Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Defying Conscription: The Social, Political, And Military Consequences Of Draft Evasion In The Union And Confederacy, Orlando R. Pagan

GLI MA in American History Student Works

This research paper examines draft evasion during the American Civil War as a reflection of deep social, economic, and political divides within the Union and Confederacy. It argues that draft resistance stemmed not from individual cowardice but structural inequalities and resentment among the poor and working class. Wealthy citizens could evade service through legal mechanisms like commutation fees, fueling the perception of the war as a “rich man’s war but a poor man’s fight.”

Drawing on primary and secondary sources from scholars like David Williams and Stephanie McCurry, the paper analyzes events such as the New York City Draft Riots …

Connecticut And The Civil War, Donald Patrick Scanlon

GLI MA in American History Student Works

Despite being one of the smallest states in the Union, Connecticut played a vital political, economic and military role in the outcome of The Civil War. When the Civil War is studied and the contributions of states are considered, the focus tends to be on the number of soldiers each state procured for the Union. While the number of combatants is critical to the outcome of war, there are additional issues to factor in, as war is not simply won by the side with the biggest army. Connecticut’s political, economic and military support were equal to that of other Union …

We Are The War: The Evolution Of Black Military Service In The Department Of The South, Richard P. Condon

GLI MA in American History Student Works

During the waning months of 1861 a joint operation between the United States Army and Navy forced wealthy white planters and Confederate troops from the Sea Islands of South Carolina. The Battle of Port Royal Sound, better known as the day of the “Big Gun Shoot” by the local enslaved population, marked the beginning of a new era; the transition from a slave society to a free one. Within months the liberating army expanded their footprint in the Deep South, moving inland toward the port cities of Charleston and Savannah. Limited access to additional troops, however, necessitated the recruitment of …

The Death Of General John Reynolds And The Crisis Of Union Command, July 1, 1863, Reid E. Kirby

GLI MA in American History Student Works

This paper evaluates the extent to which the death of Union Major General John Reynolds on the morning of the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg influenced subsequent events throughout that day. It explores several key questions, including how Reynolds' death affected the chain of command within the Army of the Potomac, how it impacted the course of the battle on that first day, and how the Union I and XI Corps were reorganized due to the sudden loss of such a high-ranking officer. Additionally, this paper highlights the experiences of the soldiers formerly under Reynolds' command during this …

Bargains From Baltimore: Presidential Politics And The National Union Convention, Harold S. Post

GLI MA in American History Student Works

This paper examines the complex political dynamics leading to the National Union Convention of 1864 and the pivotal decisions surrounding Abraham Lincoln's renomination for president and Andrew Johnson's unexpected vice-presidential nomination. It explores how the internal fractures within the Republican Party, including tensions with Radical Republicans and War Democrats, shaped the convention's outcomes. By analyzing the interplay of political pragmatism, regional allegiances, and the wartime context, this study reevaluates the historiographical debate on Lincoln's role in Johnson's nomination. Drawing from primary and secondary sources, it challenges the notion of Johnson's selection as merely a "nomination of circumstance," instead framing it …

Murfreesboro, Tennessee, 1860-1862 The Effects Of Military Occupation On Unionist And Secessionist Convictions, Riley P. Bogema

GLI MA in American History Student Works

Local histories of Civil War occupation provide a human face to the larger history of the American Civil War. The interactions between citizens and outside occupiers furnishes greater clarity and revelations on the human cost of conflict. It also presents greater evidence, either supportive or not, on broader arguments expressed in scholarly works on the Civil War. This work examines how prior attitudes towards the Unionism and secessionism were provoked during the process of military occupation. It argues that in the town of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, the citizens’ allegiances and relationships were challenged by the occupation of both Union and Confederate …

