Undergraduate Humanities Forum 2008-2009: Change
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Publication Oil and the Eastern Front: US Foreign and Military Policy in Iran, 1941-1945(2009-04-01) Rosenblatt, Naomi RNaomi R. Rosenblatt, College '09, History Oil and the Eastern Front: US Foreign and Military Policy in Iran, 1941-1945 During World War II, the United States established a military presence in Iran that marked a dramatic change in U.S. involvement in the Middle East. Unlike earlier centuries when Americans traveled to the Middle East primarily as missionaries, merchants, and pilgrims, during WWII, the U.S. government began to establish deep political and economic ties to the region. How did U.S. foreign policy towards Iran develop within the context of a global war? What sort of tensions developed between the State Department's long-term diplomatic goals and the War Department's urgent short-term military aims? Through my research, I hope to illuminate how the United States balanced its own competing interests in Iran: that of ensuring a speedy victory at minimal human and financial cost, while all the while keeping in mind that its military efforts could very well disrupt its long-term diplomatic interests.Publication THE REPUBLICAN REVOLUTION? THE TRANSFORMATION AND MATURATION OF THE HOUSE REPUBLICAN PARTY, 1980-1995(2009-04-01) Weiss, Noah MNoah M. Weiss, College '09, History "A campaign promise is one thing, a signed pledge is quite another": A Political History of the 1994 Republican Revolution January 4, 1995, signaled a momentous change in American politics as Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-MO) handed the gavel of the House of Representatives to the newly elected Speaker of the House, Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-GA). For the first time in four decades, Republicans constituted a majority of the House. This research will examine the 1994 U.S. midterm elections, the so-called Republican Revolution, in which 54 seats changed hands. Was the Republican landslide truly a revolution? And, was it fundamentally a triumph of ideas or of partisan politics? To answer these questions, I will examine Republican strategy, the formulation of the “Contract with America,” the Democratic Party’s response, the Contract’s legislative implementation, and finally the stalling of the Revolution with the government shutdowns of 1995–1996.Publication The Passed and the President: Presidential Obituaries(2009-04-01) Hurley, Chloé OChloé O. Hurley, College '09, History Member, UHF Steering Committee The Passed and the President: Presidential Obituaries Although tradition dictates that in eulogizing the dead, we turn ordinary qualities into great virtues and minimize the flawed or banal, the presidential obituary is more complex than it may appear. How the death of a president is presented to the public has a far greater impact on later perceptions of that president than does any coverage during his administration. Using the obituary as an entrance point, this study is an investigation not just into presidential legacies, but into how a president is characterized at the moment of death, and whether that characterization can thereafter be redrawn.Publication The Culture of American Homeownership and the Savings and Loan Crisis: How a Political-Economic Strategy Can Lead to Financial Catastrophe(2009-04-01) Gibbons, Sarah PSarah P. Gibbons, College '09, History The Savings and Loan Crisis: A Morality Play of Modern American Finance Owning your own home is often considered as big a part of American life as voting or apple pie. But who or what created this culture of home ownership, and has it always been beneficial to America's economy and citizens as a whole? I will explore the encouragement of home ownership by the U.S. government and how it has lead to economic catastrophe for America in the form of the Savings and Loan Crisis of the late 1980s. I will trace the government-sown culture of home ownership beginning with the New Deal, explore historical motives and reasoning for this mission, and explain in an historical context how this culture lead to, and worsened, the Savings and Loan Crisis.Publication FERDINAND MARCOS: APOTHEOSIS OF THE PHILIPPINE HISTORICAL POLITICAL TRADITION(2009-04-01) Unjieng, Nicole CuNicole E. CuUnjieng, College '09, History The Regime of Ferdinand Marcos and the Role of the Supreme Court of the Philippines My research centers on the Philippine political tradition and contextualizing President Ferdinand Marcos's 1972-1986 dictatorship within that perspective. I wish to intervene within the existing academic debate on the nature of this tradition. Challenging the established scholarship, which presents Marcos's regime as the anomaly of the Philippine patronage system, I instead argue that Marcos is the perverse apotheosis of the system. I wish to argue that Marcos embodies all the ills already present in Philippine politics and merely brings them to their extreme conclusion. More recent scholars have also championed this reading and I wish to further develop the argument by examining the legitimizing role that the judiciary played