History Commons^™

The Camden Burial Project, Part I: Background And Preliminary Results, James B. Legg

Faculty & Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

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 …

On Civilizational Strategic Studies, Stephen T. Satkiewicz

Comparative Civilizations Review

Given the on-going crises around the world, especially the current war in Ukraine, it has become imperative to analyze the strategic interests of the major geopolitical players in the world. Samuel P. Huntington formulated his controversial “Clash of Civilizations” thesis almost thirty years ago, but this topic has received a resurgence of interest due to Christopher Coker’s research on “civilizational states.” Coker takes this concept a bit further by arguing that different geopolitical actors disagree on how the world should be ordered.

Now is perhaps the most opportune time to examine the relevance of civilizations as well as civilizational theory …

Ursinus Magazine, Spring 2023, Robyn E. Hannigan, Ed Moorhouse, Ben Seal, Steve Neumann, Christopher J. Tralie, Talia Argondezzi

Ursinus Magazine, 1995–Present

Best of our Bears • Ursinus scholars abroad • Investing in Ursinus • Celebrating student research • Berman timepiece hits century mark • Getting to know: Jesse Wun • Office space: Elle Potruch • A gateway to community: Your college in the 'ville • Diving deep with data: The conservation numbers game • Setting the scene • Commencement 2023 • Class notes • Marriages • Births • In memoriam • Burning question: Do chatbots like ChatGPT encourage students to cheat?

May We Remember How The Great War Changed The Practice And Ceremony Of American Memorialization In Norfolk County, Massachusetts, 1868-1939, Grace Heffernan

History & Classics Undergraduate Theses

The emotional and psychological damage wrought by the Great War has long been rendered exceptional. The sheer numbers of dead and wounded coupled with new kinds of wounds – physical, emotional, psychological – perhaps justify this view. Yet in declaring that the Great War was a shock, a watershed, a tragedy, there is an implicit presupposition that some kind of precedent existed. As long as war had existed, so too did loss, grief, and mourning. The Great War did not introduce human sorrow to the world, though perhaps it altered human remembrance. When American families grieved their loved one, was …

The Christmas Never Forgotten: December 1914, Michael Facenda

History & Classics Undergraduate Theses

No abstract provided.

“A Scepter Of Terror Or A Sword Of Freedom”: Elaine Brown’S Time In The Black Panther Party, Maeve Plassche

History & Classics Undergraduate Theses

This project highlights the activism of Elaine Brown, who was the only female chairperson of the Black Panther Party. It looks to enhance the way in which the Black Panther Party is remembered, by placing gender and gender relations in the center of the conversation. Even though women were crucial participants in the Party, they often did not receive the respect that their male counterparts did, and the historical scholarship, using male-centered sources, reiterates this point. While conducting research in the Dr. Huey P. Newton records, located the Stanford Libraries, I delved into the newspapers, internal Black Panther Party documents, …

The Formation Of A Hellenic Identity: The Impact Of Herodotus On The Ancient Greek And The Reception Of His Histories, Conor James

History & Classics Undergraduate Theses

The ethnic identity of the ancient Greek is a complicated idea that developed over hundreds of years unbeknownst to the communities that would one day be identified as ‘Hellenes.’ The advent of the polis in the Archaic era was followed by nearly three hundred years of rapid development within the scattered communities of ancient Greece before conflict with the Persian Empire necessitated inter-polis cooperation. This phenomenon prompted a movement in which the aspects of life that were once viewed as mere similarities between different societies were clung to and presented as proof of a common ethnic identity that called for …

I-195 In Providence, Rhode Island: Urban Development Or Dislocation?, Alec Fraggos

History & Classics Undergraduate Theses

In 1939, as the effects of the 1938 New England Hurricane that devastated much of Rhode Island, it became painfully evident to Providence city officials that it needed a better system of highways and bridges. More than this, because several Rhode Islanders had died while evacuating, the state made a concerted effort to build more and better highways. As the U.S. joined the war effort, the possibility of another failed evacuation caused a panic among city officials that continued to drive the placement of urban highways in Providence. With changes in the city’s landscape and major shifts in demographics, Providence …

When The Silenced Became The Voice: Argentina’S Military Dictatorship And The Fight For Memory And Justice, Brigid Mcevoy

History & Classics Undergraduate Theses

No abstract provided.

