History Commons^™

From Thermopylae To Leuctra: The Evolution Of The Spartan Military Ethos, Evan M. Smith

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

This paper examines the transformation of the Spartan military tradition from the Persian Wars to the Theban Ascendency. The Battle of Thermopylae marked the height of the Spartan military ethos. However, the strain of their military culture forced the Spartans to dilute their old mores over time. Their old cultural and military practices became unsustainable as military innovation increased. The Battle of Sphacteria clearly illustrated the deterioration of Spartan military ethos and the need for innovation. Straddling the line between tradition and innovation, Spartan military ethos received its death blow at the Battle of Leuctra.

Colonial Investments: The Global Coordinates Of The English Political Imaginary, 1628–1668, Nathan D. Nikolic

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The main question my dissertation attempts to address is: what role did the expansion of English colonial trades play in the transformation of English society and government between the Petition of Right and the early years of the Restoration (1628-1668)? My thesis is that during this period, colonial expansion rose to the level of a general national interest and that many early seventeenth-century texts index the complexities and tensions of this development. As a small but very organized group of merchants, peers, and MPs mobilized the military and financial technologies of colonization to support Parliament’s war against Charles I, their …

Take Back The Power: The Fall And Rise And Fall Of New York City's Transport Workers Union Local 100, 1975–2009, Marc Kagan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Take Back the Power: The Fall and Rise and Fall of Transport Workers Union Local 100, 1975-2009 tracks the history of this strategically significant union from the onset of New York City’s fiscal crisis in 1975 to the end, in 2009, of a second attempt to free transit workers from the grip of neoliberal economic austerity.

The first effort began in 1978 and culminated with the eleven-day 1980 transit strike, initiated by union dissidents over the opposition of the union president, but abruptly ended by him before a decisive victory could be won. That president, and his successors, reconciled themselves …

Publishing The Pan-Jewish: The First Hebrew Newspaper And Its Modernities, Philip E. Keisman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Publishing the Pan-Jewish emerges from a question about sites of synthesis between claims of sacred continuity and novel forms of communication. It centers on the first ten years of Hamagid (1856-1866), acknowledged within the historiography as history’s first Hebrew-language newspaper. Eliezer Lipman Silberman, an Orthodox butcher founded Hamagid in East Prussia as a bulwark of his vision of traditional Judaism. The first chapter of this dissertation examines the formal elements of the newspaper as a medium, demonstrating the myriad ways in which it presented novel experiences for its reading public. Chapter two narrates an untold history of the newspaper’s early …

The Confounding Body: Female Corporeality, Androgyny, And Disgust In The Work Of Virginia Woolf And Zinaida Gippius, Yelizaveta Shapiro

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The Confounding Body: Female Corporeality, Androgyny, and Disgust in the Work of Virginia Woolf and Zinaida Gippius examines how the discourses of degeneration, eugenics, and sexology shaped representations of women’s bodies in British and Russian modernist literature. Focusing on the writing of Zinaida Gippius (1869-1945) and Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), I challenge the longstanding argument that both authors attempted to escape the material body by resorting to androgynous tropes. I argue that the material female body takes center stage in both Gippius’s and Woolf’s work and functions as a powerfully paradoxical entity: one that generates disgust and enables oppression while housing …

Extraction, Property, And Rights In Southeastern Arabian Seascapes C.1820–Present, Scott Erich

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is a historical and ethnographic examination of fish, pearl, sponge, and oil extraction in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. These waters, which were fished and labored upon in much of the same way for millennia, have, in the last two centuries, undergone a sea change. Regimes of property and rights have transformed the ocean from a wild and undifferentiated space into a place which is enclosed, privatized, industrially fished, drilled, and otherwise despoiled. This dissertation, building on recent works in environmental history, Indian Ocean studies, and legal and economic anthropology, probes the many cultural, religious, social, …

Marriage Stories: Legal Reform And The Novel In France And Britain, 1780–1860, Tatiana Nunez-Bright

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

“Marriage Stories” analyzes connections between novelistic form, marriage law reform, and portrayals of virtue in texts by, among others, Stéphanie de Genlis, Mary Wollstonecraft, Sophie Cottin, Claire de Duras, Jane Austen, Honoré de Balzac, Sophie Doin, George Sand, Anne Brontë, and Gustave Flaubert. I argue that the novel was less concerned with abolishing or even critiquing marriage than it was with delineating “good” from “bad” unions, which in turn reflects contemporary discussions about marriage’s role in response to burgeoning social movements. My first chapter considers the epistolary novel in relation to the idea of spouses existing as “one body” culturally …

