Intellectual History Commons^™

Is Hindsight 20/20? Reconsidering Popular Perceptions Of Civil War Surgeons, Miller Bacon

History Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper provides a cursory examination of the history and truth of the modern “butcher” stereotype associated with Civil War surgeons. Beginning with a review of modern examples of the stereotype in cinema, educational materials, children’s literature, and academic literature, this thesis further provides a detailed historical analysis of the source of this stereotype in the nineteenth century. This analysis completes the cultural analysis present within the paper by demonstrating the presence of the “butcher” stereotype in Civil War era newspapers and literature.

Finally, after the cultural analysis of the modern stereotype and its historical roots in the nineteenth century, …

Review Of The Intellectual World Of C. S. Lewis, J. Cameron Moore

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of Alister E. McGrath, The Intellectual World of C. S. Lewis (Oxford, 2013). 191 pages. $32.95. ISBN: 9780470672792.

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 …

To Be Necessary: The Remarkable Life Of Mary Wollstonecraft, Elisabeth Phillips

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

Although overshadowed by her daughter, Mary Shelley, in the public imagination, Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) stands as a significant figure in her time who left a significant legacy. Her writings advocating for women’s education, equal rights, and career opportunities established her as the progenitor of the modern women’s rights movement. Wollstonecraft’s ideas resonated in the era of the Atlantic world revolutions and laid the foundation for later advances of women in the Western world; therefore, it is important to study her contributions in the present.

A Century Of Critical Buddhism In Japan, James Mark Shields

Faculty Contributions to Books

This chapter introduces the central arguments of Critical Buddhism as a lens by which to view the course of “modern” Buddhism in Japan, particularly as it relates to politics. It traces philosophical and political precedents for Critical Buddhism in the context of Japanese modernity, by focusing on several progressive Buddhist figures movements from mid-Meiji through early Shōwa, including the New Buddhist Fellowship and the Youth League for Revitalizing Buddhism. I argue that previous attempts to centralize criticism as a basic Buddhist precept were unsuccessful in part do to an inability to distinguish the Buddhistic components of their thought and practice, …

Extracting Extractivism: Technopessimism, Green Anarchism And (Gestures Toward) Indigeneity, Matthew Anglin

University Honors Theses

A certain ethics of technology has begun appearing in "extractivismo/extractivism" discourses concerning resource extraction in relation to the greater socio-ecological emergency in order to describe a critique of, inter alia, prevalent conceptions of, and efforts to promote and expand, "sustainable development" and the "renewable energy transition." This thesis reviews political ecology literature concerning various conceptualizations of extractivism, highlighting the critical concept of total extractivism; it focuses on the relatively divergent intellectual resources of technopessimism and green anarchism that converged in the late-twentieth century, revealing another strand of influence coming from interactions with Indigenous peoples--all of which inform …

Political Economy In Lettres D'Une Péruvienne: Françoise De Graffigny As Philosophe And Reformer, Marguerite J. Van Cook

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation identifies the significant presence of political economics in Lettres d’une Péruvienne by Françoise de Graffigny, née Françoise d'Issembourg du Buisson d'Happencourt (1695 –1758), to affirm its author as a pioneer in the field. It explores Graffigny’s use of the sentimental novel as a vehicle to carry those ideas to the reading community. It reviews Graffigny’s preparation to propose novel ideas in the area of political economics and to fully participate in the then-emergent discourse with her male contemporaries. Her wide reading in the subject of Political Economy, from Voltaire to Mandeville and Montesquieu and her interactions with contemporaries …

Neo-Nazi Postmodern: Right-Wing Terror Tactics, The Intellectual Neue Rechte, And The Destabilization Of Memory In Germany Since 1989, Esther E. Adaire

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation argues that from 1989 onwards an increasingly terroristic neo-Nazi underground in Germany became gradually entangled with the reactionary Neue Rechte, whose crusade against the German culture of remembrance is also a crusade against European integration, increased migration, and the conceits of liberal democracy. This entanglement produced an ideologically coherent extreme-right political movement with a heavily armed and tactical paramilitary faction that has, contrary to what various governments of the Federal Republic have wanted to believe, been developing in Germany since the early 1990s. Moreover, tactics of information warfare initiated by so-called “postmodern” terrorists of the 1990s would, by …

