History Commons^™

The Thalidomide Tragedy And The United States, Kaylee J. Rice

Tenor of Our Times

This paper attempts to give a brief history of the drug Thalidomide, from its initial market success to the discovery of its relationship to infant birth defects, as well as arguing that it was the thalidomide tragedy in Europe that prompted the United States to enforce stricter drug testing laws. It proceeds by explaining the uses and side effects of thalidomide, as well as the sudden outbreak of phocomelia that swept across Europe after the drug became popular. The paper then concentrates on the relatively less severe phocomelia outbreak in the United States, attributing it to the work of Dr. …

Review Of A Better War: The Unexamined Victories And Final Tragedy Of America’S Last Years In Vietnam, L. Olivia Womack

Tenor of Our Times

This article presents a summary and analysis of A Better War: The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of America’s Last Years in Vietnam by Lewis Sorley.

The Evolution Of The Bible In The English Language, Austin Taylor

Tenor of Our Times

While the Bible has been accessible for thousands and thousands of centuries, the introduction of an English translation is somewhat of a fairly modern innovation. The translation of the Holy Scriptures into the vernacular was a dangerous and risky endeavor, and the proponents of giving the Bible to the masses gave their literal blood sweat and tears to accomplish their mission. From early translations by Aelfric to the King James Bible, the story of the Bible in English is a saga of determination and faith.

Reports From The United States Of North America On Railroads, Steamship Travel, Banks And Other Public Undertakings By Franz Anton Ritter Von Gerstner And Description Of A Journey Through The United States Of North America By Clara Von Gerstner, Née Von Epplen-Härtenstein Translated, With An Introduction, By Steven Rowan, Steven Rowan, Franz Anton Ritter Von Gerstner, Clara Von Gerstner, Née Von Epplen-Härtenstein

History Faculty Works

What follows contains a translation of the Berichte aus den Vereinigten Staaten von Nordamerika… [= Reports from the United States of North America] by Franz Anton Ritter von Gerstner, published in Leipzig in August 1839, and posted on the website of “austrian literature online.” It is the companion piece to two other classics of contemporary travel literature, one of them Ritter von Gerstner’s massive description of the transportation system of the United States published by F. A. von Gerstner’s assistant, Ludwig Klein,1 as well as the touching detailed travel narrative of his widow, Clara von Gerstner, Beschreibung einer Reise durch …

On The Global Hot Seat: University Presidents In The Global 1968, Deborah Cohen, Lessie Frazier

History Faculty Works

The claim that ’68 was global has become axiomatic. How so, for whom, with what impact? Scholars have productively pursued two scales of analysis: grassroots and geopolitical. While student movements have been the premier instance of the more socio-cultural scale, seldom has their mobilization been analyzed vis-à-vis the ostensibly more macro scale of supra-state entitie. Intermediaries between these sectors, leaders of major universities occupied an acutely uncomfortable, pivotal place. Through historical analysis based on archival research (on the biographies of university administrators, student movements, and media debates) the Global 1968 is here considered from the perspective of higher education administrators …

Modern Charity: Morality, Politics, And Mid-Twentieth Century Us Writing, Matt Bryant Cheney

Theses and Dissertations--English

Scholars over the past two decades (Denning, Szalay, Edmunds, Robbins) have theorized the different ways literature of the Mid-Twentieth Century reflects the dawn of the liberal US welfare state. While these studies elaborate on the effect rapidly expanding public aid had on literary production of the period, many have tended to undervalue the lingering influence on midcentury storytelling of private charity and philanthropy, those traditional aid institutions fundamentally challenged by the Great Depression and historically championed by conservatives. If the welfare state had an indelible impact on US literatures, so did the moral complexity of the systems of charity and …

History Speaks From The Soil: A Case Study Of Commons Enclosure In The Clearance Era On North And South Uist, Anna Rachel Herrington

Theses and Dissertations--History

This thesis argues that commons enclosure in the Clearance Era on the Uist island group in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland was a direct result of the Clearances on those islands in the 18^th and 19^th centuries and how the enclosure of commons on these islands was catastrophic to those communities who had functioned, worked, and thrived in those regions for millennia. Commons and commons systems are those resources such as land, water, and produce either from agriculture or natural harvesting which contribute to human habitation and existence in a particular geographic area. Commons and commons systems on …

In Black And White: Richmond’S Monument Avenue Recontextualized Through The Photographic Archive, Charlsa Anne Hensley

Theses and Dissertations--Art and Visual Studies

The release of the Monument Avenue Commission Report in July, 2018 was the culmination of over one year of research and collaboration with community members of Richmond, Virginia on how the city should approach the contentious history of Monument Avenue’s five Confederate centerpieces. What the monuments have symbolized within the predominately rich, white neighborhood and outside of its confines has been a matter of debate ever since they were unveiled, but the recent publicity accorded to Confederate monuments has led to considerations by historians, city leaders, and the public regarding recontextualization of Confederate monuments.

