History Commons^™

The Trends In Accuracy Of Ancient History In Filmed Media And Its Implications On Society And Education, Anthony Jay Votta

Honors Projects

How have accuracies and inaccuracies of historical filmed media changed throughout time and historical contexts? What are these films’ effects on society and education? Are these films moving away from the truth when their educational worth grows yearly? Historical filmed media has not become more or less accurate over time. The real issue, however, is the need for increased historical education and properly preparing students to recognize and research any inaccuracies they might come across. The success of this rides on the backs of educators and will decide how easily media can change historical memories of figures and events.

Researching & Designing Marketing Materials For Rachel Messer & Connor Dale, Isabelle Bauer

Honors Projects

Isabelle Bauer’s Honors Project, “Researching and Designing Marketing Materials for Rachel Messer and Connor Dale” is split into two components. First, the research paper titled "The American West as a Cultural Phenomenon" explores the fascination with the American West and its integration into various aspects of American culture, particularly in music, film, and art. The essay discusses the historical significance of the West and its transformation into a cultural obsession. Focusing on the resurgence of Western aesthetics in modern country music, the project’s second component involves the creation of marketing materials for country artists Rachel Messer and Connor Dale.

The …

Everyday Life History Of The Soviet Laborer, 1920s-1930s, Brianna Lee Hutchins

Honors Projects

This thesis provides a comprehensive view of the daily lives of the Soviet Proletariat in the 1920s and 1930s. Both negative and positive outcomes of the policies implemented during this period are discussed regarding the growth and experiences of the working class. The discipline of everyday life history is explored and applied to this socioeconomic group. Work, education, home life, family structure, gender roles, and standard of living are the main subsets of daily life examined in this thesis. The research presented here concludes that the Soviet Communist Party considered itself an urban vanguard creating a proletarian serving state and …

A Semiotic Analysis Of Two Linear A Inscribed Ladles, Leah Rosen

Honors Projects

On the peak sanctuary Agio Georgios on the island of Kythera, and at the archaeological site of Troullos on Crete, two Linear A (LA) inscribed ladles have been found. They are unique in that they are the only inscribed Minoan ladles found to date. Because inscription is not a common feature of Minoan ladles, the purpose of these two inscriptions is of particular interest. However, Linear A, the writing system of the Minoans, remains undeciphered and is unlikely to be translated for the foreseeable future. In the meantime, other approaches to studying Linear A inscriptions can still provide insight into …

The Women’S Committee Of The Council Of National Defense In Maryland, 1917-1918, Savannah Scott

Honors Projects

During World War I, the United States created the Women’s Committee of the Council of National Defense to organize and coordinate women’s war work. The Women’s Committee had a federalist structure of national, state, and local committees to organize the different levels of women’s societies in the country. This paper uses the Maryland Section of the Women’s Committee as a case study to argue how how the centralized organization of the Women’s Committee and its flexibility with the local committees led to more productive efforts at mobilizing women. It will expand on the formation and organization of the Maryland Women’s …

In The Devil's Shadow: Sacred Agency, Cosmic Struggle, And The Cultural-Religious Clashes That Shaped Colonial New England, 1620-1693, Mark Laskey

Honors Projects

The diabolic portrayal of resident native populations featured prominently in the seventeenth-century colonial Separatist and Puritan worldview, with the Algonquian peoples cast as a corrupted race in the service of the Devil; a means by which God challenged religious complacency or chastised collective sin; and, in times of spiritual crisis and despair, a mortal threat to the "rule of saints" in the region. This study focuses on the real-world impact of the nonconforming Reformed Anglo-Protestant belief system and the resulting cultural-religious clashes that shaped New England's early colonial period.

Folklore Of The Shenandoah Valley, Heather Good

Honors Projects

The Shenandoah Valley of Virginia has a long and storied history, which has resulted in the development of a rich folklore unique to the area. Stories and traditions have been passed down through generations, often by family and community members but also through the few texts that have been written on the subject. As a writer and local of the area, this cultural tradition has played a significant role in helping me to discover my own voice through looking at the voices that came before me.

