history masters dissertation examples

College of Arts & Sciences

Completed Dissertations

2020-present.

Beaman, Greg Transregional History “Slavery in the Suburbs: A History of Real Estate and Slavery in the Faubourgs of New Orleans, 1788-1852” Advisor: Adam Rothman

Broadus, Victoria Latin American History “ Vissungo: The Afro-Descended Culture of Miners and Maroons in Brazil’s Diamond District, 1850s-2020s “ Advisor: Bryan McCann

Burnham, Jakob European History “Producing Pondichéry: Bureaucracy, Social Lives, and Urban Development in French India, 1699-1757” Advisors: Elizabeth Cross and James Collins

Donnell, Natalie European History “Noblewomen’s Political Networks Across the European Wars of Religion (1559-1633)” Advisors: James Collins & Amy Leonard

Gao, Yuan East & Central Asian History “China’s Great West: Environment and Economy in Late Qing Xinjiang, 1877-1917” Advisor: James Millward

MacKinlay, Hillary Transregional History “‘The Kingdom Will Prosper’: Imperialism In Fiji, 1800-1874” Advisors: Alison Games & Carol Benedict

Mensah, Tracey African History “ ‘Shopping for All Pocket’: A Business History of Indians in Ghana, 1890–1980 “ Advisor: Meredith McKittrick

Nanavati, Abhishek East & Central Asian History “ Co-Producing ‘American Dreams’: Dependents Housing, Hydroponic Farming, and the Militarization of Everyday Life in Occupied Japan, Okinawa, and South Korea, 1945-1950 “ Advisor: Jordan Sand

Stephens, Leigh European History “Violating the Body Politic: The Politic of Suffering, Gender, and Royal Authority during the French Wars of Religion (1560-1589)” Advisors: James Collins & Amy Leonard

Sultan, Yasser Middle East & North African History “Beyond The Battlefield: Military Propaganda and the Battle for Narrative in Nasser’s & Sadat’s Egypt” Advisor: Judith Tucker

Young, Perry Russian & Eastern European History “The Dialectics of War: Left and Right Ideologies of War, Peace, and Militarism in Russia and Sweden, 1914-1945” Advisor: Michael David-Fox

    2022-2023

Akgül, Önder Middle East & North African History “ Ecology, the Accumulation of Capital, and Dispossession in Late Ottoman Western Anatolia “ Advisor: Mustafa Aksakal

Chan, Paula Russia & Eastern European History “ Eyes on the Ground: Soviet Investigations of the Nazi Occupation “ Advisor: Michael David-Fox

Grams, Benan Middle East & North African History “ Damascus in the Time of Cholera: The Impact of Communicable Diseases on the Transformation of an Ottoman Provincial Capital 1840-1920 “ Advisor: Mustafa Aksakal

La Lime, Matthew African History “ Land, Informality, and Security: A Material History of West Africa’s Futa Jallon Massif (1650-2019) “ Advisor: Meredith McKittrick

Norweg, Emily United States History “ Mass(achusetts) Incarceration and Higher Education: the Deep Origins and Contested History of College Behind Bars in the Bay State “ Advisor: Marcia Chatelain

Steir, Kate Transregional History “ Provisions of Power: Food and Scarcity in Jamaica 1730-1790 “ Advisor: Alison Games

    2021-2022

Christensen, Robert Latin American History “Worlds in Conflict: Indigenous Peoples, Environmental Challenges, and the ‘Conquista del Desierto’ in the Making of Argentina, 1870-1900” Advisor: Erick Langer

De Vries, Jennifer European History “‘In the Manner of the Beguines’: Regulating Beguine Life in the Low Countries, 1200-1600” Advisor: Amy Leonard

Dingman, Jacob East & Central Asian History “‘The Unknown Country’: Tibet in the Western Imagination, 1850 – 1950” Advisor: James Millward

Hudson, Chelsea East & Central Asian history “‘To Absent Us from Humanity’: Ainu and Population Counts under Russian and Japanese Administration” Advisor: Jordan Sand

Loyd, Thomas Russian and Eastern European History “Black in the USSR: African Students, Soviet Empire, and the Politics of Global Education during the Cold War” Advisor: Michael David-Fox

Proctor, Dylan Environmental History “Multidisciplinary Approaches to Infectious Disease History in Twentieth-Century Africa” Advisor: Timothy Newfield

Tarasov, Stanislav Russian and Eastern European History “Noble Feelings of Dissent: Russian Emotional Culture and the Decembrist Revolt of 1825” Advisor: Michael David-Fox

Torres, James Latin American History “Trade in a Changing World: Gold, Silver, and Commodity Flows in the Northern Andes, 1780-1840” Advisor: Erick Langer

Thacker, Molly United States History “‘Are We Not Children Too?’: Race, Media, and the Formative History of Unaccompanied Immigrant Children in the United States Advisor: Katherine Benton-Cohen

Young, Cory United States History “For Life or Otherwise: Abolition and Slavery in South Central Pennsylvania, 1780-1847” Advisor: Adam Rothman

    2020-2021

Barraza Mendoza, Elsa United States History “Catholic Slaveholders, Enslaved People, and the Making of Georgetown University, 1792-1862” Advisor: Adam Rothman

DeLorenzo, Christopher Latin American History “Coca Substitution and Community Response in the Yungas of La Paz, Bolivia, 1920-1988” Advisor: Erick Langer

Eames, Anthony Transregional History “Public Diplomacy For the Nuclear Age: Anglo American Grand Strategy in the Late Cold War” Advisor: Kathryn Olesko & David Painter

Feldman, Benjamin United States History “Liberation from the Affluent Society: The Political Thought of the Third World in Post‐War America” Advisor: Michael Kazin

Gornostaev, Andrey Russia and Eastern European History “Peasants ‘on the Run’: State Control, Fugitives, Social and Geographic Mobility in Imperial Russia, 1649-1796” Advisor: James Collins

Holekamp, Abigail Russian and Eastern European History “Citizens and Comrades: Entangled Revolutions and the Production of Knowledge between Russia and France, 1905-1936” Advisor: Michael David-Fox

Johnson, Matthew Environmental History “Temples of Modern Pharaohs: Environmental Impacts of Dams and Dictatorship in Brazil” Advisor: John McNeill

Kang, Sukhwan European History “Between Peaceful Coexistence and Ongoing Conflict: Religious Tolerance and the Protestant Minority in Seventeenth-Century France” Advisor: James Collins

Kaymakci, Said European History “The Constitutional Limits of Military Reform: Ottoman Political Writing During the Times of Revolutionary Change, 1592-1807” Advisor: Gabor Agoston

McQueeney, Kevin United States History “The City that Care Forgot: Apartheid Health Care, Racial Health Disparity, and Black Health Activism in New Orleans, 1718-2018” Advisor: Marcia Chatelain

McRae, Douglas Latin American History “From Fluvial City To Hydro-Metropolis: Water, Sanitation, and Metropolitan Environment In São Paulo, Brazil (1850-1975)” Advisor: Bryan McCann

O’Neal, Jennifer United States History “Beyond the Trail of Broken Treaties: The International Native American Rights Movement, 1975‐1980” Advisor: David Painter

Patel, Trishula African History “Becoming Zimbabwean: A History of Indians in Rhodesia, 1890-1980” Advisor: Meredith McKittrick

Perry, Jackson Environmental History “The Gospel of the Gum: Eucalyptus Enthusiasm and the Modern Mediterranean, ca. 1848-1900” Advisor: John McNeill

Schwertner, Hillar Latin American History “Tijuandiego: Water, Capitalism and Urbanization in the Californias, 1848-1982” Advisor: John Tutino

Singh, Amarjot Transregional History “The Shadows of Command: Military Command in Ancient Sparta and Athens” Advisor: Alexander Sens & Jordan Sand

    2019-2020

Belokowsky, Simon Russian & Eastern European History “‘Youth Is to Live in the City!’: Rural Out-Migration in the Black Earth Region under Khrushchev and Brezhnev” Advisor: Michael David-Fox

Cano, Daniel Latin American History “Frontiers of Education: The Making of the ‘Literate Indian’ in the Mission Schools of Chile and Bolivia, 1880-1950” Advisor: Erick Langer

Famularo, Julia East & Central Asian History “‘Fighting the Enemy with Fists and Daggers:’ The Chinese Communist Party’s Counterterrorism Policy in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region under Xi Jinping, 2012-2019” Advisor: James Millward

Foley, Thomas United States History “An ‘Odious Aristocracy:’ Energy, Politics, and the Roots of Industrial Capitalism in Nineteenth-Century Pennsylvania” Advisor: David Painter

Frazier, Chad United States History “From Subjects to Citizens: The University of Puerto Rico and the Citizenship Revolution in the Greater United States, 1898-1935” Advisor: Katherine Benton-Cohen

Hock, Stefan Middle East & North African History “Policing War and Sexuality in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey, 1908-1938” Advisor: Mustafa Aksakal

Goffman, Laura Middle East & North African History “Disorder and Diagnosis: Health and Society in the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula” Advisor: Judith Tucker

Kondoyanidi, Anita Russian & Eastern European History “The Prophet Disillusioned: Maxim Gorky and the Russian Revolutions” Advisor: Michael David-Fox

Macartney, Alexander European History “War in the Postwar: Japan and West Germany Protest the Vietnam War and the Global Strategy of Imperialism” Advisor: Anna von der Goltz

Ryzhkovskyi, Volodymyr Russian & Eastern European History “Soviet Occidentalism: Medieval Studies and the Restructuring of Imperial Knowledge in Twentieth-Century Russia” Advisor: Michael David-Fox

Scallen, Patrick Latin American History “‘The Bombs That Drop in El Salvador Explode in Mount Pleasant:’ From Cold War Conflagration to Immigrant Struggles in Washington, DC, 1970-1995” Advisor: John Tutino & Joseph McCartin

    2018-2019

Al-Saif, Bader Middle East & North African History “Reform Islam? The Renewal of Islamic Thought and Praxis in Modern and Contemporary Arabian Peninsula” Advisor: Yvonne Haddad

Berry, Chelsea Transregional History “ Poisoned Relations: Medicine, Sorcery, and Poison Trials in the Contested Atlantic, 1680-1850 ” Advisor: Alison Games

Brew, Greg US History “ Mandarins, Paladins, and Pahlavis: The International Energy System, the United States, and the Dual Integration of Oil in Iran, 1925-1964 ” Advisor: David Painter

Cornwell, Graham H. Middle East & North African History “ Sweetening the Pot: A History of Tea and Sugar in Morocco, 1850-1960 ” Advisor: Osama Abi-Mershed

Dannies, Kate Middle East & North African History “ Breadwinner Soldiers: Gender, Welfare, and Sovereignty in the Ottoman First World War ” Advisor: Judith Tucker

Horn, Oliver US History “ From Model to Menace: U.S. Foreign Aid, Development, and Drugs in Cold War Colombia, 1956-1978 ” Advisor: David Painter

Kates, Adrienne Latin American History “ The Persistence of Maya Autonomy: Global Capitalism, Tropical Environments, and the Limits of the Mexican State, 1880-1950 ” Advisor: John Tutino

Mellor, Robynne Environmental History “ The Cold War Underground: An Environmental History of Uranium Mining in the United States, Canada, and the Soviet Union, 1945-1991 ” Advisor: John McNeill

Porta, Earnest Middle East & North African History “ Morocco in the Early Atlantic World, 1415-1603 ” Advisor: Osama Abi-Mershed

Raykhlina, Yelizaveta Russian & Eastern European History “ Russian Literary Marketplace: Periodicals, Social Identity, and Publishing for the Middle Stratum in Imperial Russia, 1825-1865 ” Advisor: Catherine Evtuhov Shi, Yue East & Central Asian History “ The Seven Rivers: Empire and Economy in the Russo-Qing Central Asian Frontier, 1860s-1910s “ Advisor: James Millward

    2017-2018

Abbott, Elena Transregional History “ Beacons of Liberty: Free-Soil Havens and the American Slavery Debate, 1813-1863 ” Advisor: Adam Rothman Denning, Meredith Environmental History “ Connections and Consensus: Changing Goals for Transnational Water Management on Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, 1900-1972 ” Advisor: John McNeill

Hull, Catherine US History “ The Machine has a Soul: American Sympathizers with Italian Fascism ” Advisor: Michael Kazin

Husain, Faisal Environmental History “ Flows of Power: The Tigris-Euphrates Basin Under Ottoman Rule, 1534-1831 ” Advisor: John McNeill

Kaplan, Isabelle Russian & Eastern European History “ The Art of Nation-Building: National Culture and Soviet Politics in Stalin-Era Azerbaijan and Other Minority Republics ” Advisor: Michael David-Fox

Maurer, John US History “ An Era of Negotiation: SALT in the Nixon Administration, 1969-1972 “ Advisor: David Painter

Mevissen, Robert European History “ Constructing the Danube Monarchy: Habsburg State-Building in the Long Nineteenth Century ” Advisor: James Shedel

Reger, Jeffrey Middle East & North African History “ Planting Palestine: The Political Economy of Olive Culture in the 20th Century Galilee and West Bank ” Advisor: Judith Tucker

Smith, Jordan Transregional History “ The Invention of Rum “ Advisor: Alison Games

Taylor, Stephanie US History “ ‘I Have the Eagle:’ Citizenship and Labor in the Progressive Era, 1890-1925 ” Advisor: Joseph McCartin

Walter, Alissa Middle East & North African History “ The Ba’ath Party in Baghdad: State-Society Relations Through Wars, Sanctions and Authoritarian Rule, 1950-2003 ” Advisor: Judith Tucker

Yeaw, Katrina Middle East & North African History “ Women, Resistance and the Creation of New Gendered Frontiers in the Making of Modern Libya, 1890-1980 ” Advisor: Judith Tucker

    2016-2017

Amelicheva, Mariya Russian History “ The Russian Residency in Constantinople, 1700-1774: Russian-Ottoman Diplomatic Encounters “ Advisor: Catherine Evtuhov

Benton, James US History “ Fraying Fabric: Textile Labor, Trade Politics, and Deindustrialization, 1933-1974 ” Advisor: Joseph McCartin

Biasetto, Bruno Latin American History “ The Poisoned Chalice: Oil and Macroeconomics in Brazil (1967-2003) ” Advisor: Bryan McCann

Calisir, M. Fatih European History “ A ‘Virtuous’ Grand Vizier: Politics and Patronage in the Ottoman Empire during the Grand Vizierate of Fazil Ahmed Pasha (1661-1676)” ” Advisor: Gabor Agoston

Davies Lenoble, Geraldine Latin American History “ Filling the Desert: The Indigenous Confederacies of the Pampas and Northern Patagonia, 1840-1879 ” Advisor: Erick Langer

El Achi, Soha European History “ Children and Slave Emancipation in French Algeria and Tunisia, 1846-1892 ” Advisor: Osama Abi-Mershed

Gettig, Eric Transregional History “ Oil and Revolution in Cuba: Development, Nationalism, and the U.S. Energy Empire, 1902-1961 ” Advisor: David Painter

Gungorurler, Selim European History “ Diplomacy and Political Relations Between the Ottoman Empire and Safavid Iran, 1639-1822 ” Advisor: Gabor Agoston

Megowan, Erina Russian & Eastern European History “ For Fatherland, For Culture: State, Intelligentsia and Evacuated Culture in Russia’s Regions, 1941-1945 ” Advisor: Michael David-Fox

Mullins, Sylvia European History “ Myroblytes: Miraculous Oil in Medieval Europe ” Advisor: James Collins

Pitts, Graham Transregional History “ Fallow Fields: Famine and the Making of Lebanon, 1914-1948 ” Advisor: John McNeill

Polczynski, Michael Russian and Eastern European History “ The Wild Fields: Power and Space in the Early Modern Polish-Lithuanian/Ottoman Frontier ” Advisor: Andrzej Kaminski & Gabor Agoston

Rabah, Makram Middle East and North African History “ Conflict on Mount Lebanon: Collective Memory and the War of the Mountain ” Advisor: Osama Abi-Mershed

Shen, Yubin East and Central Asian History “ Malaria and Global Networks of Tropical Medicine in Modern China, 1919-1950 ” Advisor: Carol A. Benedict

Sicotte, Jonathan Russian and Eastern European History “ Baku: Violence, Identity and Oil ” Advisor: Michael David-Fox

    2015-2016

Danforth, Nicholas Modern European History “ Memory, Modernity, and the Remaking of Republican Turkey:  1945-1960 ” Advisor: Mustafa Aksakal

Dixon, Patrick US History “ The Hamlet Factory Fire and the Political Economy of Poultry in the Twentieth Century “ Advisor: Joseph McCartin

England, Christopher US History “ Land and Liberty: Henry George, the Single Tax Movement, and the Origins of the 20th Century Liberalism “ Advisor: Michael Kazin

Gardner, Zackary US History “ Uniforming the Rugged: Gender, Identity, and the American Administrative State during the Progressive Era, 1898-1917 “ Advisor: Katherine Benton-Cohen

Gratien, Christopher Middle East & North African History “ The Mountains Are Ours: Ecology and Settlement in Late Ottoman and early Republican Cilicia, 1856-1956 “ Advisor: Judith Tucker

Gregory, Eugene John East & Central Asian History “ Desertion and the Militarization of Qing Legal Culture “ Advisor: James Millward

Hammond, Kelly East & Central Asian History “ The Conundrum of Collaboration: Japanese Involvement with Muslims in North China, 1931-1945 “ Advisor: James Millward

Johnson, Glen Russia & Eastern European History “ The Reflection of Byzantine ‘Political Hesychasm’ In The Literature of The Second South Slavic Influence ” Advisor: David Goldfrank

McCarron, Barry US International History “ The Global Irish and Chinese: Migration, Exclusion, and Foreign Relations Among Empires, 1784-1904 “ Advisor: Carol A. Benedict

Ngo, Lan, S.J. East & Southeast Asian History “ Nguyen-Catholic History (1770s-1890s) and the Gestation of Vietnamese Catholic National Identity “ Advisor: Sandra Horvath-Peterson

Pimenov, Alexei Russia & Eastern European History Dissertation Title: “ German Romantic Nationalism and Indian Cultural Tradition ” Advisor: Catherine Evtuhov

Roe, Alan Russian & Eastern European History “ Into Soviet Nature: Tourism, Environmental Protection, & the Formation of Soviet National Parks, 1950s-1990s “ Advisor: John McNeill

Veloz, Larisa Latin American History “ ’Even the Women Are Leaving’ Gendered Migrations between Mexico and the United States: Revolutionary Diasporas, Depression-Era Depatriations, and Wartime Bracero Controls, 1900-1950 ” Advisor: John Tutino

Wen, Shuang Transregional History “ Mediated Imaginations: Chinese-Arab Connections in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries “ Advisor: John Voll

Williams, Elizabeth Middle East & North African History “ Cultivating Empires: Environment, Expertise, and Scientific Agriculture in Late Ottoman and French Mandate Syria ” Advisor: Judith Tucker

    2014-2015

Adler, Paul US History “ Planetary Citizens: U.S. NGOs and the Politics of International Development, 1965-1993 “ Advisor: Michael Kazin

Kueh, Joshua Eng Sin Transregional History “ The Manila Chinese: Community, Trade and Empire, 1570-1770 “ Advisor: Carol A. Benedict

Packard, Nathan R. US History “ The Marine Corps ‘Long March’: Modernizing the Nation’s Expeditionary Forces in the Aftermath of Vietnam, 1970-1991 “ Advisor: David Painter

Perez Montesinos, Fernando Latin American History “ Poised to Break Liberalism, Land Reform, and Communities in the Purépecha Highlands of Michoacán, Mexico, 1868-1913 “ Advisor: John Tutino

Perrier, Aurelie E. Middle East & North African History “ Intimate Matters: Negotiating Sex, Gender, and the Home in Colonial Algeria, 1830-1914 “ Advisor: Judith Tucker

Stewart Mauldin, Erin US Environmental History “ Unredeemed Land: The U.S. Civil War, Changing Land Use Practices, and the Environmental Limitations of Agriculture in the South, 1840-1880 “ Advisor: John McNeill

Taylor, Brian M. US History “ ‘To Make a Union What It Ought to Be’: African Americans, Military Service, and the Drive to Make Black Civil War Service Count “ Advisor: Chandra Manning

    2013-2014

Bowlus, John V. US History “ Connecting Midstream: The Politics and Economics of Oil Transportation in the Middle East “ Advisor: David Painter

Doucette, Siobhan Russia & Eastern European History “ Mightier than the Sword: Polish Independent Publishing, 1976-1989 ” Advisor: Andrzej Kaminski

Fernandez, Rodolfo Latin American History “ Revolution and the Industrial City: Violence and Capitalism in Monterrey, Mexico, 1890 to 1920 “ Advisor: John Tutino

Gooding, Frederick W. Jr. US History “ American Dream Deferred: Black Federal Workers in Washington, D.C., 1941-1981 “ Advisor: Michael Kazin

Hill, Michael R. Transregional History “ Temperateness, Temperance, and the Tropics: Climate and Morality in the English Atlantic World, 1553-1705 “ Advisor: Alison Games

Hower, Jessica S. Transregional History “ Tudor Imperialism: Exploration, Expansion, and Experimentation in the Sixteenth-Century British Atlantic World “ Advisor: Alison Games

Hower, Joseph E. US History “ Jerry Wurf, the Rise of AFSCME, and the Fate of Labor Liberalism, 1947-1981 “ Advisor: Joseph McCartin

İşçi, Onur Middle East & North African History “ Russophobic Neutrality: Turkish Diplomacy, 1936-1945 “ Advisor: Mustafa Aksakal

Puente Valdivia, Javier Latin American History “ Closer Apart: Indigenous and Peasant Communities and the State in Capitalist Peru, 1700-1990 “ Advisor: Erick Langer

Wiley, Christopher J. Modern European History “ Textbook Diplomacy: East German Student Exchange and the GDR’s Bid for Global Legitimacy, 1951-1990 “ Advisor: Aviel Roshwald

Williams, Andrea Elizabeth Middle East & North African Environmental History “ Planting Politics: Pastoralists and French Environmental Administration in the Nineteenth-Century Mediterranean “ Advisor: John McNeill and Gabor Agoston Yoder, April R. Latin American History “ Pitching Democracy: Baseball and Politics in the Dominican Republic, 1955-1978 “ Advisor: Bryan McCann

    2012-2013

Corcoran, John M. Russia & Eastern European History “ Power in the Provinces: The Evolution of Local Government Practices in Imperial Russia, 1825-1917 ” Advisor: Catherine Evtuhov

Francis-Fallon, Benjamin US History “ Minority Reports: The Emergence of Pan-Hispanic Politics, 1945-1980 ” Advisor: Michael Kazin

Harrison, Jennifer Pish US History “ Teacher Unionism and Civil Rights in Boston, 1963-1981 ” Advisor: Joseph McCartin

Hazelton, Andrew J. US History “ Open-Shop Fields: The Bracero Program and Farmworker Unionism, 1942-1964 ” Advisor: Joseph McCartin

Kern, Darcy A. Early Modern & Late Medieval European History “ The Political Kingdom: Parliamentary Institutions and Languages of Legitimacy in England and Castile, 1450-1520 ” Advisor: Jo Ann Moran-Cruz

Krache Morris, Evelyn F. US History “ Into the Wind: The Kennedy Administration and the Use of Chemicals in South Vietnam ” Advisor: David Painter

Landry, Marc D. Modern European Environmental History “ Europe’s Battery: The Making of the Alpine Energy Landscape, 1870-1955 ” Advisor: John McNeill

Lurie, Guy Early Modern & Late Medieval European History “ Citizenship in Later Medieval France, C. 1370- C. 1480 ” Advisor: James Collins

Scarborough, Daniel L. Russia & Eastern European History “ The White Priest at Work: Orthodox Pastoral Activism and Social Reconstruction in Late Imperial Russia ” Advisor: Catherine Evtuhov

Toprani, Anand US History “ Oil and Grand Strategy: Great Britain and Germany, 1918-1941 ” Advisor: David Painter

    2011-2012

Apel, Thomas A. US History “ Feverish Bodies, Enlightened Minds: Yellow Fever and Common-Sense Natural Philosophy in the Early American Republic, 1793-1805 “ Advisor: Adam Rothman

Connell, Tula A. US History “ Frank Zeidler and the Conservative Challenge to Liberalism in 1950s Milwaukee “ Advisor: Joseph A. McCartin

Coral Garcia, Emilio M. Latin American History “ The Mexico City Middle Class, 1940-70: Between Tradition, the State, and the United States “ Advisor: John Tutino

Guenther, Rita S. Russia & Eastern European History “ One Local Vote at a Time: Electoral Practices of Kazan Province, 1766-1916 “ Advisor: Catherine Evtuhov

Gurkan, Emrah S. Early Modern & Late Medieval European History “ Espionage in the Sixteenth-Century Mediterranean: Secret Diplomacy, Mediterranean Go-Betweens and the Ottoman Habsburg Rivalry ” Advisor: Ágoston, Gábor

Higuchi, Toshihiro US History “ Radioactive Fallout, the Politics of Risk, and the Making of a Global Environmental Crisis, 1954–1963 “ Advisor: David Painter

Hofmeister, Björn Modern European History “ Between Monarchy and Dictatorship: Radical Nationalism and Social Mobilization of the Pan-German League, 1914-39 “ Advisor: Roger Chickering

Johnston, Shona Transregional History “ Papists in a Protestant World: The Catholic Anglo-Atlantic in the Seventeenth Century “ Advisor: Alison Games

Maureira, Hugo A. Latin American History “ Los Culpables de La Miseria:’ Poverty and Public Health during the Spanish Influenza Epidemic in Chile, 1918-1920 ” Advisor: Erick Langer

McKenna, Catherine J. Russia & Eastern European History “ The Curious Evolution of the Liberum Veto: Republican Theory and Practice in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, 1639-1705 ” Advisor: Andrzej Kaminski

Murphy, Curtis G. Russia & Eastern European History “ Progress without Consent: Enlightened Centralism vis-a-vis Local Self-Government in the Towns of East Central Europe and Russia, 1764-1840 ” Advisor: Andrzej Kaminski

Noorlander, Danny L. Transregional History “ Serving God and Mammon: The Reformed Church and the Dutch West India Company in the Atlantic World, 1621-1674 “ Advisor: Alison Games

Wang, Tao US History “ Isolating the Enemy: US-PRC Relations, 1953-1956 ” Advisor: Nancy B. Tucker

Yousef, Hoda A. Middle East & North African History “ Contested Knowledge: The Politics of Literacy in Egypt at the Turn of the 20th Century “ Advisor: Judith Tucker

    2010-2011

Al-Arian, Abdullah A. Middle East & North African History “ Heeding the Call: Popular Islamic Activism in Egypt, 1970-1981 “ Advisor: John Voll

Bowman, Matthew B. US History “ The Urban Pulpit: Evangelicals and the City in New York, 1880-1930 “ Advisor: Michael Kazin

Campion, Corey J. Modern European History “ Negotiating Difference: French and American Cultural Occupation Policies and German Expectations, 1945-194 9″ Advisor: Roger Chickering

Engelke, Peter O. Modern European History “ Green City Origins: Democratic Resistance to the Auto-oriented City in West Germany, 1960-1990 “ Advisor: Roger Chickering and John McNeill

Gummer, S. Chase Modern European History “ The Politics of Sympathy: German Turcophilism and the Ottoman Empire in the Age of the Mass Media, 1871-1914 “ Advisor: Roger Chickering

Robarts, Andrew R. Russia & Eastern European History “ A Plague on Both Houses?: Population Movements and the Spread of Disease across the Ottoman-Russian Black Sea Frontier, 1768-1830s “ Advisor: Catherine Evtuhov

Rotramel, Seth A. Modern European History “ International Health, European Reconciliation, and German Foreign Policy after the First World War, 1919-1927 “ Advisor: Roger Chickering

Vallve, Frederic Latin American History “ The Impact of the Rubber Boom on the Indigenous Peoples of the Bolivian Lowlands, 1850-1920 “ Advisor: Erick Langer

    2009-2010

Brandow-Faller, Megan Modern European History “ An Art of Their Own: Reinventing ‘Frauenkunst’ in the Female Academies and Artist Leagues of Late-Imperial and First-Republic Austria, 1900-1930 “ Advisor: James Shedel

Fulwider, Benjamin Latin American History “ Driving the Nation: Road Transportation and the Postrevolutionary Mexican State, 1925-1960 “ Advisor: John Tutino

Mamedov, Mikail N. Russia & Eastern European History “Imagining the Caucasus in Russian Imperial Consciousness, 1801-1864” Advisor: Catherine Evtuhov

Morrison, Christopher A. US History “ A World of Empires: United States Rule in the Philippines, 1898-1913 “ Advisor: Nancy B. Tucker

Palmer, Aaron J. US History “‘ All Matters and Things Shall Center There’: A Study of Elite Political Power in South Carolina, 1763-1776 “ Advisor: Alison Games

Sakul, Kahraman Early Modern & Late Medieval European History “ An Ottoman Global Moment: War of Second Coalition in the Levant “ Advisor: Gabor Agoston

Sexton, Mary D. US History “ The Wages of Principle and Power: Cyrus R. Vance and the Making of Foreign Policy in the Carter Administration “ Advisor: David Painter

Shlala, Elizabeth Middle East & North African History “Mediterranean Migration, Cosmopolitanism, and the Law: the Italian Community of Nineteenth-Century Alexandria, Egypt”

Wilkinson, Xenia V. Latin Amerian History “ Tapping the Amazon for Victory: Brazil’s ‘Battle for Rubber’ of World War II “ Advisor: Erick Langer

    2008-2009

Abul-Magd, Zeinab A. Middle East & North African History “ Empire and Its Discontents: Modernity and Subaltern Revolt in Upper Egypt, 1700-1920 “ Advisor: Judith Tucker

Byrnes, Melissa K. Modern European History “French Like Us? Municipal Policies and North African Migrants in the Parisian Banlieues, 1945-1975” Advisor: Aviel Roshwald

Granados, Luis F. Latin American History “Cosmopolitan Indians and Mesoamerican Barrios in Bourbon Mexico City: Tribute, Community, Family and Work in 1800” Advisor: John Tutino

Lauziere, Henri Middle East & North African History “ The Evolution of the Salafiyya in the Twentieth Century through the Life and Thought of Taqi al-Din al-Hilali “ Advisor: John Ruedy

Otovo, Okezi T. Latin American History “ To Form a Strong and Populous Nation: Race, Motherhood, and the State in republican Brazil “ Advisor: Bryan McCann

Rosu, Felicia Russia & Eastern European History “ Contractual Majesty: Electoral Politics in Transylvania and Poland-Lithuania, 1571-1586 “ Advisor: Andrzej Kaminski

Swanson, Ryan US History “Jim Crow on Deck: Baseball during America’s Reconstruction” Advisor: Michael Kazin

Wackerfuss, Andrew T. Modern European History “ The Stormtrooper Family: How Sexuality, Spirituality, and Community Shaped the Hamburg SA “ Advisor: Roger Chickering

Wyrtzen, Jonathan D. Middle East & North African History “ Constructing Morocco: The Colonial Struggle to Define the Nation, 1912-1956 “ Advisor: John Voll

    2007-2008

Bulmus, Birsen Middle East & North African History “ The Plague in the Ottoman Empire, 1300-1838 “ Advisor: Kathryn Olesko

