Browsing by Author "Kitroeff, Alexander"
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- ItemA Monstrous Usurpation of Justice: Law and the Practice of Government in Ireland, 1914-1921(2007) Barry, Patrick; Kitroeff, Alexander
- ItemA Royal Disappointment: The Private Scandals of George IV, 1785ā1820(2007) Kass, Joshua; Kitroeff, Alexander; Graham, Lisa Jane, 1963-The scandals of George IV demonstrate how events of the private sphere can become politicized and cast doubt on a leaderās moral qualifications. At a time when the political authority of the crown was waning, an expanding print media put pressure on royalty to embody emerging values of filial care and financial constraint. This thesis uses pamphlet literature and caricatures to examine how the exposure of Georgeās vices created a broader realm of civic participation. It examines his illicit marriage to a lowborn Catholic, the burden of his lavish expenses, his disrespect for his father, George III, and his neglectful relationship with his daughter, Princess Charlotte. Each of these reveal how the expansion of the political nation inspired claims for royal accountability and exposed leaders to popular standards of morality.
- ItemAfraid of Commitment: Gamal Abdel Nasser's Ephemeral Political Ideology - a New Definition of Nasserism(2012) Friddell, Bo; Graham, Lisa Jane, 1963-; Kitroeff, AlexanderGamal Abdel Nasser played an integral role in Middle East politics in the 1950s and 1960s. He led a military coup against the incumbent King, and then successfully converted his political capital into a national revolution. The transition of power occurred without major complications because of the socio-political conditions in Egypt at the time and because of Nasser's particular style of rule. Without a steadying, autocratic leader, Egypt likely would have fallen under the direction of a foreign power. Nasser used decisive action to stabilize Egypt's internal politics and prevent foreign agents from agitating Egypt's domestic stability. From this stability, he projected power at the regional level and remained independent from the major foreign powers that attempted to control Egypt. Egypt's geopolitical importance guaranteed its relevance in international politics. Foreign powers competed for the chance to control Egypt ā a nation ideally situated to project power throughout the Middle East and North Africa. However, each contending superpower grew frustrated with Nasser because his rule relied on personal judgment, making Egypt's policies unpredictable and inconsistent. Nasser realized the value of his freedom to act and utilized this ability to retain Egyptian sovereignty. Scholars attempted to define Nasser's political ideology, but his policies were so ephemeral that they needed to create a new ideology ā Nasserism ā just to describe the man's political tendencies. I argue that Nasser was not ideological in the 20th century sense of the word, but that he harbored specific core concepts that framed his decisions. These concepts allowed him to select the best course of action without being hindered by ideological constraints. His political history ā including his actions in times of crisis, his use of charismatic authority, his manipulation of nationalist sentiments, and his construction of a new Egyptian cultural identity ā illustrates his flexibility and willingness to change tracks as long as his core concepts remained intact.
- Item"Against Training of Fellow Americans ..." The Philadelphia Transit Strike of 1944, the FEPC, and Redefining Democracy in the Long Civil Rights Era(2010) Guy, Alexander W.; Kitroeff, Alexander; Friedman, Andrew, 1974-
- ItemBatting for Power: 1960s Latino Baseball Players and their Challenge To the Cold War American Ethos(2012) Fater, Max; Krippner, James; Kitroeff, AlexanderBaseball in its history and tradition has become ingrained within the identity of the United States. Dubbed the 'National Pastime,' the game of baseball is emblematic of the traditional American values of democracy and capitalism through the value on indiyidual accomplishment in a team-oriented competition. Currently, Major League Baseball-features an enormous Latino population excelling in the sport synonymous with the American Dream. These foreign players partake in this a summer tradition that inherently values the past and creates myths out of the all-American players such as Bob Feller, Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams. In this thesis I examine the early stages of Latino integration into a game that was enveloped within traditional American rhetoric prior to their entrance. I found that the inclusion of Latino players into Major League Baseball and the American cultural dialogue coincided with one of the most politically uncertain eras in United States historyāthe 1960s. The defining feature of this era was the Cold War, a conflict that pervaded the American politics and culture within American borders and internationally as well. In response to the growing Soviet threat, white Americans subscribed to an American ethos of exceptionalism as an integral facet of the Cold War. Furthermore, the Civil Rights movement overshadowed the first