This project will fist focus on two significant periods in the history of the …

Out In The Cold: How Truman Killed Roosevelt's Vision For The United Nations, Nicholas Dwyer

Honors Projects

Following President Roosevelt’s death, the final negotiations and formative first years of the United Nations fell to Truman. Roosevelt intended the organization to address international crises, and Truman claimed Roosevelt’s legacy, however Truman’s decisions over his nearly eight years in office pushed the United Nations to become afterthought in American foreign policy. This paper examines how the vision for the United Nations changed from Roosevelt to Truman, and its consequences.

"The World Will Never Know What We Did To Them": The Western Press Coverage Of The Romanov Family Murder, Krystal Gladu

Honors Projects

On July 17, 1918, three hundred years of monarchy had ended in Russia with the brutal murder/execution of ex-Tsar Nicholas II and his entire family. In the midst of this, the Russian Revolution had been in full swing and Lenin rose to power. He also intended to keep this power and would do so by any means necessary. While keeping the Romanovs under house arrest, Lenin and the Bolsheviks pondered for months about what to do with the former royal family. He concluded that they could not be kept alive because of the possibility that one member could be reinstated …

Investigation Of Chlorine Gas, Phosgene Gas, And Mustard Gas: Development, Use, Effects, And Treatments With A Focus On World War I, Kyle Zaremba

Honors Projects

The German attack in Ypres on April 22, 1915 ushered in a new era of warfare. For the first time in military history, large amounts of weaponized gas were being deployed. The first attack utilized chlorine gas while subsequent attacks used phosgene gas, mustard gas, or a combination of them. Scientific and medical communities scrambled to combat the new threat, leading to great advancements in the understanding of the pathophysiology and treatment relating to chemical gas attacks. New ways to bypass chlorine gas, phosgene gas, and mustard gas effects were proposed and tested and already existing medical interventions proved useful. …

Dismantling Communism In The Early Cold War: Themes In Children's Media, Jennifer Lilly

Honors Projects

This paper analyzes the messages found in American children’s visual media during the early years of the Cold War. Many producers in the film and television industry took to the screen to express concerns about possible Communist infiltration. These fears had grown over several decades of political and international instability, beginning in the early twentieth century and the first Red Scare. Thus, the explosion of the Cold War prompted producers to create media intended to socialize children around American ideals which would challenge the growing threat of Communism. The events which led to production of this media will be interpreted …

One Peninsula, Many Spains: An Inquiry On Memory, Historiography, And The Legacy Of The Spanish Civil War From 1930 To The Present, Adrian Rios

Honors Projects

In this essay, I analyze the events of the Spanish Civil War and their ramifications through the lens of cultural memory and historiography. I argue that ideas of memory are crucial to how societies and individuals understand history and that the Spanish Civil War had a tremendous impact on the Spanish people and significantly affected the memory not only of witnesses of the conflict, but to their descendants. This essay utilizes primary and secondary sources to understand the function of memory and varied responses to the Spanish Civil War. The essay begins with a brief historical overview of the conflict …

Tatyana Markus: Hero Of Ukraine, Ariana L. Martineau

Honors Projects

A dramatized telling of the story of Tatyana Markus, a young Jewish resistance fighter from Kiev, Ukraine. Under a false identity, she personally killed dozens of Nazis during WWII. Along the way she lost many people she cared about until she was captured herself. Tatyana has gone on virtually unknown throughout the world, so this play is an effort to spread word about this brave, amazing girl who was only in her early 20s. I think the themes are very relatable to today's society with the struggle of whether to stand up to injustice, or stand by. Especially since she …

I Presume You Have Heard Of Dr. Livingstone, Mary Eakins

Honors Projects

David Livingstone is perhaps one of the most famous missionaries of the nineteenth century. During the mid-1800’s he captivated the imaginations of the western world with his achievements and explorations in Africa- his walk across the continent, the infamous meeting with Mr. Stanley, and his grand funeral leading to his burial in Westminster Abbey. During his lifetime he was an explorer, an anthropologist, a botanist, a geographer, a cartographer, a doctor, and most importantly in his eyes, a missionary to the unreached people of Africa.

