History and Philosophy

Audrey Carrier

Religious Pathography: The Search for Meaning

For millennia religion and healing have coexisted. In the beginning the two were inseparable; people believed that illness was a direct effect of angering God, deities or spirits. Religion's role today is seen mostly in the area of coping; using such techniques as prayer, rituals and pathography, illness narratives. This presentation will present religious pathographies; what they are and how they are used in a patient's search for meaning.

Session C - 11:30 a.m. - Room 352.

Ryan J. Cronkhite

To Preserve the Freedom of the Human Mind: Thomas Jefferson and the Place of Religion

Where did religion belong within American society according to Thomas Jefferson? The meaning of his metaphor exhorting a wall of separation between church and state has provoked debate among historians and citizens alike. Used by the Supreme Court as vindication for disallowing a state-church union, the impact of Jefferson's metaphor has made understanding his religious views imperative. Believing that religion was best left within the private sphere, Jefferson's writings indicate that to unduly meld the powers of government with religion would amount to a subversion of liberty.

Session A - 9:30 a.m. - Room 320.

Edward Jack Gardner

Akrasia: A Linguistic Defense of the Socratic Position from Meno and Protagoras

Does anyone ever do what he knows to be bad for him? Socrates didn't think so, and ever since his time philosophers have debated akrasia (moral weakness). Socrates' position concerning akrasia is simpler and entirely more plausible than it sounds in English translation. In this paper I examine his original Greek words and show that when his claims are properly understood, he is hard to argue with.

Session A - 8:30 a.m. - Room 302.

Sarah Hipel

Double Conscious and Feminine Masochism

Many women have fantasies of being sexually submissive. However, the feminism of our mothers taught that the subordination of women, whether in political or personal realms of our lives, was unjust and harmful. It would seem to follow that fantasies of sexually submission should not be realized. I will argue masochism should be part of a feminist sexual ethic, and that only by doing so are women truly empowered.

Session C - 12:30 p.m. - Kiva.

Abram Jacobs

Jack Johnson, Race Riots and Detroit

African American heavyweight boxer Jack Johnson's defeat of Jim Jeffries, one of many "white hopes," sparked the first national racial conflict in America. With racial tensions of the day proving an incredible tinderbox, the boxing match provided a spark that caused the fires of violence to spread across over 50 cities in America. The stereotype of a peaceful North and a racially divided South was lost as the violence in both regions was equally brutal. This violence however did not reach every city in America; specifically, Detroit went without riots following the fights.

Session B - 10:15 a.m. - Room 352.

Stephanie Jacobs

The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League

From 1943 to 1954, the AAGPBL was a sensation that hit the American Midwest and changed the lives of hundreds of women. Masterminded by Philip Wrigley, the league started off slowly, but ended with booming crowds cheering for their favorite player. The "girls" have set their place in American history as contributors to the preservation of the major leagues during World War II and women in professional sports.

Session A - 8:30 a.m. - Room 352.

Brittany Jones

Women in African Nationalism

A discussion of the roles women played in mass mobilization towards the struggles for independence in Africa. Examples are drawn from Kenya, Tanzania, Guinea and the guerilla girls of Zimbabwe.

Session A - 9:15 a.m. - Room 320.

Laura Lembas

The Evolution of the Art Museum

The earliest European art museums were private, unsystematic collections held by the European nobility. Eventually, republics and democracies replaced aristocratic and princely rule in Europe. This transformation of political power was reflected in the changing organizational structure of early museums. As political power fell into the hands of the people, collections began to be systematically organized, artifacts were displayed apart from their environment and museum practice held that all people should have access to a museum's collection.

Session B - 10:45 a.m. - Room 304.

Lynn Montgomery

Edith Cavell and Mata Hari: The Creation of Opposing Legends

The word "spy" conjures images of secret lives, dark alleys, code names and intrigue, but the term "female spy" takes on a new meaning, femme fatal. This image of the female spy comes under fire during World War I with two of the most famous cases that involved women of conflicting backgrounds: Edith Cavell, the nurse patriot and Mata Hari, the exotic dancer. Though little known outside of Europe prior to the outbreak of World War I, the lives and decisions made by Edith Cavell and Mata Hari led to their executions; the aftermath of which images of them helped to create the myths and legends associated with them today.

