Thesis Defenses
Spring 2024
Brian Fleming Bleed
May 17, 2024 at 9am in Bond Hall 315
“Two Years in the Making and Ten Minutes in the Destroying.” British Communal Army Formation during the First World War by Brian Fleming Bleed
The thesis explores how the Pals Battalions, a community focused army formation, impacted British communities during the first half of World War One. Fleming Bleed argues that the Pals Battalions were conceived as a temporary program to muster volunteers without yet resorting to conscription, and that because of their collective roots within their respective hometowns, class divides were more acutely felt than in traditional army formations. This confused liminal status eventually led to the Pals' annihilation at the Somme, which in turn had wide impacts on local communities back home, many of which left long lasting legacies of economic downturn which still have yet to be reconciled.
Aaron Gibbs
May 16, 2024 at 2pm in Bond Hall 325
“Amity and Commerce: The Jay Treaty and Free Trade in the Atlantic World” by Aaron Gibbs
This thesis analyzes the debates surrounding the Jay Treaty of 1794 in the United States and the British Empire, two nations with sharply differing views on international trade. When the public reaction to the Jay Treaty is situated within an Atlantic context, it reveals that the triumph of Adam Smith's economic theories was far from assured. Despite overwhelming American support for free trade, the merits of mercantilism were hotly contested throughout the British Empire from 1783-1795.
Phoenix Walker
May 6, 2024 at 4pm in Bond Hall 317
“Medical Necessities: A History of Transgender Care in Washington State and British Columbia from the 1950s to the Present” by Phoenix Walker
The thesis explores the emergence of transgender care within the United States and Canada focusing on Washington state and British Columbia. Walker discusses the social, medical, and political interactions between trans people, those who provide transgender care, and those controlling access to said care. He argues that by looking into these regional histories and examining the production of transgender care addresses the long, continuous struggle over who defines transgender bodies, the access and availability of transgender care, and the agency of trans people in establishing international care networks.
Winter 2024
Peter Munsterman
March 19, 2024 at 10am in Bond Hall 325
“The Defense of Dialectic and Ethics in Murray Bookchin's Philosophy of Social Ecology” by Peter Munsterman
The thesis explores how Murray Bookchin's philosophy of social ecology attempted to revitalize dialectics and its ethical implications in the postwar world. Munsterman argues that Bookchin developed a new interpretation of dialectic and ethics along ecological lines so as to establish the basis of a future ecological society.
Patrick Czichas
February 21, 2024 at 5pm in Bond Hall 315
“Iron Mixed with Clay, Partly Strong, Partly Brittle: Exploring Religious Cultural Exchange Within the Seleucid Empire” by Patrick Czichas
The thesis aims to critically analyze religious cultural exchange between the Seleucid rulers and the non-Hellenic subjects of the Seleucid Empire (ca. 300 - 64 BCE). Czichas argues the Hellenistic/Seleucid Period should no longer be categorized as a period of cultural assimilation, or “Hellenization” of ancient Middle Eastern cultures. Instead, this research proves that the cultures ruled by the Seleucids engaged with Seleucid religion and reacted to it in a diverse number of ways...The Seleucid-Babylonians represent one of the cultures that integrated and collaborated with Seleucids in religious customs while the Seleucid-Jews represent the opposite, a complete rejection of Seleucid religious influence.
Seth Frow
March 15, 2024 at 1pm in Bond Hall 325
“The Perils of Religion, Ethnicity and Nationalism: Violent Ruptures in Poland and Ukraine, The United States, and the former Ottoman Empire” by Seth Frow
This non-thesis MA defense will explore how early modern conceptions of nationalism and ethnicity tore societies apart at their seams in the 19th and 20th centuries. It will focus especially on ideas of civil war, ethnic cleansing, and the end of religious tolerance in societies for which religious tolerance had previously been the norm.
Alexis Nunn
February 16, 2024 at 3pm in Bond Hall 317
“Constructing Community: Heresy in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries” by Alexis Nunn
The thesis explores how community boundaries were formed and contested by the Catholic Church, Cathars, and Waldensians beginning in the twelfth century. Nunn argues they defined their communities through the use of texts, especially Scripture, which served as the foundation of spiritual authority. Communal divisions were reinforced through the use of metaphor.
Alan Wheeler
February 13, 2024 at 4pm in Bond Hall 419
“Orientalism in Ancient Literature and its Transmission into Modern Popular Culture” by Alan Wheeler
The thesis explores the bias in ancient Western sources, like Herodotus and others, and how that bias persists throughout time to influence modern historians. Wheeler argues that this bias is also transmitted through popular culture and can ultimately be harmful to the depicted groups.