History Commons^™

Towards The Non-Spectacle: Responses To Necropolitics In The Artwork Of Teresa Margolles And Maya Watanabe, Leslie Anne Condon

Masters Theses

How do we engage with artwork that addresses complicated histories

of colonialism and political violence, specifically intangible and

incomprehensible violence? Mexican artist Teresa Margolles’ 2005 work, Lote

Bravo, is named after and composed of the soil from a mass grave site

discovered in 1995 in the southeastern corner of Ciudad Juárez, a city known

internationally for the femicide that has continued to haunt its streets and

peripheries since the 1990s. Peruvian filmmaker Maya Watanabe’s 2019 film

Liminal cinematically documents the official exhumation of two mass graves

in the Ayacucho and Huánuco regions of the Andes highlands, where

thousands of …

Uncovering Maria Edgeworth’S Strategic Political Influence Through Her Unpublished Letters, Autumn G. Hall

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

Maria Edgeworth (1768-1849) was one of the most prolific Anglo-Irish novelists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. While Edgeworth’s novels are regularly discussed among Regency-era scholars, researchers have rarely considered her letters and correspondence, especially in relation to her role in contemporary politics. During my time on the Maria Edgeworth Letters Project team, I researched Edgeworth’s previously unpublished letters, which provided a unique view of her strategic political correspondence network. Through her writing, Edgeworth was able to voice her thoughts while also remaining publicly complacent with restrictive societal norms imposed on women. In my article, I argue that through her …

Thought And Exemplary Islamic Nationalism Of The Early Days Of Independence Indonesia: Learning From Ki Bagus Hadikusumo, Dikdik Baehaqi Arif, Sapriya Sapriya, Dasim Budimansyah, Syaifullah Syaifullah

Jurnal Civics: Media Kajian Kewarganegaraan

Indonesian nationalism is characterised by a blend of religious and national identities that coexist and reinforce each other. This paper presents a profile of the background of Ki Bagus Hadikusumo's thoughts, life, and nationalism during the early days of Indonesian independence. Ki Bagus Hadikusumo is one of Indonesia's national heroes who can be classified as an Islamic nationalist during the formulation of the Indonesian state. This figure, active in the Muhammadiyah Islamic movement organisation, has significantly contributed to the formulation and establishment of Pancasila as the basis of the state. The life background thought, and Muhammadiyah as the organisation of …

Restitution Of Jewish Property In Northern Transylvania During The Early Postwar Years, Stefan Cristian Ionescu

History Faculty Articles and Research

The restitution of Jewish property in the multiethnic region of Northern Transylvania faced numerous challenges during the first post-Holocaust years as a result of the complicated wartime history, postwar demographics, legal status, interethnic dynamics, and occasional violence. Having the lowest rate of survival among all Jewish communities in Romania, most of the region’s Jews died during the deportation and did not return to their native places to claim their properties. This impacted the extent of restitution of individual private property. Some of the Aryanized property was restituted to the Jewish survivors or their heirs because the wartime beneficiaries fled the …

The Growing Rift Between Holocaust Scholars Over Israel/Palestine, Shira Klein

History Faculty Articles and Research

"A chasm has formed between Holocaust scholars concerning Israel/Palestine, deepening immeasurably since 7 October 2023. Unlike previous controversies in the field, the divide is not just historical or methodological; it revolves around academics’ role in the world today, particularly the public stand they choose to take on Palestine/Israel and Zionism. Two main camps have formed. Put reductively, one camp defends Israel, while the other defends Palestinians, although differences between individual scholars within each camp make for more of a spectrum than a clear-cut divide. How, despite a diversity of ideas and foci within each camp, did two academic-political antipodes solidify …

Johann Georg Hamann And The Liberal Project, Jesse D. Ansley

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines the political thought of Johann Georg Hamann, his relationship to liberalism, and the importance to modern concerns for consensus formation and intercultural dialogue. This contributes to the line of literature sparked by Isaiah Berlin debating the political legacy of Hamann and its relation to the development of modern politics. Berlin labels Hamann an anti-rationalist whose current developed into the ideology of the Nazi party. My work supports the countervailing arguments that Hamann’s work is importantly different from the Romantics he inspired and even more so from the Nazis. By examining two complete works and a number of …

The Shadow Of Exceptionalism: Morality, Pragmatism, And Covert Action In American Cold War Foreign Policy, Kyle Stacy

