History Commons^™

Resilience In Place Names: German-Hehe War Memories And Cultural Identity In Iringa Toponyms, Claudio G. Kisake, Sophilini M. Yisega, Spemba E. Spemba

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Toponyms, or place names, act as vital markers of historical memory, cultural identity and resilience. In Iringa, Tanzania, toponymy offers valuable insights into the enduring impacts associated with the German-Hehe War (1890–1898), and colonial encounters on indigenous communities. This study explores how place names—such as Kitanzini (‘a place with a noose for hanging people’), Ilundamatwe or Lundamatwe (‘a collection of slaughtered heads’), and Gangilonga (‘the speaking stone’)—convey narratives of Hehe war superiority, resistance, and survival. Using a qualitative approach, the research incorporates archival sources, oral histories, and linguistic analysis to investigate the stories behind naming and renaming, the role of …

Taxidermy And Technology: A History Of Climate Change Exhibitions At American Museums Of Natural History, Laura Haushalter, Amy Woodson-Boulton

Honors Thesis

My research is on the history of temporary and permanent climate change exhibitions at natural history museums in the United States. My primary research question is: How have natural history museums responded to human-caused environmental destruction through their exhibitions, and what, if anything, are natural history museums doing now to address our current environmental crisis? My research begins with a historiography of natural museums and examines how early 20th-century museums responded to a sense of environmental crisis and widespread threats of species extinction. In the early 20th century, museums shifted from Victorian-era glass cases to modern and artistic dioramas that …

From Farewell To Fáilte: The Voices Of Iowa’S Irish Daughters, Katie Hermanson

History Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity

Irish women’s immigration to Iowa brought rich culture and lasting impacts, despite their contributions being silenced by history. Women left Ireland for economic opportunity and education abroad to support their impoverished families. Millions emigrated between 1830 and 1915, spreading across the world. The Irish women who came to the United States encountered discrimination and cultural stereotyping as they worked in domestic service, developed religious orders, taught school, owned businesses and raised families. Women bore the burden of supporting their families in Ireland by sending remittances home and communicating between countries. Their cultural identity as exiles dwelled in guilt for leaving …

Manufacturing A Confederate Martyr: John Yates Beall, John Wilkes Booth, And The Politics Of Postwar Memory, Corin M. Fyrdrian

Student Papers (History)

John Yates Beall, a Confederate naval officer and privateer executed by the United States in 1865, has often been remembered through a Lost Cause framework that casts him as a chivalric martyr and “victim of honor.” This thesis challenges that interpretation by situating Beall’s life, wartime actions, trial, execution, and postwar memory within competing ideas of honor, legality, violence, and Confederate nationalism. Through analysis of Beall’s military activities, legal arguments, newspaper coverage, personal writings, and later narratives, this thesis argues that his postwar image was not merely preserved but actively constructed. Lost Cause writers transformed his execution into a moral …

The Politics Of Sustainability: Corporate Environmental Responsibility And Policy Implications, Andy Tuholski

Commonwealth Review of Political Science

This literature review aims to examine how political factors influence corporate environmental responsibility (CER) initiatives and the subsequent policy implications for environmental sustainability. By synthesizing existing research, it will (a) provide a comprehensive overview of the political dynamics that shape CER and highlight the role of policy in promoting sustainable corporate practices; and (b) offer information for policymakers, corporate leaders, and environmental advocates on fostering sustainable corporate practices through informed policymaking.

Living Archaeology: A Comparative Perspective On How Archaeologists Can Study And Document The Present, Alia S. Moran

Honors Capstones

Archaeology has long remained a social science that has tended to exclude sustained consideration of contemporary societies in the analysis of material culture. In recent decades, approaches such as ethnoarchaeology and the archaeology of the contemporary have expanded the field to include the study of present-day societies through material culture. Inspired by my involvement in the Thais in Illinois Project, which focused on documenting the Thai American immigrant experience in the greater Chicago area to produce an oral history collection, alongside other goals, this thesis intends to further explore how archaeological practice can be used to understand everyday issues in …

A Qualitative Study Of Journalism Course Syllabi In Relation To The First Amendment, Elizabeth L. Bunnell

Journalism Undergraduate Honors Theses

The goal of this research is to gain more insight into collegiate journalism course syllabi and the First Amendment. The First Amendment is a foundational aspect for a career in journalism, and one way to learn how college journalism students are interacting with the First Amendment is to conduct a qualitative analysis of the syllabi. A syllabus is the contract between professor and student for the course; therefore, it should contain the most important information relating to the course. 47 syllabi were collected from the School of Journalism and Strategic Media from the Spring 2025 semester. After reading through each …

Perceptions Of German Eugenics: An Analysis Of German Eugenics In The Eugenics Review, 1920-1945, Ally Iandolo

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

This research examines how the eugenics movement in Germany was perceived by academic peers. I utilize entries from the British journal, The Eugenics Review, from 1920-1945 to create a database of all journal articles, book reviews, correspondence, and other entries that mention German eugenics. Then, using this database, I determine how German eugenics was perceived and which topics were identified by the journal’s contributors. Further, I analyze the careers of the authors who wrote these articles to understand the scope of interest in German eugenics from the Eugenics Review.

