Cupola Journal 2022-2023 by Christopher Newport University

Christopher Newport u n i v e r s i t y

The

Cupola 2022–2023

Te Cupola Te Undergraduate Research Journal of Christopher Newport University

2022-2023 Volume 17

1 Avenue of the Arts Newport News, VA 23606

Te Cupola is the undergraduate research journal of Christopher Newport University. Papers published in Te Cupola have undergone review by the Undergraduate Research Committee. Te fnal product has been edited and compiled by the Ofce of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity. Te Cupola is published in print and online at cnu.edu/research. Each student published in Te Cupola is awarded a $100 stipend in recognition of their fne work; the top four accepted submissions are awarded $500 each. Te Cupola (Newport News, Va. Print) ISSN 2688-5913 Te Cupola (Newport News, Va. Online) ISSN 2688-5921

A Note from the Director Welcome to the 2023 edition of Te Cupola, Christopher Newport University’s undergraduate research journal. As the Director of Student Research and Creative Activity, it is my pleasure to serve as the journal’s editor, establishing guidelines and facilitating the vetting process. Our top two essays refect the complexity of research conducted by CNU’s undergraduates: from Sarah Miller’s exploration of Maarten van Heemskerck’s sixteenth-century art to Anna Osenkowsky and Margaret Burch’s study of computer-mediated communication in college students, these pieces indicate the rigor, the depth, and the variety of undergraduate research at Christopher Newport University. Te Ofce of Research and Creativity is proud of these students who, with enthusiastic and skilled faculty mentorship, continue to produce insightful and meaningful work. Te ORCA would like to thank the members of the 2022-2023 Undergraduate Research Committee who vetted and reviewed the many fne submissions received: Co-chair Dr. Laura Godwin; Co-Chair Dr. Olga Lipatova; Dr. Federica Bono, Dr. Anna Teekell, Dr. Farideh Doost Mohammadi, Dr. Zhaochen He, Dr. Emre Kirac, Dr. Brian McInnis, Dr. Steven Strehle, Ms. Mary Sellen, and Dr. Michaela Meyer. A special thanks to the noncommittee members who vetted submissions: Dr. Jason Carney, Dr. Jessica Apolloni, Dr. Brianna Lane, Dr. Willy Donaldson, Dr. Deanna Stover, Dr. Bill Connell, Dr. Michael Mulryan, and Dr. Seth Palmer. Tanks to Courtney Michel, Creative Services Manager of CNU’s Ofce of Communications and Public Relations, for her ongoing patience and assistance. Special thanks to Provost Quentin Kidd and Associate Provost for Research and Dean of Graduate Studies Lynn Lambert.

Dr. David A. Salomon Director, Ofce of Research and Creative Activity July 2023

Table of Contents Anna Osenkowsky and Margaret Burch “Family is there Forever”: How CMC Supports Relational Maintenance in College-Students’ Parent-Child Relationships Winner of The Cupola Award

Sara Miller The Eternal City in Ruins: Maarten van Heemskerck and the Revival of the Ancient Winner of The Cupola Award

Morgan Andrews “Social Support in Emerging Adults: The Impact of Close Relationships on Mental Health and Well-Being”

Jacob Aultice The Fundamental Role of Religion in the American Revolution

Olivia Brubaker The Pursuit of Love: Linda’s Story, Which is Fanny’s to Tell

Molly Catherine Burke “Two Men Can Defy the World”: The Clash of Homosexuality and Englishness in Early Twentieth Century Literature

William Grey Cashwell Why It’s Good to Know the Plot of The Hobbit: A Defense of the Epistemic Value of Intrinsic Intra-Literary Knowledge

Jace Chanseman Sexualization in Adaptation: The Influence of the Male Gaze on Bram Stoker’s Dracula

107

Lauren Colarossi The Tuskegee syphilis study

114

E. Peri Costic Fan or Foe: K-Pop Fandom Boycotts as Commodity Activism

133

Natalie Cuba The Relationship Between Theory of Mind Deficits and Youth Criminal Offending

153

Evelyn Davidson Orr, Haber, and the Sublime

164

Kayla Engel Redlining Virginia: An Investigation into the Ongoing Consequences of Historical Race-Based Housing Sanctions on Virginia Schools

169

Alexandra Fiul The “Thoughtless” Fascist: Nostalgia, Mimesis, and the Absurd in Don DeLillo’s White Noise

180

Victoria Jenkins Protecting the Right to a Clean Atmosphere and Environment in Germany

187

Matthew Johnson The Anti-Plague and its Cure: Mumbo Jumbo as Ishmael Reed’s Challenge to Western Tradition and Practice

198

Keagan Lanham The Effects of Psilocybin on Depression and Anxiety

204

Erin Mahoney Roman Time in Times New Roman: The Form and Function of the Roman Fasti

215

Hayley R. Mayette, Madison S. Garrett, and Emma M. Parker The Effect of Religion and Age on The Satisfaction and Intent to Stay Married Between Couples: An Analysis Between Generations

231

Dillyn Minson Postmodern Paranoia

244

Tracy Nguyen Creating a Safe Space for the LGBTQ+ Community: “When Issues Stop Being Issues and Become Flesh and Blood”

249

Hayden Olsen Aerospace, Defense & Government Equity Multiple Analysis

271

Sierra Palian The Child Behind the Mask: Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Child Temperament, Coping Strategies, and Behavior

280

Austin Parker Investigating the Relation Between Presence & Duration of Injury and the Mental Health of College Athletes

287

Joseph Plucker Evolution of International Cooperation in Space: From 1945 to the Present

299

Sarah Poole Emigration and Exile: Transcending Borders in Eastern European Women’s Literature

308

Phoebe Salomon Journey to the Past: Anthropology’s Role in Closing the Romanov Case

321

Michael Dwight Sparks and John Herrmann Mathematical Modeling: Optimal Exploitation of Prey within Predator-Prey System

333

Chloe Sullivan The Seeds of Knowledge and Power: British Colonial Education in India

337

Alyson Toth Trebling Times: The Effects of Misogyny on the Popular Music Industry

351

Brenna Walch Suspension of Disbelief, Ergodicity, Metalepsis, and Reader Engagement in Mark Danielewski’s House of Leaves

364

Jack Waldman Analysis of Microtransaction Strategies in Free to Play Videogames

383

Katherine S. Watson Theory of Mind Impairment in Patients with Bipolar Disorder

400

“Family is there Forever”: How CMC Supports Relational Maintenance in CollegeStudents’ Parent-Child Relationships Anna Osenkowsky and Margaret Burch Winner of Te Cupola Award Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Linda Manning, Department of Communication

Abstract Parent-child relationships form at a young age and must develop ways to maintain that connection when faced with geographical-separation, such as the child moving away to attend college. Tis research sought to understand three aspects of the parent-child relationship when separated: the adaptations parents make to remain connected, the experiences that college students have with their parents via computer-mediated communication (CMC), and what CMC behaviors contribute to the healthy implementation of relational maintenance. A total of 11 college students were interviewed about the use of CMC in their relationship with their parents. Tematic analysis revealed ranging levels of parental technology adaptations, comfort levels of topics via CMC and frequency of various channels, and the CMC behaviors that contribute to relational maintenance. Communicative interdependence perspective (CIP) allowed the fndings to be conceptualized to form a better understanding of how the parentchild dynamic integrated and segmented their technology use. Tus, this research provides an understanding that when the parent-child relationship changes, parties must establish practices that work best to maintain their bond.

As technology continues to grow in importance to maintain interpersonal relationships, it is imperative to understand how this facilitates the parent-child relationship when the child attends college away from home. College causes a shift in the way that the relationship must be maintained as the individuals are no longer living in the same residence. Oftentimes, computer mediated communication (CMC) plays a large role in the maintenance of these relationships. Not only this, but it is how CMC channels are combined and ultimately used that can determine relational satisfaction and success of relational maintenance (Sharabi & Dorrance Hall, 2021). One of the most common ways CMC is seen in supporting relationships is through texting and calling through mobile phones (Baym, 2015), which suggests that CMC might be prevalent in the parent-child relationship while the child is in college. It is crucial to understand the ways in which parent-child relationships can be facilitated by CMC to support students and their parents in navigating this new relationship dynamic. Tis is because prior research suggests that having a healthy parent-child relationship can help reduce stress and depression (Smith, 2015). As children begin to transition into the next stage of early adulthood, many choose to attend college to obtain their educational objectives. Sixty percent of these college students actually choose to go to their preferred institution more than 50 miles away from their respective homes (Pryor et al., 2012). Tis distance may create challenges for the parent-child relationship that must be overcome to maintain a healthy relationship. It is important to note, however, that these positive parent-child relationships begin prior to the child moving away to college. Specifcally, healthy relationships have been shown to remain positive well into adulthood when the parent-child relationship was already established when the child was 18 years of age (Tornton et al., 1995). In order to maintain this positive relationship, however, both parent and child must engage in what is called relational maintenance behaviors. Relational maintenance behaviors have four main goals: to maintain stability, preserve what already exists, continue the rate of satisfaction, and allow repair when needed (Dindia & Canary, 1993). With CMC being supportive of relationship maintenance behaviors (Tong & Walther, 2011), this study looks to understand how this technology is used by current college students to facilitate relational maintenance strategies with their parents. Additionally, this study takes on a communicative interdependence perspective (CIP) (Caughlin & Sharabi, 2013) within the data analysis to further investigate how the parent-child dynamic may integrate their relationship across various mediated channels. Te topic is designed to further communication research on how relational maintenance behaviors can be performed online to facilitate healthy relationships. Te goal lies in learning the various CMC channels that facilitate relational maintenance behaviors, as well as contribute to the well-being of the parent-child relationship while the child is in college. With the use of existing research, parent-child relationships, relational maintenance behaviors, and the role CMC plays in supporting healthy relationships will be further discussed in the following sections. Trough interviews about college students’ CMC experiences supporting their relationships with parents, this study focuses on discovering the ways in which the parentchild dynamic is maintained when the child attends college. Review of Literature Relational Maintenance Relational maintenance is an interpersonal communication strategy aimed at preserving various types of relationships. However, communication scholars have not agreed upon a universal defnition. For the present study, relational maintenance will be defned as the behaviors in which individuals engage in to preserve the state and existence of a relationship (Tong & Walther, 2011). It is important to note that relationship maintenance has fve dimensions to discuss: positivity, openness, assurances, task sharing, and networks. Specifcally,

positivity is the ability to be optimistic within a relationship, openness focuses on engaging in self-disclosure with the ability to discuss aspects of the relationship, assurances revolve around the reinforcement of commitment and afection, sharing tasks is completing any necessary responsibilities equally within the relationship together, and networks focus on the time that is spent with mutual circles (Tong & Walther, 2011). With positivity, individuals might engage in speaking kindly to one another or cheerfully attending unplanned events. Openness includes disclosure about the relationship, but not disclosure about more personal or social issues (Canary & Yum, 2015). Assurances can be seen in the actions of expressing faithfulness which could include reafrming that an individual is committed solely to their partner. Task sharing centers around sharing work equally which can include grocery shopping or household chores. Finally, networks can include engaging in activities with friends or visiting families for a weekend (Canary & Yum, 2015). For example, visiting families may be particularly prevalent in individuals that do not live geographically close to relatives anymore. Although many of these relational maintenance activities tend to focus more on romantic relationships, it is important to note that these engagements can be seen in all situations, including those between a parent and child. Relational maintenance is crucial for the success of relationships (McEwan, 2017), and is necessary for the continuation of interpersonal relationships (Canary & Staford, 1994). For example, emerging adults begin to gain a stronger sense of characteristics such as independence, but they will still rely on the relationships with their parent(s) to help with other obligations such as fnances and emotional needs (Myers & Glover, 2007). In this situation, engaging in relational maintenance is crucial. Tis is because without a stable relationship, those obligations might not be successfully met. By using relational maintenance, this may ultimately lead to continuing the preservation of the relationship for future engagements. Although relational maintenance has been thoroughly studied in a few contexts, it is still important to engage in research centered around relationships not yet focused on (McEwan, 2017). For example, relational maintenance is typically studied in the context of in-person relationships, however, it is also important to understand how geographically separated relationships can engage in maintenance strategies to be successful. Studies have shown that interpersonal connections can be maintained when separated to prevent relationships from ending (Vitak, 2014). Tis is important because relationships are constantly evolving and may need to transition from inperson to geographically separated or vice versa while continuing to be maintained. Parent-Child Relationships when the Child is in College Te parent-child dynamic is one that faces changes when moving from being inperson to geographically distant. Terefore, parents and children must both modify their communication practices to accommodate for such change. As families grow and develop, they pass through diferent stages of the family life cycle. As Wrench et al. (2020) elaborates on Weaver and Lawton’s family life cycle model, there are eight diferent stages that make up the family life cycle: young singles, young couples with no children, full nest one with preschoolaged children, full nest two with school-aged children, full nest three with older children, empty nest one, empty nest two, and solitary survivor. Starting with young singles and ending with retirement, this study focuses on the launching stage, also known as empty nest one. At this point in the family life cycle, children are leaving their homes to pursue professional or educational goals (e.g. attending college), and transitioning into early adulthood. As this occurs, the relational dynamic between parent and child changes to accommodate varying needs within the relationship (Smith, 2015). Despite the parent-child relationship beginning at an early age, this interpersonal dynamic in particular continues to infuence ways of living throughout one’s lifetime (Tornton et al., 1995). Te positive maintenance of this relationship is important for setting the child up for success in relationships. When looking at families

approaching the empty-nesting stages, the child begins fnding his or her own individual identity. In turn, relational maintenance strategies must change to ensure the continuation of a strong and healthy relationship. It is also important to note that during this time of change and development within college students in particular, the ways the child engages with relational maintenance are a refection of their family communication while growing up (Ledbetter, 2009; Serewicz et al., 2007). Additionally, children during the empty-nesting stages still want to be involved in their parents’ lives, seeking connection through networking and sharing tasks (Myers & Glover, 2007). Adolescents entering college and facing greater geographical distances from their parent(s) face various challenges that require additional support from their families. Relational maintenance is highly important in the well-being of emerging adults within college and signifcantly assists in the reduction of stress and depression (Smith, 2015). According to Te American College Health Association, over 80% of college students experienced high levels of stress that contributed to harmful coping habits, such as suicide, further noting that the resilience of college students is of the utmost importance (LaFreniere & Shannon, 2021). Building resilience comes from parental support, which can be strengthened through relational maintenance strategies. Specifc strategies such as openness and assurances between parent and child have been found to decrease feelings of loneliness and stress, which produces an overall positive impact on the child’s college experience (Hall & Woszidlo, 2021). While relationship maintenance strategies are important within parent-child relationships even after the launching stage, it is important to note that there is a diference between the practices of these relational maintenance behaviors. Canary and Yum (2015) note that relationship maintenance strategies can be completed both strategically and non-strategically. For example, if a parent drives a great distance to visit their child to show that they value the relationship and are worth continuing a relationship with, then the relational maintenance strategy would be considered strategic. Knowing this diference can give additional insight into the intentionality of certain relational maintenance behaviors. Tis allows individuals to gain an understanding of whether or not a behavior is used to purposefully maintain the relationship or has always been used regardless of intention. Computer-Mediated Communication Computer mediated communication (CMC) is a form of communication that utilizes multiple modes, often mediated online (Torne, 2008). It is used by individuals when sending messages and information to one another in order to allow relationships to remain intact (Romiszowski & Mason, 2008). As technology continues to evolve over time and infuence relationships, it is important to recognize and understand what CMC is in today’s society. CMC has developed into a primary form of communication in many relationships, especially between those who may be separated geographically from one another (e.g., a child attending college). Tere are two forms of CMC: synchronous and asynchronous communication. Synchronous channels allow communication to occur in real-time much like that of a video or voice call (Romiszowski & Mason, 2008). On the other hand, channels that are asynchronous facilitate communications that allow the sender and receiver to not be readily available at the same time (McEwan, 2017) and can aid in ways such as getting messages spread to others, feedback, and interactivity (Tong & Walther, 2011). Asynchronous channels are those such as texting messaging and emailing. An important part of CMC is its afordances. Tese are various facets of CMC that assist in communication goals that can be facilitated through CMC channels. Te afordances of CMC technology are wide-ranging to explain the various ways it can be used to facilitate interpersonal relationships. One of the greatest advantages of using CMC is the idea of a “connected presence” among individuals in distant relationships (Abel et al., 2020). Although

individuals are not always physically present, technology allows relationships to feel more intimate through smartphones by allowing communication to occur more often and informally than it once was (Abel et al., 2020). An additional afordance that CMC provides is the ability to implement a feeling of spatial separation between individuals. Tis can be crucial in certain situations such as a couple recovering from an argument because it allows parties to have perceived space from one another before continuing to send messages (Perry & Werner-Wilson, 2011). As technology ofers many opportunities for easier communication, relationships are able to become geographically separated and adapt to their new dynamics, while still staying connected. Tis may prove to be especially prevalent in the parent-child relationship when the child is away at college. Terefore, we ask our frst research questions: RQ1: In what ways do parents adapt to recent technology in order to stay connected with their college child? RQ2: What experiences have students had with various CMC channels when staying connected with parents? CMC & Relational Maintenance Technology has made relational maintenance signifcantly easier for interpersonal relationships. As technology is widely available, it becomes easier for individuals to reach their relationship goals through its afordances. For many individuals, CMC channels are often a preferred way to communicate within interpersonal relationships (Ramirez & Broneck, 2009). Findings suggest that this is signifcantly true when relationships experience geographical distances. Tis is because the distance limits their ability to communicate face-to-face, making relational maintenance behaviors difcult to achieve with a large distance barrier (Canary & Yum, 2015; McEwan, 2017; Ramirez & Broneck, 2009; Vitak, 2014). For relationships that rely on CMC, these technological channels for communication have the greatest positive impact on relational quality (Vitak, 2014). Additionally, social technologies allow geographically distant interpersonal relationships to maintain a feeling of presence with an individual. Tis is because CMC allows individuals to remain emotionally connected through various maintenance strategies (Tong & Walther, 2011). In the case of being separated from others, CMC acts as the primary channel of communication and relational maintenance, which may apply to a parent-child relationship. In all relationships, CMC can contribute to relational maintenance behaviors such as providing assurances, openness, and shared tasks (Dainton & Aylor, 2002) through actions such as planning, sending comforting messages, and sharing pictures and other materials (Aloia & Warren, 2019). It is important to note that these various relational maintenance strategies have been demonstrated through phone calls, texting, and social networking sites such as Facebook (McEwan, 2017). Due to the ease of access to multiple channels of communication that CMC can ofer, it may lead individuals to prefer this way of communication. With the increased wireless connection on most college campuses, CMC practices can be engaged in through the use of a smartphone. Tis means that many college-level students have readily available access to actively participate in using CMC, which results in being capable of remaining connected within interpersonal relationships (Hall & Woszidlo, 2021; Smith, 2015). For the purposes of this study, however, it is important to note that because college students have access to CMC channels, that may infuence their ability to engage in relational maintenance with their parents while the child is away at school. Relational Maintenance via CMC in Parent-Child Relationships When families are split by geographical boundaries, they must fnd new ways to use CMC in the connection between life at home and the individual’s life away from home (Hall

& Woszidlo, 2021). Tis may be seen especially when a child is away at college. In order to continue regular family practices when separated, families tend to use various facets of communication such as voice calls, emails, letters, and diferent social media platforms (Abel et al., 2020). Te usage of these communication methods can facilitate relational maintenance to include anything from sharing details about various parts of life via video call to sending a simple check-in text message (Hall & Woszidlo, 2021). Additionally, family connectedness, parental support, and relational depth were increased through the use of online relational maintenance behaviors for families separated by geographical distances (Aloia & Warren, 2019). For parentchild relationships while the child is at college, this is an important fnding because when students become stressed and overwhelmed, they may lean on their parental relationships to help them navigate their feelings. Myers and Glover (2007) discuss how parents engage in relational maintenance by supporting their children’s emotional needs through directly relating the parent-child bond to the perception of commitment, trust, and control mutuality. In this situation, this may be seen through the usage of CMC as the child would be geographically separated by at least 50 miles (Pryor et al., 2012). When considering the relational maintenance tools that emerging adults typically use with their parents, general fndings suggest that the most prevalent among the group are networking, assurances, positivity, task sharing, confict management, and advice (Myers & Glover, 2007). When it comes to task sharing more specifcally, Hall and Woszidlo (2021) claim that family dinners are one way emerging adults are able to display their need of maintaining a healthy and supportive relationship with their parents, despite continuing to gain their own sense of independence. When considering how this task sharing might emerge via CMC, parents may choose to use a video call option, such as Facetime, to facilitate the feeling of being together for a meal even though they cannot be in the same home at the time. Email is a form of CMC that has seen high usage in the past because it has shown to help in the maintenance of relationships, such as keeping in touch with family while in college. Emailing has been used in relational maintenance to share intellectual information and opinions with those that individuals know and associate themselves with (Staford et al., 1999). For families, Tong and Walther (2011) discuss that there is a high percentage that use email for maintaining communication in their relationships which suggests that this is a form of CMC that various generations use for relational maintenance. At the time of the study’s publication, 84% of families used email for general communication, 70% used it for advice, and 63% used it to communicate worries going on in life. For students specifcally, these individuals sent around six emails to their parents a week, especially when stress levels during the college semester began to increase (Tong & Walther, 2011). Although using email in a personal context might be outdated with the advancement of technology, it is still important to consider this because these numbers might remain around the same range in a diferent channel of CMC, especially in times of high stress. Today, email may be replaced by text messaging, video calling, engaging with family members on social media, or another channel of CMC. Previous research has focused on CMC relational maintenance strategies of romantic relationships and friendships, but lacks in family communication, specifcally those of an empty-nesting family. Tis study specifcally looks at how relational maintenance between parent(s) and children occurs while a child is away at college as the family begins the empty nest one stage. Te study aims to contribute to a growing body of literature on how relational maintenance in modern CMC technology is seen in a parent-child relationship while the child is away at college, as this has not been deeply studied. And so, we ask our third research question: RQ3: How do current CMC practices contribute to the relational maintenance of parentchild relationships while the child is away at college?

