instead has a green hue. This was tested by replacing cobalt carbonate with copper carbonate, while …