<p> The Western has been an important and iconic part of American culture since the opening of the frontier. However, very few scholars have looked closely at the way the genre constructs the past through public and private spaces like frontier towns and settlements.</p><p> The 1971 films, <i>The Hired Hand</i> and <i>McCabe &amp; Mrs. Miller</i> are two texts that revitalized, and in the process revised, the Western genre in the early 1970s. My paper examines the ways in which conflicts between public and private spaces in the films reflect the social and cultural conflicts in America at the time. Both films feature lead male characters that strive to, but ultimately fail to resurrect an older idea of public space as they attempt to reclaim their place in it. The men attempt to navigate changing ideas of public space by retreating in to domestic or feminine space and resisting the corporatization of public space.</p><p> This paper uses the works of Nancy Fraser and Richard Sennett to explore the different approaches to the nature of public space in post World War II America and sheds new light on the ways in which men adapted or, in some cases, refused to adapt to the changing social conditions of the second half of the 20^th century.</p>

<p>The Hole in the Fence examines the design and effects of the contemporary border security</p><p>regime. Since 1994, the growth of military-style policing in the lands between the US and</p><p>Mexico has radically reshaped the path of illicit transnational migration. Newly erected</p><p>walls, surveillance technology, and the stationing of an army of federal agents in the</p><p>border territory do not serve to seal off the national boundary. Border security rather</p><p>works by pushing undocumented migration traffic away from urban areas and out into</p><p>protracted journeys on foot through the southwest wilderness, heightening the risks</p><p>associated with entering the US without papers. Those attempting the perilous</p><p>wilderness crossing now routinely find themselves without access to water, food, or</p><p>rescue; thousands of people without papers have since perished in the vast deserts and</p><p>rugged brushlands of the US southwest. In this border policing scenario, the US border</p><p>security establishment does not act alone. From corporations to cartels, aid workers,</p><p>militia men, and local residents, myriad social forces now shape the contemporary</p><p>border struggle on the ground.</p><p>The Hole in the Fence draws on the political theory of Michel Foucault and his</p><p>interlocutors to argue that the US-Mexico border zone stands as a highly contemporary</p><p>governing form that is based less on sovereign territorial defense or totalitarian capture</p><p>than on the multilateral regulation of transnational circulation. Accounting for the</p><p>conceptual contours of the border scenario thus challenges many of the assumptions that underwrite classical political theory. This dissertation offers a vision of</p><p>contemporary political power that is set to work in open and vital landscapes, and not in</p><p>fortressed prisons or deadened war zones. I articulate a mode of authorized violence</p><p>that is indirect and erratic, not juridical or genocidal. I explore a world of surveillance</p><p>technology that is scattered and dysfunctional, not smooth and all-seeing. I assess the</p><p>participation of human populations in progressive political intervention as being just as</p><p>often driven by practical self-interests as by an ethos of self-sacrifice.</p><p>This study draws on a diverse archive of on-the-ground policing tactics, policy</p><p>papers, works of mass culture, academic scholarship, and self-authored media by rural</p><p>residents to represent the contemporary border security environment. This pursuit is</p><p>necessarily interdisciplinary, moving among historical, cultural, ethnographic, and</p><p>theoretical forms of writing. Ultimately, The Hole in the Fence asserts that the southwest</p><p>border zone is a critical conceptual map for the rationality of political power in the</p><p>context of neoliberal transnationalism—a formation that constantly engenders new</p><p>modes of persecution, struggle, subversion, and possibility.</p> / Dissertation

The study is an interpretation of the tradition of walking in the American experience. American walkers are viewed from five different historical and cultural perspectives: wilderness walkers, New England saunterers, long-distance walkers, urban walkers, and trail hikers. The initial settlers and early colonists often found walking the most practical, economical, and expedient means of travel. Most of the travel westward whether for exploration or for migration entailed a great deal of walking. / As road systems and modern modes of transportation improved, walking was no longer necessary, but a new breed of walkers emerged who consciously and voluntarily preferred walking to other forms of locomotion. New England saunterers--such as Thoreau, Emerson, and Hawthorne--took daily walks in the spirit of going a la Sainte Terre, to the Holy Land. During their walks they explored the external landscape as well as their own thoughts and feelings. In contrast to the saunterers were long-distance walkers. The tradition of long-distance walking extends from the early 1800s to the present. The literature of distance walkers gives panoramic interpretations of American culture. At the turn of the century, walking was a popular pastime and sport for middle-class urbanites. It was perceived as an ideal form of exercise and an excellent way to retain health. At the turn of the century there was also a desire by middle-class Americans to participate in nature-oriented activities. Nature trails were blazed and urbanites readily took to hiking. Hiking and backpacking remain as popular forms of walking. / In conclusion, walking is an ongoing tradition among Americans. Though there are contemporary saunterers and long-distance walkers, walking has assumed a number of different forms in the latter half of this century. Today there are walks for various causes such as protest and peace marches. Finally, the special relationship that American walkers have had with nature remains central to the ongoing tradition of walking in this country. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-12, Section: A, page: 3729. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

A methodological expose of Thomasville, Georgia, during the 1890s using photographs taken during the period by Algernon Moller as a primary source for establishing historical sequences and journalistic narrative. The glass plates, lantern slides and existing prints taken by the photographer Moller depict the cultural occurrences within the urban, farming, plantation and black communities. These photographs are organized by subject matter and are accompanied with a system of indexing which identify and establish known historical fact. By applying a proper system of cataloging it is possible to use photographs as a primary source. This methodology has been successfully applied to the hotel era of Thomasville. In addition, the photographs are supported with historical data collected from various authors, and journalistic narrative found in daily newspapers of the period. The combination of the three disciplines, photography, history, and journalism delineate the culture of this resort area. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-03, Section: A, page: 0798. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 38-09, Section: A, page: 5553. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1977.

No description available.

No description available.

In 1843, two years after assuming the superintendency at Eastern Asylum in Williamsburg, Virginia, John Minson Galt II established a patients' library. It was not unique. Other asylum superintendents across America were building libraries for their patients as well, an essential component, they felt, of the broader moral management program borrowed from Europe and Great Britain for the cure of insanity. Along with other asylum activities, the library would help insane residents remain calm, recover stability by distraction from their delusions, and acquire mental habits of self-discipline. and in many cases libraries and reading would assist in restoring virtues that the superintendents believed to be closely associated with sanity---thrift, honesty, diligence, fortitude, hard work, and sobriety.;Within the context of moral management principles and of an antebellum culture that considered reading to be a virtue, the Eastern Asylum in Williamsburg, Virginia is a case study. Superintendent John Minson Galt II brought the Williamsburg asylum, the only mental institution dating from the late colonial era in America, into the age of the asylum. In the 1840s and 1850s he created an environment for his patients that followed closely the standards set by northern asylums, except in one crucial area: the need to accommodate a regional culture predicated on the institution of slavery. In addition Galt's economic and social background shaped the commitment he brought to the task of creating a patients' library. A man of letters, a trained physician, an affluent Virginian bound by southern and family traditions, a lonely man coping with his own psychological demons, Galt fashioned a print culture for his institutionalized audience whereby the illiterate might learn to read, the middle class might progress toward self-improvement, and where all, whether working class, middle class, or elite might become avid readers. Galt invited his patients, in spite of their mental problems or more accurately, because of them, to participate in that part of the larger antebellum society where everyone was expected to pick up a book and read.

No description available.

No description available.