Elliott, Robin Gates Russia & Eastern European History “ Saddling the Cow: The Collectivization of Agriculture in Poland, 1948-1956 “ Advisor: Andrzej Kaminski

Fedyashin, Anton A. Russia & Eastern European History “Auchtotonous and Practical Liberals: Vestnik Evropy and Modernization in Late Imperial Russia” Advisor: Catherine Evtuhov

Lambert, Margo M. US History “ Francis Daniel Pastorius: An American in Early Pennsylvania, 1683-1719/20 “ Advisor: Alison Games

Lin, Catherine Kai-Ping East & Central Asian History “ Nationalism in International Politics: The Republic of China’s Sports Foreign-Policy-Making and Diplomacy from 1972-1981 “ Advisor: Carol A. Benedict

Ma, Haiyun East & Central Asian History “ New Teachings and New Territories: Religion, Regulation, and Regions in Qing Gansu, 1700-1800 “ Advisor: James Millward

Oyen, Meredith US History “ Allies, Enemies, and Aliens: Migration and U.S.-Chinese Relations, 1940-1965 “ Advisor: Nancy B. Tucker

Sbaiti, Nadya J. Middle East & North African History “ Lessons in History: Education and the Formation of National Society in Beirut, Lebanon, 1920s-1960s “ Advisor: Judith Tucker

Vann, Martin E. Modern European History “ Encounters with Modernity: Jews, Music, and Vienna, 1880-1914 “ Advisor: James Shedel

    2006-2007

Ameskamp, Simone Modern European History “ On Fire: Cremation in Germany, 1870s-1934 “ Advisor: Roger Chickering

Carter, Karen E. Early Modern & Late Medieval European History “ Creating Catholics: Catechism and Primary Education in Early Modern France “ Advisor: James Collins

Gruber, Isaiah J. Russia & Eastern European History “ The Russian Orthodox Church and the Time of Troubles, 1598-1613 “ Advisor: David Goldfrank

Keller, Tait S. Modern European History “ Eternal Mountains–Eternal Germany: The Alpine Association and the Ideology of Alpinism, 1909-1939 “ Advisor: Roger Chickering

Scalenghe, Sara Middle East & North African History “ Being Different: Intersexuality, Blindness, Deafness, and Madness in Ottoman Syria “ Advisor: Judith Tucker

Snyder, Sarah B. US History “ The Helsinki Process, American Foreign Policy, and the End of the Cold War “ Advisor: Nancy B. Tucker

Stoneman, Mark R. Modern European History “ Wilhelm Groener, Officering, and the Schlieffen Plan “ Advisor: Roger Chickering

Uchimura, Kazuko US History “ Miners without Unions: Life and Work in West Virginia’s New River Gorge Mining Towns, 1900-1933 “ Advisor: Joseph McCartin

Zickafoose, Virginia Paige Russia & Eastern European History “ Virtuous Crown, Virtuous Res Publica: The Henrician Constitutional Declaration of Poland-Lithuania Interregnum, 1572-1574 “ Advisor: Andrzej Kaminksi Zimmers, Stefan Early Modern & Late Medieval European History “ Wisdom, Kingship, and Royal Identity: An Examination of the Discourse on Kinship and Rulership in the Anglo-Saxon Era “ Advisor: Jo Ann Moran Cruz

    2005-2006

Belli, Meriam Middle East & North African History “ Remembrance of Nasserian Things Past: A Window to the History and Memory of the Nasser Years ” Advisors: John Voll and James Collins

Du Quenoy, Paul Russia & Eastern European History “ Harlequin’s Leap: Performing Arts Culture and the Revolution of 1905 in Saint Petersburg ” Advisor: Richard Stites

Foley, Sean E. Middle East & North African History “ Shaykh Khalid and the Naqshbandyya-Khalidiyya, 1776-2005 ” Advisor: John Voll

Joseph, Sabrina E. Middle East & North African History “ The Islamic Law on Tenancy and Sharecropping in Late Sixteenth- through Early Nineteenth-Century Syria ” Advisor: Judith Tucker

Khachaturian, Lisa Russia & Eastern European History “ Cultivating Nationhood in Imperial Russia: the Periodical Press and the Formation of a Modern Eastern Armenian Identity ” Advisor: Catherine Evtuhov

Martin, Kevin W. Middle East & North African History “ Enter the Future! Exemplars of Bourgeois Modernity in Post-World War II Syria ” Advisor: Judith Tucker

Merrow, Alexander C. Modern European History “ The Catholic Historical Discipline in Imperial Germany, 1876-1901 ” Advisor: Roger Chickering

Negroponte, Diana V. US History “ Conflict Resolution at the End of the Cold War ” Advisor: Nancy B. Tucker

Norman, York A. Middle East & North African History “ An Islamic City? Sarajevo’s Islamization and Economic Development, 1461-1604 ” Advisor: John Voll

Roedell, Christopher A. Modern Europe “ The Beasts That Perish: The Problem of Evil and the Contemplation of the Animal Kingdom in English Thought, c. 1660-1839 ” Advisor: Kathryn Olesko

Shearer, Valerie J. Early Modern & Late Medieval European History “ A Good Deed is Never Forgotten: Credit and Mutual Exchange in Seventeenth-Century France ” Advisor: James Collins

Vrtis, George H. US Environmental History “ The Front Range of the Rocky Mountains: An Environmental History, 1700-1900 ” Advisor: John McNeill

    2004-2005

Andreassi, Anthony D. US History “ ‘Begun in Faith and Grit and God!’: The Sisters of the Divine Compassion, 1869-1954 “ Advisor: Emmett Curran

Ari-Chachaki, Waskar T. Latin American History “ Race and Subaltern Nationalism: The AMP Activist-Intellectuals in Bolivia, 1921-1964 “ Advisor: Erick Langer

Brooke, George Mercer III US History “ A Matter of Will: Sir Robert Thompson, Malaya, and the Failure of American Strategy in Vietnam “ Advisor: Nancy B. Tucker

De Bryun Kops, Henriette (Rahusen) Early Modern & Late Medieval European History “ Liquid Silver: The Wine and Brandy Trade between Rotterdam and Nantes in the First Half of the Seventeenth Century “ Advisor: James Collins

Rouland, Michael R. Russian & Eastern European History “ Music and the Making of the Kazak Nation, 1920-1936 “ Advisor: Richard Stites

    2003-2004

Bryne, Daniel US History “ Adrift on a Sea of Sand: The Search for United States Foreign Policy Toward the Decolonization of Algeria, 1942-1962 “ Advisor: David Painter

Class, James N. Russia & Eastern European History “ Russian Messianism in the Napoleonic Wars “ Advisor: Catherine Evtuhov

Coventry, Michael T. US History “ ‘God, Country, Home and Mother’: Soldiers, Gender, and Nationalism in Great War America “ Advisor: Dorothy Brown

Drummond, Elizabeth A. Modern European History “ Protecting Poznania: Germans, Poles, and the Conflict Over National Identity, 1886-1914 “ Advisor: Roger Chickering

Goldyn, Bartholomew H. Russia & Eastern European History “ Cities for a New Poland: State Planning and Urban Control in the Building of Gdynia and Nowa Huta “ Advisor: Andrzej Kaminski

Hill, Brendan L. Early Modern & Late Medieval European History “ Puritans in the Public Sphere: The Societies for Reformation of Manners and the Continuity of Calvinism in Early Eighteenth Century England “ Advisor: Jo Ann Moran Cruz

Ivey, Linda L. US Environmental History “ Poetic Industrialism: Ethnicity, Environment and Commercial Horticulture in California’s Pajaro Valley, from the Progressive Era through the Great Depression “ Advisor: John McNeill

Linford, Rebecca R. Early Modern & Late Medieval European History “ The Women of the Quarter Sessions: A Study of Women’s Involvement in Crime in Lancashire County, 1590-1606 “ Advisor: Jo Ann Moran Cruz

Nichols-Busch, Tracy Russia & Eastern European History “ A Class on Wheels: Avtodor and the Automobilization of the Soviet Union 1927-1935 “ Advisor: Richard Stites

Schutts, Jeff Richard Modern European History “ Coca-Colonization, ‘Refreshing Americanization, or Nazi Volksgetrank’: The History of Coca-Cola in Germany, 1921-1961 “ Advisor: Roger Chickering

Zejmis, Jakub Russia & Eastern European History “ Belarus: Religion, Language and the Struggle for National Identity in a Soviet-Polish Borderland, 1921-1939 “ Advisor: Richard Stites

    2002-2003

Abi-Mershed, Osama Middle East & North African History “ Domination by Consent: The Bureaux Arabes and Public Instruction in Colonial Algeria, 1831-1870 “ Advisor: John Ruedy

Belmonte, Monica L. US History “ Reining in Revolution: The United States Response to British Decolonization in Nigeria in an Era of Civil Rights, 1953-1960 “ Advisor: Nancy B. Tucker

Brewer, M. Jonah Early Modern & Late Medieval European History “ Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh: French Consuls and Commercial Diplomacy in the Ottoman Levant, 1660-1699 “ Advisor: James Collins

Caffrey, Patrick Joseph East & Central Asian Environmental History “ The Forests of Northeast China, 1600-1960: Environment, Politics, and Society “ Advisor: Carol A. Benedict

Davenport, Lisa E. US History “ Jazz, Race, and American Cultural Exchange: An International Study of U.S. Cultural Diplomacy, 1954-1968 “ Advisor: David Painter

DeLong-Bas, Natana J. Middle East & North African History “ Muhammed Ibn Abd al-Wahhab: An Intellectual Biography “ Advisor: John Voll

Dorsey, Jennifer H. US History “ Free People of Color in Rural Maryland, 1783-1832 “ Advisor: Alison Games

Ludes, James M. Modern European History “ A Consistency of Purpose: Political Warfare and the National Security Strategy of the Eisenhower Administration “ Advisor: Aviel Roshwald

Semerdjian, Elyse Middle East & North African History “ Off the Straight Path: Gender, Public Morality, and Legal Administration in Ottoman Aleppo, Syria “ Advisor: John Voll

Zalar, Jeffrey T. Modern European History “ Knowledge and Nationalism in Imperial Germany: A Cultural History of the Association of Saint Charles Borromeo, 1890-1914 “ Advisor: Roger Chickering

    2001-2002

Abugideiri, Hibba E. Middle East & North African History “ Egyptian Women and the Science Question: Gender in the Making of Colonized Medicine, 1893-1929 “ Advisor: John Voll

Alvaro-Velcamp, Theresa Latin American History “ Peddling Identity: Arabs, Conflict, Community and the Mexican Nation in the Twentieth Century “ Advisor: John Tutino

Caplan, Gregory A. “ Wicked Sons, German Heroes: Jewish Soldiers, Veterans and Memories of World War I in Germany “ Advisor: Roger Chickering

Duggan, Michael F. US History “ Chauncey Wright and Forward-Looking Empiricism, a History of Ideas “ Advisor: Emmett Curran

Hamilton, Joanna Early Modern & Late Medieval European History “ The Merchants of Vannes: 1670-1730 “ Advisor: James Collins

Hoerle, Scott Modern European History “ Hans Friedrich Blunck: Poetry, Politics, and Propaganda, 1888-1961 “ Advisor: Roger Chickering

Janik, Elizabeth Koch Modern European History “ Music in Cold War Berlin: German Tradition and Allied Occupation, 1945-1951 “ Advisor: Roger Chickering

Law, Randall Russia & Eastern European History “ Humanity’s Workshops: Progressive Education in Russia and the Soviet Union, 1856-1927 “ Advisor: Richard Stites

McGillivray, Gillian Latin American History “ Blazing Cane: Sugar Communities, Power, and Politics in Cuba, 1868-1948 “ Advisor: John Tutino

McGinn, John US History “ Balancing Defense and Détente in NATO: The Harmel Framework and the 1968 Crisis in Czechoslovakia “ Advisor: David Painter Sampsell, Catherine M. U.S. History “ ‘To Grab a Hunk of Lightning’: An Intellectual History of American Depression-Era Photography “ Advisor: Emmett Curran

    2000-2001

Carafano, James J. “ ‘Waltzing into the Cold War’: U.S. Army Military Operations in Occupied Austria “ Hill, Richard F. “ Pearl Harbor Month: Why the United States Went to War with Germany “ Jackson, Maurice “ ‘Ethiopia Shall Soon Stretch Out Her Hands Unto God’: Anthony Benezet and the Atlantic Anti-Slavery Revolution “ Skinner, Barbara J. “ The Empress and the Heretics: Catherine II’s Challenge to the Uniate Church, 1762-1796 “ Socolow, Michael J. “ To Network a Nation: N.B.C., C.B.S., and the Development of National Network Radio in the United States, 1925-1950 “ Taffet, Jeffrey A. “ Alliance for What?: U.S. Development Assistance in Chile During the 1960s “ Wall, Michael C. “ Chinese Reaction to the Portrayal of China and Chinese in American Motion Pictures prior to 1949 “

    1999-2000

Brüggemann, Julia “ Through the Prism of Prostitution: State and Society in Hamburg, 1800-1914 “ Burch, Susan “ Biding the Time: American Deaf Cultural History, 1900 to World War II “ Cline, Ruth Harwood “ The Congregation of Tiron in the Twelfth Century: Foundation and Expansion “ Dale, Melissa S. “ With the Cut of a Knife: A Social History of Eunuchs During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and Republican Periods (1912-1949) “ Davis, Rebekah “ Development as a Tool of Diplomacy: The Domestic Models for U.S. Policy in the Jordan River Valley, 1939-1956 “ Heineman, Paul “ In Defense of an Anachronism: The Cossack Question on the Don, 1861-1914 “ Khalafallah, Haifaa “ Rethinking Islamic Law: Genesis and Evolution in the Islamic Legal Methods and Structures. The Case of a 20th Century ‘Alim’s Journey into His Legal Traditions. Muhammad Al-Ghazali (1917-1996) “ Pisiotis, Argyrios K. “ Orthodoxy Versus Autocracy: The Orthodox Church and Clerical Political Dissent in Late Imperial Russia, 1905-1914 “ Pujals, Sandra “ When Giants Walked the Earth: The Society of Former Political Prisoners and Exiles of the Soviet Union, 1921-1935 “ Reifowitz, Ian “ Civic Nationalism in a Multiethnic Society: Conceptions of a Supraethnic Austrian Identity, 1848-1918 “ Ritenour, Perry “ Chinese Banking and Foreign Trade (1949-1979) with a Focus on Guangdong “ Taylor, Karen “ Cher espoir de la nation sainte: The Maison Royale de Saint-Louis at Saint-Cyr “ Wiggers, Richard “ Creating International Humanitarian Law [IHL]: World War II, the Allied Occupations, and the Treaties that Followed “

    1998-1999

Arpaia, Paul “ Luigi Federzoni and the Italian Nationalist Association: From a Cultural Conception of Italy to a Neo-Conservative Political Program “ Foehr, Sherry “ Modernization for the Honor of the Estate: Die Deutsche Landwirtschaftsgesellschaft, 1884-1914 “ Healy, Róisín “ The Jesuit as Enemy: Anti-Jesuitism and the Protestant Bourgeoisie of Imperial Germany, 1890-1917 “ Kawamura, S.J., Shinzo “ Making Christian Lay Communities During the ‘Christian Century’ in Japan — A Case Study of Takata District in Bungo “ Ke, Yan “ Scholars and Communications Network: Social and Intellectual Change in 17th-Century North China “ Jain, Asha “ Kumarapala Chaulukya (r. 1143-74) of Gujarat, India: A Convert to Jainism in Historical Perspective “ Vladimirov, Katya “ The World Of Imperial Provincial Bureaucracy, Russian Poland 1870-1904 “ Powers, Daniel “ All Roads Lead to Rome: French and German Christian Democrats, the Nation-State and the Reconstruction of Europe, 1945-1950 “ Qualls, Karl “ Raised From Ruins: Restoring Popular Allegiance Through City Planning in Sevastopol, 1944-1953 “ Slater, Joseph “ Down By Law: Public Sector Unions and the State in America, World War I to World War II “ Veidlinger, Jeffrey “ Soviet Politics on the Yiddish Stage: Moscow’s State Yiddish Theater, 1919-1949 “

    1997-1998

Carpenter, Kim “ ‘Sechs Kreuzer sind genug für ein Bier!’ The Munich Beer Riot of 1844: Social Protest and Public Disorder in Mid-19th Century Bavaria “   Enriquez, Jonmikel “ Theodore White and the Remaking of Political Journalism “   Goedde, Celia J. “ The Artisan’s Approach to Modernity: The Political Culture of the German Artisans in Vienna and Augsburg “   Long, Loretta M. “ A Fellow Soldier in the Cause of Reformation: The Life of Selina Campbell “   Pendzich, Barbara “ The Burghers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania during the War of 1654-1667: Resiliency and Cohesion in the Face of Muscovite Annexation “   Phillips, Steven “ Restoration and Conquest: The Taiwanese Elite under Nationalist Chinese Rule, 1945-1950 “

Russell, Mona Lisa “ Creating the New Woman: Consumerism, Education, and National Identity in Egypt, 1863-1922 “

Scholz, Norbert “ Foreign Education and Indigenous Reaction in Late Ottoman Lebanon: Students & Teachers of the Syrian Protestant College in Beirut “   Tamari, Stephen “ Teaching and Learning in 18th-Century Damascus: Localism and Ottomanism in an Early Modern Arab Society “   Zehren, Maria “ The Dangling Scissors: Marriage, Family, and Work Among Italian Immigrant Women in the Clothing Industry in Baltimore, 1890-1920 “

ScholarWorks at UMass Boston

Home > CLA > HISTORY > HISTORY_THESES

History Masters Theses Collection

This collection contains open access and campus access Masters theses, made possible through Graduate Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston. The full content of open access theses is available to all, although some files may have embargoes placed on them and will be made available as soon as possible. The full content of campus access theses is only available to those either on the UMass Boston campus or with a UMass Boston campus username and password. Click on the "Off-Campus UMass Boston Users" link on the record page to download Campus Access publications. Those not on campus and those without a UMass Boston campus username and password may gain access to this thesis through resources like Proquest Dissertations & Theses Global or through Interlibrary Loan.

Theses from 2024 2024

A Quartet of Consequence: Randolph, Rustin, Baker & Levison & The Movement They Made , Jonathan Klein

Theses from 2023 2023

Margaret Cross Norton in Context: Norton’s Portrayal in American Archival Theory, the Social Conditions of Her Time and the Evolution of Presidential Libraries in the United States , Marie H. Bowen

Culture Wars: North Carolina, Representation, and the Vote on the Federal Constitution of 1787 , Maria A. Carlson

George Boardman Weston's Grand Tour: Travel Writing and its Impact on Nineteenth-Century Americans , Joshua Tyler Clark

“Each Heart Alone Knoweth Its Own Bitterness”: The Jackson Family in Clarke County, Virginia, from Enslavement to Jim Crow , Melanie E. Garvey

Deconstructing Reconstruction: The Portrayal of The Reconstruction Era in High School History Textbooks , Eleanor Katari

Radical Routes: The Formation of the Boston School Bus Drivers Union Local 8751 , Maci Mark

Limitations & Liberation: Republican Motherhood and Female Advancement in Nineteenth Century America , Hannah Russell

The Armenian Genocide as Presented by the American Press , Grace A. Wargovich

Theses from 2022 2022

Northeastern Pennsylvania's Forgotten Labor Massacre: Analysis pf the English Language Record of the Lattimer Massacre , Jamie C. Costello

Shadow of the Vietnam War on the Senate Persian Gulf Debate of 1991 , Austin DiBari

Popular Memory, Silence, and Trust: A Mother and Son’s Relationship to School in the Shadow of the Prince Edward County Closures , Rory S. Dunn

The Arrows, The Shield: Mapping, Identity, and Tradition in Colonial Cempoala, Mexico , Savvas Papadopoulos

The Unsung Influence of the National Day of Mourning: A Study of Indigenous Activism, Race, and Memory , Erika T. Tauer

The Role of the Catholic Church’s Teachings on Slavery and Secession Affecting Allegiances During the American Civil War , David J. Thompson

Theses from 2021 2021

Celebrating Chinese American Veterans: Commemoration and America's Collective Memory Of War , Kevin Lee

Community in a Time of Crisis: How the People of Provincetown, Massachusetts Worked to Combat the HIV/AIDS Epidemic , Danielle Maria Lisbon

Uncommon Ground: Pawtucket-Pennacook Strategic Land Exchange in Native Spaces and Colonized Places of Essex County and Massachusetts Bay in the Seventeenth Century , Kristine Malpica

The Decline of the Massachusetts Know-Nothing Party: The Impact of Slavery and Temperance in 1855 , Alexander Rodrigues

The Boston Black United Front and Community-Centered Alternatives to the Carceral State , Joseph W. Sikowitz

Theses from 2020 2020

Operation Nickel Grass: Richard Nixon and the Yom Kippur War , Luke George Bergquist

Essential Labor: Marginalized People in the American Whaling Industry, Southeastern Massachusetts , Brielle E. Berical

A Dogged Resolve: The Doctrine and Decline of Mormon Plural Marriage, 1841-1890 , Jaclyn Thornock Gadd

The Hyde Park Thought Club: Pioneers in the Women’s Club Movement -- A Case Study 1868 – 1902 , Patrice A. Gattozzi

The Ghosts of Empires Past: The Red Army Faction’s Violent Relationship with Cold War Neo-Imperialism, 1969-1974 , Renee Danielle Jean

Reassessing the Factors that Led to the Evacuation of Japanese in World War Two , Mark S. Lewis

Black Masters; The Ownership of Slaves by Free People of Color in the Antebellum South 1780-1861 , Michael O. Magbagbeola

"To Have and Enjoy": Seating in Boston's Early Anglican Churches, 1686-1732 , Erica Jill McAvoy

Scholars, Spinners and Economies of Scale: Public Education on Exhibit in the Textile Era in New Bedford, Massachusetts , Arthur P. Motta Jr.

Beyond the Big Top: The Legacy of John Ringling and the American Circus , Casey L. Nemec

“Even if it Means Our Battles to Date are Meaningless” The Anime Gundam Wing and Postwar History, Memory, and Identity in Japan , Genevieve R. Peterson

"Full of Light and Fire": John Brown in Springfield , Louis J. Rocco Jr.

The Psychogram , Nathaniel M. Sullivan

Washed Away: Native American Representation in Oklahoma Museums and High Schools, 2000 – 2020 , Catherine E. Thompson

Theses from 2019 2019

Revelation and Concealment; The Words and World of Omar ibn Said , David Gabriel Babaian

Anabasis Aquilonos: The Interplay of Exemplarity and Scientific Historiography in B.H. Liddell Hart’s A Greater than Napoleon: Scipio Africanus , Daniel T. Barbre

The Language of the Herodians: An Analysis of Herodian Material Culture , Alexander J. D'Amore

Theses from 2018 2018

The Charge of Deserting Their Sphere: The Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society and Women’s Place in the Abolitionist Movement , Megan Irene Brady

Competing Goals: The Boston Teachers Union and the Boston Busing Crisis , Matthew R. Clark

"The Right to Play" The Establishment of Playgrounds in the American City , Kyle James Fritch

Good Girls Gone Bad: Interpreting the White Slavery Scare As A Response To Changing Women's Roles in the Progressive Era , Rachael Gorski

Innocent Victors: Atomic Identity at the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge, Tennessee , Kathryn Leann Harris

William Monroe Trotter and His Contributions to the Early Civil Rights Movement , Katherine N. Jahl

Lapidary Medicine in Early Modern Spain , Dana L. Marquis

A Seemingly Insurmountable Problem: Carl Stokes and the Failure of Cleveland Now! , David M. Rainey

The Creation of the OSS And Anglo American Intelligence Co-Operation In Yugoslavia: A Case Study In Diverging Agendas , Christopher J. Royack

Luis V. Manrara & the Truth About Cuba Committee, Inc.: A Microhistory on the Effect of Socio-Economic Advantages and Politics on Early Cuban Acculturation within American Society , Francis E. Tansey

“Wicked and Illegal Traffic”: Newspaper Portrayal of Nigerian Women in the Cannabis Trade (circa 1970 – 1980) , Edet A. Thomas

Theses from 2017 2017

Mendez V. Westminister (1945): A Case that Brought Race to Center Stage , Samantha R. Albert

A Light in the Darkness: Constructing a View of Victorian Gynecological Surgery through Examination of Medical Treatises , Mandy M. Jimenez

Riot and Resurgence: The Antebellum African American Community of Providence, Rhode Island , Christopher J. Martin

Reverend James D. Eaton and Congregationalist Missionary Education in Revolutionary Mexico , Lucas A. Mihalich

Indian, Black, Mustee, and Music: Race, Identity, and Culture in Native Communities During the Age of Whaling , Tara M. Munro

Expendable: Eight Soldiers From Massachusetts Regiments Executed For Desertion During the United States Civil War , Stephen F. Ragon

Theses from 2016 2016

Exploring Reconstruction in the Territory of New Mexico , Krystle Eugley Beaubrun

'For the Sake of the Salvation of our Souls': An Analysis of Hildegard of Bingen's Authority and Reformist Theology in Relation to the Founding of Mount St. Rupert , Alexandra G. Borkowski

Rebuilding the City on a Hill: The Currents of New England Sectionalism and Liberal Christianity in Garrisonian Abolitionism , Zachary Boutin

'For the Benefit of Mankind': Franklin Roosevelt's Development of Trusteeship for the Postwar World , Tasnin R. Chowdhury

Run Aground: Cultural Transformation in Southeastern Massachusetts' Aquatic Spaces, 1637-1711 , Jonathan Dennis Green

In Freedom's Cause: An Exploration of Suffragette and Chartist Militancy in Britain , Ashley Kennedy-MacDougall

Countdown to Martial Law: The U.S-Philippine Relationship, 1969-1972 , Joven G. Maranan

He was a Camera: Christopher Isherwood, Weimar Germany, and Transationalism in the American Gay Rights Movement , Kristof R. Nelson

Somewhere Between Exploitation and Partnership: English and Native Alliances Surrounding the Raids on Deerfield and King William’s War , Caitlyn J. Remmes

The Barbadoes Family and the Pursuit of African-American Equality in 19th Century America , Robert J. Shaw

Theses from 2015 2015

Traitor or Pioneer: John Brown Russwurm and the African Colonization Movement , Brian J. Barker

A Queen's Legacy: The Lives of Elizabeth Woodville and Jacquetta of Luxembourg , Heather E. Bump

We're Just Like You: Strategies of Gay Activism against the Religious Right, Politics and Conservatism, and the AIDS Crisis , William G. Burton

Gay Outlaws: The Alpine County Project Reconsidered , Jacob D. Carter

George Loney Wallace and the Wrentham State School: 1906-1930 , Lindsay Fulton

Charles Francis Adams: A Study on the Crucial Role of Adams in Maintaining British Neutrality During the American Civil War , Jonathan S. McIsaac

The Massachusetts Bay Circuit , Corey W. Medeiros

É Para Sair de Portugal a Todos os Custos! The Policia Repressiva de Emigração Clandestina (1896-1911) and the Politics of Azorean Emigration to the United States , Sonia Patricia da Silva Pacheco

The Integration of African Americans in the Civilian Conservation Corps in Massachusetts , Caitlin E. Pinkham

Anti-Catholicism and Gender Norms: Reassessing the Charlestown Convent Riot, 1834 , Daniel S. Sousa

Theses from 2014 2014

Crowning a Florentine Princeps in a New Rome: The Civic Humanism of Leonardo Bruni and the Rise of Cosimo de' Medici, "Pater Patriae" , Jason F. Amato

The Transvaal Constitution and Responsible Government: How Churchill influenced Apartheid , Christopher H. Beckvold

"Tenacious of Their Lands": Fortifying the District of Mashpee, 1834-1842 , Nicole Alexis Breault

Assent and You Are Sane: "John Brown Was Right" , Jermain S. Corbin

Saving the "Original Paradise": Health Tourism, Tropical Disease, and the Problem of Cuba in the American Imperial Imagination, 1848-98 , Liana DeMarco

Panthersprung: The Vital Inheritance of the Agadir Crisis , Patrick E. Doerr

Lusitania: An Examination of Captaincy and Seamanship in the Face of Disaster , Robert J. Goulding

“So Succeeded by a Kind Providence”: Communities of Color in Eighteenth Century Boston , Eric M. Hanson Plass

Constructing A Vernacular Narrative: Communal Memory of Boston's West End , Eleanor Martinez Proctor

Theses from 2013 2013

Generations Apart: Cultural Revolution Memory and China's Post-80's Generation on the Chinese Internet , Vincent R. Capone

Once Lords and Emperors: Chivalry and the Making of Clerical Masculinity in High Medieval Normandy , Charles S. Carroll

Fort Devens: Civil Rights Unrest and African-American Identity in a Northern Military Camp during World War I and World War II , Janine Hubai

The Hidden Experience: Untold Stories of Immigrant Agency During the Settlement House Movement in Boston , Deirdre L. Kutt

General Von Seeckt and Sino-German Cooperation , Yue Lan

"Our Brothers In This Country": Captivity and Kinship in the Colonial Northeast , Steven C. Moore

The Teacher Revolt: Militancy, Grassroots Mobilization, and Local Autonomy in the National Education Association and the Massachusetts Teachers Association (1960-1980) , Jamie A. Rinaldi

Germs, Pigs and Silver: King Philip's War and the Deconstruction of the Middle Ground In New England , Benjamin M. Roine

Men of Uncommon Substance: Sailor Literature and American Identity in Antebellum America, 1805 - 1840 , Pete Sprayregen

Technology Transfer and Diffusion in the Context of Globalization: A Study of a Critical Decade in the Ottoman Empire through the Experiences of Henry Eckford, 1830-1840 , Gulumhan Huma Yildirim

Theses from 2012 2012

The Forgotten Children: The Educational Demographics of an Austrian Diocese 1848-1852 , Mathew Richard Boyeson

Gaetano Salvemini: A Lesson in Thought and Action , Michael Christopher DiClemente

The Cultural Assault on the Female Gender during the Weimar Years , Jaime Alexandra Gaudet

Immigrants as Americanizers: The Americanization Movement of the Early Twentieth Century , Alexis Claire Hanley

Union Army Doctrine: The Role of the Artillery During the Campaign for Vicksburg , Stephanie A. Peacock

Botticelli's La Primavera: Painting the Cosmos of Human Ideals , Leatha Eleni Tzioumis

Women Under National Socialism: The Case Study of Melita Maschmann , Lynda Maureen Willett

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Home | About | FAQ | My Account | Accessibility Statement

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• Work For Us
• History Dissertation Repository

The Northumbria Dissertation Repository was launched in October 2015 to share the best of the university's undergraduate research in History. While online repositories already exist for postgraduate theses, few include undergraduate research – despite the fact that many dissertations are original in conception, argument, and in their use of primary sources.

The History team at Northumbria is pleased to provide access to the excellent, archive-driven research undertaken by our final-year students. The dissertations included in this repository were all awarded first-class marks. They reflect the range of research expertise at Northumbria, as well as our commitment to research-based learning. Moreover, the pieces in this dissertation clearly testify to the skills, enthusiasm and hard work of our students.

We hope to add further examples of undergraduate research to the repository in subsequent years, thereby developing it as a useful resource.

If you have any further questions about the repository, please contact Dr Daniel Laqua  or Dr James McConnel .