The Overlooked Civil Rights Movement In South Carolina, Brooks R. Hammett

GLI MA in American History Student Works

This paper examines the overlooked but critical role of South Carolina in the Civil Rights Movement, highlighting the contributions of student-led activism, landmark legal cases, and influential grassroots leaders. Focusing on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) like Claflin University, Allen University, Benedict College, South Carolina State University, and the Avery Institute, the study explores how students catalyzed local movements through sit-ins, marches, and organized protests. It also investigates the legal and social ramifications of desegregation efforts following Brown v. Board of Education, including the resistance from public institutions and the emergence of segregation academies. Key civil rights events—such as …

Connecting Cultures Through Nature Exploring Cross-Cultural Environmental Education And Global Citizenship At Hanoi Edufarm, Shreeya Patel

Vietnam: Culture, Social Change, and Development

This paper explores the role of cross-cultural, nature-based education in fostering intercultural understanding and environmental awareness among children through my internship completed at Hanoi EduFarm, a farm school located in the countryside of Hanoi, Vietnam. While initially intended to focus on sustainable and regenerative agriculture, the internship evolved into a teaching role, where I designed and led lessons in English centered on environmental topics, geography, and intercultural exchange.

Drawing from in-class participant observations, reflective journaling, and informal discussions with staff and faculty over 120 hours of the internship period for SIT Vietnam, this paper examines how shared experiences with nature …

Tartans: Weaving A Warped History With Myths, Heritage And A Whole Lot Of Heather., Bethany Sassen

LSU Master's Theses

Scotland has many tartans throughout the whole of the country. Each has a different meaning and is used for different clans and purposes. Tartans are the plaids that are seen throughout the Highlands and the patterns and colors have a wide range depending on where and when the tartan was created. The purpose of this research is to investigate the history of the tartans and how they interact with our current culture. I also built two outfits to show how tartan is still being used. One a more traditional outfit and the other more avant garde. Tartans have a long …

David B. Smith Chats With Monday 1.0, David B. Smith

Publications and Research

This document is an edited archival transcript of extended conversations between David B. Smith and an AI persona (“Monday 1.0,” GPT‑4o based) conducted in Spring 2025, prepared as a foundational primary source for subsequent scholarly and creative work. It records the emergence and testing of concepts related to human–AI collaboration (including “Balanced Blended Space”), as well as applied explorations in areas such as generative AI, quantum computing and music, virtual orchestras, multimodal performance, pedagogy, and the rhetoric of “pushback” in conversational systems. It also contains an extended section in which Monday and DB Smith co-curate a set of student research …

Noteworthy Expanded: Creating Spaciousness In Higher Education, Meredith Harrigan, Patrick Montanaro

Noteworthy

Noteworthy Expanded: Creating Spaciousness in Higher Education builds on the story of Noteworthy, adding in education-related reflections, inquiries, discoveries, and the new practices they inspired. It builds on Merry's story to explore the intertwined personal and professional journey the author traversed. Alongside the story is a notebook that presents a combination of jottings, drawings, and reflections, and tangible examples of changes and expansion in the undergraduate classroom throughout this journey.

Transcrite Par L'Auteur: Analyzing And Performing The Piano-Vocal Scores Of Maurice Ravel's Operas, Jordan Knapp

Theses and Dissertations

The two operas of Maurice Ravel, L’heure espagnole and L’enfant et les sortilèges, are, like most of the composer’s works, known for their innovative orchestrations and instrumental flourishes. However, the piano-vocal scores of the operas have their own unique qualities worthy of study. With the piano writing at times fiendishly difficult—standing toe-to-toe with Ravel’s solo piano music—the score demands simplification, particularly for less experienced performers serving as accompanist or rehearsal pianist for these works. Many sections of the music are impractical or even impossible for a single pianist to perform, but this study offers alternate solutions and simplifications for pianists …