History Theses - Archive

The complex forces of national identity, economic ambition, and ideological justification created a dynamic and contested landscape that shaped America’s Cold War policies. A carefully curated useful past, bolstered by religious convictions, fostered a belief in American exceptionalism and moral leadership that provided both the impetus and justification for 11 America’s actions abroad. Yet, America’s stated ideals—freedom and democracy—existed in stark tension with the pursuit of its national interests, often clashing with its self-perceived moral superiority. The Cold War environment fostered a culture of secrecy within the highest levels of government. Here, transparency and accountability were readily sacrificed for strategic …

Iii.A.2 Displacement & Barriers To Home Ownership, Kim Rostan, Bria Harper, Jim Neighbors, Mark Byrnes

Crafting Democratic Futures

This document explains how systemic racism and discriminatory policies from the Civil War & Reconstruction period through the 20th century prevented African Americans in Spartanburg from building wealth through land ownership and home equity. It details barriers such as Black Codes, sharecropping, convict leasing, exclusion from New Deal programs, discriminatory housing policies, and urban renewal projects that displaced Black neighborhoods without providing equitable opportunities for economic advancement.

Iii.B.2 Educational Barriers, Kim Rostan, Bria Harper, Rylee Jorgensen

Crafting Democratic Futures

The document examines how historical segregation and systemic racism have shaped educational disparities in Spartanburg County, highlighting persistent inequities in school resources, teacher pay, and student outcomes. It concludes that these historical barriers continue to influence academic performance and post-secondary enrollment, with schools serving more diverse populations often facing lower proficiency rates despite high graduation rates.

Iii.F.2 Safety And Security, Kimberly Rostan, Bria Harper, Jim Neighbors

Crafting Democratic Futures

The document details the persistent and systemic violence against Black people in Spartanburg County from the end of the Civil War through the Civil Rights era, highlighting the role of groups like the Ku Klux Klan and Red Shirts in enforcing white supremacy through terror, intimidation, and murder. It emphasizes that this continuous threat of violence created lasting psychological trauma and served as a major barrier to economic and social progress for Black communities.

The Single Vote: The Senators Who Acquitted Andrew Johnson, Benjamin Maxwell Cohen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

On February 24th, 1868, the House of Representatives impeached Andrew Johnson, and in May of that same year, he would be acquitted in the United States Senate by one vote. At the center of these events were the seven Republican Senators who defected from their party and found the President not guilty. This thesis examines the conflicts between Johnson and the Radical Republicans, framing this within the broader political context of the era as the key to understanding the political nature of Johnson’s 1868 trial. This politicization culminated in the Tenure of Office Act, which was both protectionist and antagonistic …

Justice And Restitution In Post-Nazi Romania: Rebuilding Jewish Lives And Communities, 1944-1950, Stefan Cristian Ionescu

History Faculty Books and Book Chapters

On 23rd August 1944, following the collapse of the pro-Nazi dictatorship of Ion Antonescu, Romania changed sides and abandoned the Axis to join the Allies. Justice and Restitution in Post-Nazi Romania explores the hopes, struggles and disappointments of Jewish communities in Romania seeking to rebuild their lives after the Holocaust. Focusing on the efforts of survivors to recuperate rights and property, Stefan Cristian Ionescu demonstrates how the early transitional government enabled short term restitution. However, from 1948, the consolidated communist regime implemented nationalizations which dispossessed many citizens. Jewish communities were disproportionality affected, and real estate and many businesses were lost …

Asian American Navigation In Higher Education: Do We Belong At Colby College?, Amanda Rose Alpert

Honors Theses

This thesis explores how Asian American students navigate their belonging at Predominantly White Institutions (PWI), specifically a case study at the higher educational institution Colby College. In understanding how Asian American students navigate the spaces around them, this thesis dives into the history of Asian immigration to the U.S., the Asian American politicized label, and the different diasporas and cultural nuances Asian Americans experience that make up the complicated, diverse, and misunderstood label. Through exploring global racializations of Asian bodies and legacies of Western imperialism and colonialism, this gives a basis of how Asian Americans understand themselves as persons living …

Red Diplomacy And Black Liberation: The Cold War's Influence On The Naacp, Natalie A. Filkins

Honors College Theses

The Civil Rights Movement and Cold War occurred concurrently, yet the two events represent entirely different moments in American history. While one marked a moment of immense social growth, the other illustrated how widespread paranoia can influence a nation’s decision making. This thesis centers on an examination of how the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (”NAACP”) utilized international bodies, like the United Nations (“UN”), to bring global attention toward the mistreatment of those of African descent. My analysis relied on internal documents from the NAACP’s offices, and the organization’s magazine publication, The Crisis. I examined volumes 55-68 …

Republicanism In The Age Of Democratic Revolution: The Democratic-Republican Societies Of The 1790s, Matthew Schoenbachler

History

No abstract provided.