Addressing Discrimination At West Chester University: A Battle At All Levels, Aaron Stoyack

Ramifications

Through a series of 29 oral histories, a dataset consisting of the experiences of 29 minority or ally students and faculty was created. Analyzing their experiences revealed manners in which inequalities within WCU, particularly retaining to retention and graduation rates, could be minimized. Those experiencing discrimination have statistically lower academic performance and are more likely to drop out. To systematically address these disparities, action at the administrative, faculty, and student level is described, each of which had a positive impact on student success. The variety of methods described can inform future initiatives seeking to make WCU a more inclusive place.

Guide To The Benjamin Spence Research Collection, 1877-1925, Noah Smith

Archives & Special Collections Finding Aids

Nearly all content in this collection comes from microfilm of the Bridgewater Independent, covering the years from approximately 1880 to 1925. Dr. Spence spent ten years printing out pages from the microfilm, cutting the content into individual articles, and putting them onto index cards filed by subject. He included hand-written notes and dates on the cards. His research focusing on the years represented by the collection resulted in a collection of ten written works on this time period, referenced together as, Bridgewater, Massachusetts: A Town in Transition. Links to the digital files of these works can be found …

Weltpolitik Und Weltkrieg: Second International Socialism And Imperialism (1907-1914), Luke P. Taylor

Honors Theses and Capstones

The outbreak of World War I tore apart the Second Socialist International (1889-1914) as the forces of nationalism overcame international solidarity. By 1917, the global socialist movement was split between reformist social democracy and revolutionary communism. Before this dramatic schism, tensions between a reformist right, a radical left, and a moderate center defined the contours of social democratic politics. Contemporary to the Second International, imperialism and competition between the great powers represented a global crisis that exploded into a worldwide conflict. While not initially responsible for the schisms that tore apart the Second International, debates over imperialism reflected, reconfigured, and …

“Principles Which Constitute The Only Basis Of The Union” : Virginian Beliefs During The Nullification Crisis, 1832-1833, Sean Elliott Kellogg

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Preceding the American Civil War by three decades, the Nullification Crisis is often overshadowed by that larger conflict. It tends to be thought of only as an event in which the two sides of the war, pro-union and anti-union, coalesced around divisive issues. This perspective obscures the complex ideological loyalties that were in conflict during the crisis. These disagreements were on especially clear display in the influential border state of Virginia, which hosted many different opinions about the relevant issues. The state ultimately chose to steer a middle course. In January 1833, it adopted a set of resolves that rejected …

What Difference Does It Make? Early Reception Stories About Luce Irigaray's Writing On Divine Women, Elsa Kunz

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

This paper examines numerous pre-texts in Anglo-American feminist theology and critical theory seminal to the establishment of feminist philosophy of religion as a distinct academic discipline. Specifically, I trace early reception of philosopher Luce Irigaray’s writing on becoming divine women in Anglo-American feminist circles, arguing that critical attention to the “horizons of expectations” around Irigaray’s person is a necessary step to the myriad readings of her work. I begin by situating my own initial expectations and encounters with Irigaray’s writing on divine women as a graduate student in theological studies cross-registered in a course on ‘French Feminism’ in the neighboring …

Elite Women In The Mediterranean 31 Bc – 1380 Ad: An Investigation Into Female Agency, Identity, And Patriarchy Across Classical And Christian Paradigms, Julia Maurer

Capstone Showcase

This paper explores the responses of elite women to patriarchal regimes across the Classical Pagan and Medieval Christian paradigms in the Mediterranean from 31 BC to 1380 AD. While the current historiography acknowledges the radical differences between the two worldviews fundamental to the core values of Western Civilization, an investigation of three women that can be taken to be emblematic examples of the periods in which they lived reveals a striking continuity in the nuanced social roles available to women. This continuity contradicts expectations of significant changes reflective of this revolutionary paradigm shift.

I utilize Julia Augusti, Vibia Perpetua, and …