The Measure: An Undergraduate Research Journal
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Hidden Treasures: The Special Collections and University Archives of Newton Gresham Library
Full text linkAlicia Gaspar de Alba\u27s Desert Blood: Facts and Crime
No full textThis article discusses a fictionalized account of mass murders of women in Ciudad Juárez and highlights the creative perspective of Alicia Gaspar de Alba’s novel, Desert Blood: The Juárez Murders. The novel is based on four years of research and denounces the femicides, with the goal to foster awareness and bring to light the impunity of the murders. By categorizing the characters and crimes within the novel, Gaspar de Alba proposes that these femicides are fueled by social circumstances brought to the area by the increase in the number of maquilas, or factories, and to the local corruption that allows crime against women workers to continue
Juan Crow
No full textMichelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow seeks to explain the parallels and connections between the present day War on Drugs, and resulting systems of mass incarceration, and the historic regime of racial control known as Jim Crow. Her argument is that the criminal justice system in the United States is an updated racialized system of social control, with her main focus being the lives of African Americans affected by the system. This article seeks to extend Alexander’s argument. It contends that the U.S. Anti-Immigration System’s laws, statutes, and ordinances are a racialized social control system aimed at the lives of those of Latin American descent. Just as Alexander contends that the system of mass incarceration stemming from the War on Drugs is a renewed and improved Jim Crow, it is here argued that the current immigration system in this country is a renewed and improved “Juan Crow.
Transborder Migration: The Monarch Butterfly and US-Mexico Relations
No full textWhile monarch butterflies’ unique migratory patterns have granted them high esteem among multiple cultures, their transborder migration has also presented them with a distinct set of threats. In light of the drastic decline of monarch populations in recent decades, the social, cultural, and ecological significance of these insects should warrant international solutions. Mexico has made various efforts toward the conservation and protection of the species; however, the United States has not fully reciprocated these measures. This research paper demonstrates the historical significance of the monarch butterfly both ecologically and culturally, outlines the prevalent issue and factors involved in the butterfly’s decline, and exemplifies the need for more effective international relations
Making Revolutions: Mao Zedong\u27s Philosophy of Revolution and the State, 1927-1949
No full textNo source accentuates the role of legitimacy in revolution and governance more so than China’s most notorious revolutionary, Mao Zedong. Through a study of the foundations of Chinese Communism in the backdrop of China’s May Fourth Movement, this paper will account Mao’s writings and their adoption into the revolutionary practice of the CCP between 1927 and 1949. By the establishment of the PRC in 1949, “Mao Zedong thought,” considered the CCP’s embrace of the powers of the state as a mere means to the end - the abolition of state power and the ushering in of the ideal society so dreamed by the May Fourth radicals in 1919. But the end never came. Continuous revolution was abolished with the death of Mao, whereupon the Chinese state embarked on a new epoch to justify its right to rule
Nation Building in Mexico
No full textIn 2018, I traveled across Mexico with the History Department’s study abroad program. We visited countless archaeological sites, including Tulum, Cobá, Uxmal, Palenque, Calakmul, Monte Albán, Puebla, and Mexico City. Each site has been shaped by the historic peoples who lived there. In fact, I learned in Dr. Littlejohn’s Public History class that the awe-inspiring temples, advanced cities, and masterful artisan pieces left behind by the Maya, Zapotec, and Aztec cultures were used by Mexico’s President Porfirio Díaz (1876-1911) to create a post-colonial national narrative that was distinct from the Spanish colonial influence. Díaz restored and displayed Mesoamerican achievements to instill a sense of Mexican national pride and independence
How Close Is Gothic to Old English: A Comparative Overview
No full textIn an effort to expose linguistics to those outside of the field, this paper uses a more easily understood language to explore the similarities between Gothic, an Eastern Germanic language, and Old English (the ancestor to Present-Day English), a Western Germanic language. The following paper examines the Gothic language and Old English by creating an overview of both languages and then briefly comparing them to one another. The author analyzed several notable papers and handbooks, focusing on Dr. Gary Miller’s most recent research. The studies examine the vowel and consonant system, phonology, morphology, and the representation of sounds in the Gothic Alphabet
“You Cannot See Anyone but Negroes:” Huntsville’s Yellow Summer of 1867
No full textHuntsville, Texas, experienced its first yellow fever epidemic in thesummer of 1867. As ten percent of the town perished, many membersof the local, white community decided to flee or hide in order to escapecontamination. However, due to a myth of hereditary black immunity,the local freedpeople stayed and exposed their susceptible bodies to oneof the most dreaded diseases of the time. This essay relies heavily onprimary documents, including newspaper articles, letters, and officialreports, written during the epidemic and shortly after its conclusion.The documents bring to light the attitudes, fears, and beliefs thatunderpinned the American South during the era of Reconstruction.This study concludes that the myth of immunity robbed untoldnumbers of African Americans of the ability to make their owninformed choices and of their lives. Furthermore, this essay proposesthat the myth survived for centuries—even as various epidemics provedit fallacious—due to the medical community and a widespread desirefor convenience