Right-Wing Populist Mobilizations And Gender: France's Rassemblement National And Italy's Fratelli D'Italia, Meredith Mckinley

Scripps Senior Theses

European right-wing populist (RWP) parties are increasingly touting their attention to women’s issues and representation, and this has coincided with stronger electoral performances. Thus, the following puzzles emerge: how have RWP parties harnessed gender frames, issue salience, and women’s representation as part of a mainstreaming process, and through what mechanisms are these strategies resonating with voters? I address these questions by comparing France’s Rassemblement National (RN) and Italy’s Fratelli d’Italia (FdI), tracing their developments from the mid-twentieth century to the present day. I find that immigrants’ perceived relationship with the welfare state, feelings of insecurity due to terrorism, and RWP …

Institutionalisation And Institutional Evolution: A Model Of Selecting Government Officials In Ancient China, Haiwen Zhou

Economics Faculty Publications

The evolution of institutions in selecting government officials in ancient China reflected efficiency considerations and increased power concentration in the hands of the ruler. Selecting government officials in ancient China became more rule‐based over time, and standardisation and centralisation were some key features of this process. In this dynamic model, a higher volume of transactions, shown as the number of candidates needed to be evaluated, leads to institutionalisation, which has a higher fixed cost but a lower marginal cost in processing each transaction. In the steady state, a ruler with a more encompassing interest chooses a higher level of institutionalisation. …

Establishing The Narrative – A Comparative Analysis Of Nashville Newspaper Reporting During The Civil Rights Era, Katherine E. Cannon

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Public memory serves as the collective public consciousness – how a group of people remember a historical narrative and thus how they interpret and interact with their current environment. Journalism and news reporting plays a pivotal role in the creation of public memory. This study will analyze the differences in reporting between two Nashville-based newspapers, The Nashville Banner and The Tennessean, and how their reporting shaped public memory in Nashville. These publications are crucial to the Nashville community and how the public is informed. To properly conduct this research with narrow enough scope to get accurate results, this study will …

Faltered States: The Rise, Fall, And Containment Of Psychedelic Science In The United States, Baxter Brew

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis traces the history of psychedelic science in the United States and its implications for policymaking. In the postwar period, psychedelic researchers were enabled by a unique convergence of optimism in medical science and structural flexibility. But their hope blinded them to the deeper tensions of their field. As institutions grew increasingly rigid and risk-averse, the space for psychedelics began to close. Some scientists responded by fortifying the walls around them, developing socially and professionally acceptable research methods. Others tried to escape these walls entirely. But neither approach could prevent psychedelics from being squeezed out of formal inquiry. Yet …

A Comparative Analysis Of The Past Three Fifa World Cups: Nations’ Regulations, Policies, And Global Impact, Arturo Flores

History and Political Science | Senior Theses

The current study investigates the relationship between alcohol and sports marketing. Throughout this research paper, the primary focus is to look at the three previous World Cups and their hosting Countries: Brazil, Russia, and Qatar. To do this, the methods that are used to analyze the three countries will consist of a collection of digital archives consisting of YouTube ads, alcohol policies of the countries hosting the World Cup, and the effects of the World Cup on the hosts overall. In addition, the study goes into how the alcohol policies of each country have shifted before, during, and after being …

Healing Communities With Police Divestment: Seeking Abolition Through Transformative Reform And Community-Government Collaboration, Jessica E. Gillson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Concerns about the efficacy and sustainability of the U.S. carceral system have persisted throughout the country’s history, recently fueling renewed activism and bipartisan calls for reform. However, proposed solutions remain divisive. This thesis first defines the current status of our prison systems, then explores collaborative alternatives to incarceration and policing that support communities and break cycles of incarceration.

Focusing on partnerships among local governments, community organizations, justice-involved individuals, and law enforcement, this study examines holistic approaches to crime prevention, reentry, and reintegration. Using an interdisciplinary framework incorporating restorative justice, community resilience, and systems theory, it investigates how community-based strategies can …

Truth, Reconciliation, And Neoliberalism: Remembering And Forgetting Pinochet’S Chile, Aimee Leigh Gallagher

History - Master of Arts in Teaching

I. Synthesis Essay………………..................4

III. Primary Documents and Headnotes.....26

IV. Textbook Critique……………….............36

V. Textbook Entry…………………………....42

Disrupting The Timeline: Challenging Notions Of A Singular, Linear Early Muslim Historiography, Grayson D. Shaw

