Social History Commons^™

From Demonic Possession To Conversion Disorder: A Historical Comparison, Laura Hatchman

Honors Scholar Theses

My thesis compares analyses of early-modern understandings of demonic possession in the West to discussion of modern cases of mass conversion disorder, specifically focusing on episodes involving large groups of affected individuals. My research on the early modern period includes a literature review of the famous seventeenth-century case of mass possession at Loudun and a lengthy examination of possession from the vantage point of key societal players. On a parallel track, I have identified and recent psychological and medical literature pertaining to modern cases of what is called “mass hysteria,” “epidemic hysteria,” “conversion disorder,” and “mass psychogenic illness.” By examining …

Public School Desegregation In America: How School Desegregation Became The Most Important Medium For Advancing Social Justice., Michael Huening

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this work is to identify the particular changes in the movement for social justice for African Americans. Great strides in the advancement of social justice began just after the Second World War. Issues of ideology, foreign policy, advancement in education, and growing activism led to what is known as the Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Movement was a determined effort by African Americans and their supporters to eliminate legal and societal oppression. Measured by the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Act of 1965, and the equal opportunity employment section of Lyndon …

From A Place Of Fear: Death, Slavery & Stonewall, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

Earlier this spring, I sat in Gettysburg at the "Future of the Civil War" conference and listened to an intern talk about how he had been scared to interpret. He was afraid of his visitors, afraid to tell them about a place. [excerpt]

The Semester Ends, The Semester Begins, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

It's finals week at Gettysburg College, but in another time, it was just the beginning of the oddest session of college just over 100 students would ever experience. Some would join the 26th PEMR, some would run home from the oncoming rebel hordes, and others would remain in Gettysburg, sitting in the cross-hairs of the war as the slowly rested on Adams County. [excerpt]

Virtual Sesquicentennial: #Invasion63 Goes Live, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

I teased this project a short while ago, and now that May has arrived history has begun coming back to life. Over the next three months, the men and women who walked Gettysburg's streets and crossed the Pennsylvania College campus will reenact their lives in the last few moments before Gettysburg changed irrevocably. As May creeps along, more characters will rise from the grave and begin reliving the past. [excerpt]

Pennsylvania At Chancellorsville, But Headed Back Home, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

With the anniversary of the battles around Fredericksburg this week, the Civil War world's eyes seem to be turned toward Chancellorsville and the battles there. Almost as a reflex, my mind has gone there too. I've been thinking about Simon Stein Wolf, the Gettysburgian who faced death at Chancellorsville only to find it terribly displayed in the days after. So today another excerpt from my manuscript, to start re-conceptualizing Chancellorsville through the eyes of a Pennsylvania College dropout. [excerpt]

Second Families Of Virginia: Professional Power-Brokers In A Revolutionary Age, 1700-1790, Wesley Thomas Joyner

Dissertations

Between 1700 and 1790, a diverse assortment of merchants, lawyers, doctors, soldiers, and various other specialists forged a prominent position in Virginia that was integral to the colony’s planter-elites. These professionals complicated Virginia’s social hierarchy and affected numerous decisions planters made on personal business ventures, urban development, military conflicts, and political policies. Consequently, as Virginia planters struggled to maintain a sense of socioeconomic dominance, political influence, and familial solidarity, this upper-middling, professional contingent forced planters to compromise their seemingly exclusive modes of behavior. Accounting for the perspectives of professionals and planters, this study addresses how and why this occurred, as …

Editor's Notebook, Andrew C. Holman

Bridgewater Review

No abstract provided.