Inge Viermetz, Woman Acquitted At Nuremberg, Diane Marie Amann

Scholarly Works

Conventional narratives tend to represent the post-World War II international criminal proceedings as a men’s project, thus obscuring the many women who participated, as lawyers, journalists, analysts, interpreters, witnesses, and defendants. Indeed, two women stood trial before Nuremberg Military Tribunals. This article examines the case of the only woman found not-guilty: Inge Viermetz, who had been an administrator at Lebensborn, the Nazi SS adoption and placement agency. The article outlines the prosecution’s child-taking case against Viermetz, as well as her successful gendered self-portrayal as a conventionally feminine caregiver. With references to Professor Megan A. Fairlie, at whose memorial symposium it …

Being Muslim In European Football: Defining Spaces Of Muslimness, Leif Stenberg, Ridha Sheikh, Esen Kaya

Abdou Filali-Ansary Occasional Paper Series

This paper explores the intersection of football and Islam, looking especially at European contexts, and with particular focus on the experiences of Muslim footballers in the UK. By examining the stories of UK Premier League player Cheikhou Kouyaté and amateur footballer Yasmin Abdullahi in London, the paper investigates how these individuals navigate their Muslim identities in the context of their sporting careers. The paper reflects on the broader cultural and societal implications of Muslimness in football, considering how both Muslims and non-Muslims contribute to defining Islamic spaces within the sport. The research also touches on the evolving perceptions of Islam …

Noteworthy, Meredith Harrigan, Patrick Montanaro

Noteworthy

Noteworthy recounts Merry's journey to understand her grief in losing her smile. She explores her community park and discovers solace and inspiration in sights and sounds along the way.

Through a unique blend of critical autoethnography, parable, collage, and visual art, this book captures the intricacy, complexity, and fluidity of navigating a difficult experience, and engages readers in exploring how human and natural elements in combination with the arts, sciences, and humanities might pave a path to self-acceptance during times of difficult change.

Can Advanced Chatbots Help Us Navigate Educational Advocacy? Understanding The Potential Of Large Language Models As Assistants And Guides Within An Iep (Individualized Education Program) Meeting Context, Nava Bahrampour

IPHS 300: AI for Humanity

Hundreds of thousands of parents and students in New York City’s school district alone (Fancsali and Farley 2018) go through the Individualized Education Program (IEP) process every year, attending meetings and evaluations in order to determine adequate services and students with disabilities’ educational trajectories. However, most parents, especially those new to public education policy, report difficulty navigating the system or acquiring the resources necessary to successfully advocate for their children at IEP meetings (Advocates for Children 2025, Kurth et al. 2020). The rise of generative artificial intelligence and increased linguistic capabilities of interactional chatbots provokes questions about such technologies’ ability …

Following The Crowd? A Topic Modeling Analysis Of Twitter Discourse And Supreme Court Decisions, Jessica Daughterty

IPHS 300: AI for Humanity

This project uses topic modeling to compare the top topics from Twitter posts with the text of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson ruling, which overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. I analyzed whether the Court’s reasoning reflected public concerns or was disconnected. While some analysis of the Twitter data exists on the Kaggle dataset I used, I conducted this research independently of those results. By putting the Court’s language and public sentiment side by side, this project explores whether institutions are responding to what people care about.

Exploring The Potential Of Ai For Swim Technique Evaluation And Athlete-Centered Coaching, Gwen Eisenbeis

IPHS 300: AI for Humanity

This project explores the use of AI-powered video analysis to simulate elite-level coaching in butterfly stroke technique. Using Google’s Gemini 2.5, the goal of the project is to determinewhether a large multimodel, trained on technique videos of elite swimmers, can generate detailed and personalized feedback that mirrors the insight of a well-informed human swim coach. Training videos featuring Olympic-level butterfly swimmers were used to establish an internal reference model of an ideal butterfly technique. The model was then presented with videos of collegiate swimmers and prompted to deliver coaching-style feedback. Overall, this project demonstrates the potential for AI systems to …

Ai Proof Benchmarking: Evaluating Mathematical Reasoning In Open-Source Llms Via Taylor Series Analysis, Godwin Idowu