Method Methodological Design Using a qualitative approach to better understand parent-child CMC relational maintenance when the child is attending college, this study conducted semi-structured interviews with eligible participants. By utilizing a qualitative approach, it allowed the study to develop a depth of knowledge into the human experience of this phenomenon, rather than being aimed to draw a conclusion about a large group (Neuman, 2014). Trough the usage of interviews, we were able to learn about participants’ experiences of using CMC to maintain relationships with their parent(s) while in college. Additionally, we chose to conduct semistructured interviews because it provided us with fexibility and the ability to ask additional questions to probe the experiences of participants (Ruslin et al., 2022). Study Participants Sampling Plan To gather a pool of eligible participants for this study, individuals were required to be at least 18 years old, a student at a four-year university, living at least 50 miles from their hometown, and have an ongoing relationship with their parent(s). In order to efectively recruit participants for the study, we used convenience sampling as these individuals were readily available. Tis was done through posting on social media and using pre-existing connections on-campus. Interviews took place in a predetermined, reserved, private study room in a library to protect the confdentiality of participants. Tese were chosen because it provided privacy in a more familiar environment for participants when being interviewed. Demographic Information Interviews were conducted with a total of 11 individuals. Te age of participants ranged between 18-22 years old, and the average age being 20.45 years old with fve males (45.45%) and six females (54.55%). Out of all the participants, nine identifed as Caucasian (81.82%), one identifed as African-American (9.09%), and one identifed as Asian (9.09%). A total of one participant was classifed as a freshman (9.09%), two as a sophomore (18.18%), three as a junior (27.27%), fve as a senior (45.45%). When discussing relationships between their parent(s), the eight participants lived with married parents (72.73%), one participant lived with parent(s) in a relationship but were not married (9.09%), one participant lived with parent(s) who were separated/divorced (9.09%), and one participant lived with a single parent (9.09%). Finally, of the participants, the majority lived with their biological parent(s) (90.91%), with only one participant living with adoptive parent(s). Procedure Data Collection After receiving institutional review board (IRB) approval, we asked college students to refect on their experiences regarding how CMC is used to maintain their relationship with their parent(s) while they are away at college. Prior to the interview, we reserved a private room in the on-campus library. After eligible participants had been identifed, meetings were set up via email. Participants were provided with an informed consent document and asked to sign a digital version and complete a demographics questionnaire online (see Appendix A). After completing both of these steps, researchers recorded the interview on a cellular device. Participants proceeded to answer pre-determined, open-ended questions regarding how their relationship maintenance with parent(s) was supported through the usage of CMC (see Appendix B). Follow-up questions were asked to probe for more detailed information when needed. At the end of the interview, researchers asked participants if they had any questions or further comments they would like to add to properly debrief those involved. Te duration of

interviews ranged from 13.5 to 33 minutes with an average time of 23.25 minutes. Following each interview, all audio fles were transcribed to a total of 91 pages and kept in a fle on a locked device. All transcript fles used pseudonyms to uphold the confdentiality of each participant. After all interviews were completed, we analyzed each interviewees’ discussions to develop categories relevant to the study’s research questions. In addition, we edited responses further by eliminating fller words when necessary (e.g. “like,” “um,”), and by adding grammatical marks to allow a better understanding of the emerging themes. Data Analysis When all data were collected and interviews were completed, each audio fle was modifed into a transcript that was kept on a locked computer. Transcripts were then analyzed and coded to address each of this study’s research questions. Te themes that were used to answer each research question are discussed further in the subsequent section. Analysis Participants discussed the ways in which their parent(s) adapted to technology to remain connected (RQ1), their specifc lived experiences of using CMC channels to keep in touch with their families (RQ2), and the practices they engaged in as a parent-child relationship to facilitate relational maintenance (RQ3). When addressing RQ1, we identifed four main codes: social media, video calling, content sharing, and no use. In terms of RQ2, three primary codes were detected: communication contact habits, daily updates, and handling of difcult topics. For RQ3, we applied four codes that conceptualize the question: self-disclosure, encouragement, knowledge of friend groups, and activities. In the following sections, we will frst discuss the ways in which parents adapt to technology (RQ1) and then move into the experiences that the participants have had while using CMC to facilitate the parent-child relationship (RQ2) and fnish with a discussion of the behaviors that assist in the relational maintenance of the parent-child relationship (RQ3). Parents’ Adaptation of Technology In participants’ discussions about the way in which their parents adapted to technology to remain connected with them, several responses stated that they turned to social media for a variety of reasons. Participants explained their parents’ social media use ranges from having an account to keep tabs on the participant’s location to other parents using social media to directly communicate on the platform itself. One participant said, “my mom has me on Snapchat just to kind of, to know where I am,” (SP10), while another participant discussed the use of Instagram as, “my dad will send us these cute little videos of dogs and stuf like that through DM,” (SP09). On the other hand, some parents used social media, but not specifcally to connect with their child. One participant discussed that when they return home, their father scrolls on TikTok in the living room and then they would ask him, “Dad, what are you doing? He’s like, ‘Nothing, I’m just scrolling through TikTok,’” (SP03). In this particular case, parents displayed how they were adapting to social media, even though they were not using the platform to engage with their college child. Various participants’ parents ranged from a high social media use to very little use, however, many highlighted the idea that social media was an additional way in which they kept their relationship connected. While some parents would send TikToks, Instagram Reels, and have conversations through the direct messaging feature, others quite obviously chose not to engage with their child on the platform itself. Although this highlights the idea that parents may or may not adapt to social media use, it was discovered that despite parents’ attempts to remain connected via social media, college-aged children may decline their parents’ eforts. One participant mentioned that they did not let their father follow their TikTok after

requesting to follow the account. Although this individual did not provide a specifc reason for this behavior, it refects the idea that relational maintenance is not always attempted by both parties involved (Dindia & Canary, 1993). Te second most prevalent way that participants saw their parents adapting to technology was through the use of video calling, specifcally Facetime. However, responses about parents’ abilities on Facetime varied from not being able to Facetime at all, just beginning to understand the platform, to understanding it in such a way that video calls occur on a daily basis or every other day. For one participant, their parents had both just recently bought an iPhone, allowing them to begin Facetiming. Te participant remarked “Facetiming with them is kind of fun because now they can see all the fun technology,” (SP06). On the fipside, other participants discussed that their parent(s) were not too great with the technology, but were still trying to use it to connect with their child. One participant did not describe their parent’s level of adaptability to Facetime as highly as some, noting that their father will “bring the camera really close to him or way too far away,” (SP01). Te same participant also noted that their father would sometimes cover the microphone or the camera because he “doesn’t really know all too well how to use it,” (SP01). Although most participants discussed in one way or another their parents using video calling as a way to stay connected even if it was minimal, there was also mention of parents not using video calling as a way they have adapted. As there could be various reasons for this fnding, such as difering capabilities of phones or uncertainty of how to work this technology, participants still felt the impact of not being able to see their parents face-to-face. Tis was specifcally noted when one participant would see their friends staying connected with their parents through video calling. Additionally, one participant described that although their parents have not adapted to video calling as a way to stay connected, the participant remarked that “I kind of wish I had that with them. It’d be nice, especially for my dad, so I could see him more often,” (SP10). Many parents have adapted to video calling, however, those whose parents have not made the attempt to adapt have noticed that they might feel as if they are missing out on a way to stay in contact when away at school, even if the parents have adapted in other ways. Tis comes from the idea that video calls are the closest avenue to face-to-face interaction that relationships can have when geographically separated (Suwinyattichaiporn et al., 2017). Another prevalent way that participants noticed their parents adapting to technology was through content sharing that does not occur on a social media platform. Rather, parents and their children alike engaged in exporting content to send via text message, as well as sending GIFs, memes, articles, and music sharing. One participant discussed that with their mother, they would export TikToks and Instagram reels rather than send it on the platform because “I think that would get too confusing for my mom,” (SP06). Another participant discussed that their father is a “big GIFs guy” (SP10) and would often send GIFs and memes to convey various feelings and situations during the day. Tis participant was not the only one that mentioned using GIFs and memes as additional content that makes up the messages between parents and their children. Other participants also made remarks about how it is just another way that their parents have adapted to technology that is more than just a voice call or simple text. Additionally, participants discussed that their parents would send them links to articles via text message if it pertained to a participant’s favorite sports team. As one participant put it, “if my dad fnds something he thinks is cool, he’ll send a Facebook link, and then I’ll look at it,” (SP08). A number of participants discussed that they would send links back and forth about college or professional sports teams, or even a former team that the participant once played on. Te fnal fnding that was discovered when speaking with participants, although minimal, was that some parents did not engage in adaptations to technology, particularly social media.

Although most parents had at least one social media account—even if it was rarely used— these parents still attempted to adapt to technology even with little activity on the platform. On the other hand, parents who fell into the no use theme were not active on social media and typically engaged in more traditional voice calls and text messaging without content sharing. Although this was a small group of parents, they fell into two categories: those who did not adapt to technology well and those where one parent adapted in some way, but the other did not. One participant stated that in regard to their father “he’s a little more old-fashioned, he doesn’t use social media as much,” (SP07). On the other hand, multiple participants noted that one parent would be active on social media and adapting to technology, while the other parent was less keen on taking those steps to adapt. Lived Experiences of CMC Channels When refecting on the lived experiences of using various CMC channels, the majority of participants discussed a range of communication contact habits. Tis primarily entailed how often CMC was used and the channel that was typically used to communicate in the relationship. Te frequency of usage ranged from daily conversations to once a week. However, participants explained a variety of channels that they used to communicate during the week. Tese included texting, voice calls, and video calls. Te majority of participants text with their parents and/or family daily, with one participant discussing their family group chat that was between them, their siblings, and their parents that contained numerous topics throughout the day. One participant went as far to say they texted “Every single day. Tere’s not a moment where there’s not something going on,” (SP09). On the other hand, another participant discussed their family group chat conversations as “not super in-depth” (SP08) but it was still used daily. Voice call frequency widely ranged for participants with some relationships calling more often than others. One participant noted that voice calls were “probably about once a week” (SP08) whereas other participants refected that they would call everyday just to talk. As previously discussed, video calling (e.g., Facetime) was also a prevalent communication channel that was used by participants and their parents. Much like voice calls, the frequency of these calls ranged for participants. However, some participants video called one parent more than another with one participant noting “either everyday or every other day with mom…my dad, it’s kind of every other day,” (SP09). Tis elucidates that parent-child relationships may have two dimensions: a combined relationship with both parents and a separate relationship with each parent. Te data revealed that parent-child relationships vary in the frequency and channel of communication, but each relationship still had an agreed-upon schedule that was followed by the parties involved. Te second prevalent theme that was revealed by participants was the usage of CMC to convey daily updates back and forth with their parents. Tese updates occurred through a variety of channels and tended to include, but were not limited to, general updates on wellbeing, school, mundane daily tasks, and work. Some participants discussed more familial topics such as younger siblings and family pets at home with their parents in their daily updates. Others explained that they would often voice call their parents while walking various places on campus to tell their parents about their day, with one participant specifcally saying, “I’ll call them whenever I have something to say to them basically… I’ll call my mom while I’m walking back home,” (SP09). Multiple participants talked about discussing schoolwork and grades with parents, with one saying that they will disclose “I got a good grade on an exam or I failed an exam. So, I just give them small updates everyday,” (SP01). However, some participants were less specifc in their responses of what their daily updates included. In reference to communication with their mother, one participant remarked “I feel like I talk to her about more random things… just little things that happen,” (SP02). Te fnal prevalent theme that was revealed in the lived experiences of using CMC

channels was the way in which the handling of difcult topics are addressed in participants’ parent-child relationships. Difcult topics address how serious conversations are handled, what channel they are addressed on, or if certain issues are withheld until the relationship is able to discuss them in-person. For some participants, they felt comfortable talking about stressors, irritants, and other serious matters via any communication channel (e.g., text messaging, voice call, video call, or email). One participant whose parent-child relationship allows for serious topics on any channel remarked “I found out my dog died over a text from my dad,” (SP07). On the contrary, other participants discussed “long conversations we would not have until I got home,” (SP01). It was also noted that some participants preferred to have difcult conversations with a specifc parent and sometimes extended family member over the other parent. For one participant, they turned toward their father or grandfather over their mother for long-term or serious issues via technology. Another participant also discussed going to their aunt or cousins to discuss difcult parts of their life to avoid judgment from their parents. Tis refects the importance of the idea that parent-child relationships begin at a young age and impact the child throughout life depending on if the initial relationship was positive or negative (Ledbetter, 2009; Serewicz et al., 2007; Tornton et al., 1995). Tese specifc participants explained how they did not receive full support from their parents at a young age, so they sought out that missing support from extended family. Te lack of parental support connected to these participants having a negative perception of the relationship with their parents. Contributing Practices of Relational Maintenance As participants described the behaviors that are performed in their parent-child relationship to contribute to relational maintenance, most participants described diferent levels of self disclosure with one or both of their parents which tends to align with the openness criteria of relational maintenance. Many participants discussed going to their parents during stressful situations to obtain advice or support. For some, there were specifc parts of the school year that the participant’s level of self-disclosure increased with their parent(s) such as before moving in or out, during fnals, and if college began to be too stressful to handle alone. One participant remarked that when they get stressed, worried, or have “lots of good things” (SP04) happen in their life, they will tend to increase the frequency of voice calls to disclose what is happening. On the other hand, some participants described their level of self-disclosure decreasing in periods of high stress and activity in order to focus on the issues at hand. For one participant, it was noted that although self-disclosure decreased around midterm season, they still communicated that they would be less available, which still contributed to positive relational maintenance. Tis participant stated “I’ll tell them that beforehand through text, ‘hey, I won’t be able to communicate as much, I have four exams this week,’” (SP07). Participants also reported that self-disclosure on specifc topics were reserved for a particular parent. Te majority of participants spoke about turning towards their mother when issues arose with stress, general well-being, mental health, and emotions, whereas they disclosed information about logistics, fnances, and sports with their father. One participant described their selfdisclosure as “practical things, I would reach out to my dad, and then emotional support and stress-related things more reach out to my mom,” (SP05). When asked why this was the case, the participant noted that it stemmed from the roles each parent took on while the participant was growing up at home. Although the majority of the parent-child relationships held this dynamic, there were exceptions that stemmed from not having the typical nuclear family. For one participant, their mother received self-disclosure on all topics because their child lived primarily with her. Tis may be attributed to the understanding that families function diferently than others, specifcally when one parent is the primary caregiver over the other. In other words, this may be attributed to when family roles are shaped within the family system,

which then impacts the functionality of the family itself (Wrench et al., 2022). Another prevalent theme that contributes to relational maintenance was encouragement. Participants reported that part of their relationship with their parent(s) often included encouraging and motivational messages, videos, and quotes which helps contribute to the positivity dimension of relational maintenance. It was noted that this type of practice occurred on multiple CMC channels including text messaging and social media platforms. Some parents sent encouraging messages to their children as a way to begin the daily conversation and the start of a new day, with one participant noting that their father would “send the text every morning saying, ‘I hope you have a great day,’” (SP10). For this participant in particular, it allowed the relationship to begin on a positive and encouraging note in the morning while kick-starting the remainder of the conversation for the day. Other participants received messages, Instagram reels, or TikToks at more spontaneous moments throughout the day. One participant explained that when they would receive Instagram reels, the majority would be “cute, little encouraging messages,” (SP11). Other participants tended to describe their experiences with encouragement in the same way with one explaining that their mother would send sports drills to motivate them in their chosen sport, while their father would send more “motivational or religious things on a Sunday,” (SP04). Trough the use of encouragement, it allowed the parent-child relationship to be maintained by remaining positive in the messages sent between parties. Te third theme that was revealed when speaking with participants was the knowledge of friend groups of both the participant and parent. Tis specifc area highlights the relational maintenance behavior of shared networks. Participants discussed their parents’ knowledge of their college friends, having their contact information, and the participants being aware and up-to-date on their parents’ friends as well. Various levels of understanding friend groups were discussed as some parents knew who participants’ friends were and how their child knew them, whereas others heard a name and never remembered it. One participant discussed providing their mother with a friend’s phone number in the event it was ever needed. Other participants discussed their parents knowing who their friends were, but “may not know the faces,” (SP11). However, the majority of participants refected that their parents were in one way or another, knowledgeable on who the participants were around when in college. On the other hand, a smaller number of participants discussed knowing information and interacting with their parents’ friend groups. One participant reported that their mother would tell them “when she’s going to lunch with some friends and something dramatic happens,” (SP06). Some participants noted that their parents do not hang out with many people, while others explained that they would be flled in on coworker drama via text message, voice call, or video call. Finally, participants used CMC channels to engage in activities with their parents that contributed to the relational maintenance behavior of shared tasks. Tis emerged from the parent-child relationship scheduling or engaging in various activities together via CMC such as family dinners, celebrating milestones, or coordinating out-of-school plans and visits for the future. Multiple participants discussed using CMC to share the task of coordinating trips the participant was planning on taking while out of school such as “what’s going to happen and when and where it’s going to happen,” (SP03). Another mentioned that they will plan when the parent(s) was coming to visit the participant and they discussed what they would do when the parent(s) arrived. A smaller, but still signifcant, number of participants discussed specifc examples and instances of engaging in activities with their parents. A participant discussed their use of Facetime to eat dinner while their parents were “cooking dinner or they’re just fnishing dinner,” (SP09). Tis simulated the feeling of a family dinner even though they “don’t really have time to all sit down to have a family dinner,” (SP09). Another major way that activities emerged from participants’ discussions was sharing important life events together. For one participant, their family still celebrated birthdays together and noted “We’ll still sing

happy birthday over video call, which I think is fun,” (SP06). Trough the engagement of activities with one another, the parent-child relationship was allowed to continue maintenance at a level that all parties were comfortable with. Discussion In this exploratory investigation, our goal was threefold: to understand the ways in which parent(s) adapt to technology to stay in communication with their children, elucidate the lived experiences of the parent-child relationship when facilitated through CMC channels, and ultimately provide answers to the way that parents and children engage in practices to contribute to relational maintenance while the child is away at college. We discovered a few interesting fndings regarding our research questions. When discussing the way in which parent(s) adapt to technology, most parents attempted to adapt to social media or video calling even if they were not skilled on the platforms or chose not to use them often. Te parent-child relationship in these cases experienced more interaction on various platforms throughout the day in comparison to others. Many of the participants whose parent(s) took the steps to adapt to technology spoke highly of the interactions as well. Although most parents adapted, there were some parent-child relationships that did not experience their parent(s) adapting to newer technology. Ultimately, a lack of adaptation to current technologies and social media resulted in participants comparing their experiences to the perceptions of their friends’ experiences. Tis fnding can be looked at from the communicative interdependence perspective (CIP) (Caughlin & Sharabi, 2013) which establishes the level in which a relationship experiences interdependence based on how partners integrate communication throughout diferent modes and channels, both face-toface and through CMC. One of the components of this perspective is difculty transitioning. Although the perspective looks specifcally at the difculty of transitioning from face-to-face communication to CMC, this can also be applied to the parent-child relationship having trouble transitioning strictly from one mediated channel to others. In the case of the results of RQ1, parents who struggled to adapt to technology experienced this aspect of CIP. Tis may be because feelings of discomfort and lack of understanding of newer technology prevented parents from enabling themselves to use various channels when communicating with their children (e.g. social media). Tis was primarily refected when participants discussed exporting content to text messages rather than sharing content on social media platforms themselves. Although the exporting of content is considered adapting to technology, it refects the inability to transition to the fully-comprehensive use of social media. Tis is important as it highlights that parents can have various levels of adaptations to technology to stay in communication with their college-aged children: full-transitioning, partial transitioning, and no transitioning between channels. Regardless of the level of adaptation that a parent might engage in, any efort was perceived better by participants than none at all. Terefore, parents who adapt in any way, no matter how minimal it might be, put forth the opportunity to help maintain a strong bond with their child when they are away at college. Continuing to use CIP to conceptualize our fndings in this study, RQ2 refects the concept of mode segmentation. Tis CIP concept refers to when certain conversational topics among relationships are only appropriate and comfortable when they take place through specifc channels. Tese channels can be a specifc CMC channel or solely faceto-face (Caughlin & Sharabi, 2013). While CIP expresses that the key division is between mediated communication and face-to-face communication, it may also be used to diferentiate other types of mediated communication. Tis is especially seen in geographically separated relationships with limited face-to-face interactions and relationships that mainly rely on mediated communication. Tese separated relationships, as seen in the results, either have to integrate or segment their conversational topics between CMC channels. When considering

the results of RQ2, participants refected on their communication contact habits and how they navigated difcult topics with their parents. Most of the participants expressed the diferent modes of communication they used and why they used them. As refected in the analysis, some relationships chose to segment certain conversations of importance between text messaging, voice or video calls, or in-person. Tis highlights that even for parent-child relationships, there are diferent topics that are more comfortable to talk about within diferent modes of communication, even if the topic is only comfortable when discussed face-to-face. It is important to keep in mind that these segmentations are understood and agreed upon by both parties in the parent-child relationship. Ultimately, this puts forth the initiative to prioritize comfortability in order to maintain a healthy bond when managing topics of varying degrees. After considering the results of the initial two research questions, the third question remains in regard to how these factors infuence behaviors of relational maintenance. Although there are adaptations and segmentations that must be agreed upon, understood, and implemented, they both work together to create the behaviors that RQ3 ultimately discovered and expands upon. Trough the adaptations that parents engage in, they set the foundation for what CMC channels are available for communication between themselves and their children. With segmentation, it then establishes what topics individuals are comfortable discussing over the various channels that the adaptations lay the groundwork for. Trough the combination of adaptations and segmentations, they then lead to the behaviors that facilitate relational maintenance in the parent-child relationship. When engaging in self-disclosure, parents and children alike engage in the openness aspect of relational maintenance. Tis allows both parties to understand and learn more about one another’s life and feel closer in the relationship. Te behaviors of encouragement and motivation facilitate the relational maintenance component of positivity because it expresses cheerful and optimistic communication through speech over multiple communication channels. Knowing one another’s friend groups allows both parents and children to better share networks in their lives to connect them in a meaningful way outside of verbal communication alone. Finally, engaging in activities through CMC allows the parent-child relationship to share tasks, ultimately allowing them to carry out typical in-person interactions despite being geographically separated from one another. Te behaviors exhibited through our fndings provide evidence that the parent-child relationship must engage in various CMC channels and establish understandings with one another to successfully carry out relational maintenance. Te CMC practices described throughout this research study provide the overview and groundwork to begin understanding a geographically separated parent-child relationship. Specifcally, it lays the groundwork when CMC is the typical, and oftentimes the only, way to stay connected and in communication while facilitating necessary relational maintenance practices to continue the bond that is established at an early age in life (Tornton et al., 1995; Wrench et al., 2022). Implications Troughout the analysis and discussion of this study, we have found that there are a myriad of factors that go into the relational maintenance of the parent-child relationship when entering the empty nesting stage of the family life cycle. Te parent-child relationship is a relationship that continues to infuence behaviors throughout one’s lifetime (Tornton et al., 1995). In addition, it requires a change in relational maintenance strategies when reaching diferent stages of the family life cycle, such as the empty nesting stage. In the case of college students, children are moving away from their parents. In turn, they need the assistance of CMC to maintain connection and contact. Most of the relational maintenance strategies that were employed and practiced while both parent and child still lived together can no longer be successful without technology mediation as the child no longer lives at home. As a result, CMC facilitates new relational maintenance practices. Tese new practices can come from

adaptations to new technology such as social media and video calls, as well as reliance on previously used technology like texting. Despite the level of adapting to new technology, both parents and children must be in agreement when considering how CMC is used. Relational maintenance requires both parties of a relationship to be successful. Tis means that agreements must be made about which channels (mediated or face-to-face) are acceptable, when those channels should be used, and what topics are appropriate and comfortable to discuss through each channel. In addition, college students living away from home require parental support as established by Smith (2015). While our research confrms that openness and assurances are relational maintenance strategies that contribute to parental support, our research also found that college-aged children also reach out when additional support is necessary. In addition, we found that sharing tasks through CMC channels contributes to positive college experiences, as well as having parental support. Although existing research suggests that support is primarily provided through openness and assurances, our research advocates that other relational maintenance practices are just as efective in leading to a supportive parent-child relationship. Limitations and future directions Although this study has its strengths in the depth of experiences that college-aged children have in their parent-child relationship when facilitated by CMC, we recognize that the study also has its limitations in the way in which it was approached. One major limitation this study faced was the sampling technique that was used. As this was facilitated through convenience sampling, we lacked a range of demographics to fully encapsulate the breadth of parent-child relationships. Tis was further exacerbated by recruiting at a small, liberal arts college in the southern United States where participants tend to come from similar backgrounds. Tus, the results provide an understanding of a specifc group of individuals, but lack diversity even across the campus community. Future research should continue to examine parent-child relationships when geographically separated. Much of the literature that has supported this study focuses on romantic relationships, which puts forth the challenge of implementing many of these concepts to other contexts, such as parent-child relationships. For instance, the segmentation aspect of CIP could be expanded upon more in-depth than this study ofers to look at the specifc topics that parents and children reserve for each communication channel when the relationship is primarily engaged in through CMC. Future research could also examine how diferent generations of parents adapt to technology at varying degrees which may impact the facilitation of relational maintenance between parents and children. Likewise, it would be benefcial to analyze the way that frst-generation college students employ relational maintenance behaviors because their parents not experiencing college might impact the way they maintain the relationship. Trough these future directions, the relational maintenance of a geographically separated parent-child relationship will be better understood and literature will refect a comprehensive view of a typical parent and college-aged child dynamic. Conclusion Te results of this exploratory study contribute to research on how parents and children understand one another’s ability to adapt to technology and the topics they are comfortable discussing to ultimately facilitate relational maintenance via CMC. Trough the guidance of relational maintenance principles and CIP, our data suggest that parents and children have a constant ebb and fow of establishing practices that work best to maintain a strong bond past the initial stages of life when being in the same household. Terefore, this study adds to literature on the ways in which parents and children maintain a healthy relationship when the child is attending college.

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Myers, S. A., & Glover, N. P. (2007). Emerging adults’ use of relational maintenance behaviors with their parents. Communication Research Reports, 24(3), 257-264. https:// doi.org/10.1080/08824090701446633 Neuman, D. (2014). Qualitative research in educational communications and technology: A brief introduction to principles and procedures. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 26, 69-86. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12528-014-9078-x Perry, M. S., & Werner‐Wilson, R. J. (2011). Couples and computer‐mediated communication: A closer look at the afordances and use of the channel. Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, 40(2), 120-134. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1552-3934.2011.02099.x Pryor, J. H., Eagan, K., Palucki Blake, L., Hurtado, S., Berdan, J., & Case, M. H. (2012). Te American freshman: National norms Fall 2012. Los Angeles: Cooperative Institutional Research Program at the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA. Retrieved from https://www.heri.ucla.edu/monographs/TeAmericanFreshman2012-Expanded.pdf Ramirez Jr, A., & Broneck, K. (2009). IM me’: Instant messaging as relational maintenance and everyday communication. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 26(2-3), 291314. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407509106719 Romiszowski, A., & Mason, R. (2008). Computer-mediated communication. In D. Jonassen & M. Driscoll (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology (2nd ed., pp. 397-431). Routledge. Ruslin, R., Mashuri, S., Rasak, M. S. A., Alhabsyi, F., & Syam, H. (2022). Semi-structured interview: A methodological refection on the development of a qualitative research instrument in educational studies. IOSR Journal of Research & Method in Education, 12(1), 22-29. https://doi.org/10.9790/7388-1201052229 Serewicz, M. C., Dickson, F. C., Huynh Ti Anh Morrison, J., & Poole, L. L. (2007). Family privacy orientation, relational maintenance, and family satisfaction in young adults’ family relationships. Journal of Family Communication, 7(2), 123-142. https://doi. org/10.1080/15267430701221578 Sharabi, L. L., & Dorrance Hall, E. (2021). Conceptualizing and measuring communication interdependence: Te technology and face-to-face integration scale. Communication Methods and Measures, 15(3), 222–242. https://doi.org/10.1080/19312458.2021.1894 325 Smith, M. E. (2015). Staying connected: Supportive communication during the college transition. In C. J. Bruess (Ed.), Family Communication in the Age of Digital and Social Media (pp. 185–204). Peter Lang. Suwinyattichaiporn, T., Fontana, J., Shaknitz, L., & Linder, K. (2017). Maintaining long distance romantic relationships: Te college students perspective. Kentucky Journal of Communication, 36(1), 67-89. Staford, L., Kline, S. L., & Dimmick, J. (1999). Home e-mail: Relational maintenance and gratifcation opportunities. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 43, 659–669.