half of the decade, while the responses to the Vietnam War featured prominently in the second half. In both the Civil Rights movement and the political unrest of the latter half of the decade the validity of the new American ethos of exceptionalism was constantly up to debate; thus, baseball, as the 'American' sport, was a key arena in which this discourse took place. Throughout the conflict-ridden decade, baseball and politics would create a tacit yet powerful dialogue, each influencing the other in recondite manners in an environment rife with cultural and political uncertainly. When Latinos brought their home-grown passion for the game to the North American public sphere, the white American media attempted to exclude the Latinos by attempting to disassociate their character with that of the Cold War American ethos. At the start of the 60s the media's portrayal of Latinos garnered public support, but as the decade progressed and sociopolitical frustrations grew within the American public, the Latino players eventually forged a place for themselves within the American cultural narrative. A clear transformation took place within both the players and their reception on the American stage by the end of the decade. This transformation of the players and their public representation was framed by an era of immense cultural changes throughout the United States. These players were certainly products of the era in which they played; yet, they also contributed to the changing attitudes as well. Though these players lacked American citizenship, it became increasingly clear that they embodied the values of the Cold War American ethos. Thus, their persistent skill paved the way for Latinos to express their heritage within the American public sphere.
- ItemDubcek's Balancing Act: The Struggle to Preserve Reform and Revolution in Czechoslovakia, 1968-1969(2012) Cohen, Matthew D.; Kitroeff, Alexander; Gerstein, LindaWhen Alexander Dubcek took over the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in 1968, he embarked on an ambitious reform program meant to create a better relationship between the Party and the people of Czechoslovakia. The reform program guaranteed liberties and freedoms that had been denied by the previous Communist regimes, the country embraced Dubcek and his reforms as a symbol of hope. The Soviet Union leadership, drawing upon their previous experience with Hungary in 1956, felt threatened by the reforms in what they considered a "satellite state", as non-Communist parties formed and the press used their new freedoms to criticize the Soviet Union. The Soviets sought to ensure that the Communist Party would retain its leading role in governing the state, and demanded that the Soviet Union retain its influence with the Czechoslovakian Communist Party. The conflict between Dubcek's reforms and Soviet pressure resulted in the August 21st Invasion of Czechoslovakia by its Warsaw Pact allies, in order to prevent what they saw as counter-revolution from going any further. The invasion failed to depose the reformist leadership due to the outpouring of popular support they received from the nation. The Soviet leadership then opted to instead slowly erode Dubcek's political position, so that months after the Invasion Dubcek was the only reformer left among the Party leadership. Dubcek struggled against the Soviet pressure to "normalize" the situation and abandon the reform program, by using his personal authority among the people to maintain calm and order without restricting their freedoms. Eight months after the Invasion though, in April 1969, it became apparent that Dubcek would be unable to hold his political position against the more opportunistic members of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. Dubcek resigned and his successor, Gustav Husak, immediately reduced the reforms to a distant dream, not to be realized for two more decades.
- ItemEffect of the Zionist youth movement on South African Jewry : negotiating a South African, Jewish, and Zionist identity in the mid-20th century(2003) Kegel, Terry; Kitroeff, AlexanderThis thesis investigates individual differences in identity development and actions of identification amongst a generation of South African Jewish youth in the mid-20th century. Specifically, it examines the effect of one's exposure to and acceptance of the Zionist youth movement in South Africa and its ideology of aliyah, immigration to Israel. Considering a range of individual relationships with the movement, from the unattached to the fully engaged, it gauges the influence of this ideology on the construction of and negotiation amongst one's South African, Jewish, and Zionist identities. After analyzing interviews of nineteen South African Jews growing up in the mid-20th century, I will suggest that through their exposure to the Zionist youth movement, this generation of South African Jewry, while generally ignoring the call for personal aliyah, used Israel as a means for strengthening their Jewish identity. Thus, while mostly unsuccessful in its ideological goal of recruiting immigrants to Israel, the movement's effect was still relatively positive for the survival of the Jewish people.
