History Commons^™

Artificial Intelligence And African Studies, Gloria Emeagwali

Comparative Civilizations Review

African Studies is a conglomerate of multidisciplinary academic fields that include paleontology, history, literature, linguistics, philosophy, African Traditional Religion and theology, art, and Afrofuturism, as well as African Indigenous Knowledge Systems. This paper focuses on the latter, namely African Indigenous Knowledge Systems (AIKS), and African Studies, in general, from the viewpoint of two chatbots, namely, ChatGPT-4, and DeepSeek v.3. Do these models make a break with Eurocentrism and prevent unbiased information on AIKS? Are the underlying conceptual issues underpinning AIKS fully grasped, and if so, what are some relevant examples of this accomplishment? How do these programs respond to specialized …

Table Of Contents

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Civilizational Nationalism And The Rise Of The Civilization State: A Response To Stephen Satkiewicz, Nicholas Morieson

Comparative Civilizations Review

The previous issue of this journal discussed the phenomenon of civilization-states. As several authors observed, over the past two decades leaders from Beijing to Moscow, from New Delhi to Ankara, have increasingly portrayed the nations they govern as civilization states, or heirs to and continuations of great civilizations (Greenfeld 2025; Cross and Okunev 2025; Alalykin-Izvekov 2025; Satkiewicz 2025). In doing this, they often summon deep time, speaking of thousands of years of cultural continuity, and present their states as guardians of cultural traditions in an age of immense social change.

Books Of Interest Spring 2026

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

End Matter

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Extending Norbert Elias: Adjacency And The Dynamics Of Civilizations, Arthur Michelino

Comparative Civilizations Review

Civilizations have rarely been approached as systems of interdependence and strain. Most modern theories have oscillated between cyclical visions of rise and fall and static conceptions of blocs defined by cultural essence. Both perspectives have offered sweeping interpretations, but both also detached civilizations from the environments of pressure and interaction in which they have always existed. To reframe civilizations as relational processes requires both recognition of their internal dynamics and attention to the external conditions that compel their transformation.

Genocide, Memory & Prevention: Ethical Inquiry And Critical Thinking Through Research & Ai, Linda Humes

Open Educational Resources

This assignment engages students in ethical inquiry and critical analysis by examining lesser-known or silenced genocides within a global and historical context. Using academic sources alongside responsible use of generative AI, students compare dominant and marginalized narratives, analyze recurring patterns and causes of genocide, and reflect on prevention strategies. The assignment emphasizes ethical AI use, historical memory, and the development of civic awareness, empathy, and critical thinking in the study of race, power, and inequality.

Digital Cultures, Dei, And Ai: Critical Analysis Assignment, Oluremi Alapo

Open Educational Resources

This assignment presents a scaffolded, equity-centered approach to teaching digital culture and artificial intelligence (AI) within an undergraduate Diversity and Multicultural Education course at the City University of New York. Designed as a Writing Intensive, COIL-informed learning experience, the assignment invites students to critically examine digital technologies and AI as social and cultural systems shaped by power, access, and inequality.

Bitcoin And The American Conflict Over Money And Property, Jacob Smagula

CMC Senior Theses

I argue that Bitcoin is the latest expression of the recurring American conflict over who controls the terms of money and property, and that the political coalition formed around Bitcoin shares the same characteristics as earlier coalitions formed around this struggle. I review three historical cases that each produced a coalition opposing the existing monetary order: the Bank War of the 1830s, the Free Silver movement of the 1890s, and the populist backlash against the Federal Reserve during the 1979 Farm Crisis and the 2008 Great Recession. I find that Bitcoin’s architecture, which allows for self-custody, permissionless access, and an …

“Beejagalu Namma Jeevana” (Seeds Are Our Life): Women Farmers’ Relational Practices Of Care, Labor, And Life Within Regenerative Systems In South India, Sara F. Mehkri

Scripps Senior Theses

“Beejagalu Namma Jeevana” (Seeds are Our Life): Women Farmers’ Relational Practices of Care, Labor, and Life within Regenerative Systems in South India, examines the role of women farmers in regenerative agricultural systems in Kanakapura, Karnataka, through ethnographic fieldwork with GREEN Foundation (GF) and its farmer networks. It argues that regenerative agriculture in this context is produced through care-based multispecies assemblages that reconfigure relationships between labor, knowledge, and ecological life, generating resilient socio-agroecological systems and expanding forms of human capability.

Drawing on twenty semi-structured interviews with women farmers, participant observation, and historical analysis of agrarian change in South India, this thesis …

Forging Industry: Craft Practice At The Delaware Mine Blacksmith Shop, Lucy A. Gibbs

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This thesis examines the archaeological remains of a nineteenth-century blacksmith shop associated with the Delaware Mine Site in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula. Blacksmiths played an important role in early mining operations, providing the metalworking services and tool maintenance necessary to support mineral extraction. Drawing on evidence from the 2025 Michigan Technological University field school, the study investigates the shop’s operational lifespan, organization, and potential activities as it supported daily mining operations. Artifact analysis, spatial reconstruction, soil testing, and archival sources assist in reconstructing shop functions and history.