Torne, S. L. (2008). Computer-mediated communication. Encyclopedia of language and education, 4(325), https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30424-3_108 Tornton, A., Orbuch, T. L., & Axinn, W. G. (1995). Parent-child relationships during the transition to adulthood. Journal of Family issues, 16(5), 538-564. https://doi. org/10.1177/019251395016005003 Tong, S., & Walther J. B. (2011). Relational maintenance and CMC. In K. B. Wright & L. M. Webb (Eds.), Computer-Mediated Communication in Personal Relationships (pp. 98-118). Peter Lang. Vitak, J. (2014). Facebook makes the heart grow fonder: Relationship maintenance strategies among geographically dispersed and communication-restricted connections. In Proceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing (pp. 842-853). https://doi.org/10.1145/2531602.2531726 Wrench, J. S., Punyanunt-Carter, N. M., & Tweatt, K. S. (2020). Family Changes. In Interpersonal Communication: A mindful approach to relationships (pp. 323–326). Open SUNY.

Appendix A Demographic Questionnaire 1.

What is your age (in years)?

What gender do you identify with? a. Male b. Female c. Non-Binary d. Other:__________ e. Prefer not to say

Please specify your ethnicity. a. Caucasian b. African-American c. Latino or Hispanic d. Asian e. Native American f. Native Hawaiian or Pacifc Islander g. Two or more h. Other/Unknown:_________ i. Prefer not to say

What year of college are you in? a. Freshman b. Sophomore c. Junior d. Senior e. Extended Undergraduate Year(s)

Which description below best describes the relationship between your biological parents while you were growing up. a. Married b. In a relationship but not married c. Cohabiting d. Separated/Divorced e. Unknown f. Other:__________

Please choose the option that best describes the parental fgures in the household you grew up in. a. Biological parent(s) b. Biological parent(s) and step-parent(s) c. Adoptive parent(s) d. Single-parent e. Other:__________

Appendix B Interview Protocol 1.

Describe your current relationship dynamics with your parent(s).

Describe some ways you stayed connected with your parent(s) before moving to college. a. What did you and your family do to stay connected? b. In what way did these practices help establish a strong relationship with your parent(s)?

How was technology used to maintain your relationship while you were living at home?

Do you feel like your connection with your parent(s) has remained the same since moving to college? In what ways has this changed or remained the same?

In what ways do you and your parent(s) try to maintain connection while you’re living away at college? a. How has technology been used within your relationship to maintain this connection? b. How could your current communication habits with your parent(s) change to improve your connection while you are living away from home?

How have your parent(s) adapted to newer communication technologies in order to stay connected with you? What are some examples of this change (social media, phone calls, Facetimes, etc.)?

How often do you use technology to communicate with your parent(s) while you’re living away from home?

Is there anything else you would like to add to this discussion that we might not have addressed?

About the Authors Anna Osenkowsky and Margaret Burch are May 2023 graduates of Christopher Newport University where they received their Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies and a minor in Graphic Design. Anna is pursuing a public relations position and Margaret is working in an internship to gain further experience in hospitality. Teir work within communication studies has specifcally focused on interpersonal communication and how interpersonal relationships may be facilitated through the use of technology. Tis present study elucidated how the parent-child relationship experiences relational maintenance, and it also obtained a better understanding of the adaptation and use of technology for such relational maintenance behaviors.

Te Eternal City in Ruins: Maarten van Heemskerck and the Revival of the Ancient Sara Miller Winner of Te Cupola Award Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Rebecca Woolf, Department of Fine Art and Art History

Abstract In 1532 Maarten van Heemskerck traveled to Rome, which was still recovering from the devastation caused by the 1527 sacking of the city. Te Eternal City, which once appeared untouchable, fell to outside forces. What followed was destruction and devastation. Reacting to this environment, Heemskerck created the Panorama with the Abduction of Helen Amidst the Wonders of the Ancient World (1536), which echoes the devastation of the sacking of Rome. Te composition is set at the moment in the Trojan War epic in which Paris and the troops of Troy abduct Helen of Sparta. Soldiers can be seen throughout the composition engaged in battle or in the process of stealing the great city’s treasures, similar to the events of 1527. Trough a historical analysis and close examination of Heemskerck’s Panorama, I will place the painting into the context of the humanist study of antiquity and the emotional atmosphere of postsack Rome. I argue that Heemskerck uses the abduction of Helen and the embedded ancient wonders, specifcally the Colossus of Rhodes, as a metaphor for the 1527 sacking. He explored how war leads to destruction but can also prompt society to transform its art and culture by embedding symbols of past civilizations who, after times of great defeat or triumph, push towards innovation. Tis can be seen especially in the case of the Colossus of Rhodes, whose creation was prompted after successfully defending a siege. I show how Heemskerck looks to the example of the classical past to understand the present destruction of the 1527 sacking of Rome, which marked the end of the High Renaissance.

In 1532, Maarten van Heemskerck (1498-1574) traveled to Rome, and he encountered a city that was still recovering from the devastation caused by the 1527 sacking of the city. Te Eternal City, which once appeared untouchable, fell to the troops of the Holy Roman Empire. What followed was destruction and devastation. Reacting to this environment, Heemskerck created the Panorama with the Abduction of Helen Amidst the Wonders of the Ancient World (1535) (Fig. 1), which echoes the devastation of the sacking of Rome. Te composition is set at the moment in the Trojan War epic in which Paris and the troops of Troy abduct Helen of Sparta. Soldiers can be seen throughout the composition engaged in battle or in the process of stealing the great city’s treasures, similar to the events of 1527. Blending Italianate and Netherlandish painting techniques, the painting features a sprawling cityscape amongst atmospheric clouds. Ancient structures are interwoven into a contemporary city. In conjunction with the rise of humanism, Heemskerck embraced the achievement and stories of the classical past, drawing the humanist study of antiquity together with the emotional atmosphere of post-sack Rome. Tis paper will interpret Heemkerck’s Panorama with the Abduction of Helen Amidst the Wonders of the Ancient World through close visual analysis paired with a consideration of its historical context. I highlight Heemskerck’s hybrid Netherlandish Italianate style, which he hones with this painting and continues throughout the remainder of his career. I also place the work into the humanist mindset of the sixteenth century and the trauma caused by the 1527 sacking. From this analysis, which incorporates archival research at the Walters Art Museum, I argue that Heemskerck uses the abduction of Helen and the embedded ancient wonders as a metaphor for the Sack of Rome and the rebirth of a city. He explored how war leads to destruction but can also prompt society to transform its art and culture by embedding symbols of past civilizations that push toward innovation after times of great defeat or triumph. Heemskerck looked to the example of the classical past to understand the present destruction of the 1527 sacking of Rome, which marked the end of the High Renaissance.

Figure 1. Maarten van Heemskerck, Panorama with the Abduction of Helen Amidst the Wonders of the Ancient World, 1535, Oil on Canvas, 147.3 x 383.5 cm, Walters Art Museum, Maryland Born outside of Haarlem in the Netherlands in 1498, Maarten van Heemskerck is most known for creating sketches specifcally for engravers to reproduce. Heemskerck was inspired by the Italianate style of Jan van Scorel, whose workshop Heemskerck was a member of from 1527-15321. Scorel’s own travels throughout the Italian states from 1519-1524 greatly impacted his artistic style and brought the Roman style to Haarlem. Heemskerck’s skill grew to surpass his teacher, which caused him to leave the workshop and journey to Italy. He was one of the many Netherlandish artists of the sixteenth century who traveled to Italy in search of a 1

James Snyder, Northern Renaissance Art: Painting, Sculpture, Te Graphic Arts From 1350 to 1575 (Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall Inc., 2005), 483-499.

new pictorial language derived from antiquity2. Te composition blends stylistic characteristics from both Heemskerck’s native Netherlands and his current environment in Italy. Italian artists were more concerned with the ideal human form. With access to many of the great Hellenistic sculptures, which exemplifed dramatic action, Italian artists understood how to create spectacle and evoke emotion using only fgures. In contrast, Netherlandish artists were known for their gifted depiction of landscapes. Beauty came not from the human form, as the Italians thought, but from the natural world.3 Panoramic paintings were a way for artists to show of their skill in depicting vast landscapes. Tese paintings were full of details that would convey a story to the viewer, often through simultaneous narrative, as well as incorporating eye-catching detail. Heemskerck takes the structure of a Netherlandish panoramic painting and incorporates sculptural fgures used by Italian artists. Te style used by Heemskerck also blends Netherlandish and Italian qualities: by the time Heemskerck painted Panorama, canvas was commonly used in Italy but not in the Netherlands, where wood panel was still preferred when painting with oil. During his roughly four-year stay in Rome, Maarten van Heemskerck established himself as a master of Roman ruins and antiquity by creating detailed sketches of Rome. Despite the destruction caused by the sacking, Heemskerck still found inspiration throughout the city (Fig 2). He traveled across Rome looking at structures and private collections, flling multiple sketchbooks with various views of classical sculpture and architecture.4 Many of his drawings can be matched with details in his paintings. Embedded throughout Panorama are numerous sketches by Heemskerck, creating a scenery similar to Rome in the background. Te drawings act as building blocks for the painting. For many living in the low countries, this was the frst time they had seen Rome or the craftsmanship of antiquity. By the time of Panorama’s completion in 1535, Heemskerck had spent several years sketching Rome. Te middle ground of the composition brings to life a Rome-like city masterfully curated with structures studied by Heemskerck. Identifable structures like the Column of Trajan and the Temple of Hercules Victor place the composition in the real world.

3 4

Karel van Mander, Het Schilder-Boeck (Haarlem: Paschier van Wesbusch, 1604). Known as the Book of Painters, van Mander chronicles the lives of German and Netherlandish artists of the ffteenth and sixteenth century. Inspired by the writings of Pliny the Elder and Georgio Vasari, van Mander continues the practice of documenting the artist’s life. For more on the diferences between Italianate and Netherlandish styles see Laurie Schneider Adams, Italian Renaissance Art ( New York: Routledge, 2014). Arthur J. DiFuria, “Remembering the Eternal: Van Heemskerck After Rome,” in Maarten Van Heemskerck’s Rome: Antiquity, Memory, and the Cult of Ruins (Boston: BRILL, 2019), 163-286.

Figure 2. Maarten van Heemskerck, Panorama of Rome From the Capitol, 1532-36, Drawing, Staatliche Museen, Berlin Other structures in the painting combine elements from multiple buildings and sculptures, such as the Arch of Titus. Te middle ground of the composition is a conglomeration of Heemskerck’s sketches of Rome. Te fgures, as well as some of the looted treasures, also come from sketches by Heemskerck. Te most apparent of which is the Belvedere Torso (Fig. 3), the subject of many sketches by Heemskerck, which is being carried towards the Trojan ships in the bottom center of the composition. Te fgures throughout the painting are rendered in motion (Fig. 4), which Heemskerck would have observed when studying Hellenistic sculptures and the work of contemporaries like Michelangelo and Raphael. Sculptures such as Laocoön and his Sons epitomize the drama created by contorting bodies in Hellenistic art (Fig.5). Muscular bodies were a typical trait of Michelangelo and other Italian artists who had been surrounded by Classical examples during their studies. Heemskerck devoted several of his sketches to Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel Ceiling, studying the movement and musculature of the fgures.

Figure 3. Maarten van Heemskerck, Te Belvedere Torso, 1532-37, Pen and ink on paper, Staatliche Museen, Berlin Tese artists were working amid the backdrop of the sixteenth century, which was marked by famine, constant warfare, and the fraction of Christianity in the West, all of which was epitomized by the Sacking of Rome in 1527.5 Despite this instability and violence, the sixteenth century ushered in a new age of artistic achievement; fascination with the classical past was growing, inspired by the rediscovery of ancient masterpieces.

Rudolph M Bell, ed., Street Life in Renaissance Rome: A Brief History with Documents (Boston: Bedford, 2013), 10.

Figure 4. Detail. Maarten van Heemskerck, Panorama with the Abduction of Helen Amidst the Wonders of the Ancient World, 1535, Oil on Canvas, 147.3 x 383.5 cm, Walters Art Museum, Maryland Humanist studies became embedded in culture across Europe.6 Humanism is based on the idea that through the study of ancient texts, greatness could be achieved. All aspects of life could be improved when knowledge was expanded. Trough triumph and innovation in the humanities, a new golden age would be brought in. Artists of the period were versed in ancient texts, which allowed them to incorporate classical themes into their compositions. Te visual humanist language was easily understood during the period, and works commissioned provided an avenue for discussion amongst their patrons. In the years leading up to the sacking, Rome was being marketed as the center of European culture. Tis was in part due to Rome’s abundant examples of ancient sculpture and architecture whose visual reminders connect the city to its ancient past.7

6 7

Daniella Rossi, “Humanism and the Renaissance,” Te Year’s Work in Modern Language Studies 2007, no. 69 (2007): 476-484. Kenneth Veld Gouwens, “Redefnition and Reorientation: Te Curial Humanist Response to the 1527 Sack of Rome” (PhD diss., Stanford University, 1991), 2-4.

Figure 5. Left: Laocoön and his sons, 2nd c. BCE- 1st c. CE, Marble, Right: Michelangelo, Te Fall and the Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, Sistine Chapel Ceiling 1509-10, Fresco Interest in the wonders of the ancient world rose alongside humanism during the Renaissance. Ancient history was no longer seen as something in direct opposition to Christianity. Instead, the ancient world was seen as a predecessor to the Christian world, thus allowing the achievements of the past to be celebrated separately. Artists like Heemskerck relied on literary sources, such as Pliny the Elder’s Te Natural History, to inform their knowledge of the ancient world.8 Te 1527 Sack of Rome devastated the city, disrupting the idyllic sense of achievement that had resulted from years of humanist study. Te streets of Rome were invaded by the troops of Charles III, Duke of Bourbon. Having broken ties with the French King Francis I, Charles III aligned himself with the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in a much longer quest to conquer France.9 At the beginning of this endeavor, Pope Clement VII, who had originally aligned with the Holy Roman Empire, switched sides and began supporting France. In retaliation, Charles V authorized troops of Spanish and German mercenaries led by Charles III to invade Rome. As word of the army’s imminent arrival reached Rome, Pope Clement VII once again switched sides, striking a new deal with Charles V. However, the word never reached Charles III, and the invasion of Rome began on May 5th, 1527.10 Te Spanish and German troops, having been underpaid and poorly fed, descended upon the city, creating a horrifc scene of destruction and chaos. Te result was devastation. Te soldiers ravaged the city, looting its treasures and burning it to the ground. Te sack transformed both the physical and social landscape of Rome. With the city in ruins, many of the artistic minds who had thrived in Rome during the High Renaissance had scattered, feeing to courts in the Holy Roman Empire or France. Disruptions of religious and everyday life for months after the event left Romans without a sense of direction. Te High Renaissance was 8 9 10

Ron Spronk, “Maarten van Heemskerck’s use of literary sources from antiquity for his Wonders of the World Series of 1572,” In Narratives of Low Countries History and Culture, ed. Jane Fenoulhet and Lesley Gilbert (London: UCL Press, 2016), 125-131. For an in-depth history of the Sack of Rome, see Judith Hook, “Te Sack of Rome, 1527” (PhD diss., University of Edinburgh, 1969). Kenneth Gouwens, “Discourses of Vulnerability: Pietro Alcionio’s Orations on the Sack of Rome.” Renaissance Quarterly 50, no. 1(Spring 1997): 38-49.

now over.11 In the following years, the Eternal City still showed signs of disrepair caused by the violence. It was not until the pontifcation of Paul III, who succeeded Clement VII in 1534, that Rome would begin to regain its sense of self through massive repairs. Te sacking changed Roman humanists’ outlook on the world. Instead of a new golden age being escorted in, expectations for the gilded future rapidly declined. Nonetheless, Rome was not completely wiped out. Several prominent fgures, including Michelangelo, remained to create new works for the city and its patrons.12 Rome would eventually mend its image and reclaim its place on the European stage, but it would take years to do so.13 Maarten van Heemskerck, traveling from Haarlem, arrived in a Rome that was diferent than it was at the beginning of the sixteenth century, entering during a period of transition. Te 1527 sacking’s psychological impact would have been evident to Maarten van Heemskerck when he arrived in the city fve years later in 1532. Against this backdrop, he created the sketches that he would use for the composition of Panorama with the Abduction of Helen Amidst the Wonders of the Ancient World, which he completed in 1535.14 Te foreground of the painting depicts the Abduction of Helen of Sparta (Fig. 6). Paris and Helen ride horses as they escape to the Trojan ships, surrounded by Trojan soldiers. Te Abduction of Helen is the inciting incident of the Trojan War epic, which resulted from the Judgment of Paris.15 Eris, the goddess of discord and personal strife, was the only god not invited to the wedding of Tetis and Peleus. Distraught by the lack of invitation, Eris arrived with a golden apple inscribed For the Fairest. Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite all claimed the golden apple was theirs. Te goddesses asked Zeus to decide who was the fairest, but Zeus directed them to the Trojan Prince Paris, who would decide. Each goddess presented Paris with a bribe to ensure he would choose in their favor. Athena ofered Paris wisdom and victory in battle, Hera ofered him rule over Asia Minor and Europe, and Aphrodite ofered Paris the most beautiful woman, Helen.16

11 12 13 14 15 16

Rudolph M. Bell, Street Life in Renaissance Rome: A Brief History with Documents, (Boston: Bedford St. Martin’s, 2013), 26-27. Bell, Street Life in Renaissance Rome: A Brief History with Documents, 97-121. Gouwens, “Redefnition and Reorientation: Te Curial Humanist Response to the 1527 Sack of Rome,” 268-271. Te patron of the work is unknown. Tere are several theories as to who commissioned Heemskerck to create Panorama. One of which is that the work was commissioned to celebrate the marriage of Margaret of Parma to Alessandro de’ Medici in 1536. Although faint, Heemskeck depicts the Judgement of Paris on the sails of the ship at the bottom right of the composition. Tere is some variation to this story depending on which interpretation is looked at. However, the general concept remains the same.

Figure 6. Detail. Maarten van Heemskerck, Panorama with the Abduction of Helen Amidst the Wonders of the Ancient World, 1535, Oil on Canvas, 147.3 x 383.5 cm, Walters Art Museum, Maryland Helen was said to be the most beautiful woman in the world. As a result, every prince in Greece wanted to marry her. Her father King Tyndareus worried that the suitors fghting for Helen’s hand would band together and rise against him once he fnally chose a winner. Tus he made all the princes promise to honor Helen’s husband and take arms against anyone who harmed him because of his marriage. She was then married to Menelaus, King of Sparta. Subsequently, when Paris takes Helen with him to Troy, all of Helen’s suitors must go to war because of the oath they took, hence the phrase, “the face that launched a thousand ships.” All of Greece goes to Troy in support of Menelaus, and the Trojan war begins. Helen and the Trojan War also play an important role in the formation of Roman identity. Without the Abduction of Helen and the Trojan War, the Flight of Aeneas would not have occurred. Aeneas was a Trojan and the son of Aphrodite who left the city before it was overtaken by the Greek army. Aeneas would then go on to found the Roman race. Trough many diferent interpretations from Ancient Greek poets, the Abduction of Helen had become embedded in the minds of audiences during the sixteenth century. Often considered to represent love, the Abduction of Helen was a common scene for paintings given as wedding gifts. However, there are few non-classical examples of the Abduction of Helen that pre-date Heemskerck’s. In Heemskerck’s painting, the Abduction of Helen represents more than a woman being abducted or running away, depending on the interpretation, with a Trojan prince. In Heemskerck’s Panorama, Helen represents Rome. Just as Helen was taken from Sparta, and abducted by foreign nobility, so too was Rome. Te spirit of Rome was taken by the Holy Roman Empire and captured, leaving a path of devastation. Trough a larger lens, the Trojan war caused great devastation but ultimately led to the founding of Rome and, as a result, great cultural achievement. Although the Eternal City experienced invasion and destruction similar to that of Troy, Heemskerck suggests that it too can be rebuilt into something new, even better than before. Heemskerck depicts the city under siege in his painting (Fig. 7). Small fgures can be seen running through the streets, fghting and taking treasures. In the foreground, surrounding

Paris and Helen, soldiers carry bronze and marble statues towards the ships, robbing the city of its riches. Te siege is reminiscent of the Greek’s attack on the city of Troy as well as the fresh wound of the Sack of Rome.

Figure 7. Detail. Maarten van Heemskerck, Panorama with the Abduction of Helen Amidst the Wonders of the Ancient World, 1535, Oil on Canvas, 147.3 x 383.5 cm, Walters Art Museum, Maryland Te composition is dominated by the sprawling cityscape in the middle ground where Heemskerck reproduced his version of Rome. He intertwined his sketches of Rome with depictions of the ancient wonders, seamlessly placing them within the walls of the imaginary city. Six identifable wonders of the ancient world are illustrated in Panorama (Fig. 8), the Colossus of Rhodes, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Gardens of Babylon, the Pyramids of Giza, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, and the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus.17 Te Tomb of Mausolus at Halicarnassus is the only wonder not referenced in the painting. Tere was not a standard list during antiquity defning what the seven wonders were. Lists varied based on the opinion of the author; however, there was overlap.18 During the ffteenth and sixteenth centuries, there were two prevalent lists.19 Heemskerck designed a series of prints in 1572, known as Te Eight Wonders of the World series, which were then engraved by Philips Galle. Each print in the series depicts a diferent wonder of the ancient world, with the inclusion of the Colosseum as the eighth wonder.

17 18 19

DiFuria, Maarten Van Heemskerck’s Rome: Antiquity, Memory, and the Cult of Ruins, 163-286. Eight lists from antiquity survive, each with slight variations. Spronk, “Maarten van Heemskerck’s use of literary sources from antiquity for his Wonders of the World Series of 1572,” 125.

Figure 8. Detail. Maarten van Heemskerck, Panorama with the Abduction of Helen Amidst the Wonders of the Ancient World, 1535, Oil on Canvas, 147.3 x 383.5 cm, Walters Art Museum, Maryland Te series followed a similar list of wonders used in Pedro Mexía’s Silva de varia Lección, which listed all the wonders depicted in the 1572 series. Pedro Mexía (1497-1551) was a Spanish historian and humanist. His Silva de varia Lección, published in 1540, was a widely popular collection of various humanist ideas. It borrowed heavily from ancient sources. It is unclear how much infuence Mexía’s writings had on Heemskerck’s Eight Wonders series. Since the book was a collection of humanist ideas, it is likely the chosen wonders predate the list. Additionally, Mexía’s writing was published after Heemskerck painted Panorama, further indicating the list was solidifed in humanist thought before 1535 when Heemskerck fnished Panorama.

Figure 9. Detail. Maarten van Heemskerck, Panorama with the Abduction of Helen Amidst the Wonders of the Ancient World, 1535, Oil on Canvas, 147.3 x 383.5 cm, Walters Art Museum, Maryland

Te most distinct of these ancient wonders in Hemskerck’s composition is the Colossus of Rhodes (Fig. 9). Heemskerck depicts a golden man rising above a harbor, straddling the entrance to the city. Te Colossus of Rhodes (Fig. 10) was a bronze statue of the sun god Helios built after the siege of Rhodes. In celebration of fending of the siege, sculptor Chares of Lindos, a student of the great sculptor Lysippos, was commissioned to complete a votive statue of the sun god. Te siege of Rhodes was instigated by Demetrius I of Macedon in 305 BCE, in an attempt to end Rhodes’ peaceful relationship with Ptolemy I. Rhodes is located in the Aegean and, with their large Navy, controlled the entrance to the sea. Demetrius ultimately failed to capture the harbor of Rhodes and gave up in 304 BCE. Abandoning most of their weaponry and equipment used for the siege in Rhodes, the troops of Demetrius I returned home. Te Rhodians took the abandoned weaponry, repurposing the materials to create the colossal statue. Te end of the siege marked a victory for the citizens of Rhodes. Tey were able to fortify their land and, in return, prevented a hostile takeover. Conversely, with the Sack of Rome, the citizens of Rome were unable to prevent tragedy and the takeover of their city.20

Figure 10. Maarten van Heemskerck and Philips Galle, Colossus of Rhodes, 1572, Colored engraving Fifty-four years after Rhodes’s victory and the completion of the bronze Colossus, an earthquake struck the city in 226 BC, breaking the colossal statue in two. Te statue was not rebuilt, as described by the ancient philosopher and historian Strabo in Geography “...[the statue] now lies on the ground, having been thrown down by an earthquake and broken at the knees. In accordance with a certain oracle, the people did not raise it again.”21 Te Colossus remained in place until it was sold centuries later. Nothing of the Colossus survives, leaving the appearance of the bronze a mystery. Although there have been recent discoveries that have shed some light on the appearance of the Colossus of Rhodes, during the sixteenth century, Maarten van Heemskerck would have had to rely on limited descriptions from ancient literature.22 20 21 22

Pliny the Elder, Te Natural History, ed. John Bostock and H.T. Riley (London: Taylor and Francis, 1855), 34.18. Strabo, Te Geography of Strabo, ed. H. L. Jones (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1924), 14.2.5. Herbert Maryon, “Te Colossus of Rhodes,” Te Journal of Hellenistic Studies 1956, no. 76 (1956): 68-86.

