Rosario Castellanos born to a traditional family in Chiapas, Mexico in 1925 experienced through her lifetime the oppressive, deeply patriarchal society that dominated the human experience within the country. Although many differences exist between the United States in 2015 and Mexico in 1960, Castellanos’ criticism in regards to male defined female sexuality applies to the way in which some sectors of our society view female sexuality today. Considering current legislation attempting to restrict access to birth control and abortions which can directly affect pay inequality, the poetic works of Castellanos offer a voice of opposition to popular ideologies prevalent throughout the United States despite the 40 years that have passed since her death and the differing geological locations. The patriarchal discourse foundational to many societies denies women bodily integrity and autonomy on local, national, and international levels. At the heart of this investigation, I research and describe Castellanos’ societal critique through the medium of poetry in regards to the language and discourse surrounding women’s sexuality in mid-Twentieth Century Mexico. How does Castellanos critique the society around her? Does her language create space for a redefinition of female sexuality? To answer these questions, I have chosen the poems “Kinsey Report,” “Speaking of Gabriel,” and “Self-Portrait.” I analyze and present the implications of the three poems in the specific order outlined above for they highlight the different, yet inextricably interconnected, aspects of female sexuality: sex, pregnancy, and motherhood. I then relate these critiques to the current environment of female sexual repression in the US. Today in the United States, social conservative legislative measures and societal norms borne from a similar patriarchal discourse that Rosario Castellanos confronts in her poetry impede women from freely controlling their sexuality, female reproductive health, and professional lives.

It is nearly necessary in today’s world for aspiring educators to have some knowledge of a second language. Dual Language Immersion (DLI) programs are popping up all over the United States and Missoula’s education realm is no exception. The purpose of my research project is to share my personal firsthand experience in the Paxson DLI kindergarten classroom and inform community members about the benefits of teaching a second language at the kindergarten level. The creative research process that I followed by participating in this classroom as a volunteer, planning an English/Language Arts lesson, and finally carrying out the lesson to 16 students in Spanish, provided me with intriguing insight regarding how an educator effectively instructs English-speaking students entirely in Spanish. This project and process are applicable and beneficial to my future in education because of my interest in becoming involved in teaching students through a language immersion program. Through my experience, I hope to encourage community members, parents, and students to become involved in a program that, backed by ongoing educational and psychological research, will truly benefit the futures of today’s youth.

I produce a show called The Print Lab at the university radio station, featuring eclectic music and short stories. The show has allowed me to experiment with the ways a text's meaning can change when read aloud or set to music. As a supplement to my radio show, I conducted research comparing my personal experimentation with the broader cultural impact of musical experimentation. I studied various texts, focusing on the “outsiders” of American music, people who defied societal expectations of how music ought to sound, often without training or commercial support. Outsider music became a force for political change; during the Black Power movement of the late 60s, African Americans used spoken word music and other experimentation to form an identity separate from white society. Other experimental movements developed America's cultural identity; America became an ideal space for creation, as it lacked long-standing cultural traditions. Non-commercial and amateur radio widened the audience for experimental music. Radio shows like mine can exist because of those unconventional producers' and musicians' struggle for creative freedom. By increasing accessibility and experimentation in the music industry, they were able to increase their culture's open-mindedness. After discussing these ideas, I'll describe my personal experimentation with my radio show, The Print Lab. The show often utilizes recorded readings of literary texts complemented by my personal commentary and eclectic pieces of music. I'll play a short segment of my radio show which displays a combination of these elements.

In 1957, a young Nicaraguan poet named Ernesto Cardenal, recently graduated from Columbia University, entered the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani, located outside Louisville, Kentucky. There he met a prominent Catholic thinker and pacifist, Thomas Merton, who soon mentored young Cardenal. Though Cardenal departed Gethsemani in 1959, Merton continued to counsel him in spirituality, poetry, and social activism until Merton’s death in 1968. While Cardenal during these earlier years was a committed pacifist, his experiences after returning to Nicaragua in 1965 radically altered his view of social action. Cardenal established a semi-monastic community in the Solentiname islands in southern Nicaragua, and in a series of bible studies with the people who came to stay there, found himself increasingly committed to the social vision of the Marxist Sandinista movement. In the early 1970s, Cardenal formally declared his support for the FSLN, the military wing of the Sandinista revolution. By 1977, another student of Merton’s, Daniel Berrigan, began openly criticizing Cardenal for his assertion that violent revolution could, when necessary, serve a just cause of social transformation. This thesis will address the formative influence of Thomas Merton on both Ernesto Cardenal and Daniel Berrigan, and how they came to accept or reject the use of violence in the pursuit of social justice. In particular, analysis will concentrate on Ernesto Cardenal and the ideological transformations that led to his ultimate support for and involvement in the Sandinista revolution. My research draws from the written correspondence between Merton, Cardenal, and Berrigan, and from interviews, major publications, and a few key government documents. This thesis will argue that while Cardenal never fully supported violence, he nonetheless joined the revolution both out of devotion to Merton’s teaching and out of necessary solidarity with his countrymen.

Today, the United Kingdom’s multi-billion dollar soccer industry is driven by global interest, lucrative advertising and television contracts, and sports betting. Furthermore, the creation of the Premier League in 1992 shows the sport is not just a game, but rather a way of life. Yet over a half-century earlier the United Kingdom began their recovery process in the aftermath of World War II, with London in particular in physical and emotional ruin. Given the important role soccer has played in British society throughout the sport’s history, it is crucial to pinpoint the exact social and economic role of the sport within the context of one of the most critical periods of British history: the post-war, Cold War era. Although the Marshall Plan and other international aid helped London in the recovery process, domestic non-political assistance was still needed. This recovery process was far from rapid as stadiums were damaged and players were slow to return from military service, resulting in a period of several years for the sport to begin to aid in the recovery process. As time passed however, soccer served as part of this non-political assistance providing a major social and economic boost, exemplified by the economic opportunity the sport presented while serving as a social outlet for those hurt by the war. Therefore by looking at the sport through a historic lens as seen through documents, club programs, newspapers and attendance and financial records of London’s soccer clubs during the period in question, soccer’s influence on 20th century British history can be determined and the overarching impact of sport in society can be understood further.