- ItemExperimenting with Rescue: Understanding the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committeeās Approach to the Jewish Refugee Crisis from 1938 to 1940(2017) Medina Del Toro, Victor; Gerstein, Linda; Kitroeff, AlexanderEfforts to solve the Jewish refugee crisis created by the expansion of the Nazi empire have largely been examined with the hindsight that those efforts failed to rescue the millions of Jews who perished during the Holocaust. Historical literature has focused on explaining why governments and organizations did not do moreāespecially those of the United States. These social and political narratives, however, have largely ignored the considerations that govern the relocation of millions of people. Beginning with the premise that resettlement is inherently complicated, this investigation seeks to highlight the understanding of and approach to solving the refugee crisis by those directly facilitating rescue. Given that the burden of humanitarian efforts in the early 19th century fell on nongovernmental organizations, the approach taken by Jewish organizations has been underexamined. The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committeeās predominance among other Jewish organizations makes them ideal for exploring the considerations behind rescue efforts. Analyzing their approach to solving the refugee crisis reveals how the avenues of rescue chosen to rescue Jews changed as the situation progressed. Exploring the experience of an organization directly engaged in resettlement illustrates both that efforts were conducted with highly nuanced understandings of the situation and that impediments to rescue were just as complex. The importance of understanding the multitude of limitations that existed is that refugee resettlement was not simply a matter of will, but a matter of means. With limited avenues for rescue available to the JDC, even their best efforts could not solve the refugee crisis.
- ItemExploited Foreign Products: Corporate Agriculture's Control of Life and Government in Cold War America(2011) Kelley, William Scott; Kitroeff, AlexanderThe traditional history of the Cold War centers on the communist influence in America. Viewing the history from 1950 ti 1964 with this lens forces events within this time period to be constricted within this framework. However, limiting Cold War history to this particular lens allows for the history of agriculture in the Southwest to be forgotten. Public Law 78 is rarely discussed as a lens that the Cold War can be viewed from, but by viewing the events during the Cold War through this lens a new Cold War history emerges that is dominated by corporate agricultural interests of the Southwest and not by foreign policy and communism.
- ItemFinding Livingstone: An Examination of the Reputation of Dr. David Livingstone(2015) Stretcher, Adalyn; Kitroeff, AlexanderDr. David Livingstone, a nineteenth century Scottish missionary doctor and government-commissioned explorer, is popularly known as an iconic, self-sacrificing Victorian hero who tirelessly devoted his life to working in Southern, Eastern, and Central Africa. Since Livingstoneās death in 1873, scholars have analyzed the famous missionaryās life by delving into topics such as his fascinating travels, his medical and scientific discoveries, and his personal faith and political views. Informing this scholarship is the extensive documentation left by Livingstone, who intentionally provided his own accounts of his life and work as a means of crafting his reputation. This thesis seeks to examine Livingstoneās fascinating life and explore the ways in which the doctorās reputation was intentionally constructed over the course of his lifetime. This thesis argues that Livingstone, with the help of several key individuals, successfully crafted an overall positive reputation through the emphasis of certain aspects of his identity, political ideology, and observations.