Figure 11. Colossus of Constantine, 4th c., Rediscovered 1486, Marble, Rome Heemskerck’s Colossus shares the same exaggerated musculature as the fgures in the abduction scene. Tis idealized statue beckons ships to the city, conveying the power of those who rule there. Heemskerck would have come in contact with the Colossal Statue of Constantine (Fig. 11), which inspired the work of artists such as Michelangelo and was perhaps a muse for Heemskerck’s Colossus. Like the Colossus of Rhodes, the Temple of Artemis is also rooted in rebirth and renewal after war. Te Temple of Artemis at Ephesus (Fig. 12) is the most unique of Heemskerck’s depictions of the ancient wonders; instead of depicting an Ionic temple, which would have refected the actual architecture of the Temple of Artemis,23 Heemskerck depicts the temple as an Italian Basilica. Although Heemskerck could have chosen to depict a Greek temple, a basilica blends into the imaginary Rome created in the background of the composition.

W.R. Lethaby, “Te Earlier Temple of Artemis at Ephesus,” Te Journal of Hellenistic Studies 37, (1917): 10-12.

Figure 12. Detail. Maarten van Heemskerck, Panorama with the Abduction of Helen Amidst the Wonders of the Ancient World, 1535, Oil on Canvas, 147.3 x 383.5 cm, Walters Art Museum, Maryland Panorama’s Temple of Artemis is based on the Basilica di Sant’Agostino (Fig. 13) in Rome, completed during the late ffteenth century. Te facade of the structure mimics elements of an ancient Roman temple, a rectangular structure that was raised with stairs in the front leading to a porch. Engaged Corinthian columns adorn the front of the structure, and a small pediment rests above the central door. Heemskerck’s addition of large volutes resting on either side of the building in Panorama helps to identify the structure as Sant’Agostino.

Figure 13. Baccio Pontelli, Basilica di Sant’Agostino, 1472, Rome Te Temple of Artemis went through several phases throughout its existence, being destroyed multiple times.24 Around 356 BC, the temple, in its second phase, burned down 24

Pliny the Elder, Te Natural History, 36.21. Te temple of Artemis was destroyed and rebuilt multiple times throughout its existence. Te frst iteration of the temple was destroyed by foods.

in an act of arson. Once again, the temple was rebuilt before ultimately being destroyed by invading Goths during the 3rd century CE. Te Goths would eventually go on to sack the city of Rome in 410 CE.25

Figure 14. Maarten van Heemskerck and Philips Galle, Temple of Artemis, 1572, Colored engraving Te structure would not have been recognizable as the Temple of Artemis to a viewer during the sixteenth century. Scholars have been able to identify the structure through the “Eight Wonders” series created by Heemskerck and Philips Galle in 1572 (Fig. 14). Te print of the Temple of Artemis resembles the structure created by Heemskerck for Panorama in 1535. Many of the wonders embedded in Panorama share similarities with the Eight Wonders Series.26 Te warfare and confusion displayed in Heemskerck’s Panorama could represent a number of classical or historical moments where a city was being invaded and the violence eventually led to a great achievement. Te siege of Rhodes was a triumph and resulted in the production of perhaps one of the world’s most magnifcent creations. Te invasion of Troy by the Greek troops during the Trojan War led to the founding of Rome. Te Sacking of Rome, although ending an age of artistic innovation, created a clean slate for the future. Heemskerck created a chameleon scene where he illustrated an image in which each viewer could experience a diferent message based on their own experiences. Trough years of studying the Eternal City, observing and sketching, Heemskerck was able to bring his own version of Rome to life. He seamlessly weaves the real with the fantastical to create the scenery for the Abduction of Helen. Anxieties related to war were constant during the sixteenth century, but Maarten van Heemskerck provides new insight into the humanist mindset. He visually argues that without limitations or obstacles, we will never grow; only when we are forced to think outside the 25 26

M.R. Godden, “Te Anglo-Saxons and the Goths: Rewriting the Sack of Rome,” Anglo-Saxon England 31, (2002): 47-49. Heemskerck left his mark on the humanist understanding of the ancient wonders of the world, infuencing future depictions. Perhaps by choosing to depict the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus as a church Heemskerck asserts the importance of religion and worship. Tat no matter the century some things remain the same.

box—often after a catastrophic event—does true innovation take place. Like the Colossus of Rhodes, Te Temple of Artemis, and the City of Rome, rebirth after destruction often leads artists to new heights of artistic achievement.

Bibliography Adams, Laurie Schneider. Italian Renaissance Art. New York: Routledge, 2014. Bell, Rudolph M, ed. Street Life in Renaissance Rome: A Brief History with Documents. Boston: Bedford, 2013. Clarie, Tomas C. A Lighthouse for Alexandria: Pharos Ancient Wonder of the World. Portsmouth: Back Channel Press, 2008. DiFuria, Arthur J. “Heemskerck’s Rome: Antiquity, Memory, and the Berlin Sketchbooks.” PhD diss., University of Delaware, 2008. DiFuria, Arthur J. “Remembering the Eternal: Van Heemskerck After Rome.” In Maarten van Heemskerck’s Rome: Antiquity, Memory, and the Cult of Ruins, 163-286. Boston: BRILL, 2019. Godden, M.R. “Te Anglo-Saxons and the Goths: Rewriting the Sack of Rome.” Anglo-Saxon England 31, (2002): 47-68. Goethals, Jessica. “Representing the Sack of Rome and its Aftermath, 1527-1540.” PhD diss., New York University, 2012. Gouwens, Kenneth. “Discourses of Vulnerability: Pietro Alcionio’s Orations on the Sack of Rome.” Renaissance Quarterly 50, no. 1(Spring 1997): 38-77. Gouwens, Kenneth Veld. “Redefnition and Reorientation: Te Curial Humanist Response to the 1527 Sack of Rome.” PhD diss., Stanford University, 1991. Hall, James. Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art. Boulder: Westview Press, 2008. Hamilton, Edith. Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 1942. Harris, Stephen L., and Gloria Platzner. Classical Mythology: Images and Insights. New York: McGraw Hill, 2012. Hook, Judith. “Te Sack of Rome, 1527.” PhD diss., University of Edinburgh, 1969. King, Edward S. “A New Heemskerck.” Te Journal of the Walters Art Gallery 7, (1944-45): 61-73. Lethaby, W.R. “Te Earlier Temple of Artemis at Ephesus.” Te Journal of Hellenistic Studies 37, (1917): 1-16. LiDonnici, Lynn R. “Te Images of Artemis Ephesia and Greco-Roman Worship: A Reconsideration.” Te Harvard Teological Review 85, no. 4 (October 1992): 389-415. Maryon, Herbert. “Te Colossus of Rhodes.” Te Journal of Hellenistic Studies 1956, no. 76 (1956): 68-86.

Murray, A.S. “Remains of Archaic Temple of Artemis Ephesus.” Te Journal of Hellenistic Studies 10, (1889): 1-10. Pliny the Elder. Te Natural History. Edited by John Bostock and H.T. Riley. London: Taylor and Francis, 1855. Plutarch. Plutarch’s Lives. Translated by Bernadotte Perrin. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1919. Price, Simon, and Emily Kearns. Te Oxford Dictionary of Classical Myth and Religion. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Rosier Bart. “Te Victories of Charles V: A Series of Prints by Maarten van Heemskerck, 1555556.” Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art 20, no. 1 (1990-1991): 24-38. Rossi, Daniella. “Humanism and the Renaissance.” Te Year’s Work in Modern Language Studies 2007, no. 69 (2007): 476-490. Rowland, Ingrid D. Te Culture of the High Renaissance: Ancients and Moderns in SixteenthCentury Rome. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Smith, Jefrey Chipps. Te Northern Renaissance. New York: Phaidon Press, 2004. Snyder, James. Northern Renaissance Art: Painting, Sculpture, Te Graphic Arts From 1350 to 1575. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall Inc., 2005. Spicer, Joaneath. Te Walters Art Museum Archives, Baltimore, Maryland. Spronk, Ron. “Maarten van Heemskerck’s use of literary sources from antiquity for his Wonders of the World Series of 1572.” In Narratives of Low Countries History and Culture, edited by Jane Fenoulhet and Lesley Gilbert, 125-131. London: UCL Press, 2016. Strabo. Te Geography of Strabo. Edited by H. L. Jones. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1924. Van Mander, Karel. Het Schilder-Boeck. Haarlem: Paschier van Wesbusch, 1604. Veldman, Ilja M. Maarten van Heemskerck and Dutch Humanism in the Sixteenth-Century. Translated by Michael Hoyle. Dublin: Te European Printing Corporation Limited, 1977.

About the Author Sara Miller is a graduate of Christopher Newport University, where she majored in Art History with a double minor in Classical Studies and Museum Studies. She is active on campus as a member of the Kappa Pi Art Honor Society, Curatorial Assistant at the Mary M. Torggler Fine Arts Center, and Intern Manager for the Department of Fine Art and Art History. She has worked on several special projects for the University, including writing text for recent university acquisitions and archiving papers from the personal collection of former University President Paul Trible. Sara plans on pursuing a master’s degree in Art History after graduation.

“Social Support in Emerging Adults: Te Impact of Close Relationships on Mental Health and Well-Being” Morgan Andrews Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Susan Antaramian, Department of Psychology

Abstract College is a time characterized by high stress for students. Social support is found to be an important and successful mitigator for symptoms of stress, depression, and anxiety that are so common amongst college students. Te current study aims to understand how perceived social support impacts mental health and well-being in college students. Five-hundred twenty-two college students completed surveys that recorded friend social-support, family social-support, positive afect, negative afect, life satisfaction, depression, anxiety, and stress. Participants were classifed into groups based on whether they had high levels of family support, high levels of friend support, both, or neither. A series of ANOVAs were used to investigate group diferences in the mental health outcomes. Results indicated signifcant group diferences in all six mental health outcomes. Te high support group had the most positive mental health outcomes, and the low support group had the most negative outcomes. Te family-only and friendonly groups generally scored in between high-high support groups and the low-low support groups. Among those emerging adults who reported only one type of support, those with family support only had slightly more favorable outcomes than those with friend support only. Tese results suggest that a combination of both family support and friend support seems to be associated with the most positive mental health and well-being. Te practical implications as well as limitations to this research are later discussed.

Introduction Depression and anxiety are the most prevalent mental health disorders, afecting an estimated 300 million people worldwide, with a strong prevalence among college students (Ribeiro et al., 2020). College students are among the most vulnerable populations for experiencing depression, anxiety, and stress due to the both the natural stressors of life, but also specifc challenges that college students experience such as managing roommate confict, academic stress, leaving home social networks, and uncertainties about future endeavors (Ribeiro et al., 2020). Depression, anxiety and stress are reported as the largest hindrance to student success in college students as they impact attitudes, behaviors, and interpersonal relationships (Jeong et al., 2022). In contrast, subjective well-being, which includes life satisfaction, frequent positive afect, and infrequent negative afect, is associated with positive outcomes in this population. For example, positive emotions are a reliable predictor of well-being in college students (Monroy et al., 2021). Positive emotions are important in avoiding the negative efects of stress, as well as improving functioning in times of depression, and stressful contexts which are common amongst college students. (Monroy et al., 2021). College students are removed from their home social networks, with extra stress put on them during school, so it is imperative that students fnd a strong support network to be successful (Wilkinson et al., 2022). Social networks have a large infuence on the general wellbeing of students as well as health outcomes (Wilkinson et al., 2022). Research indicates that students who build quality friendships in college are more likely to have an easier adjustment period to university life and a greater ability to cope with stressful events (Wilkinson et al., 2022). Te current study investigated the impact of social support from family and friends on mental health and well-being in college students. Outcomes included depression, anxiety, stress, life satisfaction, positive afect, and negative afect. Literature Review Mental Health In recent years an increasing number of college students are reporting struggling with mental health problems (Sahin-Baltac et al., 2021). Data is showing that among mental health problems, college students are most commonly experiencing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress (Li et al., 2022). Depression is defned as a commonly occurring mental health disorder that presents primarily as persistent low mood (Shi, 2021). Stress is defned as a common psychological experience caused by a failure to meet demands, and therefore causing undesirable emotions like depression and anxiety (Shi, 2021). College is a particularly challenging time because students experience common life stressors as well as academic demands, adjusting to campus life, determining post-graduation plans and so much more (Sahin-Baltac et al., 2021). Research indicates that university students are found to show more depressive symptoms than people 18-24 on a non-tertiary path because of the added stress of being a college student (Sahin-Baltac et al., 2021). Common psychological problems for college students fall into the three categories: emotional problems, interpersonal problems, and career planning problems, each bringing their own unique set of challenges and negative psychological consequences (Sahin-Baltc et al., 2021). Once college students begin to experience such challenges, it can lead to an accumulation of many more problems, further causing students to experience poor mental health. Students experiencing frequent depression, anxiety, or stress are at risk for a long list of negative consequences such as, poor social support, drug use, alcohol use, fnancial problems, academic stress, poor sleep quality, and unemployment (Li et al., 2022). Furthermore, depression and stress are highly correlated, creating an endless cycle of stress leading to

depression leading back to more stress (Shi, 2021). While depression, anxiety, and stress are extremely prevalent in the lives of college students, social support is found to cushion the impact of stress and other negative mental health symptoms (Shi, 2021). Social support is defned as the perception of whether a person feels adequately supported in their interpersonal relationships (Wilkinson et al., 2022). Social support networks are a large indicator for positive mental health, as well as other positive consequences like healthy coping mechanisms, treatment compliance, and reduction in high-risk behaviors (Wilkinson et al., 2022). Social support is a signifcant mitigator for negative mental health symptoms, as well as being linked to higher self-esteem and academic achievement (Wilkinson et al., 2022). Terefore, it is imperative that universities keep students engaged on campus in order to fnd those social networks that are so imperative to student success. Well-Being Well-being is a multidimensional construct beyond being happy; it refers to a positive psychological state in which people can feel productive, fulflled, and emotionally healthy (Ignaciammal & Muthupandi, 2023). A sense of well-being is extremely important for college students because it is indicative of success, motivation, belonging, and commitment (Shine et al., 2021). When students are unable to ft within a college environment and develop a sense of well-being, they are more likely to drop out (Shine et al., 2021). When students do fnd their sense of belonging they are able to develop an identity within the university, form a community, and build relationships; all contributing to student well-being and success (Costello et al., 2022). Transitioning to college is a challenging time in which students are expected to adjust to a new environment, social pressures, and cultures without the support of social networks from home (Costello et al., 2022). Te nature of college introduces numerous experiences that can infuence a student’s mental health and well-being. It is vital that students feel a sense of support, mattering, and belonging in order to successfully navigate campus life (Shine et al., 2021). Perceived social support and a sense of mattering to others is the belief that an individual holds that someone else values them, considers them important, and cares for them (Shine et al., 2021). Tere is a positive relationship between perceived support and student success because people need to feel valued and cared for by others (Shine et al., 2021). College students are the most susceptible to depression and loneliness because they may not interact with social networks in typical ways (Costello et al., 2022), which is why it is incredibly important that students build supportive relationships at school. Students who build meaningful relationships with friends at school are more likely to positively adjust to university life and cope with stressful events (Wilkinson et al., 2022). Similarly, students with strong support networks at both home and school tend to have a higher sense of worth and well-being, giving students the motivation and support to handle the natural stressors of college (Shine et al., 2021). Negative well-being is a large hindrance to student success because it causes increased stress, depression, and anxiety (Shine et al., 2021). It is important that universities make an efort to engage students on campus so that they can build a social network which will help mitigate many stressors and promote a sense of well-being. Te current study investigated the role social support has in mitigating negative emotions as well as promoting well-being in college students. It was expected that students with family and friend support would have the best outcomes, followed by friend-only and family-only support, and then students with low support would have the least desirable outcomes. It was also expected that students with only friend or only family support will have similar outcomes in terms of negative mental health and overall well-being. Furthermore, students with little to no perceived social support will experience the highest levels of negative emotions and a low

sense of well-being. Method Participants For this study, previous data was collected via online survey then de-identifed and analyzed. Five-hundred twenty-two undergraduate college students completed the online survey. One-hundred thirty-four participants indicated that they were male, making them 26% of the participant pool, and 388 participants indicated that they were female, making them 74% of the participant pool. Te racial and ethnic makeup was 10.9% African American, 75.5% Caucasian, 4% Asian, 1% Indian, 3.3% Hispanic, and 5.2% as other. Te average age of the participants is 19.62 years old. Measures Life Satisfaction: Life Satisfaction as a means of determining well-being was measured using the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS; Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Grifn, 1985). Te Satisfaction With Life Scale is a fve-question, self-report questionnaire that was designed to measure the global cognitive judgements of a persons’ life satisfaction. Using the scale, participants answer the fve questions using a seven point Likert scale that ranges from (7) Strongly Agree to (1) Strongly Disagree. An example of a question is, “Te conditions of my life are perfect” (Diener et al., 1985). Positive and Negative Afect: Positive and negative afect as a means of determining wellbeing was measured using the Positive and Negative Afect Scale (PANAS; Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). Te Positive and Negative Afect Scale is a 20-item self-report questionnaire that was designed to be a brief measure for positive and negative afect. Using the scale, participants rate the extent to which they have felt a certain emotion in the last week using a scale ranging from one to fve with (1) being “very slightly or not at all” and (5) being “extremely.” An example emotion that a participant would rank is, “Determined” (Watson et al., 1988). Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale: Depression, anxiety, and stress as a means of determining mental health was measured using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21; Henry & Crawford, 2005). Te Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale is a 21-item selfreport questionnaire that was designed to measure three related negative emotional states of depression, anxiety, and tension/stress. Using this scale, participants read a statement and then circle a number 0-3 to indicate how much the statement applies to them over the past week. An example statement that a participant would rank is, “I couldn’t seem to experience any positive feeling at all” (Henry & Crawford, 2005). Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support: Perceived social support was measured using the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS; Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet, & Farley, 1988). Te Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support is a 12-question self-report questionnaire that was designed to measure perceived social support from family, friends, and a signifcant other. Te current study included the family and friends subscales only. Using this scale, participants must read a statement and respond with how much they agree or disagree with the statement on a seven point scale with (1) being Very Strongly Disagree and (7) being Very Strongly Agree and an option for Neutral in the middle. An example of a statement is, “I can count on my friends when things go wrong” (Zimet et al., 1988). Procedure College students were recruited from undergraduate Psychology classes using SONA. Participants completed online consent forms before taking the survey. Students were informed that their confdentiality was protected. Following informed consent and confdentiality

statements, respondents completed the survey. After completion of the survey students were debriefed on the purpose of this study and given resources for the Christopher Newport University counseling center should they need it. Results Participants were classifed into four groups based on whether they had high attachment with both family and friends, family only, friends only, or low attachment with both family and friends (See Figure 1). Te “high-support” group reported above average levels of social support from both family and friends. Te “friend-only” support group reported high levels of social support from friends only, but below-average social support from family. Te “familyonly” support group reported above-average levels of social support from family only but not friends. Te “low-support” group reported below-average levels of social support from both family and friends. A series of ANOVAs were used to investigate group diferences in the mental health outcomes. Results indicated signifcant group diferences in all six mental health outcomes, p < .001. Detailed ANOVA results are included in Table 2. Post hoc analyses using Tukey’s HSD test were used to examine which groups difered signifcantly on each outcome. Group means are shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2. Overall, the high-support group had the most positive mental health outcomes, and the low-support group had the most negative outcomes. Te family-only and friend-only groups generally scored between the two other groups. Tese results suggest that a combination of both family and friend support seem to be associated with the most positive mental health and well-being outcomes. Among the emerging adults that reported only one type of support, those with family support only had slightly more favorable outcomes than those with friend support only, although the only statistically signifcant diference was for life satisfaction. Te family-only group did not difer from the high-support group on life satisfaction and negative afect, suggesting that friend-support may not be necessary for some aspects of well-being. Groups with both or one element of support did not difer on stress levels, suggesting that any kind of support is sufcient for reducing stress levels. Discussion Te purpose of this study was to gain a greater understanding of how social support networks can impact mental health and well-being. Overall, the high- support group had the most positive mental health outcomes and the low-support group had the most negative outcomes. Te family-only and friend-only groups scored in between the high- and lowsupport groups, with family-only support slightly scoring higher in life satisfaction than the friend-only group. Terefore, it is important that students fnd support in both family members as well as friends. Even if one support group is lacking, we can see that having just friend or family support can positively impact a student’s mental health and well-being. Understanding the supportive roles of family and friends for college students and how those relationships impact the student’s well-being and mental health can help those working with college students, especially in a counseling or university setting. Limitations Tere are a few limitations regarding this study that may have impacted the results. First, the study has low generalizability being that the makeup of the participant pool was 76% female and 75.5% Caucasian. Diferences in racial and gender identities may play a large role in managing mental health symptoms and reaching out for social support. Another limitation is that this survey was a self-report design which requires respondents to interpret the questions themselves and then respond, and interpretations of each question can difer from person to

person. Additionally, this survey was completed before the COVID-19 pandemic, and the pandemic has now impacted students’ ability to fnd social networks and connect with others due to social distancing, masks, and other restrictions that universities have put in place. Practical Implications & Future Directions Te practical implications of this study are important, especially for university administrators. Emerging adulthood is a very liminal period of a person’s life, so understanding how social support can infuence one’s mental health and well-being is important. Additionally, students who frequently experience negative mental health symptoms are more likely to drop out and not complete their degree, which should incentivize universities to aid students in fnding a support system to mitigate negative emotions. Also, students with a greater sense of well-being are more likely to have greater academic success, leading them to connect with more students on campus, feel appreciated in their campus community, and graduate from the university with a sense of pride. Tese results could help university counseling departments, orientation leaders, and programming boards to create more opportunities to meet and connect with other students in order to create meaningful and supportive relationships. In the future, more research should be conducted to examine how COVID-19 impacted ways in which students are able to fnd social support on campus and how that impacts their mental health and well-being.

References Baltaci, H. S., Kucuker, D., Ozkilic, I., Karatas, U. Y., & Ozdemir, H. A. (2021). Investigation of Variables Predicting Depression in College Students. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research (EJER), 93, 211–225. Costello, M. A., Nagel, A. G., Hunt, G. L., Rivens, A. J., Hazelwood, O. A., Pettit, C., & Allen, J. P. (2022). Facilitating connection to enhance college student well‐being: Evaluation of an experiential group program. American Journal of Community Psychology, 70(3–4), 314–326. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12601 Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Grifn, S. (1985). Te Satisfaction With Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49(1), 71–75. https://doi.org/10.1207/ s15327752jpa4901_13 Henry, J. D., & Crawford, J. R. (2005). Te short-form version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21): Construct validity and normative data in a large nonclinical sample. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 44(2), 227–239. https://doi. org/10.1348/014466505X29657 Ignaciammal, A., & Muthupandi, P. (2023). Relationship between Online Learning and Mental Well-Being of the College Students. Annamalai International Journal of Business Studies & Research, 14(2), 184–191. Li, W., Zhao, Z., Chen, D., Peng, Y., & Lu, Z. (2022). Prevalence and associated factors of depression and anxiety symptoms among college students: A systematic review and meta‐ analysis. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 63(11), 1222–1230. https://doi. org/10.1111/jcpp.13606 Shi, B. (2021). Perceived social support as a moderator of depression and stress in college students. Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal, 49(1), 1–9. https:// doi.org/10.2224/sbp.9893 Shine, D., Britton, A. J., Dos Santos, W., Hellkamp, K., Ugartemendia, Z., Moore, K., & Stefanou, C. (2021). Te Role of Mattering and Institutional Resources on College Student Well-Being. College Student Journal, 55(3), 281–292. Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative afect: Te PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1063–1070. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.54.6.1063 Wilkinson, L., Bodine Al-Sharif, M. A., Watson, D. M., McCarthy, S. N., Aboagye, A., Evans, R. R., & Talbott-Forbes, L. (2022). Te Association of Unmet Social and Emotional Support Needs with Race/Ethnicity among College Students in the United States. College Student Journal, 56(3), 238–258 Zimet, G. D., Dahlem, N. W., Zimet, S. G., & Farley, G. K. (1988). Te Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Journal of Personality Assessment, 52(1), 30–41. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa5201_2

Tables Table 1 Distribution of Participatants Across Social Support Groups Friend Support High

Low

High

High Support N=263 50%

Family Support N=62 12%

Low

Friend Only N=75 14%

Low Support N=122 23%

Family Support

Table 2 ANOVA Results for Group Diferences in Mental Health and Well-Being F

Signifcance

Depression

28.25

< .001

Anxiety

16.64

< .001

Stress

10.82

< .001

Life Satisfaction

47.46

< .001

Positive Afect

30.38

< .001

Negative Afect

13.30

< .001

Note: df for each F test are 3, 518

Figures Figure 1 Group Means on Well-Being

Figure 2 Group Means on Mental Health

About the Author Morgan Andrews is a student in the Class of 2024 majoring in Psychology and minoring in Communication Studies. She is a member of the Campus Activities Board, Planned Parenthood Generation Action, and Psi Chi. She is also a member of two research labs in the Psychology Department, studying Positive Psychology and Psychopharmacology. Morgan was accepted into the Summer Scholars program for the Summer of 2023 where she will study the efects of heavy concurrent alcohol and nicotine use in adolescence using a rodent model. In addition to undergraduate research, Morgan has completed 126 hours of community service and is on track to receive Service Distinction Honors. After graduating Christopher Newport University, Morgan plans to attend a Master’s Program in Counseling in order to receive her LPC licensure to become a therapist for LGBTQ+ youth and young adults.

