17th Symposium Abstracts (2014)

Anita Babbitt: An Historical Puzzle: A look at Abraham Lincoln’s views on race

When Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865, Northerners and African-Americans everywhere mourned his death. He quickly became a martyr and was referred to as the "Great Emancipator" for saving the Union and giving blacks their freedom. This view of Lincoln was widely held until the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. During the movement, people started to question Lincoln's attitudes towards race and racial equality and ended up labeling him as either "racist" or "not racist." It is not an historian's job to make these kinds of moral judgments, but only to search for the truth. This paper describes and explains Lincoln's views on race and racial equality, rather than labeling them.

I distinguish between Lincoln's views on slavery, his views on humanity, and his views on race. Lincoln had been against slavery from the time he was a teenager and always believed the institution was evil. His views on humanity contributed to his views on slavery because he believed that all humans should have economic equality as defined in the Declaration of Independence. Most importantly, he believed that blacks were human. To Lincoln, slavery and humanity were connected, while race was another, less important issue. To explain this distinction, I describe the context of the time and the inherent feeling of superiority that even Northern whites felt over blacks. I show how the majority of Americans were not even close to being ready for racial equality.

I then describe the Lincoln-Douglas Illinois Senatorial debates of 1858. Here Douglas exemplified a Northern white supremacist whose primary issue was race, contrasted with Lincoln, whose primary issue was slavery. Douglas accused Lincoln of wanting racial equality, prompting Lincoln to make a speech about his views on blacks earning political and social equality, shedding light on his views about human equality. There are many different interpretations of this speech, but I conclude that Lincoln was not concerned with political and social equality for blacks at this time and that he used lawyerly language to convince his audience he was saying more than he actually was. I then discuss Lincoln's belief in the colonization of blacks and how this belief was a consequence of the incompatibility of whites and blacks rather than a malicious attempt to create an all-white nation. I discuss Lincoln's plans for Reconstruction as a reflection of his non-racial priorities. Finally, I examine Lincoln's call for partial black suffrage in Louisiana.

I conclude in this paper that Lincoln went about things one step at a time and in the beginning of his career, he was only concerned with human equality and ending slavery. Once he abolished slavery and won the war for the Union, though, he was able to finally start thinking about race and realized to live together peacefully, there would need to be more equality between blacks and whites.


Elizabeth Barenholtz: “What’s the joke?”: The Reception of Michael Ray Charles’s Art

In the late 1990s, a number of black artists began appropriating racist memorabilia with the intention of subverting these stereotypes. This emergence in black aesthetics was characterized by irony—rather than tragedy or romance. Michael Ray Charles was a prominent contributor to this artistic movement, drawing from 19th and 20th century commercial advertising in order to depict past and present stereotypes of blacks in America. Charles’s paintings emerged in the right environment, a time in which black antique memorabilia was regaining popularity among collectors. His work, along with his contemporaries, such as Kara Walker, stirred controversy amongst his critics and audiences.

This paper investigates the reception of Charles’s work and how the concept of the ‘sellout’ in black rhetoric influences this criticism. The analysis considers the context, including the physical space, in which Charles’s work is viewed along with the historical and the social implications of the racist iconography employed in his paintings. This paper focuses on one painting in particular, Howta conquer the fowl world from the Liberty Bros. Permanent Daily Circus Series, in order to provide iconographical context for Charles’s distinct black aesthetic. In order for the viewer to completely understand the irony of Charles’s work, the analysis briefly discusses the history of the racist imagery he is depicting, particularly the Sambo figure.

The emergence of Charles’s paintings on the contemporary art scene opened up many interesting debates concerning the significance of racist memorabilia in art and how it affects the image of black Americans today. Considering the reception of Charles’s work as a whole reveals that there is no right way to view this type of imagery as it resonates with every viewer differently, sometimes, in very personal ways. This paper argues that much of the criticism surrounding the degree to which Charles’s work is sending the ‘right’ message parallels the larger issue of African-American anxiety over racial betrayal and the fear of straying from black solidarity. Casting Charles as a spokesperson for black artistic aesthetics implies that one black aesthetic exists, essentially undermining the diversity of African-American ideologies. This paper concludes that there is no correct way too look at Howta conquer the fowl world, as there is no one black aesthetic ideology.


Claire Bassett: "What It Is" for Women: Art-Making and the Artist’s Identity

Published in 2008, Lynda Barry’s What It Is stands as the embodiment of a new genre in contemporary literature. In fact, What It Is experiments with and borrows from several genres, including artistic styles of collage and comics, and literary styles of instruction, autobiography and graphic narrative. While this menagerie of influences might seem strange or even unnecessary, Barry is deliberate in her artistic and literary experiment. She seeks to blur, even break down, the distinctions between genres. In doing so, she questions our assumed definition and cultural understanding of the art-making process and the artist’s identity. In other words, the heart of What It Is lies in asking what and who “counts” as artistic or, more broadly speaking, “creative” in contemporary, post-Romantic culture.

The very act of reading What It Is becomes a process in which we deconstruct and reconstruct the fundamentals: What is art? Who is an artist? By looking at the current cultural status of these terms, Barry delves into our long-held belief that true artistry is for the gifted traditionally male elite, which implies that women are not or cannot be “Great.” But the significance of her work runs far beyond debunking stereotypes of the artist. On a deeper, more complex, and ultimately personal level, Barry’s What It Is can be read through the lens of gender. Through this lens, we begin to ask why it matters that Barry is a woman writing about art and artists. What’s at stake for women in the process of making art and identifying as an artistic individual? As for how and when we realize that gender matters in What It Is, we are prompted by Barry’s inclusion of “the personal”: the scraps from everyday life that she pieces together into hand-made collage spreads; the narrative of her own transition from childhood to adulthood, from college student to distinguished artist, told with humility and humor. To engage in a gendered analysis, we can look at how the artistic and literary elements throughout What It Is operate under a subtle but powerful approach: Barry relies on gender binaries and stereotypes that have been so destructive and disempowering for women. As she lays out a new understanding of art and the artist, Barry includes and redeems negative traits attributed to women and femininity. Throughout What It Is, Barry places value in “feminine art,” celebrates the female body and mind, and elevates the notion of women artists.


Siri Benn: The Multiplicity of Meaning in Medieval Wind Diagrams

The Four Winds Diagram is undoubtedly a visually striking medieval manuscript that mesmerizes the viewer’s eyes and suggests a high level of thoughtful craftsmanship. Most viewers can recognize that the diagram contains personifications of the winds, and is surrounded by the body of Christ, suggesting a theological component. However, its specific meaning remains frustratingly elusive. Its esoteric nature conflicts with modern expectations that a diagram should concisely communicate its information to its viewers.

This desire for an x=y relationship between image and meaning has shaped previous scholarship of Four Winds Diagram. Art historians have attempted to prescribe singular explanations to the manuscript, effectively stifling its ability to communicate multiple ideas at once.

In this paper I combine previous scholarship on Four Winds Diagram in a way that allows for the possibility of a multiplicity of meanings. I argue that this diagram contains four congruent readings, which take no precedent over one another but exist contemporaneously. This diagram functions as a personification of winds, a visual expression of Christ’s power on earth, a memory aid, and a broader metaphorical statement about the nature of pictorial representation.