- ItemFood and the Spanish Nation Islamic Influences in Early Modern Spanish National Cuisine(2020) Cho, Zachary; Krippner, James; Kitroeff, AlexanderThis thesis discusses the visibility of Islamic influences in the cuisine of early modern Iberia and its cultural and political implications on the emerging discourse of a "Spanish" national identity. Formerly divided into numerous independent and competing kingdoms, the Iberian Peninsula was mostly unified under Christendom in 1492 and the new joint monarchs, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabel of Castile, chartered several imperial expeditions under the name of the crown. Having this semblance of unity, the peninsula's inhabitants started to think of what notions such as "Spain" and "Spanishness" meant and how factors such as race, geography, and culture constituted this nascent sense of national identity. Eventually, the idea that "Spaniards" were descended from a long line of non-convert Christians became firmly ingrained in society, meaning Hispano-Muslims and mudƩjares (Muslim converts to Christianity) were not considered to be "Spanish" despite their longstanding legacy in the Iberian Peninsula. However, food, which is significant to discussions of national identity as it plays a crucial role in forming individual and collective identities, presented a more complicated picture in how early modern Iberia dealt with the cultural imprint of Al-Andalus. Cookbooks published in early modern Iberia mirrored their medieval Al-Andalusian counterparts in terms of their content and conventions, from including ingredients and recipes particularly prized in the culinary sphere of Islam to approaching food from a medicinal perspective. But food culture in early modern Iberia also distanced itself from that of Muslims, as seen through privileging pork (which is prohibited in Islam) and cookbooks heavily focusing on Christian dietary laws such as food for Lent. All in all, there remains no doubt that constructions of a "Spanish" national identity through food in the early modern period extensively borrowed from the gastronomy of Hispano-Muslims, but overt segregations of tastes in numerous instances complicates the issue of whether the culinary legacy of Al-Andalus in the Iberian Peninsula was truly recognized.
- ItemFor The Benefit of Nisei Readers in America: Newspapers as a Form of Behavioral Control during Japanese American Internment(2014) Ramirez, Ever; Kitroeff, Alexander; Smith, Paul J., 1947-On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, authorizing the removal of over 110,000 Japanese Americans from the West Coast. In late March, the military began the process of transferring Japanese Americans to internment camps operated by the War Relocation Authority. The internees can be divided into three separate categories. The left opposition criticized the government's evacuation and internment policy as unjust and unconstitutional. Their internment prompted members of the right opposition to swear allegiance to Japan over the United States. Meanwhile, the accomodationists chose to forego criticism of internment and focused on developing an alliance with WRA authorities, improving living conditions within the camp, leaving the camps as soon as possible and serving in the military to demonstrate their loyalty to the United States. During Japanese American evacuation and internment, the number of print media sources catering specifically towards the Japanese American community was relatively limited. Shortly after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, all of the West Coast Japanese-language newspapers were forced to shut down. Only a few inland Japanese-English newspapers were able to continue operating throughout World War II. All ten internment camps also produced newspapers, albeit under considerable WRA supervision. The last major print media source directed towards Japanese Americans was the Pacific Citizen, official publication of the Japanese American Citizens League, a pro-American organization that swore cooperation with the government's evacuation and internment program. Through an analysis of the Pacific Citizen; the Manzanar Free Press and Denson Tribune, newspapers created within the internment camps; and the Rocky Shimpo, a Japanese-English paper produced in Denver, Colorado; I will argue that these major print news sources encouraged their Japanese American readers to adopt specific WRA and accomodationist-endorsed behaviors. I will also show how the newspapers fulfilled some of the major roles of the ethnic press while simultaneously functioning as a form of behavioral control.
- Item"Her and Yet Not Her": Women Authors Questioning Mussolini's Fascist Regime on the 'Terza Pagina' of Italy's Newspapers 1925-1936(2011) Yarkin, Genna; Kitroeff, AlexanderMy thesis examines the ways in which Italian female authors questioned the policies and ideologies of the fascist regime, led by Benito Mussolini. With the support of eight short stories written by authors Grazia Deledda, Ada Negri, Amalia Guglielminetti, Pia Rimini, Maria Luisa Astaldi and Marinella Lodi, my thesis draws connections between regime policy and the attitudes and actions of female citizens in Italy. Because women's short stories were some of the most visible and widely distributed forms of women's self-representation during the regime, they give us valuable insight into the criticisms and questions women had concerning its treatment of women, their bodies, and their destinies. The stories examined in my thesis originally appeared between 1925 and 1936 on the third page, or 'terza pagina,' of two of Italy's most popular newspapers, the Corriere della sera of Turin and II Giornale d'Italia of Rome. While women's writing was successful in other mediums, such as novels or collections of stories and poems, they enjoyed the most popularity and daily readership on the cultural pages of these newspapers. Because the regime had 'Fascized' Italy's media by 1926, driving social and political criticism and commentary off the pages of newspapers, short stories began appearing almost daily on the first two columns on the third page. This provided a valuable and highly visible stage on which women gave voice to issues affecting them. Namely, in three separate sections, this thesis addresses women's responses to the regime's policies concerning the following issues: motherhood and marriage, the real and imagined needs of rural, peasant women, and the emphasis of a collective will and identity over that of the individual. Each of the themes is illustrated by short stories that delve into the lives of Italian women and how the policies and attitudes of the regime negatively affected them. Ultimately, our possession of and analysis on women's contributions to the 'terza pagina' of Italy's newspapers allows us to conclude that women did not meekly accept the role of the 'New Woman' that was forced upon them. Rather, they questioned and resisted the regime's laws, ideas, propaganda and policies. This resistance and criticism is vividly represented and brought to life by women's short stories, which, until recently, were forgotten by Italy and the world.