Te Fundamental Role of Religion in the American Revolution Jacob Aultice Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Phil Hamilton, Department of History

Abstract When examining the relationship between Great Britain and the American colonies in the eighteenth century prior to and during its fracture, the role of religion is passively mentioned. Academia and the public minorly acknowledge that Great Britain and the colonies were at that time predominantly Christian, but greater emphasis is placed on the infuence of deism and the Enlightenment. However, this level of acknowledgement is merely on the surface, and thus it fails to discern just how fundamental their faiths were to their societies as well as undermines the signifcant diferentiations between the theologies of British Anglicanism and American Calvinism. By analyzing these theologies since their inception at the Protestant Reformation and their impact on societal structures from the church to the government, this paper reveals how a religious dichotomy existed prior to the American Revolution that played a critical role during the period of protest just before the start of the war. Going chronologically, the paper examines the sermons, speeches, and literary works from 1763 to 1776 to explain how the religious worldviews formed their social and political ideologies, provided justifcations for their actions, and how they collectively enhanced the tensions in the wake of increasing coercion and instigation.

When studying the American Revolution, one ponders how Great Britain, and her American colonies became so hostile to one another. No doubt that the British Parliament’s corruption, taxation policies, Intolerable Acts, blockade, and the intercession and deposing of colonial legislatures instigated the Americans towards rebellion. Alternatively, the Americans can be seen as instigating the British Parliament with the protests, harassment of English ofcials, boycotts, and smuggling. All of this is true, but these actions and reactions alone do not explain how the relationship between them was shattered. It only expresses the signs of a failing relationship. Some historians have cited ideology as the leading reason behind the breakup. Historian Bernard Bailyn argued that for the Americans, “perpetuation of the freedom they had known required, at whatever cost, the destruction of the political and constitutional system that hitherto governed them.”1 Te American ideology was so radical and demanding, that in their eyes, peace could not be maintained, and the same likewise can be said for the British. Historian Joseph J. Ellis explains that the British perspective was derived from its status as “newly arrived world power moving onto the global stage with overwhelming confdence,” consumed with its self-perception as an entity of “omniscience and invincibility.” 2 Britain’s ideology demanded action towards their colonies as the colonists could not be in a state of rebellion towards the government, which they owed allegiance to. Both Ellis and Bailyn are correct, as ideology was no doubt a driving force behind the confict. However, ideologies do not emerge in a void. Tey are created and infuenced by various means and are derived from something more fundamental. While ideology is often confated with worldview, the two are distinct for the latter is necessary for the frst to exist, though the frst can infuence the second. Terefore, while ideology was the pivotal drive for the American Revolution, it was not the source of the dichotomy between America and Great Britain. Te dichotomy was a diference in worldview or specifcally a diference in religious worldview stemmed from their theology and history. Te infuence of religion in the American Revolution is something that is often either passively mentioned or is placed aside in academia with the general public giving little to no attention to it, notwithstanding the historical evidence indicating that American colonies consisted of approximately 2,450,000 Protestant Christians or 98% of the population.3 However, despite the number of Christians residing in the colonies, this does not transitively mean that all of them had the same worldview. Tough they possessed a confessional faith in Jesus Christ and shared similarities in orthodoxy, not all Christians saw the world the same way particularly the Calvinists and the Anglicans. Calvinists, specifcally the Puritans, upheld what is known as Covenant Teology which emphasized the “priesthood of believers” as stated by the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 2:5-9. As Dr. Strehle explains, this concept viewed each individual as possessing an “unmediated relationship to God and preferred to live without priestly authority.”4 Tis world view had a transformative efect that led to the “open espousal of liberty, autonomy, and democracy,”5 with a distaste of hierarchy especially in religion 1 2 3 4

Bernard Bailyn, Te Ideological Origins of the American Revolution (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard Joseph J. Ellis, Te Cause: Te American Revolution and Its Discontents, 1773-1783 (Waterville, ME: Torndike Press, 2022), 10. For information regarding the debate of religion in the American founding see Mark David Hall, Did America Have a Christian Founding? Separating Modern Myth from Historical Truth (Nashville, TN: Nelson Books, an imprint of Tomas Nelson, 2020), xvi. Steven Strehle’s work follows the evolution of Christian thought from the Protestant Reformation to the concept of US separation of Church and State. Strehle emphasizes how the principles of Christianity played a fundamental role in establishing the political systems in America and England and explains how Puritanism in America played a profound role in creating the democratic society known today. Stephen Strehle, Te Egalitarian Spirit of Christianity: Te Sacred Roots of American and British Government (New York, NY: Routledge, 2017), xiv. Strehle, Te Egalitarian Spirit of Christianity, xiv.

and government. Anglicans, on the other hand, possessed a worldview like Catholicism that emphasized obedience and submission to the Church of England with the monarch as its head instead of a pope, therefore constructing a religious and governmental hierarchy. With the Church of England viewing the world through an Anglican perspective and the Americans viewing it through predominantly a Calvinistic perspective, there was therefore, a rift between the two prior to 1763. Tough, this rift alone was not enough to shatter the relationship, beginning in 1763 with Britain’s new monetary and governmental acts, the rift grew increasingly with each side developing their own ideologies that solidifed their stance eventually leading to the colonies declaring independence. Te purpose of this paper is to explain how the religious rift played a fundamental role in shattering the relationship between Great Britain and America from 1763 to 1776 by examining the origins of their worldviews, how these worldviews infuenced their ideologies and provided them with Biblical convictions, and how each side justifed their actions using their worldviews. Te historiography surrounding the infuence of religion on the American Revolution is quite broad with historians emphasizing diferent aspects of the infuence or lack thereof. Historians such as Tomas S. Kidd emphasize the signifcant role religion played in the American Revolution. He notes that Christianity, specifcally Protestantism, “has been the most powerful religious strain in America,” possessing many adherents and forming many of its institutions at the time of the American Revolution.6 Te historical perspective that Kidd and his contemporaries focus on is how Protestant Christianity and its theology defned the American nation prior and after independence in 1776. Alternatively, historians such as Spencer W. McBride focus on how religion impacted the secular political sphere without engaging in extensive theology. McBride notes in his work, Pulpit and Nation that the “Politicized clergymen helped to mobilize ‘the many’ into this elite power struggle by translating the legal and philosophical justifcations for revolution into religious terms,” thus galvanizing the American populace into a rebellion that was justifed biblically.7 Te fnal and most common perception historians take is the emphasis on the Enlightenment and Deism instead of religion. For historians such as Frank Lambert, the infuence of religion is minimal while the “Enlightenment and Deism for the birth of the American Republic,” were signifcant.8 Law professor Geofrey Stone also emphasized the role of deism citing it as playing “a central role in the framing of the American republic.”9 Historian Richard T. Hughes believes that many of the founders “embraced some form of Deism” instead of biblical Christianity.10 Tis perception is not without merit. To say the Enlightenment did not play an infuence in the American Revolution would be false in addition to asserting that the founding generation was not adhering minorly to if not devout deists. Tomas Jeferson and Benjamin Franklin were two who firted with the concept of deism while others such as Tomas Paine were devout deists. However, this perception that emphasizes the Enlightenment overlooks how the ideals such as equality, religious liberty, and the rights of man or the laws of nature, precede the Enlightenment dating back to the Protestant Reformation. Moreover, it fails to acknowledge the signifcant adherence to Protestant Christianity in America and Great Britain that formed their very systems of government and overall culture. What this paper does is it places less of an emphasis on theology and alternatively focusses on the worldview arguing that the American and British religious worldviews created the rift prior to 1763. Furthermore, it will examine the worldviews side by side in a chronology from the time of the Protestant Reformation to the 6 7 8 9 10

Tomas S. Kidd, America’s Religious History Faith, Politics, and the Shaping of a Nation (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2019), 11. Spencer W. McBride, Pulpit and Nation: Clergymen and the Politics of Revolutionary America (University of Virginia Press, 2017), 10. As cited in Mark David Hall, Did America Have a Christian Founding, xvii. As cited in Hall, Did America Have a Christian Founding, xvii. As cited in Hall, Did America Have a Christian Founding, xvii.

signing of the Declaration of Independence in order to reveal how the worldviews forged each sides’ government and culture and how they infamed the tensions between the two. Tough Anglicanism and Puritanism adhere to the Christian orthodoxy of the Holy Trinity, that Christ was fully God and fully man who gave His life for the remission of sins, and that His word is complete and true, the two theologies difer in other signifcant regards. Tese diferences are traced back to the Protestant Reformation with the worldviews of Anglicans and Calvinists, specifcally Puritans, being established with contrary perceptions of how the church, government, and society were to operate in the world around them. With the emergence of the Protestant Reformation on October 31, 1517, the Roman Catholic Church’s monopoly on doctrine began to crumble with fgures such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, John Knox, and Martin Bucer proclaiming that the Catholic Church abused its authority by being merged with the state, that it promoted the unbiblical position of the papacy, embraced the rejection of scripture for traditions, engaged in idolatry of deceased saints, the corruption of the church with a religious hierarchy, and the practice of the Eucharist or mass. Tanks to the creation of the printing press in 1436, Bibles were printed and distributed to the public which galvanized support for the reformers with more of the public realizing the corruption within the Catholic Church. As Dr. Strehle notes, the public were “urged to examine the word and judge for themselves what was necessary to believe” and it was “intended to liberate them from the mediation of priests” by embracing the concept of the “priesthood of the believers” as stated in 1 Peter 2:5-9.11 Te signifcance of this concept was that it challenged the practice of a religious hierarchy thus attacking the belief that the pope was the Vicar of Christ, or His representative, on Earth.12 While initially directed at religious authorities, this concept later encompassed the secular realm by rejecting the notion of the divine rights of kings and advocating for the rights of man.13 While many of the reformers, such as Luther, did not go to the extent of the latter and desired alternatively to reform the Catholic Church, other more radical reformers did so in England. Te Reformation afected England diferently with disputes exceeding that of theology alone. A new worldview emerged that encompassed the secular and spiritual realms. In this worldview, political authority superseded that of theology with King Henry VIII being the harbinger of this belief when attaining the throne in 1509.14 Under this belief, as explained by Mark Chapman, “all authority both temporal and spiritual ultimately resided in the King under God,” and not under the papacy. Te king, who was appointed by God under divine right possessed political and religious authority as given to him by God possesses all. Terefore, the king had to be an obedient servant to God who has bestowed such authority to the monarchy. In 1534, King Henry VIII with the majority support in Parliament abolished the Pope’s power in England bringing an end to papal authority in England and the creation of the Anglican Church otherwise known as the Church of England. Te Church of England became its own version of Protestantism creating its own catechism, church doctrines, authoritative bible version in English, and its own Church service.15 While trying to be diferent from the 11 12 13 14

Strehle, Te Egalitarian Spirit of Christianity, 1. Strehle, Te Egalitarian Spirit of Christianity, 1. Strehle, Te Egalitarian Spirit of Christianity, 1. Mark Chapman’s analysis of Anglicanism reveals how the Church of England was established as well as showing how its ideologies formed over time. Chapman emphasizes how Anglicanism was a vague bridge between Catholicism and Protestantism where it vocally rejected Rome but mimicked it in structure. Mark David Chapman, Anglicanism: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2006), 25. Carla Pestana’s work reveals how England viewed itself as a Protestant Empire that sought to evangelize the world, particularly the New World, during the 18th century with its wars against Catholic Span and France. Beginning at its inception, Pestana tracks the evolution of England’s religious and political systems and refects on the implications it had on England and the world

Catholic Church, Carla Pestana notes that the English Church still used a hierarchical system, where “the monarch served as its head, while bishops oversaw the liturgy, the appointment of clergy, and the discipline of wayward members.”16 Tough not exactly the same, the English monarch essentially became the Pope in England, being acclaimed the “Defender of the Faith” by his supporters in the clergy. However, it was not the goal of the king to continue the reformation. Rather, the construction of the new church and its roles was in correlation with his desires to maintain public support for his rule. Tis is where the new clergy played a pivotal role in which they would educate the laity to accept the new church thus creating a national obedience to the church and to the monarchy.17 However, the Catholic laity persisted in England, and their presence was considered a threat. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the external and internal threat of Catholicism galvanized the clergy to halt its spread. For both the monarchy and the clergy, Catholicism represented a threat to everything that had been built; thus, the two worked to quell its spread among the populace. England’s “denunciation of popery became an exercise in identifying what it meant to be English and Protestant.” 18 Essentially, English Protestantism became a form of nationalism, where the titles of English and Protestant became nearly synonymous therefore creating this perception of the nation of England being the epitome of Protestantism and a resistance against Catholic oppression from most of Europe. However, Catholicism was not the only theological threat in England. After planting the frst Congregationalist Church in England in 1580, Robert Browne began challenging the authority of the Anglican Church.19 In 1582, Browne published three critical works that rebuked the church and the civil magistrates, proclaiming that “no other authority scholastic, civil, or religious, is allowed to challenge the Lordship of Christ and the freedom of his subjects to serve him and him only.”20 Drawing upon the concept of the priesthood of believers, Browne argued that the people should elect their ministers citing that ministers are not permitted to usurp the authority of Christ and be beyond reproach for no one is “above the authority that God has invested in the Church.”21 Tis thinking was derived from a theology, or study of God, known as Covenant Teology. Tis theology in its preliminary stage, regarded the relationship between Christ and His Church synonymous with God’s covenantal relationship with Israel, where the Church consisting of believers “are under the government of God and Christ and keep his laws in one holy communion, because Christ hath redeemed them.”22 Tis theology emphasized obedience and submission not to the clergy of the Anglican Church, but to Christ. Consequently, Browne’s works created such a disturbance that those “caught distributing them were imprisoned and sometimes executed.”23 Tough a strong reaction from the English government and the Church of England, the critical sentiments made by Browne and others could not be permitted to spread. Due to the intermingled relationship between the government and the church, a challenge to the church was a challenge to the monarchy and vice versa. Moreover, the new national identity could be destroyed should the populace turn to local congregations instead of the Church and the State. Browne’s Congregationalist church embraced the concept of a democratic local church where the creeds were derived from an exegesis of scripture, and the authority of ministers were

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

abroad. Carla Gardina Pestana, Protestant Empire: Religion and the Making of the British Atlantic World (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010), Accessed April 10, 2023, ProQuest Ebook Central, 36-37. Pestana, Protestant Empire, 37. Pestana, Protestant Empire, 43. Strehle, Te Egalitarian Spirit of Christianity, 44. Strehle, Te Egalitarian Spirit of Christianity, 2. Strehle, Te Egalitarian Spirit of Christianity, 3. Strehle, Te Egalitarian Spirit of Christianity, 4. Strehle, Te Egalitarian Spirit of Christianity, 3. Strehle, Te Egalitarian Spirit of Christianity, 2.

derived from the people who submitted to the authority of Christ alone. Such a democratic view of the church would have implications outside of the religious sphere, hence, behaving similarly to the Catholic kings and Church, England sought to squabble the spread of these criticisms to preserve their authority. Nevertheless, Congregationalism and Covenant Teology continued to spread in England, to Europe and to America, and in America the theology would encompass more than the spiritual realm. In 1630, the English Calvinistic Puritans led by John Winthrop arrived in North America settling into the Massachusetts Bay colony having fed from the persecution in England by the Church of England and the monarchy. Seeing that English Protestantism became a more nationalistic movement than a spiritual one, the Puritans sought to start anew in another land. Tere, the Puritans sought to create a new society that based itself on the scriptures. To do so, the Puritans embraced Covenant Teology using it “as a means of interpreting all levels of social relationships within its matrix.”24 While Browne and his contemporaries used Covenant theology as a means to purify the church, the Puritans used it to purify every institution spiritual and secular alike. As Dr. Strehle states, “Te covenant is the unifying principle of Scripture, the Scripture contains the fnal and complete revelation of God, its authority relates to the practical details of our lives, and so the covenant must relate to the details of the relationship to God and humankind.”25 Tus, for the Puritans, every institutions be it the church, the family, or the government, it must adhere to the lordship of Christ and the teachings of scripture in order to fulfll the covenantal relationship. Tis adherence had a transformative efect on their institutions with their legislatures being conducted in more democratic means and the emphasis on the importance of a local church with a democratically elected minister. Drawing upon the Calvinistic theologies preached since the start of the Reformation, the Puritans sought to create a “City Upon a Hill” where the priesthood of the believers acted in accordance with the commands of God and devoted their lives to fulflling their covenantal relationship which expressed itself in democratic manners. Puritan John Wise argued that a democracy “is a form of government, which the Light of Nature does highly value, and often directs to as most agreeable to the Just and Natural Prerogatives of human beings.”26 Tere was not a separation of the Church from the State aside from the two institutions fulflling their own unique roles. Both institutions were incumbent to submit to the authority of God and His commands. Te Puritans rejected the style of government which divorced the state from the Christian piety and established rulers themselves as the highest example of holy and pious living.27 Tis perception pertained to Catholicism and to the Church of England whose leaders whether be monarch or pope were designed to be the representatives of pristine godliness in order to compel adherence to the church and or the state. Te Puritans, on the other hand, exemplifed God as the true embodiment of purity Who compelled them to obedience in the form of the covenant in whatever occupations they held be it political or spiritual. By 1630, the Bay Colony had established its own regime which consisted of a General Court that had a Governor, Deputy, and assistants or magistrates that required election and continual afrmation by their fellow saints.28 It is clear to see that Anglicanism and Puritanism, while similar in orthodoxy, do not exhibit the same perceptions regarding how the church, government, and society ought to be run. Tough appearing insignifcant, the ramifcations for these diferentiations were very consequential with each justifying their institutions very diferently. Anglicanism, reminiscent to Catholicism, emphasized adherence to the Church of England whose head was the 24 25 26 27 28

Strehle, Te Egalitarian Spirit of Christianity, 25. Strehle, Te Egalitarian Spirit of Christianity, 26. Strehle, Te Egalitarian Spirit of Christianity, 56. Strehle, Te Egalitarian Spirit of Christianity, 56. Strehle, Te Egalitarian Spirit of Christianity, 57.

monarch. In doing so, it cultivated a submissive relationship where the good Englishman and Protestant Christian was the one who adhered to the doctrines of the Church whose construction was hierarchical and who ensured the preservation of the doctrines. In addition, the good English Protestant was submissive to the monarch who was divinely chosen and who acted as representative or defender of the faith. Puritanism, alternatively, emphasized the priesthood of the believers which rid the church of a hierarchical priesthood and placed every believer as equal to one another with Jesus Christ acting as the high priest as stated in Hebrew 5. Tis belief culminated into a relationship where every occupation and institution adhered to scripture and the lordship of Christ and with institutions both spiritual and political behaving democratically. Tis form of governance and religious adherence in a covenantal relationship would extend beyond New England eventually encapsulating the thirteen colonies collectively. While other Protestant denominations would emerge, and the mother country would enact the Act of Toleration in 1689 which protected the religious liberties of dissenting denominations, the Puritan spirit would touch every colony and the more it spread, the more rift grew between the mother country and her colonies. By the early eighteenth century, English and American Protestants found themselves engaged in wars against the Catholic power of France. Te English, now in a more formidable position following the Glorious Revolution in 1688 politically and militarily, emphasized the evangelism of the Britons as opposed to Africans or Indians.29 Tis was due to fears of internal rebellion with papists being viewed in England as disloyal to the state.30 Moreover, “there was a very general wish that the English Church should take its place at the head of a movement which would aim at strengthening and consolidating the Protestant cause throughout Europe,” 31 creating a strong counter to the infuence and power of the Catholic Church whether in France or Spain. Tus, began a continuous series of wars between the French and English from the War of Spanish Succession in 1702 to the Seven Years War in 1756. While carried out initially by his grandfather, King George II, George III took the throne following his father’s death in 1760. On September 22, George III was coronated as king of Great Britain with the Lord Bishop of Sarum delivering the sermon. When speaking of the king, he stated that “no tribute… can be compared to the glory… his own mind feels in doing judgement and justice.” 32 Citing 1 Kings 10:9, the bishop alludes to God’s appointment of a king in Israel as symbol of his love for his people and compares it to the coronation of the king in England. Drawing upon Romans 13, the bishop makes an appeal for godly submission to the prince “who is the instrument in the hands of Providence to bestow these blessings upon us,” and that the people must fear God before a confdence can be made that honors the king and heightens “the dignity of the crown.”33 As noted previously, English Protestantism merged Christianity with nationalism with submission to the king being submission to God. In addition, Americans at this time generally rejoiced at the coronation of who they considered to be their king. Tis was not to the same extent as English nationalism, as it was alternatively seen as godly obedience 29 30 31

Pestana, Protestant Empire, 160. Pestana, Protestant Empire, 160. Charles Abbey and John Overton follow the structure, actions, and infuence the Church of England had during the 18th century. From its relationship with the monarchy to its missions in America, this work examines how the church played a key role in galvanizing the support of the public and fortifying the Protestant Empire. Charles J. Abbey, John H. Overton, Te English Church in the Eighteenth Century, (October 2, 2005) eBook #16791, 156. Robert Hay Drummond, A sermon preached at the coronation of King George III. and Queen Charlotte, in the abbey church of Westminster. September 22, 1761. By Robert, Lord Bishop of Sarum. Published by His Majesty’s Special Command, 5th ed. Dublin: printed for T. and J. Whitehouse, at the State-Lottery-Ofce in Nicholas-Street, M.DCC.LXI. [1761]. Eighteenth Century Collections Online, Accessed April 10, 2023, https://0-link-gale-com.read.cnu.edu/apps/doc/ CW0120696403/ECCO?u=viva_cnu&sid=bookmark-ECCO&xid=da236b36&pg=15. 9. Drummond, A sermon preached at the coronation of King George III, 14.

as portrayed in Romans 13. While initially perceiving themselves as Englishmen, Americans acknowledged the repeated injuries incurred by the British empire for more than a century whose actions did not always coincide with Protestant Christianity.34 Tus, this emulation and gratitude would be short lived, as the years soon after the coronation the dichotomy in worldviews would collide in the wake of new political and religious actions. In 1761, and Anglican missionary named East Apthorp removed to New England working for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.35 Tis organization was an Anglican missionary movement that sought to spread Anglicanism across the empire, though it met heavy resistance in America especially New England. Moreover, the organization attempted to evangelize the slaves in the South which exhibited concerns from their owners who feared that it would instigate a slave rebellion. However, the Anglican missionary’s primary goal was to liberate the New Englanders from the Puritan extremism, for the “grand design of episcopizing… all New England.”36 Recall that the Puritan worldview encompassed the belief of submitting oneself to God and the Scripture alone, while Anglicans emphasized the need for submission to the Church of England. Tis dichotomy reveals a signifcant tension between the two which extends beyond the sphere of religion. It is a question of where one’s allegiance lies, with the church and state or with the local congregation. For Puritans in New England, this encroachment by the Anglican missionaries enhanced their fears of losing their religious liberty, something their forefathers came to New England to reassert having lost it in England with Charles I. Tis dichotomy alone was not enough to break the relationship between America and Britain, but having now understood the origins of their worldviews and how they perceived the world, it is clear to see how this dichotomy will play a key role during the period of protest beginning in 1763 as the worldviews of the two will refect how each side views the actions of the other in light of their ideologies formed from their denominational religion. Following the end of the Seven Years War in 1763, the heavily indebted British government required funds in order to maintain its recently amassed empire. Seeing its American colonies as beneftting from the mother country’s protection, the Parliament sought to levy taxes on the colonies with the frst direct tax being the Stamp Act in 1765. Tis act placed a tax on almanacs, legal documents, dice, playing cards, and other commodities and was signifed with a stamp upon payment of the tax. While appearing minor and justifed by the Parliament of England, the Americans were enraged by this policy. So much so that in October of 1765, delegates from nine colonies passed a resolution demanding the repeal of the Stamp Act.37 Patrick Henry and the Virginia legislature denounced the act as unconstitutional and in violation of the rights of American colonists. One anonymous speaker at a meeting with the Sons of Liberty stated that to receive the stamp was “to receive the mark of the beast.”38 Others, such as John Adams, saw the action afecting both political and the religious spheres, thus seeing the confict as Tomas Kidd explains “as a contest between spiritual tyranny and spiritual liberty.”39 Such an assertion is derived from the Puritan worldview. Recall that Covenant theology placed every institution and relationship in adherence to God and His word. Terefore, Americans viewed “political

35 36 37 38 39

Tomas Kidd’s work examines the religious thought in America and how it contrasted with English religious thought from prior to 1763, through the American Revolution, and concluding in 1826. Kidd emphasizes the key role religion played explaining how the clergy and the laity sought religious justifcation and viewed historical precedent through a religious lens. Tomas S. Kidd, God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution (New York: Basic Books, 2010), Accessed April 10, 2023. ProQuest Ebook Central, 31. Kidd, God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution, 61. As cited in Kidd, God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution, 61. Kidd, God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution, 15. Kidd, God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution, 15. Kidd, God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution, 15.

