Review of A Companion to James Madison and James Monroe edited by Stuart Leibiger

This is research on the New Orleans Brass Band tradition. How popular music has influenced the bands repertoire and the style of music has been transferred to other areas of the country resulting in the formation of hybrid bands. Madison, Wisconsin is an area with two popular brass bands that began by studying the New Orleans brass bands' culture and music. Those bands are Mama Digdown's Brass Band and Youngblood Brass Band. Mama Digdown's is a brass band that performs original music in the traditional styles and forms of New Orleans brass band. Youngblood Brass Band started because Mama Digdown's inspired them and began playing shows with Digdown's and eventually broke away to form their own band. They wanted to push the limits of the New Orleans brass band instrumentation by incorporating hip-hop, rap, jazz, 1980's pop music, rock, and heavy metal that is rolled up into an intense brass sound.

The most contentious issues of our day often have to do with political and social rights as opposed to economic rights. Through the lens of property rights I investigate whether this dichotomy existed at the time of the American founding. First, I examine the state constitutions and identify three clauses, common to the documents, which protect property rights. I examine their historical basis and reveal their connection to English common law and Locke, primarily. Then, I discuss the personal views of Madison and Jefferson to gain insight into the personal thoughts of two of the most influential Founders. Finally, I examine the actual protections for property rights found in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Ultimately, I conclude that the Founders saw property rights as deserving of no less protection than social and political rights. Our modern political arena thus has a blind spot when it comes to economic rights. Understanding, at the very least, this part of our nation’s original history is useful for American policymakers, advocates, and citizens of any political stripe.

In the twentieth century the debate over the ideological origins of the founding period and early republic has resulted in a polarization of historical interpretations. Recently, the conflict has centered on historians who use either the liberal or classical republican paradigms to explain these eras. Scholars of the founding period have argued for the dominance of one political ideology or the other in the thought of important figures of this time. Unfortunately, this struggle has led to a narrow interpretation of arguably the greatest thinker in American History, James Madison. To the contrary, I hold Madison's thought was influenced by both liberal and classical republican ideas, and in this thesis I explore that interpretation.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 164-173). University of Wisconsin, Madison login ID required. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--James Madison University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Gilbert Stuart completed the portrait of the new bride, Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte, as well as portraits of 15 other women during his Washington period from late 1803 to early 1805. Scholars have often discounted this period in Stuart's work for its "compositional simplicity" and repeat choice of a stock white dress for the portraits of many of these women. But to dismiss this period is Stuart's work is to dismiss a period when Stuart positioned himself in the center of the "first circle" in Washington, a circle that included Dolley Madison and her most ambitious friends. Women, in this era after the American and French revolutions, had the freedom to enter into the public discourse. They were liberated from many of the more conservative principals of the early colonial period, shedding their restrictive clothing in the process. Stuart's salon, a highly visible public venue, as well as his ability to portray the strength of character and a direct, forthright gaze of the American woman, all made him extremely popular with women. Stuart, a critical force within the construction of a new image for this Nation, based on Jeffersonian ideas of republicanism, based his practice on simple, natural design influences. My goal is to more thoroughly examine Stuart's decisions in composing Betsy Bonaparte's portrait, as well as the facts surrounding her marriage to Napoleon Bonaparte's youngest brother. I will then consider why Elizabeth Bonaparte's wedding portrait represents the chef d'ouvre of his work during this period and how the young bride served as his muse, influencing his Washington style, and the women who followed her into the painter's studio. / text

James Madison wrote four accounts of faction, the most public and famous of which was Federalist 10. By examining all four accounts, I undertake to develop a more capacious understanding of the design and purpose of Madison’s vision for American constitutional politics than can be extracted from an examination of Federalist 10 alone. I attempt to collate the unique insights of each account of faction into a coherent unity, with special attention to Madison’s rhetoric. I conclude that the three least famous accounts of faction, correctly read, perfect and extend the account in Federalist 10 by offering a more candid window into Madison’s thought on human beings and the political life for which he thought them fit. / text

This project proposed methodology that enhances user preference communication, enabling the landscape architect to design spaces which better meet the needs and expectations of the user(s). Semantic and visual preferences were administered to a user core group to determine guidelines that led to a design study master plan that included the design of "outdoor rooms."The advantages and disadvantages of previous written and visual survey methods were reviewed. From this review the proposed methodology was developed and tested. The results showed the users' desires where not predictable more efficient designs were enabled. This method could be used in directing a diverse set of landscape design projects. / Department of Landscape Architecture

This project examines a sanitary landfill's potential for end-use development. The main purpose is to demonstrate that landfills that have been sited and operated without the development of an end-use plan will have much less end-use potential than those landfills that were sited with an end-use as a major objective.The project consists of three basic stages, introduction, background, and case study. The introduction outlines the project, stating the purpose, the limitations and assumptions, and goals and methods. The background section presents basic information pertaining to solid wastes management and planning, landfill siting and design, and end-use considerations. The case study presents an analysis of the Madison County Landfill in an attempt to demonstrate the end-use potential, or lack of potential, as a recreation facility. In addition to these three sections, there is also an evaluation of the project and a summary and conclusions. / Department of Landscape Architecture