A Soldier And A Statesman: The Evolution Of George Washington’S Political And Military Career During The Encampment At Valley Forge, Dean Costalas

History & Classics Undergraduate Theses

Toward the end of 1777, George Washington was burdened with major obstacles on his path to becoming not only a victorious general, but a political figurehead for the budding United States Government. Mounting losses, men in disarray, and a lack of resources all led him into dire straits as his army huddled together for a long, solemn winter at Valley Forge. The result was a contentious relationship between Washington and the Continental Congress, an already strained dynamic thanks to Congress’ lack of efficiency in getting Washington the necessary supplies to equip and care for his men. And while he is …

Redefining Roman Women: Powerful Benefactresses & Patrons Of The Early Roman Empire, Jacqueline Elia

History & Classics Undergraduate Theses

The history of the Roman Empire has thus far been largely dominated by male narratives. With ancient literary sources predominantly having been written by and for wealthy male audiences, a dangerously limited scope of the Roman Empire has been perpetuated as marginalized groups such as women have been left out of the historical record. Despite what mainstream history has been led to believe by authors such as Livy and Tacitus, Roman women were not simply one-dimensional, domestic creatures who acted as passive witnesses to male dominance. Rather, middle-elite women throughout the empire frequently existed outside the bounds of the domestic …

Obelisks And The Power Of Monument, John Brockelman

History & Classics Undergraduate Theses

Obelisks were massive granite spires erected to honor the Egyptian sun god Ra and to glorify the individual kings who ordered their construction. Obelisks served to syncretize both king and god to reflect the divinely-ordained position kingship held within Egyptian society. By the New Kingdom period, kings used obelisks to adorn their tombs and temples, replacing the much larger and more expensive pyramid tombs of the Old Kingdom. Eventually, Egypt’s power faded, and most obelisks fell into disrepair, all but lost to time. That was until the arrival of Augustus, the first emperor of Rome. With the defeat of his …

The Americans Progress Forgot? An Interdisciplinary Study Of The Role Of Media In Opiate Politics, Rachael M. Erickson

Senior Theses

The most recent opioid crisis in the United States was largely described, by politicians, the media, and subsequently members of the voting public, as being an issue primarily affecting rural White communities. This phenomenon is shaped by the fact that the rate at which White Americans use opiates is outpaced by the frequency with which White American use of opiates is described as an issue of human interest in opinion or editorial articles in news media. In this thesis I aim to understand how the racialized public and political perception of opiate use is shaped by local media.

The following …

Men's Basketball Uniforms Throughout History, Laney E. Manware

DWC Colloquium “Race, Gender, and Sports: The Importance of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DWC 202 C31) Academic Posters

No abstract provided.

'The Frank Exchange': A Historical Drama Novella, Ariel Finkle

Senior Honors Projects

I am an avid fan of historical fiction books such as The Royal Diaries. But given the recent popularity of more adult royal drama series like The Great, as well as impostor true crime shows like Inventing Anna, on this project I set out to create a historical fiction drama of my own. While searching for a real-life figure to base my story on, I happened to see a quick footnote at the bottom of an article on Catherine the Great that intrigued me. At the turn of the 18th century, an ordinary young Polish woman named Eva Frank managed …

Resources, Amy J. Hirshman, Madison Mccormick, Riley Bowers, Bonnie M. Brown

Hidden No More: The Enduring Impact of Native American and Enslaved People on the Evansdale Neighborhood and WVU Campus

No abstract provided.

“Yellow Fever” + Pornhub Statistics: A Sociological Sickness, Patricia Plachno

Audre Lorde Prize

This essay was written to explore the complexities behind "Yellow Fever," or the fetishization of Asian women. In further understanding the origins of "Yellow Fever", shining a light on historical stereotypes and microaggressions assist in problematizing this phenomenon. Pornhub's yearly statistics provide a tangible outline of the sheer volume of participants in racial fetishization.

Bigger Is Better? Re-Evaluating Nato Enlargement In The Post-Cold War Period, Matthew Mccracken

Senior Honors Theses

Since the end of the Cold War, the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance has grown substantially from its pre-1990 boundary between the two Germanys to encompass 15 new members with its border pressing eastward toward the former Soviet states and up to Russia proper. At the same time, East-West relations have sunk from a high point in the 1990s to a new low unseen since the Cold War culminating in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Top-ranking officials on both sides of the Atlantic cautioned successive U.S. administrations against heedlessly seeking to admit new members into NATO for fear that it …

Morphology Of Man, Arielle Friedman

be Still

Behind every creation is an artist.

Behind every student is a teacher.

This piece aims to highlight the cyclical, additive nature of generational knowledge, as well as the inherent plasticity involved in generating meaning across collectives.

We Can Do It, Or Can We?: Women’S Domestic And Workplace Roles In Advertising During Wwii And Postwar America, Jillian Brissette

History & Classics Undergraduate Theses

This thesis examines the dramatic change from the empowering image of women workers that appeared in World War II advertisements and the domestic picture of women’s lives as depicted in the Cold War era. In examining this transformation, I seek to understand why there was such a drastic shift and how it affected real women. I examined hundreds of advertisements from the 1940s and 1950s that featured women in domestic or workplace roles. Contrary to the popular image of Rosie the Riveter, World War II era advertisements did not truly empower women. Instead, the emphasized women’s war work as a …

Twentieth Century Education Reform: Centralization And The Integration Of Providence Public School, Emily Cavanaugh

History & Classics Undergraduate Theses

No abstract provided.