Medieval and Early Modern History

• Hide, Rachel : Tribal Resistance in Northern England and Scotland from the Roman Conquest to the Building of Hadrian’s Wall, 43-122 AD
• Husbands, Benjamin : The Afterlife of Joan of Arc: Visual Representations of the Maid of Orléans
• Watson, Hannah : A Feminist Analysis of the Reinforcement of Patriarchal Strategies within Families of the Late Medieval Gentry

Early Modern

• Curry, Adam : The Arthurian Reformation: The Changing Image of the Arthurian Legend During the English Reformation
• Clarke, Lucy :  A Comparison of Female Prostitution in Eighteenth-Century London and Dublin
• Harrington, Helen :  Gender and ‘Crimes of Speech’ in Seventeenth-Century York
• Weightman, Peter : The Role of the Commons of Cumberland and Westmoreland in the Pilgrimage of Grace, 1536

Modern British History

• Green, Jyoti :  Female Same-Sex Desire in the Nineteenth Century: Approaches from Lesbian Feminist Theory
• Martin, Hannah :  ‘Tragedy, Death, and Memory’: The Commemoration of British Coal Mining Disasters in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century
• Riddell, Daniel : Tyneside and the Italian Risorgimento, 1848-1861 
• White, Oliver :  The Football League and the Game It Made: A Study of the Development and Transformation of Association Football, 1888–1914 
• Aldis, Francesca :  “They call this spring, Mum, and they have one here every year”: An Examination of the Evacuation Experience of Tyneside Schoolchildren 1939–1945
• Carr, Jessica :  Women’s Work in Munitions Factories during The First World War: Gender, Class and Public Opinion
• Isles, Scott :  More Than 'an Enemy's Name, Rank and Number': Information Gaines from Luftwaffe Prisoners of War and its Use for British Intelligence during the Battle of Britain, July - October 1940
• Macfarlane, Euan :  British Naval Innovation and Performance before and during the First World War: The 1916 Sinking of the HMS Invincible
• Timms, Mathew :  The North East and Economic Depression, 1935–1939: The Impact of the Team Valley Corporation
• Wickenden, Rebecca :  ‘For Home and Country’: The Role of the Women’s Institute in the Northumberland and Durham Counties during the Second World War
• Corrigan, Chloe : More Than the 'Fuddy Duddy Co-op': The Consumer Co-operative Movement in 1960s Great Britain
• Fairbairn, Lily : 'Born to Struggle': Working-Class Women's Activism in 1970s Britain
• Kundu, Victoria : 'Roaming Mobs of Mutants!': Anti-Nuclear Culture and Protest in Britain, 1979-1989
• Sumner, Billy :  Militant within Liverpool City Council 1983–1986: The Impact of and Reaction to a Left-Wing Political Movement in the Labour Party
• Tewson, Miles : The Process of Decolonization in Burma: Managing the Transition from Colony to Independent State

Modern European and International History

• Harold, Danny :  Russian Exiles in Britain, 1918–1926: The Politics and Culture of Russia Abroad
• Heywood, Gareth :  Education, Sociability and the Politics of Culture in Fin-de-Siècle France
• McGowan, Abbie :  ‘Looted Art as an International Issue’: From Nazi Plunder to Restitution, 1939–1951
• Robertson-Major, James :  A Long Half-Life: Responses to Chernobyl in Soviet and Post-Soviet Society
• Serafin, Marcel :  Socialist Opposition in the Polish People’s Republic, 1964–1989
• Armstrong, Alasdair :  Words as Weapons: Black Nationalist Poetry in America during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s
• Foley, Lee : A Step Backwards: Nixon, Détente, and the American Space Program
• Henderson, Sophie :  Disobedience and Defiance: Massive Resistance in Mississippi in the 1950s and 1960s
• Keen, Gavin :  New York City’s Societal Influence on the Punk Movement, 1975–1979
• Lisle, Ben :  ‘In no other business in America is the color line so finely drawn as in baseball’: An Analysis of Black Baseball’s Failed Attempts at Achieving Major League Professionalism, 1887–1939
• McGuinness, Chloe: Bridging the Gap One Bite at a Time: A Food History of African American Activism, 1955-2015
• Paterson, Ewan :  Redefining Watergate: Surveillance, Paranoia and Pop Culture in America’s Long 1970s
• Watson, Lucy :  Representing the 1970s on TV:  That '70s Show
• Weaver, Alice :  Peace Activism and Women’s Politics: Women Strike for Peace in Context, 1961–1972

History Research

• History Research Groups
• Postgraduate Research

RESEARCH EXCELLENCE FRAMEWORK 2021

History and American Studies Blog

A blog on all manner of research, publications, lectures, conferences, symposia, and more from Northumbria University's History and American Studies programmes.

Humanities Staff

Our students learn from the best – inspirational academic staff with a genuine passion for their subject. Our courses are at the forefront of current knowledge and practice and are shaped by world-leading and internationally excellent research.

Courses within Humanities

The Department of Humanities offers a number of undergraduate and postgraduate courses. By studying at Northumbria you will become part of a passionate and creative community.

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Department of History

Dissertations by year, 2010-present.

Archibald, Elizabeth Pitkin

Methods and Meaning of Basic Education in Carolingian Europe

Brown, Elizabeth Gilliam

Origins of the Puritan Concept of Despair

Cameron, Sarah Isabel

The Hungry Steppe: Soviet Kazakhstan and the Kazakh Famine, 1921-34

Covert, Lisa Pinley

Defining a Place, Defining a Nation: San Miguel de Allende Through Mexican and Foreign Eyes

Dunlop, Catherine Tatiana

Borderland Cartographies: Mapping the Lands Between France and Germany, 1860-1940

Fitz, Caitlin Annette

Our Sister Republics: The United States in an Age of American Revolutions

Gin, Kathryn

Damned Nation? The Concept of Hell in American Life, 1775-1865

Greene, Alison Collis

“No Depression in Heaven:” Religion and Economic Crisis in Memphis and the Delta, 1929-41

Havens, Earle Ashcroft

Printers, Papists, and Priests: Roman Catholic Print Culture and the Religious Underground in Elizabethan England

Jean, Marie Martine Alix

Guardians of Order: Police and Society in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1907-30

Knudsen, Eden Rebecca

Race and Childhood in Fascist Italy, 1923-40

Lee, Sophia Z.

“Almost Revolutionary:” The Constitution’s Strange Career in the Workplace, 1935-80

McKenna, Rebecca Tinio

American Imperial Pastoral: The Baguio Scheme and United States Designs on the Philippines, 1898-1921

Morgan, Michael

The Origins of the Helsinki Final Act

Muchnick, Barry Ross Harrison

Nature’s Republic: Fresh Air Reform and the Moral Economy of Citizenship in Turn of the Century America

Prince, K. Stephen

Stories of the South: The Cultural Retreat from Reconstruction

Rosemblum, Stewart Gordon

Pursuing Order in the Wake of War: Southern State Supreme Courts 1860-1880

Ruddiman, John Anthony

Becoming Men of Some Consequence: Young Men of the Continental Army in Revolutionary War and Peace

Schaffer, Samuel Lonsdale

New South Nation: Woodrow Wilson’s Generation and the Rise of the South, 1884-1920

Weld, Kirsten Allison

Reading the Politics of History in Guatemala’s National Police Archives

Brueckenhaus, Daniel

The Transnational Surveillance of Anti-Colonialist Movements in Western Europe, 1905-45

Casey, Caitlin Marie

Vanguards of Globalization: Transnationalism in American Activism, 1960-75

Cherry, Haydon Leslie

Down and Out in Saigon: A Social History of the Poor in a Colonial City, 1860-1940

Corinealdi, Kaysha Lisbeth

Redefining Home: West Indian Panamanians and Transnational Politics of Race, Citizenship, and Diaspora, 1928-70

Huyssen, David Nicholas

Class Collisions: Wealth and Poverty in New York, 1890-1920

Jaboulet-Vercherre, Azelina

Wine, the Physician, and the Drinker: late Medieval Views on Wine’s Uses, Pleasures, and Problems

Kanfer, Yedida Sharona

Lødz : Industry, Religion, and Nationalism in Russian Poland, 1880-1914

Leslie, Grace Victoria

United for a Better World: Internationalism in the U.S. Women’s Movement, 1939-64

Luther Hillman, Betty

America Dresses for Culture Wars: The Politics of Self-Presentation, 1964-80

Marrero, Karen Lynn

Founding Families: Power and Authority of Mixed French and Native Lineages in Eighteenth Century Detroit

Matz, Brendan Alexander

Crafting Heredity: The Art and Science of Livestock Breeding in the United States and Germany, 1860-1914

McShea, Bronwen Catherine

Cultivating Empire Through Print: The Jesuit Strategy for New France and the Parisian Relations of 1632 to 1673

Morris, Robin Marie

Building the New Right: Georgia Women, Grassroots Organizing, and Party Realignment, 1950-80

Unterman, Katherine Ruth

Nowhere to Hide: International Fugitives and American Power, 1880-1915

Wang, Jinping

Between Family and State: Networks of Literati, Clergy, and Villagers in Shanxi, North China, 1200-1400

Wood, Julia Erin

Freedom is Indivisible: The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Cold War Politics, and International Liberation Movements

Anderson, Mark

Hospitals, Hospices, and Shelters for the Poor in Late Antiquity

Curry, Helen

Accelterating Evolution, Engineering Life: American Agriculture and Technologies of Genetic Modification, 1925-60

Dinner, Deborah

Pregnancy at Work: Sex Equality, Reproductive Liberty, and the Workplace, 1964-93

Dlamini, Jacob

Putting Kruger National Park in its Place: A Social History of Africans and Conservation in a Modernizing South Africa, 1900-2010

Edel, Charles

Searching for Monsters to Destroy: The Grand Strategy of John Quincy Adams

Ford, Eugene

Cold War Monks: An International History of Buddhism, Politics, and Regionalism in Thailand and Southest Asia, 1940-76

Gonda, Jeffrey

Home Front: The Restrictive Covenant Cases and the Making of the Civil Rights Movement

Guarneri, Julia

Making Metropolitans: Newspapers and the Urbanization of Americans, 1880-1930

Hanser, Jessica

Mr. Smith Goes to China: British Private Traders and the Interlinking of the British Empire with China, 1757-92

Herman, Elizabeth

World Without End: Conceptions of Heaven in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Protestant England

Hogarth, Rana

Comparing Anatomies, Construcing Races: Medicine and Slavery in the Atlantic, 1787-1838

Reforming Orthodoxy: Russian Bishops and Their Church, 1721-1801

“Neither Indians, Nor Egyptians:” Social Protest and Islamic Populism in the Making of the Tobacco Movement in Iran, 1850-1891

Muslim, Trader, Nomad, Spy: China’s Cold War and the Tibeten Borderlands, 1959-1962

Kinkel, Sarah

Disciplining the Empire: Georgian Politics, Social Hierarchy, and the Rise of the British Navy, 1725-75

Tarrau: Coffee, Migration, and Nation Building in Rural Costa Rica, 1824-2008

Transgression in Roman Religion

McNeur, Catherine

The “Swinish Multitude” and Fashionable Promenades: Battles over Public Space in New York City, 1815-65

Mooney, Katherine

Race Horse Men: Slavery and Freedom at the Nineteenth-Century Racetrack

Nielsen, Philipp

Between Promised Land and Broken Promise: Jews, the Right, and the State in Germany between 1871 and 1935

Seth, Anita

Cold War Communities: Militarization in Los Angeles and Novosibirsk, 1941-53

Spence, Taylor

The Endless Commons: Indigenous and Immigrant in the British-American Borderland, 1835-48

Thomas, Courtney

Honor and Reputation Among the Early Modern English Elite, 1530-1630

Wehrman, Michael

De-emphasizing the Miraculous in Early Medieval Saints’ Lives, 590-800

Leisler’s Rebellion: Anglo-Dutch Imperial Politics in Seventeenth-Century New York

Democracy’s Guardians: Constitutional Justice in Postwar Germany, 1951-1989

The Marvelous Tale of Alis de Tesieux: Revenants, Reformation, Reform, and Revolving Meaning in a Sixteenth-Century Ghost Story

The Whole Nine Months: Women, Men, and the Making of Modern Pregnancy in America

Bringing Up the World’s Boys and Girls: American Child Welfare and Global Politics, 1945-1979

Chinese-Mexican Relations and the Chinese Community in Mexico, 1931-1971

Provisions and Profits in a Wartime Borderland: Supply Lines and Society in the Border Region between China and Korea, 1592-1644

Practicing Physicians: The Intern & Resident Experience in the Shaping of American Medical Education, 1945-2003

Black Market City: The Baratillo Marketplace and the Challenge of Governance in Mexico City, 1692-1903

“Our Native Soil:” Philadelphia Quakers and Geographies of Race, 1780-1838

Indians and the Colonization of Central California

Policing and Public Power in the Italian Communes

Enacting Communism: The World Youth Festival, 1945-1975

Judging the Judges: The Special Section of the Paris Courts of Appeals, 1941-1945

Making an English Caribbean, 1650-1688

The Impossible Americas: Argentina, Ecuador, and the Geography of U.S. Mass Media, 1938-1948

The Committee’s Report: Punishment, Power and Subject in 20th Century Panama

Men, Marriage, and Masculinity in Late Medieval Hagiography

War and the Imperial Imaginary: Museums, Exhibitions, and Visual Displays of the First World War in Britain, Canada, and Australia, 1941-1942

Dissertations and MA Theses

Year of publication: 2018.

Allen, Zachary. MA Thesis: "The Freedmen’s Bureau 1865: The Great Failure of  Labor Contracts and Fixed Wage Rates".

Carroll, Paloma Marie. MA Thesis: ""A White Man's County" : Racial Violence, Vigilante Terrorism, and Black Flight in Forsyth County, Georgia".

Fialka, Katharine Brackett. PhD Dissertation :  "Textual Healing: Female Readers, Self-Writing, And Sensibility In The American South, 1840-1900".

Fialka, Andrew W. PhD Dissertation : "Of Methods and Madness: A Spatial History Approach to the Civil War's Guerrilla Violence".

Hellwig, Hunter. MA Thesis: "Optimism Without Limit: Intellectual Life in the American Socialist Movement, 1895-1912".

Johnson-Cameron, Gabrielle. MA Thesis: "We Don't Have Racism up Here" The Social Influence of the Presence and Advertisement of Slaves in 18th C Scotland".

Kirby, Jason R. PhD Dissertation: "Both Force and Symbol: General William C. Westmoreland and the Shifting Priorities of Cold War America".

Mann, Isabel M. MA Thesis : "Benedictine Missionaries and the Intersection of Religion and Race on Skidaway Island, Georgia".

Nelson, Laura E. MA Thesis: "A 'Miserable Creature' or 'Remarkable Man': Wilkes Flagg and the Ambiguity of Race in Nineteenth-Century Middle Georgia".

Rountree, Emma. MA Thesis: “The Inheritance of Blood First”: Three White Women’s Takes on Miscegenation and the “Tragic Mulatta”.

Sills, Charles. MA Thesis: "Propaganda, State Power and the Press in the Late-Colonial Middle East".

Titley, Lauren. MA Thesis: 'Property in Humans': Slaves as meubles and Inherent Difficulties.

Wall, James Bowers. PhD Dissertation: "Settling Down for the Long Haul: The Struggle for Freedom Rights in Southwest Georgia, 1945-1995".

Washnock, Kaylynn. PhD Dissertation : "Making Atlanta: Civil War Memory, Civic Branding and Heritage Tourism in the New South City, 1958-1996".

Windisch, Kurt. W. PhD Dissertation: "A Thousand Slain: St. Clair’s Defeat and the Evolution of the Early Republic".

Year of Publication: 2017

Barnes, Bryant K. MA Thesis : "Where Whiskey Could Be Found: The Alleged Attempt to Lynch H. Seb. Doyle, The "Rhetoric of Corruption, and Disfranchisement”".

Bentley, Derek A. PhD Dissertation: "The Cultural Politics of Mexican Business Elites and the Transition to Open Markets".Ellett, Ashton Gene. PhD Dissertation: "Recasting Conservatism: Georgia Republicans and the Transformation of Southern Politics since World War II".

Berkow, Victoria. MA Thesis: "Let Honor Fall": Georgia Football and Lost Cause Mentality, 1892-1925".

Cromwell, Alisha Marie. PhD Dissertation: "Complicating the Patriarchy: Elite and Enslaved Business Women in the Nineteenth Century Atlantic Economy".

Du, Dan. PhD Dissertation: "This World in a Teacup: Sino-American Tea Trad in the Nineteenth Century".

Korth, Katharine. MA Thesis: “La Revolución Feminista”: How Disenfranchised Women Enacted Change in Postrevolutionary Mexico".

Manget, T. Luke. PhD Dissertation: "Sang Digger: An Environmental History of the Botanical Drug Trade in Appalachia".

O'Grady, Caitlin. MA Thesis: Conversion, Piracy, and Seduction: The Makings of a Christian Identity in Early Modern Drama".

Richier, Leah A. PhD Dissertation : "If He Should Die: The Plight of Patients and Their Families in the Georgia and South Carolina Lunatic Asylums during the U.S. Civil War and Early Reconstruction".

Turner, Alexander. MA Thesis: " Science Fiction and Colonialism in the Weimar Republic".

Veale, Kathryn. MA Thesis: "Meddling Mothers and Mediated Midwives: Negotiating Childbirth in Maternity Charities of Eighteenth-Century London".

Year of Publication: 2016

Carroll, Dillon.  Dissertation - UGA: “The Scourge Of War: Injury And Suffering In The American Civil War”. 2016: n. pag. Print.

Davis, Laura J.  Dissertation - UGA.: “Vexed Waters: Naval Guerrillas, Masculinity, And Mayhem Along The Lower Mississippi River, 1861-1865”. 2016: n. pag. Print.

Stephens, Alexander. MA Thesis: "I Hope They Don't Come to Plains:" Race, Undesirability, and the Detention of Mariel Cubans, 1980-1981.

Thomson, David.  Dissertation - UGA: “Bonds Of War: The Evolution Of Financial Markets In The Civil War Era North”. 2016: n. pag. Print.

Year of Publication: 2015

Allred, Ashley. MA Thesis: "A Strategy Gone South: The British, the Backcountry, and Violence in Revolutionary South Carolina".

Blair, Monica K. MA Thesis: "A Private History of School Segregation in Georgia".

Briscoe, Laura.  Thesis - UGA MA: “Sex, The Sacred, And The State: The Southern Baptist Convention And The Christian Right, 1960-1985”. 2015: n. pag. Print.

Davis, Christina L.  Dissertation - UGA: “Reconstructing Black Education: Teachers' Impact On Student Learning In The Post-Bellum South”. 2015: n. pag. Print.

Davis, Ruth E. MA Thesis : "Red-Blooded Americans: Racial Identity and the Mexican American Crusade for Equal Education, 1924-1946".

Hyun, Jun Suk.  Dissertation - UGA: “Behind The Storm: Making A New Alliance In Post-Armistice Korea”. 2015: n. pag. Print.

Munda, Brandon. MA Thesis: "A War of Pen and Sword: The English Intelligence Apparatus in the War of the Spanish Succession".

Nehls, Kathi.  Dissertation - UGA: “Red-Tape Fraternities: State-Building In The Age Of Associationalism, 1870-1935”. 2015: n. pag. Print.

Rohrer, Katherine E.  Dissertation - UGA: “Missionary Mistresses: Evangelical Protestant Christianity And The Evolution Of A New Southern Woman?, 1830-1930”. 2015: n. pag. Print.

Roundy, Kenneth. MA Thesis: "Chemical Solutions and Human Resistance: The Fight Against Coca Eradication in the Andes".

Year of Publication: 2014

Bunker, Rachel. “Industry Warriors: Actuaries, Activists, And The Quest To Define Insurance In Twentieth-Century America”. Shane Hamilton. 2014: n. pag. Print.

Thesis - UGA MA

Busquets, Lizette. “Unhealthy Bodies In Sugar Cane Landscapes: American Imperialism, Sugar Economy, And Tuberculosis Mortality In Early Twentieth Century Puerto Rico”. Reinaldo Roman. 2014: n. pag. Print.

Goodwin, Daleah. “"a Torch In The Valley": The Life And Work Of Miss Hallie Quinn Brown”. Diane Batts Morrow. 2014: n. pag. Print.

Dissertation - UGA

Hulbert, Matthew. “Guerrilla Memory: Irregular Recollections From The Civil War Borderlands”. 2014: n. pag. Print.

Johnson, Evan. “Violence And Retaliation: Civilian Responses To The Thirty Years War”. Benjamin Ehlers. 2014: n. pag. Print.

Krause, Kevin. “In A Different 'state' Of Mind: Benjamin Tillman And The Transformation Of State Government In South Carolina, 1885-1895”. 2014: n. pag. Print.

Merritt, Keri Leigh. “A Second Degree Of Slavery: How Black Emancipation Freed The South's Poor Whites”. James C Cobb. 2014: n. pag. Print.

Dissertation - UGA  

Tucker, Kathryn. “'betwixt And Between': Race, Law, And Community In The Jim Crow South”. James C Cobb. 2014: n. pag. Print.

Welborn, James (Trae). “Drinkin', Fightin', Prayin': The Southern White Male In The Civil War Era”. Stephen Berry. 2014: n. pag. Print.

Wunn, Jennifer. “Between Protest And Passivity: German Catholics And Kulturkampf Protests”. 2014: n. pag. Print.

Year of Publication: 2013

Long, Di (Julia). MA Thesis: "Divorce in New York from the 1850s to the 1920s".

Marsh, Christopher. “Andrew Gennett, The Weeks Act Of 1911, And The Development Of National Forests In Southern Appalachia”. John Inscoe. 2013: n. pag. Print.

Patrick, Madeleine. “The Secret People: Patriotism, The Press, And Civil Rights In The National Leprosarium”. Robert A Pratt. 2013: n. pag. Print.

Ariail, Catherine. “The Women's Distance Running Industry And The Paradox Of Women's Sports: Class, Consumption, Identity, And The Subordination Of Women In American Sports Culture”. Bethany Moreton. 2013: n. pag. Print.

Nordlund, Alexander. “'the Spirit Of The Age': British War Correspondents And Interpretations Of War And Culture In The Russo-Japanese War, 1904-1905”. . 2013: n. pag. Print.

Meade, Leisha. “Land Renewal Plus People Renewal: Urban Renewal, Adult Businesses, And Public Health In Nashville”. Bethany Moreton. 2013: n. pag. Print.

Smith, Benjamin. “Impatient And Pestilent: Epidemic Disease And The Reopening Of The Slave Trade In Early Republic South Carolina”. Peter C Hoffer. 2013: n. pag. Print.

Bongiovanni, Brice. “'unificar, Enseñar, Y Limpiar La Imagen': Public Representation And Religious Community In Santería And The History Of Lukumi V. Hialeah”. Reinaldo Roman. 2013: n. pag. Print.

Phillips, Hilary. “Doctors, Reformers, And A Demon Disease: The Impact Of Cholera Epidemics On Nineteenth-Century British Society”. Benjamin Ehlers. 2013: n. pag. Print.

Heath, Justin. “Tongues Aflame And Swords Of Fire: The Founding Of The Jesuit Reductions In The River Plate Basin And The Security Of The Mission Frontier Under Spanish Hegemonic Decline”. Benjamin Ehlers. 2013: n. pag. Print.

Olsson, Tore. “Agrarian Crossings: The American South, Mexico, And The Twentieth-Century Remaking Of The Rural World”. Shane Hamilton. 2013: n. pag. Print.

Osborn, Kyle. “Masters Of Fate: Efficacy And Emotion In The Civil War South”. John Inscoe. 2013: n. pag. Print.

Haynes, Joshua. “Patrolling The Border: Theft And Violence On The Creek-Georgia Frontier, 1770-1796”. Claudio Saunt. 2013: n. pag. Print.

Huggins, Stephen. “The Mask Of Grotius: The United States' Use Of Terror And Civilian Violence As Policy, From Its Colonial Origins To World War Ii”. John Morrow, Jr. 2013: n. pag. Print.

Howell, Michael. “Agricultural Constructions: The State, Infrastructure, And Agricultural Change In Bavaria Before The Firstworld War”. John Morrow, Jr. 2013: n. pag. Print.

Manthorne, Jason. “As You Sow: Culture, Agriculture, And The New Deal”. James C Cobb. 2013: n. pag. Print.

Year of Publication: 2012

Wood, Brad. “Sacrificed To Capital: The Degradation Of Textile Workers In The Early Postwar Era”. Bethany Moreton. 2012: n. pag. Print.

Poister, Robert. “The Business Of Exile: The Money And Memory Of A 'confederate' Family In Cuba”. John Inscoe. 2012: n. pag. Print.

Smart, McNeill. “'we Have Improvised': The Anglo-American Alliance And Axis Prisoners Of War In World War Ii”. John Morrow. 2012: n. pag. Print.

Cobbins, Quin'Nita. “Making 'good' Citizens: Education, Citizenship, And The National Association Of Colored Women, 1920-1941”. Chana Kai Lee. 2012: n. pag. Print.

Morel, Kainien. “Overthrowing Tashkent: The Demise Of The Soviet-American Consensus Over The Asian Subcontinent Following The Second Kashmir War”. . 2012: n. pag. Print.

Epstein, Andrew. “Unsettled New York: Land, Law And Haudenosaunee Nationalism In The Early Twentieth Century”. Claudio Saunt. 2012: n. pag. Print.

Huff, Christopher. “With A Rebel Yell: Social And Political Activism In Atlanta, 1960-1980”. Robert A Pratt. 2012: n. pag. Print.

Okie, Tom. “'everything Is Peaches Down In Georgia': Culture And Agriculture In The American South”. Paul S Sutter. 2012: n. pag. Print.

Reed, Lesley-Anne. “Paper Men: The Building Of A Pine And Paper Empire In Savannah, Georgia, And The Promises Of Industrial Order In The New South”. Stephen Berry. 2012: n. pag. Print.

Smith, Zachary. “Frenzied Liberty: American Propaganda And The Politics Of Fear, 1914-1919”. John Morrow. 2012: n. pag. Print.

Mims, LaShonda. “Lesbian History In Charlotte And Atlanta”. James C Cobb. 2012: n. pag. Print.

Smith, Hayden. “Rich Swamps And Rice Grounds: The Specialization Of Inland Rice Culture In The South Carolina Lowcountry, 1670-1861”. Paul S Sutter. 2012: n. pag. Print.

Year of Publication: 2011

Vanatta, Sean. “A Crisis Of Credit: Jimmy Carter, Citibank, And The Political Economy Of Consumer Credit, 1958-1988”. Stephen Mihm. 2011: n. pag. Print.

Collins, Levi. “Rooted In The Old Soil: Emma Goldman's Path To Sexual Modernism”. Shane Hamilton. 2011: n. pag. Print.

Mosteller, Erika. “Pruning The Tree Of Liberty: The Limits Of The Early French Abolition Movement”. Laura Mason. 2011: n. pag. Print.

Elder, Angela Esco. “Grieving For A Nation: From Wife To Widow In The Confederate South”. Stephen Berry. 2011: n. pag. Print.

Sammons, Franklin. “Failure's Frontier: Ambition, Indebtedness, And Insolvency In Antebellum Alabama”. Stephen Mihm. 2011: n. pag. Print.

Lawton, Christopher. “Georgia Imagined, Georgia Illustrated: Reading The Landscape, 1717-1859”. John Inscoe. 2011: n. pag. Print.

Hagood, Thomas Chase. “Clearing The Thickets: The Cultural Politics Of Place-Making In The Frontier South”. Allan Kulikoff. 2011: n. pag. Print.

Smith, Robert Neil. “"an Evil Day In Georgia": The Executions Of Clifford Thompson And Hugh Moss And The Death Penalty In Georgia”. James C Cobb. 2011: n. pag. Print.

Year of Publication: 2010

Schwartzberg, Jennifer. “Race And Space: The Radical Nationalism Of The Pan-German League”. . 2010: n. pag. Print.

Bentrott, Matthew. “Rojos, Moros, Y Negros: Race And The Spanish Civil War”. John Morrow. 2010: n. pag. Print.

Johnson, Timothy. “The Growth Industry: Fertilizer And The Politics Of Agriculture On The Georgia Cotton Belt, 1840-1900”. Shane Hamilton. 2010: n. pag. Print.

Brearley, Margaret. “Politics Of Persuasion: The Language And Limits Of The Long Career Of Rebecca Latimer Felton”. Kathleen Clark. 2010: n. pag. Print.

Whittaker, Heather. “'this, Then, Is America!': Unto These Hills And Appropriation Of Native American History”. Claudio Saunt. 2010: n. pag. Print.

Ellett, Ashton. “Organizing The Right: Service Clubs, Conservatism, And The Origins Of The Two-Party South In Cobb County, Georgia, 1942-1968”. James C Cobb. 2010: n. pag. Print.

Pascal, Daphney. “Crisis In Haiti: The American Occupation 1915-1934”. Reinaldo Roman. 2010: n. pag. Print.

Grem, Darren. “The Blessings Of Business: Corporate America And Conservative Evangelicalism In The Sunbelt Age, 1945-2000”. James C Cobb. 2010: n. pag. Print.

Way, Irene VHollima. “Urban Renewal In The 'city Too Busy': Transforming Downtown Atlanta, 1945-2000”. Paul S Sutter. 2010: n. pag. Print.

Miyata, Ichiro. “Setting Atlanta In Motion': Metropolitan Rapid Transit Authority And The Making And Unmaking Of A Middle Class City, 1946-1996”. Bryant Simon. 2010: n. pag. Print.

Shefsiek, Kenneth. “The Creation And Preservation Of A Hudson Valley Community”. Allan Kulikoff. 2010: n. pag. Print.

Gigantino, James. “Freedom And Unfreedom In 'the Garden Of America': Slavery And Abolition In New Jersey, 1770-1857”. Allan Kulikoff. 2010: n. pag. Print.

Manganiello, Christopher. “Dam Crazy With Wild Consequences: Artificial Lakes And Natural Rivers In The American South, 1845-1990”. Paul S Sutter. 2010: n. pag. Print.

Lin, Mao. “Guns And Butter: Sino-American Relations And The Diplomacy Of Modernization, 1966-1981”. William W Stueck. 2010: n. pag. Print.

Swanson, Drew. “Land Of The Bright Leaf: Yellow Tobacco, Environment, And Culture Along The Border Of Virginia And North Carolina”. Paul S Sutter. 2010: n. pag. Print.

Year of Publication: 2009

Summerlin, Elizabeth. “'not Ratified But Hereby Rejected:' The Women's Suffrage Movement In Georgia, 1895-1925”. Kathleen Clark. 2009: n. pag. Print.

Van Sant, Levi. “Representing Nature, Reordering Society: Eugene Odum, Ecosystem Ecology, And Environmental Politics”. Paul S Sutter. 2009: n. pag. Print.

Frye, Nikolas. “Applying For Cherokee Citizenship: Constructing Nation, Race, And Identity, 1900-1906”. Claudio Saunt. 2009: n. pag. Print.

Fowler, Jessica. “Illuminating Heretics: Alumbrados And Inquisition In Sixteenth-Century Cuenca”. Benjamin Ehlers. 2009: n. pag. Print.

Engel, Mary Ella. “Praying With One Eye Open: Mormons And Murder In Nineteenth-Century Georgia”. John Inscoe. 2009: n. pag. Print.

Hill, John Paul. “A.b. 'happy' Chandler And The Politics Of Civil Rights”. James C Cobb. 2009: n. pag. Print.

