History, Philosophy & Religious Studies Masters Theses
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Item Unfit: Eugenics on the Northern Great Plains(North Dakota State University, 2024) Magnuson, LeviThe early twenty-first century saw the emergence of the eugenics movement in the United States, which culminated in the sterilization of people with mental or physical disabilities. State institutions across the country were weaponized against these citizens due to the perception that they were “unfit” to be parents. Recent scholarship on the topic has sought to uncover this history. This study seeks to uncover this past in both North and South Dakota as well as offer an alternative avenue for examining the topic with Canton Hiawatha Asylum for Insane Indians. Both states provide instances that confirm the current scholarship on the topic as well as push against it. The Canton Asylum offers a new avenue for historians to examine how eugenics influence medicine and minority communities. Ultimately, the eugenic past of both states continues to be reflected in both the physical landscape and minds of their citizens to this day.Item The Missile People: A Cold War Public Memory(North Dakota State University, 2024) Engeland, ShaneDisrupting the horizon with a startling physical presence on the flat North Dakota prairie, the remains of the Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex are the physical remnants of a decisive stage of the Cold War. The complex was part radar array, part computing marvel, and part nuclear launch control platform that represented a significant federal investment in rural North Dakota. Together, these pieces created the pinnacle of the Pentagon’s efforts to create an effective antiballistic missile system. The local memories attached to the complex contrast with general perceptions of the Cold War. Memories of friendship and community are common when the topic of the Missile Site Radar is broached, adding detail to the general understanding of a Cold War experience that includes a boom followed shortly by a near-complete bust. Recent efforts by the Cavalier County Job Development Authority have reinvigorated interest in the structure, the town, and the story of the Missile People. Interviews with residents and excerpts from The Guardian newsletter describe an intersection of two communities drawn together by terrible circumstances yet were able to create memories that belie the nuclear finality the site ultimately represented.Item A Survey of Certified Athletic Trainers: The Report of Skin Infections Incidence(North Dakota State University, 2009) Wilde, Ashley RuthThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the common types of skin infections occurring in United States athletes within the past year and the types of athletes that are most likely to contract them. Surveys were constructed online and with the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) help sent out to 1,000 athletic trainers. A total of 151 athletic trainers completed the survey reporting 213 athletes with skin infections. Data analysis consisted of using Chi Square to test the frequencies, with a significance level set at p < 0.05. The results revealed a significant difference between the different types of skin infections, the level of competition and sports most affected, and among the most common method of contraction. However, there was no significance found between males or females having a higher probability to contract skin infections. MRSA was the most reported type of skin infection, having a high incidence rate in almost every level of competition, and mostly reported in football players. Ringworm was the second most reported skin infection, with a high number reported in high school athletes, and a high prevalence in wrestlers. Participants reported that the average length of time to report was < 1 - 2 days and that the most common method of contraction was person to person (76) next to "unknown" (77). In conclusion, while additional research needs to be completed to understand the trends in the different sports teams and methods of contraction, this research agreed with most of the current literature available. Additionally, as the number of these types of skin infections continue to increase, education for athletes, coaches, and health professionals is imperative to prevent skin infections from spreading.Item Canadian Confederation andAusgleich: A Comparative Case Study in Imperial Devolution as Imperial Rule and the Effects on National Formation, 1867-1918(North Dakota State University, 2010) Carter, Thomas LachlanScholarly thinking on empires is changing. These scholars see empires as flexible states which are fully capable of meeting the challenges of modernity. This newer line of scholarship challenges the standard narrative of the emergence of nations. Recent scholarship stresses that the history of successor states is not a complete break from the imperial past, but rather that the empires impacted the nature of both the successor states and the nations within. This thesis examines the Confederation of Canada and the Ausgleich, which resulted in the creation of the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary, as successful imperial responses to challenges facing each empire. The subsequent development of national consciousness and national identity among the Canadian and the Hungarian elites emerged as a constituent part of the empire, rather than as a challenge to imperial legitimacy.Item Lucas Alaman and the