History Commons^™

A Presidential Paradigm Shift: Changes In Presidential Rhetoric Regarding Cuba, Alyssa Chellan Dixon

Honors Program Theses

On March 22, 2016, United States President Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro sat side-by-side in the Estadio Latinoamericano baseball stadium, watching the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cuban national team face off in a historic game. Such an event would have been unprecedented in the several decades prior to its occurrence. Indeed, though at the U.S.-Cuba game Obama and Raúl Castro were even as friendly to have participated in doing “the wave” together,ii relations between the U.S. and Cuban governments were anything but, even during the preceding U.S. presidency of George W. Bush.

The United States has had a …

"A Special Program For Highly Gifted Students:" The Evolution And Growth Of Uni's Honors Program, 1959-2009, Matthew Christian Miller

Honors Program Theses

In 1959, the faculty of the Iowa State Teachers College (ISTC), what is now known as the University of Northern Iowa (UNI), approved the creation of an honors program for gifted students, those who performed “above the norm for their age.”¹ Over the next 50 years, this program’s structure evolved and expanded to meet the changing needs of both the university and students from various backgrounds. The UNI Honors Program’s creation and evolution were not isolated events; rather, they reflected various local and national trends in education. UNI’s first honors program began as a reflection of ideas promoted by …

Clean Up Our Home: Ellen Swallow Richards' Human Ecology And Emerging Environmental Ideologies, 1890-1915, Raeann Lillian Swanson

Honors Program Theses

In the late 1880s, after years of study and hard work, Ellen Richards began publishing her ideas on the home and the natural and urban environment. She called for the knowledge of basic scientific principles to be available to everyone. She believed that ignorance was holding back the public from altering their environment to make life healthier, happier, and safer. Over one hundred years later, Malcolm Gladwell wrote the book The Tipping Point. In his book, Gladwell explores the Broken Windows Theory that social scientists claimed they developed in the 1980s. The Broken Windows Theory states that there is a …

Uni's Dance Craze: A Psychological Analysis And Creative Documentary On 'The Interlude Dance' And 'The Dance Party', Ian Goldsmith

Honors Program Theses

The UNI campus has been part of an epidemic: a dance epidemic. “The Interlude Dance” and “The Dance Party” are two recent dance phenomena that have played a major role in my undergraduate experience. I sought to study these phenomena through an analytical approach. I sought to determine the psychosocial factors that lead to the initial and continuing success of “The Interlude Dance” and “The Dance Party”, and to build conceptual connections between both phenomena. This creative-research hybrid project culminated in a documentary short-film.

The Chicago Americanization Movement: Solutions To The Immigrant Problem, Heather Greel

Honors Program Theses

Our nation is in the midst of an increase in immigration from Mexico, an increase which many policy makers have called a “crisis”. This “crisis” has left our nation, and specifically educators, asking, “What do we do with these millions of immigrants, and their children, who are so different from us?” This concern over an influx of “others” is the basis of a long struggle between the native-born and immigrants. In fact, the rhetoric used today in reference to the current “immigrant problem” is a direct reflection of the ideas developed one hundred years ago, during the first Americanization movement …

"With A Woman's Bitterness": Early Propaganda Against Female Rulers In Medieval Chronicles In The Twelfth And Fifteenth Centuries, Elizabeth Anne Wiedenheft

Honors Program Theses

In reading the descriptions of the Empress Matilda and Queen Margaret of Anjou by their contemporaries, it is clear that their male counterparts were threatened by their attempts to participate in the politics and governance of England. It is also clear that male rulers believed that these two women's use of power was a usurpation of the traditional gender hierarchy. Therefore, male chroniclers, living contemporaneously with either the Empress Matilda of Queen Margaret, created descriptions of them that reflected the propaganda promulgated against them during their lifetimes. This propaganda imposed a strict dichotomization of gender roles in order to prevent …

Raising Good Soviets: Media Depictions Of Soviet Life And Upbringing Under Khrushchev, Chelsea Miller

Honors Program Theses

Policies on education and upbringing affected almost every individual in the Soviet Union, from the youngest child to the oldest pensioner. These policies reflected the current ideological path of the party and the need to train the children to accomplish the country’s goals. On a more personal level, these policies helped the children evolve into successful adults able to easily enter the workforce. When the public saw that these policies were not being enforced or implemented, they expressed their dissatisfaction. These individuals were able to safely voice their criticisms by pointing out the educational system’s failures within the ideological framework …

Bad Reputations: A Discussion Of Gender Norms And Personas Created And Performed In Courtly (And Not So Courtly) Lyrics, Rebecca Ann Bohnet

Honors Program Theses

From 1000 CE to 1250 CE in Occitan, a literary tradition developed in the culture of the nobility and the courts. The courtly lyric tradition grew out of a unique cultural setting that allowed for the growth of a group of poets known as troubadours to write their courtly love lyrics in praise of the idealized lover. These were performed at the courts for the nobility as a source of entertainment and dealt with themes of angst, jealousy, and of course, love, among others. These troubadours produced a large number of works, in a wide range of genres, such as …

Women's Labor Force Participation In Spain: An Analysis From Dictatorship To Democracy, Kristi Philips

Honors Program Theses

In Spain, women’s labor force participation has drastically shifted in the decades since Francisco Franco’s dictatorship collapsed. Changes in government policy and evolving social attitudes have affected the treatment of women and their access to economic opportunities. Using The World Bank and OECD labor force statistics for Spain, this study compares Spain’s historical data with that of France, Germany and Portugal. My results suggest that the dictatorship inhibited women’s labor force participation in Spain in contrast to nearby countries over the same period.

Primary Source Use In High School History Classrooms: Categories, Frequency, And Assessment, Michaela Goblirsch

Honors Program Theses

Throughout this thesis project, I will research the many various forms of primary sources as well as a variety of assessment styles. By reviewing literature and analyzing results from a survey of high school history teachers, I will discover the manner and scope in which primary sources are used in history classes. Also, I hope to determine which primary sources students respond best to, taking into account their age and gender. Teachers will be able to use this information to construct more engaging and challenging lesson plans featuring primary sources. Knowing which types of primary sources are most effective for …