A generally unchallenged contemporary view of nationalism contends that the countries found in eastern and central Europe are defined along brutal, exclusive, ethnic lines. Conversely, western states and governments are expected to incorporate on liberal, inclusive, and positive terms. These typologies demand that countries be considered either ethnic or civic in nature based on geography, as a result, countries located in Eastern Europe maybe miscatergorized. Recent scholars of nationalism have conceptually and normatively challenged assumptions of liberal-western inclusiveness and ethnic-eastern violent exclusion most often attributed to historian Hans Kohn primaily using evaluations of public opinion data. In light of the lack of empirical evidence to support this Kohn’s hypotheses, this research intends to execute a more systematic approach using an elite level analysis with European political party documents. Analyzing six geographically delineated eastern and western European states, this project develops a thematic coding system for the primary investigatory tool. Second, this research will analyze European public opinion data to provide a mass- level analysis. The data collected from these two endeavors will be evaluated to see if eastern countries express themselves in ethnic-exclusive terms and western countries according to a civic-inclusive approach as Kohn’s dichotomy would suggest. In the end, the significance of this research is found in the opportunity to extend the conceptual critiques of recent authors to a systematic level that contributes to the larger discussion of nationalism typologies.

Finding solutions to help Africa prosper and grow in this globalizing world has long been sought after. One area that has received increased support is developing higher education opportunities in Africa. In 2008, USAID announced it would provide one million dollars for planning grants for U.S. higher education institutions and their sub-Saharan African institution partners. 300 applicants applied and 33 partnerships received awards. These partnerships require dedicated individuals leading the projects, making the role of project directors crucial. My research focuses on these individuals involved in the partnerships. Each project is led by a U.S. project director and an African project director. Working with Professor Peter Koehn, we tracked down the names and emails of 46 of the 66 co-project directors, with all U.S. project directors being found. Next we created a survey that asked the project directors about their objectives for the partnership, prior relations with their partner project director, the principal initiator of each one, and other similar questions. Twenty-four project directors responded to the survey. Analysis of this data provides insight into the key roles the project directors have in the initiation of the partnership projects. Understanding their involvement may help in determining characteristics that are important for future higher education partnerships.

Western society’s interest in economic development has continued to expand the extraction of this gold around the world . It is essential to analyzethe impacts of gold mining on human rights, international relations, and how the adverse affects can be mitigated. I examined two gold mines in Latin America—Marlin Mine in Guatemala and Yanacocha in Peru. First, I looked at the companies --their history, their social responsibility track record and any recent news of their impacts. Second, I also looked at the countries – their historical, political, and economic background, and most importantly their indigenous populations. This includes local laws surrounding water, land rights, and mineral usage as well as the historical and current events surrounding the relationship between indigenous peoples and the government. The indigenous group research includes a brief history of the tribes, but focuses primarily on the current struggles facing the indigenous peoples in regards to health, job security, and land rights. Finally, combining scientific studies, news articles, and peer reviewed, I evaluate the overall sustainability of gold mining and its future relevance.

The developing nations that are being exploited for gold use have long histories as sustainable societies. It’s a grave mistake to destroy these cultures and ecologically diverse places at the expense of basic human rights. With this project I lay out several of the main issues, as well as possible solutions, and propose ways to protect human rights and sustainable indigenous cultures.

Georges-Eugene Haussmann’s infrastructural reformation of Paris beginning in 1853 was not only pragmatic innovation, but also ideological evolution. Contemporary understanding of disease drew in large part on existing miasmic theory, despite advances in medicine and Louis Pasteur’s germ theory. Public hygienists of the time called for management of the urban infrastructure to protect the integrity of the city corpus and the physical and moral health of the individual citizen. In a capitalist superstructure, the protection of the worker’s health is a material investment in the perpetuation of economic progress. The metaphor of Paris as body reflects the vision of capitalist bio-economics and a fear of uncontrolled waste. On the same token, the metaphor implicates the abject as a repulsive border between the symbolic surface and the repressed reality underground. Managing and repressing Paris’ “bodily functions” had psychological and social consequences that were reflected in contemporary literature, as exemplified in naturalist author and social commentator Emile Zola’s L’Assommoir (1877). Hausmann’s own writings and those of contemporary French writer Emile Zola support this dual use of metaphor, as demonstrated by parallel dissection of their texts. This research is significant for its inscription of the corporal metaphor upon the modernizing city, and demonstrates that metaphor remains useful for informing our own present urban and corporal realities.