Historians(North Dakota State University, 2010) Gannon, Grael BrianThis study considers the life, thought, and work of Lucas Alaman, Mexican statesman and historian of the early nineteenth century, as seen by historians from his time to the present with reference to his political attitudes, his political activities, and the political philosophy revealed in his historical writings, with note also of his economic and cultural concerns. Other Mexican thinkers and leaders of the period wanted to cast off the Spanish past, whereas Alaman believed that the Mexican future should be built on that past. Considered by some the greatest mind of the era, even his enemies acknowledged his brilliance and erudition, but they considered him to be an unreconstructed reactionary. Most historians, however, have noted that, in such fields as education and economics, Alaman was years ahead of his time, that in many areas he was creative and innovative. It is the thesis of this paper that, in the consensus of the historians, Alaman was shaped by the enlightened and progressive, yet authoritarian regimes of the last Bourbon kings of Spain; that his ultimate commitment was a patriotic loyalty to Mexico, which nation he believed best served by law and order and peace under the exclusive and paternalistic control of an authoritarian central government. The historical evidence, as a whole, is compatible with the thesis.Item The Lost Environmentalists: The Struggle Between Conservative Christianity and the Environment in the 1970s(North Dakota State University, 2010) Pogue, Neall, M.A.This study examined the history of the relationship between conservative Christians and environmentalism during the 1970s. It illuminated how conservative Christians met environmental concerns in response to the Earth Day observance of 1970 and how their relationship with environmentalism evolved throughout the decade. This thesis is an aid in explaining present day conservative Christian perceptions of environmentalism on a national scale. Suggestions for future research were also offered.Item Latin America Mission: An Exploration of Evangelical Growth in a Catholic Continent(North Dakota State University, 2010) Ptacek, Cassandra JoyThis thesis strives to explore Evangelical Protestant growth in Latin America during the twentieth century through the example of Latin America Mission, a nondenominational, evangelical mission organization founded in 1921. A discussion of the evolution of Christianity in Latin America from the conquest through the twentieth century lays the groundwork for the establishment of Latin America Mission. Subsequent chapters discuss the foundations and practices of the Mission, focusing on its innovative and holistic approach to missions as well as its commitment to social work. Finally, an exploration of the social, political, and religious climate of Latin America provides a further exploration of the continued growth of Latin America Mission into the twenty-first century.Item Solidarity Forever: A Call for Inclusive Holocaust Memory and Coalition Building Amid Forgetting & Denial(North Dakota State University, 2022) Fricker, ElisabethAccording to a recent survey, less than half of American Millennials can name a Holocaust concentration camp, and more than two-thirds of the respondents did not know the number of Jewish people the Nazis killed in the camps. This lack of knowledge is happening in a world where some people do not even admit the Holocaust event happened. This thesis will first lay out the current state of Holocaust remembrance in education, memorialization, and popular culture, particularly in America. Particular attention is given to how these remembrances overlook or silence certain victims of the Holocaust, such as LGBTQ+ victims. The second chapter explores the motivations and ideologies scholars have disregarded about deniers thus far. The final section will examine ways coalitions working in solidarity to make and proliferate inclusive Holocaust narratives can combat Holocaust denial and forgetting.Item “Only as Strong as We All Make It:” The Limitations of Fargo’s Civil Defense during the Early Cold War (1950-1964)(North Dakota State University, 2022) Rudebusch, AaronIn this thesis, I argue that civil defense failed to take hold in the United States because it required local communities to take responsibility for protective measures. Fargo, North Dakota provides a case study for this analysis. The first section examines how Fargo adopted many practices from federal, state, and municipal civil defense organizations in the early 1950s, but struggled to implement them due to volunteer shortages. The second section explains how the hydrogen bomb forced officials to revise civil defense policies. It also details efforts by congressional and private bodies to increase federal responsibility for civil defense. The third section covers Fargo’s lack of response to the Berlin and Cuban Missile Crises, focusing on the unwillingness of Fargoans and their government to invest in civil defense. I conclude that today’s policymakers should recognize the limitations of making local communities responsible for policy implementation.Item The Fluidity of Gender Roles on the Northern Great Plains 1890-1950(North Dakota State University, 2022) Aulner, Stefanie Michele PililaniThe relative infancy of the Northern Great Plains social environment compared to the well-established social systems of the United States east of the Mississippi fostered growth and allowed the redefinition of women’s gender