Pomona Senior Theses

Few historical events have received the same attention in the formative years of Islam as the so-called “‘Abbāsid Revolution” in 132 AH/750 CE. In both the medieval and modern contexts, this event has been recognized as a monumental formation from which the rest of Islamic history comes downstream from. Problematically, there are no cohesive historical sources from the losers of this conflict; the Umayyads. Utilizing numismatic and architectural evidence, I argue that the alleged rupture between the Umayyads and their ‘Abbāsid successors is overblown by historiography two centuries after the fact. Then, I further analyze what this continuity means for …

Imperialist Exploration: An Analysis Of Howard Carter’S Discovery Of Tutankhamun’S Tomb In The Context Of British Colonial Presence In 20th-Century Egypt, Mariam Kharboush

The Undergraduate Research Journal

The discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922 became one of the most publicized archaeological events of the twentieth century, shaping global perceptions of ancient Egypt and Egyptology. This paper examines how the political conditions of British colonial dominance influenced both the circumstances of Howard Carter’s excavation and the narratives constructed around it. By situating the discovery within British-controlled Egypt, analyzing British and Egyptian press coverage, and examining conflicts between Carter, the French-led Egyptian Antiquities Service, and Egyptian intermediaries, the study argues that the excavation was deeply embedded in imperial power structures. British media framed the discovery as an English achievement, …

4h Nr 3122 Fusiller Regiment Von Knyphausen, Trenton, New Jersey, 1782, Johannes Schwalm Historical Association

Schwalm Marburg Files

No abstract provided.

Writing Back To Empire: Anticolonial Petitioning And Decolonisation In Postwar British West Africa, 1945–1960, Bright Alozie

Black Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article reexamines petition writing as a strategic form of anticolonial resistance and negotiation in British West Africa between 1945 and 1960. Focusing on Nigeria and the Gold Coast (now Ghana), it argues that petitions – often regarded as apolitical or ineffective – were in fact deeply political texts through which colonised individuals asserted rights, challenged imperial authority, and participated in shaping decolonisation discourse. Drawing on new archival petitions, colonial correspondence, and administrative records, the study analyzes how a wide range of African actors – including trade unions, veterans, women’s organisations, and youth groups – appropriated colonial bureaucratic norms to …

Cascadian Independence: A Rising Movement For An Independent Northwest Amid Growing Regionalism In The United States And Canada, Elias V. Savitt

Capstone Showcase

Because of the Civil War, secession is a sore topic to many Americans. However, the idea of secession has not been confined to this notorious example. My essay focuses on the idea that Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia could be the basis for a unified autonomous or even independent entity called Cascadia. First, I discuss the history of secession as such, and the arguments that have been made pro and con as to its legality and under what situations. I then situate this within the histories of the United States and Canada and the phenomena of regionalism and independent movements. …

Operation Dumbo Drop: Cultural Memory, And Representations Of The Vietnam War In The 1990s, Sylvie Kromer

Scripps Senior Theses

In 1995, the film Operation Dumbo Drop was released by Walt Disney Pictures. This film, based on a true story of elephants being airlifted across Vietnam in 1968 by the American military, holds a unique position as a rare family-friendly comedy about the Vietnam War. As a reflection of 1990s-era cultural memory of the Vietnam War, the film rehistoricizes and sanitizes the war, following a similar trend in other pieces of media from the same era. Operation Dumbo Drop must be seen in this context and as a product of the moment in which it was made. In taking a …

U.S. And Russian Responses To The Syrian Civil War: A Comparative Analysis, Grace Dewitt

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The Syrian Civil War was among the most devastating conflicts in the 21st century and was defined by the involvement of various international actors, including the United States (U.S.) and Russia. The Syrian conflict was sparked by the Arab Spring movement. The Asad regime, which controlled the Syrian government at the time of the Arab Spring, reacted violently to the civilian protests and calls for reform. This led to the formation of organized rebel groups, creating a complex and violent civil war. The U.S. and Russia, as well as other international actors such as Turkey and Iran, became involved in …

Bargaining For Statehood: The Intersection Of Capitalism And Politics In The Creation Of West Virginia, Kristen L. Bailey

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This project explores the original architecture of West Virginia. The plans and deliberate construction of the new state not only represented the longstanding desire of western counties for equitable representation in its legislature but also rested on the economic and political ambition of the movement’s leaders. Not all western counties supported independent statehood, and a substantial number of counties favored secession. Without a cohesive citizen consensus to embark upon statehood, traditional narratives that the western counties embarked on statehood solely to protect republican interests bears further investigation. Lacking a unified front, political and business leaders steered the movement through the …