http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/history Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Tue, 14 Apr 2026 00:33:36 -0400 Tue, 14 Apr 2026 00:33:36 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1948/fragile-aesthetics-the-problematics-behind-thomas-gainsboroughs-landscape-paintings By Connor E. Yen - The 17th and 18th centuries saw a wide proliferation of aesthetic discourse through which the picturesque emerged to capture the type of beauty derived from the exchange of in vivo vigor for the spirit of artistic medium. While the metaphysical project of 18th century aesthetic theory masquerades as apolitical, placing Thomas Gainsborough’s landscape paintings in dialogue with picturesque beauty reveals an underlying anxiety of peasant encroachment and class conflict. This paper parses the complex interplay between the “smooth” and the “rough” in Gainsborough&rsquo... Fri, 01 Apr 2022 01:04 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1948/fragile-aesthetics-the-problematics-behind-thomas-gainsboroughs-landscape-paintings http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1942/imperial-mughal-literature-a-rich-source-of-scientific-information By Abhijit M. Bal - India was ruled by the Timurid-Mughal dynasty from 1526 to 1857. This period is mainly recognised for its art and architecture. The Timurid-Mughals also promoted knowledge and scholarship. Two of the Mughal emperors, Babur and Jahangir, wrote their memoirs. Babur’s daughter, Gulbadan Begum, composed the biography of her brother, Humayun. The imperial literature contains rich information. In this essay, I have highlighted the scientific information contained in the manuscripts. These include details of natural calamities, description of the natural world, astronomical sciences, medical sciences... Fri, 25 Feb 2022 10:57 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1942/imperial-mughal-literature-a-rich-source-of-scientific-information http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1941/towards-a-new-consensus-the-post-centenary-historiography-on-the-origins-of-world-war-i By Arvand A.M. Fata - The causes of the First World War remains a historiographical topic of contention more than 100 years on from the start of the conflict. With the passing of the centenary in 2014, a new wave of publications has expanded the scope and depth of historians' investigations on the outbreak of the Great War. By reviewing the recent English-language literature and comparing the various approaches academics have taken to analyse the July Crisis, it is clear that we have entered a new historiographical 'phase:' a flourishing of theses and arguments which have followed from - yet remain distinct to - the... Fri, 25 Feb 2022 09:45 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1941/towards-a-new-consensus-the-post-centenary-historiography-on-the-origins-of-world-war-i http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1926/american-construction-reconstruction-and-destruction-the-cultural-historical-and-literary-underpinnings-of-our-great-divide By Michael L. Neely - This thesis explores the inherent conflict between liberty and equality—the twin pillars on which the United States and its Constitution are predicated—and the materialization of this conflict in storm center texts, whose subjects cover the sentiments of the zeitgeist during American construction, destruction, and reconstruction. This paper asserts that American Construction and Reconstruction were fraught with the partition between these twin pillars—liberty and equality—and it brought this partition to the fore. American founders and historical and literary figures gave... Thu, 09 Dec 2021 12:12 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1926/american-construction-reconstruction-and-destruction-the-cultural-historical-and-literary-underpinnings-of-our-great-divide http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1923/medusas-blood-on-the-ovidian-assertion-of-fame-in-cellinis-perseus By Hannibal De Pencier - Cast in one piece of bronze in 1554, Benvenuto Cellini'sPerseus with the Head of Medusa representeda monumental feat of artisticvirtuosity. Viewers marvelled at the imposing size of the bronze, the sense of liquid tactility in the blood pouring from either end of Medusa's neck, and—most importantly to Cellini himself—they marvelled at the artist's skill. Ostensibly meant to allude to the political mastery of Grand Duke Cosimo I de Medici, the sculpture's Ovidian iconographic program is demonstrably concerned with aggrandizing Cellini's generative power and asserting the artist... Tue, 30 Nov 2021 09:27 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1923/medusas-blood-on-the-ovidian-assertion-of-fame-in-cellinis-perseus http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1921/vindication-for-tin-foil-hats-an-analysis-of-unethical-cold-war-experiments-and-their-enduring-consequences By Michael D. Opheim - While the Cold War is popularly regarded as a war of ideological conflict, to consider it solely as such does the long-winded tension a great disservice. In actuality, the Cold War manifested itself in numerous areas of life, including the various scientific fields of the Contemporary Era. Accordingly, scientific research became nothing more than a competition to both the United States and Soviet governments, influencing both to hastily expend their resources on progressing their respective understandings of science. In their hasty pursuit of scientific superiority, however, recent investigations... Wed, 10 Nov 2021 09:11 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1921/vindication-for-tin-foil-hats-an-analysis-of-unethical-cold-war-experiments-and-their-enduring-consequences