and religious liberty as intertwined,”40 where an attack on one was an attack on the other. Te non-Anglicans were the biggest protestors of the act with stamp distributor John Hughes recording Presbyterians chanting “No King but King Jesus!”41 Surprised and fearing a civil confict, the Parliament revoked the Stamp Act in 1766, but Americans did not feel a sense of reprieve. Teir vigilance was only heightened against anything that would appear “popish.” In 1766, Parliament passed the Declaratory Act which gave the Parliament the power to bind the colonies to the mother country through any laws it deemed necessary. Te Parliament asserted itself as the basis of governance for the colonies demanding submission. Te fears of Americans and the reminders of their denominational past came fushing in with this passage. However, some of the more moderate clergy sought to remind the Americans of their obligations. John Zubly, a presbyterian minister in Georgia, argued that “All the British dominions therefore ought to pay obedience thereto in all cases and to all the laws in which they are mentioned, and to refuse obedience to any such is to declare themselves an independent people.”42 While not negligent of the intrusive actions of British Parliament, Zubly’s stance is one of humble submission and arguing that just because a law is not necessarily good, it does not necessitate rebellion and protest.43 Drawing upon the shared relationship between the two, Zubly implores the Parliament and the Americans to consider the full weight of their actions and to not forget their mutual afections. However, many Americans were not enthralled with Zubly’s passive enquiry, and viewed the Declaratory Act as the forerunner to the enactment of more taxes and religious intrusions. In 1767, the British Parliament passed the Townshend Acts which consisted of taxes levied on glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea. Facing unrest particularly in Boston, the British sent regiments of British regulars to pacify the city. Consequently, it enfamed tensions with the Bostonians seeing a standing army occupying its shores as the signs of a tyrannical government. Te cries of popery ran through the Boston Gazette with John Adams exclaiming “What we have everything else to fear is popery.”44 Tis fear was exasperated by the declarations of John Ewer the bishop of Llandaf, Whales. In a speech to the Society for the Propagation for the Gospel, he claimed that the American colonies were not settled by those seeking refuge from religious persecution in England and instead settled with a lifestyle reminiscent to that of “infdels and barbarians.”45 He further stated that the mission of the Anglican Church and the appointment of an American Anglican bishop would ensure the establishment of religious fortunes and blessings. Tis American bishop and the clergy would also be fnancially supported by the Americans.46 For John Ewer and many English Anglicans, the Anglican Church was the embodiment of Protestantism, thus his attack on the Puritan settlements in America, regardless of the inaccuracy, represents the Protestant English nationalism that prevailed in the 18th century. Tis worldview contrasted with that of the Puritan-congregationalist worldview of religious liberty and submission to the state based not in coercion but in humble submission to God. In addition, it also made American Anglican laypeople uncomfortable as they too valued the concept of religious freedom and feared encroachment from the Church of England.47 Te frm declaration by Ewer confrmed the fears of Americans very clearly with Charles Chauncy remarking that though it was known that the Anglican Church wanted to “episcopize the colonies” that is appoint a bishop that promoted Anglican evangelism, such a goal had not 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47

Kidd, God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution, 15. As cited in Kidd, God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution, 33. John Joachim Zubly, “An Humble Enquiry,” (Savannah, 1769), Political Sermons of the American Founding Era. Vol 1 (1730-1788), Liberty Fund, 1991. Zubly, “An Humble Enquiry.” Kidd, God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution, 58. Kidd, God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution, 62. Kidd, God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution, 62. Kidd, God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution, 63.

been so articulately put as Ewer did.48 Responding to the argument for an American Anglican Bishop, in 1768 Chauncy asserted that the clothing of “Bishops with worldly dignity and power, and placing them at the head of large Dioceses,” is contrary to instead “serving the true spiritual interest of the Church of Christ,” which is to evangelize and promote the gospel to all the nations.49 He quotes Dr. Tomas Bradbury Chandler, an American Anglican priest, who stated regarding the position of the bishop that “those powers that are peculiar to Bishops, and without which they would cease to be Bishops” are those that, “will be found to be the powers of government, ordination, and confrmation.”50 Tis statement by Chandler refects how the Anglican Church viewed itself as not only a religious institution bent on spreading the Word of God, but one that possessed governmental authority as “conveyed from the Apostles to their successors, the Bishops; that it was exercised by Timothy, Titus, and others; and that it has, through all ages of the Church, been transmitted down, and maintained by the Episcopal order.”51 Very reminiscent to that of Apostolic Succession with the papacy, Chandler believed in spiritual governance in order to ensure successful ordination and confrmation. Tough of course, this could also extend to combatting what the Anglican Church deemed heretical, and this was not absent from the minds of Americans. Boston Pastor Andrew Eliot argued that the actions of Church of England revealed a church and government that favored “not only HighChurch Anglicanism but Roman Catholicism.”52 For Americans, Puritan, Presbyterian, and Anglican layperson alike, these moves by the Church of England and the Parliament represented a deliberate attack on American religious liberty which in their worldview attacked the very foundation of their political and social institutions that functioned more democratically. Tese actions further alienated Britain and America with their worldviews continually coming at odds, and as the tensions rose their political, economic, and social ideologies grew more frm and more hostile. Despite the Townshend Acts being lifted aside from the tax on tea, beginning in 1770, the tensions grew more violent specifcally in the north at Boston and New York. On January 19, 1770, a patriot mob led by the Sons of Liberty and a collection of British regulars got into a ferocious fght with bayonets and clubs that left multiple people injured. As a result, the British forces were compelled to utilize more security. Tis event did not radically escalate the tensions but a few months later in Boston another reminiscent event occurred that did. Boston was considered by the British and the American colonies as one of the largest instigators against Britain and equally they endured much of the blunt from the British. On March 5, 1770, a small group of British soldiers were soon surrounded by an angry Bostonian mob who proceeded to taunt and throw snowballs at the stationed soldiers. As more British soldiers were called to the scene, the strife escalated with the mob further encroaching, threatening, and throwing snowballs with rocks at the soldiers. Unknown how exactly, a musket held by a British soldier discharged. Reacting to the sound without an order to fre, the other British soldiers fred into the crowd killing at least three and wounding others. Tis event became enshrined as the Boston Massacre with Paul Revere and other Sons of Liberty members using it as propaganda. Tey used the events in New York and in Boston to show a pattern of British violence towards its colonies creating an uproar across the colonies and the pulpits. A few days after the massacre, John Lathrop, a congregationalist minister in Boston, gave a sermon called Innocent Blood Calling from the Streets of Boston. In this sermon, Lathrop cited Genesis 3:10 which followed Cain’s murder of Abel to which the Lord replied, “Te voice of 48 49 50 51 52

Kidd, God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution, 62. Charles Chauncy, “Appeal to the Public Answered,” (Boston: N.E.: Printed by Kneeland and Adams, in Milk-Street, for Tomas Leverett, in Corn-Hill., 1768), Evans Early American Imprint Collection, 34. As cited in Chauncy, “Appeal to the Public Answered,” 34. As cited in Chauncy, “Appeal to the Public Answered,” 35. Kidd, God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution, 63.

thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.” Using this as his basis, Lathrop makes the analogy that Abel was the Bostonians murdered on March 5th while Cain was the British regulars who brutally murdered their brother. In his opening statement, Lathrop embraces the concept of the covenant relationship between God and the people and uses it to convict the British for their actions stating that “Human blood crieth unto God, when it is shed in a wanton or cruel manner, without warrant from the law of the land or law of nations, founded upon and consistent with the law of nature written upon the heart by God himself.”53 He argues that the British do not submit to divine authority, for a “Civil government, if good, is founded upon the law of nature, or the revealed law of God—the divine pleasure is an universal law, eternally binding upon all rational creatures.”54 More critically, he asserts that “innocent blood cannot be allayed, but by the death of the guilty,”55 citing the justifcation for the death penalty as ordained by God for the restitution of murder in Genesis and in Leviticus. Such an assertion encapsulates the anger felt by not only Bostonians but the colonies collectively and represents a key point in the period of tensions. Lathrop’s fery sermon acts as a bridge between the prior sermons that emphasized the ideals of religious/civil liberty and the sermons that begin to attack the concept of British government and use it as justifcation for immediate redress or separation. By the year 1773, the rift had grown substantially between America and Britain with actions toward one another becoming increasingly violent. In 1772 for example, a group of Americans attacked and burned the British Schooner vessel, the Gaspee, patrolling of the coast of Rhode Island that was looking for smugglers. Smuggling was constantly used at this time to avoid British taxation. Tis event became known as the Gaspee Incident, and it resulted with the perpetrators being transported to England to face trial instead of America which infuriated the American populace. Following the event, Baptist minister John Allen, gave his sermon titled An Oration Upon the Beauties of Liberty where he argues that “Te law of God directs us to do unto others, as we would they should do unto us,” explaining that Britain’s actions required a reaction from the colonies which came with the burning of the Gaspee.56 He elaborates further on the issue of the Americans being sent to England for trial asking, “… are not the Rhode-Islanders subjects to the king of Great-Britain? Why then must there be new courts of admiralty erected to appoint and order the inhabitants to be confn’d, and drag’d away three thousand miles…”57 Allen therefore argued that this action was a refection of an arbitrary construction that was “mischievous to the dignity of the crown,” that demanded submission based on principles that were antithetical to good governance.58 Te signifcance of this sermon is that contrary to the Congregationalists whose sermons by this time had indulged in the combination of theology and politics in their sermons, the Baptists were more reserved. Tis denomination emphasized the concept of anti-establishment with churches not possessing favoritism from the legislatures. Tis was due to not only their theology but in the wake of persecution by the other American denominations.59 While this did not mean that the 53

54 55 56 57 58 59

John Lathrop, Innocent blood crying to God from the streets of Boston. A sermon occasioned by the horrid murder of Messieurs Samuel Gray, Samuel Maverick, James Caldwell, and Crispus Attucks, with Patrick Carr, since dead, and Christopher Monk, judged irrecoverable, and several others badly wounded, by a party of troops under the command of Captain Preston: on the ffth of March, 1770. And preached the Lord’s-Day following, (March, 1770), Evans Early American Imprint Collection, https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/evans/N09501.0001.001/1:3?rgn=div1;view=fulltext, 8. Lathrop, Innocent blood crying to God from the streets of Boston, 13. Lathrop, Innocent blood crying to God from the streets of Boston, 12. John Allen, “An Oration Upon the Beauties of Liberty,” (New London, 1773), Political Sermons of the American Founding Era. Vol 1 (1730-1788). Liberty Fund, 1991. Allen, “An Oration Upon the Beauties of Liberty.” Allen, “An Oration Upon the Beauties of Liberty.” Foreword to Isaac Backus, “An Appeal to the Public for Religious Liberty,” Political Sermons of the American Founding Era. Vol 1 (1730-1788), Liberty Fund, 1991.

Baptists believed religion should be divorced from politics, they rejected political favoritism of denominational religion. However, as seen by John Allen, the tensions between the American colonials and the British had become so extreme that the Baptists were beginning to get involved. Being antiestablishment in nature, they ardently supported the religious and civil rights of the American colonies. Aside from the pulpit, the secular sphere had become shaped by the infuence of religion. In 1772, Samuel Adams published Te Rights of the Colonists in which he refutes the actions of Britain as violating the rights of colonists through the Intolerable Acts. He argues that “the natural liberty of man is to be free from any superior power on earth, and not to be under the will or legislative authority of man, but only to have the law of nature for his rule.”60 Tis was not to assert that mankind should live without government. Rather, drawing upon his Puritan infuence, Adams upholds Acts 4 where Peter and the other Apostles tell the Pharisees that they ought to obey God rather than men. Tis perception is justifed by the law of nature, or the law created by God that defnes the conduct of the world. It places mankind in a covenantal relationship where the right to freedom “being the gift of God Almighty,” and “not in the power of man to alienate,” but to uphold.61 Other articles and pamphlets by the Sons of Liberty and fellow patriots emphasized similarly the concept of the law of nature and these were read throughout the colonies. Te infuence of religion extended beyond the pulpit, and as the rift grew, the more the secular sphere sought religious justifcations for redress or retaliation. In 1773 escalations grew with the Boston Tea Party where members of the Sons of Liberty in Boston boarded British merchant vessels to dump and destroy tea caches into the harbor. Tis protest was in response to the Tea Act of 1773 when Britain levied a tax on tea to cover the debts incurred by the EITC. Tis resulted with the passage of the Coercive Acts in 1774 which eliminated the Massachusetts legislature, created a blockade around the Boston harbor, and extended the quartering act to include homes. Tese acts severely punished Boston and created a wave of fear and resentment in the other colonies as well as sparked debates between patriots and loyalists. In Connecticut, the minister Samuel Sherwood gave the sermon, Scriptural Instructions to Civil Rulers, in which he claimed that government was to “be supported and maintained so as to promote the good of society,” to which “a people may keep a watchful eye over their liberties, and cautiously guard against oppression.”62 Regarding the governance of Parliament and the monarchy, Sherwood asserts that they serve their own interests and not “in the fear of the Lord,” or “a frm belief of the being, perfections and providence of God.”63 Sherwood, like his fellow Congregationalists, allude to the concept of Covenant Teology that speaks of submission to God in terms of governance in order to ensure the rights of religious and civil liberties. By 1774 sermons like these were being preached more often but loyalists also provided their own arguments. Samuel Seabury, an American Episcopal Bishop, was not negligent of the vices perpetuated by the British Parliament nor were many of the loyalists in the colonies. Alas, with the advent of the assembly of the Congress in Philadelphia, Seabury wrote a response regarding its implications. In his work, Seabury argues that “Every person who wishes a reconciliation with Great Britain; who desires to continue under her dominion and protection; who hopes to enjoy the security of law and good government… must condemn and abhor them [Congress].” 60 61 62 63

Samuel Adams, Te Rights of Colonists: Te Report of the Committee of Correspondence to the Boston Town Meeting, Nov. 20, 1772 (Boston: Directors of the Old South Work, 1906), Hanover Historical Texts Project, 417-428, 419. Adams, Te Rights of Colonists, 419. Samuel Sherwood, “Scriptural Instructions to Civil Rulers,” (New Haven, 1774), Political Sermons of the American Founding Era. Vol 1 (1730-1788), Liberty Fund, 1991. Sherwood, “Scriptural Instructions to Civil Rulers.”

Seabury, consistent with many loyalists, did not desire an escalation but a redress in the disputes to assert their rights. He desires godly submission to the governing bodies of Great Britain “giving full weight to the supreme authority of the nation over all its dominions,” and alternatively views the Congress as an agitating party consisting of the Sons of Liberty would only work to destroy the relationship between the mother country and her subjects.65 Romans 13 is therefore employed to remind the populace that rebellion towards your elected representatives is a mark against God. In the eyes of Seabury and fellow loyalists, the convening of Congress laid the seeds for a possible rebellion or at the very least an escalation in tensions. Continuing in 1774, Te loyalist perspective was maintained as one of submission to the authority of Britain to rectify the transgressions and vices to return to stability and harmony. Te patriot perspective in 1774 was still consistent with covenant theology being applied to their redresses. Moreover, the patriots convened an assembly in light of failed boycotts and letters of redress. Te debate between the loyalists and the patriots at this time was not whether their rights were being violated but how to reestablish them. Nor was the debate about separation from the mother country. Te common ground of Great Britain being a sovereign authority was still there in 1774 but it was growing hollow. By 1775 the escalations between Britain and America would eventually change the debate into whether to embrace Romans 13 or Acts 4. In 1775 in the wake of enhanced strife, John Wesley strived to bridge the gap between America and Great Britain. Wesley was the founder of Methodism, a denomination in Protestantism that was not remarkably diferent from Anglicanism as Wesley was once a minister in the Church of England. Only difering minorly in terms of theology and emphasizing the role of evangelism and service to others, Methodism and Anglicanism possessed a kinship which made many Methodists skeptical about going against the Church of England and the British government. Tis can be seen in Wesley’s work, A Calm Address to Our American Colonies. In this work, Wesley argues that “nothing can be more plain, than that the supreme power in England has a legal right of laying any tax upon them for any end benefcial to the whole empire,” and cited the sovereign right of the British Parliament to seek compensation in exchange for “protecting” the colonies during the Seven Years War.66 Wesley does not despise his American brethren, but he asserts that the patriots are being used by those in England that despise the monarchy and desire to destroy it.67 Essentially, he gives the patriot argument little consideration asserting that it is either a plot from power hungry politicians in England and or American colonists being prideful and unwilling to submit to British government. Furthermore, he poses a question to the patriots asking them “What liberty do you want, either civil or religious? You had the very same liberty we have in England.”68 Wesley’s statement reveals how his London perspective diminished his understanding of the diferences in the worldviews of America and Britain reminiscent to that of the English clergy. Recall, that Americans did not diferentiate between civil and religious authority, so the fact that Wesley makes a clear distinction between the two while simultaneously being negligent of the fact that the Church of England had persecuted Protestants or Calvinists in particular, shows how shallow his calm address was in the eyes of Americans. In their eyes, Wesley was merely an English clergyman trying to rope in the colonies to place them back under Britain’s heel as 64

65 66 67 68

Samuel Seabury, Te Congress Canvassed, or, An Examination into the Conduct of the Delegates, at their Grand Convention, held in Philadelphia, Sept. 1, 1774, Addressed, to the merchants of NewYork, (New York, 1774), Evans Early American Imprint Collection, 13. https://quod.lib.umich. edu/e/evans/N10730.0001.001/1:2?rgn=div1;view=toc. Seabury, Te Congress Canvassed, 13. John Wesley, “A Calm Address to Our American Colonies,” (London, 1775), Political Sermons of the American Founding Era. Vol 1 (1730-1788), Liberty Fund, 1991. Wesley, “A Calm Address to Our American Colonies.” Wesley, “A Calm Address to Our American Colonies.”

seen by his concluding statement, “you ‘profess yourselves to be contending for liberty.’ But it is a vain, empty profession…” keeping you “from obeying your rightful sovereign, and from keeping the fundamental laws of your country.”69 Tis perception would prove to be false in the wake of the battles at Lexington and Concord. On April 19, 1775, American militia and British regulars met at Lexington. Te British regulars were ordered to search the countryside for weapons and ammunition that the militias were arming themselves with. However, American militiamen met the British and the two factions stood at the ready. After a gunshot was fred by whom not known, the British and Americans opened fre on one another with the Americans initially in retreat until gathering reinforcements and trapping the British regulars forcing them to retreat. Te event saw the deaths of many soldiers on both sides with even more being lost at the Battle of Breeds Hill on June 12, 1775. Following these two battles, King George III issued his Royal Proclamation on August 23, 1775, declaring the colonies to be in a state of rebellion “and forgetting the Allegiance which they owe to the Power that has protected and sustained them.”70 Tough some still clamored for reconciliation, others recognized the reality of the situation and the opportunity it presented. Tomas Paine, an Englishman that had moved to America at the behest of Benjamin Franklin, dismantled the objective of reconciliation in his renowned work, Common Sense. While Paine was more of a deist and not an orthodox Christian, he used the ideologies, theology, and history of Protestant Christianity to justify his claim that separation from Great Britain was logical and necessary. Using similar claims used by the Protestants against Apostolic succession and the divine rights of kings in the 16th and 17th centuries, Paine asserted that the divine right of kings was a vice on the world where “the wicked, the foolish, and the improper” create a world of oppression while they live lavishly in a world not conformed to reality and in the delusion of being “selected from the rest of mankind.”71 He further argued that the natural separation between Britain and America gave weight to the fact that the “Reformation was preceded by the discovery of America: as if the Almighty graciously meant to open a sanctuary,” to preserve the liberty of man from tyranny.72 Paine’s work galvanized the American populace who became more interested in separation. By 1776, the sermons and debates between the American and British/loyalist clergy grew more hostile and afrming to the usage of arms. As noted by Paul Langford, the clergy in the Church of England were, “left in no doubt that their duty to the Church and their duty to the government of George III were inseparable…” and they “looked forward to ‘defeating the unjust attempt of their rebellious fellow-subjects against the right of our Sovereign,” violating the godly submission to their rightful authority as stated in Romans 13.73 By 1775 and in the years following, the Church of England would take a frm stance in favor of the monarchy who was its head citing the Anglican mission and the purpose of British Empire in the world which was to evangelize and expand Protestantism. John Fletcher, a Methodist theologian in London preached the sermon Te Bible and the Sword, where he justifed British military action against the rebelling colonies. Referring to the English Civil War, Fletcher argued that the American patriot clergy behaved like Cromwell, persuading the “religious people, that he was fghting the Lord’s battles, and that opposing the king and the bishops, was only opposing tyranny and a 69 70 71 72 73

Wesley, “A Calm Address to Our American Colonies.” King George III, By the King, A Proclamation, For Suppressing Rebellion and Sedition, (August 23, 1775), Massachusetts Historical Society, https://www.masshist.org/database/viewer.php?item_ id=818&pid=2, 1. Tomas Paine, Tomas Paine -- Collected Writings: Common Sense; the Crisis; Rights of Man; the Age of Reason; Agrarian Justice, trans. Philip S. Foner (Canada: Must Have Books, 2019), 15. Paine, Tomas Paine -- Collected Writings, 21. Paul Langford, “Te English Clergy and the American Revolution,” Te Transformation of Political Culture: England and Germany in the Late Eighteenth Century (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990), pp. 275-307, 279.

prophane hierarchy.”74 Using this analogy, Fletcher perceives the rebellion to be a contingent of Cromwells who seek their own power instead of adhering to the earthly powers ordained by the King of Kings. Fletcher also compares the Americans to the tribe of Benjamin who murdered the daughter of a Hebrew priest to which the tribes received the Lord’s permission to wage war on the tribe of Benjamin to bring them into submission which Fletcher cites as a biblical precedent. He also quotes Romans 13:4 where the Apostle Paul states, “…if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God,” and asserts that the Americans have rebelled against the minister of God therefore compelling the magistrates “to promote God’s fear, by setting a good example before the people committed to their charge, and by steadily enforcing the observance of the moral law!” through the point of the sword.”75 Feeling the threats from the British clergy and government, the American clergy also took a frm stance with more of their clergy supporting the idea of raising arms against Britain in the form of self-defense. Reverend William Sterns from Massachusetts advocated for American defense stating that “If ever there was a call-in providence to take the sword, there now is –Terefore to arms! –to arms!” He used Judges and Chronicles for justifcation in order to portray Britain as reminiscent to the enemies of Israel who though were strong were nonetheless no match for the Lord’s anointed.76 Reverend David Jones similarly asserted that “We have no choice left to us but to submit to absolute slavery and despotism, or as freemen to stand in our own defense and endeavor a noble resistance,” citing Nehemiah 4:14 as justifcation to go to war with their estranged brethren that have since betrayed them.77 Reverend Jacob Duche, an Anglican clergyman, called upon the “Christian Patriots” to the defense of their country and to “Recommend every species of reformation that will have a tendency to promote the glory of God, the interest of the Gospel of Jesus, and all those private and public virtues upon the basis of which alone the superstructure of true Liberty can be erected.”78 By the close of 1775 and into 1776, the American clergy across denominations adopted a familiar identity where the Patriots were the Protestant Christians fghting for their religious and civil liberties as ordained by God that were being threatened by a popish government that was once their esteemed kin. After months of deliberation, the Second Continental Congress on July 2, 1776, voted for independence and the Declaration of Independence was approved on July 4th. Te Declaration consisted of grievances, ideals, and promises that represents the culmination of centuries long professions originating from the Bible and Protestantism. Te assertion that “all men are created equal” was derived from the “priesthood of the believers” as stated by the Apostle Peter. Te concept of unalienable rights was derived during the Protestant Reformation with William Ockham proclaiming that the “pope could not deprive the people of their rights,” as 74 75 76

John Fletcher, “Te Bible and the Sword,” (London, 1775), Political Sermons of the American Founding Era. Vol. 1 (1730-1788), Liberty Fund, 1991. Fletcher, “Te Bible and the Sword.” William Sterns, “A View of the Controversy Subsisting between Great Britain and the American Colonies, preached to the general ofcers, commanders of the New England forces . . . in defense of the property and rights, sacred and civil, of Americans,” (Marlborough, Massachusetts, 11 May 1775), As cited in Sermons on the Outbreak of War, 1775, America in Class, https://americainclass. org/sources/makingrevolution/crisis/text8/sermonsonwar.pdf. David Jones, “Defensive War in a Just Cause Sinless, preached on the day of prayer and fasting called by the Continental Congress, Great Valley Baptist Church,” (Tredyfryn, Pennsylvania, 20 July 1775). As cited in Sermons on the Outbreak of War, 1775, America in Class, https:// americainclass.org/sources/makingrevolution/crisis/text8/sermonsonwar.pdf. Jacob Duche, “Te American Vine, preached before the Continental Congress on the national day of fasting and prayer, Christ Church,” (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 20 July 1775), As cited in Sermons on the Outbreak of War, 1775, America in Class, https://americainclass.org/sources/ makingrevolution/crisis/text8/sermonsonwar.pdf.

