Geography Commons^™

Red Dyes From West To East In Medieval Europe: From Portuguese Manuscript Illuminations To Romanian Textiles, Irina Petroviciu, Paula Nabais, Maria J. Melo

Textile Crossroads: Exploring European Clothing, Identity, and Culture across Millennia

Red is the color par excellence, its symbolism being linked with protection and magic through its primary attributes, fire and blood. It was the predominant color from the earliest times, certainly during the Greek and Roman periods and into Medieval Europe, until blue became a competitor around the 13th century. Mineral pigments, like iron oxides, were the first red sources, used to draw lines, dots, or spots on cave walls or stones. Later, other mineral red pigments were also exploited: Cinnabar, natural mercury sulfide, since the Neolithic, and realgar, arsenic trisulfide, in Ancient Egypt. Scientific investigation revealed that, although …

Searching For The Exotic: Textiles, Orientalism, And Identities, Ana Cabrera, Roxana Coman, Karolina A. Kulpa, Tim Parry-Williams

Textile Crossroads: Exploring European Clothing, Identity, and Culture across Millennia

Textiles, with their economic, sartorial, and identity-constructing functions, have long been at the center of cultural discourses, whether narrative or visual. Objects of desire, but also objects of curiosity, textiles have been the topic of costume books, offered in diplomatic exchanges, collected by private collectors and museums alike, and have traveled, sometimes as sample books. Their Othering function did not only differentiate between members of different civilizations, but also the members of the same society, where clothing was used to signal rank and function. The case studies presented intend to elaborate further on the role and symbolism associated with textiles, …

Clothing In Transition: Social, Symbolic, And Legal Aspects Of Garments From Prehistory To The Early Byzantine Period, Tina Boloti, Francesca Scotti, Cristina Cumbo, Petra Linscheid

Textile Crossroads: Exploring European Clothing, Identity, and Culture across Millennia

Since ancient times, garments served a wide range of purposes: Either functional, providing protection by covering the body, or symbolic, as an element of non-verbal communication and marker of identity. In particular, this stimulates the development of specific characteristics in shape, decoration, or material composition, which generate distinctions among garments, as acknowledged by Roman jurists too.

These distinctions are determined by various factors. One important factor is the social meaning of clothing: There are garments for public life, garments expressing rank, garments suited for special professions, or garments intended for sacred/priestly rites reflecting particular religious symbols. And, of course, clothes …

“Dome Of The Continent”: Mount Whitney, Continental Expansion, And The Democratization Of The Sierra Nevada, Joseph Esparza

Eastern Sierra History Journal

This article explores how Tumanguya, the Paiute name for what settler-colonists called Mount Whitney, became a landmark presence in the American environmental culture--and why.

Assessment Of The Tourism Experience In The Castles Of Ajloun And Alkarak In Jordan On The Electronic Websites, Aseel Dbaisi, Nidal Alzbuon

An-Najah University Journal for Research - B (Humanities)

The aim of this study is to determine the destination image of Al karak and Ajloun castles according to visitors’ reviews on TraipAdvisor and to compare between them. The study used the qualitative approach to reveal the opinions of tourists on their visit to Al karak castle and Ajloun castle, using the content analysis method by analyzing visitor comments that were written on TripAdvisor, which allows visitors to express their tourism experience by writing comments and presenting it to million users of this site. The data was analyzed through the MAXQDA software, which allows us to import, analyze and encode …

Beyond “The Forgotten War”: A Multidimensional Exploration Of The Korean War And Its Enduring Impact, Matthew Weishaupt

History - Master of Arts in Teaching

I. Synthesis Essay...................3

II. Primary Sources................20

III. Textbook Critique..............30

IV. New Textbook Entry..........34

V. Bibliography.......................40

Beyond Poverty: Exploring The Spatial Variability And Healthcare Determinants Of Opioid Mortality In West Virginia, Opeyemi Ojo

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study aims to investigate the multifaceted factors contributing to opioid-related deaths in West Virginia, focusing on healthcare determinants and regional disparities. Opioid mortality has become a critical public health issue in the United States, particularly in states like West Virginia, where rates of opioid-related deaths are disproportionately high compared to national averages. This thesis tends to investigate the impact of healthcare determinants on opioid mortality rates and explore the spatial variability of opioid-related deaths in West Virginia. To achieve these objectives, data was collected from secondary sources such as the West Virginia Health Statistics Center, the National Center for …

