This thesis examines the connection between participation in the British empire and constructions of Scottish national identity, through investigating the activities of civil society organisations in Scotland, in particular missionary societies and the Presbyterian churches in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Though empire is commonly thought to have had a significant impact on Scots' adoption of a British identity. The process of how representations of empire were transmitted and understood at home has been little explored. Similarly, religion is thought to have played an important role in supporting a sense of Scottish identity. but this theme has also been little explored. This thesis, then, examines evidence of civil society activity related to empire, including philanthropic and religious, learned and scientific, and imperial propagandist activities. In order to elucidate how empire was understood at home through the engagement with empire by civil society organisations. Of these forms of organisation. missionary societies and the churches were the most important in mediating an understanding of empire. The pattern of the growth and development of the movement in support of foreign missions is described and analysed, indicating its longevity, its typical functions and membership, and demonstrating both its middle class leadership and the active participation of women. Analysis of missionar) literature of a variety of types shows that dominant discourses of religion, race. gender and class produced iconic representations of the missionary experience which reflected the values of middle class Scots. The analysis also demonstrates both that representations of Scottish national identity were privileged over those of a British identity, but that these were complementary rather than being seen as in opposition to each other. Through examining the public profile of the missionary enterprise in the secular press it is shown that these representations were appropriated in the secular sphere to represent a specific Scottish contribution to empire. The thesis concludes that the missionary experience of empire. embedded as it was in the institutional life of the Presbyterian churches, had the capacity to generate representations and symbols of Scottish national identity which were widely endorsed in both religious and secular spheres in the age of high imperialism.

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The first chapter investigates whether construction of the Bureau of Reclamation dams in the early twentieth century raise farm values and increase agricultural output? I construct a new county level panel data set from 1890 to 1920 with information on geography, climate, politics, agriculture, and major dams and then evaluate the effect of the Bureau of Reclamation dams on the value of farms and on crop productivity. Using fixed effect panel estimation, I find that new federal dam construction increased the average value of farm land by approximately 6.4 percent. When I apply an instrument to control for potential endogeneity, the effect of Bureau dams on the farm land value increases in size, although the estimate is no longer statistically significant. When examining the crop output, the only crop for which the dams had effects was alfalfa. In the second chapter I investigate the effect of the geographic, economic and political factors on dam construction at the beginning of the Bureau of Reclamation's operation in the American West. Applying county level data which has been linked from various data sources for the time period of 1900 to 1910, I show that the percentage of votes for Republicans in presidential elections has a significant and positive effect on major dam construction. The last chapter investigates the effect of climate change on US agriculture using county-level data from 1997 to 2007. Compared to previous contributions, we pay particular attention to the spatial heterogeneity across the climate zones and include the presence of extreme weather events. The lack of consideration for both effects may have led previous works to generate biased estimates and incorrect impact forecasts. While current approaches use projected climate variables derived from coarse resolution Global Climate Models (GCMs), we use data at a much finer resolution by relying on dynamically downscaled simulation data. Further, we pay particular attention to the spatial heterogeneity in the impact of climate among the climate zones. Chow-Wald tests indicate the presence of significant heterogeneity across zones in the effects of climate on land values.

Wintter Watts (1884-1962) was one of the most admired composers of American art song in the early twentieth century. The history of great singers who performed his songs at that time attests to the reputation of Watts as a song composer. Unfortunately the songs of Watts have become largely neglected by singers from later generations. The song cycle Vignettes of Italy (1919) for high voice is regarded by many as Watts♠ best-known composition. Vignettes of Italy was frequently performed by many famous singers in America in his day, but is little known in the current repertoire of American art song and rarely performed today. Vignettes of Italy is worthy of reintroduction to contemporary audiences and singers. This study explores the significant contributions Wintter Watts made to the body of American art song in the early twentieth century and presents a thorough investigation of Watts♠ compositional techniques of Sara Teasdale♠s texts in his song cycle Vignettes of Italy. These techniques include the use of carefully tailored rhythms, modulations, harmonic progressions, and accompaniment figures to give unique treatment to the musical setting of individual words, poetic ideas, and broader moods. I hope this research provides a foundation of understanding of this cycle, assists singers and pianists in presenting artistically coherent performances, and creates a fuller comprehension and appreciation of Watts songs.

