“Ambassadors of Pleasure” examines the social and cultural history of ‘sin’ in the Detroit-Windsor border region during the post-World War II period. It employs the interrelated frameworks of “borderlands” and “vice” in order to identify the complex ways in which illicit economies shaped—and were shaped by—these border cities. It argues that illicit economies served multiple purposes for members of local borderlands communities. For many downtown residents, vice industries provided important forms of leisure, labor, and diversion in cities undergoing rapid changes. Deeply rooted in local working-class communities, prostitution and heroin economies became intimately intertwined in the daily lives of many local residents who relied on them for both entertainment and income. For others, though, anti-vice activities offered a concrete way to engage in what they perceived as community betterment. Fighting the immoral influences of prostitution and drug use was one way some residents, particularly those of the middle class, worked to improve their local communities in seemingly tangible ways. These struggles for control over vice economies highlight the ways in which shifting meanings of race, class, and gender, growing divisions between urban centers and suburban regions, and debates over the meaning of citizenship evolved in the urban borderland. This dissertation subsequently traces the competing interests brought together through illicit vice activities, arguing that they provide unique insight into the fracturing social lines developing in the postwar North American cities.

“Ambassadors of Pleasure” examines the social and cultural history of ‘sin’ in the Detroit-Windsor border region during the post-World War II period. It employs the interrelated frameworks of “borderlands” and “vice” in order to identify the complex ways in which illicit economies shaped—and were shaped by—these border cities. It argues that illicit economies served multiple purposes for members of local borderlands communities. For many downtown residents, vice industries provided important forms of leisure, labor, and diversion in cities undergoing rapid changes. Deeply rooted in local working-class communities, prostitution and heroin economies became intimately intertwined in the daily lives of many local residents who relied on them for both entertainment and income. For others, though, anti-vice activities offered a concrete way to engage in what they perceived as community betterment. Fighting the immoral influences of prostitution and drug use was one way some residents, particularly those of the middle class, worked to improve their local communities in seemingly tangible ways. These struggles for control over vice economies highlight the ways in which shifting meanings of race, class, and gender, growing divisions between urban centers and suburban regions, and debates over the meaning of citizenship evolved in the urban borderland. This dissertation subsequently traces the competing interests brought together through illicit vice activities, arguing that they provide unique insight into the fracturing social lines developing in the postwar North American cities.

<p>  </p> <p>This dissertation is an examination of rural Hoosiers, and in particular to what extent they accepted outside assistance against a backdrop of disruption brought about by mechanization, depression, and in some cases dislocation in the first half of the twentieth century. The "farm experts" from Purdue University, and "government men" from federal agencies came to assist rural Hoosiers cope with the “Farm Problem,” joining a succession of outsiders who came to help. Those who came to the rescue confronted a particular quality of character influenced by environmental elements, migration patterns, and received world views. The study uses a range of sources. A wealth of secondary scholarship was written shortly after the end of rural New Deal programs during World War II. Purdue Experiment Station research publications, Purdue Extension annual reports, county Extension agents’ reports, farm journals, newspaper reporting and editorials, congressional records, records and promotional materials of the Resettlement Administration and its successor the Farm Security Administration, and personal correspondence all give voice to actors and observers at the time. This study contributes to our understanding of rural New Deal initiatives in the Midwest as witnessed through an Indiana lens. The inquiry reveals the uneven and sometimes incoherent nature of “progress” as promoted by agents of change. Try as they might, rural Hoosiers could not resist or control forces of change in the face of worldwide crisis of economic disruption, ideological confrontation, and military aggression.</p>

[pt] Esta tese pretende contribuir para compreensão da maneira pela qual Henry James representa a cultura nacional norte-americana, em sua obra tardia. Em 1907, são publicados, sob o título The American Scene, os relatos de sua viagem aos Estados Unidos. A análise deste conjunto de relatos, no contexto da tradição literária norte-americana do século XIX, permite que se reconstitua a imagem construída por seu autor da relação entre indivíduo e sociedade na cultura norteamericana, na virada do século XIX para o XX. A partir dos anos 1820, ensaístas, ficcionistas, sermonistas, poetas e teólogos norte-americanos começaram a identificar o mito etiológico judaico-cristão com o mito fundador da democracia nos Estados Unidos. Inicia-se, deste modo, uma disputa intelectual entre aqueles que pretendiam associar a identidade norte-americana à inocência do Adão antes da Queda e aqueles que a vinculavam à imagem do Adão decaído. A herança desta disputa e o legado literário de autores como Walt Whitman, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville e Henry James Sr., conjugados à experiência cultural europeia, fundamentam a versão alegorizada de Henry James do mito do Adão americano, que constitui a narrativa de seu último romance publicado em vida, The Golden Bowl. A análise combinada deste romance e dos relatos de viagem tem como objetivo compreender a importância simbólica que James atribui às noções de Queda e pecado para o amadurecimento moral e o desenvolvimento da sensibilidade estética nos indivíduos. / [en] This thesis intends to contribute to the understanding of Henry James s representation of North-American national culture in his late works. In 1907, he publishes, under the title The American Scene, the travel reports of his visit to United States. The analysis of this array of reports, in the context of the American literary tradition of Nineteenth Century, helps to reconstitute the image constructed by the author of the individual-society relation, in American culture, in the turn of Nineteenth to Twentieth Century. From 1820s onwards, North-American essayists, fictionists, ministers, poets and theologians began to identify the Judeo-Christian etiologic myth with the founding myth of American democracy. It thus began an intellectual dispute between those who intended to associate American identity to the innocence of Adam s before the Fall and those who referred it to the image of the fallen Adam. This dispute s heritage and the literary legacy of writers as Walt Whitman, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville and Henry James Sr., combined with his European cultural experience, ground Henry James s allegorized version of the American Adam s myth, which constitutes the narrative of his last published novel, The Golden Bowl. The conjoined analysis of this novel and the travel reports makes possible to understand the symbolic relevance, in James s work, of the categories of Fall and sin to the moral growth and the development of aesthetic sensibility in the individuals.

