Department of Social Sciences & Historical Studies
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Browsing Department of Social Sciences & Historical Studies by Author "Belfiglio, Valentine"
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Item American imperialism?: The United States interventions in Nicaragua, 1909 to 1933(2013-08) Binyon, Kristin Danell; Kessler, Mark; Fanning, Sarah; Belfiglio, ValentineThis thesis is an examination of the active policies of the United States in the early twentieth century and the effects of the interventions these policies influenced. This essay reveals that U.S. presence in Nicaragua from 1909 to 1933 acted as a catalyst for positive changes and developments in the political, economic and social sectors of Nicaraguan society. The interventions and military occupations from 1909 until 1933 are classified as failures by much of the existing scholarship because the U.S. failed to meet its objectives in accordance with the Tipitapa Agreement. However, the interventions positive by-products examined in this essay efficiently prove these interventions were not complete failures. Utilizing primary sources including conference proceedings, archived photographs, journals, personal papers, letters, newspaper articles as well as a multitude of secondary sources, this essay examines in detail the political, economic and social developments and advancements brought on by the 1909 to 1933 interventions in Nicaragua to add to the existing scholarship in this subject area.Item Anglo-American diplomacy on the Oregon issue, 1844-1846: A compilation of selected documents on public opinion(1974-08) Cardenas, Maria de la Luz Rodriguez; Landry, Harral; Yarborough, Kemp; Dawson, John; Belfiglio, ValentineItem Beyond East and West: Political melancholy in the works of Orhan Pamuk(2013-05) Cooper, Travis; Hoye, Timothy; Travis, Paul D.; Belfiglio, ValentineThis thesis examines Orhan Pamuk's use of melancholy as a political concept. While the Nobel committee argues Pamuk's work is an example of clashing civilizations, this thesis argues Pamuk's novels examine how collective melancholy is the cause of, rather than a symptom of, political conflict. This thesis provides a conceptual analysis of melancholy, reviews the origins and uses of the term in both Western and Islamic literature, and examines how Pamuk reinvented the concept to explain Turkish political culture since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The primary sources include Pamuk's novels, essays, and speeches; medical and philosophical literature on melancholy and Sufi poetry. This thesis will show that Pamuk's reconceptualization of melancholy has political implications globally as well as in Turkey.Item Biafra: A study in national self-determination and tribalism in Nigeria(1977-05) Justice, Madeline Carol; Belfiglio, Valentine; Landry, HarralItem The concepts of sovereignty at the American founding(2003-08) Butler, Alice A.; Hoye, Timothy; Belfiglio, Valentine; Alexander, JimThis thesis examines the importance and influences of the concepts of sovereignty throughout the establishment of the United States structure of government. It is an examination of the different aspects of sovereignty identified from the early days of colonization through the ratification of the Constitution. Five specific concepts of sovereignty are recognized. These are absolute sovereignty, state sovereignty, popular sovereignty, individual sovereignty and national sovereignty. Each of these concepts of sovereignty played a major role in the writing of the Constitution, and has contributed to the flexibility, balance, and strength of the American government. Sovereignty continues to play a key role in international politics as well as those in the United States. It continues to be an important aspect of government that needs to be studied and considered.Item The decline and fall of Thomas Cardinal Wolsey(1979-08) Oubre, Virginia Carmical; Landry, Harral E.; Belfiglio, Valentine; Yarborough, KempItem Ethics, ambiguity, and the existential novel; A study of Simone de Beauvoir's works of fiction(5/30/2015) Gonzalez, Sylvia; Hoye, Timothy; Belfiglio, Valentine; Presnall, BarbaraThis thesis analyzes five novels of the existentialist French author Simone de Beauvoir. It seeks to challenge the arguments presented by many scholars, which regard Simone de Beauvoir's work as