Reflections On The Digital Memory Of Trans-Atlantic Slavery, Vinh T. Pham

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Within the scope of digital humanities scholarship, this thesis interrogates ‘memory’ as a conceptual frame for remembering Black life, both past and present, in the face of missing historical data and in the afterlife of trans-Atlantic slavery. Such a concept—increasingly taken up as method in the humanities, along with related allusions to the ephemeral, spectral, or haunted—is sought to refuse historiographical and techno-scientific claims to empirical certainty or transparency, and instead affirm its gaps and absences as themselves productive sites for self-reflexive speculation on the complexities of lived experience. Applied to the digital study of trans-Atlantic chattel slavery, memory comes …

By The Word Of God Alone: Sola Scriptura And The Leaders Of The Reformation, Ning Xi

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

Prominent Reformers, such as Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, and Thomas Müntzer, had sharp disagreements on what parts of the Bible were the most important, what worship should look like, what is allowed and forbidden for Christians, the meaning of the most sacred rituals, whether there is any other source of communication between God and mortals besides the Scripture, and the relationship between believers and temporal rulers. By analyzing their commentaries and treatises on theological matters, one concludes that sola scriptura did more to divide the reformers than to unite them since anyone could find some part of the Bible to …

Up The Social Ladder: How Chinese Merchants Excelled Under The New Values Of Ming-Qing China, James B. Townsend

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

Ming China was a socially volatile period of Chinese history. Social distinctions were blurred as the merchant class rose to power to challenge old Confucian ideals in a commerce-based society. This paper examines what paved the road for the merchant class to rise, and how the non-elite empowerment shifted China's attitudes towards consumption and commerce.

The Lost Fortune Of The Virginiaman: Analyzing The History Of The Beale Ciphers Using Historical Land Grants, Simon E. Rosenbaum

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

Since the mid-19th century, the mystery of the Beale ciphers has confounded cryptanalysts, intelligence agencies, historians, and treasure hunters alike. Countless works of scholarship have analyzed the story, the ciphers, and possible locations for the massive buried treasure allegedly in rural Bedford County, Virginia. However, prior methodology applied to historiography on the subject has been unsuccessful in making headway in an understanding of the history and location of the Beale treasure. In examining prior scholarship in conjunction with recorded land grants and associated archaeological scholarship, this paper proposes a new direction for research into the Beale cipher mystery and new …

‘Following The Line Of Least Resistance’: African American Women In Domestic Work, 1899–1940, Taylor Simsovic

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

This paper examines the challenges faced by African American women employed in domestic service between 1899 and 1940, with a focus on how race, class, and gender intersected to shape their experiences. Specifically, the study investigates how these women continued to perform reproductive labor as they migrated from the South to Northern states during the Great Migration. Drawing on a range of primary and secondary sources, the analysis argues that Black women's persistent employment in undervalued labor within white American homes was driven by the mutually constitutive systems of capitalism, white supremacy, and patriarchy. These systems channeled Black women into …

‘Public Enemy Number One’: The Resistance Of Japanese Americans In Concentration Camps, 1942-1946, Robert K. Coleman

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

This paper explores the defiance of Japanese Americans who were unlawfully imprisoned in concentration camps during World War II, challenging the Model Minority Myth that portrayed them as docile and silent actors. Using court cases, personal stories, newspaper articles, and film analysis, the paper shows how Japanese Americans actively defied their unlawful situation and resisted their oppressors.

Who Is The “Superior Man”? The Ideal Of Junzi In The Analects Of Confucius, Elijah Vincent, Tyler Colopy, Stephen Hall

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

One of the central concepts in The Analects is junzi or "superior man,” namely a person who possesses moral and ethical qualities such as wisdom, integrity, and courage. The essays in this group aim to explore the authentic meaning of junzi and its modern relevance.

Review Of Crucible: The Year That Forged Our World, Timothy Li

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

The months between June 1947-1948, as Jonathan Fenby argues, was a pivotal moment in world history. This review will evaluate Fenby's work in 'Crucible' to conclude that Fenby is correct in this assessment. Moreover, this review will argue that 'Crucible' acts as a uniquely reactive portrait of international affairs between June 1947-1948, giving the post-revisionist school on the origins of the Cold War more credibility.