http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1915/performance-of-class-in-the-socioeconomic-institutions-of-early-medieval-ireland By Jack R.T. Corp - Early medieval Irish society operated on an elaborate power structure formalized by law, practiced through social interaction, and maintained by tacit exploitation of the lower orders. This paper investigates the materialization of class hierarchies through the lived experiences of rural communities and the transient classifications of authority between peasants and commoners enforced by elite groups. Early Ireland’s hierarchical system refers to rank, a “perceived” construct perpetuated through expressions of prestige and ritual performance, but not to political authority, which... Fri, 08 Oct 2021 10:58 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1915/performance-of-class-in-the-socioeconomic-institutions-of-early-medieval-ireland http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1902/biologization-of-capital-and-capitalization-of-biopower-connecting-foucault-and-marx By Tianhao Hou - Foucault raised the concept of biopower in the first volume of The History of Sexuality and placed its emergence in the context of capitalism, but he did not fully tackle the relationship between biopower and capitalism. In this article, the author fills this gap through a careful reading of Foucault and Marx, arguing that perpetual spirals are formed between biopower and capitalism and their techniques intersected on the human body. The author first traces the definitions of each concept in order to show that they can be discussed and drawn connection with each other. After that, he expands upon... Tue, 25 May 2021 09:33 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1902/biologization-of-capital-and-capitalization-of-biopower-connecting-foucault-and-marx http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1896/ethnography-folklore-afanasev-and-russian-self-identity By Margaret R. Devlin - While the history of ethnography in Russia dates back to the Kievan Rus era, modern ethnographic production in Russia developed in the 17th century and expanded during the late 18th and early 19th centuries as interest in folktales and in the lives and natures of Russian peasants exploded amongst the Russian elite. This paper briefly explores the history of Russian ethnography before examining the Russian concepts of narod (народ, the people) and narodnost (народность, the Russian soul). This work examines the folklore collections of Alexander Afanasev and his process of editing... Thu, 08 Apr 2021 03:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1896/ethnography-folklore-afanasev-and-russian-self-identity http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1886/the-self-cognizant-idea-and-the-methodological-transformation-of-hegel-marx-and-ditltheys-historiography By Youngdahl Kaylee - The transformation of the philosophy of history reveals how and why methodological systems change over time. Methodological systems engage in contemplative action, and strive to assemble a distinguishable pattern of historical study. Though structure develops its own epistemology, without a shared notion of collective human experience there would be no collective history to reflect upon. This study maps the changes of philosophic methodology, within the context of historical study, from 1800-1850, but maintains that the action of reflective contemplation remains. The methodological systems of... Wed, 10 Mar 2021 08:22 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1886/the-self-cognizant-idea-and-the-methodological-transformation-of-hegel-marx-and-ditltheys-historiography http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1877/inglorious-basterds-a-satirical-criticism-of-wwii-cinema-and-the-myth-of-the-american-war-hero By Nadine Hussein - This article explores the way in which Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds challenges the myth of the American hero and criticizes the glorification of war cinema by satirizing the viewer directly. The particular focus is on the subtly with which Tarantino creates a network of parallels and analogical relations which dissolve the distinction between hero and villain. This article also argues that Tarantino effectively manipulates the audience into confronting the self-aggrandization of the American collective memory of WWII and exposes the ease at which the viewer is propagandized. Tarantino... Tue, 16 Feb 2021 04:53 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1877/inglorious-basterds-a-satirical-criticism-of-wwii-cinema-and-the-myth-of-the-american-war-hero http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1873/propaganda-idealism-and-subculture-the-evolution-of-che-guevaras-image-in-chinese-cultural-memory By Linda Gao - Being a worldwide popular icon, the Argentine Marxist revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara has been differently re-appropriated by a variety of movements across the globe; but his reception and symbolization in contemporary China has been less discussed by western scholars. This paper examines the image and reception of Che Guevara in Chinese cultural memory from the 1950s to the present, revealing his manifold significations endowed by different social groups in various historical contexts. He evolved from a propagandized model of the socialist revolution and anti-American hero endorsed... Tue, 09 Feb 2021 02:42 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1873/propaganda-idealism-and-subculture-the-evolution-of-che-guevaras-image-in-chinese-cultural-memory