<p>The written component of the dissertation accompanying the "Harmonic Resurgence" mixtape is a captivating exploration of the extraordinary lives of the Godino twins. Through meticulous research and eloquent storytelling, this written work delves deep into the experiences, struggles, and triumphs of the twins, offering a profound and thought-provoking narrative. The dissertation showcases a pioneering approach that merges music and academia, demonstrating the creator's prowess in both artistic expression and scholarly investigation.</p> <p><br></p> <p>Each chapter of the dissertation is dedicated to dissecting significant moments in the twins' lives, meticulously analyzing the emotions and themes portrayed in the mixtape's tracks. It unravels the intricacies of the twins' profound connection and individual growth, while shedding light on the innovative fusion of storytelling and music that makes "Harmonic Resurgence" an unparalleled work of art.</p> <p><br></p> <p>The written component transcends conventional norms in academic research, inviting readers on an immersive journey through the Godino twins' legacy. With meticulous attention to detail and a seamless interweaving of music and narrative, this work serves as a testament to the power of creativity and its ability to touch lives on a profound level.</p> <p><br></p> <p>Overall, the written component of the dissertation complements the "Harmonic Resurgence" mixtape, providing a comprehensive and deeply insightful perspective on the Godino twins' tale. Through this extraordinary academic exploration, their legacy is honored, celebrated, and forever etched into the hearts of those who engage with this groundbreaking work.</p>

<p>This dissertation traces both professional and public concerns about the Earth’s environmental limits from the late 1960s to 1990s, at the intersection of reproductive rights and aerospace technology. It considers two rather ‘radical’ and opposing grassroots activist approaches for how to best address the environmental and population crises that gained public traction at the turn of the 1970s: zero population growth and space settlement. The current scholarship has examined the ‘era of limits,’ and modern environmentalism and population control activism from both U.S. and global perspectives, considering how policy, science, gender, politics, and the media shape public understandings and both local and state responses. Zero growth proponents, through both coercive and voluntary campaigns, sought to demonstrate and halt the damage that unchecked economic and population growth was causing the planet. Yet these histories rarely consider the rise of new spaceflight technologies and thought during the same period, which promised a pro-growth, technology-infused solution to the limits to growth, one that would not impose restrictions on consumptive, environmental, or reproductive behavior. Responding to recent scholarly efforts to better contextualize aerospace technology into social and cultural histories of the post-Apollo era, this dissertation focuses on the grassroots activism of two organizations: Zero Population Growth (ZPG), which advocated for zero growth, and the L-5 Society (including a student-run affiliate chapter called the Maryland Alliance for Space Colonization), which promoted space settlement and the manufacturing of clean, pollution-free energy and mining resources for Earth. In this dissertation, I argue that in order to fully understand the implications of ‘Earthly limits’ on American society, we need to look at the role of grassroots activists. How did their concerns form, persist, and change over the course of the late twentieth century? Using primary and archival material and oral histories of the members, it analyzes their dynamics, goals, and stakes in ideas about limits to growth and a finite Earth. Centering on the diverse personal stories and experiences of former activists reveals their unique motivations for joining their respective groups, why they advocated for such different approaches to the limits to growth, and how their drive for a better future continued long after popular enthusiasm for zero growth and space settlement waned by the late 1970s.</p>