Results indicate that the shop was likely constructed during the earliest development of the …

Table Of Contents

The Griot - Southern Conference on African American Studies, Inc.

No abstract provided.

Ask An Og, Reginald Bess

The Griot - Southern Conference on African American Studies, Inc.

No abstract provided.

“The World Is Yours”: Blackplanet.Com And The Black Birth Of The Social Media Age, Malachi D. Crawford, W. Denae Muhammad Murphy, Bequita Pegram

The Griot - Southern Conference on African American Studies, Inc.

This article examines the rise of BlackPlanet.com as a foundational force in the birth of the Social Media Age. Launched in 1999 by Omar Wasow, BlackPlanet quickly became the largest and most influential online social networking platform for African Americans, challenging assumptions about the so-called “digital divide.” Despite limited household internet access among Black communities, the site experienced extraordinary growth, reaching nearly 13 million users by 2004 (see user growth data in Table 1)

Crawford et al . Through customizable personal pages, forums, messaging, and community-building tools, BlackPlanet pioneered participatory digital culture before the rise of MySpace and Facebook. The …

Health And Transportation Equity Issues In Rural Areas Of The Texas Megaregion, Gwendolyn C. Goodwin

The Griot - Southern Conference on African American Studies, Inc.

This study examines health and transportation inequities affecting rural residents within the Texas Triangle megaregion, focusing on the US 290 West and I-10 East corridors. While urban residents benefit from proximate hospitals, public transit, and specialized care, rural communities face physician shortages, hospital closures, and long travel distances for essential services. Data from the American Community Survey and HRSA reveal disproportionate disability rates among seniors and people of color, particularly in counties such as Jefferson and Orange. Transportation costs further burden low-income households, with rural residents traveling longer daily distances and spending a greater share of income on vehicle ownership. …

Book Reviews, Mea Boykins, Kimberly F. Monroe, Denzel Oliver, Latif A. Tarik

The Griot - Southern Conference on African American Studies, Inc.

No abstract provided.

The Origins And Expansion Of The Soviet Union’S Military-Industrial Complex, Noah B. Heminger

All Master's Theses

This thesis explores the way in which the “Soviet Military-Industrial Complex” that dominated the Soviet Union’s economy in the latter half of its existence came into existence and what forces caused its expansion. The first force was the ideological and strategic beliefs and assumptions of the leadership and military planners which held that the USSR would always be in existential danger. The second was Stalin’s “Revolution from Above” which broke down the barriers economically and politically that resisted the militarization of politics, economics, and society. And the final force was the stresses of World War II which caused the Soviet …

Finding Aid For The Leslie H. Southwick Campaign Memorabilia Collection

Archives & Special Collections: Finding Aids (alphabetical)

The Leslie H. Southwick Campaign Memorabilia Collection focuses on presidential and Mississippi political campaigns dating from 1856-2017, although the bulk of content is from 1960-2004.  Formats include pamphlets and other campaign literature, bumper stickers, textiles, posters, campaign buttons, and other candidate and political party souvenirs.

Finding Aid For The Ralph C. Kennedy Collection

Archives & Special Collections: Finding Aids (alphabetical)

The Ralph C. Kennedy collection contains presidential campaign and inauguration memorabilia acquired during the course of Kennedy’s career in the U.S. Secret Service.

The Evolution Of The Whittier State School From Reform To Control, Manuella Zammit

Whittier City & College Historical Research

This paper examines the transformation of the Whittier State School from its founding in 1891 as a Quaker inspired reform institution into a punitive juvenile detention facility under the California Youth Authority. Through analysis of primary sources including The Sentinel student newspaper, The Journal of Delinquency, psychological studies, and modern reports, this study traces how the school's philosophy shifted across three distinct eras. The first era (1890s to 1912) emphasized moral rescue through vocational training, academic instruction, and structured communal life rooted in Quaker ideals of rehabilitation over punishment. The second era (1912 to 1927) witnessed the rise of …

Blue Spring (2001):, George Dibble

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

“Congratulations on your graduation,” broadcasts on the upper secondary school’s PA system—the first sound in the film Blue Spring (2001), directed by Toshiaki Toyoda—yet none of the students we follow for the next 83 minutes have anything to graduate for. Like a chick denied egg-shell breakage, stuck in its hard world, the film-focused boys are told to live. But where, and how? Blue Spring exists between the graffiti laden walls of high school where classes are secondary to student politics and fights are as common as words.

Annoyances lead to murders. Money is extorted. Teachers are harassed. The first image …

Women's Work And Wealth: Measuring The Impact Of Incremental Liberations, 1850-1870, Hannah Kelly

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Using a two-way fixed effects difference-in-difference model, this project analyzes data from the IPUMS Full Count census for 1850, 1860, and 1870 at a state level for 48 states. Four models assess the impact of property laws on women's real property holdings, labor force participation, household types, and real property values.

