Tag: Oral Session 3SW

Responding to The Hyde Amendment: Abortion Discourse, Race, and a Conspiracy of Silence

Presenter(s): Momo Wilms-Crowe − Political Science, International Studies

Faculty Mentor(s): Tim Williams

Oral Session 3SW

Research Area: Social Science

This research project examines the discourse about abortion and the 1976 Hyde Amendment in order to better understand race relations within the second-wave feminist movement. Specifically, I explore why more black women did not engage in the national debate about abortion, even when restrictive abortion legislation had a disproportionately negative effect on them. Most existing scholarship has focused either on women’s liberation and feminism, or on civil rights and black liberation. This paper, however, connects those themes by examining reproductive justice in terms of women’s intersecting identities, especially race and gender. This dual identity complicated black women’s involvement in the second wave feminist movement. Primary sources, including feminist publications, interviews, and autobiographies reveal that black women were largely absent from the pro-choice feminist discourse in the 1970s. Their silence and lack of involvement was not because access to abortion was unimportant or irrelevant to them. Rather, my research suggests that their silence was rooted in historical and ideological barriers as well as a failure of the mainstream feminist movement to consider their unique history, needs, and circumstances.

The Empire’s New Clothes: The Establishment Of Social Sciences in Post-War Academia and Its Implication For British Colonial Policy

Presenter(s): Caroline Richelsen − History, Political Science

Faculty Mentor(s): Ian McNeely

Oral Session 3SW

Research Area: Social Science, History

In the aftermath of the Second World War, universities in Britain were tapped as a potential training ground for the next generation of experts who could support the British Empire, as it transitioned from a Great Power to a decolonized state.
This project seeks to examine the possible correlation between changes in British foreign policy and development in higher education; analyzing how the demands of the British Empire informed the curriculum and direction of new disciplines in British Universities. To do so, this project uses SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies), of the University of London, as a case study to showcase the interaction between the political agenda of the British government and the institution itself. In terms of formatting, the findings will be presented in an essay estimated around 70 to 80 pages, excluding a reference list and infographics, and relies on the consultation of primary sources such as government reports, financial- and personal accounts. Early findings have confirmed a direct correlation between the development of new departments and the needs of the state, as the transition from the post-war environment to the Cold War created a demand for experts well-versed in Oriental and East European languages and culture. The subject of this inquiry is of value because it illustrates how certain academic traditions are rooted in the political ambitions of states seeking to use knowledge to impose their worldviews on overseas territories; creating disciplines with predetermined biases which remain prevalent in institutions today.

William Morris as Collector: Analyzing Two Volumes in the Special Collections University Archives

Presenter(s): Sadie Kavalier − Accounting

Faculty Mentor(s): Vera Keller

Oral Session 3SW

Research Area: History

William Morris wore many hats: publisher, socialist advocate, craftsman, poet. However, Morris’ private library remains one of the most understudied aspects of his illustrious career. We hold two volumes from his own library in our SCUA collection, which spawned this research into the driving factors behind his choice of books for his personal collection. Through an analysis of both these volumes and those that Morris printed himself at the Kelmscott Press, I have taken a holistic approach to analyzing these copies for their content, typography, and imagery. Further analysis revealed that the type of these books
is similar with Morris’ gothic preferences and that the main reason for his purchase of them was an affinity for the style of their respective publishers, Wynkyn de Worde and Johannes Mentelin. This research offers a glimpse into the mind of William Morris as collector and helps illuminate the preferences that drove the selection of his private library.

Russia’s Experiment in Scouting: 1909-1922 

Presenter(s): John Dechert − Mathematics, Reees

Faculty Mentor(s): Julie Hessler

Oral Session 3SW

Research Area: History

In 1909, Oleg Ivanovich Pantyukhoff, a colonel in the Russian army who was inspired by Robert Baden-Powell’s scouting program in Great Britain, founded the Russian wing of the worldwide scouting movement, known as the “Razvyedchiki” in Russian, and would lead the program to great successes within pre-revolutionary Russian society. Pantyukhoff and many of his scouts left memoirs of their involvement with the scouting movement, which provide a unique and personal perspective into the dealings of the movement. Additionally, Soviet leaders spoke of the scouting movement, and its counter-revolutionary flavor, frequently, and provide another interesting perspective into the movement’s history. Scouting, however, was not
an activity born in isolation. During the late 19th and early 20th century, Russia underwent a fundamental shift in policies and priorities as a result of modernization, liberalism, and nationalism, and the Russian people bought wholesale into the trappings of “civil society.” They formed men’s and women’s groups, charity organizations, book clubs, literary societies, and the like. The study of Russian civil society before the World War I has been of growing interest to Russian historians since the fall of the Soviet Union, and studies of pre-war organizations are ever rising in number. Unfortunately, the Russian scouting movement has been left out of this general trend. The purpose of this study is to bridge that gap and contribute to the body of knowledge by examining the course of Russian scouting during the turbulent years of World War I, the Russian Revolution and Civil War, and how the scouting movement fit in to Russian civil society.

Prostitution in the Frontier West

Presenter(s): Mira Cohen − History

Faculty Mentor(s): Jamie Bufalino, Marsha Weisiger

Oral Session 3SW

Research Area: History

The popular history of the American Frontier West is replete with stereotypical characters: miners, farmers, ranchers, railroad workers, and even prostitutes. While women were brought out west so the men could marry and have a family, many women travelled out to the West to seek their fortune and escape the restrictive Victorian American culture of the East. Some women, already prostitutes, went west planning to continue their trade, free of the judgments of Eastern morality. Other women went west and eventually resorted to prostitution in order to provide for themselves. Both types discovered financial advantages along with more social and political freedom compared to any other women in the country. While some historians overlooked the influence women had in shaping the Old west, my research suggests that women played a significant role, as women accumulated property and therefore became influential members of cities and towns. My research project focuses on the gendered nature of economic and politic power in the United States during the 19th century, using evidence from research papers and book other scholars have done on prostitution and women in the Old west, diary entries, personal accounts, and books written about sexual morality. Based on these sources and personal narratives, readers and other scholars can learn that women during this time period had the most personal freedom in the entire country.