This thesis investigates why conspiracy theories have been a constant fixture of American society since the founding of the United States, specifically why they come about and what purpose they serve. By isolating a period ...

In this thesis I explore the Smithsonian Institution’s (SI) changing first lady narratives through two exhibits and their catalogs. First, I examine the First Ladies Hall exhibit (1965) at the Museum of History and Technology ...

This senior thesis seeks to answer the following question: how and why is the word “minstrel” and associated images still used in American rap and hip hop performances? The question was sparked by the title of a 2005 rap ...

Geraldine Ferraro broke a formerly impenetrable glass ceiling when she became the first woman on a major party ticket in U.S. history as Walter Mondale’s running mate in 1984. However, scant attention has been paid to the ...

U.S. Navy SEALs have become ubiquitous in the years since SEAL Team Six killed Osama Bin Laden during Operation Neptune Spear in 2011. SEAL narratives and stories can be found in bookstores, movie theaters, newspapers, ...

Although the Krueger-Scott Mansion has been a fixture on Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard for over a hundred years, the building, its former residents, and its relevance to the City of Newark remain forgotten. The erasure ...

American art museums have long been elite, white, male dominated spaces where white, Euro-American women have appeared as merely muses or subjects of artworks. Rarely are women of color represented in the museum in artworks ...

As Las Vegas, Nevada, evolved into a site of tourism and entertainment, the United States established an atomic bomb test site just 65 miles northwest of Nevada’s most populous city. The Atomic Energy Commission began ...

In the remote woods of Maine, children gather around a fire wearing headbands and feathers in order to become members of their tribe as they partake in a decades-old tradition. To them, the wearing of a feather is just ...

Genetic Genealogy tests from companies like AncestryDNA and 23andMe have gained immense popularity since their creation in the mid 2000s. They have become specifically relevant for Black Americans, who, due to the history ...

The Watergate scandal of the 1970s is one of the greatest presidential scandals in American history. In an elaborate scheme in quest for more power, President Richard Nixon and his administration performed unconstitutional ...

The topic of Trigger Warnings [TWs] in higher education is often at the center of controversy. Because TWs are popularly and successfully implemented on Tumblr, this thesis compares the use of trigger warnings as discussed ...

Beauty standards permeate American society and influence the ways women dress, style their hair, eat, and wear their makeup. African American women, however, have historically been excluded from the traditional beauty ...

The Confederate flag is well known as a controversial American symbol and it has a long history in South Carolina’s politics that demonstrates the volatility of that controversy. This senior thesis examines the political ...

According to Article III of the United States Constitution, Supreme Court justices “may hold their Offices during “good Behaviour.” Canonically, this type of tenure afforded to members of the Supreme Court is interpreted ...

In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, ten miles from Manhattan, an adult playground emerged.  A visitor’s class, race, or responsibilities did not matter here.  One could experience an earthquake, ride on a railway ...

The American higher education history focuses on the same three years: 1787, 1862 and 1944. In each of these years, legislation was passed that made education more accessible in the United States. However, another key ...

This thesis explores the impact of social media platforms on jihadist extremist recruitment of United States citizens thus contributing to homegrown terrorism. By virtue of analyzing a split timeline of individual case ...

During the Great Depression, American Catholic laywomen navigated an increasingly tumultuous society caused by severe economic hardship. During this decade, gender roles continued to shift, unemployment threw titanic ...

Latinx communities, like East Los Angeles and Boyle Heights are negatively targeted by external forces that distort how these communities are viewed. This distorted reality or mental border is present throughout media ...