Freedom Indivisible: Gays And Lesbians In The African American Civil Rights Movement, Jared E. Leighton

Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This work documents the role of sixty gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals in the African American civil rights movement in the pre-Stonewall era. It examines the extent of their involvement from the grassroots to the highest echelons of leadership. Because many lesbians and gays were not out during their time in the movement, and in some cases had not yet identified as lesbian or gay, this work also analyzes how the civil rights movement, and in a number of cases women’s liberation, contributed to their identity formation and coming out. This work also contributes to our understanding of opposition to …

Gettysburg's Other Unknown Soldier, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

We all know the name Amos Humiston. We know he was found on the first day's field. We know he clutched the image of his three children, an unknown soldier until his wife Philinda Humiston saw her children peering back at her from a copy of that picture. We know his drama and the agony of Philinda, we know the heartbreak and horror.

But who's buried next to him? [excerpt]

The Fallacy Of Free Market Democracy: Marginalization Through Chilean Health Care And Education, Robin L. Young

Senior Capstone Theses

This thesis examines how neoliberal policies implemented during Augusto Pinochet’s sixteen-year military regime in Chile have affected post-dictatorship democratization. It argues that democracy has been incomplete in Chile since the fall of Pinochet’s regime, due mainly to the three neoliberal policies of deregulation, decentralization, and decreased government funding. Through the detailed analysis of Chile’s health care and education systems, this thesis demonstrates how these neoliberal policies drastically changed social welfare practices in Chile during the 1980s, leading to extreme social inequality that has only continued to increase in the last thirty years. This social inequality, as well as the marginalization …

Trail Blazer - Volume 116, Number 12, Morehead State University. Trail Blazer.

Morehead State Trail Blazer Archive

Morehead State Trail Blazer published on April 25, 2013.

The Grizzly, April 25, 2013, Jessica Orbon, Sara Sherr, Dana Feigenbaum, Alyse Reid, Rosemary Clark, Vivek Reddy, Megan Maccaroni, Rayleen Rivera-Harbach, John Parry, Briana Keane, Shane English, Austin Fox, Allen Weaver

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

Students, Dean Recall Boston During Bombings • Wismer to Get Summer Makeover • Residence Life Expands Gender-Neutral Housing • UC Organic Farm • Alumni Always Welcome • Ninjutsu Club's New Identity • B' Nats' Concert • Opinion: Consider Your Privilege at Thrift Shops • Grizzly Staff Thanks Dr. Kirstie Hettinga • Senior Day Ahead for Spring Athletes • Cheers and Jeers: Ursinus, Philadelphia Athletics • Women's Lacrosse Falls Short

Jlia 2:1

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

There is an ever widening gap between conflict resolution policy makers and scholars—a tragedy given practitioners’ dire need for new ideas to help resolve deadly conflicts and the growing knowledge researchers have to share. Research tends to swing like a pendulum between analytic and rigorous methods and accessible and relevant approaches. We reject this tradeoff. We believe that research can be simultaneously rigorous and relevant, and analytic and accessible. Given the devastating loss of life associated with armed conflict, the need for translating research results into policy prescriptions is especially strong in peacemaking. The goal of this issue of the …

Loyalty: Democracy And Gettysburg's Union League, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

"The ball is rolling," the Sentinel crowed, "and it is no time now to faint or falter in the good and noble work of crushing rebels and traitors abroad and at home, and bringing back to its original glory our time-honored Union."

The Union would be saved, the Sentinel was sure, by the pure and sustained love and loyalty of her people. Gettysburg was showing her mettle in that department in the waning days of April 1863, as citizens gathered to follow the lead of others to the east in forming a Loyal Union League in the Adams county seat. …

Community, Power, And Memory In Díaz Ordaz's Mexico: The 1968 Lynching In San Miguel Canoa, Puebla, Kevin M. Chrisman

Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

On September 14th, 1968, approximately 1,000 enraged inhabitants wielding assorted makeshift weapons formed a lynch mob that brutally murdered four people and injured three others in San Miguel Canoa, Mexico. According to the generally accepted account, Canoa’s inhabitants feared that recently-arrived Universidad Autónoma de Puebla employees, in town on a weekend mountain-climbing expedition, were in actuality communist agitators threatening the town’s social order. The lynching in Canoa received limited press coverage and was subsequently overshadowed by the much larger government orchestrated Tlatelolco massacre that occurred in Mexico City, on October 2, 1968. While Tlatelolco remains an important historic event from …

