News

Jan 4, 2011

MSNBC Taps CHASS Historian for Reaction to Mississippi Governor’s Account of Civil Rights Era

Professor of History Blair Kelley was featured recently on MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann regarding Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour’s comments about the role of the segregationist Citizen’s Councils during the civil rights era. See the interview here.

Nov 10, 2010

The Triumph of Patriarchy in Kentucky’s History

In his newly-published book, Kentucke’s Frontiers (Indiana University Press, 2010), Professor of History Craig Thompson Friend explains how fear and terror transformed that region’s early promise of an egalitarian life for all into a patriarchal society that favored white men. “The frontier offered opportunity, not just for white men, but for blacks and white women,”…

Oct 28, 2010

Beechland and the Lost Colony

McMullan, Philip. “Beechland and the Lost Colony.” (Under the direction of Dr. Holly Brewer.) In a well known story, Sir Walter Ralegh’s attempt to settle ‘Virginia’ in 1587 became ‘The Lost Colony;’ 117 men, women and children simply disappeared. John White, the colony’s governor, described how the colonists were forced to remain on Roanoke Island…

Jun 1, 2010

Partial Views and Private Interest: Corruption and Politics in Colonial North Carolina, 1754-1760

Stroud, Jason. “Partial Views and Private Interest: Corruption and Politics in Colonial North Carolina, 1754-1760.” (Under the direction of Dr. Holly Brewer.) Under the governorship of Arthur Dobbs (r.1754-1763) colonial North Carolina witnessed a number of serious political debates that culminated in an effort by opposition political leaders to unseat the governor. This thesis examines…

Apr 30, 2010

Naturalized Citizens: Conservation, Gender, and the Tennessee Valley Authority during the New Deal

Bradshaw, Laura Hepp. “Naturalized Citizens: Conservation, Gender, and the Tennessee Valley Authority during the New Deal.” (Under the direction of Dr. Katherine Mellen Charron and Dr. Matthew Morse Booker.) Broadly, this thesis is an examination of the conservation movement and the Tennessee Valley Authority from the Progressive Era through the New Deal. The creation of…

Apr 30, 2010

God Save the King: The Concept of Monarchial Authority in Colonial America

Miller, Dennis. “God Save the King: The Concept of Monarchial Authority in Colonial America.” (Under the direction of Dr. Holly Brewer.) In April 1586, Queen Elizabeth I of England acquired a now-obscure title that helped establish English societal values over the New World. This title, “Weroanza,” meant “Big Chief” in the Native American language. Elizabeth’s…

Apr 28, 2010

A Castellan Claims his Castles: Textualization of Claims in Eleventh-Century Aquitaine

Battle, Indrayani. “A Castellan Claims his Castles: Textualization of Claims in Eleventh-Century Aquitaine.” (Under the direction of Dr. Julie Mell.) The Conventum inter Guillelmum Aquitanorum Comitem et Hugonem Chilarchum is a 340-line, highly descriptive document of claims, counter-claims, and often violent conflicts, all revolving around property, between Hugh of Lusignan and Count William of Aquitaine,…

Apr 22, 2010

Casualties of a Radicalizing Cuban Revolution: Middle-Class Opposition and Exile, 1961-1968

Loiacano, Catherine Lynn. “Casualties of a Radicalizing Cuban Revolution: Middle-Class Opposition and Exile, 1961-1968.” (Under the direction of Dr. Richard Slatta.) This study explores the major factors contributing to the exodus of the Cuban middle class from 1961-1968. For the purpose of this study, the heterogeneous middle class is broken up into middle-class students, professionals,…

Apr 22, 2010

“The Extremest Necessity:” Lincoln’s Policies on Civil Liberties and Citizen Responses, 1861-1865

Martin, Elizabeth Mae-Carr. “‘The Extremest Necessity:’ Lincoln’s Policies on Civil Liberties and Citizen Responses, 1861-1865.” (Under the direction of Dr. Susanna Lee.) Abraham Lincoln has been viewed alternately as a hero of the Union or a tyrant who abused his power. This debate stems in part from Lincoln’s actions regarding civil liberties. Lincoln authorized the…

Apr 20, 2010

A Reevaluation of Iron Age Fortified Sites on the Eastern Kerak Plateau

Brown, Stephanie Hope. “A Reevaluation of Iron Age Fortified Sites on the Eastern Kerak Plateau.” (Under the direction of Dr. S. Thomas Parker.) This thesis is concerned with the nature of ten Moabite fortified sites on the eastern Kerak Plateau in central Jordan. Based largely upon an attempted synthesis between the archaeological record of the…