History Commons^™

Digital Germany: Virtual Archives, Powerful Portals, Wise Wikis, Richard Hacken

Faculty Publications

Presented in the Winter 2006-2007 issue of the Global Resources Newsletter, the German-North American Resources Partnership issue. Online portals and digital gateways into focused subject and area studies are both boons and blessings. For German Studies but even more extensively, for all disciplines relevant to the German-North American Resources Partnership this past year has seen explosive growth in the preparation, expansion, proofing, and proclamation of virtual libraries, scholarly digital projects, and multidisciplinary portals. German digital scholarship has reached a maturity that calls for the types of systematic registry and centralized access that are vital to researchers from Aachen to Zzyzx.

From Pork To Kapores: Transformations In Religious Practice Among The Jews Of Late Imperial Kiev, Natan Meir

Judaic Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Until recently, studies of Jewish religious practices in Imperial Russia have focused on major movements such as Hasidism and mitnagdism as well as the challenges that Haskalah presented to traditional Judaism. Few scholars have scrutinized transformations in everyday religious practices such as the observance of Sabbath and other holidays, synagogue attendance, and liturgical practices. However, new political, social, and economic realities had generated subtle changes in religious practices even in earlier periods and it comes as no surprise, therefore, that religious practices among Jews during the tsarist period, especially in Kiev, were neither monolithic nor static. This article provides a …

Review: Alix Cooper, Inventing The Indigenous: Local Knowledge And Natural History In Early Modern Europe (Cambridge, 2007), Andre Wakefield

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

Reviewed work: Alix Cooper. Inventing the Indigenous: Local Knowledge and Natural History in Early Modern Europe. xi + 218 pp., illus., bibl., index. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007. $75 (cloth).

The Wehrmarcht: Soldiers And Germans During The Second World War, Neil Varble

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The German Army, also known as the Wehrmacht, fought a brutal war on the Eastern Front during the Second World War. These soldiers, under the command of military officials of the Nazi state, vowed to destroy Bolshevism and Jewish populations. By examining letters from soldiers to family members on the German home front as well as letters from families to the men on the front lines, a better understanding of the motivations of war is revealed. Letters of these men and family members present insight into a vast area of research in German twentieth century history. An estimated 20 to …

The Approach Of The Black Death In Switzerland And The Persecution Of Jews, 1348–1349, Albert Winkler

Faculty Publications

When the Black Death approached the Swiss states in 1348, the news of the approaching pestilence traveled faster than the Plague. This gave the Swiss time to react and try to prevent its arrival. The Swiss did not know what caused the Black Death, but they feared that the Jews were poisoning water wells in order to cause the plague. At Chillon and elsewhere, Jews were tortured for confessions, which were clearly worthless. In a climate of fear and severe prejudice, Jews were killed in numerous communities including Basel, Bern, Zurich, and Kyburg by being burned to death. Execution by …

The 1916 Easter Rising: A History Of Commemoration, Emily Litwin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Before traveling to Ireland, I watched the film Michael Collins; aside from the single paragraph of text allocated to the 1916 Easter Rising in The Course of Irish History, the film shaped my understanding of the Irish fight for independence. As the semester progressed, this basic understanding evolved into a solid grasp of Irish history and politics. As a student of history with a specific interest in historiography, I aimed to structure my Independent Research Project (ISP) around Irish history so that I could delve deeper into my preferred field. Throughout the semester my intrigue piqued as I noticed how …

Pandemic Bibliography, S. Ray Granade

Articles

A bibliography of pandemic disease compiled for a class.

"To Strengthen The Colonies": French Labor Policy, Indentured Servants, And African Slaves In The Seventeenth Century Caribbean, Robert Taber

Library Research Grants

No abstract provided.

