American Studies Commons^™

Geopolitics In Recent U.S. Professional Military Reading Lists, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Professional military reading lists have existed for a long time in the U.S. military and in other national militaries. They are frequently updated and intended to enhance the professional knowledge of military professionals in areas ranging from cultural awareness, ethics, leadership, international relations, military history and military operations, and areas of expertise considered essential to successfully executing the operations of their military service branch. These lists are prepared by the leadership organizations of these armed services such as the Air Force Chief of Staff, U.S. Army’s Chief of Staff, Chief of Naval Operations, and Marine Corps Commandant. Such readings are …

Militure, Bingdong Duan

Masters Theses

The aim of this research is to explore how individual soldier equipment can be systematically integrated into everyday life. War, as the epitome of struggle and conflict, stimulates the fundamental human instinct for survival. To achieve this end, various methods involving a wide range of fields such as technology, culture, economy, and politics are utilized. Under the driving force of survival, explorations are conducted in various areas, with individual soldier equipment being notably prominent. Nations spend a substantial amount each year on developing individual soldier equipment, which optimizes functionality to such an extent that it has formed its unique aesthetics …

Analyzing The Relationship Between Aid Agencies And The Union Army In Civil War Arkansas From 1862 To 1865, Kimberly Green

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

This thesis examines the administration of Arkansas’s contraband camps. The Union Army originally failed Black refugees in their quest for freedom as it was unprepared for the large number of African Americans seeking protection and guidance from the army. Arkansas historians have analyzed the effect the war had on the state as a whole and the operation of the Freedmen’s Bureau, but none of these works detail the various agencies that worked with federal authorities. This thesis follows the Western Sanitary Commission and the American Missionary Association as they assisted the federal government by providing supplies and forming partnerships with …

The Ambush At Saint Marys River, Micah P. Bellamy

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

At a critical time in the American Civil War, President Lincoln was up for re-election, concerned that he might lose re-election, President Lincoln desired the Union to secure Florida. As Col. Guy Henry led an advancement from Jacksonville, Florida, across the northwest, there came word that the Confederate Army had a significant number of soldiers stationed at Lake City. Col. Henry and his men began to make their way towards Lake City, but on February 10, 1964, they were caught in an ambush as they attempted to cross the St. Marys River. This paper seeks to provide an examination of …

The Fight For Equality: African American Seabees During World War Ii, Victoria Castillo

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

This thesis outlines the Navy’s movement towards black inclusion from the beginning of World War I to the end of World War II through the lens of African American Seabees as well as the two integrated Seabee Battalions, 34^th and 80^th. While examining African American Seabees during World War II, one can see the injustices they were facing in the Navy. Seabees are one of the forgotten branches during World War II, but while examining the history of African Americans serving in the U.S. Navy and the Seabees, we start to understand how they were able to …

From Fashion, To Violence, To A Forgotten Era: The Zoot Suit And Mexican-American Youth Culture In 1940’S America, Adelaide Iris Ord Treadwell

Senior Projects Spring 2023

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College

Jesse James' Hideout Or Civil War Midden?, Steven Meyer, Tim Evers, Ben Ebert

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Whether the infamous outlaw Jesse James (1847-1882) ever lived in Iron County Missouri during his post-Civil War crime spree is a highly debated issue shrouded in legend and myth. A plot of land called “The Hideout” in Southern Iron County is a prime source for these legends to be tested. Archaeologists Benjamin Ebert, Steven Meyer, and Tim Evers will attempt to answer the question “Could Jesse James have stayed at the Hideout?” Iron County is steeped in rich history dating back to the Civil War, and other historic landmarks add credence to the legends
and help push tourism and preservation …

Ms-289: John D. Rentz Civil War Diary, Danielle S. Russell

All Finding Aids

John D. Rentz’s Civil War diary chronicles the time he spent with the 96th Pennsylvania Infantry between December 26, 1863, and September 6, 1864. The diary details a wide array of information pertaining to his life with the regiment and the progress of the Civil War.

Rentz’s pension letter is very simple, merely asking for B. Penrose’s assistance with securing a renewal of his pension. The “Rebel letter” written by Margaret Jones to Joseph King is also simple, providing a few details about the rainy weather, the progress of the crops, and expressing Jones’s desire to see her brother.