http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1858/the-lingering-influence-of-revolutionary-political-discourse-from-the-civil-war-and-reconstruction-era By Bhadrajee S. Hewage - The Civil War was a seminal moment in the historical development in the United States. The American Revolution may have created the U.S. as a sovereign nation, but the Civil War helped to determine what kind of nation America would become. The Reconstruction era, from Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation to Hayes's removal of federal troops from the South in 1877, further defined how exactly the U.S. would evolve into the nation that it is today. By examining the attitudes towards the extension of slavery in the pre-war U.S., the decisions taken by the Union and Confederate governments during... Fri, 08 Jan 2021 10:45 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1858/the-lingering-influence-of-revolutionary-political-discourse-from-the-civil-war-and-reconstruction-era http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1851/bach-and-the-style-galant-progressive-elements-in-the-italian-concerto By Maggie Lu - While the music of Johann Sebastian Bach is often characterized by elaborate Baroque counterpoint and a relatively conservative set of aesthetic principles, elements of the emergent galant fashion are exemplified in certain mid-to-late career compositions. The galant style, which increasingly took hold of European music during the central decades of the eighteenth century, represents a simplicity and clarity divergent from the rigorous compositional approach that Bach has become remembered for. One of the most substantial instances of this stylistic progressivity occurs throughout his Italian... Tue, 15 Dec 2020 11:07 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1851/bach-and-the-style-galant-progressive-elements-in-the-italian-concerto http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1848/examining-the-complex-subjective-filmography-of-oliver-stone-a-comparison-and-critique-of-jfk-to-nixon-and-platoon-to-heaven-and-earth By Mang Lu - Oliver Stone's filmography has levied an unprecedented effect on the popular understanding of American history, especially of the turmoil surrounding the Vietnam War and the assassination of John F. Kennedy. His style has been described as highly subjective, fantastical, impassioned, insensitive, and unabashedly masculine. It is rather undisputed, however, that his features are not without cultural, racial, or religious shortsightedness. Stone's narrative style is particularly strong when working within a certain set of circumstances with respect to story and historical substance. Western, male... Tue, 08 Dec 2020 12:20 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1848/examining-the-complex-subjective-filmography-of-oliver-stone-a-comparison-and-critique-of-jfk-to-nixon-and-platoon-to-heaven-and-earth http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1845/bonds-of-slavery-and-bonds-of-love-investigating-the-role-of-african-american-families-and-marital-unions-in-the-struggle-against-slavery By Xavier G. Reader - Resistance to oppression is often found in the most unlikely of places. This article investigates the significance that families and partnerships played in fostering the emotional support necessary to sustain enslaved peoples throughout the onslaught of slavery in the antebellum South. Despite the ever-present threat of separation and sale that sought to split families and spouses apart, the bonds of love that enslaved African-Americans held and shared were not easily severed. This examination of the lived experiences of enslaved folk demonstrates that the creation, mutability, and endurance of... Sat, 28 Nov 2020 10:03 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1845/bonds-of-slavery-and-bonds-of-love-investigating-the-role-of-african-american-families-and-marital-unions-in-the-struggle-against-slavery http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1841/molding-the-peasantry-on-the-road-to-modernity-state-and-peasant-relations-in-russia-and-the-soviet-union By Sophia Hernandez Tragesser - This paper examines the peasantry's response to modernization measures taken by Imperial Russia and the Soviet Union during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the pursuit of modernity, the Tsarist Russian and early Soviet regimes altered the nature of the peasantry through domestic policy and reactions to international crises. The shifting social spheres among peasants prompted two reactions: resistance to governmental forces or adaptation to the new order to maximize personal gain. In both cases, peasants exerted great agency over their situations and although subject to governmental... Thu, 19 Nov 2020 11:13 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1841/molding-the-peasantry-on-the-road-to-modernity-state-and-peasant-relations-in-russia-and-the-soviet-union http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1837/goddess-in-the-sheets-prostitute-in-the-streets-examining-public-and-private-divisions-of-gender-in-mesopotamian-cities By Georgia H. Vance - This paper explores the spatial expression of the female gender in early Mesopotamian cities from c. 2334-1595 B.C.E. Gender in Mesopotamia has been widely studied socially but not spatially, and here I aim to provide a consideration of gender through the framework of a public/private divide. Predominantly, a sensory archaeological methodology is applied to the urban environment as reconstructed by both textual and archaeological sources. This method employs Shepperson’s ‘archaeosensorium’ from Sunlight and Shade in the First Cities (2017) to study identifiable gendered