A Stormwater History Of Grand Valley State University And An Assessment Of The Stream Quality Of The Little Mac Ravine, Christina Hamilton

Honors Projects

As Grand Valley State University (GVSU) was built and expanded in Allendale, Michigan, the negative impacts of the campus stormwater discharge on the ravines also grew. It was not until the early 2000’s that GVSU began to understand the impacts stormwater had on the ravines. In 2011, 32 acres of stormwater drainage from the west side of campus was diverted to a series of constructed wetlands. Prior to this change, a biological baseline was determined by Snyder et al (2008) by sampling the macroinvertebrates in the Little Mac stream (Snyder et al 2008). The purpose of this project …

The United States And Spain: A Comparison Of Cultural Values And Behaviors And Their Implications For The Multi-Cultural Workplace, Jessie Kooyers

Honors Projects

As globalization becomes increasingly relevant, international business environments are more culturally diverse than ever before. Ethnic diversity in the workplace provides many opportunities for enrichment, however, many managers and employees remain ill-equipped for the task of evaluating, understanding, and maximizing the power of a multi-cultural workforce. Using social psychologist Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, this piece seeks to uncover, define, and explore the key cultural differences that exist between the United States and Spain, specifically as they impact business engagements, workplace interaction, and intercultural management. It also provides some general guidelines for conducting cross-cultural negotiations between the two cultures.

A Matter Of Time: An Exploration Of Gender In Time Magazine Covers Since 1965, Jessica Coutler

Honors Projects

Gender is a concept that influences almost all cultures as we know them. Current literature on this topic argues that gender is not an innate characteristic of society, but rather it is socially constructed and maintained by family, peers, and institutions. The main goal of this study is to illuminate the ways in which the news media maintains the dichotomous gender system by portraying men and women in gender-stereotypical roles. This study contributes to existing literature about gender in the media as it pertains to news media, rather than advertising or media targeted at one gender such as women’s or …

Foreign Policy During The Vietnam War, Syeda Menebhi

Honors Projects

The United States became deeply involved in Vietnam during the 1960s largely due to America’s desire to assure that developing countries modernize as capitalist and democratic. Thus, American involvement began with economic and social support in South Vietnam. Yet slowly, throughout the presidencies of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, the goal of modernizing South Vietnamese society and containing communism became increasingly implemented by military means. Further, it seems clear that, regardless of how much effort the United States geared towards Vietnam, American defeat was inevitable. By Richard Nixon’s presidency, the initial modernization goals in Vietnam mattered only in so …

The Significance Of The Numbers Three, Four, And Seven In Fairy Tales, Folklore, And Mythology, Alonna Liabenow

Honors Projects

“Once upon a time … a queen was sitting and sewing by a window with an ebony frame. While she was sewing, she looked out at the snow and pricked her finger with the needle. Three drops of blood fell onto the snow” (Snow White 81). This is a quote which many may recognize as the opening to the famous fairy tale Snow White. But how many would take notice of the number three in the last sentence of the quote and question its significance? Why, specifically, did three drops of blood fall from the queen’s finger? The quote from …

A “Revolution Of The People”: Developing The Social Context Of The American Revolution, Alex Jablonski

Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Arius: A Classical Alexandrian Theologian, Matthew J. Thran

Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Metallurgy In The Roman Forts Of Scotland: An Archaeological Analysis, Scott S. Stetkiewicz

Honors Projects

Investigates the presence of metalworking in thirty-seven Roman forts in Scotland during the Flavian, Antonine, and Severan occupations largely through analysis of published documentation concerning relevant archaeological excavations.