The …

To The Shores Of Tripoli: A Barbary Retrospective, Kathleen J. Brett

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

The First and Second Barbary Wars were incredibly influential in shaping the diplomatic and military tactics of the early United States. These wars were fought against the Barbary states of Tripoli, Tunis, Morocco, and Algiers, located on the Mediterranean coast of North Africa. The First Barbary War lasted between the years of 1801 to 1805. The First Barbary War began due to the United States’ desire to no longer pay tribute sums to the Barbary states, along with an increase in the number American merchantmen captured and enslaved by the Barbary states. Tripoli served as the primary aggressor in the …

Emotions In Work And War: Comparisons Of Emotional-Cultures Of New Deal Ccc Enrollees And Wwii U.S. Army Enlistees, 1933-1945, Maeve Losen

Master's Theses

Though the Great Depression and Second World War were consecutive eras and overlapped in numerous aspects, scholarship often overlooks the commonalities between these periods. To demonstrate these eras’ shared qualities, this thesis examines the relationship in emotional-cultures—the cultural norms that dictated how individuals felt and demonstrated their emotions—among Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees and U.S. Army enlistees during WWII.

The broad intent of this undertaking is to place the cultural history of the Great Depression and WWII in conversation and to show the advantage of inter- and multidisciplinary work by applying anthropological and historical theories of emotion. Though the historical …

Boston Discusses The Massacre, Jean C. O'Connor

The Montana English Journal

Teachers may use this chapter from The Remarkable Cause: A Novel of James Lovell and the Crucible of the Revolution as a short story for grades 7 – 12., to explore themes of interpersonal conflict, conflict resolution, and the value of law.

The chapter “Boston Discusses the Massacre” is taken from The Remarkable Cause: A Novel of James Lovell and the Crucible of the Revolution (Knox Press, 2020), and used with permission. James Lovell, teacher at the Boston Latin School, discusses the pivotal events of March 5, 1770. As the conflicts that become the American Revolution begin a group of …

Colonial Markets, Consumers, And Trade: A Comparative Analysis Of Historic Ceramics From The Bluefields Bay Area, Westmoreland, Jamaica, Lacy Risner

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

The ceramic assemblages from a British colonial settlement in Bluefields Bay, Jamaica, provide a unique window into the market availability, exchange routes, and consumption patterns of the eighteenth century. This study compares the historic ceramics collected from two sites in Bluefields Bay to one another and to other intra-island (Jamaica), intraregional (Lesser Antilles), and international (North America) colonial and postcolonial sites to reveal patterns of individual and global ceramic consumption and distribution in the emergent capitalist networks and markets of the colonial era. Integrating small British colonial sites into the networks of other more extensive studies focusing primarily on plantations …

“We Had Become The Vc In Our Own Homeland:” Indigenous Veterans Of Vietnam And The 1973 Siege Of Wounded Knee, Margaret Curtin

Senior Projects Spring 2022

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

Improving Veteran Access; Status Of Operations Of The United States Department Of Veteran Affairs Work-Study Program, Kirk Allen

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The usage status of The U.S. Department Veterans Affairs Work-Study Program is examined. Beneficiary numbers from the Global, Unites States, State, and Local/County perspective are reviewed. While of essential value, the program suffers from a lack of scholarly research and government oversight, and is further hindered by restrictive administrative rules lived first-hand. Research suggests that the program is operating outside of accountability to the taxpayer, presents as unnecessarily/overly-restrictive in accessibility, and is underutilized. The program appears to not be serving all veterans to full potential.

The Work-Study Program is codified in Veterans Benefits', Title 38 United States Code, Part III, …

Heroes At Home: Honoring Our Nation's Veterans, Kayla Vasilko

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

There are currently 17.42 million veterans living in America today. These heroes dedicated their services in World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam War, and the Gulf War, leaving home and giving up the comforts of stability, family, and guaranteed safety to ensure that America remains a stable and safe place for individuals and families to call home, yet upon returning home themselves, our nation’s veterans have had to face immense hardships. About 40,000 veterans are without shelter in the U.S. on any given night; some of the leading causes of veteran homelessness include PTSD, social isolation, unemployment, and substance …