subordinate to and dependent on Jean Paul Sartre's work. Secondly, too many see her only as a feminist philosopher and little more. Through the study of Simone de Beauvoir's works of fiction, this thesis demonstrates that Beauvoir goes beyond both Sartre's work and feminism. Through settings, characters, and plots, inspired by Beauvoir's reading of G.W.F. Hegel as interpreted by Alexandre Kojève, these works of fiction illuminate key concepts in her philosophic essays, particularly her Ethics of Ambiguity.Item The history of the relations between Thailand and the United States of America: A study of diplomatic tension and balance in American foreign policy(1977-05) Champoonote, Amitta; Landry, Harral; Belfiglio, Valentine; Yarborough, KempItem Identifying the moral sense: Case studies in resistance to tyranny(1/1/2013) Armor, Sara Christine; Hoye, Timothy; Presnall, Barbara; Belfiglio, ValentineThis study focuses on four individuals who resisted tyranny under Hitler during National Socialism. These four resisters: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Sophie Scholl, Karel Čapek, and Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, were selected based on their varying backgrounds. It is the purpose of this study to identify a correlating motive within all four individuals that transcends their age, background, culture, and gender. An explanation of why these four people resisted Hitler can be explained by Francis Hutcheson and the moral sense. Also, our admiration for these individuals will also be addressed in Adam Smith’s philosophy of sympathy. It is the intent of this study to look within the Scottish Enlightenment philosophy of Francis Hutcheson and Adam Smith, for a better understanding of why people risked their lives for humanity.Item The intrepid Gertrude Bell: Victorian lady, explorer of the Middle Eastern deserts, and key adviser to the new Iraqi nation, 1868-1926(1993-08) Drees, Ann Lawson; Landry, Harral; Scobie, Ingrid; Belfiglio, Valentine; Lowry, Bullitt (UNT)This biographical study of Gertrude Lowthian Bell, the noted British explorer and political officer, portrays a woman who achieved fame in several fields, an archaeologist, travel writer, wartime intelligence officer, and powerful British official in the new Iraqi nation. This study examines Bell's personal life and her career in the Middle East, using her letters and the memoirs of her contemporaries to gain a clearer picture of Gertrude Bell beyond the public image her family protected. The thesis also covers more recent writings which revealed information Bell's family had kept secret for forty years. The conclusion is that Bell exercised tremendous power in British and Iraqi politics but had very little control over events in her private life.Item The Irish uprising of Easter 1916 and the emergence of Éamon de Valera as the leader of the Irish Republican Movement(1974-08) Lamberth, Barbara Ann; Landry, Harral; Yarborough, Kemp; Dawson, John; Belfiglio, ValentineItem Laissez-faire conservatism and the United Nations Reform Act of 2005(2007-05) Gunther, Breighton; Hoye, Timothy; Belfiglio, ValentineThe United Nations Reform Act of 2005 articulates a response by laissez-faire conservatives to the hemorrhaging costs of supporting U.N. developmental programs outside the boundaries of U.S. audits. Laissez-faire conservatism, also referred to as classical liberalism, has traditionally sought freedom from large governmental mechanisms. In the 21st century, this mechanism is the U.N. with its peripheral vision continually dilated in the presence of non-western development. Stated concisely, this thesis demonstrates that the theories on the modern welfare state and its discontents by Friedrich Hayek and Robert Nozick have revitalized and continue to inform the 21st century laissez-faire conservative in maintaining global order.Item Lord Lothian's mission to the United States, 1939-1940: A study of diplomatic persuasion(1976-05) Yeargan, Dorothy J.; Landry, Harral; Belfiglio, Valentine; Yarborough, Kemp; Dawson, JohnItem The possible effects of John Adams's decade in Europe on his policies as vice president and president(2008-12) Giffin, Kenna S.; Presnall, Barbara; Belfiglio, Valentine; Blosser, JacobJohn Adams was comfortable with the fact that the American colonies were governed by a monarch living several thousand miles away, as long as the monarch governed