To limit the meaning of this diagram to only one interpretation is not only doing a great disservice to the complexity of Four Winds Diagram, but also to medieval thought in general. This paper’s thesis implies the necessity of considering multiple modes of meaning to appreciate the intellectual intricacies of in medieval art. A further implication to draw from this paper is that that we must increase our own acceptance of the possibilities of multiple meanings in any situation we may encounter.


Olav Bjornerud: : With God on Our Side: The Convergence of Millenary Ideologies and Revolutionary Politics During the American War of Independence

The Revolutionary War did not simply represent the struggle for political freedom in the face of tyranny. To many, it literally signaled the return of Jesus Christ and the cosmic battle that would pit God’s chosen people against the armies of the Antichrist. While they may seem like unlikely allies, during the 1770s, secular statesmen and religious fundamentalists in the American colonies united in hopes of achieving a common goal—the military defeat of Great Britain.

Europe’s initial interactions with the America’s framed the New World in the context of Biblical narrative. Upon first contact, indigenous populations were theorized to have descended from the Lost Tribes of Israel.

The majority of England’s earliest colonies in America were made up of religious dissenters who saw their actions as Scriptural in scope. The Puritans, who settled in Massachusetts, understood themselves as God’s chosen people—the new Israel—a people He had led out of Egyptian bondage (England), across the Red Sea (the Atlantic Ocean), and into the Promised Land (America).

Millennialism in America was not limited only to the fringes of colonial society; by many accounts it was both deeply rooted and highly influential. In the years preceding the Revolution, apocalyptic beliefs and rhetoric had seeped into the American people’s religious values, cultural attitudes, and political climate.

Historically, American Liberal-Republicans and American Millennialists shared a common ideological root—the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. By the time of the Revolution, these two groups had once again aligned philosophically over key beliefs. Presbyterian preachers and colonial politicians alike advocated for political freedom by using Biblical justifications. Though many of the Founding Fathers did not literally believe in the approaching Millennium, they realized its resonance among the American public and were quick to make use of its powerful imagery. Benjamin Franklin’s proposed design for the seal of the United States of America in his own words depicted “Moses lifting his hand and the Red Sea dividing, with Pharaoh in his chariot being overwhelmed by the waters, and with a motto...‘Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.’”

The fusing of revolutionary and Millennial ideologies in the American colonies both before and during the 1770s created an identity fundamentally and uniquely American. The inability to separate the spiritual from the secular in our national identity—an identity built on contradictions, explains the continued strength of apocalyptic language, movements, and prophecies throughout our nation’s past. Currently experiencing a modern resurgence in the 20th and 21st centuries, these powerful narratives show no sign of fading.


Anna Bolgrien: Developing Tourism in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone has the potential to become a major tourist destination in West Africa, but has struggled to redefine its image after the 1991-2002 civil war. One of the ways for Sierra Leone to gain international recognition is by nominating sites of cultural and natural heritage to the UNESCO World Heritage List. Currently, there are six sites on the Tentative List including four located within and around the capital, Freetown. “Developing Tourism in Sierra Leone” started as an attempt to identify how nominations to the World Heritage List could benefit Sierra Leone’s tourism industry along with how to prepare the sites for the nomination and the increase in visitors. As a result of the field experience, I conclude that the challenges facing tourism in Sierra Leone are broader than a successful nomination to the World Heritage List would solve. The tentative sites are at various stages of disrepair and preservation. Financial support is one of the biggest barriers to development. Safety, limited infrastructure, and encroaching environmental threats affect all of the sites, especially in the Freetown area where the population is increasing and spreading rapidly. Collaborations are occurring between private organizations and the government to promote tourism, but only by addressing the difficulties of traveling to and around Sierra Leone can there be an increase in visitors. Lack of accessibility due to poor infrastructure, difficulties of finding information without previous or local experience, unreliable accommodations, and high cost of travel are some of the serious issues that prevent Sierra Leone from attracting tourists. Continued development and investment into tourism would benefit Sierra Leone. An increase in the economy and employment would benefit people, especially those affected by the civil war while improving Sierra Leone’s international reputation. Tourist destinations, along with those on the Tentative List, would benefits from environmental preservation of the natural beauty of the beaches and rainforests and from the promotion and sharing of the unique cultural history of the country. If these challenges can be overcome, the nominations of the sites to the World Heritage List, the promotion of development for the country, and the people of Sierra Leone could all benefit from the increase in international tourism.


James Brisbois: "Nation-building in Africa: Seeking a Global but Independent Identity in Senegal” («L’Édification de la nation en Afrique: À la recherche d’une identité mondiale mais indépendante au Sénégal»)

In addition to its usage to describe French-speaking individuals, the term “Francophone" is used (quite liberally) to denote essentially any state with continuing usage of the French language, whether for business, education, administration, or communication. Senegal, a former French colony that gained independence June 20, 1960, maintains the language of its former colonizer as the sole official language of the state. However, French is spoken fluently only be a small minority in Senegal, with most Senegalese preferring Urban Wolof, the developing lingua franca and unofficial national language. This discrepancy leads to an interesting question for a young nation-state such as Senegal: is it possible to profit from the language and infrastructure left by the French, while at the same time establishing a national identity that is independent of France and French culture? In this study, I establish the historical context for Francophonie in Senegal by examining the celebrated essay written by Léopold Sédar Senghor, the first president of Senegal, entitled “Le Français, langue de culture”, in contrast to an interview with Ousmane Sembène to illuminate the Eurocentric vision of Francophonie. I then proceed to contextualize the current political situation in Senegal by considering the political theory behind Neocolonialism and Postcolonialism as presented by Robert Young, and by providing a brief overview of the development of the concept of “national identity”, a relatively recent development in human history. Through a postcolonial lens, I then explore the current economic situation in Senegal to reveal the continuing dependence on globalization and Western aid for economic viability. Finally, I examine the role of the augmentation of Urban Wolof as a national lingua franca and the importance of the capital city of Dakar in the formation of an independent national identity in Senegal. I maintain that the augmentation of Wolof as the national lingua franca, which coexists with the French used by the government, allows Senegal to communicate with the outside world and stay actively engaged in globalization, while at the same time to develop its own culture and language that remain immutable faced with the eurocentrism of Francophonie. French in one hand, Urban Wolof in the other, Senegal continues to shape its national identity in an effort to define what it means to be a young African nation-state in a globalized world.


Nicole Cardarella: : Feminist Therapy: Empowering Clients with Disabilities and other Intersections of Identity

The first goal of my literature review is to demonstrate that feminist therapy is an optimal approach in treating clients with disabilities because it places importance on intersections of identity, social constructionism, and context when evaluating mental health unlike traditional therapeutic approaches. Also, Feminist therapy is more likely to include training on people with disabilities and that in and of itself makes FT an optimal approach for people with disabilities. This therapeutic approach gives power back to clients who usually have so little, and it encourages clients to take control of their own life.