“these rights do not come from him, but from God, …”79 Te concept of the “consent of the governed” received its inspiration from Covenant Teology. Te Declaration of Independence therefore signifed the end of the relationship between America and Great Britain and created a new nation, the United States. Despite often being overlooked by academia and the public, religion did play a fundamental role in shattering the relationship between American and Britain. Because of the opposing worldviews of Puritanism and Anglicanism, a rift was created between the two regarding how government, the church, and the overall culture should function. Tis rift, enhanced by a repeated history of injury during the reign of King Henry VIII and the English Civil Wars, would be exacerbated by the political and economic acts and violence perpetuated by Great Britain during the period of protest. Both sides sought religious and historical precedents for their actions with their worldviews creating discontinuity in how they would interpret such things. As the tensions grew, the religious justifcations and ideologies grew frmer and more hostile eventually culminating into the American Revolution. Essentially, the critical role that religion played was that it created two diferent worldviews that severely conficted with one another as history would progress in the wake of new challenges and ideologies.

As cited in Strehle, Te Egalitarian Spirit of Christianity, 141.

Bibliography Abbey, Charles J. and Overton, John H. Overton. Te English Church in the Eighteenth Century. October 2, 2005. Project Gutenberg eBook #16791. https://www.gutenberg. org/fles/16791/16791-h/16791-h.htm. Adams, Samuel. Te Rights of Colonists: Te Report of the Committee of Correspondence to the Boston Town Meeting, Nov. 20, 1772. Hanover Historical Texts Project. Boston: Directors of the Old South Work, 1906. 417-428. Allen, John. “An Oration Upon the Beauties of Liberty.” New London, 1773. Political Sermons of the American Founding Era. Vol 1 (1730-1788). Liberty Fund, 1991. Backus, Isaac. “An Appeal to the Public for Religious Liberty.” Boston, 1773. Political Sermons of the American Founding Era. Vol 1 (1730-1788). Liberty Fund, 1991. Bailyn, Bernard. Te Ideological Origins of the American Revolution. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1992. Chapman, Mark David. Anglicanism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2006. Chauncy Charles, “Appeal to the Public Answered.” Boston: N.E.: Printed by Kneeland and Adams, in Milk-Street, for Tomas Leverett, in Corn-Hill., 1768. Evans Early American Imprint Collection, https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/evans/N08486.0001.001/1:5?rgn=div 1;view=toc. Drummond Robert Hay, “A sermon preached at the coronation of King George III. and Queen Charlotte, in the abbey church of Westminster. September 22, 1761. By Robert, Lord Bishop of Sarum. Published by His Majesty’s Special Command.” 5th ed. Dublin: printed for T. and J. Whitehouse, at the State-Lottery-Ofce in Nicholas-Street, M.DCC.LXI. [1761]. Eighteenth Century Collections Online. Accessed on April 10, 2023. https://0-link-gale-com.read.cnu.edu/apps/doc/CW0120696403/ECCO?u=viva_ cnu&sid=bookmark-ECCO&xid=da236b36&pg=15. Duche, Jacob. “Te American Vine, preached before the Continental Congress on the national day of fasting and prayer, Christ Church.” Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 20 July 1775. Sermons on the Outbreak of War, 1775. America in Class. https://americainclass.org/ sources/makingrevolution/crisis/text8/sermonsonwar.pdf. Ellis, Joseph J. Te Cause: Te American Revolution and Its Discontents, 1773-1783. Waterville, ME: Torndike Press, 2022. Fletcher, John. “Te Bible and the Sword.” London, 1775. Political Sermons of the American Founding Era. Vol. 1 (1730-1788). Liberty Fund, 1991. Hall, Mark David. Did America Have a Christian Founding? Separating Modern Myth from Historical Truth. Nashville, TN: Nelson Books, an imprint of Tomas Nelson, 2020.

Jones, David. “Defensive War in a Just Cause Sinless, preached on the day of prayer and fasting called by the Continental Congress, Great Valley Baptist Church.” Tredyfryn, Pennsylvania, 20 July 1775. Sermons on the Outbreak of War, 1775. America in Class. https://americainclass.org/sources/makingrevolution/crisis/text8/sermonsonwar.pdf. Kidd, Tomas S. America’s Religious History Faith, Politics, and the Shaping of a Nation. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2019. Kidd, Tomas S. God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution. New York: Basic Books, 2010. Accessed April 10, 2023. ProQuest Ebook Central. King George III, By the King, A Proclamation, For Suppressing Rebellion and Sedition. August 23, 1775. Massachusetts Historical Society. https://www.masshist.org/database/viewer. php?item_id=818&pid=2. Langford, Paul. “Te English Clergy and the American Revolution,” Te Transformation of Political Culture: England and Germany in the Late Eighteenth Century. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990. pp. 275-307. Lathrop, John. Innocent blood crying to God from the streets of Boston. A sermon occasioned by the horrid murder of Messieurs Samuel Gray, Samuel Maverick, James Caldwell, and Crispus Attucks, with Patrick Carr, since dead, and Christopher Monk, judged irrecoverable, and several others badly wounded, by a party of troops under the command of Captain Preston: on the ffth of March 1770. And preached the Lord’s-Day following. March, 1770. Evans Early American Imprint Collection. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/evans/ N09501.0001.001/1:3?rgn=div1;view=fulltext. McBride, Spencer W. Pulpit and Nation: Clergymen and the Politics of Revolutionary America. University of Virginia Press, 2017. Paine, Tomas. Tomas Paine -- Collected Writings: Common Sense; the Crisis; Rights of Man; the Age of Reason; Agrarian Justice. Edited by Philip S. Foner. Canada: Must Have Books, 2019. Pestana Carla Gardina. Protestant Empire: Religion and the Making of the British Atlantic World. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010. Accessed April 10, 2023. ProQuest Ebook Central. Seabury, Samuel. Te Congress Canvassed, or, An Examination into the Conduct of the Delegates, at their Grand Convention, held in Philadelphia, Sept. 1, 1774, Addressed, to the merchants of New-York. New York, 1774. Evans Early American Imprint Collection. https://quod. lib.umich.edu/e/evans/N10730.0001.001/1:2?rgn=div1;view=toc. Sherwood, Samuel. “Scriptural Instructions to Civil Rulers,” New Haven, 1774. Political Sermons of the American Founding Era. Vol 1 (1730-1788). Liberty Fund, 1991.

Sterns, William “A View of the Controversy Subsisting between Great Britain and the American Colonies, preached to the “general ofcers, commanders of the New England forces . . . in defense of the property and rights, sacred and civil, of Americans.” Marlborough, Massachusetts, May 11, 1775. Sermons on the Outbreak of War, 1775. America in Class. https://americainclass.org/sources/makingrevolution/crisis/text8/sermonsonwar.pdf. Strehle, Stephen. Te Egalitarian Spirit of Christianity: Te Sacred Roots of American and British Government. New York, NY: Routledge, 2017. Wesley, John. “A Calm Address to Our American Colonies.” London, 1775. Political Sermons of the American Founding Era. Vol 1 (1730-1788). Liberty Fund, 1991. Zubly John Joachim, “An Humble Enquiry.” Savannah, 1769. Political Sermons of the American Founding Era. Vol 1 (1730-1788). Liberty Fund, 1991.

About the Author Jacob Aultice is a 2023 Christopher Newport graduate from Bedford, Virginia who majored in History. Tough initially seeking to go into national security, his passion for the histories of Christianity and the American Revolution and for theology encouraged him to pursue a degree in History. He engaged with esteemed faculty who enhanced his understanding and joy of history and theology. Te culmination of his studies resulted in the creation of his work The Fundamental Role of Religion in the American Revolution which received the Robert M. Usry Award in May of 2023. Tough fnished with his traditional education, he still enjoys growing in knowledge by reading the works from the founding generation and from the Puritans.

Te Pursuit of Love: Linda’s Story, Which is Fanny’s to Tell Olivia Brubaker Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Anna Teekell, Department of English

Abstract Traditionally, literary works that focus on themes such as femininity and love beyond the plot point of engagement were largely overlooked by academic scholars. Works with such themes were often considered unsophisticated and were associated with female authors, female characters, and female readers. Nancy Mitford and her 1945 novel Te Pursuit of Love are no exception. Tis novel, which follows two prominent female characters as they attempt to navigate life and love, has received little attention from academics and has been widely regarded as “middlebrow literature.” However, despite the application of this term, this novel continues to refect many stylistic qualities of Modern literature, including that of the unreliable narrator. Troughout the work as a whole, the novel’s narrator, Fanny, embodies Ansgar Nünning’s defnition of an unreliable narrator and she draws attention to herself, imposes her emotions and perceptions on the reader, includes questionable retellings of past events, and can be seen directing the narrative of the story in obvious and subtle ways. Even though scholars have yet to widely recognize Mitford and Te Pursuit of Love for their true literary status, the presence of Fanny as an unreliable narrator adds a layer of complexity to this novel and evidences Mitford’s adoption of Modernist techniques.

Matters are never as clear-cut as they seem, especially concerning literature. Tis is especially true when considering the narration of Nancy Mitford’s 1945 novel, Te Pursuit of Love. Te narrator of this novel, Fanny, tells the story of her best friend and cousin, Linda Radlett, as she struggles to fnd love, coming up short time and time again. As Fanny narrates Linda’s story, she directs the narrative down certain paths, includes questionable retellings of second-hand accounts of events, and subtly incorporates her own sentiments into the story. All these actions make her an unreliable narrator, a common staple of Modern literature. Generally speaking, there are many possible characterizations of unreliable narrators, and there are many distinct defnitions of what classifes a narrator as unreliable. One interesting explanation put forth by Ansgar Nünning proposes that “Te reader interprets what the narrator and/or the text says in two quite diferent contexts… Without being aware of it, unreliable narrators continually give the reader indirect information about their idiosyncrasies and state of mind” (87). Terefore, according to Nünning, the main quality that makes narrators unreliable is the reader’s acknowledgment of the inconsistencies between what the text and the narrator are saying. Furthermore, when narrators behave in such a manner, it not only signals to the reader that their narrative might be fawed but it also provides the reader with insight into the mind of the narrator. Applying these concepts to Te Pursuit of Love, the reader can see that Fanny refects a diferent sentiment than that of the text itself and actually refects an air of jealousy or resentment towards Linda at some points in the novel. Evidence of such jealousy is apparent in the novel when Fanny mentions her husband Alfred’s opinions on Linda. Specifcally, she details, “[Alfred] only quite liked her; he suspected that she was a tough nut, and rather, I must own, to my own relief, she never exercised over him the spell in which she had entranced Davey and Merlin” (Mitford 92). To relate this back to Nünning’s propositions, this section should serve as a warning to readers that there are discrepancies between the story that Fanny is attempting to communicate and what the text actually denotes. Here, Fanny uses the phrase “I must own” when making her statement, implying that she admits a hard truth and is trustworthy as a narrator. However, this statement can also be interpreted as Fanny denoting an air of jealousy that she has for the afection that Davey and Lord Merlin express for Linda. Terefore, this statement, which Fanny likely intended to build trust with the reader, signifes her as an unreliable narrator and provides the reader with further insight into her mind. Tese same sentiments are further expressed when Fanny provides the reader with her interpretation of the way that Lord Merlin viewed Fanny. Specifcally, she notes, “I felt that in my company, boredom was for him only just around the corner, and that, anyhow, I was merely regarded as pertaining to Linda, not existing on my own except as a dull little don’s wife” (Mitford 112). Again, this comment gives of a feeling of honesty with the inclusion of the phrase “I felt” and upholds the notion that Fanny fosters some degree of resentment towards Linda. It also provides the reader with insight into Fanny’s own insecurities about her life, implying that it might not have been as great as she made it out to be. However, it should be noted that this statement also displays a frustration that Fanny is only considered as pertaining to Linda or as second to her. Tis begs the question of why Fanny would choose to narrate a story in which Linda was the main character while she herself played a more supplemental role. Scholar Allan Johnson attempts to answer this question, turning to a specifc moment in the text on page 119: “I must explain that I know everything that now happened to Linda, although I did not see her for another year, because afterwards, as will be shown, we spent a long quiet time together, during which she told it all to me, over and over again. It was her way of re-living happiness” (Mitford). Johnson goes on to suggest that rather than assuming that Fanny is choosing to tell Linda’s story out of remembrance following her death, she is doing so in an attempt to emulate the way that Linda re-lived happiness (149). Terefore, Fanny’s commitment to telling Linda’s story despite her mixed emotions and her

role as a secondary character within the narrative display her desire to relive the happiness where it existed. However, it is also crucial to note that this quote selected by Johnson ofers further evidence of Fanny’s unreliability as a narrator. For example, in these lines, Fanny is claiming to be able to recount everything that happened in full detail because she had listened to Linda tell her the events of her travels time and time again (Mitford 119). Tese claims are already questionable on their own, especially in sections where the narrative includes long sections of dialogue, but their validity is further questioned when paired with sections of the text found earlier in the novel where Linda is noted as withholding information from Fanny. Instances of this can be seen when Fanny admits, “I may as well say here that the one thing she never discussed with me was the deterioration of her marriage” (Mitford 98), and “It was so like Linda never to have hinted, even to me, that Tony had a mistress” (Mitford 109). As these quotes display, Linda often kept certain, more negative aspects about her love life to herself, as opposed to choosing to share them with Fanny. Terefore, when Fanny justifes her qualifcations for narrating Linda’s time abroad, she is not only asking the reader to trust her but also the stories provided to her by Linda, someone who has already proved to leave out certain details when it comes to failure in her love life. Here, the reader should view Fanny as unreliable not only for her proclaimed ability to perfectly recount situations and dialogue for which she was not present but also for blindly accepting that what Linda provided her with was a complete and accurate account of her time abroad. In addition to asking the reader to subscribe to these questionable aspects of the narrative, Fanny also places a lot of her own prejudices into the narrative. Such an occasion occurs when she states, “Linda now proceeded to fritter away years of her youth, with nothing to show for them. If she had had an intellectual upbringing the place of all this pointless chatter, jokes and parties might have been taken by a serious interest in the arts, or by reading” (Mitford 99). Here, Fanny takes a rather critical stance of the way that Linda chose to run her life, as indicated by the use of the phrase “nothing to show” and the words “fritter” and “pointless.” It is important to note that the use of such language is not necessary to the plot and, therefore, simply exists within the narrative to refect Fanny’s opinions about Linda. However, one must also acknowledge that when Fanny makes such criticisms, she is not blaming Linda for the situations that she fnds herself in, but rather she blames the external factors of her life, such as her limited education. Tis is also blatantly apparent when Fanny describes Linda’s growing infatuation with Christian: Linda was a plum ripe for the shaking. Te tree was now shaken, and down she came. Intelligent and energetic, but with no outlet for her energies, unhappy in her marriage, uninterested in her child, and inwardly oppressed with a sense of futility, she was in the mood either to take up some cause, or to embark upon a love afair. (Mitford 106) In this context, Fanny is describing Linda’s falling for another man as inevitable, with certain factors culminating in her ultimate decision to run away with Christian. Tis then proves that while Fanny places judgment on Linda, she believes her to be a victim of circumstance. Troughout Te Pursuit of Love, Fanny and Linda act as foils for one another, and by writing of such ill qualities as deriving from circumstance, Fanny provides the reader with reasoning for their opposite positions in life despite being so close and desiring similar, although not identical, things from life. From girlhood, both of these women displayed interest in having great loves: “We were, of course, both in love, but with people we had never met; Linda with the Prince of Wales, and I with a fat, red-faced middle-aged farmer, whom I sometimes saw riding through Shenley” (Mitford 40). While these women would sit around for hours in their youth talking about love, marriage, sex, and childbirth, waiting for the time that they could fnally come out into society, they each had two very diferent ideas of love. For Linda, love was grand and luxurious, while love was more simple and humble for Fanny. As Fanny’s narration suggests, these diferences arise out of circumstantial efects, and Linda was simply dealt a bad

hand from the start. Fanny utilizes such circumstantial reasoning to represent that Linda had ill qualities while ensuring that she was not at fault for them. In this regard, she is manipulating the viewpoint of the reader to one that better aligns with her perspective of events. In addition to crafting certain lenses through which Fanny expects the reader to accept the story, there are several instances in which she manipulates the narrative itself, interjecting with her own thoughts and viewpoints. Te frst time that she clearly does this is when she interrupts the narrative to provide an update on her life, stating: During this happy time I became happily engaged to Alfred Wincham, a then young don at, now Warden of, St. Peter’s College, Oxford. With this kindly scholarly man I have been perfectly happy ever since, fnding in our home at Oxford that refuge from the storms and puzzles of life which I had always wanted, I say no more about him here; this is Linda’s story, not mine. (Mitford 91) In interpreting this interjection, scholar Allan Hepburn claims that this last sentence, in particular, shows a commitment on the part of Fanny to suppress herself as an object of interest and provide other defnitions of happiness aside from that of the loving wife and mother that Fanny was (345). However, in his interpretation of Fanny’s interjection of her own life into the narrative, he only examines instances in which she speaks in asides that specifcally pertain to her married life. Hepburn fails to address that directly after pledging to no longer speak of Alfred but to return to the story of Linda, Fanny manages to bring up her love life twice within the span of a page. Specifcally, she directly mentions Alfred when she discusses Linda’s impressions of him, and him of her, in addition to making a more subtle mention of her wedding invitations. In both of these instances, Fanny is working to tell Linda’s story, but she is also bringing the focus, at least in some part, back to herself. Tese actions work to disprove Hepbern’s interpretation and highlight the truly subtle nature of Fanny’s impositions within the novel. Additionally, when Fanny can be observed guiding the focus of the narrative back to herself, she also often highlights herself in a complementary way by juxtaposing her situation with Linda’s to make her situation appear more desirable. For example, this is noticeable when, in reaction to Linda’s claim that all Englishmen are useless as lovers, she retorts, “‘Not at all,’ I said… ‘Alfred,’ I told her, ‘is wonderful’” (Mitford 155). In making this statement, she draws the reader’s attention back to herself and her own happiness and contentment in her married life, qualities that Linda could not fnd in hers. It is also worth noting that this entire conversation takes place in an aside from the plot that ofers no crucial information or details that add to the plot itself. Terefore, it can be concluded that this reference to Alfred and Fanny’s happiness was included as a means of self-promotion, rendering Fanny’s narrative biased and unreliable. In addition to instances where Fanny infuences the story by directing the narrative, there are also instances in which she seeks to force her own emotions and interpretations of events upon readers. To return to the section of the text on page 91 where Fanny announces her engagement and then resolves to return to Linda’s story, Fanny takes several measures to juxtapose herself with Linda. Most importantly, she emphasizes the happiness that her relationship with Alfred brought her, referencing some variation of the word “happy” three times within the span of two sentences. Tis is quickly juxtaposed in the next paragraph as Fanny relays Linda’s lack of happiness and overall dissatisfaction with her marriage (Mitford 91). Furthermore, in this section, she notes that she has found the love and life she has always wanted. Although she does not directly mention Linda in this regard, it should be noted that Linda’s unhappiness and her desire to fnd the love of her life are a constant theme throughout the novel, as evidenced by its title. Hepburn speaks on this topic and argues that Fanny does not promote her marriage as a model that women should follow but rather contradicts the happiness that she experiences with the lack thereof that is present in the lives of women

like Linda (341). He then also goes on to argue that “Fanny, as a married narrator, does not castigate Linda or Polly for their misguided marriages; she ofers sympathy for their loveless predicaments. If Fanny is a guide to conduct, she indicates that not everyone needs to be a mistress, though everyone needs to perceive the mistress’s independence” (Hepburn 345). Terefore, because Fanny does not outwardly judge Linda for her life decisions, it can be concluded that Fanny supports her lifestyle. However, this is not necessarily the case because, in his analysis, Hepburn fails to make a note of a character that everyone in the novel judges for living an independent life: Fanny’s mother. Referred to as “the Bolter” for having left Fanny to be raised by her Aunt Emily and subsequently “bolting away” with man after man, Fanny takes a rather negative stance on the outcomes of her mother’s life. Specifcally, she details: I do not quite know how I reconciled these sentiments with the great hero-worship that I still had for my mother, that adulterous doll. I suppose I put her into an entirely diferent category, in the face that launched a thousand ships class. A few historical characters must be allowed to have belonged to this, but Linda and I were perfectionists when love was concerned, and did not ourselves wish to aspire to that kind of fame. (Mitford 41) Here, Fanny does not celebrate her mother’s independence, like Hepburn suggests that she does for all adultresses but takes a rather critical stance, likening her to a class of the worst of all fallen women that neither Fanny nor Linda aspired to become. She also notes that she took such stances against her mother even though she worshiped her at the time, emphasizing the true deplorability of the Bolter’s actions in the eyes of Fanny. However, even though Fanny expressed such disgust for her mother’s search for love, it is essential to acknowledge that she does not willingly express similarities between her mother and Linda. Te closest that she gets to drawing such similarities is when she voices her opinions about Linda’s abandonment of Moira. In nearly every way, this plot of Linda and Moira perfectly mirrors Fanny’s own relationship with her mother. On several occasions throughout the novel, Fanny chastises Linda’s relationship with her daughter, utilizing words such as “poor” and “dreadful” to describe Linda’s behavior. While her pity for Moira is clearly a refection of her own emotions regarding her mother, all of this begs the question of why she does not hold Linda to the same level of criticism that she does her own mother. One possible explanation is found in a conversation with Linda towards the end of the novel, where Fanny questions why Linda never showed a greater regard for Moira, to which she responds, “I didn’t want to get too fond of Moira, or make her too fond of me. She might have become an anchor, and I simply didn’t dare let myself be anchored to the Kroesigs” (Mitford 177). Here, Linda is given a chance to explain herself, and she expresses that this was the best-case scenario for both her and her daughter in the long run, making her actions morally right, even if they are socially wrong. Even though these two mother-daughter relationships mirror each other almost exactly, Fanny still does not apply the benefts of giving up a child to her own life, maintaining a distinction, at least in her mind, between Linda and the Bolter. Such a distinction is also evident when forced to confront her feelings about Linda’s behavior. Fanny utilizes words like “I suppose,” framing her acknowledgment of their similar behavior as if it was a doubtful admission rather than a fact. All of this works to illustrate another instance where Fanny is acting as an unreliable narrator according to the standards put forth by Nünning. Here, even though the reader is able to notice the way that these two characters and their stories mirror one another, Fanny makes a mental distinction between Linda and the Bolter. Te reader can furthermore make assumptions that this distinction derives from a feeling that is ultimately that of admiration for Linda and ultimately that of resentment towards her mother. Terefore, Fanny is guiding the narration through a particularly biased lens. Evidence of this can also be seen in the last few lines of the novel, where Mitford makes this biased lens blatantly apparent to the reader. Here, in a conversation between Fanny and

her mother, Fanny explains that Fabrice was the great love of Linda’s life, to which the Bolter responds, “‘Oh, dulling,’ said my mother, sadly. ‘One always thinks that. Every, every time’” (Mitford 214). Terefore, at the conclusion of a novel about a woman’s search for love, the narrator of the novel and who had an intimate friendship with the main character is ready to claim that in the end, she had fnally found what she had been searching for. However, all of this is then called into question with the last lines of the novel, delivered by the Bolter’s claim that the opposite of this is true. Te Bolter has authority in this statement because Linda’s life has mirrored her own in many ways, and she is speaking from experience when she says that one always thinks that they have fnally found love. In terms of the novel, this statement serves as one fnal signal to the reader that even if Fanny is telling Linda’s story as she might believe it to be true, she is still telling it through a particularly biased lens. Tis then raises the question of to what extent any of the content of the novel is valid if it is not told from a more objective point of view. In Te Pursuit of Love, Fanny acts as an unreliable narrator. She often draws attention to herself, imposes her emotions and perceptions on the reader, includes questionable retellings of past events, and can be seen directing the narrative of the story in obvious and subtle ways. As such, the reader of this novel must question which elements of this novel have validity and which are simply improbable. However, despite the many dangers that are associated with trusting a narrator who exhibits such unreliable behavior, there are some advantages to her unreliability. Mainly by observing the ways in which Fanny might be manipulating the story, either consciously or subconsciously, the reader can glean the following information about Fanny: At times, she views herself as second best to Linda, and she withholds some levels of jealousy and resentment towards her because of this; she vies for attention and will insert it when she deems it necessary; she emphasizes that her life was full of happiness through juxtaposition with Linda’s life; and she believes that Linda and the Bolter were not on the same level and supports this in her perspective of the narrative. As such, it is clear that, like the narrators of many other Modern novels, Fanny cannot be trusted to provide an accurate narrative, meaning that readers must be wary of her biases.

Sources Hepburn, Allan. “Te Fate of the Modern Mistress: Nancy Mitford and the Comedy of Marriage.” Modern Fiction Studies, vol. 45, no. 2, 1999, pp. 340–368, http://www.jstor. com/stable/26285271. Accessed 23 Apr. 2023. Johnson, Allan. Masculine Identity in Modernist Literature: Castration, Narration, and a Sense of the Beginning, 1919-1945. Palgrave Macmillan, 2017. Mitford, Nancy. Te Pursuit of Love. Vintage Books, 2010. Nünning, Ansgar. “‘But why will you say that I am mad?’ On the Teory, History, and Signals of Unreliable Narration in British Fiction.” AAA: Arbeiten aus Anglistik und Amerikanistik, vol. 22, no. 1, 1997, pp. 83-105, https://www.jstor.org/stable/43025523. Accessed 23 Apr. 2023.