By quantifying the impact of various legal reforms on women's economic empowerment, this project fills a gap in the understanding of the intersection between law, society, and women's economic agency during a transformative period in pre-industrial American history. These impacts can implicate the effectiveness of legislative measures in advancing …

Beyond Judicial Intent: The Agency Of The Defense Counsel In Ozawa’S And Thind’S Supreme Court Cases, Bret K. Luchs

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

This thesis seeks to examine how specific legal strategies by the defense counsel in Ozawa v. United States, 260 U.S. 178 (1922), and United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind, 261 U.S. 204 (1923), compelled the Supreme Court of the United States into a reactive and contradictory position. A re-examination of Ozawa and Thind delves deeper into the legal briefs and arguments made by Takao Ozawa and Bhagat Singh Thind, alongside their legal teams. These briefs, opinions of the court, past lower court cases, and personal statements by Ozawa and Thind demonstrate how they did not surrender to the confines of …

Walking In The Footsteps Of My Ancestors: A Deep Map Of Cherokee Forced Removal, Deborah Lyn Kirk

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In this study of the place of Cherokee forced removal, I use a Third Space approach to blend Indigenous Methodologies, Deep Mapping, Geospatial mapping and analysis, and 3D Geography. Using a hybrid platform that provides a mélange of media types, storytelling forms, and interactive tools, I reimagine and retell the story of the Cherokee “Trail of Tears.”

In accordance with Cherokee philosophies of duyuktv, harmony, and “a good mind” I first sought out Cherokee sponsorship from community respected and culturally knowledgeable Cherokee citizens; partnered with the National Trail of Tears Association (NTOTA); submitted my research proposal to the Cherokee …

Land, Genocide, And Kintsugi In Namibia, Mark A. Drumbl, Shannon Fyfe

Scholarly Articles

The first German missionaries arrived in Namibia in the 1820s. German rule over Namibia officially began under Otto von Bismarck in 1884. Following a January 1904 uprising led by Herero chief Samuel Maharero against colonial rule, German officials ordered the extirpation of the Herero and Nama peoples. On 4 October 1904, German military commander General Lothar von Trotha issued a chilling extermination order (Vernichtungsbefehl) to his troops: "Every Herero, with or without a gun, with or without cattle, will be shot. I will no longer accept women and children, I will drive them back to their people or …

Editor's Pen, Ronald E. Goodwin

The Griot - Southern Conference on African American Studies, Inc.

No abstract provided.

Into The Fire: An Examination Of Violence In Reconstruction Texas, 1865-1868, John Gorman

The Griot - Southern Conference on African American Studies, Inc.

This article examines the scale, patterns, and political implications of racial violence in Texas between 1865 and 1868, arguing that white terror functioned as a systematic effort to suppress Black freedom and restore antebellum racial hierarchies. Drawing on Congressional testimony, Freedmen’s Bureau records, and the 1868 Report of the Special Committee on Lawlessness and Violence in Texas, the study reveals that violence was not random but structured along social, labor, and political lines. Murders, whippings, intimidation, and organized attacks—such as the Millican riot—intensified when freedpeople asserted labor autonomy or political rights. Despite nearly 900 reported murders, convictions were exceedingly rare, …

One Family Under Kim:, Jared Johnson

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (D.P.R.K. or the state), as one of the most isolated and controlled states in Asia, has since its founding attempted to shape the culture and ideology surrounding the family construct to support the rule of the socialist regime and its leaders, the Eternal President, Kim Il Sung, and his successors. In Korea, like the rest of East Asia, the traditional family unit has been a central societal structure for centuries. Largely based upon Confucianism, the nuclear family—referring generally to the biological family unit of parents and children—has determined not only the lifestyle and livelihood …

Mystics, Oracles, And Bones: Spiritual Resistance For Justice, Healing, And Resolution, Leah Hollis

Comparative Civilizations Review

This conceptual essay examines the enduring human impulse to seek meaning, justice, and healing through mystical traditions in response to suffering and harm. When traditional solutions through grievance, the law, or mediation fails, some individuals may turn to spiritual practices not as superstition, but as embodied strategies of survival, reclamation, and clarity. Comparing diverse traditions from a variety of cultures, including oracle bone divination in ancient China, the Oracle at Delphi in Greece, West African Ifá, Benin’s Voudou, diasporic Hoodoo, Celtic Druidic law, and Sufi mysticism, this paper explores how mystics have long served as interpreters of suffering and perceived …

Cultivating Seeds Of Virtue:, Sarai Brown

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

Human beings have long been concerned with the question of human nature. Countless media—both academic and creative— have devoted much time to the pursuit of whether humans, at their very basic core, have inherently good or evil natures. While many in the Western world are familiar with the debates between the likes of Hobbes and Rousseau, this topic has also been a major theme of Chinese philosophy. Of the two choices between good and evil, which is the natural inclination of humanity and which is a deliberate deviation from our original position? This is the approximate question that Chinese philosophers …