This paper deals with the anti-Semitic pamphlet The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which is placed in the historical context of its origin, considering political and social causes behind the formulation of many previous conspiracy theories and anti-Jewish narratives and their motifs, which are eventually reflected in The Protocols. This complex conspiracy narrative is then subjected to structural analysis, which seeks to identify dominant themes structured into binary oppositions, through which it aims to capture a potential "meaning" or significance of the narrative that was relevant to readers of its time but also addresses contemporary conspiracy theorists. Finally, the work attempts to outline one of the root causes that makes Jews ideal adepts for a major role as conspirators in conspiracy narratives, that lies in their extraordinary, liminal state, defined by their relationship to the majority, in this case, Christian society.

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Anne-Louis Girodet Trioson's Portrait of C.[itizen] Jean-Baptiste Belley, ex-representative of the Colonies, is evidence of the changing ideological situation during the French Revolution. Girodet was one of the most learned and accomplished students of Jacques-Louis David who strove to surpass his teacher in two ways: 1) by painting David's Neoclassical style so well that his handling surpasses that of his master, and 2) by choosing subject matter never before explored by David. Girodet accomplishes both within this work. The Neoclassical handling of the image has been achieved with amazing clarity, and the central figure of an identified black man had never been displayed in the Salon previously. The work was without precedent and without progeny. It successfully transcends the boundaries of portraiture into the highest tier of the Academic hierarchy: History Painting. Lacking in the existing scholarship of this portrait as history painting is that the work is successful in fulfilling a didactic and moralizing function, bearing significance to the general public. Scholars have hitherto ignored the striking visual similarities between this and Grand Tour portraits of Englishmen earlier in the century. This portrait of Belley calls into question accepted post-colonial readings by not adhering to a strict Orientalist interpretation. His hybrid nature nullifies readings that he is merely a black man posed as a French one. Belley cannot be seen as simply African, nor Haitian, nor French, nor military man, nor politician; each of these aspects of his being add up to his individual identity. It was because of Belley's race that he was chosen for this portrait; his complex nature creates a dramatic painting relevant to varied members of the general public, his status as a black man allows for a politically relevant subject worthy of history painting, and the choice of Girodet's model of Grand Tour portraiture with its connotations of education, travel and social status—when applied to a black man—make this a revolutionary painting unparalleled in history.

This thesis explores the implications of chinoiserie, or Western creations of Chinese-style decorative arts, upon an eighteenth century colonial American audience. Chinese products such as tea, porcelain, and silk, and goods such as furniture and wallpaper displaying Chinese motifs of distant exotic lands, had become popular commodities in Europe by the eighteenth century. The American colonists, who were primarily culturally British, thus developed a taste for chinoiserie fashions and wares via their European heritage. While most European countries had direct access to the China trade, colonial Americans were banned from any direct contact with the Orient by the British East India Company. They were relegated to creating their own versions of these popular designs and products based on their own interpretations of British imports. Americans also created a mental construct of China from philosophical writings of their European contemporaries, such as Voltaire, who often envisioned China as a philosopher's paradise. Some colonial Americans, such as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, fit their understanding of China within their own Enlightenment worldview. For these individuals, chinoiserie in American homes not only reflected the owners' desires to keep up with European fashions, but also carried associations with Enlightenment thought. The latter half of the eighteenth century was a time of escalating conflict as Americans colonists began to assert the right to govern themselves. Part of their struggle for freedom from England was a desire to rid themselves of the British imports, such as tea, silk, and porcelain, on which they had become so dependent by making those goods themselves. Americans in the eighteenth century had many of the natural resources to create such products, but often lacked the skill or equipment for turning their raw materials into finished goods. This thesis examines the colonists' attempts to create their own chinoiserie products, despite these odds, in light of revolutionary sentiments of the day. Chinoiserie in colonial America meshed with neoclassical décor, thereby reflecting the Enlightenment and revolutionary spirit of the time, and revealing a complex colonial worldview filled with trans-oceanic dialogues and cross-cultural currents.

The following thesis is a study of the founding years of the Mormon supplementary religious education between 1890 and 1930. It examines Mormonism's shift away from private denominational education towards a system of supplementary religious education programs at the elementary, high school, and college levels. Further, this study examines the role that supplementary religious education played in the changes between the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries. During the 1870s and 1880s, Utah's territorial schools became an important part of the battles over polygamy and the control of Utah. As the Federal Government began to wrest control of the schools from the Mormon community, the Church established a system of private academies. Economic problems during the 1880s and 1890s, however, made it difficult for the Church to maintain many of these schools, necessitating the Mormon patronage of the public schools. As a result, in 1890 the Church established its first supplementary religious education program, known as the Religion Class program. The Religion Class program suffered from a variety of problems and was criticized by both Mormon and non-Mormon officials. Despite the failings of the Religion Class program, the need for supplementary religious education became increasingly important during the first two decades of the twentieth century. In 1912, the Granite Stake established the Church's first high school seminary. Within ten years, the seminary program replaced the majority of the academies and became the Church's preeminent educational program. During the 1920s, the Church began extending supplementary religious education to its students in colleges and universities through the establishment of the institute program and the near-complete abandonment of its private colleges and schools. The successive establishment of these three programs demonstrates a shift in Mormon educational priorities and attitudes throughout this period. Whereas the academies and the Religion Class program emphasized a general fear of Americanization, the seminary and institute programs accepted the public schools and much of the Americanization that accompanied them, while at the same time providing means for the continued inculcation of Mormon values into the lives of Latter-day Saint youth.