Luckett, Robert. “Yapping Dogs: Joe T. Patterson And The Limits Of Massive Resistance”. Robert A Pratt. 2009: n. pag. Print.

Myers, Barton. “'rebels Against A Rebellion': Southern Unionists In Secession, War, And Remembrance”. John Inscoe. 2009: n. pag. Print.

Nash, Steve. “The Extremest Conditions Of Humanity: Emancipation, Conflict, And Progress In Western North Carolina, 1865-1880”. John Inscoe. 2009: n. pag. Print.

Smith, Solomon K. “'a Profound Secret In The Breast Of A Very Few': Industrial Ventures In The Chesapeake Region, 1720-1820”. Peter C Hoffer. 2009: n. pag. Print.

Song, Min. “Economic Normalization: Sino-American Relations From 1971 To 1980”. William W Stueck. 2009: n. pag. Print.

Year of Publication: 2008

Scott, Blake C. “The Gospel Of Counterinsurgency: Rios Montt, Fundamentalist Evangelical Religion, And Neoliberal Development”. Pamela Voekel. 2008: n. pag. Print.

Player, Tiffany. “Anti-Lynching Crusaders: A Study Of Black Women's Activism”. Diane Batts Morrow. 2008: n. pag. Print.

Tucker, Kathryn. “Regulating Race: Interracial Relationships, Law, And Community In Jim Crow Alabama”. James C Cobb. 2008: n. pag. Print.

Howell, Michael. “Rooted In The Dark Of The Earth: Bavaria's Peasant-Farmers And The Profit Of A Manufactured Paradise”. John Morrow. 2008: n. pag. Print.

Way, Albert. “Burned To Be Wild: Science, Society, And Ecological Conservation In The Southern Longleaf Pine”. Paul S Sutter. 2008: n. pag. Print.

Justice, George. “Conventional Wisdom: Georgia State Constitutional Conventions And The Transformation Of Nationalism From Republic To Modern American State, 1777-1877”. John Inscoe. 2008: n. pag. Print.

Year of Publication: 2007

Gomez-del-Moral, Alejandro. “Florida Fallen: Spanish East Florida, The Cuban Negro Militia And The Failure Of The Bourbon Reforms, 1812-1821”. Thomas Whigham. 2007: n. pag. Print.

Waldrop, Darlene Michelle. “A Curried Gaze: The British Ownership Of Curry”. Michael Kwass. 2007: n. pag. Print.

Smith, Zachary. “'with A Firm Hand Of Stern Repression:' Federal Enforcement Of The Draft Law, 1917-1918”. John Morrow. 2007: n. pag. Print.

Jordan, John David. “Shooting The Ayatollash: Photojournalism, The Press, The Foreign Policy Public, And The Iran Hostage Crisis”. William W Stueck. 2007: n. pag. Print.

Rohrer, Katherine E. “Black, White And Sunday School:the Relationship Among Religion, The Plantation Mistress, And The Slave In Reality And In Memory”. Diane Batts Morrow. 2007: n. pag. Print.

Safane, Aaron. “Personalities And Partisanship: How The Rehnquist Court Reached Its Civil Rights Decisions”. Peter C Hoffer. 2007: n. pag. Print.

Swanson, Margaret. “George & Caroline: The Gendered Discourse Of A Royal Scandal”. Laura Mason. 2007: n. pag. Print.

Carter, Charles. “A Pipeline To Arms: Osthandel And The Rise Of Soviet Arms Sales To The Non-Communist Third World”. William W Stueck. 2007: n. pag. Print.

Merritt, Keri Leigh. “'a Vile, Immoral, And Profligate Course Of Life': Poor Whites And The Enforcement Of Vagrancy Law In Antebellum Georgia”. John Inscoe. 2007: n. pag. Print.

Olsson, Tore. “Making The 'international City': Work, Law, And Culture In Immigrant Atlanta, 1970 - 2007”. James C Cobb. 2007: n. pag. Print.

Maysilles, Duncan. “Ducktown Smoke: Environment, Law, And The Supreme Court's First Air Pollution Case, 1832-1918”. Peter C Hoffer. 2007: n. pag. Print.

Williams, Keira. “'in A Lake Of Fire': Cultural Constructions Of The Susan Smith Case, 1994-1995”. Bryant Simon. 2007: n. pag. Print.

Hayes, John. “Hard, Hard Religion: Faith And Class In The New South”. Kathleen Clark. 2007: n. pag. Print.

Year of Publication: 2006

Hatfield, Edward A. “Marta And The Marking Of Suburban Conservatism”. James C Cobb. 2006: n. pag. Print.

McLachlan, Michelle R. “Cultivating Americans: Nature And Nationality In A World War Ii Relocation Center”. Paul S Sutter. 2006: n. pag. Print.

III, Charles Hooper Wil. “Testators, Beneficiaries, And Bondservants”. Peter C Hoffer. 2006: n. pag. Print.

Eves, Rhiannon. “Divergent Fascisms: Gentile, Bottai, De Vecchi And The 1935 Debate Over Italian Education”. David Roberts. 2006: n. pag. Print.

Manthorne, Jason. “Hoover Days: The South's Landless Farmers In The Great Depression”. James C Cobb. 2006: n. pag. Print.

Powell, Erick James. “Mainstream Media, African-American Periodicals, Labor Press, And First Red Scare Strikes”. . 2006: n. pag. Print.

Browning, Judkin. “When Worlds Collide: The Myriad Effects Of Occupation In The American Civil War”. John Inscoe. 2006: n. pag. Print.

Stewart, Bruce E. “Moonshiners On Our Mind: Illicit Distilling, Prohibition, And Identity In Western North Carolina, 1791-1908”. John Inscoe. 2006: n. pag. Print.

Yi, Bo Ram. “Gis And Koreans: The Making Of The First Rok-Us Status Of Forces Agreement, 1945-1966”. William W Stueck. 2006: n. pag. Print.

Year of Publication: 2005

Huff, Christopher. “Radicals Between The Hedges: New Left Activism At The University Of Georgia, 1963-1975”. Robert A Pratt. 2005: n. pag. Print.

Barlament, James Donnell. “Healthy Fear: Bacteria And Culture In America At The Turn Of The Twentieth Century”. Alexei Kojevnikov. 2005: n. pag. Print.

Bryant, Elizabeth Ann. “Jewish Women's Experiences During Their Internment In Auschwitz”. Miranda Pollard. 2005: n. pag. Print.

Chua, Terence Seng Leng. “Messing With The Mouse': Copyright, Parody, And The Countercultural Wars In Walt Disney V. The Air Pirates”. Peter C Hoffer. 2005: n. pag. Print.

Claremont, Alexa Ilene. “Creators Of Community: Cassville, Georgia, 1850-1880”. Thomas Dyer. 2005: n. pag. Print.

Fields, Antar Petey. “Decolonizing Blyden”. Diane Batts Morrow. 2005: n. pag. Print.

Myers, Barton. “Executing Daniel Bright: Race, Loyalty, And Guerrilla Violence In A Coastal Carolina Community, 1861-1865”. John Inscoe. 2005: n. pag. Print.

Rivers, Bradley William. “The Congressional Black Caucus And American Policy Toward Southern Africa, 1970-1980”. William W Stueck. 2005: n. pag. Print.

Breen, Daniel Lewis. “Nat Turner's Revolt”. Emory Thomas. 2005: n. pag. Print.

Mann, Douglas Fenton. “Becoming Creole”. Michael Kwass. 2005: n. pag. Print.

Wright, Denise E. “Civil War And Reconstruction Welfare Programs For Georgia's White Poor: The State, The Freedmen's Bureau, And Northern Charity, 1863-1868”. Emory Thomas. 2005: n. pag. Print.

Year of Publication: 2004

Gilpin, Melanie N. “The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword: Eliminating Indians In The Mississippi Valley”. Claudio Saunt. 2004: n. pag. Print.

Fernandez, Javier Angel. “'the Girl Is Born To Be A Mother. The Boy Is Born To Be A Gentleman': Gender And National Identity In A Cuban Exile Cultural Organization, 1962-1974”. Reinaldo Roman. 2004: n. pag. Print.

Grem, Darren. “Nothing But Good Clean Fun: Alcohol Culture And Reform In Upstate South Carolina, 1945-1972”. Bryant Simon. 2004: n. pag. Print.

Jones, William Brent. “That Peace And Brotherly Love May Abound': Kinship And The Changing Character Of Church Discipline In A Southern Primitive Baptist Church, 1814-1860”. Michael P Winship. 2004: n. pag. Print.

Lee, David Johnson. “Daniel Patrick Moynihan And The United Nations In Transition”. William W Stueck. 2004: n. pag. Print.

Lin, Mao. “China And The Escalation Of The Vietnam War”. William W Stueck. 2004: n. pag. Print.

Brown, Ras Michael. “Crossing Kalunga: West-Central Africans And Their Cultural Influence In The South Carolina-Georgia Lowcountry”. John Inscoe. 2004: n. pag. Print.

Gillespie, Elizabeth. “Raising Jim Crow: White Southern Women And The Politics Of White Supremacy”. James C Cobb. 2004: n. pag. Print.

Griffith-Hughes, Elisabeth. “The Mighty Experiment: The Transition From Slavery To Freedom In Jamaica”. Peter C Hoffer. 2004: n. pag. Print.

Macaulay, Alexander S. “Tradition Vs. Change: The United States And The Citadel, 1945-95”. James C Cobb. 2004: n. pag. Print.

Giesen, James Conrad. “The South's Greatest Enemy? The Cotton Boll Weevil And Its Lost Revolution, 1892-1930”. James C Cobb. 2004: n. pag. Print.

Nystrom, Justin A. "Redeemer's Carnival”. James C Cobb. 2004: n. pag. Print.

Year of Publication: 2003

Young, Paige Eugenia. “Unknown Martyr: The Murder Of Willie Edwards, Jr., And Civil Rights Violence In Montgomery, Alabama”. Robert A Pratt. 2003: n. pag. Print.

Boretsky, JuliAnne. “To See Is To Know: Postcards From French West Africa And The Presentation Of Colonial Progress, 1900-1918”. Joshua H Cole. 2003: n. pag. Print.

Harden, Margaret Jean Pena. “A Life Time Of Labor Activism: Dolores Huerta And The United Farm Workers”. Bryant Simon. 2003: n. pag. Print.

O'Connor, Charles Stevens. “A Rural Georgia Tragedy: Koinonia Farm In The 1950S”. Bryant Simon. 2003: n. pag. Print.

Mitchell, Glenda Bridges. “Spirit-Filled Women : Louisiana's United Pentecostal Church International And Modern American Culture”. John Inscoe. 2003: n. pag. Print.

Keeling, John Robert. “Planters And The Culture Of Commerce In Antebellum Louisiana: The Case(S) Of John Fitz Miller”. Peter C Hoffer. 2003: n. pag. Print.

Peng, Tao. “The Foundation Of Renegotiation Of U.s.-Japan Security Treaty In 1960”. William W Stueck. 2003: n. pag. Print.

Byers, Richard. “Power And Initiative In 20Th-Century Germany: The Case Of Hugo Junkers”. John Morrow. 2003: n. pag. Print.

Year of Publication: 2002

Stallings, Frances Patricia. “Presenting Mr. Ira's Masterpiece: Two Centuries Of Agricultural Change At The Shields-Ethridge Farm”. John Inscoe. 2002: n. pag. Print.

McCallister, Andrew Beecher. “A Source Of Pleasure, Profit, And Pride': Tourism, Industrialization, And Conservation At Tallulah Falls, Georgia, 1820-1915”. John Inscoe. 2002: n. pag. Print.

Buseman, Michael Joseph. “One Trade, Two Worlds: Politics, Conflict, And The Illicit Liquor Trade In White County, Georgia And Pickens County, South Carolina, 1894-1895”. John Inscoe. 2002: n. pag. Print.

Drewry, Thomas Lee. “That None Should Be Lost: War And Gospel In The Christian Index, 1860-1865”. Emory Thomas. 2002: n. pag. Print.

Millin, Eric Tabor. “Defending The Sacred Hearth”. James C Cobb. 2002: n. pag. Print.

Gates, Frederick Beck. “Building The Empire State Of The South: Political Economy In Georgia, 1800-50”. Emory Thomas. 2002: n. pag. Print.

McCarthy, James Patrick. “Commerce And College”. Emory Thomas. 2002: n. pag. Print.

Year of Publication: 2001

Way, Irene VHollima. “Atlanta Is Just A Cracker Town: How Urban Renewal Failed In Atlanta, 1949-2000”. Bryant Simon. 2001: n. pag. Print.

Pye, David Kenneth. “All About The Town: The History Of African-American Lawyers In Atlanta”. Robert A Pratt. 2001: n. pag. Print.

Zipf, Karin Lorene. “Apprenticeship, Family, And The Politics Of Reconstruction In North Carolina”. Emory Thomas. 2001: n. pag. Print.

Year of Publication: 1975

Pfenning, Dennis Joseph. “Evan And Clark Howell Of The Atlanta Constitution : The Partnership (1889-1897)”. 1975: n. pag. Print.

Year of Publication: 0

Manget, Luke. “Sang Digger: An Environmental History Of The Botanical Drug Trade In Appalachia”. 0: n. pag. Print.

Hulbert, Kylie A. “'vigorous & Bold Operations': The Times And Lives Of Privateers In The Atlantic World During The American Revolution”. 0: n. pag. Print.

Elder, Angela Esco. “Married To The Confederacy: The Emotional Politics Of Confederate Widowhood”. 0: n. pag. Print.

McGuire, Samuel. “East Tennessee's Grand Army: Union Veterans Confront Race, Reconciliation, And Civil War Memory, 1884-1913”. 0: n. pag. Print.

Young, Kevin. “The World Of Broadus Miller: Homicide, Lynching, And Outlawry In Early Twentieth Century North And South Carolina”. 0: n. pag. Print.

Johnson, Timothy. “Feeding The Plants That Feed The World: The Political Economy Of Fertilizer In America, 1865-1947”. 0: n. pag. Print.

Cromwell, Alisha M. “Complicating The Patriarchy: Elite And Enslaved Women In The 19Th Century Atlantic World”. 0: n. pag. Print.

Ellett, Ashton. “Recasting Conservatism: Georgia Republicans And The Transformation Of Southern Politics Since World War Ii”. 0: n. pag. Print.

“This World In A Teacup: Chinese-American Tea Trade In The Nineteenth Century”. 0: n. pag. Print.

Windisch, Kurt. “A Thousand Slain: St. Clair's Defeat And The Early Republic”. 0: n. pag. Print.

Fialka, Katherine Brackett. “Textual Healing: Female Readers, Self-Writing, And Sensibility In The American South, 1840-1920”. 0: n. pag. Print.

Fialka, Andrew. “Of Methods And Madness: A Spatial History Approach To The Civil War's Guerrilla Violence”. 0: n. pag. Print.

“Imagined Atlanta: Civil War Memory, Civic Branding And Heritage Tourism In The New South City”. 0: n. pag. Print.

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Dissertations 2016-2020

Gregory Callaghan

Attalid Networks: Seeking Status and Acquiring Authority beyond State Capacity

This dissertation examines how the Attalids, despite-even because of-a fairly limited military capacity, achieved a status in the eastern Mediterranean comparable to the great powers such as the Ptolemies, Seleucids, or Antigonids. I demonstrate that the Attalids pursued this status as an alternative source of influence to compensate for the limits of traditionally defined military- political power. Methodologically, I use network analysis as a starting point for organizing and visualizing Attalid interstate status signaling, drawing on a wide range of evidentiary sources: epigraphy, archaeology, literature, numismatics, and other material sources. My use of networks is fundamentally descriptive, while my analysis is rooted in modern International Relations theories of status, authority, and hierarchies. The dynasty's pursuit of status enabled it to have an outsized role within their interstate system and to expand from a single city to a sizable kingdom spanning most of Asia Minor. This challenges the field's traditional conception of the interstate system, with its disproportionate focus on great powers. In my focus on the middle power of the Attalids, I break through this dichotomy, and demonstrate how status hierarchies were a means by which states besides the great powers claimed a space for themselves on the world stage, and could, in fact, influence interstate behavior despite their lesser material capacities.

Ryan Pilipow

The Little Men of Law: A Social History of the Late Roman Jurist

Legal experts in the late Roman Empire were ubiquitous, persuasive, and influential creators of legal meaning. Contrary to the traditional scholarly narrative that posits that legal experts of the period were the ineffectual inheritors of Classical Roman law, this dissertation argues that legal experts neither wholly joined the Roman bureaucratic administration nor found themselves suffering from a mass intellectual decline. Rather, legal experts developed and utilized a contextually significant mode of legal argumentation in order to convince their contemporaries about the legal validity of their claims. By adapting a Critical Legal Pluralism approach to the late Roman legal expert, we can come to appreciate the multiple and powerful forms of the creation of legal meaning in the Empire. The Critical Legal Pluralist approach moves us away from a legal positivist or statist model of law and toward a model of law that values and analyzes legal meaning as it is operative in its local contexts. This dissertation builds on scholarship of the social world of Roman jurists and on newer actor-based approaches to legal history. The scholarship on Roman jurists has focused primarily on early imperial jurists and has approached legal history through a prosopographical methodology. The actor-based approaches to legal history focus on the role of the emperor in the creation of law and on the role of litigants in the processes of creating arguments. The actor-based approaches employ a methodology that aims at being more illuminative than exhaustive; this methodology reveals the wide range of strategies for navigating the law. The actor-based approaches, however, overlook the legal experts assisting, complicating, and hindering all forms of social legal practice. This dissertation reveals the integral role late Roman legal experts played in the empire-wide phenomenon of law by focusing on how the legal expert created persuasive arguments in law, what forms of compensation were given for legal expertise, and how legal practice varied over the heterogenous landscape of the Roman Empire. The "little men of law" filled the spaces of the Empire with individuals who were recognized as being capable and adept to creating legal meaning for their local communities.

The Achaian Koinon: An Economic History

This dissertation is a study of the economic history of the Hellenistic Achaian koinon, elucidating the ways in which federal structures impacted economic activity in the ancient Greek world and nuancing the analysis of Hellenistic economic history by moving beyond the polis-kingdom dichotomy that has dominated much recent research. It examines both structural factors that would have impacted economic activity, including environment, infrastructure, local cultures, and federal mechanisms, and to what extent these factors actually impacted economic activity. This involves the analysis of datasets from various subdisciplines, including literature, epigraphy, numismatics, ceramic studies, and survey archaeology, in order to evaluate and counterbalance the written sources that have dominated traditional studies of the Achaian koinon. The theoretical approach of New Institutional Economics is employed as a heuristic framework throughout. As a result of its imposition of more robust and expansive legal frameworks, standardized metrological instruments, and a relatively homogeneous monetary system, the Achaian koinon expanded property rights, allowed for greater enforcement of contracts, and reduced transaction costs across a large swathe of southern Greece and beyond. With the reduction of institutional barriers to economic activity, markets both within the koinon and without, in particular the Boiotian and Aitolian koina as well as Athens, would have become increasingly integrated. But while federal politicians were intent on facilitating broader economic exchange in order to ensure that essential goods and services were available to member communities, their material interests led them to limit the intervention of the federal government in issues of economic inequality, especially with respect to the more equitable redistribution of resources. This was especially relevant because embedded forces impelled the consolidation of land holdings in the hands of a relatively small supra-civic elite as the koinon expanded. Furthermore, its physical and governmental structures benefited economically the poleis of Achaia, the northeast, and Arkadia over the rest of the Peloponnese by directing government resources directly to them; by spurring the regular movement of groups to these regions; and by allowing them to mint freely within its decentralized monetary system.

Cynthia Susalla

Heritage-Thinking and Cultural Destruction in Ancient Rome from the First Century BCE to the First Century CE

This dissertation argues for cultural heritage as a focus of analysis within the contexts of ancient Rome and traces the contours of an evolving cultural heritage discourse within Rome of the first centuries BCE and CE through an examination of literary episodes contesting acts of cultural destruction. Chapter 1 establishes a theoretical foundation for this examination by deconstructing the presumed modernity of "cultural heritage" as a phenomenon and reformulating it into an epistemological construct involving the politically-inflected valuation and regulation of objects, sites, and practices as expressions of culture. Building on the theoretical work of heritage studies scholars who criticize the UNESCO conceptualization of cultural heritage as hegemonic and not representative of the heritage values of many global societies today, this dissertation argues that once cultural heritage is recognized to take various shapes within various societies, there is no logical barrier to studying it in past societies. Chapters 2 through 4 examine negative reactions to cultural destruction in Cicero's In Verrem, Livy's Ab Urbe Condita, and Dio Chrysostom's Rhodian Oration as reflections of Roman heritage thinking. These texts demonstrate not only that individuals within Roman antiquity grappled with ethics concerning the proper and improper treatment of cultural property, such as statues, temples, monuments, and traditional customs, but also that contesting cultural destruction was a political tool within elite discourse long before it manifested as a component in conflict between Christians and pagans in the late antique period-a phenomenon that has received disproportional attention in the scholarship to date. Moreover, analysis of these texts underscores the interrelationship between ideas about the mistreatment of cultural property and a range of stigmatized identity categories, such as barbarians, pirates, and brigands, and corrupt magistrates. That this discourse contesting cultural destruction was both informed by and, in turn, contributed to identity politics within ancient Rome helps us recognize a pre-Christian and pre-modern history to the politics of caring about culture.

Jane E. Sancinito

Merchants in the Later Roman Empire 

Merchants in the Later Roman Empire is an analysis of the social and economic lives of merchants, traders, and artisans in the 2 nd to 4th centuries. It focuses, in particular, on the strategies adopted by merchants participating in small-scale local and regional trade and argues that concerns about social status were the primary determinants of merchant behavior. It expands the traditional application of New Institutional Economics to include informal and social institutions and considers how social norms limited and shaped merchant economic behavior. In doing so, the project moves discussions about the Roman economy away from the effect of the power, and particularly the institutional power, of the state toward a more dynamic model that accounts for the effect of interpersonal relations on the economy. Merchants in the Later Roman Empire argues that the Roman Empire rarely intended to regulate merchant activity in a comprehensive way and was more concerned with maintaining the status quo through its legislation and taxation. It contends that merchants engaged with the state at local levels where personal connections were critical. These ties were structured along similar lines to those between merchants and their peers, competitors, and customers--in short, to the connections they had with individuals throughout their communities. Taking reputation as its focus, this project argues for the institutional power of social norms in merchant social and economic life and analyzes the strategies used by merchants to present and advance themselves. Merchants invested heavily in their reputations and attempted to display their contributions to society, their good characters, and their success in business. These efforts were costly and every form of self-representation relied heavily on the disposition of the audiences to which they were directed. Merchants in the Later Roman Empire considers both the projection and the reception of reputation to conclude that these social norms constrained merchant actions in ways that limited their indiscriminate pursuit of profit but also generated economic opportunities by fostering trust and reducing market volatility.

Ching-Yuan Wu

The local impact of the Koinon in Roman Coastal Paphlagonia

This dissertation studies the effects that a "koinon" in the Roman period could have on its constituent communities. The study traces the formation process of the koinon in Roman coastal Paphlagonia, called "the Koinon of the Cities in Pontus," and its ability to affect local customs and norms through an assortment of epigraphic, literary, numismatic and archaeological sources. The results of the study include new readings of inscriptions, new proposals on the interpretation of the epigraphic record, and assessments on how they inform and change our opinion regarding the history and the regional significance of the coastal Paphlagonian koinon. This study finds that the Koinon of the Cities in Pontus in coastal Paphlagonia was a dynamic organisation whose membership and activities defined by the eparchic administrative boundary of the Augustan settlement and the juridical definition of the Pontic identity in the eparchic sense. The necessary process that forced the periodic selection of municipal peers to attain koinon leadership status not only created a socially distinct category of "koinon" elite but also elevated the koinon to extraordinary status based on consensus in the eparchia. The koinon, in turn, became a respected organisation and even a potentially useful political instrument for dictating honors and social standing, which could both prolong or accelerate individual and familial prominence at the eparchic or provincial level. As such, the coastal Paphlagonian koinon was a vital political instrument, with socio-political significance beyond the expression of loyalty to the imperial idea. It was an elite commission that determined local hierarchies and local standards based on collective consensus. The legitimacy of this elite commission emanated from the need to worship the emperor, but its power to influence or even control the behavior of individuals and cities originated from the socio-economic standing of the participating elites. In short, the founding of the koinon would have led to a redirection of local resources to the funding of koinon affairs and would have created regionally recognised norms derived from some of the established standards and behaviors among its constituent communities, while altering others.

Jacob Feeley

Josephus as a Political Philosopher: His Concept of Kingship

Scholars who have discussed Josephus' political philosophy have largely focused on his concepts of aristokratia or theokratia. In general, they have ignored his concept of kingship. Those that have commented on it tend to dismiss Josephus as anti-monarchical and ascribe this to the biblical anti-monarchical tradition. To date, Josephus' concept of kingship has not been treated as a significant component of his political philosophy. Through a close reading of Josephus' longest text, the Jewish Antiquities, a historical work that provides extensive accounts of kings and kingship, I show that Josephus had a fully developed theory of monarchical government that drew on biblical and Greco-Roman models of kingship. Josephus held that ideal kingship was the responsible use of the personal power of one individual to advance the interests of the governed and maintain his and his subjects' loyalty to Yahweh. The king relied primarily on a standard array of classical virtues to preserve social order in the kingdom, protect it from external threats, maintain his subjects' quality of life, and provide them with a model for proper moral conduct. While monarchical government depended largely on the personal power of the king, the king was obligated to uphold Mosaic Law, which would affirm his allegiance to Yahweh and prevent him from governing tyrannically. The one area in which the king shared power with another authority figure was in administering cult. Josephus held that the ideal king largely delegated responsibility over cultic rituals to the priesthood. Josephus was therefore not anti-monarchical; he had a hybrid theory of monarchical rule that constituted a substantial component of his broader political thought. In addition to casting light on an overlooked aspect of Josephus' theory of government, my thesis also demonstrates that Josephus' historical writings provide essential information about his political philosophy.

The Satraps of Western Anatolia and the Greeks

This dissertation explores the extent to which Persian policies in the western satrapies originated from the provincial capitals in the Anatolian periphery rather than from the royal centers in the Persian heartland in the fifth century BC. I begin by establishing that the Persian administrative apparatus was a product of a grand reform initiated by Darius I, which was aimed at producing a more uniform and centralized administrative infrastructure. In the following chapter I show that the provincial administration was embedded with chancellors, scribes, secretaries and military personnel of royal status and that the satrapies were periodically inspected by the Persian King or his loyal agents, which allowed to central authorities to monitory the provinces. In chapter three I delineate the extent of satrapal authority, responsibility and resources, and conclude that the satraps were supplied with considerable resources which enabled to fulfill the duties of their office. After the power dynamic between the Great Persian King and his provincial governors and the nature of the office of satrap has been analyzed, I begin a diachronic scrutiny of Greco-Persian interactions in the fifth century BC. Chapter four centers on a particular challenge the Persians faced in western Anatolia. On the one hand, the Persian conquest of Ionia in the middle of the sixth century BC triggered a gradual increase in the willingness of mainland Greeks to intervene in the affairs of Asia Minor, while on the other, Xerxes' failure to subjugate European Greece resulted in a dramatic shift from a policy of westward expansion to a policy of entrenchment. The focus of chapter five is the limited interest of Artaxerxes I (r. 465-423 BC) in respect to the western satrapies. The last chapter deals with the machinations of the satraps Tissaphernes, Pharnabazus and Cyrus the Younger. I show that the alliance between Persia and Sparta was the outcome of satrapal action rather than royal initiative or intent. Accordingly, the satraps sought to exploit the power struggle between Athens and Sparta for their own favor while King Darius played a relatively secondary role in this conflict.

Jacob Morton

Shifting Landscapes, Policies, and Morals: A topographically driven analysis of the Roman wars in Greece from 200 BC to 168 BC

This dissertation offers a new analysis of the activities of the Roman army in the Balkan peninsula between 200 BC, when the Romans declared war on Macedon and took a land army to Illyria, and 168 BC, when the Romans decisively defeated the Macedonians at the Battle of Pydna. This is derived from a close reading of ancient sources (primarily Livy, Polybius, and Plutarch) taken together with personal autopsy of the routes the Romans took in the modern countries of Greece, Albania, and FYROM. Chapter 1 covers the Roman campaign in the Myzeqeja plain during 200 BC. Chapter 2 focuses on the Roman campaign in the border areas between Illyria and Macedon during 199 BC. Chapter 3 covers the Battle of the River Aous, the first battle fought between the Romans and Macedonians, at the border of Epirus and Illyria in 198 BC. Chapter 4 covers Roman activities in Thessaly between 198-170 BC, including new reconstructions of the battles of Cynoscephalae in 197 BC and Thermopylae in 191 BC. Chapter 5 covers Rome's invasion of Macedon in 169-168 BC, culminating in the Battle of Pydna. The results of this dissertation point to a new way to interpret this period, organized around two different but related concepts: theater of war and Roman policy. During this period the Romans operated in three distinct theaters of war: the Myzeqeja plain and its surroundings, Thessaly, and Macedon. In turn, the transitions from one theater of war to the next coincided with the development of three distinct phases of Roman policy towards Greece: first to protect the Adriatic ports and gradually extend the buffer zone to the east, continuing the regional policy Rome had established and maintained since 229 BC; second to reduce the influence of each of the Hellenistic kingdoms while maintaining a balance of power in Greece; third to invade Macedon for the first time and permanently alter how it was administered. While the first two policies both acted to maintain some type of status quo in Greece, the third policy looked to actively change it.

Kyle Mahoney

The Royal Lykaian Altar Shall Bear Witness: History and Religion in Southwestern Arcadia

This dissertation surveys the history of the sanctuary of Zeus on Mt. Lykaion and its environment, from the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1600-1100 B.C.) to the Roman imperial period (ca. A.D. 200). I begin with a review of the myth traditions attached to the landscape, suggesting that these were familiar to Greek speakers all over the Mediterranean from early times. We can see their influence in our earliest poets, Homer and Hesiod, who indirectly acknowledge the birth of Zeus on Mt. Lykaion and other local myths. The remainder of Chapter 1 discusses Mt. Lykaion through a comparative mythological and linguistic lens. In Chapter 2, I argue that during the Bronze and Early Iron Ages Mt. Lykaion was closely connected to the mountainous area defined by the Alpheios, Neda, and Pamisos rivers. This fact is evidenced by shared cults and toponymy, conventions which are documented as early as the Pylian Linear B documents (ca. 1200 B.C.). From here I survey Mt. Lykaion in the Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods. I argue that Sparta’s incursions into northern Messenia, Arcadia, and Kynouria during the Archaic period pushed Mt. Lykaion into the orbit of the eastern Arcadian cities. The myths and heroic genealogies of the two regions were eventually fused, and by the mid-fourth century B.C. the traditions of Lykaion came to predominate. Chapter 3 concludes with a discussion of the relationship between the Arcadian League and the sanctuary of Zeus Lykaios. Chapter 4 is a history of the Lykaian Games from ca. 600-200 B.C. All literary and epigraphical sources documenting the festival are reviewed, and I maintain that it was held every four years in April or early May of the fourth Olympiad year. Chapter 5 investigates the relationship between Mt. Lykaion and Rome. I argue that around A.D. 1/2 the Lykaia were supplemented by games in honor of the Roman emperor (the Kaisareia) based upon the mythical pedigree of the Roman festival of the Lupercalia, which was said to have been a reproduction of the Lykaia.

