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Description
The purpose of this essay is to determine how the narratives of veterans who served in combat roles during the Vietnam War have affected how historians have written about the war. First, this project will briefly cover the history of the general public’s view of the war and it’s veterans, looking at how feelings towards Vietnam War veterans have shifted over the past fifty years. Next, this project will analyze two books about the Vietnam War that focus primarily on the veteran experience, rather than on the internal politics of the United States and Vietnam or on the successes or failures of battle, and determine the extent to which these books contribute to public understanding of the war. This essay will then determine the role memory plays in crafting these narratives and how historians have an obligation to include or at least consider the complex perspectives of veterans and their families when they write on topics as controversial as warfare.
ContributorsArroyo, Jose Maria (Author) / Miller, Keith (Thesis director) / Thompson, Victoria (Committee member) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The history of Arizona is filled with ambitious pioneers, courageous Natives, and loyal soldiers, but there is a seeming disconnect between those who came before us and many of those who currently inhabit this space. Many historic locations that are vital to discovering the past in Arizona are both hard to find and lacking in information pertaining to what happened there. However, despite the apparent lack of history and knowledge pertaining to these locations, they are vitally present in the public memory of the region, and we wish to shed some much-needed light on a few of these locations and the historical takeaways that can be gleaned from their study. This thesis argues the significance of three concepts: place-making, public memory, and stories. Place-making is the reinvention of history in the theater of mind which creates a plausible reality of the past through what is known in the present. Public memory is a way to explain how events in a location affect the public consciousness regarding that site and further events that stem from it. Lastly, stories about a place and event help to explain its overall impact and what can be learned from the occurrences there. Throughout this thesis we will be discussing seven sites across Arizona, the events that occurred there, and how these three aspects of study can be used to experience history in a personal way that gives us a special perspective on the land around us. The importance of personalizing history lies in finding our own identity as inhabitants of this land we call home and knowing the stories gives us greater attachment to the larger narrative of humanity as it has existed in this space.
ContributorsMartin, Austin Richard (Co-author) / Martin, Trevor (Co-author) / Fixico, Donald (Thesis director) / O'Donnell, Catherine (Committee member) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies, Sch (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
While English language education has become increasingly prominent worldwide, countries have adopted various initiatives to increase English language development. One country making a push for English language development is Taiwan; however, current educational practices and values can prove to be challenges in implementing new methods. For example, although Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) methods gained popularity starting in the 1990s, they have been slow to take hold in Taiwan. Additionally, Taiwan’s Ministry of Education is pushing for bilingualism by the year 2030, introducing curricular reforms and new strategies to increase the prominence of English on a social level. In order to analyze current educational methods and practices in Taiwan, as well as predict the efficacy of new strategies, this study focused on gathering the perspectives and experiences of the students themselves. International students were specifically targeted, as they have had exposure to multiple educational environments, as well as firsthand experience applying their English language knowledge in an immersive environment. To gather student perspective, an online survey was made available to Taiwanese international students currently studying in a U.S. university. Respondents were asked multiple-choice questions on curricular focus, as well as short answer questions regarding their educational experiences. Overall, the respondents showed an agreement in regards to the heavy emphasis of reading, writing, and grammar in Taiwan, which they correlated directly with high-stakes exams, particularly the university entrance exam. They also noted the lack of speaking and listening practice, as well as a strong desire to apply English in a communicative sense. These observations hold significant implications for various stakeholders, including teachers, principals, curriculum developers, exam designers, and university admissions.
ContributorsEricson, Rebecca Elaine (Author) / Matsuda, Aya (Thesis director) / James, Mark (Committee member) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies (Contributor, Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-12
Description
In recent years, it has become evident that American civic literacy is in a sharp decline. Many scholars agree that young adults are becoming increasingly less engaged in activities involving the application of civics and that this may hinder the democratic process. This thesis will focus on how historical perspectives can improve contemporary application of civics in order to solve the civic literacy crisis. The report will evaluate different approaches to improving civic engagement in order to gauge their effectiveness and the potential for their use in the United States. In analyzing the decline, we will look at work from the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) like A Crisis in Civic Education and A Crucible Moment. Subsequently, we will provide a review of Megan McClure’s Tackling the American Civics Education Crisis and Robert D. Putnam’s Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital. We will present historical perspectives from the 19th and 20th century such as Thomas Jefferson, Alexis De Tocqueville and John Dewey in order to apply them to contemporary solutions for the decline. The contemporary perspectives of Harvard scholar Danielle Allen and various professors in the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership (SCETL) at Arizona State University will be analyzed and critiqued. The results of our research prove that historical perspectives, when applied to contemporary solutions, are an effective way to bout the civic engagement crisis in the United States. This information can be used to alter the curriculum in the classroom to encourage and prepare students to become civically literate and engaged in order to protect the democratic process.
ContributorsGiambanco, Niccolo Giuseppe Salvatore (Co-author) / Boering, Avery (Co-author) / Seagrave, Adam (Thesis director) / Voboril, Jakub (Committee member) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies (Contributor, Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The Irish Potato Famine, sometimes known as the Great Famine, is arguably one of the most infamous famines to occur in documented history. Between the years of 1845-1849, more than 1 million Irish people either died of starvation or were forced to flee the country because of this catastrophe. To truly understand how such a devastating event occurred, it is important to understand the political climate of the time period – particularly in regard to Ireland’s relationship with England. Although the famine was caused, in part, by the failure of Ireland’s potato crop due to a disease dubbed the “blight,” the death rate was exacerbated by the lack of English aid – as Ireland was, at the time, an English colony. The mass death and immigration from Ireland within such a short time period were largely caused by negligence and mismanagement of the crisis by the English rulers.
ContributorsTobin, Delaney Ann (Author) / Langille, Timothy (Thesis director) / O'Donnell, Catherine (Committee member) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Historians periodize the ancient past in order to better facilitate its study. From period to period, the ideas, figures and discussions that define as distinct become trapped within the walls that historians have artificially imposed. However, history is not nearly so clean, and that which we have selected to define each period may be carried forward beyond their period or retrojected into a past period. This thesis will explore how ideas and concepts travel backward and forward in time, through construction of memory and through cultural hybridity and intertextuality, by casting the royal ideology of the Hasmoneans as seen in I and II Maccabees in light of the legacy and memory of the Achaemenid Persian Dynasty. The first two chapters discuss the development of Achaemenid Royal Ideology, beginning with the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus II and his adoption of the ancient Near Eastern “Restorer of Order” literary paradigm to restructure the past for political legitimacy, and continues to the rise to power of Darius I, who in many ways built off of the Restorer of Order paradigm but innovated in establishing a new, more equal relationship between the divine and the royal receiver of the divine mandate to rule. The second two chapters begin with a discussion of II Maccabees and its use of the Restorer of Order paradigm, but goes more into detail on how it constructs an “idyllic past” that not only connects the Maccabees to mythic biblical figures but also reconstructs the Persian past of the Jewish people that mirrors and legitimizes Hasmonean royal ideology in sacred time, and ends with a discussion of how the innovations of Darius might have shaped the eventual conflict between the Hasmonean dynasty and their opponents over the correct responsibilities of the High Priest in Jerusalem.
ContributorsDanesh, Hal Tzvi (Author) / Langille, Timothy (Thesis director) / Mirguet, Francoise (Committee member) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies (Contributor, Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05