Death Became Them: The Defeminization Of The American Death Culture, 1609–1899, Briony D. Zlomke

Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Focusing specifically on the years 1609 to 1899 in the United States, this thesis examines how middle-class women initially controlled the economy of preparing the dead in pre-industrialized America and lost their positions as death transitioned from a community-based event to an occurrence from which one could profit. In this new economy, men dominated the capitalist-driven funeral parlors and undertaker services. The changing ideology about white middle-class women’s proper places in society and the displacement of women in the “death trade” with the advent of the funeral director exacerbated this decline of a once female-defined practice. These changes dramatically altered …

“The Living Are Getting Rarer”: The Causes And Consequences Of The International Trade In White Rhinoceros Horns Under The Convention On International Trade In Endangered Species, Alisha Falberg

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

In 2012, more than 400 South African white rhinoceros were poached and killed for their horns. The horns, used in ancient Asian medicines, are falsely believed to cure diseases. They are currently worth thousands of dollars on the black market because the white rhinoceros is an endangered species and the trade in its horns is strictly regulated under the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).The two countries at the center of this crisis are South Africa, where the majority of the world’s white rhinoceros live and are being poached, and Vietnam, …

Consequences Of The Arab Spring: How Shari’Ah Law And The Egyptian Revolution Will Impact Ip Protection And Enforcement, Stephen S. Zimowski

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

Egypt’s recent revolution sent shockwaves through the international community, and almost immediately political pundits began to ponder its effect on Middle Eastern stability. To date, post-revolution Egypt has struggled to regain its political stability and implement the democratic government its citizens demand. The eventual nature of the new Egyptian government will have a substantial impact not only on the region’s stability but also on international trade. As such, this comment will examine the likely impact of a new Egyptian regime on intellectual property rights and protections in Egypt. The comment explores the role of Shari’ah Law in lawmaking and Shari’ah …

We Can Work It Out: Putting Our Best Foot Forward In International Higher Education Initiatives, Julie Rowland

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

A global economy requires globally competitive workers and global citizens.This need has generated supranational higher education initiatives through organizations such as the European Union and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. These initiatives promote student mobility across borders by harmonizing higher education systems between member nations. To demonstrate how the U.S. can become more involved in international higher education initiatives, this comment will first give an overview of the history of these initiatives globally. The comment explores the legal and soft governance mechanisms involved in international initiatives and the feasibility of their application to the U.S. A description of the structures of …

2012-13 Jlia Masthead, Jlia Masthead

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

No abstract provided.

Mediation – Its Potential And Its Limits: Developing An Effective Discourse On The Research And Practice Of Peacemaking, Dennis C. Jett

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

This article looks at the various contributions to this issue of the Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs. The contributors have analyzed the potential and limits of mediation, but have focused on a number of different aspects of that process. The analytic research relevant to conflict situations will be most useful, however, if the recommendations offered for how to bring conflicts to an end can actually be of use to practitioners in the field. The approach of this article is therefore to consider how policymakers might employ these recommendations as they pursue the goal of peace. It …

Ethnic Conflict: An Organizational Perspective, Victor Asal, Jonathan Wilkenfeld

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

To talk about the behavior of others is to generalize especially if that behavior is perceived to be negative. As researchers who have studied ethnic discrimination and ethnic conflict for close to two decades, we have noticed, anecdotally at least, that this penchant for generalization is rampant in discussions of ethnic politics. Journalists and academics tend to talk about one or another ethnic group’s involvement in violence without specifying a political organizational agent. This kind of generalization is a serious obstacle to understanding conflicts and identifying solutions because it prevents policymakers and academics from getting at the messy reality of …