James Madison And The Supreme Court The Evolution Of The Madisonian First Amendment In Early America, Thomas Mcsweeney

History & Classics Undergraduate Theses

No abstract provided.

Eu Migration Policy: Analyzing The Coercive Responses Of Transit Countries Within The Eu’S Framework Of Externalization, Emily Swan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper seeks to analyze the intersection between the EU’s increasingly securitized and externalized policies towards migration, and instances of the weaponization of migration on the EU’s external borders. Although scholars have analyzed cases in which states harness migrants as political weapons, depoliticized most depictions apply a moralistic lens that frames these cases as aberrant, decontextualized, and political events. This paper will complicate understandings of the weaponization of migration by analyzing how EU policies of externalization and securitization systematically shape the environment in which it becomes politically advantageous for leaders, such as Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Alexander Lukashenko, to resort …

Poland And The Ukraine War: A Geopolitical Analysis, Thomas Pitney

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Poland’s geopolitical role has enhanced since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. As such, Poland’s ambitions have increasingly important implications for regional, European, and global security. The paper attempts to address this phenomenon by posing the following research question: how does Poland pursue its interests in the Ukraine War? Employing qualitative methods on data collected from three formal interviews, one virtual interview, one informal interview, four statements from Poland’s leaders, and a variety of secondary sources, the study aims to answer this question modeling Gyula Csurgai’s (2019) geopolitical analysis framework. The research question is addressed in two ways. …

Sunan Kalijaga: The Birth Of A Self-Actualized Pilgrimage Culture, F. P. Meachem

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Javanese Islam is incredibly unique in its style and practice. Despite boasting a Muslim population larger than the entire Middle East, Indonesia and its Islamic cultural practices are largely unknown in academic circles. This has made an introduction to Islam in the archipelago even more difficult for the rare interested Western reader. Frustratingly, what is lost on the rest of the world is basically second nature to 155 million Javanese Muslims, who learn from their families, schools, and pilgrimages about the Wali Songo, a group of nine semi-mythical figures credited with spreading Islam to Java. When we stop casting …

Out Of Exile: The Evolution Of Moroccan Jewishness, Yana Levy

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Morocco once had the largest Jewish population of any Islamic country, but in 1948 the creation of the Israeli state drew Jews out of Morocco in massive numbers. Since then the Jews have a ghostly presence, spoken about but hardly seen. Curiously, the void left by their flight has been filled by a conscious effort on the part of Moroccan historical institutions to retain the presence of Jews in collective memory. Well maintained sites, and spaces such as the Jewish quarter that are linked to Jewish presence continue to contribute to a discourse which presents Moroccan and Jewish histories as …

Pop Spirituality In The Context Of Nepal, Kalinda Benson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In this research report, Pop Spirituality in the Context of Nepal, I look to add clarity to what it means to be “spiritual” and how that has been applied historically in context of Nepal. This paper focuses on what has led up to our modern day perceptions on spirituality. In the first section of the paper, I briefly describe what I mean when I say, “pop spirituality” or a “modern spirituality.” I define spirituality and how it differs from religion, a religion, and what secularization is. I want to acknowledge that there are many types of spirituality that exist of …

“Jamás Os Conocí”: La Utilización Del Discurso Católico Para Justificar La Represión Ilegal Durante La Última Dictadura Militar De Argentina / “I Never Knew You”: The Utilization Of Catholic Discourse To Justify The Illegal Repression During The Final Military Dictatorship In Argentina, Molly Jirgal

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

En las décadas anteriores a la dictadura, el ala derecha de la política argentina trabajó para construir una identidad nacional inextricablemente entrelazada con el catolicismo. Esta identidad impregnó, y sigue impregnando, una plétora de aspectos de la sociedad argentina, incluido el ámbito político. Durante la dictadura militar de 1976-1983, la derecha utilizó esta identidad católica argentina construida para ordenar divinamente su represión brutalmente violenta de la izquierda. Este trabajo explora cómo la institución de la Iglesia católica contribuyó a una justifcación religiosa para acciones de otro modo injustificables según la doctrina católica. A través del análisis de cartas, comunicados de …

El Trabajo De Las Mujeres: Los Impactos Del Feminismo Socialista En La Organización Sindical De Buenos Aires Después De La Crisis Orgánica De 2001 / Women’S Work: The Impacts Of Socialist Feminism On Buenos Aires Union Organizing Following The 2001 Organic Crisis, Elise Williamson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

En diciembre de 2001, en Argentina eclosionó una crisis orgánica en donde emergieron múltiples experiencias de participación social, política y cultural. En este período de dura inseguridad política y económica, se desarrolló una relación rejuvenecida entre la clase trabajadora de las fábricas que cerraban y despedían a sus empleados y los movimientos sociales (movimientos de trabajadores desocupados, asambleas de vecinos en los barrios de Buenos Aires y feminismo, entre otros). Poco tiempo después, con la recuperación económica, una nueva generación se incorporó a los nuevos empleos creados a la salida de la crisis. Esta generación, que había vivido las experiencias …