- ItemI BEG YOUR PARDON, PLEASE PART THESE PAGES: WHY THE BLACK MAGAZINE NEEDED HARLEMāS LITERARY SCENE(2019) Ridley, Matthew Luther; Friedman, Andrew, 1974-; Kitroeff, AlexanderThis thesis examines the role of African-American newspapers as conduits for African-American literature during the Harlem Renaissance. Since the 1827 debut of the Freedomās Journal, the black press has been a defender for black rights, upholding the race while opposing the prejudice and slavery that many African-Americans endured. This mission was important to achieve racial equality, as it influenced slave rebellions, protests, boycotts, and demonstrations. The aftermath of the Great War, along with worsening Southern conditions, represented another rebellion; one that led African-Americans to migrate upward in the 1920s. This change uprooted many southern black lives, encouraging a ārebirthā in the North, with new opportunities for success and kinship. The modern perception of the Harlem Renaissance has been contested, especially considering the charactersā roles in supporting black rights while also āperformingā under the white gaze for societal acceptance. The books of Shawn Christian Anthony and Anne Elizabeth Carroll serve as foundations with which to place the literature of the Harlem Renaissance within context as an important tool for developing the ānew Negro reader,ā and for combating racism by changing perceptions regarding African-Americans. Using The Crisis (NAACP), The Opportunity (National Urban League), and The Messenger as lenses, this thesis investigates the relationships between these magazines and the literature they include. Through literary analysis of the poems, one-act plays, and fragmented short stories, a connection is made between the authors behind these works and their integration within the Harlem Renaissance through the transmutation of emotional and social themes, external forms of discrimination, and internal conflicts within the black community that hinder the opportunity to form a collective identity. The authors, backed by the editors of these magazines, bring these prospects and issues to life to create a sense of sympathy and empathy for readers to connect. The thesis then supplements this information with a close reading of these literary works in juxtaposition with the surrounding articles and advertisements in their issues, showing how these magazines used literature to engage the imagination of their readers and construct a new form of black identity; one away from slavery and prejudice, to one that emphasizes the raceās diversity, community, and interconnectedness that would be sufficient to build larger connections for black writers and as they continue the fight against prejudice.
- ItemIdeological Dissonance, Civil War, and Revolutionary Failure during the Great Rebellion of Peru and Bolivia, 1780-1783(2010) Eagles, Thad; Krippner, James; Kitroeff, AlexanderFrom 1780 to 1783, Peru and Bolivia were embroiled in a bloody revolution against colonial Spain. Spanning from well north of Cuzco to provinces south of Lake Titicaca, the Great Rebellion was the most serious threat to Spanish power in the region between conquest and independence. Its two primary leaders were Tupac Amaru, an indigenous noble and wealthy trader who fought in Peru, and Tapac Katari, an illiterate peasant who led an army against La Paz. The rebellion, however, was highly decentralized and ideologically inconsistent. Of the various ideologies present during the revolt, two emerged as the most widespread and influential. The first was that of the Europeanized indigenous nobility and upper class, as well as the creole and wealthy mestizos. These groups generally fought to end exploitative colonial practices and revoke newly implemented laws and taxes that they saw as directly threatening their economic and political power. The second ideological strand was that of the indigenous peasantry. This group was far more radical and fought for the total eradication of all vestiges of Europeans and European culture and a near total return to pre-Columbian culture and power structure. These two groups, though each interested in expelling the colonial Spaniards from the continent, were otherwise fighting for distinctly incongruous and opposed ends. This irreconcilability eventually became manifest in direct, violent confrontation as the revolution against Spain turned into a civil war between the Europeanized upper class and the radical indigenous peasantry. This transformation and subsequent political failure to maintain insurrectionary unity made military success impossible for either ideological strand, resulting in the failure of the Great Rebellion.