Who Can Dance If They Want To?: Intersections Of Dance, Gender, And Political Control In Late Archaic And Early Classical Athens, Adeline P. Strickler

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

This thesis investigates the evidence for women's public choruses in the polis of Athens and the wider Greek world prior to the 6th century BCE and their decline in Athens following the Kleisthenic reforms of 509/508 BCE. Emphasising analysis of visual sources through Athenian fabric vases in the Beazley archive, and supporting literary evidence, this research seeks to establish a base of evidence for a neglected area of dance and women's research in the classics. Additionally, by analyzing the significance of choral dance in polis social and political life, this research seeks potential reasons for the lack of a culture …

Let's Play A Lovegame: How College Hookup Culture Came To Be, How It Functions On A University Campus, And The Greek Organizations That Perpetuate It At Butler University, Ella Gray Tucker

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

“Let’s Play a LoveGame” examines how hookup culture functions, is perpetuated, and impacts students on a college campus. By understanding the historical context of its creation, I analyze the multitude of factors that aided it to evolve into what it is today. Although hookup culture is considered part of the undergraduate “college experience”, it is negatively impacting students' mental well-being and their understanding of romantic relationships. With Butler University as my case study, I have come to find that Greek Organizations within the National Panhellenic Conference and Interfraternity Council hold events that enable hookup culture to permeate Greek row which …

Unmaking And Remaking Crimean Tatar Identity Stalin’S Deportation, Sürgün Stories, And The Claiming Of Indigeneity, Milo A. Clarkson

International Studies Honors Projects

The Crimean Tatars exist within a framework of historical and modern Russian settler colonial oppression. By examining their preferred form of identification, this thesis argues that claiming indigeneity holds promise for combating this colonial structure. Further, it identifies the construction of collective memories of the Sürgün (1944 deportation of the Crimean Tatars) in virtual museum project Tamirlar’s oral histories as a form of discursive decolonization—the reclamation of cultural, linguistic, and historical representation and primacy on the land. Novel analysis of fifty interviews with Sürgün survivors preserves indigenous Crimean identity and challenges the retrospective settler colonial construction of Crimea as “Russian.”

"It's A Book You Grab And Squeeze, And Blood Comes Out.” Modernization Of The Colombian Army's Training During U.S.- Funded Plan Colombia And Security Policies: Falsos Positivos And Bodies As Merchandise (2002–2008), Maria Isabel Palacio Cano

ELIN Graduate Theses

No abstract provided.

An Alternative To Armageddon: O.P. Weyland And The Development Of Tactical Air Power, Paul Wells

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Theorists and advocates of air power argued that aircraft, not ground forces, would become the dominant platform for victory in war. They promoted the concept of strategic bombing, using aircraft to bypass ground forces and directly attack a nation's industrial capacity to wage war, hoping to ensure quick victory and avoid a repeat of the prolonged slaughter in the trenches of WWI. In 1947, led by advocates of strategic bombing, the United States Air Force (USAF) became an independent and equal branch of the U.S. military. The USAF developed the Strategic Air Command (SAC) to meet the requirements of the …

Adaptability From Tv & Film Into Theatre | The Subversion Inspiration In Celia’S Identity Versatility Throughout William Shakespeare’S As You Like It, Emani White

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the inspiration of adaptability skills, pivoting from television and film into theatre, and the potential of unconventional pathways as a catalyst for reconciling anti-traditionalism within the mediums. It offers insight into the obstacles, segues, and adversities faced during the journey of a former athlete turned television and film actor, and into a theatre actor. It illuminates agency as a subversive identity (the disguise), the sacrifice of status, and the need for an emotional anchor of resilience—acknowledging the systemic transitional barriers in performance, career, and education. The paper also discusses the understandings gained from my journey as an …

Volume 17, Christian O’Neill, Kyara Greene, Savva Sidorov, Laura Bisaillon, Luke Clemmer, Hannah Gordon, Kitt Benson, Taylor Blount, Rachel Danzitz, Nicholas Duellman, Chase Gionis, Hima Fernando, Seth Franzyshen, Onyx Gonzalez, Bryan Lin, Samantha Start, Ysabel Wells, Maggie Duncan

