Schedule of Events

Since the birth of the state of Israel, conflict has existed between the Jewish state and the people who occupied the land before. Despite continued attempts, a peaceful coexistence appears elusive. Hamas’ founding signaled the beginning of a new resistance, which finds its justification for violence in Islamic scripture. Utilizing sources from Western scholars, combined with eyewitness accounts, interview transcripts and analyses by subject matter experts, this project sheds light on the driving ideological forces behind this group and the resulting complexity it added to the already volatile situation that has existed since Israel’s founding in 1948. While it cannot capture all facets surrounding this conflict, which grew more complicated with Hamas’ election as sole political representative for the people of Gaza in 2006, it demonstrates the difficulties in promoting a viable solution for peace. 

Shias account for between 10 and 15 percent of Saudi Arabia’s population and have lived in the nation since its formation. Unfortunately, they have often been discriminated against, and are embraced or persecuted by the royal family depending upon political opportunism. Conducted through literature review and analysis of Saudi Arabian news sources, this report reveals the vilification of Shia dissidents by Saudi Arabia’s government and forms of discrimination the Shia minority faces within Saudi Arabia. Ultimately the research reveals such discrimination is destabilizing and self-perpetuating. The Government of Saudi Arabia should abandon its policies of discrimination and pursue a path of inclusion of the Shia minority. In doing so the nation’s leaders can distance themselves from Sunni extremists and gain new domestic and international allies. 

For centuries, women have been denied the title as artists. Before the Renaissance, female artists were thought to have been almost non existent, or at the most, simply rare. However through thorough research and analysis of illuminated manuscripts from the 8th century and on, I determined that women have been distinguishing themselves in art long before they were acknowledged. Three different women from the 8th to the 13th century provided proof of their talent by boldly signing their manuscripts and allowing themselves to be remembered and known as artists. Although it is unclear just how many women have been forgotten through time, the evidence suggests that there are still more to discover.

Socialism with Chinese Characteristics is the term coined by Deng Xiaoping for China’s current economic system. The core of the system is a form of limited Capitalism allowed in special economic zones. This paper will show how Deng’s reforms were influenced by the Four Ideologies established by Zhou Enlai: the ideologiesof socialism, dictatorship of the proletariat, the leadership of the Communist party, and Marxism-Leninism and Maoist thought. Deng Xiaoping also justified this economic system by socialist precedents of pragmatic economic compromise of ideological purity, made by Mao, Lenin, and others. By tracing Deng’s rhetorical justification and application of the Four Ideologies, this paper will show the validity of his economic plan within communist thought nor was it counterintuitive or hypocritical to establish what amounts to limited capitalism.

The country of Norway is not only a country deeply loved by its people, but also one often glorified by the people of other nations. Since the 1940s, Norway has been hailed as a quasi-utopia due to its lauded “Nordic Social Democracy.” However, with all good things there are limitations, and for Norway they are immigration issues and social liberalism that have led to dangerous activities involving religious and political differences. Stemming from the slowing of industrial ingenuity and partitioning of social lines between immigrants and natives, Norway’s infrastructure may be threatened by changes in the global energy market and social upheaval, resulting in the possible dissolution of the once touted Nordic Model. Specifically, Norway’s future is troubled by economic repercussions from an over-reliance on oil exports and social issues involving immigration, such as an identity conflict between ethnic Norwegians and its growing immigrant Muslim population.

During the Medieval period, the Middle East flourished under a rapidly growing Islamic rule. I was curious about women’s rights during this time of scientific, linguistic, and artistic advancement-- specifically concerning their authority over reproduction. I decided to focus on the degree of agency women had during this period over their rights in marriage, sexual intercourse, childbearing, and birth control. In order to answer this question, I consulted many sources, including six primary ones: the Qu’ran and the Hadiths (Muslim holy texts), a story from Thousand and One Nights, two medical texts from Avicenna, and Muhammad’s last sermon. My analysis was collected in a paper written for Dr. Reaves’s class Women in Global History. In my research, I found that although the rise of Islam gave women in the Medieval Middle East more rights than they previously had, women faced harsher restrictions on their sexuality than men. However, analysis of my other sources shows ways in which women may have been able to covertly exercise some authority over their sexuality.