When States Mediate, Molly M. Melin

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

Militarized conflict is one of the most devastating of all human activities. The international community’s response to conflict occurrence can significantly affect the number of casualties, the extent of resulting devastation and even the outcome of the conflict. State responses range from conflict management, whereby third parties actively engage in resolving the conflict; joining, whereby states become an additional disputant; or remaining uninvolved. One of the most common active third-party responses is to act as a mediator, a role using consensual, nonbinding and nonviolent means of conflict management and resolution. This paper explores the policy of state-led mediation, its strengths …

The Politics Of International Arbitration And Adjudication, Stephen E. Gent

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

Arbitration and adjudication have proven to be effective means of producing long-lasting settlements on contentious issues, but states are generally reluctant to use such legal forms of dispute resolution, especially in resolving issues of national security. To understand when policymakers can and should promote the use of legal mechanisms, they need to understand the political reasons behind the reluctance of states to use these forums. This essay identifies five factors that significantly influence the willingness of states to relinquish decision control and pursue arbitration or adjudication: third-party bias, salience, uncertainty, bargaining power, and armed conflict. To promote the use of …

Using The Right Tool For The Job: Mediator Leverage And Conflict Resolution, Kyle Beardsley

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

In international dispute mediation, a one-size-fits-all view of mediation may actually inhibit effective conflict resolution. Mediators must especially tailor the level of leverage to the needs of the situation. This essay first considers existing studies that have found both potential benefits and risks of heavy-handed third-party involvement as a conflict-management strategy. It then considers a few illustrative cases to demonstrate the importance of making sure that the tools of mediation fit the context. Finally, it concludes with a discussion of how sustained post-conflict peacekeeping and peacebuilding can reduce the risks of leverage in mediation.

Intractable Syria? Insights From The Scholarly Literature On The Failure Of Mediation, J. Michael Greig

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

The conflict in Syria has been ongoing since March 2011, but to date has resisted third-party diplomatic efforts. This failure of mediation is despite the fact that numerous actors in the international system have interests both in Syria and the Middle East at large. The human toll of the conflict, which has produced large numbers of civilian casualties and considerable human suffering, creates even deeper urgency for effective conflict management in Syria. In this paper, I apply insights drawn from the scholarly literature on conflict management and civil wars to the Syrian conflict to explain why mediation efforts have thus …

Who Should Be At The Table?: Veto Players And Peace Processes In Civil War, David E. Cunningham

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

Civil wars contain a set of actors that have the ability to block settlement and continue the war on their own. When they contain more “veto players,” conflicts are much longer and negotiations are more likely to break down. The rate of success of international efforts to resolve multi-party civil wars is much lower than when there is only one rebel group fighting the government. This article discusses implications for peacemakers designing responses to conflicts with multiple veto players. Negotiations in these conflicts are most likely to lead to a peace agreement that successfully ends the war if they include …

Deceptive Results: Why Mediation Appears To Fail But Actually Succeeds, Scott Sigmund Gartner

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

International disputes receiving third-party mediation are less likely to result in peace treaties than those negotiated bilaterally between the disputants. When belligerents do settle, mediated agreements are more likely to fail. Is mediation detrimental to conflict resolution? No. Third-party mediation represents a highly effective, but costly, means of peacemaking. Disputants recognize its costs and only employ mediation when they are unable to resolve a conflict between themselves, creating a “selection effect.” As a result, mediators are selected for the toughest cases – those least likely to end peacefully and mostly likely to result in fragile agreements. When the difficulty of …

Research On Bias In Mediation: Policy Implications, Isak Svensson

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

One of the most important and disputed questions within the field of international mediation concerns the issue of bias. The question of bias cuts to the core of what mediation is and the ways in which mediators can help the parties reach peace. Focusing on research on the role of neutrality and bias in international peace diplomacy in civil wars, this article draws out the policy implications of my own empirically-based work on the role of bias in the mediation of internal armed conflicts. This article suggests that neutrality should not be part of the definition of mediators, …