The second objective of this paper has two components. One component is to examine whether diversity training for mental health providers includes ableism and disability issues and what needs to change in training in order to incorporate more feminist techniques. I assessed this through interviews conducted with mental health providers. The other component is the interviews I conducted with mental health clients who have disabilities in order to evaluate the extent to which mental health providers are able to meet the needs of people with disabilities, as well as to understand what is needed to improve therapy for people with disabilities. I connect the data from the interviews to the literature review on feminist therapy and its uses with clients who have disabilities to show that there has been a serious lack of information about physical disabilities in diversity and multicultural training for mental health professionals (MHPs). However, if mental health providers had training that was specific to feminist therapeutic approaches, or if the training has been recent, the MHPs would be more familiar with how to treat clients with disabilities.

Since FT is so effective for people with disabilities, the therapy technique should be taught alongside other therapeutic approaches, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, as an option for therapeutic practice since currently FT is not included in many undergraduate programs or graduate programs. However, there are opportunities for online continued education with topics such as FT provided by APA Division 35 Psychology of Women (American Psychological Association, Division 35). These courses do cost money, but they are great ways for mental health providers to learn about feminist therapy and how to incorporate FT components into their therapeutic practice. By doing so, MHPs can be better equipped to meet the needs of clients with disabilities until the time that FT is widely taught to students wanting to become MHPs. My hope is that someday, feminist therapy will be recognized by the whole psychology community as effective for not only people with disabilities, but for all people.


Heather Carr: : The Sound of Silence: A Soundwalk in an Empty House

My paper explores the relationship between natural and constructed soundscapes, focusing particularly on the soundscape of an empty house that I created on the Lawrence campus in Fall 2013. I explore the interplay between the ability of sound to define space as well as the potential for space to define sound, and the influence this has on the aural atmosphere (or the soundscape). My paper centers these themes around my project, and I analyze my results through the lens of sound artists and ethnomusicologists including Steven Feld, John Luther Adams, and Gordon Hempton, attempting to marry their disparate opinions through the creation and analysis of my soundscape. The end result of my project was a constructed soundscape that is brought to life through human interaction, and I discuss this element as integral to storytelling through sound, linking my project back to the use of sound in other mediums such as poetry. I posit that soundscapes in human-constructed spaces are designed to be interactive, and thus the full experience of the soundscape only is realized through activation by an outside presence. Therefore, I argue that my soundscape marries the ides that sound can be both descriptive of its environment and participants, as well as shape the sounds that result from the environment, and that the largest narrative potential is realized through human interaction with the soundscape.


James Cartwright: An Ill Conversation: Interpreting Social Discourse to Improve Community-­‐based Healthcare

This paper aims to advance an applied critical perspective of health communication to improve healthcare in developing communities. Drawing on six months of ethnographic research in Napo, Ecuador, I present evidence that interpersonal interactions contain markers of broader cartographies of social discourse that influence communities’ and individuals’ health.

In this case study format, I examine one interaction that illuminates the sociocognitive processes of health decision--‐making. Drawing heavily from Bakhtin and Foucault, I examine how speakers often voice multiple channels of discourse in a single conversation, and how this “double voicing” can compete with their own cognitive intentions. I also demonstrate how linguistic code switches help to unravel embedded discourse, and I posit that these interpretative insights could be used to improve community--‐level health interventions.

The showcased interaction in this paper is a conversation (spoken in Spanish and Kichwa) in a small village in rural Ecuador between a young community health worker and her patient. The patient is an elderly woman with paralysis who is scheduled to go to a hospital 150 miles away, but she is hesitant to travel the distance. Unexpectedly, the elderly woman’s friend—another community member also joins the conversation.

In analyzing this interaction, I link linguistic and metalinguistic features of the speech act to evidence of sociopolitical discourse gathered in my ethnographic fieldwork. In mapping the pathways of communication that influence decision--‐making, I conclude that further research should emphasize a critical perspective of discursive power, similar to theories of structural violence.


Mary Curtin: Treatment for Social Impairments in Children with ADHD

The purpose of this literature review is to analyze and discuss literature regarding social functioning in children with ADHD, medication as treatment for ADHD, and potential behavioral treatments that would address social impairments that these children experience. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is characterized by inattention, as well as hyperactive and impulsive behavior. In addition to symptoms listed in the DSM criteria, children with ADHD suffer from impaired social functioning, including awkward or inappropriate social behavior, poor social reputation, and peer rejection. These impairments in social functioning can have serious consequences for children with ADHD, including higher risk for delinquent behaviors, smoking, alcohol use, depression, and anxiety in adolescence. There is relatively little research exploring why children with ADHD suffer from these social impairments, and so the exact cause is yet unknown. Possible causes include pragmatic deficits, emotion recognition and regulation deficits, executive functioning deficits, and brain abnormalities. All of these potential causes have been linked to poor social functioning in children with ADHD, but research has not reached a consensus on the extent to which each cause contributes to social impairment or how these causes interact to create the impaired social behaviors seen in children with ADHD. While the underlying cause of social impairment for children with ADHD is unclear, it is clear that social impairment for these children is a serious issue which requires treatment. Although ADHD is often treated with stimulant medications, these medications do not sufficiently address the social difficulties that children with ADHD face. Therefore, an additional treatment method is required. Further research is needed to identify and define appropriate treatments for social deficits in children with ADHD; however, behavioral therapies may be useful as an additional form of treatment, rather than an alternate form of treatment, to address social functioning in children with ADHD. It is important that research addresses treatment for social impairments in children with ADHD in order to ensure that these children are being offered treatment for all aspects of their disorder in order to optimize their outcomes and prevent negative outcomes due to peer rejection and poor peer reputations.


Eli Edelman: Exploring the Distinct Origins and Varied Development of Afro-Cuban Folkloric Music in the Cities of Havana and Matanzas

The survival and development of the African diaspora in Cuba can be attributed to the random dispersion of slaves that came from a variety of West African regions. My fieldwork in the cities of Havana and Matanzas during two summers examines the similarities and differences between the musical traditions of the two provinces, a topic that has not been thoroughly explored by the small amount of scholarship on regional Cuban music. I draw examples from the Afro-Cuban folkloric and religious music of Palo Monte, Arará, and Santeria that I learned from my teachers. In Matanzas I studied with Fransisco (Minini) Zamora Chirino, Luis Cancino Morales, and Gilberto (El Indio) Morales Chiong. In Havana I studied with Raul (Lali) González Brito, Maximo Duquesne, and Giovanni Diaz.

These cultural practices have been transmitted orally among real or fictive kin for centuries. Although a lot of the rhythms and songs are recognizably from the same African origins, the distinctions between the two cities are so great that people from one location are unable to play with musicians from the other without first learning their respective tradition. My research shows that Matanzas has a stronger and more unified tradition, while Havana has a mixture of styles and inventions with unique variations specific to different musical lineages. With a group of percussionists and singers, I will perform excerpts of rhythms and songs to support my analysis of how differently the traditions developed in the two provinces.


Michelle Farrand: The Deep Rooted Identity of the Schuachplattln

The Schuachplattln of Austria is a dance tradition that dates back to the 19th century, when it was used as a way for men to attract the women in the audience. Since then, the aim of the performance has changed, but it still holds true to many of its original features and remains a very social tradition, while still being a predetermined performance with a specific group of performers. As such, this music has characteristics of both presentational and participatory models of performance.