Below-Deck: The Specialist Sailor In World War Ii, Gregory Falcon

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

U.S. Navy ships were made up of many unexpected jobs during World War II. Traditional war histories say little about sailors who rarely saw direct combat below active war decks but instead worked skilled jobs. Specialized sailors were often unseen as they worked below the waterline as, for example, electrician’s mates and boiler room firemen. These jobs were pivotal to keeping the ship running and allowed men to make use of their valuable time in the navy. This thesis argues that, although evolving naval culture led men to enter for various reasons, many entered to enhance their future career during …

Guerres, Individus, Systèmes : Problématiques De L’Écriture Martiale Dans Le Roman Américain Du Xxème Siècle, Julien Brugeron

Vernacular: New Connections in Language, Literature, & Culture

This article aims at reassessing the long 20^th century American war novel and its inherent and hitherto seldom addressed problematics. Borrowing from both French, American and English critical standpoints, it aims at clarifying the definitional, ethical, political and aesthetic aspects of war writing by putting on an equal footing classic works of the genre (Dos Passos, Mailer, Heller, Herr) and left-aside writers (La Motte, Boyd, Hasford) as well as contemporary novelists (Powers). It is critical in American literary history, and to literary history in general, to seize what is at stake in war writing, as this particular kind of …

The Infinite Crisis: How The American Comic Book Has Been Shaped By War, Winston Andrus

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

This thesis project argues that war has been the greatest catalyst for the American comic book medium to become a socio-political change agent within western society. Comic books have become one of the most pervasive influences to global popular culture, with superheroes dominating nearly every popular art form. Yet, the academic world has often ignored the comic book medium as a niche market instead of integrated into the broader discussions on cultural production and conflict studies. This paper intends to bridge the gap between what has been classified as comic book studies and the greater academic world to demonstrate the …

Remembering The Experience Of War: A Sensory Study Of The Vietnam War And Collective Memory, Jacob Randolph

Master's Theses

The Vietnam War is remembered in a variety of ways. It is remembered as a war against communism, yet one that was also against American ideals of freedom. It is remembered as a war of patriotism, yet one that was also against the numerous military members who fought in it. It is remembered as a war for integration and unity among black and white, yet many African-Americans remember the time period as a war being fought abroad and at home. Memory of the war is obviously contradicting, but then again the 1960s and 1970s oftentimes were.

This thesis examines how …

Publicly Accessible National Security Information Resources: An Untapped Treasure Trove, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

This presentation demonstrates the wide variety of publicly accessible U.S. Government national security information resources. It includes information on the U.S. constitutional foundations of national security policy, a recent annual defense spending bill, documents from the White House/National Security Council, Department of Defense, various military branches including professional military educational institutions, assorted U.S. intelligence agencies, congressional legislation, congressional committee reports on legislation, congressional committee hearings, and reports from congressional support agencies such as the Congressional Budget Office. It concludes by stressing the multiple benefits provided by having public access to these information resources.

Desegregation Through Entertainment: Rodgers And Hammerstein’S South Pacific As An Instrument Of Military Policy, Leana Sottile

Voces Novae

In the aftermath of the Second World War, the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific became a staple of mainstream popular culture. However, the musical also served a specific function within the American military where its usage by the United Service Organizations and Department of Defense was widespread. This case study examines how South Pacific arguably served a way to ease the blow of desegregation on the military by other means, in this case, entertainment. This was achieved by combining the show’s progressive views on racial tolerance with the prevalent wartime nostalgia and romanticism in the piece. All of …

"The Jeep Is Here To Stay!" Projections Of America And Franco-American Relations During World War Ii, Connie L. Gentry

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

During World War II, the Office of War Information produced American and Allied propaganda that was used at home and abroad. Robert Riskin, head of the Bureau of Motion Pictures Overseas Branch, was responsible for creating Projections of America, a documentary film series made to introduce foreigners to America whilst combating negative impressions of Americans that arose in the interwar years. Films from Projections of America contained themes of American culture, ideology, industry and technology, and democracy. In France, these films were used to sway French opinion of Americans while promoting friendship and appreciation for American culture. Ultimately, the …

Japanese American Internment During The Second World War Through The Preconditioning Of Anti-Japanese Rhetoric Emphasizing Military Threat Between 1898 And 1941 And Examination Of Military Necessity, Charlie Dewitt