Macalester College Commemorative Landscape Critical Audit, Jordan Brasher, Annabelle Adachi, Zari Baker, Beya Hull, Mona Marshall, Ryan Przespolewski

Geography Department Class Projects

This critical audit examines the commemorative landscape at Macalester College, focusing on how its commemorative landscape features – with a special focus on campus building names – (do not) reflect the institution’s stated values and commitments to diversity, equity, inclusion, and global citizenship. Rather than a traditional audit which is focused on examining financial records and transactions to ensure accuracy, compliance, and accountability for financial management purposes, this critical audit evaluates Macalester’s compliance with its institutional mission and vision through its commemorative landscape. Starting from the position that commemorative place naming always involves selective decisions about whose legacy and contributions …

Why Is Grant Lake A Reservoir? A Brief Geological And Human History, From The Pleistocene To The Present, Robert B. Marks

Eastern Sierra History Journal

Drawing on a range of archival resources and illustrative material, Prof. Marks probes why and how Grant Lake in the Eastern Sierra of California became a reservoir. The process is long and involved, and has much to do with a remote and ancient lake ultimately being developed to serve the water needs of the distant city of Los Angeles.

Evaluating Quoddy Region Archaeological Site Vulnerability To Sea Level Rise And Erosion Through The Integration Of Gis Modeling And Surveys (Data Files), Katelyn Dewater, Arthur Anderson, Gabriel Hrynick, William Kochtitzky

Geographic Information Systems Data Projects

Modeling coastal archaeological site erosion often depends on regional site databases that record sites accurately but with variable precision or do not define site extent. This case study examines the impact of sea level rise and erosion on 10 coastal archaeological sites in the Quoddy Region of Maine through the comparison of sea level rise models and field observations. Three sea level scenarios were modeled to predict the vulnerability of sites: current sea level, a 0.457 m increase (Low 2050 scenario), and a 0.914 m increase (High 2050 scenario), reflecting levels recommended by the Maine Climate Council for preparation efforts. …

Streets For The People: Rethinking Urban Mobility, Mariya A. Vahanvaty

ENGS 15.11: Design and Education

This lesson embarks on an exploration of how America’s deep-rooted car culture emerged and its lasting impact on modern life. Students will understand the decline of early public transportation systems and how World War II catalyzed rapid technological advancements, leading to a shift in infrastructure and business priorities. They'll analyze how post-war economic prosperity fueled mass motorization, with cars becoming a status symbol for Americans. Three key drivers—post-WWII technological advancements, urban sprawl, and the rise of car culture—serve as a framework for understanding the U.S.'s car reliance. Through evidence-based analysis, students will then apply these concepts to case studies, deducing …

Understanding Gold Textiles: Case Studies Of Gold Threads From The Bronze Age And Antiquity In Europe, Karina Grömer, Francesca Coletti, Francisco B. Gomes, Kayleigh Saunderson

Textile Crossroads: Exploring European Clothing, Identity, and Culture across Millennia

The production of textiles, in terms of weaving techniques, has a long history in Europe, and dates back to the Stone Age, the time during which the first farming communities arrived in the Mediterranean and Central Europe, in the 7th/6th millennium BC. The first evidence of textile tools, like spindle whorls and loom weights, demonstrate that people made an important step forward in mechanizing this craft, not only twisting fibers and interlacing strands purely by hand, but also inventing tools to increase efficiency. Through the development of textile techniques, we see the unleashing of enormous creative power that stimulated even …

“What’S In A Name?” Toponyms And Loanwords In European Textile Cultures, Dimitra Andrianou, Klara Dankova, Nade Genevska Brachikj, Angela Huang, Meghan Korten, Elena Miramontes, Jasemin Nazim, Marie-Alice Rebours, Joana Sequeira

Textile Crossroads: Exploring European Clothing, Identity, and Culture across Millennia

Textiles as man-made products have been exchanged over distances for millennia. They can and have been produced almost anywhere; they are also, as a product, highly differentiated and quickly adjustable to changing demands. This brings with it naming practices to communicate about the goods in question. Textiles are labeled so that people can form expectations about them and rely on the reputation tied to the product’s identity. The terminology of textiles and textile items arises and develops in unison with technical innovations, discoveries, fashions, and trade patterns. Although the occurrence of toponyms e.g., in preindustrial trade (10th to 18th century …

The Terminology Of Soft Furnishings In Ancient Babylonia, Greece, And Rome: A Comparative Approach, Dimitra Andrianou, Elena Miramontes, Louise Quillien

Textile Crossroads: Exploring European Clothing, Identity, and Culture across Millennia

Various kinds of textiles were used to furnish domestic spaces in Antiquity, such as curtains, covers, hangings, pillows, cushions, mattresses, rugs, tapestries, tablecloths, and towels. These objects have practical and everyday functions, they embellish and add to daily comfort in the house and speak to the owner’s prosperity. Being made of perishable materials, furnishings have, on the whole, not survived in ancient Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome. Apart from a few excavated pieces of textiles found in tombs, our information comes primarily from written testimonia and iconography.

