History Commons^™

Following Through Dialogues: A Chinese Scholar’S Reminiscence Of Professor Liah Greenfeld, Xinqi Jia

Comparative Civilizations Review

Ordinarily, a Chinese teacher of ethics who had never set foot in a Western country before the age of forty and a Jewish-American sociologist born in the former Soviet Union would have no reason to cross paths. Yet, throughout 2010, they spent an entire year in Boston in close contact. Should anyone someday write a biography of the late Professor Liah Greenfeld, this story alone would be excellent material for exploring how her theory has influenced the world, and how, as an outstanding theorist, she continually expanded the boundaries of our understanding of it.

Liah Greenfeld On Antisemitism As A Defining Characteristic Of The Monotheistic Civilization, Efraim Karsh

Comparative Civilizations Review

One cannot overstate the scholarly and intellectual loss occasioned by the untimely death of Boston University Professor Liah Greenfeld. Through her prodigious interdisciplinary research, Professor Greenfeld has established herself as one of the foremost social science theorists of our time and a worthy heir to the great firstgeneration nationalism scholars, in particular Eric Hobsbawm, Ernest Gellner, and Anthony Smith.

Was Love Invented In Sixteenth-Century England? A Few Comments On Liah Greenfeld’S Theory Of Emotions, Dmitri Panchenko

Comparative Civilizations Review

According to Liah Greenfeld, there are three kinds of emotions. Primary emotions (such as pain, pleasure, fear, positive and negative excitement, hunger, and satiation) and secondary emotions (such as affection, sorrow, and anger) can be observed in both animals and humans. However, most human emotions ⎯ tertiary emotions ⎯ are more complex. “These, though not unusual among our pets, do not exist in the wild. Tertiary emotions are emotions such as love, ambition, pride, self-respect, shame, guilt, inspiration, enthusiasm, sadness, awe, admiration, humility and humiliation, sense of justice and injustice, envy, malice, resentment, cruelty, hatred; one can go on almost …

Front Matter

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Guest Editor’S Introduction: Liah Greenfeld And The Future Of Comparative Civilizational Studies, Monika Monika, Guest Editor

Comparative Civilizations Review

Every scholarly life leaves behind unfinished questions. Professor Liah Greenfeld was acutely aware of this. Throughout a career spanning more than four decades, her research never settled into the repetition of established arguments. Each major work emerged from the unresolved problems of the previous one, enlarging both the scope of its inquiry and the range of disciplines with which it engaged. Nationalism led her to questions of modernity (Greenfeld, 1992) and the foundations of economic development (Greenfeld, 2001). The growth of the modern economy and the emerging new forces of globalization, in turn, raised broader questions about the self and …

In Memoriam: Liah Greenfeld A Reflection From The President Of The Comparative Civilizations Forum, Bibi Pelić

Comparative Civilizations Review

It is with sorrow and gratitude that the Comparative Civilizations Forum dedicates this special 2026 Fall issue of the Comparative Civilizations Review to the memory of Professor Liah Greenfeld, who passed away in May of this year.

Professor Liah Greenfeld was a sociologist, an anthropologist, a political scientist — and more than any single label can hold. Across four decades at Harvard and then at Boston University, she built a body of work, from Nationalism: Five Roads to Modernity to The Spirit of Capitalism to Mind, Modernity, Madness, that stepped outside the boundaries the modern academy likes to draw. …

Liah Greenfeld: Scholar, Thinker, Friend, Joseph Drew

Comparative Civilizations Review

Professor Liah Greenfeld and I met several years ago when she submitted an article to the Comparative Civilizations Review. Her thoughtful demeanor and personal kindness to all were quickly evident, but so, too, was her scholarship, especially her probing theories of state, society, and civilization.

Full Issue

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.

Student Awards

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Awards for Outstanding Papers Written in 2025

Dam Negotiations: Water, Diné Sovereignty, And The Navajo Dam, George Smith

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

On July 30, 1958, contractors working for the Bureau of Reclamation broke ground on the Navajo Dam, located about 35 miles east of Farmington, New Mexico. Diné Tribal chairman Paul Jones had called the dam a “new hope for [his] people,” anticipating increased agricultural and industrial capacity from irrigation and flow management. Though officially approved in 1962, the contingent Navajo Indian Irrigation Project (NIIP) that was to provide those many of those benefits remained to be completed in 2024. By contrast, the San Juan Chama Project (SJCP), the other project contingent upon the dam, diverted water from the San Juan …

Marcion And The Crisis Of Second-Century Christianity, Samuel Petersen

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Almost a century after the death of Christ and his original apostles, the 2nd-century Judeo-Christian church found itself in a vicious struggle for survival catalyzed by an ongoing negotiation between the church’s traditional Jewish roots and establishing its own identity. The loose confederation of Jesus-believers fought to gather themselves into a functional body as they wrestled with questions surrounding the very nature of the Christian faith.