Justice, Pandemics, And Museums In Cyberspace: Archaeology Museums’ Decolonization Projects During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Samuel Besse

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This paper explores three Archeology Museums (Historic St. Mary’s City, James Madison’s Montpelier, and the American Museum of Natural History), their attempts at addressing the colonial narratives that museums are built on, and how the Covid-19 pandemic and protests over George Floyd’s death affected these projects. I place a special effort on the online presence of these museums, as this is the main way visitors interacted with the museums during the pandemic. After discussing the origins of museum’s decolonization efforts and their efforts to make an online presence, I talk about the Covid-19 pandemic and the events around George Floyd’s …

The Archival Impulse: English Family Record Keeping And Archives, Ca. 1450–1700, Maura Kenny

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

England in the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries witnessed a proliferation of documents arising from a growth in literacy and an expansion of state administrative offices. Scholarship on the archival history of this period has grown recently but it has focused mainly on institutional and state archives. Very little has been written about family or personal archives and the uses made of them. Based on modern archival theory and extensive archival research, this dissertation seeks to fill this gap by addressing the creation of family records and archives as a whole, exploring early modern English families as a “community of records.” …

Staging Nature: Performing Environmental Crises In War, Housing, And Labor, 1935–1990, Erik Barrett Wallenberg

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

“Staging Nature” examines how theater was used as a means for expressing environmental concerns in moments of environmental crisis in the United States. I begin with The Federal Theatre Project’s national tour of a performance addressing the metabolic rift in the divide between the city and country with a focus on the devastation of farmland in the Dust Bowl in the late 1930s. At the heart of the dissertation are three theater groups that start in the 1960s during the rise of the modern environmental movement. Chapters on Bread and Puppet Theater show that they make a name for themselves …

The State Of The Unions 2023: A Profile Of Organized Labor In New York City, New York State, And The United States, Ruth Milkman, Joseph Van Der Naald

Publications and Research

This report released by the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies, State of the Unions 2023: A Profile of Organized Labor in New York City, New York State, and the United States, is a part of an annual publication series, documents recent trends in unionization patterns. The overall level of unionization in both the City and State has been roughly double the national rate over the past two decades. But recently, union density has fallen more in New York City and New York State than in the United States as a whole. In the mid-2010s, both the City and …

Orang Tionghoa, Perkebunan Gambir, Lada Dan Kontestasi Di Tanjungpinang Abad Ke-19, Zulfa Saumia Zs

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

The Chinese have settled in Bintan Island since Zheng He’s great expeditions in the 15^th century. However, large-scale arrivals of the Chinese did not occur until in 1740. They worked as laborers in pepper and gambier plantations that belonged to Buginese nobles. Internal and external changes in the political landscape, as well as land and territorial tenures between the Hokkiens in Tanjungpinang and Teochews in Senggarang, added a new nuance to their roles as middlemen, land owners, and coolies in pepper and gambier plantations. This gave rise to contestation between these two ethnic groups. How did the land tenure …

Praktik Teater Postdramatik Di Indonesia, Afrizal H, Sahrul N, Yusril Yusril

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

The article entitled "Practice of Postdramatic Theater in Indonesia", is an examination of the practice of postdramatic theater in Indonesia in the 1990s to 2000s in Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, and even West Sumatra. This practice spawned generations that continue to grow and develop through aesthetics based on performance texts, outside of the conventional drama texts that we understand so far. Each theater community, regardless of whether it is postdramatic or not, has carried out an in-depth exploration and elaboration of all possible bodies, texts and artistic materials which are used as the main capital of performances. This study uses qualitative …

Perdagangan Perempuan Indonesia Dalam Situs Pengantin Pesanan: Perspektif Feminisme Sosialis, Wabilia Husnah

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

Mail-order bride websites can be easily found in cyberspace. These websites sell Indonesian women to Chinese men as wives. This study aims to explore the phenomenon of women cyber-trafficking in mail-order bride websites, especially the background of mail-order bride websites and their impacts on the victims. This qualitative research used the case study approach and the socialist feminism theory to investigate three mail-order bride websites. This study concludes that the oppression of women on mail-order bride websites is caused by long-standing patriarchy in Indonesia and China reflected in daily practices, cultural manifestations, and literary works in both countries. Capitalism has …

Tradisi Penculikan Pengantin Perempuan Dalam Film Alaa Kachuu: Representasi Ketidaksetaraan Gender Di Kirgizstan, Aprina Luzti Lubis, Mina Elfira

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

This research investigates how two movies, both entitled Ala Kachuu (2018 and 2002), represent ala kachuu, i.e. a tradition of bride kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan. Even though the Kyrgyz government has formally banned this practice since 2016, which is considered as a form of forced marriage, it still exists and is practiced by some Kyrgyz. This research used the qualitative method coupled with the mise-en-scène cinematographic technique. By using Stuart Hall’s representation theory (1997) and Mansour Fakih’s gender inequality theory (2008) as analysis tools, this study concludes that both movies represent ala kachuu as a tradition which promotes gender inequality. …

Toponim Wilayah Kota Pekanbaru: Etnisitas, Penggunaan Bahasa, Dan Campur Kode, Satwiko Budiono, Yenni Febtaria Wijayatiningsih, Imelda Yance