IPHS 300: AI for Humanity

This research project investigates large language models’ (LLMs) abilities to develop conceptually and mathematically correct proofs by using a benchmark based on the Taylor Series representation. The task examines LLM models for their capacity to adhere to definitions, theorems, and calculus. A range of models of varying sizes was tested, including Qwen, Gemma and LLaMA. Models under 2B parameters demonstrate poor understanding of Taylor and geometric series and apply wrong theorems while lacking logical reasoning about convergence. Models with at least 27B parameters typically generate proofs that are both coherent and almost complete. The research identifies existing constraints in symbolic …

Authenticity Under Review: How Well Does Genai Write College Admissions Essays?, Adrian Mangine

IPHS 300: AI for Humanity

With nearly 30% of people ages 14-22 reporting frequent AI use, increasing AI assistance in college admissions essays poses a new consideration with ethical AI use (Rubin et al., 2024). This study investigates how well three generative AI models write college admissions essays: ChatGPT o3, Gemini 2.5 Pro, and Grok. Each model responded to a Common App 2025-2026 application prompt as three distinct applicants: Elijah, Grace, and Malik (Common App, 2025). Each student represented a common college applicant archetype: Elijah, an academically successful dual sports recruit; Grace, a near-perfect award-winning scholar; and Malik, a gifted student from an underrepresented background. …

Mapping Trends In Gender-Inclusive Legal Language Between Circuit Courts In The United States, Juliette M. Rhinow

Student Publications

This study examines the use of gender-inclusive legal language in federal circuit court opinions in the United States between 2020 and 2024, with a focus on how judicial political ideology influences linguistic behaviors. Drawing on postmodern feminist theory and utilizing content analysis, the research compares six federal circuit courts by coding 46 court opinions for inclusive and exclusive linguistic practices related to transgender and non-binary individuals. Inclusive practices included the use of self-identified names and pronouns, affirming decisions, and acknowledgment of transgender identities, while exclusive practices involved misgendering, outdated terminology, and restrictive rulings. Results show that progressive circuits demonstrated significantly …

El Penacho De Moctezuma Or Kopilli Ketzalli?: A Study Of Colonialism & Featherwork, Natalie Heiland

Student Publications

This paper focuses on an object with many titles: Moctezuma’s Headdress, El Penacho or Kopilli Ketzalli. These names, in English, Spanish and Nahuatl, perfectly highlight the way colonialism has affected the discourse around it. The piece was initially taken during the Spanish conquest of Mexico in the early 16th century and shipped to Vienna, where it has remained ever since. Through analysis of historical sources and modern discussions, I will address how this object has been treated poorly throughout history, from the initial seizure, to its time in storage where it was improperly researched and labeled, the many conservations it …

Cash Or Credit: A Collection Of Short Essays About Economic Philosophy And The Trajectory Of Political Economy, Jackson C. Dusart

Student Publications

From John Locke to Herbert Marcuse, discussions about economics and societies have dominated the philosophical battleground. While Adam Smith waged a war against mercantilism, men like Karl Marx and John Stuart Mill, two ideological enemies, were both writing to address the same problems they saw in society. Each one of these men has contributed to a different part of the discussion. In understanding their differences, and their common ground, these essays examine a hypothetical four-hundred-dollar jacket, stolen from the author at Gettysburg College. Each one of these philosophers, each writing at different times and in different circumstances, will attempt to …

Incarcerated Adolescence: Historical Archaeology And Finding Teenagers In The Japanese American Concentration Camp, Jack Kendall

Student Publications

Through looking at the teenagers of the Granada Relocation Center, commonly called Amache, this research posits a unique framework to understanding and searching for teenagers in the past. This uses a combination of historical sources and oral histories in order to outline what materials to search for. This research also uses an emotional approach, titled an "archaeology of the heart" to understand and work alongside descendants to properly understand the nuance of the forced relocation of 110,000 Japanese Americans through World War II. By combining these different elements, this research shows the ways that teenagers were constructing and reconstructing a …