roles. Without the strict social policing of women’s roles within the frontier society, women could redefine their gender roles. Women not only redefined their gender roles but made independent decisions based on their current situations and navigated within the already assigned societal gender roles. In this instance, women, often oppressed and constrained by societal expectations and obligations, simultaneously possessed the choice to navigate and make decisions within the established framework of their gendered society. Defined gender roles in the Northern Great Plains do not exist. Instead, gender roles on the Northern Great Plains have been and are ever-evolving and fluid.Item Beryl Levine: North Dakota's first female State Supreme Court justice(North Dakota State University, 2009) Stanley, Cody BenardThe intent of this thesis is to explore the life and perspective of the North Dakota State Supreme Court's first female justice, Beryl J. Levine. The overarching question throughout this thesis is, whether or not, because she was the first, Levine added a new voice to the court. This analysis begins with a biography of Levine. This biography will illustrate how Levine's knowledge and world views were affected by the environment that she grew up and lived in. The subsequent section deals with Levine's rulings on divorce cases. Levine had a unique perspective on divorce law; specifically in the areas of child custody, alimony and property distribution; she deviated from the court's majority on several occasions. The next part focuses on Levine's work to reduce gender discrimination in North Dakota. Levine worked to eliminate gender discrimination through many different methods. Once these three areas of Levine's life and work are looked at as a whole, it will be demonstrated that Levine added a new perspective to the North Dakota State Supreme Court.Item The Woman’s Club of Moorhead 1868-1946(North Dakota State University, 2018) Eidem, Katie AnnFar from upholding the domestic ideal of the Victorian Era, the Moorhead Woman’s Club helped establish the first public library in the city and strove for changes in education through active engagement in the public “sphere.” The club women, helped women gain a foothold in local government by applying maternalistic arguments for women’s involvement and leadership in reform activities.Item Shattering the Color Barrier: Black Students, White Colleges, and the Story of Project E-Quality at Moorhead State College (1968-1974)(North Dakota State University, 2005) Vanorny, Hannah MaeDuring the late 1960s and early 1970s, many predominantly white colleges began admitting larger numbers of black students. According to a 1974-1975 University of Michigan study, these schools shared similar predisposing factors and went through the same precipitating events on their journeys toward increased black enrollment. In addition, after the new students arrived, all of the schools experienced tension as they encountered similar problems and worked to find solutions. Moorhead State College (MSC), in Moorhead, Minnesota, was a white school that began trying to attract more minority students with a recruitment program called Project E-Quality. The program enrolled over 120 minority students, many of them black, between 1968 and 1974. The influx of black students at MSC had a significant impact on the school population as well as on the surrounding white community. The program helped break down racial barriers and stereotypes, as many whites and some blacks encountered people of a different race for the first time. By voicing grievances, forming their own groups, expressing cultural pride, and fighting for change, MSC black students left a lasting impact on the college.Item The Battleground for the American Past: The Influence of the Vietnam War in Contemporary Memory(North Dakota State University, 2020) Olmsted, Chelsea DawnCommemorative programming for historic anniversaries reveals an interpretive and narrative evolution between public memory and history. The divisiveness of the war and the public’s ambivalence about its meaning allowed for broader interpretive perspectives compared to earlier war commemorations. Research on the evolving narratives considers how public memory informs identity and affects historical interpretations. Recent museum exhibits, historic sites, and films about the Vietnam War bring into focus the changing narrative of the Vietnam War. Case studies for this research are the Washington, D.C. National Archives and Records Administration Remembering Vietnam exhibit, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund’s plans for an education center, and Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s documentary The Vietnam War. The soldier’s experience narrative still dominates interpretations, but interpretations have expanded to include the Vietnamese and the protest perspective. The passage of time and the conflict’s complexity has opened the way for new perspectives in commemorative programming.Item 'They Ain't Afraid of no Ghosts': Dark Tourism at Historic Sites(North Dakota State University, 2020) Johnson, Kaci LynnDark tourism, a subsection of heritage tourism, is growing in popularity and center around historic sites and museums. Those sites are put in the position to take advantage of the surging popularity of dark tourism by offering programming that complements it. Ghost tours, paranormal investigations, and haunted houses have all been utilized by museums and historic sites to boost revenue and attendance