Incite: The Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship

Introduction Dr. Amorette Barber, Director, Office of Student Research

From the Editor Dr. Hannah Dudley-Shotwell

Cover Artist’s Statement Maggie Duncan

On Mentoring Dr. Yulia Uryadova

Ukrainian Resistance in the Face of Russification: Nestor Makhno and Anarchism

by Christian O’Neill

Life Vest by Kyara Greene

Isolation and 16S rRNA Identification of Bacteria from Fire Department Connection Pipe by Savva Sidorov

The Effectiveness of Planned Exercise in Reducing ADHD Symptoms in Children by Laura Bisaillon & Luke Clemmer

Linguistic Analysis on Confidence and Communication Strategies with Disparities Between Sign Fluency and Hearing Impairment by Hannah Gordon

Freedmen in Indian Territory by Kitt …

Trinities In World Mythology: Why Separate Cultures Construct The Same Cosmology, Autumn Scott

Undergraduate Fellows' Research

Numerous cultures throughout the world construct mythologies and cosmologies which include a triad, triple deity, or three world cosmology. Specifically, this refers either to belief in a singular deity with three forms, belief in a distinct group of three divine beings with a common characteristic, or belief in three cosmic realms, such as the human world, underworld, and divine world. This phenomenon occurs within Europe, South Asia and East Asia, as well as North America. While many may be familiar with the Greek Moirai and the Christian trinity, this pattern appears well beyond the ancient and medieval cultures who inhabited …

The Personality Of Place: Physical Geography And The Shaping Of The Nineteenth-Century German Immigrant Ethnic Identity, Abigail Ward

Honors Theses

In the nineteenth century alone, approximately five million German-speaking immigrants arrived in America. However, the motivations of these individuals for moving to America, far from identical, were nearly as numerous as the individuals themselves. The German ethnic identity in America was not uniform, but the expression of many factors having to do with both the Vaterland and the new land. These factors ranged from the timing of emigration, which was largely influence by religious, political, and economic upheaval in Europe, to each German’s system of values, which dictated the kind of future he saw for himself and therefore where he …

Do Clothes Make The Man? Ftm Crossdressing In The 18th-19th C. Anglo-American World, Aidrian Graber

Theses and Dissertations

This paper seeks to analyze the legacy of "Female Husbands" and other female-to-male crossdressers in the 18/19th c. Anglo-American world and how such people can illuminate the field of transgender history.

Internalizing Diasporic Peoples: How Do We Keep Native Hawaiians Connected?, Kallie P. Kaaihue-Paopao

Whittier Scholars Program

In the attempt to better understand the grounds for the generation culture disconnect of identity in Native Hawaiians, I study the diaspora of my people. Diaspora is the dispersion of people from their native lands. I find interest in this aspect of my people because the most common studies blame our dispersion on socioeconomic status and as a Native Hawaiian that wishes to do more for her people, I want to express that while it plays a part that there is a disconnection between the social actions and reactions of Hawaiʻi’s people. Common questions that I find unanswered are, why …

Munificence: The History And Legacy Of The Munson Steamship Line, 1865–1955, Nicholas C. Benda

Honors Scholar Theses

This paper provides an overview of the Munson Steamship Line, an American steamship company founded by Captain Walter David Munson. A veteran of the American Civil War, Captain Munson visited Cuba following the war’s conclusion and became involved in Cuba’s oil and sugar industries, gradually becoming involved in the international sugar shipping trade. An 1890 innovation in shipboard technology and its impact on the Cuban American molasses trade was a moment that established a multi-generational maritime empire, officially incorporating the Munson Steamship Line shortly after the American intervention in the Cuban War of Independence and expanding throughout the Atlantic. His …

Waring Library Society Newsletter, Spring 2026, Waring Library Society, Waring Historical Library, Medical University Of South Caroilna, Jude Arendall, Joann Livingston Zeise, Brooke Fox

The Waring Library Society Newsletters

In this issue, the Waring Library Society welcomes its new President and shares updates on recent and upcoming renovations to Waring Historical Library. Waring Historical Library's staff reflect on insights gained from a recent sabbatical, and highlight several events and engagements the Waring has been part of this season.

Full Issue

The Bridge

No abstract provided.