in this history.Publication Quiet Revolution: Curricular Reform and the Student Power Movement at Harvard University and the University of Massachusetts, 1968-1971(2009-04-01) Atkins, SiobhanSiobhan C. Atkins, College '09, History The American Student Power Movement of the 1960s The “student power” movement of the 1960s in America was characterized by a push for curricular reform, academic freedom, and a greater student and faculty role in decision making at universities across the nation. Not only was the movement widespread—virtually no university remained untouched—but it also resulted in tangible reforms, many of which remain to this day. What hopes and concerns did America’s youth have towards their society at the dawn of the postindustrial era? How did school administrators, parents, and intellectuals react? And what do these findings reveal about the generational conflicts at the heart of student dissent of the 1960s?Publication PRESSING CHARGES: The Impact of the Sam Sheppard Trials on Courtroom Coverage and Criminal Law(2009-04-01) Yahalom, TaliTali Yahalom, College '09, History Roman Holidays: The Role of Publicity in Criminal Trials The media sensationalized the 1954 trial of Sam Sheppard (accused of murdering his wife), his acquittal, and post-prison years. The intense coverage set journalistic and legal precedents, motivating various judges to address, in legal terms, the media’s role during pretrial investigations and courtroom proceedings. This thesis uses newspapers, magazines and court opinions to explore the extent of the media blitz, and addresses the question of whether the press compromised justice. This thesis also examines the case's continuing relevance: Why was this particular case so popular? Why did the public react with a collective desire to convict Sheppard? As an indelible presence in American public memory, how did the case change the legality and culture of trial coverage in the US? The recurring presence of the trial in publicity-related cases today highlights the irreconcilable tension between a public's right to a free press and a defendant's right to a fair and speedy trial.Publication Good Hair, Bad Hair: African-American Hair Relations in the Early Twentieth Century(2009-04-01) Brisbon, Abby EAbby E. Brisbon, College '09, History Good Hair, Bad Hair: African-American Hair Relations in the Early Twentieth Century Why an African-American woman chooses to do her hair in any particular style embodies a complex history of an evolving relationship with acceptable standards of beauty, both within the community and as part of the larger society. This project will examine that evolution from the opening of Madame CJ Walker’s business in 1905 through the Great Depression. What do cultural expressions such as advertisements, literature, and art say about how African-American women might have internalized the beauty standards that were placed upon them, and how did their ideas about hair evolve over the first part of the century?Publication Jew Like Me: An Oral History of Congregation Temple Bethel, a Black synagogue in the West Oak Lane Neighborhood of Philadelphia(2009-04-01) Ross, DanielDaniel Ross, College '09, History; Science, Technology, and Society 2008–09 Coordinating Research Fellow Jew Like Me: An Oral History of Congregation Temple Bethel, a Black synagogue in the West Oak Lane Neighborhood of Philadelphia Congregation Temple Bethel is a 58 year-old Black synagogue in the West Oak Lane neighborhood of Philadelphia. It began as a prayer group in the living room of the founder, Rabbi Louise Elizabeth Dailey, and is today a thriving Jewish community. Mother Dailey died in 2001, but she was succeeded by her daughter, Rabbi Debra Bowen, who shares, along with several older members of the congregation, memories of the synagogue's earliest days. Theirs is a story that deserves telling, in the form of this oral history. The American Jewish community is considered whitewashed, yet a survey of the American Jewish universe increasingly uncovers a constellation of ethnic, class, and social backgrounds. This project is about the changing face of American Judaism, and the emerging identities behind it.Publication The Contingency of Conservation: Changing Methodology and Theoretical Issues in Conserving Ephemeral Contemporary Artworks with Special Reference to Installation Art(2009-04-01) Frasco, LizzieLizzie Frasco, College '09, Art History, Visual Studies Non-Traditional Methods for Non-Traditional Art: Conserving Art in the 20th Century Art conservation as a practice of preventing change in a useful way has recently begun to change with the more ephemeral nature of the material that increasingly characterizes late 20th-century art. Today’s neon lights, foil, newspaper, synthetic paints, soil, glue, and Magic Marker have not been tested for durability or chemical stability. Their uneven and unpredictable rate of degradation further complicates their analysis and evaluation during conservation. What are the current technical, historical, and ethical challenges in contemporary art conservation, and what do they tell us about the chances for the long-term survival of this art?