numbers. The implementation of dark programming raises difficult discussions on the role of museums in society and the ethics of profiting off of ghosts, spirits, and the paranormal. The decision to produce dark programming as a complement to dark tourism is best decided on a case to case basis, as no two museums or historic sites are the same. But every site that is considering dark programming needs to weigh their mission, ethics, their stakeholders, and the memory and space of their site before coming to a decision.Item Makȟóčhe Wašté, The Beautiful Country: An Indigenous Landscape Perspective(North Dakota State University, 2019) Goodhouse, Dakota WindThe Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires; “Great Sioux Nation”) occupied an area from the woodlands to the Great Plains. The landscape and the wind influenced their language and culture in a way that suggests a long occupation. Major landmarks like Ȟesápa (Black Hills), Matȟó Thípila (Bear Lodge; “Devils Tower”), Pahá Makȟáska (White Earth Butte; White Butte, ND), and Oǧúǧa Owápi (Images Burned Into The Stone; Jeffers Petroglyphs, MN) were woven into the cultural identity of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ. The pictographic record, traditional song, and oral tradition recall events like first contact with the horse at the Čhaŋsáŋsaŋ Ožáte (White Birch Fork), or the James River-Missouri River confluence in C.E. 1692. The historical pictographic record, oral tradition, and occupation will be examined in this paper to support the idea that Očhéthi Šakówiŋ have a cultural occupation of the Great Plains that long predates the European record.Item Publishing Public History: Publishing Options for Small Organizations(North Dakota State University, 2019) Beaton, Angela AnnPublishing books and catalogs has long been the domain of large museums and historical societies that have an equally large budget. While large organizations can commit vast amounts of time and resources to publishing, many small organizations cannot. Before recent technological advances, small museums and local history organizations were unable to participate in the publishing of books and catalogs easily. However, today, there are several viable options for these organizations to begin publishing. This research aims to highlight the ways that small organizations in the Upper Midwest have been utilizing technological advances and strategic partnerships to publish. Using these tools and partnerships, independently published books, catalogs, and other publications can be academically sound, including peer review, while also being affordable and easily created.Item Raven and the Russians: An Environmental History of Looking at Animals in Siberia, 1582-1867(North Dakota State University, 2019) Abbe, Spencer PaulThe history of Russia’s eastern empire was largely defined by disjointed disparities between a Russian-speaking culture and the numerous indigenous groups of Siberia. Among these disparities were differing conceptions of the animals in the physical environment between the Russians and several of the indigenous groups they encountered as they expanded their claim to empire. This thesis foregrounds the role played by subjective perceptions of what the animal component of the physical environment was and was for by considering both indigenous and imperial perspectives of six animals which played roles in the imperial process.Item Construction, Adaptation, and Preservation of Earth Homes on the Northern Plains(North Dakota State University, 2018) Kurtz, Robert KevinThe earth home, in its many varieties and styles, played an important role in the development of the American Great Plains during the mid-nineteenth century. However, the lack of further study into the material culture of these homes has allowed many of these homes to be misrepresented in the historical record as temporary shelters. Not all of the earth homes constructed during this period were temporary. Further study of the materials used, the locations in which they were built, and their construction methods suggest that many of these homes were built to last. The three case studies used in this thesis represent a large number of earth homes still standing today. The findings of this study enhance the history of the region and open up new avenues for further research on earth homes as well as the possibilities and the importance of their preservation.Item Katharina Schütz Zell: The Religious Vocation of a Female Reformer in Sixteenth-Century Strasbourg(North Dakota State University, 2018) Howard, SamanthaKatharina Schütz Zell lived in the free imperial city of Strasbourg during the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century. Commitment to a lifelong faith led Katharina to embrace early protestant beliefs: salvation by faith and grace, the sole authority of Scripture, and the priesthood of all believers. In 1524, she joined the reform movement and began sharing her beliefs. This study argues that Katharina Schütz Zell established herself as a reformer who served God through Christ with love and compassion. Katharina’s early writings convey her steadfast values of Christian living. In times of chaos and uncertainty, her unwavering faith provided continuity for believers in Strasbourg. In later writings, her belief in the priesthood of all believers and her extensive religious knowledge supported Katharina’s authority against criticisms. Katharina Schütz Zell continually served God by teaching other believers about His love and grace.