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[pt] Esta dissertação pretende investigar as formas de figuração do tempo histórico nacional presentes na História da Revolução de Pernambuco em 1817 (1840), de Francisco Muniz Tavares. Ao interpretar a revolução pernambucana de 1817, Muniz Tavares a concebeu como uma tentativa de antecipação do futuro da independência que expressava uma assincronia entre Pernambuco e os demais espaços do Brasil. Isso porque a independência de 1822 foi compreendida como o crescimento de um germe da emancipação cujo plantio já teria se dado de modo precursor na revolução promovida em solo pernambucano, então interpretada como um prenúncio do futuro no passado. Para além disso, em sua narrativa do movimento de 1817, este letrado propôs uma leitura da história brasileira bastante crítica à colonização portuguesa, por vezes entendida como um passado ainda presente mesmo após a independência. A identificação do que, em sua perspectiva, seriam marcas do período colonial, como a escravidão e o atraso de parte dos brasileiros, produziu um modo de conceber o tempo histórico nacional que enfatizava as assincronias entre os diversos espaços e grupos que compunham a nação e no qual a suposição de um movimento temporal autônomo e animado pelo progresso coexistia com a permanência de passados indesejados. Isso originou uma visão menos harmônica da temporalidade nacional cuja apreensão nos permite complexificar e tensionar as análises relativas ao cânone historiográfico oitocentista, visibilizando narrativas dissonantes acerca da história brasileira. / [en] This research aims to investigate the forms of figuration of a national historical time on Francisco Muniz Tavares História da Revolução de Pernambuco em 1817 (1840). Interpreting the Pernambuco revolution of 1817, Muniz Tavares conceived it as an attempt to anticipate the future of independence that expressed a non-synchronicity between Pernambuco and Brazil. This is because the Brazilian independence was understood as the growth of a germ of emancipation whose planting would have already taken place in a precursory way in the revolution promoted in Pernambuco, then conceived as presage of the future in the past. Furthermore, in his narrative of the Pernambuco movement, this author proposed an interpretation of Brazilian history that was quite critical of Portuguese colonization, understood as a past still present even after independence. The acknowledgment of what, in his view, would be marks of the colonial period, such as slavery and the absence of progress on the part of Brazilians, produced a way of conceiving the national historical time that emphasized the non-synchronicity between the different spaces and groups that were part of the nation and in which the assumption of an autonomous temporal movement pervaded by progress coexisted with the permanence of unwanted pasts. This produced a less harmonious view of national temporality whose understanding allows us to enrich and tense the studies related to the 19th century historiographical canon, revealing dissonant narratives about Brazilian history.

The master thesis is a research about the relationship between memorials and light. It first studies the characteristics of cultural memories and tries to find what the advantages of using lighting as a means of commemoration are. The nowadays memorials are very different compared to the traditional monuments and they should include a changing narrative, treating local and universal messages. They should involve the public.A contemporary memorial is ephemeral and continuously changing- the same as light is.A series of contemporary memorials have been selected to understand the tools that makes them successful. Furthermore, it was analyzed how these parameters could be achieved through light. 12 memorials that use light as an eloquent tool have been interpreted according to certain criteria.The second part of the thesis is an applied project related to the events that happened in Timisoara, Romania, in 1989 during the anticommunist Revolution. The process of creating memorials for Timisoara is a key focus of the study. The development is equally important as the end result. It searches for the significant messages and lessons of the event. Testimonials of the participants to the revolution have been studied. Interviews and questionnaires have been developed. Following this, significant places in the city and messages were chosen. The research will conclude with a lighting installations project proposal.

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This study examines the decision making process in Washington which led to the current non-existence of political and economic relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States. The study examines the U.S.-Iran relationship at three levels-of-analysis: the individual, state, and system levels. From a geopolitical perspective, Iran and the United States have often been natural allies that pursued similar policy goals. After 9/11, the U.S. entered Afghanistan and Iraq which further necessitated the reengagement of Tehran. Iranian regional clout would play a vital role in stabilization of Iraq and Afghanistan and without Iran's assistance; peace will not likely be realized in those states. Amongst the most compelling reasons for Washington to engage in meaningful dialogue with Tehran are: terrorism, the war on drugs, the Iranian sponsorship of militant groups, and Tehran's pursuit of a nuclear program. The study concludes that rapprochement should occur in two phases. The first being cooperation in areas of mutual concern such as the war on drugs. The second phase promoting confidence building methods, which would lead to a strategic partnership based on mutual interests.