ABSTRACT: The United States of America underwent a series of political and social changes as a
result of the First World War. This thesis seeks to examine the relationship between
nationalism and anti-immigration sentiment as a result of wartime exacerbations on these
movements and ideologies. The acceptance of immigrants and immigrant culture is directly
correlated to the prevalence and intention of nationalism. As the United States attempted to
formulate a cohesive and united identity within the early twentieth century, immigrants,
particularly immigrants from enemy nations, were increasingly excluded from American
identification. As a result, immigrants underwent a series of Americanization efforts in
addition to increasing legal and social pressure to conform and confirm their allegiance to
their new country. Anti-immigration attitudes and nationalism worked together to reimagine
both American society and America’s role in global affairs.
ABSTRACT: This thesis will analyze the transformation of material expression in Maya religious rites influenced by Spanish and American intervention. It will do so by comparing religious rites involving the usage of beverage from the pre-Columbian era up to the present. Through an evaluation of anthropological definitions of ritual complexion by Edmund Leach and Marcel Mauss, religion by Emile Durkheim and cultural imperialism by John Tomlinson, this thesis will attempt to understand the material interpretation of immaterial beliefs in light of cultural imperialism and cultural hybridity. Based on these theoretical precedents, this thesis will argue that the transformation of the usage of beverage in Maya religious rites is a case of cultural hybridity. This conclusion is founded on the durability of the ancient Maya belief system that is visible in either material or immaterial testament in each case-study. Food usage in Maya rites are therefore flexible in their material adaptation to their current circumstances. They change according to new systems of cultural exchange, consumption and production, set in motion by changes in political or economic power.
ABSTRACT: This thesis attempts to answer the question of why the levels of violence in the cities of Boston and Paris during the respective American and French revolutions differed so greatly. First, it endeavors to provide a framework of social theory grounded in empirical psychological evidence, to show that humans tend to imitate each other and internalize desires and actions of others without their consent. It then provides a relatively standard rendition of the revolutionary periods of both Boston and Paris from the perspective of the crowd. Finally, it analyzes the differences between the accounts given, and alleges two reasons for why the level of violence differed in the light of these differences: (1) that the ideal governments of the two cities differed in the Arendtian sense of “labor” and “action”, and that the French Revolution in Paris was unable to close its liminal period due to its continual sacrifice. The conclusion provides a brief summary of the findings and their limitations and relates them to the larger world.
ABSTRACT: This thesis discusses the different perceptions that the Venetian state, local citizens, and foreign travelers had towards prostitutes between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries. The purpose is to demonstrate how the consideration of prostitutes over those centuries shifted from toleration and respect to commiseration and negative judgements, according to the change of religious morality. The thesis is divided in three chapters, each one analyzing a specific type of source. Also, there is an introduction describing the historical context of Venice over the years taken in consideration and the emergence of the figure of the courtesan. The first chapter is dedicated to the study of laws, in particular to the three recurring sets of laws on residency, clothing, and health. The second chapter focuses on the reading of travel diaries, which give information over the relation between prostitution with families, protectors, and the Senate. The third and last chapter discusses the representation of prostitutes in paintings and prints, showing the progressive passage from celebrating and mythological subjects to moralistic messages. Finally the conclusion revises all that is said in the chapters and highlights the coincidence of religious moralistic messages with phases of struggle of the Republic, such as the economic crisis and the outbreak of diseases. For the methodology, the sources used are almost all primary, as they enable to make specific analysis and reach several conclusions.