“No Hen Should Herald The Dawn Lest Misfortune Follow”: Gender, History, And Power Sima Guang’S Comprehensive Mirror, Zoe Ngan

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

It was not a particularly notable occasion when Emperor Gaozong 高宗 of the Tang dynasty (AD 618–907) established Wu Zetian 武則天 as a mid-ranked concubine in 654. Emperors, throughout Chinese history, were polygamous rulers who acquired no shortage of concubines per the Rites of Zhou 周禮, an ancient ritual text which proposed that rulers obtain 121 wives and consorts. Wu’s nomination signified the unpredictability of imperial favour and almost certainly did not turn heads when her appointment occurred.

“I, Too, Want To Be Free”: Women And The Birth Control Movement In Utah, 1914–1940, Evelyn Wilcox

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Like many other women, I too, want to be free,” explained a 33-year- old Utah woman in a 1925 letter to Margaret Sanger, a prominent leader in the birth control movement. This woman, whose name is unknown, was married to a 78-year- old man with whom, she thought, “in her ignorance,” that she would never have any children—she was proven wrong. With six children under the age of eight at the time and wanting to prevent having more, this woman’s predicament reflects Sanger’s mission to inform everyday women of birth control so they could make their own reproductive choices. After …

Christianity Behind The Iron Curtain: How Creative Arts Gave A Voice To The Voiceless, Riana Johnson Wills

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

In 1988, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) held celebrations across the Soviet Union to mark the Millennium of Christianity in Russia, commemorating a thousand years since the baptism of Rus in 988. While this was a monumental day for Christians, many believers across the Soviet Union felt a sense of dissonance. For decades, religious freedom and worship had not been privileges they enjoyed. Thousands of Christians suffered for their belief. The communist regime began in 1922 with Vladimir Lenin. The USSR built upon Marxist ideology where atheism is a fundamental and they expected nationwide compliance to these ideologies. …

Rationed Victory: A Study Of American Civilian Rationing In World War Ii, Alex Moulder

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

In any conflict or competition it is often said that the winner is “fueled to victory.” This could come as a result of training, diet, stamina, support from others, or sheer willpower. Even small variations in any of these elements can have significant consequences and affect outcomes. The same can be said about civilians during wartime, especially during the largest conflict of the twentieth century, World War II. The war cemented the United States as a global power, thanks in part to its massive economy, technologies, and industries, which helped to overcome the war of attrition against the Axis powers. …

“It Was The Women Who Kept It On”: The 1984–85 National Union Of Mineworkers Strike In Wales, Brett Bodily

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

On March 3rd, 1984, more than 140,000 miners, all members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) walked out on strike in protest of proposed colliery, or “pit” closures. Years of disputes culminated in a major showdown between the largest labor union in the United Kingdom and a resurgent national conservatism led by Margaret Thatcher— leader of the Tory party. The communities built around coal mining recognized the Tory pit closure plan for what it was—an existential threat to their way of life. Women within these communities rose to the occasion and took on leadership and organizational responsibilities, many for …

Leasing Land, Losing Sovereignty: Us Military Land Leasing In Okinawa, Japan, Kathryn Blau

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Military land leasing in Okinawa has played a central role in limiting Okinawan political sovereignty since the end of World War II by fostering economic dependence on US military bases and enabling policies that override local opposition. Tracing the evolution of the leasing system under both American occupation and Japanese administration reveals how land expropriation, compensation policies, and increasingly generous financial incentives encouraged reliance on base-related income while discouraging advocacy for land reversion and base reduction. The analysis further demonstrates how the Japanese government's legal enforcement of mandatory lease renewals, particularly during the 1996 Okinawa land dispute, curtailed the rights …

Editor's Preface, Gabe Smock

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

This editor's preface explores the origins and enduring mission of The Thetean, BYU's undergraduate history journal. Through archival research in the L. Tom Perry Special Collections, the journal's founding history is traced to its inaugural 1967 edition, revealing the origin, pronunciation, and meaning of its distinctive name as a reference to Phi Alpha Theta, the history honor society. The preface highlights the journal's longstanding commitment to encouraging scholarly research, providing publication opportunities, and introducing students to the work of historians. By recovering the journal's own history, it underscores the broader value of historical inquiry: understanding the past to better …

Front Matter

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.

