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University of Central Florida

2014

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Articles 31 - 47 of 47

Full-Text Articles in History

March Madness, Richard C. Crepeau Mar 2014

March Madness, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

Sitting in the middle of March Madness it is easy to forget that this annual orgy of basketball and money is a relatively new phenomenon. It was the transformation of television with the arrival of cable and all-sports networks that turned the NCAA Basketball Championship into a national obsession. Whereas in 1960 it was impossible to see the NCAA finals on television outside the major markets, it is now possible to see every game in the six weeks of games involving 68 teams in every market. And if you can’t see it on television you can see it on any …


The Olympics And The American Press, Richard C. Crepeau Feb 2014

The Olympics And The American Press, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

With the Winter Olympics finally under way, is it possible that the American journalists, if we can use that term in these circumstances, will be able to write about something other than the failure of Russia to be the United States? Having traveled to Russia multiple times since the collapse of the Soviet Union, I have witnessed the remarkable transformation of this society. Caught in a time warp created by the failure of the Soviet Union, the standard of living of the average Russian trailed behind that of most of Western Europe and the United States. The Soviet Union was …


Russian Olympics, Richard C. Crepeau Feb 2014

Russian Olympics, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

With the Winter Olympics finally underway is it possible that the American journalists, if we can use that term in these circumstances, will be able to write about something other than the failure of Russia to be the United States? Having traveled to Russia multiple times since the collapse of the Soviet Union, I have witnessed the remarkable transformation of this society. Caught in a time warp created by the failure of the Soviet Union, the standard of living of the average Russian trailed behind that of most of Western Europe and the United States. The Soviet Union was not …


The Super Bowl, Richard C. Crepeau Jan 2014

The Super Bowl, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

Here we are once again at the most important weekend in American sport. The Super Bowl is Sunday and that means that Americans across the land will create scenes reminiscent of Thorstein Veblen’s classic, The Theory of the Leisure Class. Veblen’s original vocabulary describing the rich of the late 19th century is as appropriate now as it was then. Such phrases as “conspicuous consumption,” “conspicuous waste” and “conspicuous leisure,” seem to have been coined for the Super Bowl.


Super Bowl, Richard C. Crepeau Jan 2014

Super Bowl, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

Here we are once again at the most important weekend in American sport. The Super Bowl is Sunday and that means that Americans across the land will create scenes reminiscent of Thorstein Veblen’s classic, The Theory of the Leisure Class. Veblen’s original vocabulary describing the rich of the late 19th century is as appropriate now as it was then. Such phrases as “conspicuous consumption,” “conspicuous waste” and “conspicuous leisure,” seem to have been coined for the Super Bowl.


Manhood And Football, Richard C. Crepeau Jan 2014

Manhood And Football, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

ESPN, the Worldwide Breeder of ludicrous sports programming, reached a new low this week. The Network that brought you the biggest non-event on the annual sports calendar, the NFL draft, and then took it down another notch by televising the announcement of the NFL schedule, outdid itself once again by having a countdown to the unveiling of Mel Kiper’s mock draft. Did anyone care? Is Mel anything more than a parody of himself? Has ESPN totally lost its way? (The correct answers are no, no, and maybe.)


Byzantine Foreign Policy During The Reign Of Constans Ii, Joseph Morris Jan 2014

Byzantine Foreign Policy During The Reign Of Constans Ii, Joseph Morris

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the foreign policy of Constans II as the first Byzantine Emperor to rule after the initial Arab conquests in Syria-Palestine. His reign, 641-668, was the first reign of a Byzantine Emperor where the entire reign was subject to Arab raids and invasions. Constans II also had to contend with the Slavs in Thessalonica and Greece and the Lombards in Italy. To complicate matters more, Constans II was forced to cope with the religious division between the eastern and western churches due to Monothelitism in the East. Beset on every frontier and inheriting a much reduced empire after …


Revolutionary Manifestos And Fidel Castro's Road To Power, Luis Plazas Jan 2014

Revolutionary Manifestos And Fidel Castro's Road To Power, Luis Plazas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The historiography of the Cuban Revolution includes numerous accounts which detail the responses to Batista's coup. The fact that anti-Batista sentiments were very popular in Cuba, and that several revolutionary groups existed has also been highly documented. Nonetheless, the most highly recognized insurrectional organization remains Castro's M-26-7. The goal of my thesis is to explain the steps which Castro took in order to remove all competition, allowing him to remain the only figure left in power. The process in which Castro came to power will be analyzed in order to gain a better understanding of how he orchestrated the removal …


The Spatial Relationship Between Labor, Cultural Migration, And The Development Of Folk Music In The American South: A Digital Visualization Project, Robert Clarke Jan 2014

The Spatial Relationship Between Labor, Cultural Migration, And The Development Of Folk Music In The American South: A Digital Visualization Project, Robert Clarke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This Digital/Public History visualization thesis project explores how three factors-Atlantic migration patterns, demographics, and socioeconomic systems-influenced the development of folk music in the southern United States from the 18th century through the 20th century. A large body of written scholarship exists addressing plantation economies, the slave trade, and folk music. Digital technology, however, creates new opportunities for analyzing the geo-temporal aspects contained within the numerous archival resources such as census and migration records, field recordings, economic data, diaries, and other personal records. The written portion of the thesis addresses the historiography, research findings, and the process of creating the visualization …


Migrant Labor, Development, And Hiv In Botswana, William Kearns Jan 2014

Migrant Labor, Development, And Hiv In Botswana, William Kearns

HIM 1990-2015

At independence, Botswana was highly underdeveloped and reliant on external capital earned through migrant labor. This presented several challenges to development despite the discovery of diamonds shortly after independence. However, no challenge was greater than the HIV epidemic which came to infect one in four Batswana. This thesis discusses the historical factors which promoted the spread of the virus in the greater context of migrant labor and development within Botswana.