Schuachplattln, when translated, means “shoe slapping” and describes the basic movements of the dance. The accompaniment is traditional Austrian and Bavarian music and is often played on the Styrian harmonica. I interviewed a member of one of the fifteen Schuachplattln groups that exist today within the Enns-Valley region of the Austrian Alps, D’Hochangerer Pyhrn. I learned how truly deep the roots of this tradition run, and how important it is to the people of this region to keep the dance as it always was, rather than allowing outside cultures and modern influences to corrupt it.

The tradition of the Schuachplattln is often surrounded by social activities, particularly drinking and community bonding. Much of the tradition emphasizes group cohesion and having fun together, rather than simply performing to perform or to please an audience. A requirement of being able to learn this dance is having a close friendship with the boys and men already in the group; having a tight-knit group and common interests is most important to them. Even the location in which they train, the local fire department, is considered to be a cultural meeting point, and being able to have a beer together afterwards was an important factor in the choice of venue. Additionally, many of their performances take place at social and cultural events such as birthday parties and balls.

While all these social concepts combine to support Thomas Turino’s model of participatory music, there is one very important aspect of the tradition that supports his model of presentational performance. According to Turino, one important characteristic of presentational music is that the audience does not participate in the music making, and this is very much the case with the tradition of Schuachplattln. The performances of the group follow a very specific procedure, and the dance itself has specialties that must be taught. It is, therefore, necessary to have training with the group prior to being able to take part.

The Schuachplattln tradition has remained confined in the northern Valleys of the Austrian Alps, due largely to the physical constraints of the geographic landscape during the time this tradition was beginning to emerge. D’Hochangerer Pyhrn, however, are very happy that their dance has remained true to its original form.

Despite being a presentational type of performance, the heavily valued social aspects of the Schuachplattln dance and the strong sense of tradition for its performers contribute to a sense of participatory performance in a geographically rooted community in the Austrian Alps.


Hannah Gabriel: Identité nationale en Belgique: Comment l'éducation peut améliorer un clivage linguistique (National Identity in Belgium: How Education Can Ameliorate a Linguistic Divide)

Belgium is a small country that can at times be forgotten due to its internationally powerful neighbors (France, Germany etc.). Despite the fact that the seat of the European Union is located in Brussels, the majority of Europeans don't know much about Belgium and its national affairs. As is true for all countries, large or small, Belgium has its fair share of problems. One of these problems that I find of particular interest is that of language. It is surprising that a large number of people don't know what language is spoken in Belgium. At first glance, this fact has no significance. But after some reflection, one might ask if there is a reason for this ignorance. Belgium has three official languages: French, Flemish (Dutch), and German. The majority of the population (99%) speaks either Flemish or French, and tensions between these two groups are very high. The Flemish and French-speaking segments of the population are divided on almost every major issue (for example: politics, economics, and religion). These broad differences have been described as a linguistic divide, and this division is considered to be the most prominent contemporary issue in Belgium. In spite of multiple official languages, there is a surprising lack of bilingualism in Belgium. In my paper, I attempt to address why the issue of language is so important to the Belgians. I also explain why the lack of bilingualism makes it difficult for Belgium to have a cohesive national identity. In order to fix this linguistic divide and thus create a strong national identity, the country must increase its bilingualism by implementing more second language learning in its educational system. By learning the other major language of the country, Belgians would be more likely to gain a better understanding of their countrymen and have fewer tensions caused by a lack of understanding of the other side.


Tyler Gasper: How to Use a Victory: The Battle of Cannae and Hannibal’s Fateful Decision

This paper seeks to answer a question: why did Hannibal choose not to march on Rome after his stunning victory at Cannae in 216 BCE? The paper begins by giving historical background on the Punic Wars, in order to give the audience context. The essay then moves on to the issues with the primary source material and the traditional answer posited by more modern historians as to why Hannibal chose to act as he did i.e. it wasn’t Hannibal’s plan to march on Rome. The essay goes on to examine other reasons for why Hannibal may have made his decision (supplies, siege weaponry, Hellenistic conventions of warfare), and concludes that it was more likely one of these more pragmatic, real-world factors that caused Hannibal to make the decision that he did, rather than because of an adherence to a strictly putative strategy for the war as a whole.


Sarah Gettel: “The World of Women Haunteth Me”: Reviving Lucy Larcom’s Resistance to Womanhood and Dream for Female Individuality

From an early age, the writer Lucy Larcom dreaded womanhood, and as an adult, she felt the constraints of being a women, marginalized within nineteenth-century America due to idealistic expectations toward women. In this paper, I engage three of Larcom’s poems in depth, aligning them with her autobiography to reveal how she uses poetry to cope and push against constraints that marginalize her and other women. Each poem depicts a female subject who faces troubling dilemmas regarding her life path and social decisions and is prevented from resolving her ambivalence within a constrictive and judgmental society. As a group, these poems illustrate how Larcom’s poetry can permeate deeper than it seems, harboring unexpectedly complicated social disquietude, particularly regarding women’s roles in nineteenth-century America.

The second focus of this paper is Larcom’s revival in the twenty-first-century. Although Larcom was a well-known and celebrated poet during her lifetime, there is remarkably little engagement with Larcom’s poetry in the critical arena. Late twentieth-century and early twenty-first-century critics treat her poems as purely sentimental, frequently dedicating the most attention to Larcom’s experiences working in the Lowell mills and giving preference to her autobiography as her most interesting and representative work. That is not to say that we should disregard her autobiography in favor of her poetry. While it is critically limiting to engage Larcom’s autobiography alone, the narrative exposes subtle characteristics that seep into her poems, such as the tension between the public projected and internalized self. I will argue that Larcom’s poems can also be environments for struggle as she grapples with difficult questions that represent her nineteenth-century setting and position as a woman. By emphasizing the political significance of Larcom’s poetry, I will also encourage her revival in modern critical conversations.

This analysis is the first chapter of my honors thesis, which also explores representations of marginalized women in the poems of Frances Harper and Sarah Piatt.


Abigail Hindson: Salsa in The “Big Apple” and Appleton: Community and Identity

This paper examines the themes of salsa music creation as a means to form both community and identity in New York City in the 1970s and 1980s and in the Appleton area today. In the 1970s and 1980s, salsa music was the spirit of New York City and was also becoming a global phenomenon . Today in Appleton, Wisconsin, the band Salsa Manzana fills the demand for Latin music in the Fox Valley area. The aim of this paper is to better understand the cultural collisions and exchanges that define salsa as an identity-creating genre, both locally and globally. When given the chance to explore these interactions, I interviewed José Encarnación, a saxophone professor at Lawrence University and an accomplished salsa musician. In addition, I observed a rehearsal of the local salsa band Salsa Manzana, attended a Salsa Manzana performance in Menasha, and interviewed Eli Edelman, a Lawrence senior percussion student who plays in the rhythm section of the band.