<p>In 1917, the Romanov dynasty in Russia came to an end as Tsar Nicholas II abdicated during the February Revolution and the First World War. The Romanovs ruled Russia for over three-hundred years as absolute monarchs and until 1917, Nicholas II and his wife Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna fervently clung to their autocratic rule and projected an image of power and stability. Yet, their choices not only shaped Russia itself but also dictated Russia’s diplomatic and cultural relationship with their future allies in the First World War: Great Britain, France, and the United States of America. From 1896 to 1917, Tsar Nicholas II floundered amid a series of crisis and this dissertation considers five key moments in his reign that illustrate the complex relationship between Russia and the allies of the First World War. These events are: the Coronation of Nicholas II in 1896; Bloody Sunday and the Treaty of Portsmouth in 1905; the Romanov Tercentenary in 1913; the role of Tsarina Alexandra in the First World War from 1914-1917; and the abdication of Nicholas II and asylum request by the Romanovs in 1917. All of these events showcase the diplomatic and media representations of the Romanovs among allied nations and how Nicholas performed and presented his view of himself to the rest of the world. Each Tsar of Russia fashioned himself into a mythic and ceremonial figure to the Russian people and this dissertation argues that the governments of Great Britain, France, and the United States accepted Nicholas’ self-representations for many years and ignored his autocratic rule in favor of their own military and financial interests. In 1917, after years of excusing his behavior, they finally rejected him. Ultimately, the Romanovs held great power at home and abroad and were major players in international events in the early twentieth century but they were unable to reconcile their autocratic regime with modern democracies. In the end, Nicholas’ and Alexandra’s failure to adapt and perform their roles effectively cost them their throne and left Russia in a state of war and disarray.</p>

This thesis examines how the law dealt with international fugitives. It focuses on formal extradition and the cross-border abduction of wanted criminals by police officers and other state officials. Debates over extradition and abduction reflected important issues of state power and civil liberty, and were shaped by currents of thought circulating throughout the imperial, Atlantic, and common law worlds. Debates over extradition involved questioning the very basis of international law. They also raised difficult questions about civil liberties and human rights. Throughout this period escaped American slaves and other groups made claims for what we would now call refugee status, and argued that their surrender violated codes of law and ideas of justice that transcended the colonies and even the wider British Empire. Such claims sparked a decades-long debate in North America and Europe over how to codify refugee protections. Ultimately, Britain used its imperial power to force Canada to accept such safeguards. Yet even as the formal extradition system developed, an informal system of police abductions operated in the Canadian-American borderlands. This system defied formal law, but it also manifested sophisticated local ideas about community justice and transnational legal order. This thesis argues that extradition and abduction must be understood within three overlapping contexts. The first is the ethos of liberal transnationalism that permeated all levels of state officials in British North America/Canada. This view largely prioritised the erosion of domestic barriers to international cooperation over the protection of individual liberty. It was predicated in large part on the idea of a common North American civilization. The second context is Canada’s place in the British Empire. Extradition and abduction highlight both how British North America/Canada often expounded views on legal order radically different from Britain, but also that even after Confederation in 1867 the empire retained real power to shape Canadian policy. The final context is international law and international legal order. Both extradition and abduction were aspects of law on an international and transnational level. As a result, this thesis examines the processes of migration, adoption, and adaptation of international law.

This thesis examines how the law dealt with international fugitives. It focuses on formal extradition and the cross-border abduction of wanted criminals by police officers and other state officials. Debates over extradition and abduction reflected important issues of state power and civil liberty, and were shaped by currents of thought circulating throughout the imperial, Atlantic, and common law worlds. Debates over extradition involved questioning the very basis of international law. They also raised difficult questions about civil liberties and human rights. Throughout this period escaped American slaves and other groups made claims for what we would now call refugee status, and argued that their surrender violated codes of law and ideas of justice that transcended the colonies and even the wider British Empire. Such claims sparked a decades-long debate in North America and Europe over how to codify refugee protections. Ultimately, Britain used its imperial power to force Canada to accept such safeguards. Yet even as the formal extradition system developed, an informal system of police abductions operated in the Canadian-American borderlands. This system defied formal law, but it also manifested sophisticated local ideas about community justice and transnational legal order. This thesis argues that extradition and abduction must be understood within three overlapping contexts. The first is the ethos of liberal transnationalism that permeated all levels of state officials in British North America/Canada. This view largely prioritised the erosion of domestic barriers to international cooperation over the protection of individual liberty. It was predicated in large part on the idea of a common North American civilization. The second context is Canada’s place in the British Empire. Extradition and abduction highlight both how British North America/Canada often expounded views on legal order radically different from Britain, but also that even after Confederation in 1867 the empire retained real power to shape Canadian policy. The final context is international law and international legal order. Both extradition and abduction were aspects of law on an international and transnational level. As a result, this thesis examines the processes of migration, adoption, and adaptation of international law.

<p>This project argues that industrial fires have the capacity to illuminate the complex entanglements (political, ecological, economic, etc.) of life in the era of industrial capitalism. It retells and reframes the stories of five such fires, each off which shines a light on the networks of social, political, technological, economic, and ecological relationships in particular communities at particular moments. It thus contributes to the interdisciplinary fields of American Studies and the environmental humanities, furthering our understanding of the unfolding experience of industrial capitalism in the twentieth and twenty-first century United States. It takes the form of a public humanities project and is produced for a popular audience, using journalistic, literary, historical, and other techniques to tell the stories of these fires. In doing so, I also hope to contribute to the expansion of public humanities scholarship and help foster a thriving and creative future for the humanities both in academia and beyond.</p>