spaces... Tue, 17 Nov 2020 08:08 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1837/goddess-in-the-sheets-prostitute-in-the-streets-examining-public-and-private-divisions-of-gender-in-mesopotamian-cities http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1831/challenging-the-dichotomy-between-natural-and-cultural-in-museums-a-case-study-of-bird-symbolism-and-human-origins By David Lichty - Many natural history museums use the categories of “cultural” and “natural” as a means of separating exhibition content. This article challenges this practice and the inherent paradigm that supports it. By dismissing the integral connection between these categories, it is possible to overlook humanity's role in the manipulation of the environment and how the environment has affected the development of human culture and human evolution. This article argues that it is essential for museums to design exhibitions without separating culture and nature, thereby informing our... Thu, 05 Nov 2020 07:33 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1831/challenging-the-dichotomy-between-natural-and-cultural-in-museums-a-case-study-of-bird-symbolism-and-human-origins http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1820/flipping-the-cultural-script-papaya-soap-and-skin-color-stratification-in-the-philippines By Aimiel Trisha W. Casillan - Centuries of subjugation under Spanish and American colonial rule have embedded an idealistic view of white beauty in the minds of Filipinos. It continues to be deeply rooted in Philippine culture due to the constant exposure of Filipina bodies to the advertisements of the massive skin lightening industry. Papaya soap, one of the many objects produced by the industry, has perpetuated social stratification in the Philippines. In the following critique, I explore the origins of papaya soap while using a feminist consumerist lens to reveal how it has been marketed to promote a colonial mindset of... Wed, 21 Oct 2020 09:14 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1820/flipping-the-cultural-script-papaya-soap-and-skin-color-stratification-in-the-philippines http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1823/solving-poverty-by-reforming-moral-character-how-the-new-poor-law-failed-19th-century-british-society By Fiona D. Xu - The 19th century, a tumultuous period which saw a momentous change to a way of life, also saw the implementation of the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, a decisive change in England’s relationship with its poor. The local parish based poor relief now became a national program run by the Poor Law Board, and what was a charity based model was tweaked into one focused on deterrence. Yet, as this paper argues, with all the good intentions with which these changes were implemented, the Poor Law Amendment Act ultimately failed to live up to its goal of lowering the number of impoverished citizens... Wed, 21 Oct 2020 07:51 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1823/solving-poverty-by-reforming-moral-character-how-the-new-poor-law-failed-19th-century-british-society http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1815/racialized-discourse-and-economies-of-female-saracen-bodies-in-the-sultan-of-babylon By Claire Crow - The politics of trade relations between Europe and the East emerge in uncanny fashions in the fifteenth-century Middle English (ME) Charlemagne romance The Sowdone of Babylone (The Sowdone). While no diplomatic transactions between Saracens and Europeans take place, peculiar, hyper-exoticized goods at times do fall into the possession of Charlemagne's men, such as Saracen princess Floripas' magic girdle that nourishes the Twelve Peers in captivity or Ferumbras' healing balm that Oliver throws into the river mid-battle.[1] What Geraldine Heng refers to as the "mercantile imaginary" in the Middle... Mon, 12 Oct 2020 07:47 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1815/racialized-discourse-and-economies-of-female-saracen-bodies-in-the-sultan-of-babylon http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1803/the-politics-of-the-spectacular-and-the-poetics-of-the-specular-in-william-shakespeares-richard-ii By Mohamed Anis Ferchichi - Drawing upon poststructuralist psychoanalysis, the critic contends that the deposed king has unearthed his ‘real’ self that has been buried beneath the regal identity of the body politic. Scott McMillin in his 1984 “Shakespeare’s Richard II: Eyes of Sorrow, Eyes of Desire,[6]” demonstrates how Shakespeare dramatizes the unseen in the play: “This is the problem of making manifest and accessible to normal seeing those qualities of identity which originate in such unseeable characteristics as absence vacancy” (40). Starting off from his analysis of Bushy&... Mon, 28 Sep 2020 08:54 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1803/the-politics-of-the-spectacular-and-the-poetics-of-the-specular-in-william-shakespeares-richard-ii http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1792/a-historical-perspective-on-the-cultural-connotations-surrounding-eating-disorders By Meera Shanbhag - Over 30 million people in the US are plagued by eating disorders (EDs), with at least one ED-related death occurring every 62 minutes.