José experienced the lively culture of New York salsa in the 1980s as a musician and is currently an instrumental part of the subtler salsa presence here in Appleton today, working with Salsa Manzana. By comparing the once-vibrant New York salsa scene to the struggling Latin music scene in Appleton, I discovered that while salsa music aided in identity creation for many people during its global “heyday”, in Appleton today the salsa scene is too small to serve as a local identity-forming scene. Instead, it occasionally serves to bring the entire community together regardless of ethnicity. To affirm these conclusions in the paper, I employ celebrated ethnomusicologist Thomas Turino’s concepts of cultural cohorts and cultural formations.


Sara Johnson: Género, ropa y poder en tres entremeses de Juan Rana. (Gender, Clothing and Power in Three Juan Rana Entremeses.)

In this paper I examine the relationship between gender, clothing, and political power in three entremeses (short plays) written for the famous Spanish golden age actor Juan Rana. Through comedy these entremeses highlight how political power relies heavily upon appearances, including clothing and gender presentation. El guardainfante I y II (the Hoopskirt parts 1 and 2) reveal the double standards of dress imposed on men and women while also examining how restrictive gender roles allow society to function. El parto de Juan Rana (Juan Rana gives birth) reveals the conflicting male desires to control reproduction while maintaining patriarchal power. All three entremeses deal with gender and power relations, showing how important questions of gender were to people living in Spain during the early modern age.


Elizabeth Knutowski: Sung Waterways as Cultural Consciousness: An Exploration of the Relationship Between Environmental Economics and Pollution in Song

Furthering Nancy Guy’s work (2009) on the Tamsui River of Taiwan, I pair an analysis of songs from the United States, Taiwan, and South Korea with the environmental Kuznets curve – an empirical observation from environmental economics. The analysis demonstrates a complicated relationship between income and cultural awareness of pollution. The environmental Kuznets curve posits a relationship between income and pollution levels in a given country; the conventional u-shape is sometimes reasoned as being due to the higher priority of clean environments as income rises. However, this justification becomes complicated when considering songs, which often reflect cultural attitudes.

Taiwanese songs best demonstrate the relationship between income, pollution levels, and cultural awareness of that pollution. Nancy Guy’s work shows that songs concerning the Tamsui River have shifted over time from romantic to critical of the river’s polluted state. Of the three countries, the United States is the most industrialized, but lacks songs about environmental degradation in waterways, barring a few exceptional cases. Taiwan and South Korea, despite being at similar stages of industrialization, illustrate different levels of cultural awareness of waterway pollution. South Korean popular songs concerning the Han River are melodramatic and unconcerned with pollution.

The varied histories and values at work in these societies – especially in South Korea and Taiwan – shed light on the difference, implying that factors beyond income significantly affect cultural awareness and that musical environmental movements may not be accessible on the global level.


Fanny Lau: The Changing Social Landscape of Wisconsin Cheesemaking

This study explores the production of class among multigenerational dairy farmers and cheese makers in rural Wisconsin. Though rural cheesemakers are subjected to similar economic pressures within the changing dairy industry, interviews and other field data collected during the summer of 2013 reveal that they consistently express a unique kind of social capital in order to position themselves within their respective rural classes, or what class theorists have termed, intra-class hierarchies. This social capital further blurs the line between seemingly simple dichotomies like urban and rural, as dairy farmers and cheese makers simultaneously vilify and glorify characteristics of the stereotypical urbanite and urban city. In indexing these stereotypical elements while still emphasizing their love for their rural landscapes, these workers have come to personify the tension between tradition and modernity so pervasive in their industry’s marketing.

This project also strives to build momentum for work within rural anthropology in America. As a discipline, anthropology has long been concerned with the plight of marginalized groups of people including immigrants, women, and children. Members of rural communities are no different. The lack of anthropological scholarship on members of rural America is an outright omission of their existence as cultural actors, and a reflection of the general populace’s ignorance. By promoting efforts to explore rural life, anthropologists can mediate negative portrayals of rural members as “hicks”, “rednecks” and other generalizing stereotypes that marginalize rural workers. Increased ethnographic attention to rural America in the context of food studies, also, emphasizes urban members’ biological and economic connections to their rural neighbors. My work in rural Wisconsin, therefore, holds the potential to transform urban perceptions of rural life. It also strives to foster a more holistic understanding of family-based rural work and how working in this unique setting can also reflect general processes of identity formation and family structuring.


Robin Lieberman: La diversidad: lo bueno y lo malo. Las consecuencias de un país diverso y la relación entre esta gran diversidad y el acoso escolar. (Diversity: The Good and the Bad. The Consequences of a Diverse Country and the Relationship between this Great Diversity and Bullying.)

Ecuador is a hugely diverse country – not only regarding its enormous biodiversity of animals, plants, and landscapes, but also the diversity of the people who live there. Ecuador mixes whites, mestizos, natives, and blacks all within a tiny country. A major downside to this diversity, though, is that it creates social problems – specifically bullying. The problem of bullying is magnified in Ecuadorean society even more than in other countries because of this large diversity that creates an invisible societal hierarchical chain with whites on top, followed by mestizos, followed by indigenous people, and finally followed by blacks.

This paper opens by arguing that there are two options when faced with a diverse population: either to appreciate and embrace each person’s individual diversity or to attempt to find a common link that everybody shares. This is an argument to which there is no definitive correct answer because of pros and cons on either side. As explained by Elena Lahelma, the idea of “differentness” appears to be suitable basis for bullying. School children might view other students who have glasses, a learning disability, or a speech impediment as “different,” and therefore feel authorized in bullying that student. This paper explores the psychological effects bullying has on the victim, bystanders, and even the perpetrator himself. It also compares bullying in the US, and different cultural norms that largely play into whether something is considered bullying.

This essay concludes that a major reason for bullying in Ecuador is a combination of ignorance in conjunction with people not appreciating their own diversity. The “blanqueamiento” movement is an extremely powerful and clear example of this. Ecuadorean people use these blanqueamiento – or “whitening” – creams to gradually lighten their skin tone, striving to be white. This clearly shows a rejection of native roots and culture (rejection of diversity) and a desire to be like the superior, hierarchical-leading, white population.

While bullying is essentially impossible to eliminate completely, a possible solution for the Ecuadorean future would to begin teaching students from an early age the value of individual diversity while also promoting the importance of working together as a team.


Emily McLane: Olympe de Gouges: Interpreting a Revolutionary Traditionalist (Olympe de Gouges : Une Réinterprétation d’une « révolutionnaire »)

In both capstones I decided to look at Olympe de Gouges, a woman living in Paris during the time of the Revolution. I was drawn to her because of her reputation as a feminist and socially radical individual during a time when women were not considered “citizens” and had few rights. However, there was something about her that seemed a little paradoxical, as her values resonated with me as more traditional. After diligent research, I came up with the following argument for my capstones in both my majors:

“Here we have the author of the Rights of Woman who has been interpreted as a Revolutionary, which certainly has grounds due to her radical call for women’s equality, but de Gouges displayed some notable contradictions throughout her life. Many of the works and actions of Olympe de Gouges indicate that she was a political opportunist, and more so, a traditionalist, meaning she held the political and social philosophy that promoted the retention of traditional social institutions. This essay will show the paradoxical perspectives of Olympe de Gouges by outlining her radical viewpoints (notably her promotion and fight for the rights of women) that led to her status as a Revolutionary, followed by examples that show her politically traditional viewpoints pertaining to government and the societal roles of women.”