- ItemItās Complicated: Relations Between Greek Settlers and Indigenous Sicilians at Megara Hyblaea, Syracuse, and Leontinoi in the 8th and 7th Centuries BCE(2019) Sterngass, Aaron; Farmer, Matthew C.; Edmonds, Radcliffe G., III, 1970-; Kitroeff, Alexander; Hayton, DarinGreek interactions with indigenous Sicilians in the Archaic Period have traditionally been examined through the lens of violent colonization by historians from Ancient Greece all the way through the mid-20th century. Recently, postcolonial studies and a new emphasis on material evidence have led scholars to change this narrative, highlighting the possibility of more peaceful and synergetic exchanges between Greeks and natives. This paper examines the relations between Greeks and native Sicilians in the 8th and 7th centuries BCE at Megara Hyblaea, Syracuse, and Leontinoi, three sites at which Thucydides recorded early interactions between Greek settlers and native communities/authorities. To supplement the evidence found at these sites, native communities and other Greek settlements associated with these sites were also analyzed. Through the analysis of ancient sources, material evidence, and modern interpretations which combined both, this paper argues that the earliest Greek settlers at Syracuse, Leontinoi, and Megara Hyblaea had far more complex relations with indigenous Sicilians than is described in the ancient texts and the all-but-recent scholarship. However, it also concludes that while the modern model of more peaceful and cooperative encounters is useful in studying Greco-native relations, it does not fully account for localized differences in these interactions, which often varied widely over short distances and periods of time. The paper advocates for an historical portrayal of indigenous Sicilians as dynamic and innovative whose influences on the Greeks are often overlooked in textbooks, but also encourages the depiction of both Greeks and indigenous peoples as active participants in systems of exchange instead of maintaining static, one-dimensional relationships such as ācordialā or āhostile.ā
- ItemLines in the Sand: Deconstructing the Construction of the Indo-Pakistani Border(2010) Jaenicke, Hannah; Kitroeff, Alexander; Harrold, DeborahIndia and Pakistan are locked in a battle in which neither will compromise. Their differences, they believe, are ultimately based in their religious identities and their experiences during the Partition in which they were created. This thesis posits that, contrary to the Indian and Pakistani nationalist historiographies, religion was not the primary factor in the formation of the Indo-Pakistani border. Instead, the roles of nationalism and the contemporary political climate as factors in the border's creation will be examined. The prevailing nationalist historiographies dictate that religion is the cause of the Indo-Pakistani border, that it determined its shape and the reasons for its creation. Instead, I argue that whilst religion determined the border's formation (as, without a religio-nationalist ideology, Pakistan could not have been created), it did not determine its form. The shape of the border was, instead, the result of numerous other factors, including the changing nature of nationalism, the short timeline in which it could be created, and the friendships between members of the British administration and the Congress Party. Nationalist histories ignore much of the role played by Britain, yet the pressures faced by the British administration influenced the border due to time constraints and the need to portray the Empire's decolonization as orderly and civilized in order to appease the United States. As this thesis refutes the prevailing historical interpretations of the formation of the Indo- Pakistani border, it provides a new analysis of the end of the Raj and the beginnings of two independent nations. The border's formation is ignored in most of the current historical analysis, with historians preferring to focus on the narratives of those crossing the border, rather than how the border was formed.