Recontextualization of the monuments should not …

Rayford B. Taylor Collection: Finding Aid, Bethany Latham

Finding Aids

The collection this finding aid references contains notes, correspondence, student papers and bibliographies, newspaper clippings, and photos (primarily of historic antebellum Alabama structures) taken by JSU History and Foreign Language Department faculty member Dr. Rayford B. Taylor (d. 2002). The photographs have been digitized (they can be viewed in the Historical Image Collection), and the tangible materials referenced in the finding aid are located in the Library's 10th floor Alabama Gallery Special Collections.

Ursinus Magazine, Winter 2019, Brock Blomberg, Ed Moorhouse, Jack Croft, Geoff Gehman, Mary Lobo, Dorinda Ma

Ursinus Magazine, 1995–Present

Giddens to speak at Commencement • Launching the Commons • Research with heart • Ursinus celebrates MLK Week • Ursinus hosts 20th Snell-Shillingford Symposium • Getting to know: Aubrey Paris '15 • Office space: The flyman • The next frontier • An Ursinus Quest • Poetic devices • Expanding our digital footprint • Art and architecture • Lost and found • IDC dedication ceremony • Class notes • Births • Deaths • In memoriam • Weddings • Let's get social! • The Bear network

The Homecoming Of The Negro Spirit: Black Spiritual Intelligence As A Structural Form Of Intelligence, Quincy Brown

CMC Senior Theses

In Is Spirituality an Intelligence? Motivation, Cognition, and the concern of Psychology of Ultimate Concern, Robert Emmons develops a case for spirituality as a form of intelligence. His thesis claims that spiritual intelligence is a “set of capacities and abilities that enable people to solve problems and attain goals in their everyday lives”: “the capacity for transcendence; the ability to enter into heightened spiritual states of consciousness; the ability to invest everyday activities, events, and relationships with a sense of the sacred; the ability to utilize spiritual resources to solve problems in living; and the capacity to engage …

Evolving Conceptions Of Sovereignty As Applied To Membership In International Organizations, Luke C. Radice

CMC Senior Theses

In the current international climate, both nations and individuals increasingly question both the validity and necessity of international organizations. This paper seeks to answer some of those questions, and to determine why countries choose to surrender significant portions of the national power that they are afforded under traditional perceptions of “Westphalian sovereignty”. This question is answered through an analysis of historical political thought on the concept of Sovereignty, then is applied to two case studies: the United Nations and the European Union, in which the benefits and downsides of surrendering sovereignty are discussed. Ultimately, this thesis concludes that the concept …

Interactions Of War: Exhibiting World War Ii And The Holocaust, Taylor Aspinwall

Theses and Dissertations

This paper discusses the use of interactive elements in museums that deal with difficult subject matter, such as war or genocide. This research involves interviews with museum personnel at the Columbus Museum in Columbus, Georgia, the National Infantry Museum in Columbus, Georgia, the Museum of History and Holocaust Education in Kennesaw, Georgia, and the World War II Home Front Museum in St. Simons Island, Georgia. This research also discusses the design of a potential exhibit using interactives about women in the resistance movement during Nazi occupation.

Empire Of Style: Silk And Fashion In Tang China, Buyun Chen

History Faculty Works

Tang dynasty (618–907) China hummed with cosmopolitan trends. Its capital at Chang’an was the most populous city in the world and was connected via the Silk Road with the critical markets and thriving cultures of Central Asia and the Middle East. In Empire of Style, BuYun Chen reveals a vibrant fashion system that emerged through the efforts of Tang artisans, wearers, and critics of clothing. Across the empire, elite men and women subverted regulations on dress to acquire majestic silks and au courant designs, as shifts in economic and social structures gave rise to what we now recognize as precursors …