I start by giving a history of the French Revolution with information that is useful in the context of de Gouge’s life, and continue with a history of the term “rights” and a description of what it meant to be a citizen in Revolutionary France. From this, I give a more detailed history of Olympe de Gouge’s life and aspects of it that likely led her to do the things she did (i.e. the fact that she was a widow in a time when women did not have property entitlement). This leads me to a description of Olympe de Gouges’s most notable document, The Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Citizen. This document was the primary source contributing to her current consideration as a Revolutionary. I acknowledge this, but I also point out certain things about it that indicated traditional, and even conservative, viewpoints (including a letter to the Queen and a consideration of more societally conservative values of women). From here, I evaluate five of her other works showing her underlying and sometimes event blatant traditionalist perspectives.

In my conclusion, I bring up the point that social and political radicalism are not one and the same, and that people align themselves along a spectrum of viewpoints. Further, I note that it is important to separate the meanings of rights of women and roles of women, and how a fight for one does not imply a fight for the other. Finally, I remark on the importance of avoiding a presentist perspective and mention that, despite the fact that de Gouges may not have been a “Revolutionary” after all, she still pioneered an important movement that is still alive today.


Nathan Nichols-Weliky-Fearing: A Critical Analysis of Teach For America’s Effectiveness on Improving Educational Equality

In my paper, I take a detailed look into the program Teach For America, a widely recognized national teaching corps, and analyze whether the program is an effective movement capable of reducing educational inequality. Students who grow up in low-income communities are less likely to go to college and do not have a choice about the quality of their education. TFA strives to change this national trend by putting motivated and talented leaders in cities across the country that are struggling to provide an excellent education for their students. Some critics argue that TFA is actually hurting our education system and the current results are not worth the costs of the program. As an incoming corps member, I want to take a closer look and understand why some people are strongly against the program and whether their criticisms are valid. Previous arguments against TFA typically focus on one aspect of the program and ignore other aspects. Through a more comprehensive analysis, I claim that TFA is a movement that has increased our nation’s awareness of educational inequality and has the potential to change the education system to better serve all children.

My paper breaks TFA down into several categories and includes every part of the program that has been acclaimed and criticized. Themes include: training, teacher turnover, conflicting attitudes of teachers, student achievement, future careers, and cost. Interestingly, data on classroom performance tend to show no greater improvement in student achievement with TFA teachers. Some therefore argue that TFA is not changing anything in our classrooms or the education system. A counterargument is that with such little training, TFA corps members seem able to produce the same results as teachers who go through much longer teacher certification programs. Another common issue brought up is that so many corps members leave teaching after their two-year commitment. Not only does this contribute to teacher turnover, but it also means that corps members are not staying in the field long enough to become experienced teachers. However, while TFA corps members do tend to leave teaching at a high rate, they typically stay in the field of education and continue to fight for educational equality.

While there are downfalls to the program, there are also benefits and room for improvements. I provide suggestions for TFA that aim to strengthen the program and increase its potential impact on educational equality. One suggestion is a mentor program where corps members are matched with veteran teachers when originally placed in a school. I also recommend some changes to the application and selection process, so that corps members selected are the right fit for the program. My final suggestion focuses on the placement of corps members, narrowing in on the type of schools TFA should be in. Overall, I take an in-depth look at Teach For America to determine whether previous criticisms are valid or if the program is the movement needed to change education across the country.


Kathryn Obermiller: Caught in the Middle : The Role of Monuments in Collective Memory Disputes (Au milieu de la mémoire, le rôle des monuments dans les disputes de la mémoire collective)

For many West African states, monuments are often-unpleasant reminders of colonization. Monuments were largely nonexistent in this region before the colonial era. After the colonial era ended, newly independent African states were left with these foreign objects that quite literally put Europeans on a pedestal. However, it wasn’t just the structures themselves that were problematic. Monuments were just a piece of a much larger question: how will history remember colonization?

Monuments are in a unique position to examine this question. As concrete objects of this controversial collective memory, monuments are a platform for debating the history and legacy of colonization. In the process of destroying, hiding, or repurposing these monuments there is often a wider community discussion about what these monuments signify, and, in turn, a debate over the collective memory surrounding colonization.

In this paper, I analyze four monuments from Senegal (Le Souvenir Africain, Demba et Dupont, Les marchés Kermel et Sandaga and La Renaissance Africaine), two from Mali (les jardins de Koulouba, les monuments de l’Independence), and two from Belgium (Léopold II Oostende, Léopold II Namur). I analyze the role these monuments have played in collective memory disputes about colonization. I examine how monuments are problematic and who decides their importance and meaning. From this analysis, I conclude that monuments do not have a single, fixed interpretation, but a meaning that changes and evolves over time. The collective memories attached to these monuments do not hold the same value across generations or social groups. The meaning of a monument may change as collective memories fade away or are simply ignored. Monuments are not simply memory containers. They are an experience that is simultaneously collective and anonymous, to remember or remind a group of a collective memory. As a short example, seeing a monument of Léopold II, king of the Belgian Congo, is not the same experience today as it was during his reign. Over time different groups have vandalized and valorized his statues, indicating that the divisions in Belgian collective memory. I conclude that even if monuments do not always provide answers, they give people a space to reshape and discuss this shared history and memory.


Lilian Sand: La institución y los cuerpos chilenos: La creación de los nuevos ciudadanos en Machuca de Andrés Wood. (The Institution and Chilean Bodies: Creating New Citizens in Andrés Wood's Machuca.)

This paper is about the creation of new citizens through the power of the school, an institution that functions as a mechanism of the State. In particular, it centers on the main characters in the film Machuca by Chilean filmmaker Andrés Wood, which takes place a few months before the military coup in Chile in 1973. This political period is marked by the transition from Salvador Allende’s presidency to Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship. The content of the film is presented from the perspective of Gonzalo Infante, an upper-class preadolescent, who forges a friendship with Pedro Machuca, who lacks the social position of Infante.

According to Michel Foucault, the institution exercises power over citizens to educate them in a certain manner, one that aligns with the official ideology of the government. The bodies of these citizens, consequently, are more obedient to the state and more useful for the State. In Machuca, St. Patrick’s School for Boys is an institution of control utilized by the government to mold Chilean citizens. Through this, Gonzalo Infante represents the new model Chilean citizen for his embodiment of the ideals presented by the institution.

In considering this argument, it is important to look at Gonzalo Infante’s character in the film. He represents the ideal material to create a new Chilean citizen in accordance with Pinochet’s ideology, an aspect shown in Machuca after Allende’s government is ousted. Infante is young and therefore does not have strong political beliefs, and is student-aged, which causes him to be subjugated to the school’s institutional power more than people of other ages. Additionally, Infante is light-skinned, wears Western clothing, and is from the upper class, aspects that signify a high position in society, especially in contrast to that of Machuca. Clothing is key because the students wear uniforms, but those that come from the poor settlements are too poor to buy them. In this case, we see the symbolic power of the uniform in terms of those that have the opportunities available through this education, and those that do not.