It is thus essential to consider soft furnishings in their own right, in order …

Textiles, Dress And Politics: A Diachronic Perspective Through The Case Studies Of Ancient Rome And Medieval Iceland, Meghan Korten, Zofia Kaczmarek

Textile Crossroads: Exploring European Clothing, Identity, and Culture across Millennia

People dress for more than just aesthetic reasons. Over the centuries, dress became a sign of human civilization, allowing us to identify the origin, gender, and status of the wearer. Textiles and clothing influence our body, posture, movements, and the way we are perceived by society. Textiles are also a tool used by people to further their agenda, that is why they found their place in the political life of many ancient and modern societies.

According to Michel Foucault, power can be understood as a set of activities influencing the life of the other: It provokes, forbids, or permits, but …

Mapping And Spatial Analysis To Expand Rural Broadband Access, John C. Kostelnick, Jonathan B. Thayn, Koushik Sinha

Faculty Publications - Geography, Geology, and the Environment

High-speed broadband internet access is a critically important issue for many aspects of daily life, yet populations in rural areas are often unserved or underserved with reliable internet connectivity. Expanding broadband internet coverage in rural areas may have significant economic potential, especially since it enables precision farming which in turn increases yields, particularly for row crops such as corn and soybeans. This paper introduces methods that utilize GIS spatial analysis and remote sensing to assist in efforts to expand rural broadband access using case study counties in Illinois. Specifically, the methods presented here: (1) quantify current cropland production as well …

Considerations For Enhancing Participation And Data Accuracy In Geospatial Research In Rural Areas: Experiences With Pgis In Northern Malawi, Daniel Kpienbaareh, Isaac Luginaah, Rachel Bezner Kerr

Faculty Publications - Geography, Geology, and the Environment

Rural environments are experiencing rapid changes that must be explored to understand, enhance, and facilitate positive changes and adapt to detrimental changes. However, the information researchers can obtain about the environment to identify effective management strategies for rural resources is hindered by several factors. Participatory geospatial research presents an approach that integrates local voices to map the facts and values of rural people and represent environmental changes. Here, we draw on more than six years of participatory geospatial research in rural northern Malawi to identify and present various considerations that participatory geospatial researchers and planners should be mindful of when …

Geomorphology, Sedimentology, And Depositional Chronology Of The Christmas Dunes And Their Implications For Proglacial Lake Drainage In The Lake Superior Basin, Abigail Fischer

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Megaflood (or catastrophic flood) landscapes resulting from overflow or outburst flooding processes have been a focus of geoscientific inquiry dating back nearly 150 years. In these landscapes, the geomorphic forms, both depositional and erosional, have been used to elucidate on the magnitude, frequency, chronology, and landscape evolutionary processes during these high-magnitude events. In addition, recent research has pointed to the landscape altering consequences of these events in creating and/or reorganizing drainage basins downstream of where these events originate – creating new hydrogeomorphic systems. Two significant questions remain in this research: 1) what is the genesis of megaflood depositional dune-like landforms …

Suburbanization Of California's Deserts, Mike Kohout

Geography and Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Short-Term Rentals On Neighborhoods: Crime, Economic Development, And City Ordinances In Rochester, Minnesota, Ethan Smith

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The concept of online-based peer-to-peer (P2P) short-term rental (STR) lodging, such as Airbnb and Vrbo, is still a relatively recent phenomenon that has experienced rapid growth in the past decade. Due to the rapid growth of STRs, many areas of this phenomenon have been left relatively unexplored, such as the relationship between STRs and neighborhood crime. The association between neighborhood crime and STRs is attributed to the negative spotlight in the news, causing STRs to develop a negative connotation due to their perceived impacts on neighborhoods. Due to that connotation, it is believed that STRs contribute to neighborhood crime because …