House Of Ill-Fame: A Historical, Cartographic, And Archaeological Study On The Spatial Evolution Of Commercial Sex Work In New Orleans, 1875 – 1925, Austin Roebuck

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the historic spatiality of commercial sex‑work in New Orleans by analyzing targeted addresses associated with the trade across three census years. Using the establishment and closure of Storyville (1897–1917) as a temporal frame, it compares demographic patterns in dwellings labeled as “houses of ill fame” in 1880, 1900, and 1920 to trace changes in household composition and social identity. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, newspapers, and city directories contextualize these patterns within three ten‑year intervals (1875–1885, 1895–1905, 1915–1925), revealing how sex‑work spaces were regulated, represented, and embedded in the urban landscape. The study also incorporates an archaeological assemblage …

The Geography Of Race: A Spatial Analysis Of Free People Of Color In The City Of Charleston (1790-1861), Alexandra Ullman

All Theses

In Charleston, South Carolina, for all but one year from 1790 to 1860, the enslaved and free Black population outnumbered that of the white. Through manumission, the process of an enslaved person gaining their freedom, the free Black population grew substantially and reached a peak in South Carolina during the nineteenth century. This large community of free people of color (FPOC), shifted the social climate by upsetting the balance of white power, thus increasing racial conflict, tension, and legislation that aimed to control the movement of FPOC.

Despite FPOC comprising a significant portion of the total population of Charleston, there …

Disney's Illusion Of Inclusion, Marissa Davis

All Theses

Walt Disney’s films were not simply entertainment, but a use of racial stereotypes as a profit strategy. Even scholarship that explores these tactics and critically analyzes his most problematic misrepresentations do not to consider the role of Walt Disney, as a man, in creating and promoting these narratives. These depictions, while somewhat in line with the culture when he first entered the business, failed to evolve as society changed. Rather, they were deliberate choices to attract white audiences and increase revenue.

Over time, these tropes became socially unacceptable, yet Disney maintained them for public consumption. While Disney and his company …

Understanding Roma Oppression In Europe Through Humantarian Forensic Analysis, Christal L. Quinn

Department of Anthropology: Theses and Student Research

This thesis examines the marginalization of Roma people in Europe, and how humanitarian forensic practices may help Roma communities in their quest for justice and recognition. The study draws exclusively on secondary information to examine the social, political, and legal issues affecting the Roma communities, who have endured centuries of institutional discrimination, marginalization, and violence. This thesis identifies ways in which systematic oppression continues to limit Roma communities’ access to education, housing, healthcare, and legal protection through a review of relevant literature and applicable theoretical frameworks. The study also examines the relevance of forensic science, particularly its humanitarian applications, in …

Book Review: Protest And Pedagogy: Charlottesville’S Black Freedom Struggle And The Making Of The American High School, Cordelia Riley

Georgia Library Quarterly

No abstract provided.

The Case For Undergraduate Student Organizing, Nina Goldshmid

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

This paper is a reflection and timeline of my experience organizing a union and negotiating a contract as a student worker at Barnard College. I explored the power dynamics between student workers and college administrations, how to promote unity for progress, and why some undergraduate students are deciding to organize. I discussed the actions of the college that could stifle union organizing and negotiations, the obstacles involved in organizing, and the ways to build solidarity through awareness and coalition. I summarized the main takeaways from my experience and characterize the current student labor movement.

Féminicide: Institutional Silence On The Screams Of Murdered Women In France, M. Afif Alfadin Syarif, Airin Miranda

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

Rising awareness of women's homicide in France has challenged the government to provide an adequate legal response, as feminist groups began advocating and expressing the discourse on women's homicide since 2014 through the term féminicide. The nature of this crime remains contentious in legal discourse, particularly given the significant rise in féminicide cases in 2019. This study, therefore, aims to examine the phenomenon of féminicide in France, exploring both the discourse surrounding it and the legal responses from the government. Drawing on 46 cases recorded in 2023 by the feminist collective #NousToutes, and with particular attention to relevant legal …

Understanding Environmental Risk In 18th Century New Mexico: A Case Study From Las Golondrinas Living History Museum, Emily L. Dawson

Andrew Fiske Memorial Center for Archaeological Research Publications

This poster explores environmental risk and adaptation among Spanish colonial communities in eighteenth-century New Mexico through a paleoenvironmental study at Las Golondrinas Living History Museum. Using wetland coring, plant surveys, radiocarbon dating, and phytolith and pollen analysis, the project investigates local microclimates and environmental conditions that shaped agricultural decision-making during the Little Ice Age. Preliminary results identified multiple wetland environments, diverse plant communities, and sediment deposits capable of preserving environmental records extending before and through the colonial period. These data provide a foundation for reconstructing past landscapes and evaluating how colonists responded to climatic variability, drought, and resource uncertainty. By …