Test 2216: Kubota M7-172, Nebraska Tractor Test Lab

Nebraska Tractor Tests

ABOUT THE TEST REPORT AND USE OF THE DATA The test data contained in this report are a tabulation of the results of a series of tests. Due to the restricted format of these pages, only a limited amount of data and not all of the tractor specifications are included. The full OECD report contains usually about 30 pages of data and specifications. The test data were obtained for each tractor under similar conditions and therefore, provide a means of comparison of performance based on a limited set of reported data. EXPLANATION OF THE TEST PROCEDURES Purpose The purpose of …

Uncovering Alice Bag: An Alternative Punk History, Emily Macune

Scripps Senior Theses

The intention of this thesis is to provide an alternative counter-narrative to the mainstream histories of punk that center white men. By focusing on the contributions of fem queer and POC punks, I aim to legitimize punk music as a form of resistance against systems of oppression that are oppositional to the commodified forms of mainstream punk. Using Alice Bag, as my central case study as a fem queer punk that is often left out of punk historical narratives, I contextualize her work through feminist, queer, and media studies lenses to bridge the gap between academia and forgotten personal experience.

Historicizing Sexual Violence Against Native American Women: Colonization, Intracommunal Shifts, And Creative Forms Of Discourse, Martha Bono

Scripps Senior Theses

The sexual assault and gendered violence Native American women face has started to garner attention from politicians, newspapers, and Hollywood producers. Most of today's discourse, however, ignores history. My historical analysis reveals how sexual violence against Indigenous women has been institutionalized since the very first days of colonization, and how these institutions ensured gendered violence would endure over time. First, I analyze how gender roles within Indigenous communities, specifically the Cherokee, led to Native women's subjugation and enabled intracommunal violence. Next, I examine particular federal Indian policies that have created a complex system of jurisdictional conflict that prevents tribal governments …

Camino A La Interseccionalidad: Una Aproximación Al Desarrollo De Ideas Feministas En La España Contemporánea, Kierra Mitchell

Scripps Senior Theses

Esta tesis utiliza la interseccionalidad como lente para hacer un análisis de los textos culturales y activistas para explicar cómo se manifiestan las ideas feministas en estos dos períodos cruciales de avance del feminismo en España: el primer cuarto del siglo veinte y las primeras décadas del siglo veintiuno. La interseccionalidad sirve como una prisma de análisis que permite entender los sistemas hegemónicos de poder. Esta tesis analiza ejemplos de textos y demandas que ilustran las preocupaciones y aparatos ideológicos que sustentan diferentes aproximaciones al feminismo en estas dos épocas. Un interés específico, en especial en la segunda parte, es …

In Sickness And In Health: Conceptions Of Disease And Ability In Presidential Bodies, Megan Gratke

Scripps Senior Theses

How has the connection between health and eligibility of the President of the United States been formed over time? This thesis uses Presidents Taft, Wilson, and Roosevelt to examine the history of disease and ability in presidential body politics, exploring the representation of the body in the highest position of America.

George Eliot’S Middlemarch And Florence Nightingale: Friendship And Respect Influences Reform In Sanitation, Hospitals, And The Training Of Nurses, Kerrie A. Patterson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

George Eliot and Florence Nightingale were certainly two of the most influential women of their Era. George Eliot was known for her genius at writing intelligent novels that address societal and historical issues, and Florence Nightingale was known for her work in sanitation reform, hospital design, and as the founder of nursing as a profession. These two women met when they were thirty two years old, and from that meeting onwards, they shared a friendship and a high regard for each other’s work. This paper explores the influence that Nightingale had on George Eliot’s novel, Middlemarch, and it explores the …

A Musical-Historical Study Of Italian Influences In Three Regina Caeli Of The French Baroque Period, Marie-France Duclos

Theses and Dissertations--Music

The French baroque petit motet was the most prolific genre of seventeenth-century France. In this study, three petits motets, specifically Regina caeli settings of French composers Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Nicolas Bernier and François Couperin are examined with an emphasis on the motets’ historical context in relation to the French monarchy and the Italian concepts that the composers incorporated into each work. All three Regina caeli settings display some Italian compositional techniques of the stile moderno in various degrees and were written in different contextual ecclesiastic milieux.