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Starting a Literature Search

Conducting a literature search is a great way to find a viable topic and plan your research. It will also give you the opportunity to look for primary and secondary resources that can support the arguments you make in your dissertation. 

Starting your literature search early will help you plan your dissertation and give you an overview of all the resources you might want to consult. Below are examples of how you can start this process and how they can help.

Dissertation Books

Define your Topic

Start your search by identifying a broad subject area, such as a country, period, theme or person. You might do this by looking at reference works, such as a Very Short Introduction , Cambridge Histories , or Oxford Handbooks . These books will give you an insight into the many areas you can investigate in greater depth and they will also provide references to peer-reviewed material on more defined topics. 

Next , look at material which focuses more on the area you have identified from reference works. These might be books, chapters or articles which focus on a more defined area of the subject you have identified. Use these to formulate questions that you can answer in your research.

Then ,  read resources that will help you form your argument and answer the questions you have set. This material should focus on the topic you have chosen and help you explain what has been written on this area before.

Search for Secondary Resources

In order to successfully search for resources relevant to your study, you will need to use search-terms which will retrieve the best results. The tips below will help you do this:

Terms you have found in your reading

Keep a note of terms you have seen when you have been identifying your topic. This could be anything relevant your topic, including: places, people, jobs, religions, institutions, objects, periods, or events. Also, take note of terms that are related to your topic and had an impact on the area you are studying. Write down all the terms which relate to your topic and note which ones provide the most relevant results.

It can also be useful to keep a note of what you are not looking at so that you stay focused on your topic and do not retrieve too many results.

Authors who are written about the topic

You will start to notice that some authors are mentioned as specialists on the topic you are researching. Search a variety of catalogues to find what they have written on the subject in different formats. They might have contributed to edited works, written articles, given presentations to conferences or annotated works. They also might lead you to others who have written about your topic or research groups which are relevant to your studies.

Use subject searches

Most secondary resources have been indexed according to their subject. Through using these subject terms you can search catalogues more efficiently and find relevant resources without just searching the title or author. 

If you find a useful resources, try looking at its catalogue record. See if any of the subject headings look useful and note what terminology they use as this will be consistent across most databases. When you have found a useful term, copy and paste it into a subject search (or select the link) and see what other resources are available.

You can also use an online thesaurus to find search terms. The most commonly used terms are the Library of Congress Subject Headings  which provide uniform terms across international databases.

Use databases

The University subscribes to many databases that focus on different countries and topics. These will provide a comprehensive guide to what has been written in your area and may use different subject headings. Reference databases and bibliographies can be especially useful for finding citations of everything that has been written on a certain area of history. Biographical databases can also help find information about individuals and institutions. For a complete list of all the databases the University subscribes to, look at the A-Z of databases . 

Search for Primary Resources

There are plenty of primary resources that can be used in your dissertation. The University subscribes to many databases that provide access to primary resources and some of our libraries hold special collections which can be used in your research. Below are some examples:

The University subscribes to many newspapers from the past and present. They can be a really useful tool for finding contemporary accounts of events and provide more than just articles (including: advertisements, illustrations, family notices, sports, arts, court cases). Many newspaper databases will also include related content, such as pamphlets and newsbooks.

The University Library has a collection of print newspapers which can be consulted on site. The University also subscribes to electronic databases of national and local newspapers across the world. More information about the newspaper databases we subscribe to is available on our  dedicated website .

Special Collection Material

Many libraries and archives provide access to rare, unique and specialised collections of books and manuscripts. The University Library, for example, provides access to Manuscripts and Rare Books Departments , as do some of the colleges. Some of the more frequently used and important material is also available as part of an online library, such as Cambridge's CUDL .

Official Publications (Government Documents)

Documents produced by governmental and intergovernmental bodies can provide an insight into their decision making and governance. Several libraries in Cambridge have received official publications material and a lot of material is now available online. More information about the official material in Cambridge libraries is available on our Official Publications LibGuide .

Data and Statistics

Figures can be used to help illustrate a point and provide evidence as you answer the central question in your dissertation. You might chose to refer to census data, crime statistics, trade figures, or any other data set that relates to your area of history. This sort of information can be found in databases and replicated in secondary resources. 

Private Papers

If you are researching an individual (or someone who played a prominent role in the area you are focusing on) it is a good idea to see if they have deposited private papers in an archive. These might includes diaries, letters, draft works, or anything else that was kept and not published. These works are normally kept in an archive, so a good starting point is to look at a catalogue that might show where relevant papers are held (such as Archives Hub )

These can include maps, cartoons, paintings and photographs. Images are available both in print and online, but you need to be cautious of the copyright restrictions of images before you use them (check the information given by the source). Some databases will allow you to search images, like ARTstor , so use them as a good starting point for your search. 

Audio-Visual

Similarly to images, the University provides access to a variety of audio-visual resources, including interviews, recordings, radio and films. If there is a particular DVD you would like to use, try searching the title in iDiscover. For example, " Interviews with Historians " will take you to a comprehensive collection of DVDs available at the Seeley. Many films are also available online, such as British Pathe .

Organise and Save Your Research

You will be able to do a comprehensive and efficient literature search if you keep a record of what you have read, where you read it and what each item means to your research. The best way to achieve this is to:

1. Record the key ideas, themes and quotes from what you have read. Try to find a uniform way to do this as it will make it easier to find information when you come to write your dissertation. Some formats are freely available on the internet, such as the Cornell Note Taking System .

2. Save citations you have looked at so you do not struggle to find them again. Also, this will help you when you come to do your references. There are many reference managers available to help you store this information and create a fully formatted bibliography.

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Home > USC Columbia > Arts and Sciences > History > History Theses and Dissertations

History Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2024 2024.

Enslaved Women: Reproductive Choices and Medicine , Adedoyin Adekunle

The Northern View of the Southern Shore: Experience, Reconciliation, and Commemoration in Postbellum Charleston, South Carolina , Michael Edward Scott Emett

Institute of Enslavement: Enslaved Lives at South Carolina College , Jill Found

From North to South: North Carolina's Black Union Veterans in the South Carolina Lowcountry , Elizabeth L. Laney

“That Desolate Section of Dixiecrats and Hookworms”: The Rise and Fall of the Cio in Sumter, South Carolina, 1927-1950 , Stephen Malenowski

Theses/Dissertations from 2023 2023

Cashing the Check of Democracy The American Revolution and Citizenship in the Black Freedom Struggle 1960-1970 , Zachary Earle Clary

“All the Rights of Native Cherokees”: The Appearance of Black People in Cherokee Society , Ayanna Goines

“We Are Created Inferior to Men”: Leveraging Horsemanship to Reinforce Gender Expectations, 1830-1861 , Gabrielle Marie McCoy

The Widened Hearthstone Urban Playgrounds as the Infrastructure of Public Mothering, 1900-1930 , Alexandra Miller

Piratical Transportation: Highlighting Silences in Carolina’s Enslavement and Exportation of Native Americans , Jordan Stenger

Lunatics, Liberals and Bloodthirsty Haters: The South in the 1972 Presidential Election , Thomas Clayton Strebeck

In Her Possession and Keeping Revolutionary War Widows and the Politics of Family Archives, 1820–1850 , Riley Kathryn Sutherland

Colored Lawyer, Topeka: The Legend and Legacy of Elisa Scott , Jeffery Scott Williams

Meditations On Modern America: The Ambiguous Worldview of Transcendental Meditation, 1967-1979 , Grant William Wong

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

The Presbyterian Exception? The Illegal Education of Enslaved Blacks by South Carolina Presbyterian Churches, 1834-1865 , Margaret Bates

Roy Acuff, Democratic Candidate , Henry Luther Capps III

Before the Storm: Youth Hockey in North Carolina Ahead of the NHL’s Arrival , Sarai ShareI Dai

Flying Saucer of the Smokies: The Debate Over National Park Architecture and Wilderness Values in Clingmans Dome Observation Tower , Michelle Fieser

“I Like a Fight”: Margaret Sanger and the First Birth Control Clinic in the United States , Rebecca Linnea Hall

Who Has the Right to Reproduce? Forced Sterilization in South Carolina in the Early Twentieth Century , Kathryn Pownall

Sex (Work) And the City: Sex Work in Columbia, South Carolina, 1860-1880 , Presley McKalyn Ramey

Resurrecting a Nation Through Silk and Diplomacy: American Material Culture and Foreign Relations During the Reconstruction Era , Paige Weaver

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Building a New (Deal) Identity The Evolution of Italian-American Political Culture and Ideology, 1910–1940 , Ryan J. Antonucci

“It Seemed Like Reaching for the Moon:” Southside Virginia’s Civil Rights Struggle Against The Virginia Way, 1951-1964 , Emily A. Martin Cochran

“We are Going to be Reckoned With”: The South Carolina UDC and the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Museum, 1986-2000 , Caitlin Cutrona

Enslaved Rebellion and Abolitionist Imperialism in Britain’s Atlantic World, 1807-1884 , Lewis Eliot

Religion, Senses, and Remembrance: Brooklyn’s Sumter Club in Postbellum Charleston, S.C. , Michael Edward Scott Emett

Praying Soldiers: Experiencing Religion as a Revolutionary War Soldier Fighting for Independence , Roberto Oscar Flores de Apodaca

Engraved in Prejudice: How Currency Displayed the Mindset of the South , Holly Johnson Floyd

The Governor’s Guards: Militia, Politics, Social Networking, and Manhood in Columbia, South Carolina, 1843-1874 , Justin Harwell

Patients’ Rights, Patients’ Politics: Jewish Activists of the U.S. Women’s Health Movement, 1969-1990 , Jillian Michele Hinderliter

Joshua Gordon’s Witchcraft Book and The Transformation of the Upcountry of South Carolina , E. Zoie Horecny

“The Once and Future Audubon:” The History of the Audubon Ballroom and the Movement to Save It , William Maclane Hull

A Culture of Control: Progressive Era Eugenics in South Carolina as a Continuation of Created White Supremacy , Hannah Nicole Patton

Shaping a Queer South: The Evolution of Activism From 1960-2000 , A. Kamau Pope

The Robber Barons of Show Business: Traveling Amusements And The Development of the American Entertainment Industry, 1870- 1920 , Madeline Steiner

Charlotte's Glory Road: The History of NASCAR in the Queen City , Hannah Thompson

Foxy Ladies and Badass Super Agents: Legacies of 1970s Blaxploitation Spy and Detective Heroines , Carlie Nicole Todd

Media Combat: The Great War and the Transformation of American Culture , Andrew Steed Walgren

“Hungering and Thirsting” for Education: Education, Presbyterians, and African Americans in the South, 1880-1920 , Rachel Marie Young

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Gendering Secession: Women and Politics in South Carolina, 1859- 1861 , Melissa DeVelvis

The Chasquis of Liberty: Revolutionary Messengers in the Bolivian Independence Era, 1808-1825 , Caleb Garret Wittum

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Learning Church: Catechisms and Lay Participation in Early New England Congregationalism , Roberto O. Flores de Apodaca

Useful Beauty: Tiffany Favrile, Carnival Glass, and Consumerism at the Turn of the Twentieth Century , Chelsea Grayburn

Restoring America: Historic Preservation and the New Deal , Stephanie E. Gray

For the Common Man: An Analysis of the United States Space and Rocket Center , Patrice R. Green

Made to Be Forgotten: The Chevalier DE Saint-Sauveur & the Franco-American Alliance , Katelynn Hatton

Leaders in the Making: Higher Education, Student Activism, and the Black Freedom Struggle in South Carolina, 1925-1975 , Ramon M. Jackson

Exclusive Dining: Immigration and Restaurants in Chicago during the Era of Chinese Exclusion, 1893-1933 , Samuel C. King

Complicating the Narrative: Using Jim's Story to Interpret Enslavement, Leasing, and Resistance at Duke Homestead , Jennifer Melton

“Unknown and Unlamented”: Loyalist Women in Nova Scotia from Exile to Repatriation, 1775-1800 , G. Patrick O’Brien

Raising America Racist: How 1920’s Klanswomen Used Education to Implement Systemic Racism , Kathleen Borchard Schoen

Learning the Land: Indians, Settlers, and Slaves in the Southern Borderlands, 1500-1850 , William Cane West

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Beyond Preservation: Reconstructing Sites Of Slavery, Reconstruction, And Segregation , Charlotte Adams

Reading Material: Personal Libraries And The Cultivation Of Identity In Revolutionary South Carolina , Gabriella Angeloni

Politics and the Built Environment: Civic Structures of Eighteenth Century Williamsburg, Virginia and Charles Town, South Carolina , Paul Bartow

The Lost Ones: The Cold War State, Child Welfare Systems, And The Battles Over The Rosenberg Children , Megan Bennett

“Catering To The Local Trade”: Jewish-Owned Grocery Stores In Columbia, South Carolina , Olivia Brown

If This Be Sin: Gladys Bentley And The Performance Of Identity , Moira Mahoney Church

“I Hope They Fire Me:” Black Teachers In The Fight For Equal Education, 1910-1970 , Candace Cunningham

Constructing Scientific Knowledge: The Understanding of the Slow Virus, 1898-1976 , Burke Hood Dial

Ayatollahs And Embryos: Science, Politics, And Religion In Post-Revolutionary Iran , M Sadegh Foghani

Of Cannonades and Battle Cries: Aurality, The Battle of The Alamo, and Memory , Michelle E. Herbelin

Anti-Sabbatarianism in Antebellum America: The Christian Quarrel over the Sanctity of Sunday , Kathryn Kaslow

A Divisive Community: Race, Nation, And Loyalty In Santo Domingo, 1822 – 1844 , Antony Wayne Keane-Dawes

“Remember Them Not for How They Died”: American Memory and the Challenger Accident , Elizabeth F. Koele

Garagecraft: Tinkering In The American Garage , Katherine Erica McFadden

Black Power And Neighborhood Organizing In Minneapolis, Minnesota: The Way Community Center, 1966-1971 , Sarah Jayne Paulsen

The Popular Education Question in Antebellum South Carolina, 1800-1860 , Brian A. Robinson

Perks Of Perkins: Understanding Where Magic And Religion Meet For An Early Modern English Theologian , Kyle Sanders

Black Men, Red Coats: The Carolina Corps, Race, and Society in the Revolutionary British Atlantic , Gary Sellick

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Skin Deep: African American Women and the Building of Beauty Culture in South Carolina , Catherine Davenport

Funding South Carolina’s Monuments: The Growth of the Corporate Person in Monument Financing , Justin Curry Davis

Sex and the State: Sexual Politics in South Carolina in the 1970s , Jennifer Holman Gunter

Within the House of Bondage: Constructing and Negotiating the Plantation Landscape in the British Atlantic World, 1670-1820 , Erin M. Holmes

Odor and Power in the Americas: Olfactory Consciousness from Columbus to Emancipation , Andrew Kettler

From Rice Fields to Duck Marshes: Sport Hunters and Environmental Change on the South Carolina Coast, 1890–1950 , Matthew Allen Lockhart

Potential Republicans: Reconstruction Printers of Columbia, South Carolina , John Lustrea

Lamps, Maps, Mud-Machines, and Signal Flags: Science, Technology, and Commerce in the Early United States , James Russell Risk

Rebirth of the House Museum: Commemorating Reconstruction at the Woodrow Wilson Family Home , Jennifer Whitmer Taylor

Buy for the Sake of your Baby: Guardian Consumerism in Twentieth Century America , Mark VanDriel

Environmental Negotiations Cherokee Power in the Arkansas Valley, 1812-1828 , Cane West

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

A Call To Every Citizen: The South Carolina State Council Of Defense And World War I , Allison Baker

National Register Nomination for the Waikiki Village Motel , Jane W. Campbell

“Antagonistic Describes the Scene:” Local News Portrayals of the New Left and the Escalation of Protest at the University of South Carolina, 1970 , Alyssa Jordan Constad

Ahead of Their Time: Black Teachers and Their Community in the Immediate Post- Brown Years , Candace Cunningham

Deserts Will Bloom: Atomic Agriculture And The Promise Of Radioactive Redemption , Chris Fite

Restoring the Dock Street Theatre: Cultural Production in New-Deal Era Charleston, South Carolina , Stephanie E. Gray

In Search Of Granby: A Colonial Village Of South Carolina , Kathryn F. Keenan

Preserving The Architectural Legacy Of Lyles, Bissett, Carlisle & Wolff, 1948-1976 , Casey Lee

Looking for Remnants of Rice Cultivation at Manchester State Forest Through the Use of LIDAR , Sarah Anne Moore

Uncle Sam’s Jungle: Recreation, Imagination, And The Caribbean National Forest , Will Garrett Mundhenke

G.I. Joe v. Jim Crow: Legal Battles Over Off-Base School Segregation Of Military Children In The American South, 1962-1964 , Randall George Owens

Radioactive Dixie: A History of Nuclear Power and Nuclear Waste in the American South, 1950-1990 , Caroline Rose Peyton

A Culture Of Commodification: Hemispheric And Intercolonial Migrations In The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, 1660-1807 , Neal D. Polhemus

Rediscovering Camden: The Preservation of a Revolutionary War Battlefield , Gary Sellick

The “Forgotten Man” of Washington: the Pershing Memorial and the Battle over Military Memorialization , Andrew S. Walgren

Proslavery Thinking In Antebellum South Carolina: Higher Education, Transatlantic Encounters, And The Life Of The Mind , Jamie Diane Wilson

Colonialism Unraveling: Race, Religion, And National Belonging In Santo Domingo During The Age Of Revolutions , Charlton W. Yingling

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

"Very Many More Men than Women": A Study of the Social Implications of Diagnostics at the South Carolina State Hospital , Clara Elizabeth Bertagnolli

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Prize-Winning Thesis and Dissertation Examples

Published on September 9, 2022 by Tegan George . Revised on July 18, 2023.

It can be difficult to know where to start when writing your thesis or dissertation . One way to come up with some ideas or maybe even combat writer’s block is to check out previous work done by other students on a similar thesis or dissertation topic to yours.

This article collects a list of undergraduate, master’s, and PhD theses and dissertations that have won prizes for their high-quality research.

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Award-winning undergraduate theses, award-winning master’s theses, award-winning ph.d. dissertations, other interesting articles.

University : University of Pennsylvania Faculty : History Author : Suchait Kahlon Award : 2021 Hilary Conroy Prize for Best Honors Thesis in World History Title : “Abolition, Africans, and Abstraction: the Influence of the “Noble Savage” on British and French Antislavery Thought, 1787-1807”

University : Columbia University Faculty : History Author : Julien Saint Reiman Award : 2018 Charles A. Beard Senior Thesis Prize Title : “A Starving Man Helping Another Starving Man”: UNRRA, India, and the Genesis of Global Relief, 1943-1947

University: University College London Faculty: Geography Author: Anna Knowles-Smith Award:  2017 Royal Geographical Society Undergraduate Dissertation Prize Title:  Refugees and theatre: an exploration of the basis of self-representation

University: University of Washington Faculty:  Computer Science & Engineering Author: Nick J. Martindell Award: 2014 Best Senior Thesis Award Title:  DCDN: Distributed content delivery for the modern web

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University:  University of Edinburgh Faculty:  Informatics Author:  Christopher Sipola Award:  2018 Social Responsibility & Sustainability Dissertation Prize Title:  Summarizing electricity usage with a neural network

University:  University of Ottawa Faculty:  Education Author:  Matthew Brillinger Award:  2017 Commission on Graduate Studies in the Humanities Prize Title:  Educational Park Planning in Berkeley, California, 1965-1968

University:  University of Ottawa Faculty: Social Sciences Author:  Heather Martin Award:  2015 Joseph De Koninck Prize Title:  An Analysis of Sexual Assault Support Services for Women who have a Developmental Disability

University : University of Ottawa Faculty : Physics Author : Guillaume Thekkadath Award : 2017 Commission on Graduate Studies in the Sciences Prize Title : Joint measurements of complementary properties of quantum systems

University:  London School of Economics Faculty: International Development Author: Lajos Kossuth Award:  2016 Winner of the Prize for Best Overall Performance Title:  Shiny Happy People: A study of the effects income relative to a reference group exerts on life satisfaction

University : Stanford University Faculty : English Author : Nathan Wainstein Award : 2021 Alden Prize Title : “Unformed Art: Bad Writing in the Modernist Novel”

University : University of Massachusetts at Amherst Faculty : Molecular and Cellular Biology Author : Nils Pilotte Award : 2021 Byron Prize for Best Ph.D. Dissertation Title : “Improved Molecular Diagnostics for Soil-Transmitted Molecular Diagnostics for Soil-Transmitted Helminths”

University:  Utrecht University Faculty:  Linguistics Author:  Hans Rutger Bosker Award: 2014 AVT/Anéla Dissertation Prize Title:  The processing and evaluation of fluency in native and non-native speech

University: California Institute of Technology Faculty: Physics Author: Michael P. Mendenhall Award: 2015 Dissertation Award in Nuclear Physics Title: Measurement of the neutron beta decay asymmetry using ultracold neutrons

University:  Stanford University Faculty: Management Science and Engineering Author:  Shayan O. Gharan Award:  Doctoral Dissertation Award 2013 Title:   New Rounding Techniques for the Design and Analysis of Approximation Algorithms

University: University of Minnesota Faculty: Chemical Engineering Author: Eric A. Vandre Award:  2014 Andreas Acrivos Dissertation Award in Fluid Dynamics Title: Onset of Dynamics Wetting Failure: The Mechanics of High-speed Fluid Displacement

University: Erasmus University Rotterdam Faculty: Marketing Author: Ezgi Akpinar Award: McKinsey Marketing Dissertation Award 2014 Title: Consumer Information Sharing: Understanding Psychological Drivers of Social Transmission

University: University of Washington Faculty: Computer Science & Engineering Author: Keith N. Snavely Award:  2009 Doctoral Dissertation Award Title: Scene Reconstruction and Visualization from Internet Photo Collections

University:  University of Ottawa Faculty:  Social Work Author:  Susannah Taylor Award: 2018 Joseph De Koninck Prize Title:  Effacing and Obscuring Autonomy: the Effects of Structural Violence on the Transition to Adulthood of Street Involved Youth

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Sample Thesis Proposals

Lanfranc of Bec: Confrontation and Compromise Imperial Expansion and the Evolution of the South and Southeast Asian economies Nantucket’s Role in the War of 1812 Letters Home: Records of the Experiences of Common Soldiers in the American Civil War Writing for Stalin: American Journalists in the USSR, 1928-1941 Dismal Scientists, Diplomats, and Spooks: Bissell, Milliken, and Rostow and Their Impact on U.S. Foreign Policy Media Reflections of Western Public Opinion in the Suez Crisis The Implications, Effects, and Uses of Media in the Emmett Till Lynching Cromwell Lives while Mason Stalks: Irish Nationalism and Historical Memory during the Troubles ‘My broken dreams of peace and socialism’: Youth propaganda, personality, and selfhood in the GDR, 1979-1989.

Lanfranc of Bec: Confrontation and Compromise

The ecclesiastical history of Europe in the 11th century revolves around the investiture conflict and the Gregorian reform effort. These two issues forced their way into religious lives around the continent. Even in England, on the edge of the world, Anglo-Saxon and Norman reformers grappled with these challenges to the construction of a “universal church.” I would like to enter into this world through the case study of Lanfranc of Bec. Lanfranc is an apt choice for this intensive focus because of the apparent philosophical paradoxes that dominated his life.

Early in his career, Lanfranc was a staunch supporter of Pope Leo IX in the Eucharistic controversy with Berengar of Tours. The doctrine of transubstantiation was, however, less important to Lanfranc than the idea of “the universal church.” Significantly, this new church was to be united under the stronger and more demanding popes in Rome who were early supporters of the young Italian monk. Lanfranc’s transformation began when was appointed abbot of St. Etienne, Caen in 1063 under the direct patronage of William the Conqueror. This relationship continued with Lanfranc’s promotion to Archbishop of Canterbury in 1070. In this role, Lanfranc severed all most traditional ties with Rome. He did command the right to supervise and veto any papal synods planned for England. In addition, Lanfranc even skipped the mandatory pilgrimage to Rome to receive the pallium, a tradition for English bishops that dated back to Gregory the Great and the 6th century.

Traditional scholarship has tended to portray this break as pragmatic. Lanfranc’s new master, William, demanded a more present loyalty than the faraway Church of St. Peter’s. Loyalty in turn led to advancement and a place in religious governance of countless souls in England. To justify these mercenary considerations scholars described the admittedly conservative Lanfranc as a Carolingian bishop, a relic of an empire then dead for two centuries. The Carolingian era was a time of dramatic expansion for the church, largely under the protections of its secular Christian protector, Charlemagne. It is easy to see parallels, at least from the Norman point of view, between the conquest of England in 1066 and the forceful conversion of the Saxons in 8th century. Both these invasions brought subject peoples in line with a new, larger Christendom. Historians have written about Lanfranc as a player within this system of sacred reform spearheaded by the secular.

In my study I plan to reexamine this view. Although the Archbishop did abandon Gregory VII at the time of his greatest need, the investiture conflict, Lanfranc’s role in the English reform need not be seen as driven by Normandy rather than Rome. For example, William’s concern for the piety of his new subjects was at best secondary to an interest in appointing bishops who would maintain order on the tumultuous island in place of the absentee king. Thus it was with a relatively free hand that Lanfranc directly reformed both Canterbury and England as a whole. Some of these changes, like his emphasis on clerical celibacy, were directly in line with the Gregorian reforms that he had supposedly renounced upon his arrival. In other instances, Lanfranc was more open minded to the religious practices that preceded him. Unlike other Norman bishops that arrived after the conquest, the Archbishop was far more accommodating to both local English saints and the institution of monastic cathedrals. These examples create a far more complex picture of Lanfranc. It is clear that he was more loyal to the Gregorian reform movement than to any particular pontiff occupying the See of St. Peter. At the same time, his syncretistic approach would have been at odds with any of the uncompromising popes that he had dealings with. These incongruous details suggest the need to revise traditional interpretations of Lanfranc’s life. Within a wider scope, I hope to demonstrate how the clergy positioned themselves in the larger conflict between the church and state at this time.

In pursuing this topic I want to integrate traditional and less traditional sources in an attempt to create a fresh portrayal. Any study of medieval political and ecclesiastical history will rely heavily on the chroniclers. Specifically I will use the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Eadmer’s Vita Anselmi for the Anglo-Saxon perspective. For the Norman point of view I will use chronicles by William of Jumièges and Gilbert Crispin. To supplement these more formally produced histories, I will read Lanfranc’s own works including his major treatise on the Eucharist, the Liber Corpore et Sanguine Domini, which I fail to believe he so easily abandoned on his arrival to England. In addition, his personal correspondence and monastic constitutions, both of which have been recently republished, will be usefully in understanding his own views, whether they be practical or theological. Lastly, I want to use architectural analyses of the church that Lanfranc built at Canterbury and studies of relic worship surrounding the remains of local saints like Dunstan and Theodore. These less traditional sources, while harder to obtain, will, I hope, provide new insight into Lanfranc’s life and, at the very least, provide social and cultural context for this specific period. The result will be a study that uses the analysis of Lanfranc to address larger question concerning the orientation of individuals within 11th century conflicts.

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Imperial Expansion and the Evolution of the South and Southeast Asian economies

The arrival of Vasco De Gama in 1498 on the beaches of modern-day Calicut marked the beginning of the intensification of economic relations between East and West, and the first encounter of Europeans with an ancient and complex commercial network reaching by land and sea from Europe to China, handling trade and traffic of far greater value than anything known in the West. Luxury products from China, silk and precious metals from Iran, the cotton textiles of India, the gold and ivory of East Africa, and the spices of Indonesia were all connected through highly advanced and dense trading networks. While the Indian economy is often represented as having stagnated under the weight of European intrusions, it is clear that particularly in coastal areas, a brisk and dynamic coastal trade flourished under the aegis of European rule. The creation of a world market in commodities such as rice gold, silver, spices, textiles and other raw materials occurred simultaneous with displacement of local markets as European imperial reach was extended over an increasingly wide part of the globe.

By the mid 18th century, the two great chartered companies, the British East India Company and the VOC (Dutch East India Company) had transformed from mere commercial trading ventures to entities that dominated economic relationships with Asian economies and began to acquire auxiliary governmental and military functions. By 1765 the British East India Company was effectively the de facto sovereign in Bengal by virtue of its overwhelming military power in the region, and its acquisition of the diwani, or the right to collect territorial revenues. For both the Dutch and British East India Companies, it is clear that the acquisition of territorial empires and quasi-governmental functions had profound effects upon the nature, scope, and distribution of investment within the Companies from Europe, but also upon the character of the relationship between indigenous traders, merchants, and financiers, and Europeans. Lakshmi Subramanian, a historian who has published some of the most important works dealing with the relationship of the Marathas and the British in Bombay, mentions how Law de Lauriston, the ex-Governor General of French India, “recognized the local banking community in 1777 as the decisive factor in any future alliance of the French and Indian States against their inveterate antagonist the English East India Company.” In a recent paper Chaudhury asserts how the local credit markets of eastern India, particularly Bengal, were seminal in rescuing financially several of the European Companies in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries from chronic shortages of working capital, yet with victory at Plessy and the transformation of the British role in Bengal, the nature of the relationship between local creditors and European merchants changed dramatically.

This project will comparatively look at the Dutch and British East India Companies and their relationships with groups such as the Marathas, the Chettiars, and the Chinese banking and mercantile families, and will draw upon resources that deal with the relationships of other European powers with indigenous merchants and financiers. By examining the interaction of indigenous financial institutions and capital with Europeans in Asia, particularly South and Southeast Asia, I am hoping to explore many aspects of the Asian economies of the 17th-19th century under the aegis of this broader topic, such as the different development paths between European and Asian societies, the dynamics of the extension of European power in south and southeast Asia, and the radically different financial and economic structures that characterized Asian societies prior to the expansion of Europe, and how the imposition of colonial rule altered (or didn’t) the dynamics of indigenous capital. This project will look at the relationship from the European perspective by utilizing Dutch and British East India Company records. Particularly in recent years, several historians have sought to expand our understanding of the relationship between European traders and Indian merchants and financiers, and this project will attempt to both build upon their work and form a more global and far-reaching conclusion about the role of indigenous capital in imperial expansion by looking at the phenomenon from a comparative perspective.

The chief question I am seeking out to answer is to define and delineate the nature of the relationship between indigenous credit institutions and imperial expansion; effectively, examine the relationship between native bankers, financiers, and traders, and the Europeans who came to trade and later colonize. Above all, I hope to posit a link between these economic relationships, and changes to the political and economic map of Asia.

Nantucket’s Role in the War of 1812

I am a junior history major currently studying abroad at the Williams-Exeter in Oxford Programme. Since August, I have been casually researching the whaling industry on Nantucket during the late 18th to mid-19th century. I am committed to Nantucket as a general topic not only because its history is exceedingly interesting to me but also because there is a wealth of primary data. For example, the Nantucket Historical Association boasts 5000 volumes (ship logs, diaries, legal documents, etc.) that are accessible to scholars.