Idealization And Desire In The Hundred Acre Wood: A.A. Milne And Christopher (Robin), Laura E. Bright

Honors Projects

Argues that A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner represent the conscious rejection, unconscious reproduction, and re-imaging of the author's traumatic Victorian childhood.

Die Darstellung Der Evangelischen Kirche Als Eine Neue Familie In Erich Loests Nikolaikirche, Beth A. Roberts

Honors Projects

Throughout the end of the 1980s the Lutheran Church in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) experienced a surge of attendance and social activism in an otherwise secularized society. Research shows that the church was the sole island of dissent within the communist GDR. St. Nicolas Church in the city of Leipzig became the prototype of social involvement; visionary pastors opened their doors to every citizen and provided a space for congregations to voice concerns, organize interest groups, and plan peace protests. The construction of an open environment in which citizens could speak and interact gave rise to a greater sense …

"You're Tearing Me Apart"! Investigating Ideology In The Image Of Teens In The 1950s, Danielle Bouchard

Honors Projects

Using cultural studies as a critical paradigm and ideological analysis as methodology, argues that gender, sexuality, and the nuclear family are core issues treated in two films and one television program from the 1950s featuring American teenagers. Focuses on the classic juvenile delinquent film, Rebel without a Cause, the quintessential clean teen film, Gidget, and the television series, Leave It to Beaver.

"So I Shall Tell You A Story:" The Subversive Voice In Beatrix Potter's Picture Books, Veronica Bruscini

Honors Projects

Describes how recent literary scholarship has begun to interpret the themes and topics found within the children's picture books of Beatrix Potter through the lens of the code-language in Potter's secret journal, deciphered and published by Leslie Linder in 1966. Analyzes three tales from Potter's collection of picture books, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The Tale of Two Bad Mice, and The Tale of Pigling Bland, to illustrate the ways these books continued to represent the social and personal observations, voicing subversive reactions to the excesses and hypocrises of Victorian culture, that Potter first began in her journal.

The Disney Strike Of 1941: From The Animators' Perspective, Lisa Johnson

Honors Projects

Identifies and explores the tensions that led to the Disney Strike of 1941. Demonstrates that this Strike exhibited different problems from those typical of strikes during the 1930s and early 1940s, especially regarding intellectual property rights, screen credit, and professional differences over standards of excellence.

Tattoo World, Agnieszka Marczak

Honors Projects

Presents a holistic look at the world of tattoo. Covers the history of the practice of tattooing in Europe, Asia, and the Pacific. Discusses such major issues as tattooing in relation to the body, authenticity, commodification and meaning, functions, medical and legal concerns, the impact of technological developments on the practice, and the increase in popularity of tattooing in recent decades.

Language, Gender And Identity In The Works Of Louise Bennett And Michelle Cliff, Nicole Branca

Honors Projects

Examines the writings of two female, Jamaican authors, Louise Bennett and Michelle Cliff. Bennett flourished during the period of de-colonization and independence for Jamaica, while Cliff came into prominence after Jamaican independence. Shows how both writers played an important role in helping Jamaica establish a national identity by focusing on multiple dimensions of what it means to be Jamaican, including issues of language, gender, and identity.

The Tanzimat And The Problem Of Political Authority In The Ottoman Empire: 1839-1876, Kevin Goodwin

Honors Projects

Examines reforms in the Ottoman Empire during the Tanzimat, 1839-1876, when the traditional system of government and politics was modified to reflect the challenges facing the Ottoman Empire from the expanding power and presence of European nations who were rapidly emerging as the most powerful nations in the world. Evaluates the different ideologies which emerged during the Tanzimat in terms of their content, which reflects a spectrum of influences ranging from the traditional Islamic framework of government and politics to that of 19th century Western assumptions and practices of government and politics. Delineates the degree to which these ideologies reflected …