This paper examines the effect of Josip Broz Tito’s formation of the Peoples Republic of Yugoslavia and its long-term effects on the Balkan nation-states, as well as on emigrants that fled the region for the American dream, like that of my Great-Great Grandfather. For centuries the region has been ethnically divided. After World War II, Tito intended to unify the diverse Balkan peoples. Instead, Tito’s totalitarian control intensified ancient tensions within the Yugoslavian Republic. After his death and the outbreak of ethnic wars and political division of Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Herzegovina evolved into a country that in a way embodied Tito’s unified Yugoslav ideal, from its ethnic diversity to the establishment of its republic and constitution. The embodiment of this ideal may be found in the first article of the constitution, which states that no one shall remain stateless nor denied citizenship. The ever-shifting political boundaries of the Balkans throughout the twentieth century had a direct impact on national and ethnic identity for emigrants such as my Great-Great Grandfather who arrived in America in the early 20th century. He repeatedly applied for naturalization, and his nationality and origin of birth changed depending on the current political status of the Bosnian Slovenian region where he was born, reflecting how personal identity can be shaped by political instability. Thirty years after immigrating to the U.S., he was granted U.S. citizenship; decades later, my Grandfather’s birthplace developed a constitution that would prevent the tragedy of persons left stateless.

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk founded Turkey on the principle of secularization, believing a separation from Islam would allow Turkey to compete in an increasingly global world as a modern nation. Until the late twentieth century, Turkey followed the secular path Ataturk laid out. However, support of secularization was never unanimous. In recent times, opposition to secularization has reemerged under the leadership of Recep Erdogan and the Justice and Development Party. This group, who supports greater influence of Islam in Turkish society, has dominated the government for the past decade.  To those who still revere Ataturk's memory, some of Erdogan's policies are seen to threaten the founding principles of modern Turkey.  Using national election results, party political publications, interviews and local newspaper articles, this paper attempts to assess the degree of polarization that seems to have emerged in the Turkish populace.  It suggests that reconciling the conflict between secularists and Islamists will be a huge challenge, but absolutely essential for Turkey's future.

The Soviet Union's unique system of government and its economic stagnation during the 1980s would permit great policy changes and lead to Yuri Andropov’s ascension following the death of Leonid Brezhnev. This succession proved more vital to the Soviet Union's demise than the succession in the White House in 1981. CIA documents from this period of succession suggest that the future consolidation of power after Brezhnev offered a variety of possibilities. The purpose of this research is to identify the factors the CIA considered key to the Post-Brezhnev succession period. Through close reviews of available CIA reports, most released after 2010, this study examines the succession process and the state of the Soviet leadership and economy in the two years prior to Brezhnev's death in 1982.

Following the fall of the Soviet Union, the nation of Ukraine has been forced to deal with lasting issues involving its past history with Russia. In 2004, issues of national identity and authoritarian government came to the foreground in the presidential election between Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovych. With allegations of fraud and corruption favoring the more traditional pro-Russian candidate, thousands of protesters rose up to fight the election results, in favor of the more Western European oriented Yushchenko. A relatively peaceful event, this “Orange Revolution,” would see much debate and the eventual election of Yushchenko, seemingly ending the years of corruption and heavy handed government, while also advocating for a more pro-EU and democratic Ukraine. The Orange Revolution embodies the struggles Ukraine has encounter since its independence, as it attempts to manage its ethnic division, as well as deal with the legacy of Soviet authoritarianism. By using newspaper articles, political statements, and governmental documents, this paper analyzes the major themes of the events during the Orange Revolution, as well as their significance for modern Ukrainian history as a whole.

World War II called on the citizens of the United States to support the war using marketing propaganda stories of exaggerated heroism that stressed the necessity to buy war bonds and included Hollywood personalities to become role models for the war effort. With the increase of salaries and wages due to the wartime economy, workers, especially women, earned enough money to spend on items like makeup that they might not have bought during the previous years of the Great Depression.  However, advertisements needed to echo the theme of honor and patriotism at the time. Magazines, like McCall’s, used patriotic pictures, honoring military women, and the endorsement of famous Hollywood actresses to manipulate readers’ emotions and encourage them to invest in cosmetics between 1941 and 1945. Research found that in the very early 1940’s, prior to the United States’ entrance into the war, most make-up advertisements were based on manipulating women’s emotional need to find a husband.  During the war years, however, men were overseas and not available for date nights.  Instead cosmetic companies selling face powder used military inspired ads to grasp women’s attention and increase their desire to purchase the product based on the feeling that it would support the war.  A close look at ads in the magazine between 1941 and 1945 demonstrates that McCall’s used the war in their advertising to attract more buyers by introducing service personnel in military uniforms and patriotic celebrity endorsements to encourage women to buy their products.