- ItemMothering the Right Way: American Public Motherhood and Food Advertising, 1880-1929(2009) Hare, Jennifer; Kitroeff, AlexanderThis thesis explores the relationship between mothers, scientific experts and food advertisers in the turn-of-the-century United States. Industrialization and urbanization created a thriving consumer society in the early 20th century, and at the same time created a new national community of women. Before the industrial revolution, women could not participate in American political debate, and their role in public society and connection to the larger world remained limited. This began to change in the 19th century as social action and consumerism brought women outside the home, and conversely, brought the outside world into the domestic sphere through the media of magazines, advertisements and child-rearing manuals. I argue in this thesis that women nationwide eagerly engaged in new, public expressions of their motherhood beginning in the late 19th century. By examining the records of women's clubs as well as editorials and letters written by women, I present a picture of their conceptions of their roles as workers and mothers. Acting to improve public health and child welfare, mothers projected their concerns, fears and desires for their own children into the work they did in public. In particular, women joined together in clubs to lobby for pure food legislation, create libraries and parks, and educate their fellow mothers about how to raise healthy children. Their work was a huge success overall, lauded by local governments and highly publicized in the press. I posit that the visibility of women's work and concerns ultimately implicated them, however, in oppressive webs of consumerism and scientific dominance. Food companies and scientific experts began to aggressively re-inscribe the concerns of publicly active women onto all mothers, distorting and exploiting those concerns to promote their own interests. Advertisers and manual writers successfully learned to manipulate the burgeoning market of public mothers by adopting their narratives of child welfare to incite fear. Their tactics were wildly successful, and fueled the rapid development of the food industry, supporting the introduction of hundreds of new processed and packaged foods in the market. Moreover, manuals and advertising homogenized American motherhood by precipitating notions of "the right way" to raise children which excluded all other methods as ignorant or even dangerous. By examining food advertisements and expert narratives in conjunction with records of women's work, I unpack the complex, multi-directional links of influence between the three.
- ItemNationalist Symbol of a Nation Divided: The Paradox of France's Joan of Arc, 1940-1944(2012) Pinto, Minerva; Kitroeff, Alexander; Gerstein, LindaThis thesis aims to compare the ways in which Joan of Arc was portrayed by the French Resistance with the way she was depicted by the collaborationist Vichy government between 1940 and 1944. The fact that she could represent a Republican, anti-clerical, nationalist platform such as Charles de Gaulle's while also representing a staunchly Catholic, authoritarian, collaborationist agenda such as Philippe Petain's begs an analysis of the ways in which her history was contorted and forced to fit into their respective ideologies. Examining the validity and consistency of each political platform and comparing it to the way in which Joan of Arc was portrayed in that government reveals through art why Charles de Gaulle's ideology was more successful than Philippe Petain's. The analysis of Joan of Arc during this period is also accompanied by an analysis of another nationalist representational figureāla Marianne. Tracing the rise, fall, and re-birth of Marianne alongside the rise and fall of Joan of Arcs helps to explain how nationalist symbols can reflect the divided political atmosphere that, in this case, stemmed from the socio-political instability caused by the Dreyfus Affair during the French Third Republic. An analysis of the post-war atmosphere alongside the change in symbolic representation of France also reveals how Joan of Arc and Marianne contribute to the French people's denial of their collaboration with Nazi Germany and war crimes against the Jews. After examining the difference between the two different representations of Joan of Arc and comparing her to Marianne, this thesis also explores the similarities between the two figures in an attempt to unveil certain consistencies in order to determine the way that the French generally feel about themselves as a nation.
- ItemNo Common Slave: Islam, Blackness and Literacy in Atlantic Slavery(2017) Herlands, Alexa; Kitroeff, AlexanderThis thesis is comprised of five microhistories that track the life stories of Muslim, literate enslaved men from West Africa. Bilali Muhammad, Omar ibn Said, Nicholas Said, Ayuba Sulemayn Diallo and Abdul Rahman Ibrahima were legible to their masters, and other white superiors, as Islamic and literate, whether in Arabic, English, or another language. Their education, and more importantly, their religious identities, often elevated them in the eyes of the white elites that they encountered. This paper argues that their special treatment, while still exploitative and racialized, was indicative of an emerging racial and religious hierarchy that connected to the larger image of Islam on the global scene.