Thesiss

My study begins by outlining the historical significance of medieval studies in African-American colleges and scholarly writing in the decades after the Civil War. Scholars have studied this period with respect to the myth of racial purity that pervaded white racial discourse at…

This dissertation locates and analyzes the mechanisms and forms of urban change that accompanied the forced mass migration of the Moriscos, descendants of Spanish Muslims forcibly converted to Catholicism. The Moriscos, converted between 1501 and 1526, and expelled first from Gr…

This work examines a register of Malaysian Foreigner Talk within the sociolinguistic history of the region and in its place in the patterns of contemporary life in urban Malaysia. Emphasis is placed on the routines and linguistic items used for foreigner approach and avoidance a…

This thesis provides a detailed case study of the havelis of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. Jaisalmer was selected as the study area not only because of the abundance and richness of the havelis in this region, but also because of the extreme nature of the climate in and around the area.…

This project examines vernacular, soldier-produced and official, military-produced videos posted on YouTube during the War in Iraq. The purpose of this project is three fold: (a) to explore vernacular memorializing and argumentation on YouTube as an alternative to government and…

The Vernacular Discourse of the "Arab Spring" is a project that bridges the divide between the East and the West by offering new readings to Arab subjectivities. Through an analysis of the "Arab Spring" through the lens of vernacular discourse, it challenges the Euro-Americo-cen…

The growth of a nationalist consciousness in the literature of the late colonial period in India dates back to the 1880s, when both native and European Orientalists began to suggest the idea that the uniqueness of a “nation” was a function of the living cultural forms of the sub…

This dissertation, titled Dante and the name of the vernacular: on "De Vulgari Eloquentia" and ‘Vulgare Latium’, studies how the meaning of the word ‘vernacular’ changed from the medieval to the early modern period by focusing on the text of Dante’s De vulgari eloquentia and the…

This research is concerned with the appropriation of personal photographs within contemporary art practice. The scope of the investigation ranges from the study of history and theory of photography to the making of experimental artworks with vernacular photographic artefacts and…

The liturgical changes of Vatican II sought to bring a period of renewal to the Catholic laity by encouraging active participation and making the Mass more simple to understand. However, the time after the Council was characterized by confusion and disengagement by the laity. I …

Sutter County’s Century Farmers identifies families with an ongoing legacy of land use in Sutter County. Families that have been farming for 100 years in Sutter County are vital resources in identifying regional themes, historic agricultural developments, and landscape character…

If you are only at church services on Sunday and do not actively practice your religious faith every day, are you “born again” every day? Reverend Rebecca Lewis of Wesley Methodist Church in a small town in Belize preaches active participation in the church and encourages her co…

This dissertation contends that by commissioning vernacular works of religious instruction, or pastoralia, English ecclesiastical leaders of the later Middle Ages unwittingly diminished clerics' preeminence over lay people. Although recent years have brought a surge of scholarly…