This work is an attempt to study the turbulent and dark period of late 18th century Persia. We begin with the death in 1193 A.H./1179 A.D. of the Vakil, Karim Khan Zand, after nearly twenty years of rule. Immediately thereafter the conflicts and contradictions inherent in a semi-feudal monarchy came to the surface, giving rise to the most violent and chaotic anarchy. The Vakil's own tribe, the Zands, failed to grasp their only chance of survival which was to remain unified against their rivals. Instead, one after another Zand prince usurped supreme power and killed his own kinsmen. In this process the country was destroyed and eventually witnessed the final downfall of the Zands in 1209/1794. From the death of the Vakil, the Zand 's most formidable rival, .Ag.a Mohammad Khan Qajar, was consolidating his power in the northern provinces of the kingdom. By careful planning and patience, he contributed to the weakening and eventual tqtal annihilation of ·the Zand dynasty. In this thesis we also attempt to clarify the underlying currents behind these events. The dynamics of the society and social and economic forces are studied in detail. This period of history is of particular importance as it marks the end of a semi-feudal regime based on tribal military support. Before the advent of the 19th century, which witnessed the sedentarization of nomadic tribes and the formation of a regular and disciplined army under the Qaj ars. In this study of an important, but little known, period of transition, particular emphasis is laid on socio-economic aspects such as trade, religious life and the structure of late 18th century Persian society.

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Albert Einstein is one indisputable luminary who in my opinion exemplifies the balance, brilliance, and altruism I look for in my heroes. Subsequent to his dream of riding a beam of light to the edge of the universe, with the tools of calculus and physics, he radically changed our understanding of the universe. But the dream came first, and everybody dreams.I believe everyone has something incredible to offer. In my creative project paintings I attempt to demonstrate with the tools of paint and canvas my peculiar dream of the cosmos from macrocosm to microcosm.I ride the beam of light using paint and canvas, in my creative project paintings I celebrate my fascination with that intuitive element we all share. I also celebrate those who have gone before with the wisdom to seek an understanding and discernment of the genius we all share, have access to, and indeed must thoughtfully and carefully awaken for our species to evolve past its current halting material, ideological, and technological adolescence. / Department of Art

Hard Soled Shoes is a collection of poetry designed to appeal to several, specific audiences. The first audience consists of: other poets, creative writers, and literary critics. I have submitted a work drawn from the life experience of a 42 year-old man. I crafted the poems with the academic learning gained from a graduate study of poetry and creative writing. My graduate education has helped me recognize a higher and broader standard in the realm of poetry. It also enabled me to refine my own style of writing; a comfortable mix of song lyrics and image-rich writing.Another group I hope to reach with this collection is a segment of readers who have a limited knowledge of poetry. I feel it is important to reach out beyond the academic community to a broader audience. There are many people outside academia who can appreciate and enjoy good poetry. I chose many poems for this collection that are accessible and relevant to people of many backgrounds, interests, and demographics. The use of humor, meter, rhyme, and familiar characters give the pieces understandable "hooks" to draw the attention of readers. The inclusion of song lyrics and musical devices like refrains bring a familiarity to readers who only have experience of poetry through popular music.My intent is to use simple and clear language to express more complex ideas. Hopefully the depth of subject matter will entice readers to re-read certain pieces and consider new ideas. The use of repetition and rhyme will hopefully bring focus and power to certain poems and create at least a few memorable or quotable lines from the collection.I believe a poetry collection can be an artistic endeavor and still have a broad entertainment appeal. My education has prepared me to recognize and write quality, literary poetry suitable for publication. My years of experience producing creative ideas for media and advertising have made me aware of the challenges of trying to reach a vast audience. I see a hole in the media market. I believe good, accessible poetry could fill a void and successfully satisfy the needs of a specific, literary niche. / Department of English

This project comprises the best poetry written in my graduate study at Ball State University. The title, Liminal, is a term that has reappeared thematically in my work. Merriam Webster defines it as: "the threshold of a physiological or psychological response," but more than that, for me liminality is the doorframe between things; it is poetry. Poetry is a conglomeration of splicing between inner worlds and outer worlds; it tries to capture and recreate physiological or psychological responses, bringing the reader into the threshold that the writer has exited. Poetry is a door, a threshold; it is liminal. Thresholds are infinite and immeasurable; therefore, I have tried to capture or recreate liminal moments of my life into words that are physical, measurable in a sense, and therefore create presence, inviting readers through the threshold of my literary house out of the liminal abyss. These 36 pages of poetry contain liminal subject matter, whether embodying sexuality, relationships, spirituality, or moments bordering life and death, but always the inestimable line between two things. / Department of English

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The aim of this thesis is to provide a thorough introduction to shorter satirical poetry in Middle English, and also to provide stimulus and material for further study in this somewhat neglected area of medieval English literature. The thesis presents 83 newly transcribed, edited and annotated shorter (approximately 200 ll. or less) poems, which have never before been collected. Strictly political poems, more properly the subject of a separate study, are not included, nor are the poems of Dunbar, Skelton, Henryson and Hoccleve, which are available in excellent editions. The poems are loosely grouped according to the subjects they satirize: clergy, women and marriage, money and venality, rogues and fools, specific people, and medical recipes. A lengthy introduction briefly discusses the problem of defining satire in the Middle English period before going on to discuss the background of medieval satire for each group. For each poem there are notes which clarify difficult points as well as give information on the manuscripts and editions in which the poem appears. Appendix A prints a not hitherto recognized parody of Lydgate's A Valentine to Our Lady with the text of Lydgate's poem facing, and discusses some of the difficulties of recognizing parody in Middle English in light of this particular example. Appendix B is an index which attempts to list all nonnarrative satirical verse in English which appeared between the thirteenth and early sixteenth centuries. A glossary of difficult words in the texts is included.

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This thesis is an exploration of the relationship between Anglican clergymen and the inhabitants of Norfolk's rural parishes in the nineteenth century. It considers the potential impact clergymen could have upon a number of areas of secular life: on education as school managers, on law and order as magistrates, and on aspects of local economic, social and behavioural management as poor law guardians and charity trustees. Clergymen also negotiated a complex series of social relationships with agricultural labourers, with religious Nonconformists, with trade unionists, with tenant farmers, and with local landowners (who were often their patrons or kinsmen). The thesis examines many facets of social, religious and political dissent in the countryside, and discusses the extent to which individual clergymen - by their attitudes and actions - might exacerbate or soothe tensions within their 'spheres of influence'. The notion of clergymen as 'colonial governors' is posited. The term offers an explanation for their managerial role in local society, and elucidates the way in which the parish clergy operated as administrators rather than instigators of change. Nineteenth-century rural society also witnessed the decline of a once-vibrant popular culture, based on an affinity with nature and lived to the rhythm of calendrical custom. It is argued that popular culture was actively suppressed by parish elites and that the Church played a pivotal role in the process of suppression. The pageantry of parish entertainments, the re-casting of the law so that it acted against custom, the rise of the clergyman as antiquarian historian and amateur archaeologist, the symbolism and architecture of the restored church and the newly-built Rectory are all cited as being of iconic significance in this respect. By blending qualitative and quantitative methods, the thesis aims to build an holistic picture of the way in which two cultures encountered each other in the nineteenth-century countryside, and explains how one culture came to dominate, incorporate and manage the other.

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