Juanita Stout Ray: Life On The Frontier, A 20th Century Latter-Day Saint Woman's Life, Karen Glenn, John Murphy, Elspeth Rayback-Maxwell, Hallie Davidson

Faculty Publications

This exhibit explores the life of Juanita Stout Ray (1891-1954), a Latter-day Saint woman whose journals, letters, photographs, and family records provide a rare and intimate view of women's experiences in the early twentieth-century American West. Born in southern Utah and raised in a polygamous family, Ray spent part of her childhood in the Mormon colonies of northern Mexico before her family fled during the Mexican Revolution. Her life was shaped by many of the defining events of her era, including revolution, pandemic, economic hardship, world war, migration, and profound personal loss.

The exhibit traces Ray's experiences as a teacher, …

“Thomas Jefferson: America’S Flawed Founder Of Freedom.”, Jay H. Buckley

Faculty Publications

Thomas Jefferson was a deeply paradoxical figure—both a founding champion of liberty and a lifelong slaveholder—whose legacy must be understood in its full complexity. While he owned more than 600 enslaved people and participated in a system he publicly condemned, Jefferson consistently articulated and promoted ideals of natural rights, equality, and freedom that reshaped the United States and influenced democratic movements worldwide. He made repeated (though often unsuccessful) efforts to curb or end slavery through legislation, legal cases, and policy, including opposing the slave trade, limiting slavery’s expansion into western territories, and helping abolish the transatlantic slave trade. At the …

Full Issue

The Bridge

No abstract provided.

From Collection To Documentary: An Eventful Journey Of Developing And Managing The Wan-Go H.C. Weng Film Collection, Jim Cheng

Journal of East Asian Libraries

Experience, challenge, lesson, reward, and inspiration of developing and managing a special collection: Wan-go Weng Film Collection in a major research library.

From Zwingli’S Switzerland To The American South:, Celeste Carroll Onchuck

Swiss American Historical Society Review

“Here – here shall be my grave!” declared Rudi Gallmann, standing near Huldrych (or Ulrich) Zwingli and his comrades on the damp ground in the gently sloping Albis hills of the Zurich countryside on October 11, 1531. When the weather was clear and the sun shone over the towering Kappel monastery, one might be overcome with a sense of peacefulness, but that day, the clouds hung low, bringing light rain to accompany the winds that blew over the hillsides. Although morale was not at its zenith among the Protestant troops at Kappel am Albis that day, Gallmann and the others …

From Islands To Mountains:, Stephanie Velasco Poserio

Swiss American Historical Society Review

This reflection, by Ms. A. Martinez, a Filipino-American living and working in diversity education at a castle museum near Bern, Switzerland, highlights how cultural connections are maintained even when one is geographically distant from one’s country of origin. In addition to Ms. Martinez’s Filipino-American perspective, I met and interviewed others who shared their stories as Filipino or Filipino-Swiss migrants. The migration of Filipinos from the islands of the Philippines to the mountains of Switzerland illustrates a dynamic journey that began with labor migration in the early 1970s and reflects a vibrant diaspora today. This article presents a cultural and historical …

Hollywood’S Toughest Stunt Clan Comes From Gossau, Canton St. Gallen:, Roland Schäfli

Swiss American Historical Society Review

Hans Epper from eastern Switzerland conquered Hollywood as a stuntman in the 1930s. His descendants continue to perform death-defying stunts for Quentin Tarantino and Steven Spielberg to this day. A family history like something out of a movie.

When Hans Epper arrived in New York on Whit Monday (the day after Pentecost) in 1926, he gave his name as “John” to the immigration authorities.

He discarded “Hans” just as he wanted to discard his origins: his past in the eastern Swiss municipality of Gossau. An official at the town hall of the industrial village in St. Gallen had scribbled “Off …

Book Review, Marianne Derron

Swiss American Historical Society Review

As historian Jürg Flückiger writes in the title, this story is only “almost forgotten.” It is well known that during World War II, many foreign citizens who had ended up in Switzerland for a variety of reasons were interned there. While some were there voluntarily, fleeing the Nazis, others had ended up in Switzerland in the course of actual combat operations, but would have preferred to avoid this exile. This was the fate of a number of American fighter pilots whose planes had been damaged over Germany and had to make emergency landings in Switzerland.

Sahs Advisory Board, 2025–2028

Swiss American Historical Society Review

No abstract provided.

President’S Annual Report, Thomas Quinn Marabello

Swiss American Historical Society Review

The past year has been a very busy and fruitful one for the Swiss American Historical Society (SAHS), with many developments and achievements. We formed new partnerships, engaged in outreach, published a book, began our centennial plans, and gained 35 new members (many of whom are not Swiss)!

2025 began with us awarding a grant to Celeste Onchuck, an SAHS member and doctoral student who is writing her dissertation about Huldrych Zwingli and her ancestors, the Gallmann family who immigrated to South Carolina (her article exploring some of this is in this issue). The grant allowed Celeste to travel to …