Although I have explored a number of topics within Nantucket history, I find myself returning again and again to the whaling industry. In particular, I am intrigued by Nantucket’s role in the 1812 war. Nantucket was the only US territory to seek and receive a truce with Great Britain, formally withdrawing from the war in 1814. The islanders were motivated to pursue neutrality because of the importance of the whaling industry as the island’s livelihood and the British fleet’s threat to Nantucket ships. Furthermore, the US government not only offered little to no protection for the islanders but also alienated them by taxing them heavily. In order to understand the1814 treaty, I anticipate needing to research two other areas that I believe are connected: first, how did Nantucket’s experiences in the American Revolution inform and shape its course of action in 1812? During the Revolution, the island declared neutrality, probably because Nantucket whalers did not care which side was victorious, so long as the whaling industry survived the war. The whalers had appealed to other Quakers in England and won an amendment to the parliamentary motion to restrict whaling in New England. However, because the law was not enforced properly, the island fell into economic depression. British naval ships not only prevented Nantucket whalers from selling spermaceti oil to London, its biggest market, but also captured many of their ships. Any threat to the whaling industry would be a true moment of crisis because most of the island was directly or indirectly involved in whaling, and many of the islanders were not rich enough to relocate their families to the mainland. Certainly, there were members of the community in 1812 who would have remembered this treatment by the British and the economic depression.

The second issue that I anticipate addressing pertains to Nantucket’s sense of identity: how “American” did they feel? The circumstances under which the island declared neutrality makes the issue of patriotism more oblique because the “betrayal” of the US can be explained by the need for economic stability without addressing the issue of identity. In these early stages of nationhood, the island seems to have acted very differently from other whaling communities in the US. Socially and politically, Nantucket seemed to be more liberal than the mainland, especially in terms of the role of women and the political (but not always social) equality of African Americans. For example, racial segregation in schools was banned in the 1850s in a legal case that resembles Brown vs. Board of Education. As I have mentioned above, American policies also sometimes alienated the islanders. In the first two years of the 1812 war, Nantucket whaling was almost exclusively threatened not by the British fleet but by American policy, as Congress placed an embargo on trade with Britain; unfortunately, only days after Congress lifted the embargo, Britain enforced is own against New England. During the American Revolution, Nantucket toyed with the idea of becoming either an independent or a British territory. Did it face the same choices in 1812?

Primary Sources :

A Selection from the Nantucket Historical Society Manuscripts Collection:

Allen Family Papers, 1790-1930. Banks on Nantucket, 1804-1985. Barker Family Papers, 1720-1853. Benevolent Society’s Papers, 1814-1976. Carey Family Papers, 1809-1894. Citizens News Room Record. Charles Congdon Collection, 1671-1844. Clapp Family Papers, 1804-1896. Margaret Coffin Papers/Small Collection, 1761-1913. Mary M Coffin Collection, 1806-1865. William Coffin Letter Book, 1811-1833. Coleman Family Papers, 1729-1873. Crosby Family Papers. 1812-1893. Ewer Family Papers, 1813-1875. Fish Family Papers, 1708-1916. Paddock Family Papers, 1755-1853, Phebe Coffin Hanaford Papers, 1848-1929. Jones Family Papers, 1817-1868. Joy Family Papers, 1806-1880. Keziah Coffin Fanning Papers, 1775-1812. Macy Family Papers/ Cloyes Collection, 1812-1869. Myrick Family Papers, 1796-1863. Nantucket Censuses Collection, 1796-1900. Nantucket Monthly Meeting of Friends’ Papers, 1664-1889. Nantucket Monthly Meeting of Friends’ Records, 1672-1944. Ray Family Papers, 1776-1844. Starbuck Family Papers, 1662-1973. Worth Family Papers, 1743-1912. Henry Barnard Worth Collection, 1641-1905.

(I’ve only gone through half of the list of available manuscripts, so I expect that there should be a lot more sources of interest from the Nantucket Historical Society collection. Information about Nantucket Historical Society archives found on www.nha.org)

Annals of Congress, 13th Congress, 2d session. Hutchinson, Thomas. History of Massachusetts, Vol. II, Boston: Thomas & Andrews, 1767. Journal of Samuel Swain, 1813-1837. “Keziah Coffin Fanning’s Diary,” Historical Nantucket 6 (July 1958). Macy, Obed. The History of Nantucket (New York: Research Reprints, 1970 [1835]). Napier, Henry Edward. New England Blockaded in 1814: The Journal of Henry Edward Napier, Lieutenant in H.M.S ‘Nymphe,’ ed. Walter Muir Whitehill. Salem, MA: Peabody Museum, 1939. “Notes on Nantucket. August 1st 1807,” Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society 3 (1815). Scoresby, William. History and Description of the Northern Whale Fisheries, Vol. II. Edinburgh, 1820.

Secondary :

Anderson, Florence Bennet. Through the Hawse-Hole: The True Story of a Nantucket Whaling Captain. New York: Macmillan Co., 1932. Byers, Edward. The Nation of Nantucket: Society and Politics in an Early American Commercial Center, 1660-1820. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1987. Graham, Gerald S. “The Migrations of the Nantucket Whale Fishery: An Episode in British Colonial Policy.” The New England Quarterly 8, no. 2 (Jun. 1935):179-202. Davis, Ralph. The Rise of the English Shipping Industry in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. London: David & Charles, 1972. Hegarty, Reginald B. Returns of Whaling Vessels Sailing from American Ports: A Continuation of Alexander Starbuck’s “History of the American Whale Fishery” 1876-1928. New Bedford, MA: Old Dartmouth Historical Society and Whaling Museum, 1959. Hickey, Donald R. “American Trade Restrictions during the War of 1812.” Journal of American History 68, no. 3 (Dec. 1981): 517-538. Hohman, Elmo Paul. The American Whaleman: A Study of the Life and Labor in the American Whaling Industry. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1928. Horsman, Reginald. “Nantucket’s Peace Treaty with England in 1814.” New England Quarterly 54, no. 2 (Jun. 1981): 180-198. Horsman, Reginald. The War of 1812. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1969. Johnson, Robert. “Black-White Relations on Nantucket.” Historical Nantucket (Spring 2002). Taken from www.nha.org. Kugler, Richard C. “The Whale Oil Trade, 1750-1775,” Boston: Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 1980. Main, Jackson Turner. The Social Structure of Revolutionary America. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1965. McDevitt, Joseph L. The House of Rotch: Whaling Merchants of Massachusetts, 1734-1828. New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1986. Morison, Samuel Eliot. The Maritime History of Massachusetts, 1783-1860. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1979. Tower, Walter. A History of an American Whalefishery, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1907. Starbuck, Alexander. History of Nantucket, Boston: C. E. Goodspeed Co.,1924. ______. History of the American Whale Fishery from Its Earliest Inception to the Year 1876. Repr., 2 vols., with preface by Stuart C. Sherman. New York: Argosy Antiquarian, 1964. Vickers, Daniel Frederick. “Maritime Labor in Colonial Massachusetts: A Case Study of the Essex County Cod Fishery and the Whaling Industry of Nantucket, 1630-1775.” Ph.D. Thesis, Princeton University, 1981.

Letters Home: Records of the Experiences of Common Soldiers in the American Civil War

The idea for my honors thesis project is inspired by my work last summer in the Chapin Library of Rare Books at Williams. I spent the summer reading and organizing the library’s collection of Civil War soldiers’ letters—a group of about one thousand letters written by men in army camps to the loved ones they left behind at home. Besides a cursory chronological arrangement, no one before me had touched these letters since the library acquired them. For me they represented a vast untapped historical resource—they were sitting in a closet waiting to be discovered, and I was the first to explore their possibilities. I found myself completely absorbed, squinting at line after line of cramped, faded script and imagining the words flowing haltingly from the authors’ pens as they crouched by the light of a sputtering campfire, the booming of cannon fire echoing in the distance. It fascinated me how these young men portrayed their experiences to family members back home—reassuring them of their safety and expressing enthusiasm for their causes while also betraying paralyzing fear and devastating homesickness. In one particularly memorable series of letters a Union soldier continued to write home to his wife from the battlefield during a siege of a Confederate fort, knowing that no mail was running and suspecting that the days he spent crouching under fire in the brush of a Louisiana forest would be his last. But somehow his letters did get through, and the final letter in the sequence told of his harrowing escape to a field hospital, giving me the hope that he and his wife were reunited soon afterwards.

The words of letters like these haunted me after I left work everyday, and stayed with me even after I left Williams for the year. As I started thinking about my plans for my honors thesis, I knew that I wanted to work closely with the letters in the Chapin collection. In my thesis, I plan to explore the average soldier’s experience of the war, using Union and Confederate sources in the form of the letters soldiers sent home to their families and friends. The Chapin Library’s collection is mainly made up of Union letters, so the Union side will be heavily based upon that resource. For the upcoming summer, I have been granted a summer research fellowship from Williams. My plan for this project is to gather resources from the Confederate side, visiting facilities in Virginia that hold extensive collections of Confederate letters. I am deeply interested in letting the authors of the letters speak for themselves so I will be comparing and contrasting specific experiences related by specific soldiers in relation to broader questions such as what reasons Union and Confederate soldiers gave for fighting, whether the views they express in their letters aligned with the professed views of their respective causes, what they knew—if anything—about these causes, and what they thought of one another. Perhaps most of all I would like to use these primary documents to emphasize how the soldiers on opposing sides were alike—how they commonly identified with certain ‘American’ values and ambitions, and how their views on the War were shaped significantly by the coincidence of which side of the divided country they happened to be born on.

I believe letters like these offer historians an invaluable means for stepping inside the minds of the actors who participated in historical events. And the particular set of letters I will examine in my project is important because it does not tell the ‘great man’ version of the Civil War, governed by figures like Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee. Instead, it gives us a broader sense of the common man’s—in this case the common soldier’s—experiences of events that fundamentally shaped the American past. This is a version of the past that is often inaccessible to us, so it is important for historians to take advantage of resources like those housed in the Chapin Library. It is impossible for me to encompass all the perspectives and experiences offered by surviving Civil War letters, which is why I have chosen to focus my research closely on the Chapin collection, which is manageably sized and within convenient proximity to me for research during the academic year. After working with those letters for several months, I feel that I have a general sense of what they have to offer—a representative sample of the experiences of the common soldier in the war. In my research in the South this summer, I plan to supplement the Chapin collection with more Confederate examples. I also plan to draw inspiration from secondary sources, a small collection of which I have listed below. Many scholars have worked from Civil War soldier’s letters in the past, and they have even infiltrated popular culture to a considerable extent—most famously through Ken Burns’ Civil War documentary. These authors will help me to get a sense of wider patterns in the experiences of soldiers, but I will rely upon my reading of primary sources to draw out specific examples.

The most exciting thing about my proposed thesis for me is that I really do not know what I will find or where my research will take me. I suspect that there are an inexhaustible number of topics that may be drawn out from Civil War soldiers’ letters, and I am confident I will find many things in my research that will inspire me. I am deeply committed to approaching history through contact with authentic documents and artifacts, and I look forward to the opportunity to do this over the course my project next year.

Preliminary Bibliography :

Primary sources: I will rely heavily upon the collection of approximately one thousand Civil War letters in the collection of the Chapin Library of Rare Books at Williams for the Union perspective. For the Confederate point of view, I will use collections of letters held by the Virginia Historical Society, the Museum of the Confederacy, and the Library of Virginia, all in Richmond, as well as the library of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. There are also collections of letters accessible online, in particular The American Civil War: Letters and Diaries at http://solomon.cwld.alexanderstreet.com/.

Secondary sources :

Barton, Michael, and Larry M. Logue, eds. The Civil War Soldier: A Historical Reader. New York: New York University Press, 2002. Manning, Chandra. What This Cruel War Was Over. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2007. McPherson, James M. The Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. ______. For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War, New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. ______. What they Fought For, 1861-1865, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1994. ______, ed. The Mighty Scourge: Perspectives on the Civil War. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. ______ and William J. Cooper, Jr., eds. Writing the Civil War: The Quest to Understand. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1998. Mitchell, Reid. Civil War Soldiers, New York: Viking, 1988. ______. The Vacant Chair: The Northern Soldier Leaves Home. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. Rosenblatt, Emil & Ruth, eds. Hard Marching Every Day: The Civil War Letters of Private Wilbur Fisk, 1861-1865, Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1992. Sheehan-Dean, Aaron. The View From the Ground: Experiences of Civil War Soldiers, Wiley, Bell I. The Life of Billy Yank. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2008. ______. The Life of Johnny Reb, the Common Soldier of the Confederacy. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1943. ______. The Plain People of the Confederacy. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2000.

Writing for Stalin: American Journalists in the USSR, 1928-1941

“There is no famine or actual starvation nor is there likely to be.” So wrote the Moscow bureau chief for The New York Times, Walter Duranty, on November 15, 1931. By the end of 1933, between six and eight million Soviet citizens, at least half of them Ukrainians, had perished in the wake of consecutive failed harvests and official repression, in one of the worst man-made famines in history. Duranty won his Pulitzer Prize a year before the end of the famine. Duranty was not alone in his whitewashing of the Soviet Union in general and Stalinist policy in particular. Journalists from all over the world writing from the USSR depicted a land of noble struggle, where the working class, guided by leader and Party, were forging a utopia free from the injustice and squalor of capitalism. Why did so many Western visitors to the USSR allow themselves to become mouthpieces for the Soviet regime, with evidence of political repression and hideous suffering all around them, while only a few observers spoke out against the communist regime? What was the appeal of Stalinism in this age of the great crisis of capitalism? The 1930s were a time of uncertainty for liberal democracy, with the Great Depression causing misery across the world and calling into question the old liberal creeds of free market capitalism, while democracy itself was under siege from totalitarianisms of the left and right. To attempt to encompass this immense crisis in an entire book, let alone a thesis, would be a daunting task. Instead, I propose to probe this crisis through the microcosm of the men and women who visited the Soviet Union hoping to find a workers’ utopia. Many Westerners came to the USSR at the invitation of the regime, as journalists, technical experts, and travel writers who left behind an impressive body of news reports, diaries, letters, and memoirs. My thesis project will examine a particular subset of these visitors—the American journalists writing for US papers like The Nation, Harper’s, The Atlantic Monthly, and The New York Times, or English-language publications in the USSR like The Moscow News. The time frame discussed will open with the launch of the first Five Year Plan in 1928, and conclude with the entry of both the Soviet Union and the United States into the Second World War in 1941. I will further focus my project on the coverage of two particular events: the much-denied famine taking place in the Ukraine, and Stalin’s Purge-era show trials, where many observers wrote either that those on trial really were saboteurs and agents of foreign powers, or that their guilt or innocence was of little consequence in the grand historical drama that was unfolding. I choose these two events because they represent indictments of the Soviet system’s claim to legitimacy—its ability to feed all its people, and its claim to be a truly fair society. The gymnastics of fact and logic undertaken by the regime’s apologists on these points are thus of particular significance.

So far, the question of what it was about most journalists visiting the USSR in this period, and what it was about Soviet communism, that made most reporters toe the Party line has not been addressed in particularly great depth. Today, those who favored the regime, like Walter Duranty, Maurice Hindus, and Anna Louise Strong, tend to be dismissed as ideological hacks, either willfully ignorant or purposely lying in the service of socialism. Those who see through the regime’s cloud of deception are by contrast heroic truth-tellers. A certain amount of work has been done on official Soviet efforts to win over liberal-minded Westerners in this period, and the Duranty Pulitzer Prize controversy has generated a number of articles and books in recent years, most notably S.J. Taylor’s Stalin’s Apologist. However, the historiography leaves open a number of questions. Were the journalists reluctant to speak against the regime because they could lose their access to the leadership, because their families might be targeted (many married in Russia), or similar, practical causes? To what extent did the practical intersect with the ideological as reporters sympathized with the official ideology and goals of the regime, and were prepared to forgive a little gangsterism on the part of the leadership if it would bring about a genuinely fair and equal society? As Duranty put it in his article of May 14th, 1933, “You can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs.” Was there something about the generally well-meaning liberalism of the American journalists that led them in droves to whitewash the crimes of Stalinism in service of some genuinely laudable social projects like universal literacy and the welfare state, as well as a powerful vision of a society that could come to be? Moreover, how were these journalists’ points of view informed by the society that produced them? What, if any, were the differences in the attitudes of those who were foreign-born, like Duranty and Hindus, and those like Strong who were natural-born citizens? To what extent did the reporters’ experience of Depression-era America, with all its hunger and inequality, influence their perception of the Soviet Union, which claimed to eliminate all such evils of capitalism?

In seeking an explanation of why so many American reporters upheld the Stalinist line in this period, I plan to explore three distinct sets of sources. First, I will examine the actual newspaper reports produced by these journalists. Americans reporting from Moscow were well aware that they were virtually the only source of information about events inside the USSR available to Americans, and their articles naturally give a great deal of insight into how they hoped to explain the Soviet system to the American public. Next I will consider more private sources like the reporters’ diaries and letters, which may shed light on the internal thoughts, goals, motivations, and reservations of the journalists, and include thoughts that were left out of their news articles or later memoirs. Finally, I will consider the memoirs that many journalists wrote during or directly after this period about their experiences in the USSR. The memoirs that I have read so far are extremely rich sources, raising a number of important questions of methodology. How far can we trust these reporters, who often wrote several years after the events they witnessed? Were the memoirs published before or after the Soviet Union had become engaged in the battle against fascism, either indirectly in Spain, or directly after 1941? Are these memoirs little more than cases of special pleading by journalists hoping to prop up both the great idea of communism and their own reputations? The memoirs by those reporters like Eugene Lyons who defied the safe consensus of their colleagues and wrote against Stalinism (often at the price of their careers) present a fascinating set of outliers. Can we trust such former sympathizers to report the truth as they saw it, or do conversions from fellow traveler to anticommunist attack dog represent swings between extremes of endorsement and repulsion, implying unreliability? These sources, both the ones I encountered and wrote about in my tutorial last term with Robert Service, as well as those I have come across since, will constitute a very rich base for my research.

Using this source material, I am seeking to tie together the grand political and ideological debates of the 1930s and the personal lives of the journalists in question to explain why so many of these men and women embraced Stalinism, while a few wrote furious condemnations of the Soviet system. This project will in many ways be an exploration of the crisis of capitalism and seeming rise of socialism in microcosm, driven by the particular nuances and intricacies of my particular material. In 2010, it seems all too obvious to us that Stalinism was a nightmare for millions of Soviet citizens, but eighty years ago, it was still very much an open question whether the future belonged to capitalism or communism. Those who made excuses for Stalinism sometimes did so for the best of reasons. However, that so many people could be so wrong about Stalinism demands an explanation.

Dismal Scientists, Diplomats, and Spooks: Bissell, Milliken, and Rostow and Their Impact on U.S. Foreign Policy

As the current global economic crisis shakes countries around the world, its effects resonate beyond the realms of financial regulators, central banks, and finance ministries. This crisis has created a number of foreign policy challenges for the United States government, and Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair recently declared to the Senate intelligence committee, “The primary near-term security concern of the United States is the global economic crisis and its geopolitical implications.” Blair, however, is not the first representative of the U.S. intelligence apparatus, or even the foreign policy-making establishment of the country as a whole, to advocate for incorporating economics into the conduct of U.S. foreign relations.

Richard Bissell, Max Milliken, and Walt Rostow share a number of similarities; all three, born in the beginning of the twentieth century, graduated from Yale University, became economics professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and later worked as researchers at a number of the same think tanks. More remarkably, all three of these men wandered from academia and into influential roles in the foreign policy-making establishment of the U.S. government during the early Cold War. Between them, these former economists developed strong ties to the Central Intelligence Agency, the State Department, and the White House during the formative years of the United States’ as a global hegemon.

This commonality opens a number of interesting questions. What motivated their decisions to become economists and then to transition from academics to Cold Warriors? Was their overlap coincidental or does some common thread or societal trend connect their journeys? And, most important and relevant to questions at hand today, what role did these social scientists see for economic theory and analysis in the planning and practice of foreign policy? I plan to explore how world events shaped the career decisions and ideologies of these men, and, in turn, what effect their ideas and contributions had on the development of U.S. foreign policy.

I expect to mainly explore their ideas on economic intelligence, especially with regard to Milliken and Bissell, who both spent significant periods in the CIA, and modernization theory, for which both Rostow and Milliken served as strong advocates to the White House and State Department. With current debates in the U.S. on rebuilding our economic intelligence capacities, correctly using foreign aid, and coping with the current financial crises, the insights gleaned from these former scholars and Cold Warriors could shed light on contemporary issues.

As sources for my investigation, I plan on utilizing the papers of Max Milliken and Walt Rostow, which are both available at the John F. Kennedy Library. Bissell’s memoir and several oral interviews in which he participated are also publicly available. Furthermore, several working papers, which these men produced as officials of the U.S. government and as researchers at numerous think tanks, are known to exist. And, finally, I plan to utilize the rich existing scholarship on modernization theory and its role in U.S. foreign policy.

Bibliography

Central Intelligence Agency On-line Library. Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room. Personal Papers of Max Millikan (1913-1969), John F. Kennedy Library. Walt W. Rostow (#8.24), John F. Kennedy Library. Wilson, Theodore A. and Richard D. McKinzie. “Oral History Interview with Richard M. Bissell, Jr.” Harry S. Truman Library. Works by all three at various think tanks, including one collaboration between Bissell and Milliken at the Center for International Studies (CENIS). Bissell, Jr., Richard M. Reflections of a Cold Warrior: From Yalta to the Bay of Pigs. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996. Fialka, John J. War by Other Means: Economic Espionage in America. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1999. Latham, Michael. Modernization as Ideology. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2000. Light, Jennifer S. From Warfare to Welfare. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003. Pearce, Kimber Charles. Rostow, Kennedy, and the Rhetoric of Foreign Aid. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2001.

Media Reflections of Western Public Opinion in the Suez Crisis

In the years following the Second World War, the global balance of power shifted significantly; following conflict amongst the traditional Great Powers, a bipolar power struggle emerged between the United States and the Soviet Union. The military and financial costs of the Second World War made it extremely difficult for European powers to hold their colonial empires, the loss of which compounded their economic downfall and ensured their decline as world powers. These material conditions were certainly a major factor in determining the new balance of power, as was the relative strength of the U.S.’s economic position, but less quantifiable factors were also importantly at play, namely the ability of each of the new and old powers to reconceptualize its role in the world and adapt its attitudes toward other nations accordingly. As decolonization occurred and Cold War conflicts began to arise across the globe, the Cold War powers and the traditional Great Powers were facing novel foreign policy challenges, mostly in the vein of trying to establish influence overseas when using force to do so was no longer feasible or morally acceptable. Thus each nation contending for global influence was forced to reassess its identity as a player on the world stage. Government officials developing policy carried out this reassessment as a conscious process, but it also occurred spontaneously within national populations responding to the obvious shifts in global power dynamics, begging the question: how well did government reconceptions of identity reflect public attitudes in the early Cold War era? The emergence of many new nations and nationalisms in the postwar world created ample cases which exemplify how modern national self-perceptions developed on different levels and how that led to the consolidation of a new world order. My thesis will focus on the 1956 Suez Crisis, due to its location in the strategically important and materially rich Middle East, which resulted in the involvement of many countries, and within that conflict, on the Western powers involved, for whom government was supposedly representative- England, France, and the United States.

Despite historiographical debates about precipitating and intermediate causes, the Suez Crisis of 1956 can be traced at least in part to the joint U.S.-British decision to discontinue their planned funding for the Egyptian government’s Aswan High Dam project, leaving the Egyptians in need of ready money, which served to justify Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser’s nationalization of the Suez Canal. The proposed Aswan High Dam project was exemplary of the new state of relations between Egypt and the western powers following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952. The new Egyptian leadership was anti-colonial, but not opposed to productive relations with the Western world. Thus, it hoped cooperative projects like the construction of the Aswan High Dam could usher in a new type of relationship between Egypt and the West. For Britain, this would mean relations based on voluntary economic cooperation rather than exploitation by force, while for the U.S. the change of policy consisted not in promoting an anti-colonial position but in doing so quite actively, as opposed to its former stance of relative isolationism. Britain and the U.S. tried to advance anti-colonial economic relations as per Egyptian requirements in order to maintain and create, respectively, a presence in the region, which was important in order to protect financial interests in the Middle East that were highly dependent on access to the Suez Canal, and to keep the Soviets from establishing rival influence there.

However, when the U.S. and Britain ultimately deemed the Aswan High Dam project inopportune and Nasser nationalized the canal in the summer of 1956, the ensuing Suez Crisis featured the British, influenced by the French, playing a traditional colonial imperialist role, while the U.S. took on a novel modern role, acting as an international arbitrator in pursuit of its own Cold War related interests. That Britain aligned with France rather than U.S. during the Suez Crisis is not entirely surprising given each nation’s recent history in international relations; careful study has reflected the extent to which French and British politicians were misguided in their political calculations by thought processes that were still largely driven by outmoded colonial considerations. There is also debate about the extent to which they based their policies on false assumptions about the U.S. position. The leaders involved in the Suez Crisis based their decisions about how best to serve their material interests without losing political capital not only on analysis of other nations’ official positions but also on their reading of public opinion at the time. No Western government wanted to act against national will and lose popularity with its constituents over Suez. It is therefore natural to wonder to what degree the western leadership’s gauge of popular thought was skewed by historicism, or conversely, how closely public attitudes in Britain, France, and the U.S. towards the developing crisis in the Middle East actually tended to match official ones in judging what action each nation should take.

For my thesis, I would like to examine this question: to what extent were policy-influencing perceptions of public opinion about the Suez Crisis in Britain, France, and the U.S. accurate? To fill out the high command side of the picture I would use mostly secondary sources, and when necessary the primary documents they are based upon (such as sources available in the U.S. National Archives, British Public Records Office, and French Foreign Ministry Archives), focusing my original research on French, British, and U.S. newspaper and perhaps radio coverage as indicative of trends within the field of public opinion in each country. To manage the scope of this study, I intend to concentrate on the two most publicly controversial time periods within the months of the Suez Crisis, the week after the canal was nationalized on July 26, 1956 (up to and including August 2) and the week after Israel invaded Egypt on October 29, 1956 (up to and including November 6). By analyzing the straight news coverage of, and the range of editorial responses to, the decision taken by Nasser to nationalize the canal, the decision of Israel to invade Sinai, and the subsequent statements and actions taken by France, Britain, and the U.S., I hope to determine the tenor of each national discourse about the crisis, and to place all three within a comparative framework in order to determine the relative degree to which elite and mass perceptions corresponded over the appropriate role for each Western power to play in Suez. The degree to which the press (on a national and local level, across the full spectrum of political stances), condoned and encouraged official decisions taken during the Suez Crisis will hopefully illuminate how well the political development of the crisis matched mainstream contemporary attitudes not merely about the situation, but about where the world powers now stood as arbiters of international relations and, thereby, how far long-serving leaders with deeply rooted beliefs about the role of their nations in the world were able to conform to the demands of a world in which the ideological as well as material environment had recently undergone major changes.

Preliminary Reading List :

Relevant Primary Sources to be located through:

The Times online archives, at http://archive.timesonline.co.uk/tol/archive/ British Library Integrated Catalogue: Newspapers, at http://catalogue.bl.uk ProQuest Historical Newspapers (US) including The New York Times, at http://proquest.umi.com French sources through Gallica, the French National Library’s Digital Browser, at http://gallica.bnf.fr/?&lang=FR

Azar, Edward E. “Conflict Escalation and Conflict Reduction in an International Crisis: Suez, 1956.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 16 (1972): 183-201. Cockett, R. “The Observer and the Suez Crisis.” Contemporary British History 5, no.1 (Summer 1991): 9-31. Gorst, Anthony, and Lewis Johnman. The Suez Crisis. London: Routledge, 1997. Louis, Wm. Roger, and Roger Owen. Suez 1956: The Crisis and its Consequences. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989. Lucas, W. Scott. Divided We Stand: Britain, the United States and the Suez Crisis. Sevenoaks: Hodder and Stoughton, 1991. Negrine, Ralph. “The Press and the Suez Crisis: A Myth Re-Examined.” Historical Journal 25, no. 4 (1982): 975-983. Oneal, John R., Brad Lian, and James H. Joyner, Jr. “Are the American People ‘Pretty Prudent’? Public Responses to U.S. Uses of Force, 1950-1988.” International Studies Quarterly 40, no. 2 (Jun., 1996): 261-279. Owen, Jean. “The Polls and Newspaper Appraisal of the Suez Crisis.” Public Opinion Quarterly 21 (1957): 350-354. Parmentier, Guillaume. “The British Press in the Suez Crisis.” Historical Journal 23, no. 2 (1980): 435-448. Rawnsley, G. D. “Cold War Radio in Crisis: the BBC Overseas Services, the Suez Crisis and the 1956 Hungarian Uprising.” Historical Journal of Radio and Television 16, no.2 (Jun., 1996): 197-219. ______. “Overt and Covert: The Voice of Britain and Black Radio Broadcasting in the Suez crisis, 1956.” Intelligence and National Security 11, no. 3 (July, 1996): 497-522. Shaw, Tony. Eden, Suez and the Mass Media: Propaganda and Persuasion During the Suez Crisis. London: Tauris, 1996.

The Implications, Effects, and Uses of Media in the Emmett Till Lynching

I propose to write an Honors Thesis in History during the xxxx academic year. After researching topics that interest me and consulting with Professor xxxx, I have developed a project that analyzes the uses and effects of media during the Civil Rights Movement. More specifically, my project will investigate how children, and the American media’s depiction of them, greatly impacted the American consciousness of the Civil Rights Movement. Children were a part of some of the most widely televised and reported Civil Rights events such as the lynching of Emmett Till, the use of water cannons and police dogs on children, the deaths of four black girls in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, the desegregation of Central High School, and the Selma marches where children were trampled by police horses.

Taking on a project with all these events would be beyond the scope of a senior thesis, so Professor Long and I have narrowed our focus to the lynching of Emmett Till in 1955. To briefly summarize this event, after allegedly whistling at a white woman, fourteen year old Emmett Till was shot and his body thrown in the Tallahatchie River in Mississippi by a group of white men. Emmett’s great-uncle identified two of these men, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, as those who had forced Emmett into their car the night he was killed. The trial lasted a mere five days, and the all-white jury acquitted both men of Emmett’s death in about an hour.

Media coverage served very important roles in Emmett Till’s death. In The Chicago Defender, Emmett’s hometown newspaper, the first articles on Emmett Till include pictures of his inconsolable mother being held upright by family members in front of Emmett’s casket. The newspaper articles focusing on Emmett also refer to the recent lynchings of black voting rights activists and the recent Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case. In effect, these articles attached a name, face, and picture to individuals affected by racist violence in the South while incorporating and increasing the visibility of large-scale race issues. Television crews broadcast Emmett’s mutilated face at his open-casket funeral, sparking outrage and horror throughout the country. Viewing these images in white America’s living room made the Jim Crow South more visible across white America. Media coverage of Emmett’s death further motivated black America to take a stand against white supremacy, all the more so after both white men confessed to Emmett’s murder in Look Magazine. This event raises myriad questions regarding race relations in the South, but I want to focus my efforts on a few that interest me most. I want to explore the reasons, implications, and effects of Emmett’s mother’s decision to display Emmett’s mutilated and decomposed face at his open-casket funeral. This investigation leads to the history, reasons, and importance of open-casket funerals in the African-American community. My project will also analyze the response of the white community in the immediate area where Emmett was murdered. His murder has been well documented in television coverage, newspaper articles, and magazine interviews; however, very little research has examined the media’s impact on the regional, national, and international levels. I want to examine how these communities responded to Emmett’s death and how the white South was viewed as a result of different reactions according to race and location.