The intersections of, as well as distinctions between, musical ideas of traditional French style …

Intersectionality In The Contemporary Women’S Marches: Possibilities For Social Change, Sujatha Moni

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

The Women’s Marches of January 2017 and 2018 were some of the largest mass demonstrations in history. They represent an important stage in the American feminist movement in its current iteration. Unlike the first and second waves of the movement, which were led by privileged class cisgender white women, the leadership of these marches includes women of color who have brought a vision of intersectionality and diversity to the marches. Banners covering a wide range of issues including reproductive choice, #MeToo, equal pay, Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ rights, and support for immigrants, became the hallmark of these marches. Is the …

Bad Gurley Feminism: The Myth Of Post-War Domesticity, Erin Amann Holliday-Karre

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

According to feminist history, the 1950s constitute a lapse in feminist literature as women in the post-war era were ushered into the realm of domesticity. In this article I argue that this perceived literary “gap” was both created and perpetuated by feminist historians and scholars who insist that Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique (1963) was the defining feminist text of the time. I offer an alternative discourse to that of Friedan by presenting feminist writers who challenge, rather than adopt, masculine ideology as the means to women’s empowerment. I end by encouraging feminists to allow commonly dismissed feminists from the …

Introduction To Feminism And The Academy Today: A Graduate Forum, Kara Watts, Heather Turcotte

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Against All Odds: A Legacy Of Appropriation, Contestation, And Negotiation Of Arab Feminisms In Postcolonial States, Hoda Elsadda

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

Arab feminists have always faced challenges related to the burden of colonialism, accusations of westernization, isolation from their cultural heritage, and elitism, but the biggest challenge of all has been the fact that their activism and their entire lives have all been in the context of authoritarian postcolonial states. This article engages with a persistent challenge to Arab feminists that questions their impact, their awareness of their cultural and societal problems, and undermines their achievements over the years. It constructs a narrative of what feminists have achieved against all odds, within the constraints of authoritarian postcolonial states that have politically …

"Excellent Propaganda" Zbigniew Brzezinski's Narrative For The Soviet Invasion Of Afghanistan, Matt Mulhern

Dissertations and Theses

My focus is Cold War, and my thesis is about Zbigniew Brzezinski's larger geopolitical vision and objectivesforthePersian Gulf region, including how he used the Afghan war to pursue those objectives, and how important his willful misunderstanding of Soviet intentions in Afghanistan was to the legacy of America’s involvement in that nation’s affairs.

The Battle Over The Canal: The Dispute Between Sister Cities That Shaped The Future Of The Twin Ports, Parker Bertel

Departmental Honors Projects

In 1870 two towns emerged on the northwestern head of Lake Superior. Both sought to take advantage of the only sandy and protected bay on the great northern lake. Superior WI, on the southern end of the bay, was situated at the only natural entrance to the harbor. In the fall of 1870 the residents of Duluth, MN, located on the northern Minnesotan shore, began digging a canal to rival Superior’s entrance. The result was a dispute between the two towns that lasted several years. Both towns fought tirelessly to fulfill what they saw as their destiny to become the …

Ciudadanos: Constructing The Nation At The Margin Of The State In Venezuela, Colombia, And Mexico, 1846-1870, Duncan Riley

Departmental Honors Projects

Recently, there has been significant historical inquiry into the political role plebeians played in early republican Latin America. However, the role of plebeians in liberal nation-building efforts in the early 19^th century has received far less attention. This study addresses this question through case studies of Ezequiel Zamora in Venezuela, Ramón Mercado in Colombia, and Juan Álvarez in Mexico. Each of these men, as local leaders of liberal societies in rural areas, interacted directly with plebeians in their efforts to build national liberal political movements, acting as mediators between national liberal parties and their plebeian supporters. Through this interaction …

“It’S In The Blood”: American Working-Class Identity And Memory Within Transformations Of Capitalism, Andy Stec

Departmental Honors Projects

This case study of northeastern Minnesota examines the economic, social, and cultural consequences of deindustrialization as it occured in the 1970s and 1980s. Operating under the understanding that deindustrialization is a symptom of the latest systemic transformation in capitalism, this case study helps us understand the interplay between global restructurings of world capitalism and the voices on the ground - those workers and residents in communities caught up in the sweeping tide of industrial decline. Through national, regional, and labor newspapers, recorded interviews, and interviews carried out by the author this research illuminates a particular reaction to economic decline: the …

The Slaughterhouse Cases: “Unforeseen” Consequences And Public Reaction, Gavin Jensen

Departmental Honors Projects

This Project focuses on the Slaughterhouse Cases, the ramifications of the Supreme Court decision, and the reaction to the decision from the public. The Slaughterhouse Cases were a series of cases originating in New Orleans around the year 1869. The white, French butchers inside the city of New Orleans had been creating a sanitary and health issue for the city for decades. The lack of ways to dispose of offal and inedible product mixed with general apathy from the butchers as to how their practices were impacting the city led to widespread cholera epidemics.

To solve this issue the newly …