In this thesis, I explore how, although Edith Södergran’s Vaxdukshäf poems seem to support new female roles in early 20th century European society, they also reflect on the danger in changing from traditional to modern roles. As the poems illustrate, this change can create an isolated woman, who becomes trapped in her new independence and is unable to alter herself to connect with others. In order to understand what is meant by traditional and modern female roles, I present a historical background that contrasts the woman of pre-20th-Century Europe with the new woman that emerged around the Turn of the Century. I do this by focusing on marriage, motherhood, the woman's role inside and outside of the home, valued feminine characteristics, and women's clothing.

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Planner, conservationist, forester, and geographer Emile Benton MacKaye envisioned a revolutionary, extensive foot trail that would promote the interaction between communities throughout the United States' distinctive eastern region. His 1921 plan for the Appalachian Trail (A.T.) focused on balancing the basic requirements for life in and out of the urban context by developing an ‘indigenous’ environment and developmental mold (Bower 1962, 372). However, almost a century has passed, and MacKaye's approach to the planning process, organization, environmental development, and the rural economy remains hidden beneath the mountain forest canopy extending from Maine to Georgia. Four of the forty-nine designated communities in the A.T. CommunityTM program today were analyzed to determine if and which aspects of Benton MacKaye's original vision of regional planning were achieved 100 years later. On-the-ground observations were collected through informal interactions with A.T. CommunityTM Supporters, unaffiliated businesses and organizations, and locals while traveling to each of the four A.T. regions, defined by the A.T. Conservancy (ATC). It was essential to understand if the designations transformed trailside neighborhoods into outdoor recreational and social hubs and shifted community perspectives toward the Trail and the ATC. Although most people think of the A.T. purely in terms of the opportunities it provides for outdoor and wilderness experiences, it is also perceived as a critical focus for communities' economic growth and vitality. The research reveals that the program and its complimentary ‘Supporter’ system for local businesses are ineffective. The ATC branded these trail towns. Yet, no elements of MacKaye’s vision or community improvements have truly been recognized following A.T. CommunityTM designations within the last decade. Regardless of geographic, temporal, internal, and physical aspects, this outcome was consistent in all four case study communities (Monson-ME, Harpers Ferry-Bolivar-WV, Damascus-VA, and Hot Springs-NC).

