Tag: A5 Perceptions of Cultural Change

The Terminator: The Forgotten Role of Thomas B. Watters in Klamath Termination, 1953-1958

Presenter: Matt Villeneuve

Mentor: Glenn May

PM Session Oral Presentation

Panel Name: A5 Perceptions of Cultural Change

Location: Oak Room

Time: 1:15pm – 2:15pm

In 1953, the Klamath Indian tribe of Southern Oregon was controversially selected for termination by the US congress as a part of a new program to end the “special treatment” of Native Americans by the federal government. To carry out the details of this process, a man named Thomas B. Watters, former mayor of Klamath Falls, was tapped to serve as the middle man between congress and the Klamath as a private “management specialist.” After his arrival on the reservation and demographic research, Watters came to oppose the law he was hired to execute as he felt it was not in the best interest of the Klamath. Three years later, Watters was criticized for his stance by a contingent of the Klamath, Republican members of congress, and former Bureau of Indiana Affair officials, and eventually fired. Using materials from SCUA and the National Archives in Seattle, we will attempt to better understand Watters role in the process of termination and what his experience suggests concerning the nature of the federal program.

Wael Ghonim: Symbolic Figure vs. Representative Publicity

Presenters: Zeph Schafer, Mark Plumlee and Maia Salomon

Mentor: Vera Keller

PM Session Oral Presentation

Panel Name: A5 Perceptions of Cultural Change

Location: Oak Room

Time: 1:15pm – 2:15pm

This study emerged from an honors college seminar examining how public spheres began to form throughout the premodern era. Our research was informed by works such as German sociologist, Jurgen Habermas. Habermas proposed the idea of representative publicity to discuss the relationship between symbolic individuals and an emerging publicity. Informed by Habermas’s theories, we discussed the symbolic personhood of Wael Ghonim on the Egyptian revolution. As a symbolic figure who gave a face to the revolution, his release from jail played a pivotal role in the ouster of Hosni Mubarak. We looked at news articles and videos of the Revolution, and contrasted Ghonim’s role as a symbolic figure with the role of pre-modern monarchs in public displays of their body. Ghonim’s role in the revolution showed the role of a physical body in modern democratic revolutions.

Violence and Graphic Symbols in the Arab Spring

Presenters: Kathryn Carpenter and Eva Bertoglio

Mentor: Vera Keller

PM Session Oral Presentation

Panel Name: A5 Perceptions of Cultural Change

Location: Oak Room

Time: 1:15pm – 2:15pm

Our research was based on ideas of the public sphere in the last five hundred years that were discussed in HC 232, “Multiple Modernities, Ottoman and Early Modern Europe 1450-present”. We chose to focus on revolutions in the Arab Spring, and the body politic concept. We decided to discuss violence in relation to the body politic, and the way violence and violent symbols were employed in the Arab Spring. Drawing upon the ideas of the German sociologist Jurgen Habermas and historian Nina Berman, we analyzed the role of the body politic since the 16th century. We used photos, diagrams, and videos to represent different aspects of the revolutions and violence within them. We found that violence was brought into play by both the governing bodies and the general public, and symbolic violence and physical violence were both used to further the platforms of both parties.

The Mekong River Commission: Indicators of Successful Regime Strengthening

Presenter: Lauren Boucher

Mentor: Ronald Mitchell

PM Session Oral Presentation

Panel Name: A5 Perceptions of Cultural Change

Location: Oak Room

Time: 1:15pm – 2:15pm

International environmental regimes seek to create a sense of interdependence and community in order to solve transboundary issues of resource use and pollution. Regimes are a natural fit for transboundary water management and development. Water is a classic example of how states are forced to cooperate with each other. Shlomi Dinar argues, “When rivers and other bodies of water traverse or divide countries, transboundary externalities often produce conflict” (Dinar, 2008 1). Waterbodies respect no political boundaries and international water law and policy has emerged over hundreds of years to address the issues of water governance and transboundary conflict (Hildering, 2004 44). This conflict provides a medium for cooperation, a cooperation that almost always takes form in a treaty or regime (Dinar, 2008 1). The Mekong River Commission (MRC) is an international environmental regime that promotes regional cooperation and sustainable development in the Mekong River Basin (MRB) of Southeast Asia. My research asks what have been the effects of the organization over its 17-year history and analyzes the political and environmental impacts of those effects. My analysis uses the logic model, created by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), to track the growth and development of the MRC over time. Using the framework of the logic model, my research argues that though effects of the MRC appear marginal and information-based, the organization is following a positive trajectory toward ultimate goal realization.