Furthermore, Emmett Till’s murder raises questions regarding white masculinity and femininity and their relationship to black masculinity. Another aspect to this project may include how the image of Emmett Till has been remembered and reconstructed by the media more recently in the form of television series and movies. I seek to investigate these issues primarily through primary sources such as photographs, television coverage, newspaper articles, and interviews of individuals. Secondary resources, particularly in the field of media studies will be helpful to my project. Overall, my project will become part of a greater dialogue that explores the media’s perception of the white response to black life and culture in the Jim Crow South.

Since the summer after my sophomore year at Williams, I have laid the foundation for this project. My independent research through the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship has allowed me to develop my research skills, work closely with a professor, and read over a dozen seminal primary and secondary sources in the field of race relations in the United States. I have already written two research papers, (with a third on the way) about these books.

I am interested in writing an Honors Thesis in History for many reasons. Most importantly, I want the opportunity to immerse myself in a subject that greatly interests me while contributing to a larger body of academic work in the field. Writing a thesis is also important because it will allow me to dedicate an extended period of time to a very specific subject. I enjoy historical research and want the satisfaction of knowing that I thoroughly understand the intricacies and nuances of a particular topic, even though it may be a small fraction of a larger whole. Additionally, I want to complete a large historical project to show history graduate schools of my seriousness in pursuing a Ph.D. in American History.

Cromwell Lives while Mason Stalks: Irish Nationalism and Historical Memory during the Troubles

In my proposed thesis I want to ask how significant perceptions of Irish history were in perpetuating the Troubles. Often, the pieces of history that get retold vindicate the present. I believe that perceptions of Irish history are significant in perpetuating the conflict in Northern Ireland because both Unionists and Nationalists created their own versions of history which they use to give legitimacy to their political visions for the future. Within the communities, different interest groups manipulate and re-manipulate history and each separate reading of the past justifies the present actions of its perpetuators. In this sense, the issue of history is an issue of legitimacy, and legitimacy is directly linked to political power. In their book The Northern Ireland Conflict: Consociational Engagements, John McGarry and Brendan O’Leary write that Northern Ireland is “a site of competing analogies and norms. Neither of its communities… have been able to achieve hegemonic legitimacy. This is one reason why the conflict continues.” It’s a trope that history is written by the winners, and in Northern Ireland, both sides are trying to write themselves as winners. Far from just an intellectual debate, the separate readings of history are crafted to justify political action, perpetuating the conflict.

Partition is a classic example of how Unionists and Nationalists use history to justify their current political positions. The Unionists perception of history accentuates the continuity of partition as a social force. Historian A.T.Q. Stewart uses the election of 1886 to emphasize the innate nature of partition. In it, seventeen out of thirty-three Ulster members of parliament elected were for Home Rule. That emphasized to Protestants that they were characteristically different from the rest of the inhabitants of Ireland. Stewart writes, “from 1886 to 1920, Ulster Protestants were a minority under threat.” By stressing the deep, cultural roots of partition, Stewart justifies it as a logical action and just solution that was a long time coming.

In contrast, the general Nationalist reading of the same period of history frames partition as “the arbitrary division of the country”, to quote the New Ireland Forum Report. “In the period immediately after 1920,” the Report continues, “many saw partition as transitory.” Nationalists tend to blame British imperialism or other exogenous factors as the cause of the conflict. In this way, they are able to represent partition an illegitimate action imposed on Ireland. The emphasis on exogenous factors allows Nationalists to imply that partition is the problem. Generally, they argue that by removing it and restoring the territorial integrity of Ireland, the conflict would be solved.

Both Unionists and Nationalists construct elaborate historical myths that legitimate their claim to the territory of Northern Ireland. Andy Tyrie, the supreme commander of the Ulster Defense Association in the early 1980s, broke from the traditional Unionist position of supporting union with Great Britain and advocated for an independent Ulster in the early 1980s. He created historical justification for his position by arguing that the areas of Scotland where Ulster Protestants came from were originally colonized by tribesmen from Ulster in the early middle ages—so in a sense Ulster Protestants were just returning to their ancestral homeland when they re-colonized in the seventeenth century. “Many people are convinced that the Protestants arrived here in 1607,” he said. “But their ancestors arrived here long before that. The Ulster people have always been here.”

Tyrie’s myth about Ulster was designed to compete with the traditionally Republican version of history of centuries of Irish resistance to British imperial rule. The Nationalist myth, as summarized by Padraig O’Malley, begins with the invasion of Ireland by England 800 years ago. In it, O’Malley writes, “history is linear. Thus, Ireland was subdued by superior arms and resources, but not beaten; the struggle to re-establish a free and united Ireland was carried forward from generation to generation.” The H-Block Song, written for the Republican prisoners in the maze perpetuates this view of events. The song ends with the question, “Does Britain need a thousand years of protest, riot, death, and tears?” emphasizing the long history of Irish oppression at the hands of British invaders. Lines like “Black Cromwell lives while Mason stalks” create a sense of the historical continuity of the fight against British imperialism, linking Oliver Cromwell with Roy Mason, the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the H-Block song was written in 1976.

Both of these “ancestral tribe” myths are designed to support current claims to the island. Neither one is particularly valid historically, but the point is not historical accuracy. These myths are designed to create legitimacy for current political claims. Thus, history has become a tool allowing each side to perpetuate and justify their view of the conflict.

In my proposed thesis I’d ask the significance of perceptions of Irish history in perpetuating the Troubles. Much of the scholarship that I’ve read concentrates on specific historical occurrences and doesn’t directly investigate Irish historiography, or the link between historical memory and political action. I’d begin with a definition and explanation of the Nationalist myth of unbroken struggle. I’d draw on the writings of Irish Nationalists such as Padraig Pearse, as well as later scholarship by historians such as Padraig O’Malley. I’d also study how this historical myth has been created and perpetuated both inside Ireland and also abroad. On the international front, I’d specifically focus on how Irish Nationalists draw historical analogies to oppressed-native minority/settler-oppressor conflicts such as comparing their situation to the struggle over apartheid in South Africa. I’d study memoirs and interviews, like Adrian Kerr’s book Perceptions: Cultures in Conflict, and scholarship, such as Adrian Guelke’s book on comparative politics, Northern Ireland: An International Perspective. I’d also draw on art and propaganda: music, street murals, accounts of parades, 1916 commemoration posters issued by Sinn Fein and other Republican groups, and films, such as the 1980 documentary The Patriot Game, which gives a Nationalist account of the Troubles.

The well-established historical myth of Nationalist struggle presupposes an almost inevitable pattern to history: “Ireland unfree will never be at peace.” Therefore, I’d next investigate how the Nationalist reading of Irish history has affected political events during the Troubles. I’d focus on two important historical occurrences, the 1974 Ulster Worker’s Council strike that brought down the Sunningdale power-sharing agreement and the 1981 Republican hunger strikes. According to the strike bulletins, the main reason the UWC wanted to stop Sunningdale was because of the provisions it made to involve the Irish Free State in Northern Ireland’s affairs, which it characterizes as “the main danger.” I’d investigate if this anti-Irish attitude was affected by the striker’s perceptions of Ulster history and the North’s relationship to the South.

With the hunger strikes, I’d research the connection between the strikers’ experiences and Irish history. I’d specifically ask if the hunger strikers appealed to historically Irish motifs of martyrdom in an attempt to gain political legitimacy for the Provisional IRA. My hunch is that the Nationalist movement consciously used history as a practical tool in order to get political status for their prisoners, but it would take further research to figure this out. Not Meekly Serve My Time, the remembrances of Republican H-Block prisoners and hunger strikers would be invaluable, as would the diaries of Bobby Sands and the writings of Gerry Adams, as well as the memoirs of SDLP party leader John Hume.

Through these two specific incidents, I’d study how perceptions of Irish history affected the politics of Northern Ireland during the 1970s and early 1980s and also investigate how Nationalists and Unionists used interpretations of history to generate political legitimacy.

Adams, Gerry. Selected Writings. Kerry: Brandon, 1994. Bew, Paul and Patterson, Henry. The British State and the Ulster Crisis. New York: Verso, 185. Patrick Bishop and Eamonn Mallie. The Provisional IRA. Aylesbury: Corgi Books, 1989. Campbell, Brian, Laurence McKeown, and Felim O’Hagan, ed. Not Meekly Serve My Time: The H Block Struggle 1976-1981. Belfast: Beyond the Pale Publications, 1998. Farrell, Michael. Northern Ireland: The Orange State. London: Pluto Press Limited, 1976. Gallagher, AM. “Majority Minority Review 2: Employment, Unemployment and Religion in Northern Ireland.” CAIN Web Service, http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/csc/reports/mm210.htm. Guelke, Adrian. Northern Ireland: An International Perspective. New York : St. Martin’s Press, 1988. Hepburn, A.C., ed. The Conflict of Nationality in Modern Ireland. London: Edward Arnold Ltd., 1980. Hume, John. Personal views, Politics, Peace and Reconciliation in Ireland. Dublin: Town House, 1996 Kerr, Adrian, ed. Perceptions: Cultures in Conflict. Derry: Guildhall Press, 1996. McAllister, Ian. The Northern Ireland Social Democratic and Labor Party. London: Unwin Brothers Ltd., 1977. MacDonagh, Oliver. States of Mind. London: Pimlico, 1992. McGarry, John and Brendan O’Leary. Explaining Northern Ireland. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1995. ______. The Northern Ireland Conflict: Consociational Engagements. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Mulchaly, Aogan. “Claims-Making and the Construction of Legitimacy: Press Coverage of the 1981 Hunger Strikes.” Social Problems 42, No. 4 (Nov. 1995): 467-499. “The New Ireland Forum Report,” CAIN Web Service, http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/ issues/politics/nifr.htm. O’Malley, Padriag. Biting at the Grave. Belfast: Blackstaff Press, 1990. ______. The Uncivil Wars. Belfast: Blackstaff Press, 1983. O’Neill, Terence. Ulster at the Crossroads. Faber and Faber: London, 1969. Rose, Richard. Governing without Consensus. London: Faber and Faber, 1971. Sands, Bobby. Writings from Prison. Cork: Mercier Press, 1998. Stewart, A.T.Q. The Narrow Ground: The Roots of the Conflict in Ulster. London: Faber and Faber, 1997. “Strike Bulletins of the Ulster Worker’s Council Strike, No 1.” CAIN Web Service. http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/uwc/uwc-pdfs/one.pdf. Sweeney, George. “Irish Hunger Strikes and the Cult of Self-Sacrifice.” Journal of Contemporary History 28, No. 3 (Jul. 1993): 421-437. Wichert, Sabine. Northern Ireland Since 1945. London: Longman, 1999.

‘My broken dreams of peace and socialism’: Youth propaganda, personality, and selfhood in the GDR, 1979-1989.

“I was a young citizen in a young nation, and it was my duty to advance the cause of socialism,” writes Jana Hensel in her memoir of childhood during East Germany’s final decade of socialism. The molding of youth and children like Hensel into healthy “socialist personalities” desirous of political stability and unity had been the object of the Socialist Unity Party’s (SED) most ardent ideological efforts ever since the foundation of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in 1949. By the 1980’s, however, when the GDR could no longer rely on brute force to secure the loyalty of its subjects, the very survival of the Communist East German regime had come to depend on the success of the socialist mentality building project. To urge the new generations of East Germans to develop personal qualities essential for the advancement of socialism, the SED mobilized all of its resources: the school system, youth organizations, mass events, and leisure time activities. Unlike the youth of the 1960’s, however, “Honecker’s children” turned out to be much more concerned with personal matters than with the fulfillment of their social and political obligations. Moreover, with the assimilation of new psychological models and concepts of individuality throughout the 1980’s, the anachronism and absurdity of SED’s personality building project became increasingly apparent.

In my Honors thesis, I plan to examine the manifold ways in which the ideological prescriptions disseminated by the SED during the 1980’s actually shaped the lived experience and affected the sense of selfhood of young members of East German society. I also wish to reflect on the lasting effects of GDR’s preoccupation with character building on the sense of identity of “Honecker’s children” twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. My work thus aims to complement current historical literature on the politics of the GDR’s youth project with a thorough investigation of the cultural, psychological, and sociological aspects of socialist character building in the GDR. To this end, I plan to relate my investigation of the ways in which the youth responded to new ideas about the socialist East German self to sociological and anthropological works on identity and selfhood, as well as to psychological theory on childhood and memory. By examining the ideas about selfhood lying at the very heart of East German youth policies and focusing on the ways in which the youth understood them and responded to them, I hope to challenge current understandings of the overarching roles of culture and ideology in postwar German history.

I will begin my research by examining official documents printed by the GDR Ministry of Education, to reveal how state-sanctioned ideas about selfhood were engendered and promoted by the East German school system throughout the 1980’s. I will then explore the inner workings of mass youth organizations such as the Free German Youth (FDJ) to trace the manifestation of these ideas in party-monitored extracurricular and leisure time activities. By investigating children’s letters to relatives, diaries, and anthologies of poems, I plan to shed light on the kinds of interpretive categories that children and youth were using in turn to make sense of their own experiences and evolving personalities. I will then examine memories of GDR’s personality building project in their natural context by conducting interviews with the protagonists of my research during my stay in Berlin and Jena this summer.

Among the secondary sources central to my research are the works of social historians such as Anna Saunders, Alan McDougall, John Rodden, and Alan Nothnagle, who have previously explored the dynamics of youth policy in the GDR and delineated the evolution of propaganda techniques employed by communist youth organizations and schools to communicate Marxist-Leninist values and ideology. Equally significant are the works of Alon Confino and Daphne Berdahl, which examine the consequences of the rigorous program of socialist patriotic education in the GDR on the sense of national and personal identity of the youth before and after the collapse of the Berlin Wall. My research aims to respond to debates that have concerned not only German historians, but also scholars of international youth politics. Some of the questions I will be asking are: how much autonomy did the East German youth of the 1980’s have in shaping their sense of self, in what ways were they influenced by the personality models put forward by the SED, how did they conceive of themselves as historical subjects before and after the collapse of the East German regime, and what may explain their reactions to the personality building project?

Agee, Joel. 1981. Twelve years: an American boyhood in East Germany. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux. Andresen, Sabine. 2006. Sozialistische Kindheitskonzepte: politische Einflüsse auf die Erziehung. München: Ernst Reinhardt. Annen, Niels, Björn Böhning, Kai Burmeister, and Sven Frye. 2007. 100 years of International Socialist Youth: struggle for peace and equality in the world. Internationale Politik (Vorwarts Buch (Berlin, Germany)). Berlin: Vorwärts Buch. Baehr, Vera-Maria. 1990. Wir denken erst seit Gorbatschow: Protokolle von Jugendlichen aus der DDR. Recklinghausen: G. Bitter. Berdahl, Daphne. 1999. Where the world ended: re-unification and identity in the German borderland. Berkeley, Calif: University of California Press. Berdahl, Daphne. 2000. Altering states: ethnographies of transition in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. Ann Arbor: Univ. of Michigan Press. Confino, Alon, and Peter Fritzsche. 2002. The work of memory: new directions in the study of German society and culture. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. Confino, Alon. 2006. Germany as a culture of remembrance: promises and limits of writing history. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. Franke, Klaus, and Gerhard Krause. 1976. Kommunisten und Jugend in der DDR. ABC des Marxismus-Leninismus. Berlin: Dietz Verlag. Freie Deutsche Jugend. 1987. Fragen und Antworten zum Programm der SED. Berlin: Dietz. Friedrich, Walter. 1975. Jugend, FDJ [i.e. Freie Deutsche Jugend], Gesellschaft: Beiträge zur sozialistischen Persönlichkeitsentwicklung junger Arbeiter und Studenten in der DDR. Berlin: Verlag Neues Leben. Fulbrook, Mary. 2005. The people’s state: East German society from Hitler to Honecker. New Haven: Yale University Press. Hellbeck, Jochen. 2006. Revolution on my mind: writing a diary under Stalin. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press. Hensel, Jana. 2004. After the Wall: confessions from an East German childhood and the life that came next. New York: Public Affairs. Intertext, Fremdsprachendienst der DDR. 1985. Free German youth, the GDR’s all-embracing youth organization. Berlin: Panorama DDR. Jahnke, Karl Heinz. 1986. Partei und Jugend: Dokumente marxistisch-leninistischer Jugendpolitik. Berlin: Dietz. Jarausch, Konrad Hugo. 1994. The rush to German unity. New York: Oxford University Press. Jarausch, Konrad Hugo. 1999. Dictatorship as experience: towards a socio-cultural history of the GDR. New York: Berghahn Books. Leiby, Richard A. 1999. The unification of Germany, 1989-1990. Greenwood Press “Guides to historic events of the twentieth century”. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. Leidecker, Gudrun, Dieter Kirchhöfer, and Peter Güttler. 1991. Ich weiss nicht, ob ich froh sein soll: Kinder erleben die Wende. Stuttgart: Metzler. Macleod, David I. 1983. Building character in the American boy: the Boy Scouts, YMCA, and their forerunners, 1870-1920. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. Maier, Charles S. 1997. Dissolution: The crisis of Communism and the end of East Germany. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. McAdams, A. James. 1993. Germany divided: from the wall to reunification. Princeton studies in international history and politics. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. McDougall, Alan. 2004. Youth politics in East Germany: the Free German Youth Movement, 1946-1968. Oxford historical monographs. Oxford: Clarendon. Meier, Andreas. 1998. Jugendweihe–JugendFEIER: ein deutsches nostalgisches Fest vor und nach 1990. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag. Michalzik, Martin. 1994. An der Seite der Genossen–: offizielles Jugendbild und politische Sozialisation im SED-Staat : zum Scheitern der sozialistischen Erziehung in der DDR. Melle: Knoth. Mothes, Jörn. 1996. Beschädigte Seelen: DDR-Jugend und Staatssicherheit : mit 136 Dokumenten und einer Audi-CD mit Original-Tonunterlagen. Bremen: Edition Temmen. Nothnagle, Alan L. 1999. Building the East German myth: historical mythology and youth propaganda in the German Democratic Republic, 1945-1989. Social history, popular culture, and politics in Germany. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Pelka, Anna. 2008. Jugendmode und Politik in der DDR und in Polen: eine vergleichende Analyse 1968-1989. Osnabrück: Fibre. Pence, Katherine, and Paul Betts. 2008. Socialist modern: East German everyday culture and politics. Social history, popular culture, and politics in Germany. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Rodden, John. 2002. Repainting the little red schoolhouse: a history of Eastern German education, 1945-1995. New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press. Rodden, John. 2006. Textbook reds: schoolbooks, ideology, and Eastern German identity. University Park, Pa: The Pennsylvania State University Press. Rodden, John. 2008. The walls that remain: Eastern and Western Germans since reunification. Boulder: Paradigm Publishers. Saunders, Anna. 2007. Honecker’s children: youth and patriotism in East(ern) Germany, 1979-2002. Manchester: Manchester University Press. Schmemann, Serge. 2006. When the wall came down: the Berlin Wall and the fall of Soviet communism. Boston: Kingfisher. Schneider, Gisela. 1980. Jugendbrigaden, Bahnbrecher des Neuen. Berlin: Verlag Tribüne. Solms, Wilhelm. 1992. Begrenzt glücklich: Kindheit in der DDR. Marburg: Hitzeroth. Thomson-Wohlgemuth, Gaby. 2009. Translation under state control: books for young people in the German Democratic Republic. New York: Routledge. Turner, Henry Ashby. 1987. The two Germanies since 1945. New Haven: Yale University Press. Urban, Detlef, and Hans Willi Weinzen. 1984. Jugend ohne Bekenntnis?: 30 Jahre Konfirmation und Jugendweihe im anderen Deutschland 1954-1984. Berlin: Wichern-Verlag. Walter, Michael. 1997. Die Freie Deutsche Jugend: ihre Funktionen im politischen System der DDR. Freiburg im Breisgau: Arnold Bergstraesser Institut. Weyer, Jochen. 1974. Youth in the GDR: everyday life of young people under socialism. Berlin: Panorama DDR. Zahra, Tara. 2008. Kidnapped souls: national indifference and the battle for children in the Bohemian Lands, 1900-1948. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Zilch, Dorle. 1994. Millionen unter der blauen Fahne: die FDJ : Zahlen, Fakten, Tendenzen : Mitgliederbewegung und Strukturen in der FDJ-Mitgliedschaft von 1946 bis 1989 unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Funktionäre. Rostock: Norddeutscher Hochschulschriften Verlag.

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• Researching your dissertation

When it comes to thinking about dissertations, it's useful to know how and where to look for material, both within Cambridge and further afield. The following is some guidance on finding various different types of material, whether primary or secondary.

Finding books in Cambridge

Finding books outside cambridge, finding articles.

• Unpublished material

Online sources

Subject gateways.

For further help our LibGuide has lots of information about how to carry out research in History.

Finding secondary material

The best place to begin looking for secondary material is a specialist bibliographical database covering your area of interest, eg. the Bibliography of British and Irish History . Teaching staff will be able to advise on what databases there are in your subject area. There may not be a specialist database covering your topic, in which case a more general literature search may be the best way to begin. Literature searches may also help you to find supplementary material, and to identify what is available within Cambridge.

Literature searches will help you to identify a viable topic of research, or a new angle from which to approach a subject, and they will also ensure that you do not duplicate work in progress. You will need to be compiling lists of material to consult at the same time as taking organised notes and writing; you should not wait to complete the reading before beginning to write.

For searching across library catalogues in Cambridge, use iDiscover ; as well as searching library holdings it also retrieves records for ejournals and ebooks, and can be extended to search databases such as JSTOR . You can also turn searches into RSS feeds (for alerts when any relevant items are added to the catalogue).

The University's ebooks@cambridge team subscribe to thousands of ebook titles, including key resources such as the Cambridge Histories and Cambridge Companions. These are searchable through iDiscover; if there is an electronic copy of the book you are looking for, it will have the phrase "[electronic resource]" in the record after the title, and you can follow the link in the record directly through to the text. Ebooks are easy to use, can be accessed from home and can normally have several users accessing the text simultaneously, so access is almost always available.

You may need to extend your search beyond Cambridge, to see if there is material available elsewhere which is not held by any of the libraries in the university. Library Hub Discover  is the best way for finding material held in libraries in the United Kingdom; it is the combined catalogue of the UK's major research libraries (including the British Library, National Library of Scotland and National Library of Wales), as well as various specialist research libraries and collections. The catalogue contains over 32 million records. It is possible to search by subject, author, title or keyword, and you can restrict your search by date, place published, type of material (eg. periodicals, maps), or language. Search results will display where an item is held, and provide links to an electronic copy, if there is a freely available one. 

The Document Delivery Service is available to help support students access difficult to locate material. This includes Inter-Library loan and Rapid Inter-Library loan.

If you are working away from Cambridge (for example, during the vacation), you may be able to get access to other higher education libraries in your area; visit SCONUL Access  for more information.

For catalogues of libraries outside the United Kingdom try WorldCat , a catalogue of over 10,000 libraries, which indexes 1.5 billion items.

You will need to look at journal articles as well as books, as journals are often where the latest, most up-to-date historical research is published. There are several citation databases which you can search for articles which might be relevant to your topic. As well as general historical databases, there are also more specialised ones, covering various regions, periods and topics. (Most of these will require a Raven password for off-campus access.) To search across the full range of electronic journals Cambridge subscribes to go to the ejournals@cambridge page. It is also possible to search across popular databases for article titles (as opposed to journal titles) on iDiscover.

Key general databases

• Historical Abstracts: This covers the history of the world from 1450 to the present (excluding the United States and Canada). Published since 1954, it indexes over 3,100 academic historical journals in more than 40 languages; thousands of new citations are added every year.
• Scopus: This database is by far the largest citation database available to members of the University. It covers a range of disciplines and includes information about where articles have been cited.

Digital journal archives

• JSTOR: A digital archive of over 1,000 journals; it can be subject-searched and gives immediate online access to articles in titles to which the University subscribes.
• Project Muse: Full-text access to nearly 500 journals from over 130 scholarly publishers.

Region/country databases

• America: History and Life: A companion title to Historical Abstracts. There is not online access, but the print copy can be found in the University Library (North Front, Floor 6, classmark: P660.b.31).
• Bibliography of British and Irish History: A bibliographical database of historical writing dealing with the British Isles, the British Empire and the Commonwealth, from 55 B.C. to the present, containing over 500,000 records. (It is worth noting that it is not an exhaustive bibliography of works relating to the British Empire and the Commonwealth; it covers the relations of those countries in the Empire and the Commonwealth with Britain.)
• Bibliography of Asian Studies: A bibliographical database covering articles and book chapters on all parts of Asia published since 1971.
• Index Islamicus: A bibliographical database of books, articles and reviews on Islam and the Muslim world.

Chronological databases

• International Medieval Bibliography: A bibliographical database covering medieval civilization, containing over 440,000 records.

Topical databases

• ATLA Religion Database: A bibliographical database covering theology and church history, containing over 1.7 million records.
• Bibliography of the History of Art: A bibliographical database on European and American art from late antiquity to the present, covering material published between 1975 and 2007.
• History of Science, Technology & Medicine: amalgamation of a few separate bibliographies. Includes historiography and the role of science in society and culture from prehistoric times onwards.

Unpublished material (dissertations and theses)

There are several different databases for searching for university dissertations and theses, whether produced in the United Kingdom or further afield.

• History Online: Contains a directory of history theses and research Masters produced in the U.K. since 1970, along with a list of theses currently in progress.
• EThOS: The national thesis service: a British Library-administered database of over 300,000 theses from U.K. universities.  Those which have already been digitized can be downloaded for free, but if the thesis you want to look at has not yet been digitized, you will have to pay a fee.  (Cambridge dissertations are listed on Ethos but not supplied by the service.
• ProQuest Digital Dissertations: A database of 2.4 million dissertation and theses citations from 700 academic institutions worldwide, offering full text for most of the dissertations added since 1997.
• Apollo: Cambridge University's institutional repository.  Includes a collection of voluntarily deposited Ph.D. theses.

Finding primary sources

You can access more online resources through iDiscover and the UL's eresources@cambridge page , which includes links to visual and sound resources, film and video services, and newspapers (both archives and current).

Some examples of online collections of primary source material:

• American Memory (Library of Congress): online collection of documents for American history, comprising written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music.
• British History Online: digital library of primary and secondary sources for medieval and modern history of the British Isles
• Empire Online: online collection of original documents relating to empire studies, including exploration journals, periodicals, government papers, maps.
• First World War: Personal Experiences: database of digital images of original documents, including diaries, letters, personal narratives, scrapbooks, and visual sources.
• German History in Documents and Images: digital collection of original historical materials documenting German history from the beginning of the early modern period to the present.
• UK Parliamentary Papers includes over 200,00 House of Commons sessional papers from 1715, with supplementary material back to 1688.

In Cambridge

ArchiveSearch  provides finding aids and links to digital records for the majority of archives located in the city of Cambridge., including the archives of many colleges, and of the Churchill Archives Centre .

In the United Kingdom

You may need to visit archives outside Cambridge as part of your research. To find out what archival material is held where, there are various union catalogues of archive material:

• National Archives: Formerly the Public Record Office, this repository holds the national archives for England, Wales and the United Kingdom (there are separate national record offices for Scotland and Northern Ireland). They have extensive online catalogues , which can be searched by subject, and you can access their online collections and download copies of documents.
• National Register of Archives: A register of over 44,000 unpublished lists and catalogues, detailing the nature and location of manuscripts and historical records relating to British history. These are "non-official" archives covering the holdings of local record offices, national and university libraries (including Cambridge), specialist repositories, museums and other bodies in the United Kingdom and abroad, as well as papers held privately by individuals, firms and institutions. The research guides on the website explain how the National Register of Archives can be used for locating material on particular topics.
• Archives Hub: A national gateway to descriptions of archives of over 180 UK repositories (including Oxford and Cambridge); again, you can search by subject.

To search the holdings of archives outside the United Kingdom, try Archive Grid , a major catalogue of historical documents, personal papers and family history material held in repositories around the world; you can search for collections by topic.

Subject gateways are online portals to subject-specific resources, and can be excellent places to look for more information on your topic. Some gateways where the sites have been evaluated by experts include:

• History Online: Created by the Institute of Historical Research, this initiative indexes books and journal articles, details history lecturers in the U.K., digital history projects, and current and past historical research.
• History Data Service: This project collects, preserves, and promotes the use of digital resources, which result from or support historical research, learning and teaching.
• Connected Histories: A collection of digital resources on early modern and 19th century British history.
• Online resources
• Electronic resources by paper
• Libraries, archives, museums, galleries
• Keeping up-to-date

Harvard University Theses, Dissertations, and Prize Papers

The Harvard University Archives ’ collection of theses, dissertations, and prize papers document the wide range of academic research undertaken by Harvard students over the course of the University’s history.

Beyond their value as pieces of original research, these collections document the history of American higher education, chronicling both the growth of Harvard as a major research institution as well as the development of numerous academic fields. They are also an important source of biographical information, offering insight into the academic careers of the authors.

Spanning from the ‘theses and quaestiones’ of the 17th and 18th centuries to the current yearly output of student research, they include both the first Harvard Ph.D. dissertation (by William Byerly, Ph.D . 1873) and the dissertation of the first woman to earn a doctorate from Harvard ( Lorna Myrtle Hodgkinson , Ed.D. 1922).

Other highlights include:

• The collection of Mathematical theses, 1782-1839
• The 1895 Ph.D. dissertation of W.E.B. Du Bois, The suppression of the African slave trade in the United States, 1638-1871
• Ph.D. dissertations of astronomer Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (Ph.D. 1925) and physicist John Hasbrouck Van Vleck (Ph.D. 1922)
• Undergraduate honors theses of novelist John Updike (A.B. 1954), filmmaker Terrence Malick (A.B. 1966),  and U.S. poet laureate Tracy Smith (A.B. 1994)
• Undergraduate prize papers and dissertations of philosophers Ralph Waldo Emerson (A.B. 1821), George Santayana (Ph.D. 1889), and W.V. Quine (Ph.D. 1932)
• Undergraduate honors theses of U.S. President John F. Kennedy (A.B. 1940) and Chief Justice John Roberts (A.B. 1976)

What does a prize-winning thesis look like?

If you're a Harvard undergraduate writing your own thesis, it can be helpful to review recent prize-winning theses. The Harvard University Archives has made available for digital lending all of the Thomas Hoopes Prize winners from the 2019-2021 academic years.

Accessing These Materials

How to access materials at the Harvard University Archives

How to find and request dissertations, in person or virtually

How to find and request undergraduate honors theses

How to find and request Thomas Temple Hoopes Prize papers

How to find and request Bowdoin Prize papers

• email: Email
• Phone number 617-495-2461

Related Collections

Harvard faculty personal and professional archives, harvard student life collections: arts, sports, politics and social life, access materials at the harvard university archives.

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Department of History and Philosophy of Science

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How to organise a history essay or dissertation

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Sachiko Kusukawa

There are many ways of writing history and no fixed formula for a 'good' essay or dissertation. Before you start, you may find it helpful to have a look at some sample dissertations and essays from the past: ask at the Whipple Library.