[1] These serious illnesses, which have the greatest mortality rate of any psychological disorder, are characterized by abnormal eating patterns. Of all EDs, the two most well-known are anorexia nervosa, which consists of severe restriction in calories to achieve weight loss, and bulimia nervosa, in which purging follows periodic episodes of binge eating. While the diagnosis of the first eating disorder, “anorexia nervosa,” was not coined until 1873... Tue, 08 Sep 2020 09:36 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1792/a-historical-perspective-on-the-cultural-connotations-surrounding-eating-disorders http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1768/trauma-and-silence-in-no-no-boy-an-interdisciplinary-reading By Yuxin Zheng - Depicting the rugged reintegration of Ichiro Yamada, a no-no boy imprisoned during WWII, Japanese American author John Okada presents a traumatized and conflicted Japanese American community during the mid-1940s in his novel No-No Boy (1957). Applying Dan McAdams’ psychological theory to their literary study of the novel, Floyd Cheung and Bill Peterson demonstrate that an interdisciplinary approach can “provide inspiration for different disciplines in the academy to view Asian American experience in new and exciting ways” (213). Using an interdisciplinary approach as Cheung and... Thu, 03 Oct 2019 08:09 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1768/trauma-and-silence-in-no-no-boy-an-interdisciplinary-reading http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1765/the-status-of-women-in-late-antiquity-examining-the-sociopolitical-climate-societal-values-and-gender-roles By Taylor A. Marcusson - The status of women and their role in Late Antiquity has been a topic of inquiry among historians. It is a particularly challenging study to achieve a degree of certainty because of the biases present in historical evidence. This paper shall explore the position of women in Late Antiquity as defined by the 4th to late 6th centuries by examining how the complicated sociopolitical context, values of the Late Roman Empire as seen through written works, and roles in various spheres that women occupied worked together. This study does not seek to evaluate the prominence of women in Late Antiquity;... Wed, 02 Oct 2019 09:20 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1765/the-status-of-women-in-late-antiquity-examining-the-sociopolitical-climate-societal-values-and-gender-roles http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1751/the-captains-compromise-political-symbolism-in-herman-melvilles-benito-cereno By Brian Chen - Until the outbreak of civil war, the United States would continually try and fail to subdue the existential threat of slavery, with each attempt exacerbating the sectional tensions between slave and free states. In 1830, Massachusetts Senator Daniel Webster claimed that the country stood on the “precipice of disunion” and foresaw a future in which “the broken and dishonored fragments of a once glorious Union” are drenched in “fraternal blood.”[1] As tribalism tore away the shared history between the North and South, Webster’s grim prediction would eventually... Wed, 09 Jan 2019 10:37 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1751/the-captains-compromise-political-symbolism-in-herman-melvilles-benito-cereno http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1709/persianization-and-intimidation-investigating-discord-in-the-court-of-alexander-the-great By E. M. Suazo - A subset of Alexandrian scholarship which has garnered long-held fascination does not center upon a success, but rather a failure: that is, the divide in his court which emerged during his Asiatic campaigns. Such a divide, though incited by a number of grievances, was notably influenced by Alexander’s efforts to mimic, assimilate to, and integrate elements of the Persian court and military into his Macedonian empire. Biographers from Plutarch to Green have attempted to unearth Alexander’s objectives with this Persianization, and to varying success: some claim it was a unified empire... Wed, 29 Nov 2017 10:09 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1709/persianization-and-intimidation-investigating-discord-in-the-court-of-alexander-the-great http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1669/cacao-cravings-europes-assimilation-and-europeanization-of-chocolate-drinking-from-mesoamerica-1492-1700-ce By James C. Miller - Chocolate is a foodstuff that many people in the modern world take for granted; the sweet treat can today be found plentifully and cheaply in practically any store all across the globe, especially in the Euro-American world. Despite its commonplace, most people do not know exactly where the addictive confection came from and how it became a near staple of industrialized, modern societies. Many in the ‘Western World’ would be surprised to learn the true origins of chocolate and how it first became a European craze. Chocolate was a confection made mostly from powder that originated from... Fri, 27 Oct 2017 12:08 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1669/cacao-cravings-europes-assimilation-and-europeanization-of-chocolate-drinking-from-mesoamerica-1492-1700-ce http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1654/the-evolution-and-devolution-of-mental-health-services-in-australia By Lila P. Vrklevski - This article provides a brief historical overview of the development of mental health services in Australia. It commences with the establishment of the first public asylum, Bethlem Royal Hospital, London, in 1247, the arrival of the First Fleet on 24 January 1788 at Botany Bay, New South Wales and the establishment and growth of asylums in Australia. The article identifies some of the major social, historical, medical and political developments that have influenced our understanding and treatment of mental illness and the mentally ill. The article then traces the evolution and development of the... Tue, 17 Oct 2017 08:44 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1654/the-evolution-and-devolution-of-mental-health-services-in-australia