The institution also molds the minds of students, particularly through teaching English. To actively participate in society, one must understand and produce the official language, and although English is not this language, it is the government-endorsed language of the new modern citizen. It is expected that these individuals be international and global citizens who represent Chile. When the students from the poor settlements cannot learn English effectively, this adds to their societal subjugation.

This paper identifies the ways that, through the characterization of Infante and Machuca in Machuca, we see the manner in which forward thinking priests, like Father McEnroe, tried to enact Allende’s ideals by giving boys from the poor sectors a chance for a better education. However, Pinochet’s coup constructed a government that exercised its power through the institution to define potential new citizens. This film exhibits Infante as the ideal body to represent the new Chile, and Machuca as the oppressed and subaltern body.


Natalie Schermer: Modernity in Modernism: Baudelaire's Influence in the Stories of Katherine Mansfield (La Modernité dans le modernisme : L’influence de Baudelaire dans les œuvres de Katherine Mansfield)

In this paper, I explore the literary movement of modernism, focusing particularly on its beginnings. While modernism is generally considered to have started in the early 20th century, an essay collection by Charles Baudelaire, The Painter of Modern Life, made me reconsider this assumption. Although Baudelaire is normally grouped with the Symbolist poets, many ideas that he espoused in this collection seem irredeemably modernist, chief among them his concept of “la modernité,” or modernity. Baudelaire defines his modernity as “the transitory, the fugitive, the contingent, the half of art, of which the other half is the eternal and immutable.” Having just come from writing my English capstone on the modernist writer Katherine Mansfield, this concept struck me immediately as a modernist one.

In this paper, I decided to explore Baudelaire’s applicability to modernist writing through the stories of Mansfield. I felt particularly that Baudelaire’s concept of modernity could be found in the modernist techniques of stream of consciousness, the epiphany moment, and the plotless story. I chose Mansfield as my modernist representative in my comparison because she exemplifies all three of these modernist traits. Additionally, as a short story writer, Mansfield allowed me to thoroughly consider several different examples of her works. As an added bonus, Mansfield was an ardent Francophile; she spoke and sometimes wrote in French and lived and eventually died there, which only strengthened the connection between my two writers. Through my analysis, I intended to prove that while Baudelaire is normally considered a Symbolist, he should be named among the modernist writers as well, given his work concerning modernity and the many modernist themes that can be found there.

In the body of the work, I spend time with The Painter of Modern Life, as well as Mansfield’s stories “The Garden Party,” “Bliss, “At the Bay,” and “Bank Holiday,” identifying how the concepts that Baudelaire formed (he is credited with coining the term “modernity”) function in Mansfield’s patently modernist prose. I also examine Baudelaire’s poem “The Swan” in order to better work with his own literary understanding of modernity. Through this analysis, I demonstrate how the ideas that Baudelaire introduced in “The Painter of Modern Life” clearly play a role in many modernist techniques, especially given the modernists’ interest in how the world changes around a person and how one’s perception can change instantly, without warning, and irreversibly, an idea similar to Baudelaire’s perception of the Paris that he knew as gone forever.

In conclusion, I assert that Baudelaire was definitely concerned with modernist ideas and that both Baudelaire and Mansfield were interested in that which is lost as modernity shifts, which results in both of them offering sharp images of seized moments in their works. However, while Mansfield was fully entrenched in the modernist movement and really put Baudelaire’s and the modernist’s ideas into use, Baudelaire describes his concepts but never quite succeeds at employing them in his literature, suggesting that on the modernist spectrum, Baudelaire deserves a place, but it is a transitional one.


Lauren Schulte: : “You Deprived Us of Sunrises”: The 1944 Deportation of the Chechen People and the Ethnic Cleansing Debate

My paper has two main sections: in the first, I describe the deportation of the Chechens and I prove that it was an intentional, thoroughly planned event. In the second half, I introduce my main argument: that the Chechen deportation is an example of something I call “ethnic erasure”.

The 1944 deportation of the Chechen people by the Soviet government—the NKVD, specifically—was, in the broadest terms, a transfer of about half a million people from their homeland in the Caucasus to the steppes of Central Asia. “The deportations have been described as many things: resettlement, forced migration, part of Stalin’s purges, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. In this paper, I will be exploring the event itself, analyzing the historiography and the attempt to define what the deportation was, and introducing a new term to the discussion: ethnic erasure. With this term, I hope to synthesize different arguments within the current historiography, and capture the essence of what happened during the deportation without dismissing or trivializing the claims of genocide.” (from the introduction)

My paper gives some cultural and historical background on the relationship between the Chechens and the Russians, and then describes in detail the events of the deportation. I give evidence that proves that the deportation was planned and was malicious in intent toward the Chechen people. This includes NKVD correspondences and decrees and articles from state newspapers. I also determine that the Chechens posed no threat to the Soviet government during World War Two.

“Ethnic erasure” is a term I synthesized from the terms ethnic cleansing, from genocide studies, and erasure, from queer theory. I apply the term ethnic erasure to the Chechen deportations because, as I describe in the first half of the paper, the Chechen people and their presence were systematically erased from the Caucasus and from Soviet history. Historians and journalists have discussed whether or not the deportation fits the qualifications of genocide or ethnic cleansing. Ethnic erasure is a term that fits into the category of ethnic cleansing, but it is more specific. I explain the origin of the term “erasure” in queer theory and then demonstrate how it can also be applied to historical/cultural situations such as that in Chechnya, 1944. While the term is more concise and accurate than the term genocide, it does not in any way erase the lived experiences of those who were deported. I conclude that the Chechen people are still being erased in Russia today, and that the 1944 deportations are just one example of what the Chechens have experienced.


William Sefton: Scholarship and Censorship: The Rise of Print Media and the Press in Indonesia

The birth of Indonesian Kemerdekann (Independence) gave rise to a dynamic free press and an outpouring of artistic expression in print media in the 1950’s. There was excitement about the Pergerakan (Movement) in which prinicipally the Generasi Baru (New Generation) along with the older generation were called on to express the new Semangat (character) of the nation. In subsequent years journalists and writers would look back towards their colonial and precolonial past to determine not only the meaning of their history but to shape the new consciousness of the nation. Why then is it that experience of Indonesian history on behalf of regional groups in central and peripheral parts of the nation (Central Java, East Timor etc.) as well as their respective accounts are unable to be explained by the national historic record? The alienation caused by these discrepancies has been felt widely and stories accounting for this paradoxical existence of remembered heritage in direct opposition to national history have been circulated and read by an even wider global audience. Various authors such as Pramoedya Ananta Toer and journalists like Seno Gumira Ajidarma address this issue by blending both journalistic and literary accounts of regional heritage and history to question inevitable sinuating of fact and fiction. Their commitment to “social realism” depends on disrupting the well-established and entrenched national history, especially the historic political metaphors of “nationalists” and “traitors” used to describe the perpetrators and victims of the 1965 political purge. Scholars who study this literature participate with the writer in creating a new space within Indonesian culture to openly discuss history and heritage and reviving the experiment of writing and shaping the national character.