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

Urban areas have developed rapidly in terms of demography and culture. This is because urban areas attract people who are searching for higher income and a better life than those in rural areas. Demographical and cultural development in urban areas often affects local culture. One example can be found in Pekanbaru City, Riau Province, Indonesia. The Riau Malays, the city’s native ethnic group, no longer dominates the city’s demographical landscape. In fact, the Minangkabaus as a migrant ethnic group actually dominate Pekanbaru City. However, there is still a limited body of documentation of and research on the language and culture …

Perkembangan Musik Dan Budaya Hip-Hop Di Tiongkok: Eksistensi The Rap Of China Di Tengah Ketatnya Sensor, Matsnaa Chumairo, R. Tuty Nur Mutia

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

Hip-hop culture and rap music originated from the African-American community that emerged around the 1970s in New York City. Hip-hop started to enter PRC in the 1990s and continues to grow among the younger generation. A hip-hop talent search show titled The Rap of China, released in 2017, became very popular, bringing hip-hop music and culture to the fore. Unfortunately, it must eventually face PRC government’s intervention in its development. This article discusses the influence of Chinese government's censorship policies on the development of hip-hop music and culture in China. This case study was conducted using the historical approach, …

Rekonstruksi Sejarah Dalam Kumpulan Puisi Dari Batavia Sampai Jakarta Melalui Pembacaan Jauh Berbasis Korpus, Ananda Bintang Purwaramdhona, Mochamad Irfan Hidayatullah, Lina Meilinawati Rahayu

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

By applying the mixed research methods combining new historicism and digital humanities with AntConc-assisted distant reading techniques, this research aims to explore a reconstruction of Jakarta's history offered in From Batavia to Jakarta (1619–1999), a collection of poems by Zeffry J. Alkatiri. Results show that history can be reconstructed through the physical structure of narrative poetry represented by the dominant usage of pronoun "they" and intra-sentence conjunctions and prepositions such as "and", "in", and "the" instead of licentia poetica which can violate language rules. However, in the structural analysis, AntConc was not able to detect several linguistic aspects such …

Karakteristik Aksara Pakpak Berdasarkan Sumber Tertulis Di Dairi Dan Pakpak Bharat, Sumatera Utara, Churmatin Nasoichah, Ninny Soesanti Tedjowasono, Tomson Sibarani, Mehammat Br. Karo Sekali, Wahyu Rizky Andhifani, Lolita Refani Lumban Tobing

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

The Pakpak ethnic group occupy two areas in North Sumatra, namely Dairi and Pakpak Bharat, and speak a language with its own set of characters called the Pakpak script. This study discusses the Pakpak script characteristics and writing materials, and provides a compiled description of the Pakpak community in the past based on written sources. The purpose of this study is to determine the characteristics of the Pakpak script and provide a historical description of the ethnic group based on written sources. This study uses the exploratory inductive reasoning model. Results show that the Pakpak and Batak scripts share similar …

Representasi Jejak Memori Budaya Lokal Dalam Karya Performance Art Seniman Indonesia, Litya Ainunning Puri, Handriyotopo Handriyotopo, Khoirunnisa Qonita

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

This article offers an interpretation of performance artworks that serve as representations of local identity and values in the period of Indonesian new media artists. By emphasizing on local identity, this article seeks to reveal how artists respond to global challenges through artworks while capturing the aesthetics and values prevailing throughout Nusantara (the Indonesian archipelago). Additionally, this research offers an analysis of the timeline and geographic distribution of performers from the standpoint of the growth of new media art. Data were collected using a variety of methods, including observation, interview, and literature review involving both historical archives and literary works. …

Permainan Alegori Dalam Novel O Karya Eka Kurniawan, Indah Fadhilla

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

Fables typically attach human attributes to animal characters to convey moral messages and teachings, but a number of modern authors use animal characters in their literary works to criticize current sociocultural phenomena. One famous literary work that contains many forms of allegory about relationships between human and animal characters is O, a novel by Eka Kurniawan. Allegories in O are used to exhibit contradictions between humans and animals. Animal characters are presented as possessing human traits, bringing up the idea that animals can become ideal human beings (the concept of “being human”). Meanwhile, human characters are presented as possessing …

Leuit Sebagai Simbol Kearifan Lokal, Ria Intani Tresnasih, Lasmiyati Lasmiyati, Ani Rostiyati, Nina Merlina

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

Kasepuhan Citorek is centered in Citorek Village, Banten, West Java. The majority of the population are farmers. All harvested produces are only consumed as needed, so the excess rice is stored in a barn called leuit. Rice in leuits can last for more than ten years. This raises the question as to why the rice in leuits can last for so many years. This study aims to find out and explain the customary rules for using crops, the way to store and collect rice to and from leuits, and various aspects related to leuits, i.e. the accompanying …