Review Of Cambridge Companion To The Age Of Pericles, Kelly L. Wrenhaven

World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Faculty Publications

Review of Cambridge Companion to the Age of Pericles

(Review) Struggle For Empire: Kingship And Conflict Under Louis The German, 817-76, Frederick S. Paxton

History Faculty Publications

Reviews Eric J. Goldberg's, Struggle for Empire: Kingship and Conflict under Louis the German, 817–876. (Conjunctions of Religion and Power in the Medieval Past.) Ithaca, N.Y., and London: Cornell University Press, 2006. Pp. xxiii, 385; black-and-white figures, genealogical tables, and maps. $47.50.

Venturing Into The Minefield: Turkish Liberal Historiography And The Armenian Genocide, Bedross Der Matossian

Department of History: Faculty Publications

Historiography normally refers to the act of writing history, the collective writings of history and the history of such activities over time. I This chapter addresses the collective writings of history by a group of scholars of "Turkish origin," mainly deriving from a tradition ofleftist sentiments. What is particular about this group of Turkish liberal historians is that they provide an alternative historical interpretation2 of a specific historical event that is otherwise accepted by the official Turkish history (resmi tarih) as an historical travesty.1 Historical events, which are conventionally regarded as the "building bricks of history," are composed into a …

Interview Of Arthur Bangs, F.S.C., Ph.D., Arthur Bangs F.S.C., Ph.D., Caitlin Haug

All Oral Histories

This Interview was conducted in order to collect the oral history of Brother Arthur Bangs and his time spent as Brother of La Salle, which includes his time outside and within the campus of La Salle University. This interview was conducted in Brother Bangs' office in Olney Hall on the second floor at La Salle University. Brother Bangs was born in 1932 in Philadelphia, where he went to West Catholic High School. He then furthered his education by joining the Brothers of La Salle upon graduation and entered as a student at La Salle College. After graduating from La Salle, …

Interview Of Theopolis Fair, Ph.D., Theopolis Fair Ph.D., Matthew Witek

All Oral Histories

Theopolis Fair taught Latin American and global history for many years in La Salle University's History Department. In 1963, Fair received his bachelor’s degree from Fisk University, where he became a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He received his master’s degree from Columbia University in 1965 and his Ph.D. in history from Temple University in 1972. He served in the Senate of the national Phi Beta Kappa organization. [abstract to be expanded]

Interview Of Leo D. Rudnytzky, Ph.D., Leo D. Rudnytzky Ph.D., Meghan Mccormack

All Oral Histories

In this oral history, we cover Dr. Rudnytzky’s life from his early childhood in Ukraine and Eastern Europe to his formative years in the United States. He provides a detailed account of his time as an undergraduate student at La Salle University. The interview then spans his graduate studies and early years of teaching at La Salle, along with the differences between his time here, at Ivy League schools, and at foreign institutions. The subject discusses his involvement in various ethnic and religious groups and his impact on La Salle by way of symposiums, speakers, and programs, which he has …

Interview Of Thomas Donaghy, Ph.D., Thomas Donaghy Ph.D., Craig Robinson

All Oral Histories

Thomas Donaghy was born in 1928 in Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania to Henry and Ann Donaghy. His father worked for Philadelphia Electric and his mother was a homemaker. He attended Catholic schools, including West Catholic High in Philadelphia, and committed to the Christian Brothers in 1946. Having received his B.A. in History at Catholic University in 1952, he taught at St. Francis Vocational School, Pittsburgh Central Catholic, and La Salle College High School. He completed his doctoral dissertation at Pittsburgh University on the history of the Manchester Railway. Hired to teach at La Salle College in the History Department, he attained …

Early Dissent Within The Party: Alexander Shliapnikov And The Letter Of The Twenty-Two, Barbara Allen