Zach Simmering: François Quesnay: Triple Threat of the 18th Century: How a Man who Studied Medicine, Philosophy, and Economics Changed the World (François Quesnay, triple menace du XVIIIe siècle : Comment un homme qui étudiait la médicine, la philosophie et l’économie changeait le monde)

The French Enlightenment produced a plethora of world-renowned thinkers, all of whom influenced history greatly. One such thinker, François Quesnay, has resided in the shadows of men such as Rousseau, Diderot, and Voltaire. Having influenced many after him, why is this the case? As a result of my research, I have found that his agrarian upbringing, inquisitive nature, and brilliant mind prove that he is seminal to understanding the origins of both the French Revolution and the modern political economy.

As the founder of the school of economics known as Physiocracy, he successfully combined philosophy with economics to explain the natural economic rights of all citizens. His predecessors treated economics simply as a subset of philosophy, but Quesnay incorporated a mathematical rigor never seen before. He effectively changed the course of economics and influenced his successors, including Adam Smith, the proclaimed father of modern economics.

A true revolutionary, Quesnay incorporated his economic beliefs in a philosophical discourse with the great thinkers and politicians of his time. Always filled with questions, his writings moved others to question the political status quo. Remnants of his challenges to authority are evident in many revolutionary writings, illustrating that he had the unique capability to influence others even after his death in 1774.

It is because of this and more that I find it peculiar that he has resided in the shadows of history thus far. I hope that my discoveries illuminate Quesnay’s merits, and provoke a more nuanced discussion of his role in French history, as well as economic history in general.


Kimberley Trought: Sex-Positive Comprehensive Sex Education

Comprehensive sex education embodies age-appropriate and medically accurate information on a broad set of areas related to sexuality, which include human development, sexual and reproductive health, relationships, decision making, abstinence, contraception, and disease prevention (SIECUS, 2013). Comparative studies examining comprehensive sex education and abstinence-based programs have been carried out to understand the relationships between the type of program, adolescent sexual behavior and sexual health outcomes, while other work has studied sex education cross-culturally. Of the countries in developed world, the United States had the highest rates of adverse sexual health outcomes, such as teen pregnancy, increasing rates of STDs/HIV, abortion, and birth, while the Netherlands had the lowest (Brugman et al., 2010; Ferguson et al., 2008; Weaver et al., 2005). Studies indicate that the Dutch policies regarding comprehensive sex education have been a key factor in reducing adverse sexual health outcomes among Dutch adolescents. However, American abstinence-based sex education policies have not succeeded in reducing adverse sexual health outcomes among American teens.

A sex-positive approach to comprehensive sex education embraces the notions of sexual pleasure and sexual empowerment as not only desirable but also important to a healthy life style and well being (Dodson, 2014). Feminist approaches critique sex education structures that continue to reinforce the patriarchal agendas of compulsory heterosexuality and male dominance. In addition, sex-positive feminist critiques of sex education recognize the lack of sex-positive content in sex education inherently contributes to sexual suppression of adolescents especially women and girls. Sex-positive comprehensive sex education curricula should be implemented in schools not only to reduce adverse sexual health outcomes but to educate teens about sexual pleasure and sexual empowerment.

This project reviews the literature on sex education and then compares a Dutch comprehensive sex education curriculum, Long Live Love, with two American comprehensive sex education curricula, Family Life and Sexual Health curriculum, and Our Whole Lives curriculum. I analyze the extent to which sex-positive content is included (or excluded) in curricula, and recommend ways to include such content in a comprehensive sex education curriculum. Teen, sex and relationship books were also examined for sex-positive content and were compared with content available in the school curricula. When good sources of sex-positive content are found, these teen sex and relationship books were used be to formulate new material to supplement school and church curricula. That is, I drew on these materials to create additional materials and recommend potential sources for teachers and students to use.

Based on my analysis, there were areas in each curriculum that had gaps in the content. For instance, information on ways to have sex, masturbation and knowledge of female empowerment was lacking in Long Live Love, Our Whole Lives and Family Life and Sexual Health curricula. In Long Live Love, information on gender identity such as the transgender and other sexual orientations such as bisexuality were not present throughout its curriculum. The sex-positive content found in a few of teen, sex and relationship books were then used to create new lessons on sex and masturbation, female empowerment and gender and sexual orientation.


Amber Verser: Where has the Body Gone?: Sexuality and Murder in Peter Mussbach’s Production of Berg’s Opera Wozzeck

Lustmord, or sexual murder, is a common trope in both art from Weimar Germany and operas. However, until very recently, the analysis of such works has been limited to form and structure instead of addressing the violent subject matter. This paper analyzes Marie’s murder, which is a Lustmord, in Peter Mussbach’s production of Wozzeck, an opera from Weimar Germany. Drawing from both the cultural research of Maria Tatar and Klaus Theweleit and the musicological research of Susan Greene and Gerhard Scheit, I analyze Mussbach’s portrayal of Marie, both in her life and death, to tell the hidden story of the murdered victim of a Lustmord, while directly addressing this trope in art. I argue that Mussbach emphasizes Marie’s lack of sexual agency throughout the opera, but ultimately erases her through his portrayal of the scenes after her death. This leads to ramifications of victim-blaming that leaves women trapped, both fictional like Marie and their real-life counterparts, unless our society becomes more critical of these discourses.


Katrina Zosseder: Reels, Apps, YouTube: Changing Performance Practices of Irish Session Music

The living tradition of the Irish music session is an important marker of national and cultural identity. Since the music revival in the 1950’s and 60’s, traditional Irish music has grown in popularity not only in Ireland, but all over the world, creating a globalized community of Irish musicians. At the same time, new digital technologies like cell phones, personal recording devices, and internet media have had a significant effect on session music as it is practiced today. As a musical, social, and cultural gathering, the session is a space that allows for new social and digital trends. My research in Ireland revealed that the session as we know it is changing rapidly, transforming the balance of social interaction and playing and the standard of music performance. I found that many session players have different opinions of what a “good” session is, but all mentioned the importance of socializing as part of the session. Through my pilot research, the balance of socializing and playing became the focus of my observations and analysis. Much of the change I began to observe stemmed from conversations about how the learning of Irish music was changing. Traditionally, session players have learned aurally during the session, through learning groups, or from teachers. However, learning traditional music has begun to change with the influence of new technologies, in which I include cell phones, cell phone apps, YouTube, and learning websites specifically designed for traditional music. This is because, instead of solely hearing a tune once a week at a lesson or session, a player can look up the name of the tune using a phone app, then later find the tune on YouTube or on a learning website, and come in at the next session having it learned.

In this paper, I will examine the uses and perceptions of these new technologies along with their effects on performance practices in the session. Through participant observation and interviews, I found that the balance of socializing and playing in the session is changing so there is less or different socializing and more playing. The influence of cell phones seems to be one cause for interacting less with others, and I suggest that in addition, the influence of new technologies that affect learning processes might be affecting the “rising standard” of the session in general. It is important to see this impact on such a deeply rooted tradition in order to better understand the long term implications these technologies might have on wider musical, social, and community identities.



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