Fire In A Distant Heaven: The Boxer Uprising As A Domestic Crisis In The United States, Daniel Fandino Jan 2014

Fire In A Distant Heaven: The Boxer Uprising As A Domestic Crisis In The United States, Daniel Fandino

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the Boxer Uprising which took place in China around the turn of the twentieth century as a domestic crisis in the United States and the means through which different factions within America shaped the popular perception of the event. It argues that American and Chinese interest groups successfully managed the crisis by developing a narrative that served to further their own interests. These efforts were geared towards convincing an uncertain American public of the necessity and righteousness of particular ways to respond to the crisis. The primary factor in this narrative was a malleable ideal of civilization …


The Best And Worst Of All That God And Man Can Do": Paternalistic Perceptions On The Intellectually Disabled At Florida's Sunland Institutions., Bethany Dickens Jan 2014

The Best And Worst Of All That God And Man Can Do": Paternalistic Perceptions On The Intellectually Disabled At Florida's Sunland Institutions., Bethany Dickens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Historians have studied mental institutions in the mid-20th century; however, few have discussed them within the context of the period's paternalistic social movements and perceptions. Florida's Sunland program provides a lens for studying the parental role the institutions and general public took toward the intellectually disabled. Specifically, administrators saw residents of the Sunland Training Centers and Hospitals as perpetual children, trapped in an "eternal childhood." The institution was presented as a family unit, abiding by 1950s ideals of the companionate household. When the Sunlands proved generally unsuccessful, Florida's communities began to supplement their efforts. The social movements of the 1960s …


Reconciling Order And Progress: Auguste Comte, Gustave Le Bon, Emile Durkheim, And The Development Of Positivism In France, 1820-1914, Khali Navarro Jan 2014

Reconciling Order And Progress: Auguste Comte, Gustave Le Bon, Emile Durkheim, And The Development Of Positivism In France, 1820-1914, Khali Navarro

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis discusses the philosophy of positivism in nineteenth century France. Based on an empirical vision of society, positivism advocated values of rationality, progress, and secularization. In that way, it stood as one of the defining systems of thought of the modern era. I discuss, however, an undercurrent of anxiety about those same values. Positivism's founder, Auguste Comte, argued that all sciences would become unified and organized under universal principles and empirical standards. He viewed the human mind as becoming more rationalized throughout history. In his later career, however, he argued that rationalism was a destructive force and that a …


Minnie And Ivy: Minnie Moore-Willson, Ivy Stranahan, And Seminole Reform In Early Twentieth Century Florida, Sarika Joshi Jan 2014

Minnie And Ivy: Minnie Moore-Willson, Ivy Stranahan, And Seminole Reform In Early Twentieth Century Florida, Sarika Joshi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

During an era when the Seminoles were little regarded in Florida, despite mass Indian reform nationwide, Minnie Moore-Willson of Kissimmee and Ivy Stranahan of Fort Lauderdale attempted to bring reform to the state. Living amongst members of the tribe, both women used their familiarity with Seminole life and practices, as well as their political and social connections, to enact change for the tribe. This was done, respectively, through the creation of reservations and attempting to increase educational and vocational opportunities for tribe members. This thesis examines the lives and activism of Minnie Moore-Willson and Ivy Stranahan over the first two …


The American Way: The Influence Of Race On The Treatment Of Prisoners Of War During World War Two, Adam Rock Jan 2014

The American Way: The Influence Of Race On The Treatment Of Prisoners Of War During World War Two, Adam Rock

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

When examining the Second World War, it is impossible to overlook the influence race had in both creating the conflict and determining the intensity with which it was fought. While this factor existed in the European theater, it pales in comparison to how race influenced the fighting in the Pacific. John Dower produced a comprehensive study that examined the racial aspects of the Pacific theater in his book War Without Mercy. Dower concluded that Americans viewed themselves as racially superior to the Asian "other" and this influenced the ferocity of the Pacific war. While Dower's work focused on this relationship …


Invisible In Plain Sight: The Troubling Connections Between The National Hockey League And The Russian Mafia, Kayla Ennion Jan 2014

Invisible In Plain Sight: The Troubling Connections Between The National Hockey League And The Russian Mafia, Kayla Ennion

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Professional sports leagues in North America have seen scandals, controversies, and tragedies. There is, however, a forgotten scandal that happened in the 1990s: the Russian Mafia came dangerously close to the National Hockey League. This thesis explores the alleged Mafia connections by examining newspaper and magazine articles and documentaries focused on the issue. The limited public response to allegations of Russian Mafia involvement is contrasted with other professional sports controversies that were met with an immediate response by the leagues and fans. How North Americans viewed Russians during the post-Soviet era is also explored in this paper. This thesis examines …


City Of Superb Democracy: The Emergence Of Brooklyn's Cultural Identity During Cinema's Silent Era, 1893-1928., David Morton Jan 2014

City Of Superb Democracy: The Emergence Of Brooklyn's Cultural Identity During Cinema's Silent Era, 1893-1928., David Morton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study discusses how motion picture spectatorship practices in Brooklyn developed separately from that of any other urban center in the United States between 1893 and 1928. Often overshadowed by Manhattan's glamorous cultural districts, Brooklyn's cultural arbiters adopted the motion picture as a means of asserting a sense of independence from the other New York boroughs. This argument is reinforced by focusing on the motion picture's ascendancy as one of the first forms of mass entertainment to be disseminated throughout New York City in congruence with the Borough of Brooklyn's rapid urbanization. In many significant areas Brooklyn's relationship with the …