Session A - 9 a.m. - Room 330.

Lauren M. Myhand

The Education of the Southern Belle

Unlike most women in the South, young women of the Southern planter class were expected to acquire an education. Although this education included aspects of the classical education afforded their brothers, including Latin, Greek and mathematics, the focus was on an array of feminine pursuits, including housewifery, social graces and needlework. The sum of her education was to confine her to the role that society dictated as "correct," trapping her within a patriarchal society.

Session A - 9:30 a.m. - Room 352.

Danielle Nicholls

Color Vision: Affirmative Action as Effective Social Change

The practice of affirmative action has been and continues to be an issue of contention in the United States, particularly in the educational sphere. With the passing of the civil rights initiative proposals in California and now Michigan, the threat to affirmative action is substantial. However, because of de facto racism, affirmative action as a color-conscious initiative is essential to maintain if racial equality is to be achieved in the United States.

Session C - 11:45 a.m. - Room 352.

Veronica A. Pear

Pornography on Trial: A Feminist Evaluation of American Booksellers versus Hudnut

Catherine MacKinnon and Andrea Dworkin authored an ordinance that effectively targets the institutionalized nature of patriarchy in America by redirecting the issue of pornography to the purview of the 14th Amendment. This ordinance was ruled unconstitutional in the case of American Booksellers versus Hudnut, which I contend to be a serious misjudgment. Aside from having a firm legal basis, this ordinance properly addresses the harms pornography causes to individual women and to society as a whole.

Session C - Noon - Kiva.

Matthew David Penix

Causes, Course and Consequences of the Old Northwest Indian Wars

The conflict between the young United States and the Native Americans of the Ohio country in the 1790s is more important than its obscurity would suggest. As the first conflict fought under the new constitution, the war established precedents relating to the balance of power between the Congress and the President with tremendous import for the future. This paper will review both the history of the wars and their long-term repercussions.

Session A - 9 .m. - Room 320.

Heather Leigh Putt

John Wesley's Witches

Despite the Enlightenment and the Witchcraft Act of 1736 that repealed the British statutes against witchcraft, suspicions of witches still permeated England in the second half of the 18th century and early 19th century. Interestingly these persistent superstitions coincided with the growing popularity of Methodism. John Wesley himself expressed belief in witchcraft, possession and divine intervention. My research will show that this belief in witchcraft was still prevalent in 18th century England because Methodism, as propagated by John Wesley, promoted these suspicions.

Session A - 9:15 a.m. - Room 350.

Lindsay Sarin

A Troubled Spring

Throughout the late 1960s, Eastern Michigan University played host to many peaceful civil rights demonstrations and anti-war protests. However, this would all change in the spring of 1970 when EMU's campus erupted with violent demonstrations against the Vietnam War. Despite appearances, not all students were part of these demonstrations. An examination of primary sources illustrates the causes of the violence and the relationship between radical students and their moderate counterparts.

Session A - 8:45 a.m. - Room 352.

Rebecca Traynor

Debunking the Myth of Plato as Feminist: A Feminist Examination of Plato's Republic

Plato's Republic has often been heralded as an early feminist text by virtue of the society therein depicted. However, in this paper I will debunk the myth that it is an early feminist text. I will note that, despite allowing men and women equal access to education and occupation and freeing women from familial duties, Plato's claims regarding women's "natural" capacities, his use of the male soul and his utilitarian aims actually make the Republic a misogynist text.

Session C - 11:45 a.m. - Kiva.

Kyle Verge

An Investigation of Intersex and Gender: A Critique of Performance Theory

An intersex individual embodies a contradiction in the traditional conception of the relationship between sex and gender. Where performance theories of gender provide an alternate explanation of this relationship, the theories are seriously deficient in their ability to encompass the reality of an intersexed individual. I argue we ought instead to treat gender as an analytic category that can be used as a tool for shifting power relationships within our culture.

Session C - 12:5 p.m. - Kiva.