Skeletons In The Courtyard: Why The Maya Came Back For Their Dead, Kayla R. Tursack

Student Publications

This paper explores Maya secondary burials with a particular focus of the exhumed burial of SubOp Ax at Courtyard B-1, Chan Chich, Belize. Drawing on an array of archaeological sources, it examines a series of case studies throughout the Maya region and beyond of secondary burials, symbolic mortuary practices, and instances of ancestor veneration. The partial exhumation of SubOp Ax, with the crypt only containing a leg bone, is interpreted as a deliberate act of ancestral remembrance during the Terminal Classic collapse. This is done through a comparative analysis of case studies from Caracol, Naachtun, K’axob, Tikal, and Mitla. Understanding …

Reporting On The Dark Continent: The Albert Chance Collection As An American Representation Of Africa, Devon Szczepkowicz

Student Publications

For Americans in the throes of World War II, the international world was a complex and uncertain place. The news media, which offered reports from the war fronts, helped to ground Americans in this world. Another source which supplemented these reports, and which has been overlooked in the historiography, was the letters of soldiers stationed abroad. In writing on their surroundings, soldiers acted as journalists, supplying their audiences with intimate insights into foreign locations. Albert Chance (1903-1990), stationed in North Africa and in Italy, was one such soldier. His letters from North Africa provide a glimpse into the ways in …

Turnitin To Improve Your Written English, Valerie Hascoet

Case studies: Digital Education

Irish Cultural Studies is a 5 credits module offered by Language Studies to all Erasmus and exchange students in TU Dublin. One assessment consists of a portfolio of reviews that students write about places they have visited and about activities that they have elected to do during their stay in Ireland. This work includes background research and short readings of their choice. Most students are not native speakers of English, but not all want to follow a traditional English class. Irish Cultural Studies allows them to practise their English skills without specific language-focused evaluation.

Unveiling Narrative In Liszt’S Dante Sonata Through Topical Analysis, Jasmine Olivia Harry

Theses and Dissertations

Narrative theory and its application in music have increasingly captured the interest of musicologists. Despite this growing attention, the analytical model remains relatively new compared to more established methods. Continued exploration and application are necessary to demonstrate its value alongside traditional theoretical frameworks. This dissertation employs narrative theory to examine the ironic comedy archetype in Franz Liszt’s Dante sonata, utilizing a bottom-up approach to construct a detailed musical narrative across three analytical tiers. Chapter two, representing the primary level, analyzes the sonata-fantasy macro-structure, uncovering key themes and the dynamic interplay between contrasting dichotomies. Chapter three, the secondary level, investigates semiotics, …

Contemporary Voices Of China: Biographical Introduction Of Four Contemporary Chinese Composers And Their Chinese Language Art Songs, Xintian Xu

Theses and Dissertations

This document primarily explores the rich developmental journey of Chinese modern art songs from the early 20th century to the present. It provides an overview of the lives, compositional activities, and contributions to Chinese art songs of four contemporary composers: Zheng Qiufeng, Wang Liping, Lu Zaiyi, and Zhao Jiping. To provide more specific resources, this study includes a table of selected works by the four composers, detailing the composer, song title, poet/lyricist, vocal range, and difficulty level. This section aims to serve as a practical reference for researchers, performing artists, and music educators interested in Chinese art songs.

Unveiling Hidden Voices: A Guide For Expanding Collegiate Coursework To Include Female Opera Composers And Their Works, Veronica Kimberly Page

Theses and Dissertations

Opera, often viewed as a prestigious and elite art form, has been predominantly shaped by male composers throughout its history. The contributions of women composers in opera have been largely overlooked, however, despite their significant impact on the genre. This dissertation explores the role of female composers in opera, from pioneers like Francesca Caccini to contemporary figures such as Missy Mazzoli, arguing for the creation of a curriculum focused on their works. Such a course would fill a critical gap in higher education, offering a more inclusive understanding of opera’s history and evolution. Through an examination of women’s compositions, historical …