This dissertation explores vampire logic in Hispanic short fiction of the last decade of the 19th century and first three decades of the 20th century, and is thus a comparative study; not simply between Spanish and Latin American literary production, but also between Hispanic and European literary traditions. As such, this study not only draws attention to how Hispanic authors employed traditional Gothic conventions—and by extension, how Hispanic nations produced “modern” literature—but also to how these authors adapted previous models and therefore deviated from and questioned the European Gothic tradition, and accordingly, established trends and traditions of their own. This study does not pretend to be exhaustive. Even though I mention poetry, plays, and novels from the first appearance of the literary vampire in the mid-18th century through the fin de siglo and the first few decades of the 20th century, I focus on short fiction produced within and shortly thereafter the fin de siglo, as this time period saw a resurgence of the vampire figure on a global scale and the first legitimate appearance in Hispanic letters, being as it coincided with a rise in periodicals and short story production and represented developments and anxieties related to the physical and behavioral sciences, technological advances and urban development, waves of immigration and disease, and war. While Chapter 1 establishes a working theory of the vampire from a historical and materialist perspective, each of the following chapters explores a different trend in Hispanic vampire literature: Chapter 2 looks at how vampire narratives represent political and economic anxieties particular to Spain and Latin America; Chapter 3 studies newly married couples and how vampire logic leads to the death of the wife—and thus the death of the “angel of the house” ideal—therefore challenging ideas surrounding marriage, the family, and the home; lastly, Chapter 4 explores courting couples and how disruptions in the makeup of the public/private divide influenced images of female monstrosity—complex, parodic ones in the Hispanic case. One of the main conclusions this study reaches is that Hispanic authors were indeed producing Gothic images, but that these images deviated from the European Gothic vampire literary tradition and prevailing literary tendencies of the time through aesthetic and narrative experimentation and as a result of particular anxieties related to their histories, developments, and current realities. While Latin America and Spain produced few explicit, Dracula-like vampires, the vampire figures, metaphors, and allegories discussed in the chapters speak to Spain and Latin America’s political, economic, and ideological uncertainties, and as a result, their “place” within the modern global landscape. This dissertation ultimately suggests that Hispanic Gothic representations are unique because they were being produced within peripheral spaces, places considered “non-modern” because of their distinct histories of exploitation and development and their distinct cultural, religious, and racial compositions, therefore shifting perceptions of Otherness and turning the Gothic on its head. The vampire in the Hispanic context, I suggest, is a fusion of different literary currents, such as Romanticism, aesthetic movements, such as Decadence, and modes, such as the Gothic and the Fantastic, and is therefore different in many ways from its predecessors. These texts abound with complex representations that challenge the status quo, question dominant narratives, parody literary formulas, and break with tradition. / Spanish

This thesis examines the implementation of a philanthropically project called Norrbottens arbetsstugor which were launched during the famine of 1903. The project initially aimed to hinder starvation among children to poor families and was arranged in a similar way as boarding-out schools. Children to poor families were offered this temporary solution and during their stay they received board and lodging as well as schooling and work practice. However, the project continues until 1954 although the threat of famine is hindered fairly promptly which indicates that new policies were introduced. Therefore, the inquiry focuses on how actors on different levels in the implementation structure adapt and transform the philanthropically policy to suit their respective needs and goals. The study is divided into two phases, a so called initial phase and an expansion phase. The implementation is investigated via archive material from the philanthropically organisation itself, Stiftelsen Norrbottens Läns arbetsstugor, as well as from local governments (kommunala skolråd) and representatives of the Swedish government (folkskoleinspektörer). The study shows how policies of childcare becomes blurry or difficult to fulfil due to insufficient means, lack of control or because of absence of recognized tools to evaluate the activity. Commonly, implementation studies sought to show how well or misused the policy has been obeyed after its introduction. This study shows rather how a policy can work fruitfully even though, or thanks to, its intentions are reformulated by different actors. This of course, awakes questions of moral characters. The study also highlights the importance to investigate, in this case a philanthropically case, not only as such, but as a project that is ongoing on several levels. This gives us the opportunity to see what, for example, the conception of ‘good childcare’ means and how it is defined depending on the level studied. To put it short: when studied in different levels, we may unveil the different meanings of a concept. Keywords: Norrbotten, early 20th century, childcare, boarding-school, philanthropy, assimilation, implementation.

This thesis offers a detailed account of early polio epidemics (between 1918 and 1945) in Johannesburg, where the disease was particularly severe. At this time, little was known about the poliovirus, and such limited understanding affected the public health and medical initiatives taken during this period. These actions are highlighted in the thesis, along with the responses of the media and lay public to the disease. The effect of war on the management of the disease is also examined, as it siphoned off vital medical personnel and jeopardised disease control. It also lent an emotional overlay to the way the disease was perceived, as `battle' rhetoric became the parlance used against polio, which was personified as the `enemy' of innocent children who were disabled at the whim of the virus. The epidemic of 1944-1945 was the first to be systematically investigated, by Dr James Gear as part of his groundbreaking polio research; he later became part of an international team of researchers who contributed to the development of a prophylactic vaccine within a decade of this epidemic. / History / M.A. (History)