Some people have a clear idea already of what they are going to write about; others find it more difficult to choose or focus on a topic. It may be obvious, but it is worth pointing out that you should choose a topic you find interesting and engaging. Ask a potential supervisor for a list of appropriate readings, chase up any further sources that look interesting or promising from the footnotes, or seek further help. Try to define your topic as specifically as possible as soon as possible. Sometimes, it helps to formulate a question (in the spirit of a Tripos question), which could then be developed, refined, or re-formulated. A good topic should allow you to engage closely with a primary source (text, image, object, etc.) and develop a historiographical point – e.g. adding to, or qualifying historians' current debates or received opinion on the topic. Specific controversies (either historically or historiographically) are often a great place to start looking. Many dissertations and essays turn out to be overambitious in scope, but underambition is a rare defect!

Both essays and dissertations have an introduction and a conclusion . Between the introduction and the conclusion there is an argument or narrative (or mixture of argument and narrative).

An introduction introduces your topic, giving reasons why it is interesting and anticipating (in order) the steps of your argument. Hence many find that it is a good idea to write the introduction last. A conclusion summarises your arguments and claims. This is also the place to draw out the implications of your claims; and remember that it is often appropriate to indicate in your conclusion further profitable lines of research, inquiry, speculation, etc.

An argument or narrative should be coherent and presented in order. Divide your text into paragraphs which make clear points. Paragraphs should be ordered so that they are easy to follow. Always give reasons for your assertions and assessments: simply stating that something or somebody is right or wrong does not constitute an argument. When you describe or narrate an event, spell out why it is important for your overall argument. Put in chapter or section headings whenever you make a major new step in your argument of narrative.

It is a very good idea to include relevant pictures and diagrams . These should be captioned, and their relevance should be fully explained. If images are taken from a source, this should be included in the captions or list of illustrations.

The extent to which it is appropriate to use direct quotations varies according to topic and approach. Always make it clear why each quotation is pertinent to your argument. If you quote from non-English sources say if the translation is your own; if it isn't give the source. At least in the case of primary sources include the original in a note if it is your own translation, or if the precise details of wording are important. Check your quotations for accuracy. If there is archaic spelling make sure it isn't eliminated by a spell-check. Don't use words without knowing what they mean.

An essay or a dissertation has three components: the main text , the notes , and the bibliography .

The main text is where you put in the substance of your argument, and is meant to be longer than the notes. For quotes from elsewhere, up to about thirty words, use quotation marks ("...", or '...'). If you quote anything longer, it is better to indent the whole quotation without quotation marks.

Notes may either be at the bottom of the page (footnotes) or at the end of the main text, but before the bibliography (endnotes). Use notes for references and other supplementary material which does not constitute the substance of your argument. Whenever you quote directly from other works, you must give the exact reference in your notes. A reference means the exact location in a book or article which you have read , so that others can find it also – it should include author, title of the book, place and date of publication, page number. (There are many different ways to refer to scholarly works: see below.) . If you cite a primary source from a secondary source and you yourself have not read or checked the primary source, you must acknowledge the secondary source from which the citation was taken. Whenever you paraphrase material from somebody else's work, you must acknowledge that fact. There is no excuse for plagiarism. It is important to note that generous and full acknowledgement of the work of others does not undermine your originality.

Your bibliography must contain all the books and articles you have referred to (do not include works that you did not use). It lists works alphabetically by the last name of the author. There are different conventions to set out a bibliography, but at the very least a bibliographic entry should include for a book the last name and initials/first name of the author, the title of the book in italics or underlined, and the place, (publisher optional) and date of publication; or, for an article, the last name and initials/first name of the author, the title in inverted commas, and the name of the journal in italics or underlined, followed by volume number, date of publication, and page numbers. Names of editors of volumes of collected articles and names of translators should also be included, whenever applicable.

• M. MacDonald, Mystical Bedlam: Madness, Anxiety, and Healing in Seventeenth-Century England , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981.
• William Clark, 'Narratology and the History of Science', Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 26 (1995), 1–72.
• M. F. Burnyeat, 'The Sceptic in His Place and Time', in R. Rorty, J. B. Schneewind and Q. Skinner (eds), Philosophy in History , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984, pp. 225–54.

Alternatively, if you have many works to refer to, it may be easier to use an author-date system in notes, e.g.:

• MacDonald [1981], p. 89; Clark [1995a], p. 65; Clark [1995b], pp. 19–99.

In this case your bibliography should also start with the author-date, e.g.:

• MacDonald, Michael [1981], Mystical Bedlam: Madness, Anxiety, and Healing in Seventeenth-Century England , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Clark, William [1995a], 'Narratology and the History of Science', Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 26, 1–72.

This system has the advantage of making your foot- or endnotes shorter, and many choose it to save words (the bibliography is not included in the word limit). It is the system commonly used in scientific publications. Many feel however that something is historically amiss when you find in a footnote something like 'Plato [1996b]' or 'Locke [1975]'. In some fields of research there are standard systems of reference: you will find that this is the case if, for example, you write an essay/dissertation on classical history or philosophy of science. In such cases it is a good idea to take a standard secondary source as your model (e.g. in the case of classics, see G.E.R. Lloyd's The Revolutions of Wisdom: Studies in the Claims and Practices of Ancient Greek Science , Berkeley 1987).

Whatever system you decide to follow for your footnotes, what matters most is that the end-product is consistent.

Keep accurate records of all the relevant bibliographic information as you do your reading for your essay/dissertation. (If you don't you may waste days trying to trace references when you are close to submission deadlines.)

Consistency of style throughout the essay/dissertation is encouraged. There are many professional guides to thesis writing which give you more information on the style and format of theses – for example the MLS handbook (British) and the Chicago Manual of Style (American), both in the Whipple, and a booklet, H. Teitelbaum, How to Write a Thesis: A Guide to the Research Paper , 3rd ed., 126 pp., New York: Macmillan (& Arco), 1994 (in the UL: 1996.8.2620). But don't try to follow everything they say!

Every now and then you should read through a printout of your whole essay/dissertation, to ensure that your argument flows throughout the piece: otherwise there is a danger that your arguments become compartmentalised to the size of the screen. When reading drafts, ask yourself if it would be comprehensible to an intelligent reader who was not an expert on the specific topic.

It is imperative that you save your work on disk regularly – never be caught out without a back-up.

Before you submit:

• remember to run a spell-check (and remember that a spell check will not notice if you have written, for example, 'pheasant' instead of 'peasant', or, even trickier, 'for' instead of 'from', 'it' instead of 'is', etc.);
• prepare a table of contents, with titles for each chapter of your essay/dissertation, page numbers and all;
• prepare a cover page with the title, your name and college;
• prepare a page with the required statement about length, originality etc.

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History Thesis Topics: List of 69 Outstanding Ideas

Unless you plan to go for a Ph.D. in history, a thesis will be the most significant academic writing of your life. It shows your in-depth knowledge of a subject, your ability to think logically, creatively, and originally. Besides, it’s a great way to demonstrate how good your writing is.

But finding an appropriate title for your thesis is a challenging task. You may feel unsure about any idea until you see the rest of them. So, what can help you?

A history thesis topics list, of course. In this article, you’ll consider a wide variety of ideas about historical events and figures. There are some tips on picking the right one for you. With a little explanation of the basics, you’ll differentiate the Bachelor’s thesis from the Master’s one in a second.

• ☝️ How to Choose?
• ⭐ Top-12 Thesis Ideas
• 🚀 American History
• ⚔️ European History
• 🎨 Art History
• 📚 MA Thesis Topics
• 🦉 MPhil Thesis Ideas
• 👨‍🏫 Thesis vs. Dissertation

☝ How to Choose a History Thesis Topic?

Before picking a topic about history, you have to understand what you’re looking for. Take into account that you’re going to spend plenty of time writing your thesis. So, you need to find an idea that engages you and is worthy of your time. Don’t go for a random history topic that you do not feel passionate about.

Searching for an idea, follow the tips below:

• Find a topic that interests you . You’ll most probably write your thesis for a whole semester or even longer. That’s why you should determine something that doesn’t bore easily. At least those countless hours in the library will be spent with pleasure. The more the idea challenges and intrigues you, the less you’ll procrastinate and suffer from writing. No one can tell you what to write about. Your advisor can help you specify the topic, but it is up to you what to write about.
• Look for a topic that creates a trajectory for further research . You may not pursue it later, but having an opportunity to do so is a significant advantage. If you decide to pursue a further degree, you will already be familiar with the topic well. Take a look at available works in a free essays database to get a clearer picture of what can be further explored.
• Find a professor who will become your thesis advisor . Bring some thesis ideas up and see what your instructor suggests. It’s a good thing to have several research topics in mind—the instructor can help you determine the best one.
• Think beyond the graduation date . Whether you are going to start a career or continue your studies, your thesis should help you in achieving your goals. What may your employer look for in your paper? What do you need to be successful in your job or further research? It’s good to approach the issue with some level of practicality. See if you can apply the skills and information you’ve acquired to your professional life.
• Strive for originality but stay within your studies context . Try to make your title unique to grasp attention and intrigue from the get-go. At the same time, don’t fall outside the scope of your field. Before picking a topic, do some research to understand the field deeper. This way, you’ll see what exactly you would like to address.
• Make sure your title fits the requirements . Open your university guidelines for the thesis work and find this out before anything else. Ask your thesis advisor as well to give you honest feedback.

⭐ Top-12 History Thesis Ideas

• Civil War — the role of women.
• The Watergate Scandal.
• Contemporary art history.
• The Napoleonic Wars.
• Causes of World War 2.
• Impact of the Black Plague.
• The Cuban Missile Crisis.
• Japanese-American conflict.
• The Vietnam anti-war protests.
• Origins of the Great Famine in Ireland.
• The French Revolution.
• The rule of Elizabeth I.

📝 History Thesis Topics for Bachelor’s Degree

Usually, American Universities don’t require students to write a Senior Thesis. However, you still have an option to choose one. You can write a thesis as a part of your program completion. It will take a lot of time, energy, and effort. But, in the end, you will be able to produce a prime piece of academic writing.

Strive to write anywhere from 60 to 100 pages. You will also dedicate a lot of time writing and polishing it afterward. Make sure to leave enough time for that too.

What’s the first step?

Look for a thesis advisor you know you will enjoy working with. Consider all the professors you’ve interacted with at your university and pick several. Approach them and see if they are accepting new students for thesis supervision.

Make sure to choose a history thesis paper topic that your advisor knows a lot about. At some point, you will become very knowledgeable about the history thesis topic you chose. It will be crucial to have someone who can direct you.

There are several reasons why you should consider writing a thesis for a Bachelor’s Degree in history:

• It provides you with essential experience in writing, researching, and brainstorming ideas. It can later help you in your academic or professional life.
• You can deeply understand a subject that interests you.
• You can improve your reading skills.
• If you have to use foreign sources, you can also increase your foreign language skills.

Are you still wondering what historical thesis ideas are appropriate? Then, this list is perfect for you.

🚀 American History Thesis Topics

• African American history in the United States : disfranchisement and segregation in 1890-1900
• Early American History and the lost colony of Roanoke
• The construction of race in American culture and history. It’s not a secret that race is a social construct. In American culture and history, it plays a critical role. In the thesis, you will have a chance to research the mechanisms through which the race was constructed. Movies, literary representations, articles, what else? It’s up to you to find out what can be relevant.
• World War 2 through personal letters and diaries . This thesis can be personal and will not leave people indifferent. Examination of diaries, notes, and personal accounts can be fascinating. You won’t be bored doing historical research. Maybe you even have some in your own family? Worth checking it out.
• Guilt over Slavery in the United States: a historical examination
• Gender equality in American education . A comparative study of Germany, Russia, The United States
• New York City and its historical geography. NYC is one of the captivating American cities. Writing a thesis about its historical geography is not an easy task. Gladly, you have tons of information available to you.

• Rocket Science as one of the most significant innovations of the 20th century
• Examining the Role of Privilege within the Ivy League Universities
• Role of American Public Health in a Post-9/11 World

⚔ European History Thesis Topics

• Formation and development of the European Union during the 20th century
• Feminist perspective on the representation of women in Roman Art
• Religion and Nation in Europe in the 19th century
• Construction of National Identity in Post-Soviet Latvia. What did contribute to developing a national identity of post-soviet Latvia? First of all, its independence and belonging to the European Union. In this thesis, talk about colonization and colonial identity. Consider the policies Latvian government implemented to build a Latvian character. What is it? What are the essential characteristics of it?
• Composition and religious hierarchy in The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci
• Representation of Jews in Late Medieval Period in Europe
• Problems of political leadership in Athens of 404-355 BCE
• The French Renaissance Court and its structural hierarchy. This topic is interesting yet complex. Its complexity comes not from the name but the nature of the French Renaissance Court. You need to have a clear idea of how the royal court is built and is operating. Find relevant historians of that time, and, hopefully, you can speak some French.
• Immigrational Politics of the United Kingdom. The problem of multiculturism at the beginning of 1960-1980.
• Orientalism or the Middle East through the prism of Western scholars in the XIX century. In this thesis, start by exploring the notion of Orientalism. Edward Said will be a good point of departure and one of the most fundamental works to cite and read. You can agree with his argument or disagree with it. Nevertheless, find the relevant evidence for your point of view.

🎨 Art History Thesis Topics

• Medicine in Ancient Rome with a focus on surgeries through paintings. This thesis topic is rich. Numerous Ancient Roman paintings depict surgeries and medical treatments. Find the most interesting ones and talk about innovations in medicine. What was the point of recording medical procedures in art? Truly a topic that can captivate anyone.
• Vincent Van Gogh: A phycological analysis of the artist’s last years . In this thesis, examine his artworks together with the personal letters. Look at the words he used, as well as the images he painted. You need it to comprehend what was happening in Vincent’s life in his last years. Some art therapists claim that the artist had bipolar disorder. Examine those views. However, be careful not to give any medical diagnosis yourself.

• Plato on Punishment and Vice: the notion of punishment in The Republic. You cannot get a degree without reading the most fundamental text of the Western Academy, The Republic . In this thesis, you should simply focus on the ideas of punishment and vice. Plato wrote a lot regarding the morals and the laws. Try to discern what exactly he meant. Extract his views regarding capital punishment and punitive justice.
• Modern Art in Europe, with a specific focus on Italy
• Trade in Medieval Europe with a focus on Africa through art
• The erotism of art of Ancient Rome
• Synthesis of sculpture and paintings in Spanish art of the 17th century
• Neoclassicism in French art of the 1900s-1910s
• Surrealism in Art as the quintessence between realism and hyper-realism

📋 History Thesis Topics for Master’s Degree

In the United States, to enter a graduate degree in history, a bachelor’s degree is required. Most of the time, students will have to submit several recommendation letters. Plus, they need GRE scores and writing samples. Add to this several essays explaining the purpose of going to university again, and there you have it.

It is common to have several completion requirements. They can include basic courses, language tests, and a master’s thesis at the end of the program. However, it depends on the department and the university.

Keep in mind that there are several credits that students should obtain to get a degree. It differs from university to university as well. In most of the programs throughout the United States, they are required to complete 30-32 credits to get an M.A. degree. This number usually corresponds to 8-9 classes.

If you are pursuing an M.A., you’re in luck. There is an excellent chance that you will be able to choose if you would like to write a thesis or not. If you are pursuing an M.Phil., then you will have to write your thesis because it’s a research degree.

No matter if you are pursuing an M.A. or an M.Phil., this historical thesis ideas can help you find a title:

📚 MA Thesis Topics in History

• Apotheosis of the Philippine Historical Political Tradition
• Kerala History: Syrian Christians in the region in the 18th century
• History of Modern India with a focus on women’s rights
• The history of theater in the American South and the main characteristics of the Southern Drama. This thesis includes a lot of aspects starting from playwriting in Charleston to drama in New Orleans. Then there are War Drama, Black Drama, etc. Try to find a good balance to fit all of the main characteristics of the Southern Drama and theater.
• New Deal and its impacts on events leading to the Great Depression
• Mistakes of the Soviet side in WW2. WWII was the deadliest military conflict of the 20th century. In this thesis, talk about the biggest mistakes the Red Army made during the war. Some of those can include signing to the Non-Aggression Pact with Hitler. Plus, there were anti-tank dogs and the Molovot-Ribbentrop Pact.

• Military strategies that allowed Napoleon to win crucial battles
• Mussolini & Hitler : connection along with its consequences for Italy
• Queen Victoria’s politics and the way it has changed British history
• The Development of Strategic Bombing Doctrine Between the World Wars
• Historical Creation of a Black Elite in the United States
• Through Imperial Eyes: Race and British Reactions to the American Slavery Question
• Gertrude Bell’s Influence in the Formation of Iraq. Gertrude Bell is a crucial figure in Islamic studies. She contributed a lot to the formation of Iraq. In this thesis, explore her unique contribution and approach to building a modern state of the country. She was highly trusted by British politicians and by Arab leaders.
• Baptist church history as a way to escape slavery

🦉 MPhil Thesis Topics in History

• Investigating the impact of WWI on trade blocks. A case study of the European Union
• Women in WWII: sexual objectification of women through magazines and advertisement. Women played an integral part in WWII. In this thesis, explore the role of sexual imagery in the advertising industry during the war.
• Sudan-American relationships in 1989-2000: US Foreign Policy and Genocide in Sudan
• Criticism of the war on drugs during the Ronald Reagan administration
• The political evolution of the Southern States during the Reconstruction Era
• Everest Expeditions in British Popular Culture, 1920-1960. Explore how Everest Expeditions were depicted in British movies. Analyze the subject via comics, journals, and visual art in the first part of the 20th century.
• Impact of Otto von Bismarck on German Liberalism

• Discrimination of German immigrants in the USA during WW2
• The Fourth International and the Spanish Civil War
• Political and economic aspects of the crisis in Venetian Diplomacy in the 1500s
• The connection between institutionalized racism and police violence in the United States. There are several dimensions to racism. In this thesis, look for a connection between structural racism and police violence in the US. Compare the numbers, look at the stories. See if this data exposes any hidden bias.
• An image of the Medieval Period in Post Modern Art
• A comparative analysis of the Four Quran English Translation. In this thesis, discuss why and how the Quran can be translated. Also, you should look at the four translations. Try to determine which one is the closest. To do that, you need to have an advanced level of Arabic.
• The psychological effect of war on American soldiers in Vietnam

👨‍🏫 Differences between a Thesis and Dissertation

Understanding the difference between a thesis and a dissertation is essential. Would you like to obtain a master’s and a doctoral degree? Then read attentively. In the United States, both thesis and dissertation are vital for this purpose.

The prominent differences that you have to realize are the following:

• A dissertation is required to graduate with a doctoral degree. A thesis is a culmination of a master’s program.
• A dissertation is written to add a new piece of knowledge to the field. A thesis is to show that you have enough knowledge about the field.
• A dissertation usually takes several semesters, sometimes even years, to complete. A thesis does not require this amount of time. It can be finished within months.
• A dissertation can be seen as an academic book. A master’s thesis is a long research paper.

Let’s see the main characteristics of a bachelor’s thesis, a master’s thesis, an MPhil’s thesis, and a dissertation:

• A Bachelor’s Thesis (honors thesis). It’s a research-based paper that allows undergraduate students to put their knowledge into practice. The paper is usually 40-60 pages long. It includes an introduction, main body, conclusion, and bibliography.
• A Master’s Thesis. It’s a piece of original scholarly work. A mater’s thesis is written under the close supervision of an academic advisor. It attempts to bring some fresh look or a new perspective to a field of study. The length of a master’s thesis can vary. Usually, it doesn’t go beyond 100 pages.
• An MPhil’s Thesis (Master of Philosophy). It’s a specific type of thesis. As it was stated earlier, most American Universities don’t grant this degree. A few schools give it under specific circumstances. Doctoral students should accomplish all the course work and pass their exams. Then, this degree can be granted to them. A more colloquial way to call this degree is “all but dissertation.” In other cases, this degree is granted to students who are doing their postgraduate research.
• A Dissertation. It’s a major piece of academic writing. It’s independent, shows critical and thinking ability. A dissertation is meant to illustrate academic knowledge, originality of work, and research skills. The length usually stays within 200-300 pages.

Any thesis or dissertation is a monumental work. Choose a topic that you are passionate about. Make sure it’s researchable and clear, but at the same time memorable. Spend time writing, proofreading, editing, and talking to your advisor about your ideas and academic goals.

Remember that it is okay to get frustrated and tired at times. If it happens to you, stop working for a bit and relax. Good luck and congratulations on your soon to be graduation! We hope this article was helpful. Share it with those who may need a history thesis topic or a piece of advice.

🔗 References

• MPhil in History: University of Oxford
• How to Pick a Masters Thesis Topic: Peter Campbell for Medium
• How Do I Choose A Thesis Topic: Grad School Hub
• Writing a Senior Thesis: Undergraduate Program, Department of History, Brandeis University
• The Bachelor’s Thesis, Bachelor EE: University of Twente
• Guidelines for the Preparation of Your Master’s Thesis: the Office of Graduate Studies and Research: University of Nebraska at Kearney
• Guidelines for Writing a Master’s Thesis for MA Degree: Jeremy Bailey, Susan Scarrow, University of Houston
• What is a dissertation? How it is different from an essay: The Royal Literary Fund
• What is the Difference Between a Thesis and a Dissertation: The Best Master’s Degrees
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How to Research and Write a Compelling History Thesis

The Importance of Research for Writing a History Thesis

Just as history is more than a collection of facts about past events, an effective history thesis goes beyond simply sharing recorded information. Writing a compelling history thesis requires making an argument about a historical fact and, then, researching and providing a well-crafted defense for that position.

With so many sources available—some of which may provide conflicting findings—how should a student research and write a history thesis? How can a student create a thesis that’s both compelling and supports a position that academic editors describe as “concise, contentious, and coherent”?

Key steps in how to write a history thesis include evaluating source materials, developing a strong thesis statement, and building historical knowledge.

Compelling theses provide context about historical events. This context, according to the reference website ThoughtCo., refers to the social, religious, economic, and political conditions during an occurrence that “enable us to interpret and analyze works or events of the past, or even the future, rather than merely judge them by contemporary standards”.

The context supports the main point of a thesis, called the thesis statement, by providing an interpretive and analytical framework of the facts, instead of simply stating them. Research uncovers the evidence necessary to make the case for that thesis statement.

To gather evidence that contributes to a deeper understanding of a given historical topic, students should reference both primary and secondary sources of research.

Primary Sources

Primary sources are firsthand accounts of events in history, according to Professor David Ulbrich, director of Norwich University’s online Master of Arts in History program. These sources provide information not only about what happened and how it happened but also why it happened.

Primary sources can include letters, diaries, photos, and videos as well as material objects such as “spent artillery shells, architectural features, cemetery headstones, chemical analysis of substances, shards of bowls or bottles, farming implements, or earth or environmental features or factors,” Ulbrich says. “The author of the thesis can tell how people lived, for example, by the ways they arranged their material lives.”

Primary research sources are the building blocks to help us better understand and appreciate history. It is critical to find as many primary sources from as many perspectives as possible. Researching these firsthand accounts can provide evidence that helps answer those “what”, “how”, and “why” questions about the past, Ulbrich says.

Secondary Sources

Secondary sources are materials—such as books, articles, essays, and documentaries—gathered and interpreted by other researchers. These sources often provide updates and evaluation of the thesis topic or viewpoints that support the theories presented in the thesis.

Primary and secondary sources are complementary types of research that form a convincing foundation for a thesis’ main points.

How to Write a History Thesis

What are the steps to write a history thesis? The process of developing a thesis that provides a thorough analysis of a historical event—and presents academically defensible arguments related to that analysis—includes the following:

1. Gather and Analyze Sources

When collecting sources to use in a thesis, students should analyze them to ensure they demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the materials. A student should evaluate the attributes of sources such as their origin and point-of-view.

An array of primary and secondary sources can help provide a thorough understanding of a historical event, although some of those sources may include conflicting views and details. In those cases, the American Historical Association says, it’s up to the thesis author to determine which source reflects the appropriate point-of-view.

2. Develop a Thesis Statement

To create a thesis statement, a student should establish a specific idea or theory that makes the main point about a historical event. Scribbr, an editing website, recommends starting with a working thesis, asking the question the thesis intends to answer, and, then, writing the answer.

The final version of a thesis statement might be argumentative, for example, taking a side in a debate. Or it might be expository, explaining a historical situation. In addition to being concise and coherent, a thesis statement should be contentious, meaning it requires evidence to support it.

3. Create an Outline

Developing a thesis requires an outline of the content that will support the thesis statement. Students should keep in mind the following key steps in creating their outline:

• Note major points.
• Categorize ideas supported by the theories.
• Arrange points according to the importance and a timeline of events addressed by the thesis.
• Create effective headings and subheadings.
• Format the outline.

4. Organize Information

Thesis authors should ensure their content follows a logical order. This may entail coding resource materials to help match them to the appropriate theories while organizing the information. A thesis typically contains the following elements.

• Abstract —Overview of the thesis.
• Introduction —Summary of the thesis’ main points.
• Literature review —Explanation of the gap in previous research addressed by this thesis.
• Methods —Outline how the author reviewed the research and why materials were selected.
• Results —Description of the research findings.
• Discussion —Analysis of the research.
• Conclusion —Statements about what the student learned.

5. Write the Thesis

Online writing guide Paperpile recommends that students start with the literature review when writing the thesis. Developing this section first will help the author gain a more complete understanding of the thesis’ source materials. Writing the abstract last can give the student a thorough picture of the work the abstract should describe.

The discussion portion of the thesis typically is the longest since it’s here that the writer will explain the limitations of the work, offer explanations of any unexpected results, and cite remaining questions about the topic.

In writing the thesis, the author should keep in mind that the document will require multiple changes and drafts—perhaps even new insights. A student should gather feedback from a professor and colleagues to ensure their thesis is clear and effective before finalizing the draft.      

6. Prepare to Defend the Thesis

A committee will evaluate the student’s defense of the thesis’ theories. Students should prepare to defend their thesis by considering answers to questions posed by the committee. Additionally, students should develop a plan for addressing questions to which they may not have a ready answer, understanding the evaluation likely will consider how the author handles that challenge.

Developing Skills to Write a Compelling History Thesis

When looking for direction on how to write a history thesis, Norwich University’s online Master of Arts in History program can provide the needed skills and knowledge. The program’s tracks and several courses—taken as core classes or as electives in multiple concentrations—can provide a strong foundation for thesis work.

Master of Arts in History Tracks

In the Norwich online Master of Arts in History program, respected scholars help students improve their historical insight, research, writing, analytical, and presentation skills. They teach the following program tracks.

• Public History —Focuses on the preservation and interpretation of historic documents and artifacts for purposes of public observation.
• American History —Emphasizes the exploration and interpretation of key events associated with U.S. history.
• World History —Prepares students to develop an in-depth understanding of world history from various eras.
• Legal and Constitutional History —Provides a thorough study of the foundational legal and constitutional elements in the U.S. and Europe.

Master of Arts in History Courses

Norwich University’s online Master of Arts in History program enables students to customize studies based on career goals and personal interests through the following courses:

• Introduction to History and Historiography —Covers the core concepts of history-based study and research methodology, highlighting how these concepts are essential to developing an effective history thesis.
• Directed Readings in History —Highlights different ways to use sources that chronicle American history to assist in researching and writing a thorough and complete history thesis.
• Race, Gender, and U.S. Constitution —Explores key U.S. Supreme Court decisions relating to national race and gender relations and rights, providing a deeper context to develop compelling history theses.
• Archival Studies —Breaks down the importance of systematically overseeing archival materials, highlighting how to build historical context to better educate and engage with the public.

Start Your Path Toward Writing a Compelling History Thesis

For over two centuries, Norwich University has played a vital role in history as America’s first private military college and the birthplace of the ROTC. As such, the university is uniquely positioned to lead students through a comprehensive analysis of the major developments, events, and figures of the past.

Explore Norwich University’s online Master of Arts in History program. Start your path toward writing a compelling history thesis and taking your talents further.

Writing History: An Introductory Guide to How History Is Produced , American Historical Association     How to Write a Thesis Statement , Scribbr     The Importance of Historic Context in Analysis and Interpretation , ThoughtCo.     7 Reasons Why Research Is Important , Owlcation     Primary and Secondary Sources , Scribbr     Secondary Sources in Research , ThoughtCo.     Analysis of Sources , History Skills     Research Paper Outline , Scribbr     How to Structure a Thesis , Paperpile     Writing Your Final Draft , History Skills     How to Prepare an Excellent Thesis Defense , Paperpile

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• Dissertation Prospectus

In the third year doctoral students prepare a dissertation prospectus and present it at the prospectus conference, which is held yearly during the third week in January.

The conference is a forum in which students share their ideas with faculty and colleagues, and receive suggestions as they begin to research and write their dissertation.

Following the conference, advisors may either approve the prospectus, or ask the student to revise it. It is suggested that students begin working on the prospectus immediately after passing the general exam , so that they are adequately prepared.

A typical prospectus includes the following:

Statement of thesis.

What is the problem you wish to study and what is its interest or significance in current historical thinking? State clearly and concisely how you presently conceive this problem and how you suppose it can be resolved.

Historiographical Context

What work has, and has not, been done in this field and on this problem? Discuss relevant scholarship critically. It is not necessary to criticize specific failings; but show what is understood to be the merits and limitations of relevant works. How do you propose to develop, challenge, or depart from existing positions or themes in historical literature?

Method and Theory

Outline an approach to the subject. If the conception has theoretical aspects, discuss them critically. Have scholars in other fields developed concepts of potential interest to the topic? Think about method and theory, even if there is a decision not to engage much with external perspectives and theory. The faculty neither encourages nor discourages such engagement, but cautions that original historical work should not simply illustrate other people's ideas.

Give an account of the sources for the subject. Stress primary sources, the difficulties they present, their location (print, manuscript, or any other form), and their accessibility. Identify the principal libraries and repositories as well as other locations and persons. Do not overlook unpublished doctoral or master's research.

Draft a tentative chapter outline and schedule of tasks and stages for the writing of the dissertation. Allow time for research, travel to collections, writing, and revision.

Bibliography

List the primary and secondary sources used to develop the prospectus.

About the Prospectus Conference

Presentations last for 30 minutes. For the first 15 minutes students present their prospectus, and the remaining 15 minutes are reserved for questions from the audience. By December 2nd, the graduate coordinator will ask for three pieces of information as a prelude to the conference:

1.   Provisional title of the presentation 2.   Requests for audio/visual equipment 3.   Names of faculty members who should be invited to the presentation.

By January 13 candidates will submit a 15-20 page written prospectus to the graduate coordinator that forms the basis of the presentation. The prospectus should include a select bibliography and the names of archives in which research will be conducted. For examples of last year's conference see the  Graduate Student Resources site.

About the Prospectus Approval

Before spring break in the G3 year, and after the G3 conference has occurred, the graduate student will initiate a meeting of their dissertation committee. The goal of this meeting is to generate additional feedback on the prospectus and set norms and milestones for the research and writing of the dissertation. If necessary, the chair of the dissertation committee may ask for revisions of the prospectus. The final version of the prospectus must be submitted to the Graduate Coordinator no later than June 30 (preferably much earlier) along with the approval form signed by the advisor.

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Dissertation examples

Listed below are some of the best examples of research projects and dissertations from undergraduate and taught postgraduate students at the University of Leeds We have not been able to gather examples from all schools. The module requirements for research projects may have changed since these examples were written. Refer to your module guidelines to make sure that you address all of the current assessment criteria. Some of the examples below are only available to access on campus.

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Department of History

Dissertations.

Since 2009, we have published the best of the annual dissertations produced by our final year undergraduates and award a 'best dissertation of the year' prize to the best of the best.

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