History Faculty Work

In February 1922, twenty-two Russian Communist Party members, led by former Worker Oppositionist Alexander Shliapnikov, appealed to the Communist International (Comintern) to "heal the rift" they thought had emerged in the Russian Communist Party. They complained that party leaders had suppressed dissent among Communists of proletarian origins. They protested the suppression of participatory democracy within trade unions and the trend toward unilateral decision-making by the "party and trade union bureaucracy." Russian party leaders condemned their appeal and undertook to expel key figures from the Twenty-Two from the party at the Eleventh Party Congress in March 1922. Debates at the congress …

A Checklist Of Published Writings In French By Early Modern Nuns, Thomas M. Carr

French Language and Literature Papers

The great amount of writing by early modern nuns that was published during the Ancien Régime is underexploited because no master list of it exists. For example, at least ninety books by some sixty different nuns were published between 1600 and 1700, and many more that have been published since. The Checklist of over 300 items is an effort to fill this gap. Besides books authored by nuns, it includes many biographies that contain samples of their writings. Short occasional texts, such as death notices, lettres circulaires, and legal factums have generally been excluded, however. Unless another location is noted, …

New York State Road Networks And The Transformation Of American Federalism, Michael R. Fein Ph.D.

Humanities Department Faculty Publications & Research

Scholars have long recognized the central role American road building has played in the development of modern European highway networks. While the German autobahn and the Italian autostrade were pivotal in twentieth-century construction, Americans’ pioneering work in urban parkways and interstate highways also offered an appealing model. From the perspective of European transportation planners, Americans embraced road building with exceptional gusto. Little seemed to stand in the way of their engineers, whose actions – at least until the 1960s – appeared to perfectly mirror public desire.

Germany And Its Others (Fall 2007) (Whitman College), Robert D. Tobin

Syllabi

This course was taught by Robert Tobin at Whitman College. Professor Tobin worked at Whitman for 18 years as associate dean of the faculty and chair of the humanities, and was named Cushing Eells Professor of the Humanities.

"In this course, we will be investigating how German culture has defined itself against its others: If Germany has defined itself in opposition to the East, is it Western? If Germany has defined itself in opposition to the South, has it escaped the legacy of Rome? Or is it a developed country? How did Germany's relationship to its colonies structure its self-image? …

Review Of The Book Ancestral Trails: The Complete Guide To British Genealogy And Family History, 2nd Ed., John A. Drobnicki

Publications and Research

Review of the book Ancestral trails: The complete guide to British genealogy and family history, 2nd ed.

"Night" And Critical Thinking, Paul Eisenstein

English Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Fascism's European Empire: Italian Occupation During The Second World War, Maura E. Hametz

History Faculty Publications

Davide Rodogno offers an illuminating appraisal of Fascist Italy’s ambitions, achievements, and failures in the occupation of Mediterranean Europe from 1940 to 1943.

Racial Impersonation On The Elizabethan Stage: The Case Of Shakespeare Playing Aaron, Imtiaz Habib

English Faculty Publications

The article focuses on the implications of playwright William Shakespeare performing racial roles himself, such as Aaron in "Titus Andronicus." Several plays are discussed, including "Titus Andronicus," "The Merchant of Venice," and "Othello." The SHAXICON database, which compiles the text of Shakespeare's plays, is the primary source of evidence to suggest Shakespeare acted in his plays. Information about race relations in Great Britain's society during Shakespeare's time is also given.

Clerical Marriage And Territorial Reformation In Ernestine Saxony And The Diocese Of Merseburg In 1522-1524., Marjorie Elizabeth Plummer

History Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Madame De Staël, The Protestant Reformation And The History Of ‘Private Judgement’, Helena Rosenblatt

Publications and Research

It is a well-known fact that Madame de Staël held the Protestant Reformation in high regard and preferred Protestantism to all other religions. To her, Protestantism was the most moral and the most enlightened religion available; it was the the religion most compatible with, and even conductive to, progress.

But why was this so, and what exactly did Madame de Staël mean by Protestantism? It is an important question, because answering it will shed light on the nature of her liberalism and, more particularly, on the interconnectedness of her religious and her political views.