through the colonial legislative bodies. When the British Parliament imposed taxes on the colonies, however, Adams knew it was time to fight, first for the colonists' rights as British citizens, and later for America's sovereignty. Adams was instrumental in planning the break from Britain, in negotiating the peace treaty with Great Britain, in negotiating commercial treaties with the Netherlands, Great Britain, France, and other countries, and as the first minister plenipotentiary from the United States to Great Britain. Adams had a decade in which to listen, observe, ask questions, read papers, and generally absorb the essence of French and British thinking, so that during his vice presidency and presidency, as America teetered on the brink of war with France and Great Britain, Adams was uniquely able to lead his country to peace and security by insisting on neutrality.Item The relations of the Republic of the Philippines and the United States of American since 1945: The economic, military, and political implications(1979-12) Pittman, Lilia Espinosa; Landry, Harral; Yarborough, Kemp; Belfiglio, ValentineItem Right intent: Thomas Aquinas and the war on drugs in Latin America and the Caribbean(8/30/2016) Edghill, Michael W.; Hoye, Timothy; Belfiglio, Valentine; Olsen, JohnathanThe purpose of this study was to examine the ‘just war’ doctrine of Thomas Aquinas and apply it to the drug wars in Latin America and the Caribbean in order to determine if the prosecution of these ‘wars’ is to be considered just. In order to do so, key components had to be examined and, in some cases, whole concepts required thorough analysis regarding how they are applied. This included evaluations of the nature of drug cartels, the concept of sovereignty, and various ‘just war’ theories. To effectively examine this topic, reading the works of Jean Bodin, Thomas Hobbes, and Thomas Aquinas was necessary as was research into different interpretations of ‘just war’ doctrine. Based upon the research and analysis, it was determined that the rhetorical phrase ‘war on drugs’ is wholly inappropriate and that the actions taken in the prosecution of this ‘war’ and not to be considered just.Item The Rwandan Genocide and how Belgian colonization ignited the flame of hatred(2014-05) Burns, Latoya Matthews; Belfiglio, Valentine; Alexander, Jim; Fanning, SaraThis thesis analyzes how racism was the underlying cause of the Rwandan Genocide of 1994, and investigates how racism was possible in a country that consists of one race. This thesis studies how western colonizers implemented race relations which then manifested into fear and became the driving force for the genocide. This study chronologically covers Rwanda's political system, beginning with colonization, through the psychology explaining why genocides are undefined until their conclusion, and ends with an analysis of Rwandan's ongoing recovery.Item Sino-American relations since 1949: The correlation between domestic and foreign policies(1977-05) Chan, Liza Cheuk May; Belfiglio, Valentine; Landry, Harral; Yarborough, KempItem The Texas Guard during martial law and a state of emergency: A select study focusing on Galveston, Sherman, Beaumont and Texas City(2001-05) Hudy, Trayce Darter; Belfiglio, Valentine; Travis, Paul D.; Devereaux, PatriciaTexas Volunteer, National, and State Guard troops hold a distinguished history of service to Texas and have proved to be invaluable in efforts to aid civil authorities during emergency situations and in extreme conditions when martial law has been enforced. This research focuses on use of Guard units during extreme racial incidents leading to the declaration of martial law as was found in Sherman in 1930 and in Beaumont in 1943. The Volunteer Guard was called to duty in Galveston in 1900 when a hurricane devastated that city. Martial law was immediately instated. In addition, troops were summoned to Texas City in 1947 after an explosion obstructed and prevented the functioning of civil processes. Although martial law was not declared during this crisis, a state of emergency was proclaimed. In all four instances, the Guard was praised for exemplary service to the State and control was rapidly restored to civil authorities.Item Thomas Cardinal Wolsey and Henry VIII: A study of power and conflict in Tudor England(1979-05) Wooten, Mary Caroline; Landry, Harral; Belfiglio, Valentine; Yarborough, Kemp