MSU Graduate Theses

During the Second World War, over 120,000 Japanese American citizens were held in intern- ment for much of the conflict. The United States government supported this action by claiming military necessity required removal of all West Coast Japanese Americans as a national security threat. However, this process had little to do with military necessity and was set in motion dec- ades before by the rhetoric of the anti-Japanese movement, which through numerous works out- lined Japanese Americans as a military threat. This thesis, through review of significant pub- lished documents, argues that a multitude of writers representing a wide array …

The Soviet And American Wars In Afghanistan: Applying Clausewitzian Concepts To Modern Military Failure, Artur Kalandarov

Honors Projects

This paper evaluates the validity of three concepts from Carl von Clausewitz’s On War as they relate to contemporary military conflict. Utilizing the Soviet and American Wars in Afghanistan as case studies, the paper also offers a model for comparative conflict analysis by expanding upon Clausewitz’s culminating point concept. It argues that – despite limitations to Clausewitz’s theory of war – his concepts of culminating points in military operations, mass and concentration, and changing war aims provide useful insights into counterinsurgency military failures. Chapter One identifies the Soviet and American culminating points. Concluding that the concept of a culminating point …

How U.S. Government Policy Documents Are Addressing The Increasing National Security Implications Of Artificial Intelligence, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

Artificial intelligence is affecting many areas of our lives and governmental policy. National security is one arena in which artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly important and controversial role. U.S. Government and military agencies are producing a steadily expanding corpus of publicly available literature on this topic. This literature documents how these agencies have this topic's national security implications historically and currently while also addressing potentially emerging national security issues where artificial intelligence will intersect with national security. This presentation demonstrates examples of the growing variety of publicly available national security artificial intelligence literature while also addressing the implications of …

Two Poems: Stop Time Before; Forsaken Ones, Ánh-Hoa Thị Nguyễn

Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement

This creative work features two poems: Stop Time Before; Forsaken Ones

Interview Of Alice L. Hoersch, Ph.D., Alice L. Hoersch Ph.D., Selena Bemak

All Oral Histories

Alice Lynn Hoersch was born in 1950 in Abington, PA to Albert and Alice Hoersch. She moved to Honey Brook, located in Chester County, PA at two-years-old. Hoersch lived in Honey Brook until she finished graduate school in 1977. She attended Honey Brook Elementary School. She graduated as valedictorian from Twin Valley High School in 1968. Hoersch studied geology at Bryn Mawr College, graduating in 1972. She received both her master’s and Ph.D. in metamorphic petrology from Johns Hopkins University in 1974 and 1977, respectively. The same year she obtained her Ph.D., Hoersch began teaching as an assistant professor of …

Show Her It's A Man's World: How The Femme Fatale Became A Vehicle For Propaganda, Leann Bishop

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

During World War II women joined the workforce in droves due to propaganda such as Rosie the Riveter. When Soldiers began returning from the war they wanted stability and normalcy. They wanted to return to the America they left where women ran the household and men went to work. Women, however, experienced a new sense of freedom from working and wanted to continue their liberation. It was during this time that femme fatales, the sultry women of film noir became popular. They represented the liberated women of the 1940s. The film industry saw an opportunity to use these women found …

Ike’S Constitutional Venturing: The Institutionalization Of The Cia, Covert Action, And American Interventionism, Jacob A. Bruggeman

Grand Valley Journal of History

U.S. covert action from the 1950s onward was shaped, in part, by the success a CIA-orchestrated coup d'état in which the United States deposed the popular Iranian nationalist Mohammed Mossadegh. Ordered by president Eisenhower, the coup in Iran set the precedent for utilizing covert action as a means of achieving State goals. In so doing, President Eisenhower overturned the precedent set by his immediate predecessor, President Truman: that is, the precedent of using the CIA in its intended function, gathering and evaluating intelligence. The coup, then, is an exemplary case of venture constitutionalism. Eisenhower, in ordering the coup, extended his …

Mackinder And The Arctic's Emerging Geopolitics: Recommendations For The U.S. And Its Nato Allies, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

This presentation shows how Halford Mackinder (1861-1947) described Canada and the Arctic region in his geopolitical writings. It goes on to stress how the Arctic is becoming increasingly important in international geopolitical policymaking due to its significant oil and natural gas resources, how warming temperatures are increasing international access to its waters, and the how countries as diverse as Canada, China, Russia, and the U.S. see the Arctic region in their strategic policymaking. It concludes by stressing that the Arctic can no longer be viewed as a region immune from international conflict and presents recommendations for the U.S. and its …