About the Author Olivia Brubaker is a member of the CNU class of 2024, majoring in History with minors in Literature, Leadership, and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She is dedicated to her studies as a member of the Honors and President’s Leadership Programs, as well as the Phi Alpha Teta honor society. Her research endeavors include participating in the Research Apprentice Program and presenting at the 2021 Macksey Symposium, the 2023 Network for Undergraduate Research in Virginia (NURVa) Conference, the 2023 Global Conference on Women and Gender, and the 2023 Paideia.

“Two Men Can Defy the World”: Te Clash of Homosexuality and Englishness in Early Twentieth Century Literature Molly Catherine Burke Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Joanna Eleftheriou, Department of English

Abstract Tis paper discusses the conficting relationship between homosexuality and the traditional English identity as portrayed in Maurice by E.M. Forster and Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. Te early twentieth century English aristocracy was defned by hegemonic masculinity, public school values, and societal expectations of decency. Tese values induce a discordance within English men who are queer, especially during a period of such oppressive heteronormativity in the Edwardian Era. Tese two novels present both idyllic and realistic versions of the homosexual experience for upper class men, and the circumstances of their publishing displays not only the rationale of censorship in England, but societal prejudices against queer narratives. Tey display the destructive nature of conformity, and how representation of queerness in literature provides healing and validation for the LGBTQ+ community.

Homosexuality has been a polarizing topic for centuries, and queer literature has sufered censorship and national suppression. England in particular has a dicey history of persecution from within the monarchy as well as society at large. In this paper, I discuss male homosexuality and how it relates to national identity and masculinity in Edwardian England using the novels Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh and Maurice by E.M. Forster. Tese novels portray queer male characters, how they create their own identities, and how they are impacted by being Englishmen in the early twentieth century. Te social norms presented within these books mirror and amplify the types of sociopolitical oppression that the queer community faced. Te characters wrestle with the fact that their natural inclinations are punishable by death and being unable to change such a fundamental facet of themselves. Te dynamic of male relationships and how they were treated varied between communities and classes, and young men had to grapple with the possibility of being arrested at any moment. Te institution of moral codes and strict societal expectations prohibited Englishmen of all classes from understanding their sexuality, though I focus on the particular challenges that upper- and middle-class men encountered, as infuenced by highly regimented upbringing and education. Brideshead Revisited (1944) and Maurice (written 1913-14) are novels that treat homosexuality diferently. Evelyn Waugh displays the efects of England’s harmful heteronormativity on young men of the 1930s and 40s in Brideshead Revisited. In Maurice, E.M. Forster examines the English disgust of homosexuality and attempts to fnd a middle ground for his characters to reconcile with their sexualities and national identity. Forster presents the treatment of queerness that the characters of Waugh’s novel needed, which is honor and comprehensive evaluation. However, because of his nonjudgmental discussion of such a controversial topic, Forster realized that it would be impossible to publish Maurice without facing censorship, controversy, and potentially trouble with the law. Maurice was not published until after Forster’s death in 1971, but Brideshead Revisited was able to be published in 1944 because it aligned itself with English values. Te two novels’ portrayals of male relationships in the Edwardian era display how Englishness clashes with queerness and emphasizes the importance of criticizing the dominant heteronormative perspective; this representation allows queer people to explore and defne their identities. Tese two books are prime examples of what literature and the efect of cultural norms had on literature. Tey refect on a trope called Bury Your Gays, which has been recently coined and gained traction with the ever-growing LGBTQ+ movement in the United Kingdom and United States. Bury Your Gays describes the averseness that media producers (authors, screenwriters, flm producers, and more) or entertainment corporations have to portraying relationships or dynamics that defy heteronormative values through a positive light without punishing or destroying the ofending characters or storylines (Hulan 17). Cultural values are shown and enforced through literature. Undesirable behaviors are portrayed negatively and punished so that the consumer knows not to engage in them, and desirable behaviors are rewarded and presented on pedestals for the same purpose. E.M. Forster’s Maurice’s happy ending openly defed this trope, which is why it was socially unacceptable and unpublishable until nearly 60 years after it had been written. Homosexuality as a concept is explored, criticized, and ultimately romanticized in the novel, which was unprecedented; Hulan claims that authors have to “[protect] themselves, their publishers, and readers from laws and social mandates against the ‘endorsement’ of homosexuality” by killing their queer characters (24). Evelyn Waugh, on the other hand, understood this necessity and chose to destroy the happiness of not just the more openly homosexual character, but nearly all other characters as well in Brideshead Revisited. Tis choice can be attributed to Waugh’s own religious beliefs that he developed later in life; the book explores the impact of religion on homosexual relationships and common practices of the English upper class. Brideshead Revisited was published in 1944 and later edited by the author in 1959 to change parts that he viewed diferently to ft his tastes as a Catholic convert. Its discussion of homosexuality is more in-keeping with English practices–

the word ‘homosexual’ is never said outright, the relationship between two male characters is framed ambiguously and evades persecution, but the characters sufer for venturing too close to the line of propriety. Maurice and Brideshead Revisited show the values of English society in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the censorship of literature, and the ways in which queerness was made to be antithetical to the English identity for so many years. English Identity E.M. Forster argues in his essay “Notes on the English Character” that the English heart is not a cold one, but an undeveloped one (31). Te philosophy is that it is impractical to feel and act on irrational emotions as they come– much better to separate from emotions and stay levelheaded during a tense situation. Tis impulse is uniquely English and helps during sensitive or urgent situations, but counterproductive in relationships and personal growth. Tis way of living makes hypocrites of English people; the reticence to react rashly means that decisions, both good and bad, are made at a much slower pace. Withholding deep reactions is supposed to allow for wisdom to infuence situations, but the time used is wasted. Te instinct to do the morally right thing more often than not oversimplifes and thus muddles the situation (Forster, “Notes” 33-35). Tis essay paints an accurate depiction of the contradictory nature of imposed archetypes at odds with queerness that characterize the struggles of the English male during the early twentieth century. Te English gentleman is based on chivalry, decency, and self-restraint, which contribute to the hegemonic masculinity upon which England functions. Gopinath quotes R. W. Connell when claiming that “Hegemonic masculinity is ‘the confguration of gender practice which embodies the currently accepted answer to the problem of the legitimacy of patriarchy, which guarantees (or is taken to guarantee) the dominant position of men and the subordination of women,’ only possible when cultural ideals and institutional power are wedded together” (Gopinath 6). Manliness and nationality are intertwined with one another, and do not change independently. In England, social norms were of utmost importance, and the idea of chivalry that is intrinsic to the English gentleman mutates what it meant to be a man in society. Te inseparable nature of masculinity and sexuality places queerness and Englishness in disharmony. As Anne Hartree observes, “Dominant Englishness can never include homosexuality: desire, and the human nature of which it is a part, are pushed outside;” therefore sexuality becomes taboo (133). A man expressing his emotions threatens his perceived masculinity and calls into question his sexuality, which is one of the worst ofenses to make against an Englishman’s character. It was important to keep homosexuality as unknown as possible so that public morals could be “protected” and individuals would not learn of the concept and subsequently use it for empowerment (Cook 113). Te need to condemn and suppress homosexuality brought confict to society as “much of the anxiety that swirled around it centred on this paradoxical need to both name and erase it” (Cook 112). It is important to know the complicated history of queerness in Britain to understand how it is represented in literature and why it matters. Homosexuality as we know it today was not a concept for many centuries in England; relationships were focused on the dynamics between people, and there was nothing “queer” about having relations with the same gender (Eluere 135). Opinions on homosexuality did not change until Christianity arrived during the 4th century. Since then, England maintained that homosexuality is unnatural and condemnable by the Church. Te Protestant Reformation in the 16th century solidifed the nation’s religion-centric patriarchal heteronormativity with Henry VIII’s Buggery Act of 1533. Tis act decreed that anal sex between men or men and women was illegal, as well as sexual relations with animals, and was punishable by death. Tis act remained in efect with some changes until 1828. Te term “sodomy” was the word often used in legal settings, deriving from the Biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah, which was

a town of sinners who were destroyed by God for their excessive transgressions (Cook 50). Homosexuality continued to be controversial to diferent degrees over the following centuries. Te contention about homosexuality reached a new peak in the nineteenth century. More and more people were being prosecuted for sodomy, and it became a bit of a social phenomenon. Te death penalty for homosexuality was abolished with the 1861 version of the Ofences Against the Person Act of 1828, and the last execution for sodomy was in 1835. Te year 1866 brought the trial of Hyde vs. Hyde and Woodmansee, a case of polygamy. Te judge ruled that marriage is defned as the union between one man and one woman, prohibiting homosexual relations as well as polygamous ones. Most notably, the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1885 (also known as the Labouchere amendment) raised the age of consent from 13 to 16 years of age and made all homosexual acts illegal and punishable with up to two years of hard labor for the ofender (“1885 Labouchere Amendment”). Tis cemented the ability to prosecute any supposed attempts of homosexuality, despite ambiguous jargon: “By the eighteenth century, it was possible to prosecute all kinds of homosexual acts using the sixteenth-century laws against sodomy in spite of the fact that these statues appeared only to criminalize one kind of sexual act” (Cook 110). Tis gave the government fexibility to make judgements against men and promoted a culture of gossip and whistleblowing, which made England a dangerous place to be queer. Oscar Wilde was a trailblazer in his open queerness and femininity who used his privilege as a talented and wealthy author to protect him from punishment for a long time; “Te entirety of his art was devoted to inverting conventional morality and satirizing the inane comforts of received wisdom” (Cook 110). Unfortunately, his 1895 lawsuit defending himself against accusations of sodomy resulted in his conviction for homosexual acts and a sentence of two years’ hard labor, from which he never recovered. Tough he did not win the case, Wilde’s impassioned defense for homosexuality drew popular support and gave shape and language to queerness for years to come: “It is in this century misunderstood, so much misunderstood that it may be described as the ‘Love that dare not speak its name,’ and on account of it I am placed where I am now. It is beautiful, it is fne, it is the noblest form of afection” (Cook 112). Tis ordeal was the ultimate cementation of how homosexuality may not be punishable by death anymore, but it absolutely meant social and spiritual death if exposed. Te aristocratic customs of the nineteenth century are adapting to the new century but still hold true to many of the traditions. Te aristocracy was, and always had been, rooted in hegemonic masculinity. Te mid to late nineteenth century saw industrial revolution and development helmed by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Society was based on a hegemonic class system with the aristocracy on top. Tis class was made up of families built upon generational wealth and often occupied seats in the houses of government. Teir wealth often included sprawling pieces of land in the countryside of England with impressive estates. Te aristocracy worked with the government and were able to maintain their infuence and properties across generations through male descendancy. Being a part of the aristocracy meant that boys had early access to education, often being sent to boarding schools before they turned 10 years of age. Tis tradition was done to prepare boys to become wealthy and successful in high society, therefore perpetuating the aristocracy. Te virtues of “cleanliness, respectability, stoicism, grit, and honesty are ideals that public school boys were expected to cultivate” (Gopinath 3-4). Propriety and hypermasculinity went hand in hand in this time period, and public school molded boys to become “proper English gentlemen.” However, the culture within public schools was tumultuous as it housed hordes of pubescent boys in the same building throughout their time at school. Public school was separated by gender and mainly catered to males. Tey were sent there to receive a classical education as well as craft them into the perfect men of society. It is no secret that boys going

through puberty and adolescence in an insulated environment will lead to sexual exploration. Naturally, in the lack of female presence, boys turned to other boys to explore their developing libidos. Tis culture of homosocial and sexual relations amongst schoolboys became like a rite of passage; despite homosexuality’s illegality in England, it was considered natural for these relations to occur in youth (Toda 134). Te ubiquity of this public school experience created an idea that homosexuality was merely a phase during development. It was such a universal phenomenon amongst the aristocratic public school society that hardly anybody batted an eye at having gay “liaisons” as schoolboys. It only became an issue if these infantilized homosexual desires persisted past school and into adulthood. Te idea was that if preparatory and public schools ingrained in the boys the values of honorable (but toxic) masculinity successfully, they would grow past any immature tendencies and eventually become proper gentlemen of society. An implicit assumption in sending young boys to preparatory and public schools was that it would lead them to attending high-ranking universities, usually the prestigious Universities of Cambridge and Oxford. Te culture of homosociality continued through university; “though a wider range of physical demonstrativeness and emotional bonding is seemingly acceptable between male friends, the underlying discourse remains homophobic, as will be seen in the denial of the body that both institutions deem vital within such relations” (Toda 136). Once again, the environment was strictly male, and the air of prestige and privilege were all the more prevalent. Tis was the fnal transitional period for young men before becoming fully fedged adults who take their places in high society post graduation. Maurice E.M. Forster’s novel Maurice meditates on how the Cambridge environment infuences Maurice Hall and Clive Durham’s relationship. Teir intimacy does not escape the notice of the college’s dean, who felt that “It was not natural that men of diferent characters and tastes should be intimate…the dons exercised a certain amount of watchfulness, and felt it right to spoil a love afair when they could” (Forster 80). In the privileged society of academia, small allowances are made for male queerness as it was understood to be a common phenomenon; but it only aforded them avoidance of the law, not punishment altogether. Maurice and Clive skip classes one day to spend time together, and Maurice talks back to the dean when reprimanded. He is told to apologize for his insubordination if he wanted to return to school the following term, but refused as he felt he did nothing wrong. Maurice’s defance quietly devastated Clive, because “It was his last term… which meant that he and Maurice would never meet in Cambridge again. Teir love belonged to it, and particularly to their rooms, so that he could not conceive of their meeting anywhere else” (Forster 80). University provided a unique environment that suspended these almost-men in a space of liminality before entering society and abandoning queer love that was deemed “immature.” In actuality, men often did not “outgrow” anything– their sexuality became a source of shame and confusion as they matured and struggled to fnd happiness. Maurice is a book that fghts for the right of homosexuals to be humanized and to be given happy endings. In early twentieth century literature, character growth did not often explore sexuality. Queer characters dealt with the weight of persecution for a fundamental part of themselves while also discerning their identity and place in society. Maurice grapples with what he has been taught as an English gentleman of the period and what he understands about himself. He learned the hard way that Englishness has been the source of his personal problems for his whole life; he has never understood why he could not adhere to the social expectations of heteronormativity. In an attempt to “cure” himself, he sees a conversion therapist and earnestly asks him if English law might ever change to accept homosexuality. Maurice is faced with the fact that “England has always been disinclined to accept human nature.”

Maurice understood. He was an Englishman himself, and only his troubles had kept him awake. He smiled sadly. “It comes to this then: there always have been people like me and always will be, and generally they have been persecuted.” (Forster 211) He knows that he is homosexual and English despite knowing that those two identities are impossible to reconcile, yet he still maintains the hope that “Men of [his] sort could take to the greenwood” and fnd freedom away from society and oppression (Forster 211). Even though conversion therapy fails, Maurice is relatively at peace with himself because he has begun to discover what a happy gay relationship could be with Alec Scudder, Clive Durham’s undergamekeeper. Maurice has decided that he will no longer tolerate being punished for his sexuality now that he has realized that a happy ending might be possible. When it comes time to make a decision about pursuing his relationship with Alec, Maurice acknowledges that he might have fnally found the opportunity to escape society and live happily with a “friend to last [his] whole life” in the greenwood of England (Forster 197). He understands the magnitude of the decision, yet he knows that they can and will live outside class, without relations or money; they must work and stick to each other till death. But England belonged to them. Tat, besides companionship, was their reward. Her air and sky were theirs, not the timorous millions’ who own stufy little boxes, but never their own souls. (Forster 239) Maurice radically chooses to accept the paradox and live his truest life; he rejects the corruption taught by traditional England and chooses to ensconce himself in England’s wilderness with the man he loves. He faces the risks that come with living of the beaten path for the sake of authenticity. He reclaims England for himself by embracing his identity and creating a place in the country that has no choice but to accept him back. Brideshead Revisited Members of the LGBTQ+ community tend to create found spaces where they can live honestly while staying safe from persecution– but many do not have the fexibility to do so. Brideshead Revisited shows characters that are trapped within society and do not even realize that England itself stifes most chances of happiness. Te novel is framed by the world wars and its efect on the old wealthy families and deterioration of their estates, as the culture of afuence lost popularity and practicality. In literature, the stately home was often used as a plot device or even a character itself; Gopinath argues that “While these houses invoke the cultural and national signifcance of the estate and the tradition of the estate novel, they only do so to illustrate how the tradition itself is fundamentally broken” (55). Brideshead Revisited, set in the 1920s to 1940s, in particular dramatizes the downfall of stately homes in England and the families that occupy them. It was a change in society that was unprecedented and lasting. Te novel is protagonist Charles Ryder revisiting his memories with the Marchmain family and their estate, Brideshead Castle. He becomes involved with the aristocratic family through Sebastian Flyte, the second eldest son whom he meets at Oxford University. Charles refects on the moment before properly meeting Sebastian as entering a new epoch in his life: But I was in search of love in those days, and I went full of curiosity and the faint, unrecognized apprehension that here, at last, I should fnd that low door in the wall, which others, I knew, had found before me, which opened on an enclosed and enchanted garden, which was somewhere, not overlooked by any window, in the heart of that gray city. (Waugh 32) Entering into Sebastian’s confdence and world was the “enchanted garden” of homoerotic love; a special realm in which men could love each other that was secluded from the rest of the world. Tis relationship was the love Charles was searching for without quite realizing it was the Wildean “unspeakable” love. He recognized that it was not a new world he had discovered, but one that he fnally had gained access to by indulging his curiosity and desires, just to see

where it would lead. Te way in which Charles narrates his life’s events is striking in its neutrality and ambiguity. He goes back more than 15 years into his memory to tell the story of his time with the Marchmain family, beginning with his relationship with Sebastian. Te narration is fowery and romantic, but there is a prevailing sense that details are being left out from his recounting. It becomes clearer that Charles chooses not to divulge the entire story particularly once his relationship with Sebastian is over and begins the story of his and Julia Flyte’s relationship. Te details and explicit romantic speech with Julia is a huge contrast to the amorphous impression we get of his time with Sebastian. It sparks an interesting debate about Waugh’s motives as an author: could he be censoring what Charles experienced because of the danger posed in depicting homosexual relationships? Could it be that Charles himself censors the details of his story because he does not feel comfortable divulging such private and potentially condemning memories? Tis vagueness is a frequent occurrence with Waugh’s narrators across his books: “[he] deliberately takes the wider, imperial view as the narrative observes, situates, and examines a nation within its imperial web. At the same time, the narrator is detached from everything that he observes: the empire, the metropole, the country, the city, and his own kind, that is, the upper- middle-class English” (Gopinath 43-44). Te sensibilities ingrained in Charles and the members of his class prohibit the inclination to freely share personal experiences. He has control of the narrative, and much like Waugh’s other works, the narrator holds a passivity that makes them appear as background characters in their own life in favor of sharing the more interesting stories of others. Tis perspective is unique to the English gentleman, as detachment from emotions and trivialities are taught to be the ideal to strive for in order to be successful in masculine society. Tere is often an imbalance of details included across diferent parts of Waugh’s writing. While he tends to neglect his narrators, he frequently crafts imagery-rich, romantic scenes that sometimes feel incongruous with the overarching tone. An idyllic scene of a picnic between Charles and Sebastian from early in their acquaintance is an excellent example of such writing. Te writing style is immersive, aided by the run-on sentence structure that makes it seem like the moment will never end. It is a moment in paradise, suspended in time: On a sheep-cropped knoll under a clump of elms we ate the strawberries and drank the wine–as Sebastian promised, they were delicious together–and we lit fat, Turkish cigarettes and lay on our backs, Sebastian’s eyes on the leaves above him, mine on his profle, while the blue-gray smoke rose, untroubled by any wind, to the blue-green shadows of foliage, and the sweet scent of tobacco merged with the sweet summer scents around us and the fumes of the sweet, golden wine seemed to lift us a fnger’s breadth above the turf and hold us suspended. (Waugh 24) Te homoerotic undertones of this scene depict the simple yet beautiful relationship that exists between Charles and Sebastian. Tey are enjoying a perfect day and perfect company. In liminal spaces like nature, men are allowed to act as they please. Tey are thoroughly away from the pressing responsibilities that come with school and society and the expectations pressed upon them with their statuses. All that exists in this moment is each other, yet there is little said aloud. Te characters did not have the language or emotional intellect to understand what they had together, but it was not necessary for them to say anything in particular. Tis purity and innocence was all that England could handle, in a sense. Social constructs limited homosexual relationships to nameless entities; the ambiguous nature of these relationships meant that nothing explicitly punishable was occurring, so it could be tolerated. It was only when the unacceptable behaviors were presented publicly that it had to be prosecuted. Tis perception of homosexuality pervaded English society; it was something best kept to oneself, and ideally abandoned as one grew older. Charles and Sebastian never have a mutual or comprehensive understanding of what

they were to one another, but they were content to simply enjoy each other’s company in an innocent and indulgent fashion. Cara, Lord Marchmain’s mistress, digs at Charles’ and Sebastian’s unique relationship and shares her insight with Charles: “I know of these romantic friendships of the English and the Germans. Tey are not Latin. I think they are very good if they do not go on too long. [...] It is a kind of love that comes to children before they know its meaning. In England it comes when you are almost men; I think I like that. It is better to have that kind of love for another boy than for a girl.” (Waugh 113) Cara’s speech reveals the perception of homosexuality that outsiders hold. It was commonly believed that gay tendencies are merely a phase that young boys go through but outgrow when it comes time to take their place in society. Tis idea relates back to the environment of male boarding school, where homosexual liaisons were frequent simply because of convenience and lack of female presence. Charles becomes fustered at Cara’s probing because he has never been faced with language that explicitly discerns this verboten topic. He knows that publicly acknowledging this “idiosyncrasy” can only lead to a life of misery and alienation, so he chooses to ignore the signifcance of Cara’s words. Unlike Charles, Sebastian is aware of his homosexuality as well as all other shortcomings of his character. He becomes an alcoholic, a confict which defnes much of the novel. Sebastian feels betrayed by Charles’ integration with his family, because Charles has become one of his family’s friends, not Sebastian’s– an occurrence that Sebastian has dealt with since his youth (Waugh 39). He is depressed and cannot understand why, but he does know one trait that could be to blame: his homosexuality. As per usual, it is never stated outright, but Sebastian’s profound shame and unhappiness is an allegory for his homosexuality. He wants desperately to be happy, but that is impossible in a place and time where gayness is not allowed to be a part of one’s identity. As was the norm in the twentieth century, he allows alcohol to consume him rather than his own unhappiness. Lady Marchmain, Sebastian’s mother, is a major trigger for him because she represents the repression, disappointment, and lack of control that overshadowed his life. She turns to Charles for an explanation as to why Sebastian cannot seem to be normal, as she is blind to her own role in his deterioration: “Mr. Samgrass told me he was drinking too much all last term.” “Yes, but not like that– never before.” “Ten why now? here? with us? … I don’t want him to be ashamed– it’s being ashamed that makes it all so wrong of him.” “He’s ashamed of being unhappy,” I said. (Waugh 154) Tis shame is the tragedy of the novel, in my opinion, and the essence of Sebastian. His own mother can see but not understand the issue with her son, nor that she is a large contributing factor to his misery. Lady Marchmain is emblematic of England’s oppression of emotions and incomprehension in the face of profundity. Crocks of Gold Both books show the tragic nature of the oxymoronic relationship between Englishness and homosexuality, but both provide “crocks of gold” for the characters to cling onto. Tis instance is displayed in two similar scenes where the male couples spend perfect days together, out in nature, faunting responsibilities to simply enjoy each other’s company. Sebastian and Charles spend their day in the sun with wine and strawberries. At the end of their outing, Sebastian remarks that this was “‘Just the place to bury a crock of gold,’ said Sebastian. ‘I should like to bury something precious in every place where I’ve been happy and then, when I was old and ugly and miserable, I could come back and dig it up and remember’” (Waugh 24-25). A major theme of Brideshead Revisited is memory, and this picturesque scene becomes all the more poignant when Sebastian falls into his depression and alcoholism as well as when

Charles mourns his relationship and past with the Marchmain family in the face of endless war. Te picnic scene is starkly romantic, even more so than its counterpart scene in Maurice. Clive and Maurice skip their classes and end up in the English countryside and while away the day napping, swimming in the stream, and talking nonsense with each other. Te language is less fowery than Waugh’s and paints a simple picture of contented male friendship, but simultaneously afrms the experience’s signifcance: “Te whole day had been ordinary. Yet it had never come before to either of them, nor was it to be repeated” (Forster 78). Te slightly diferent overtones but similar function of the two scenes are written in opposition with the arcs of the stories: the overtly romantic scene is part of a book that was publishable because it ended sadly, and the more innocuous scene is part of an “undesirable” narrative that ended happily. It should be noted that in both books the primary male relationships are punished; Sebastian and Charles’s relationship deteriorates in tandem with Sebastian’s developing alcoholism and rejection of societal obligation, and Clive and Maurice break up because Clive chooses to reject his homosexuality in order to fulfll his societal role and marry a woman. Maurice is the socially unsavory novel because it interacts with and dispels the widely-varying perceptions of homosexuality. It is only when Maurice has faced the conficting facets of his homosexuality and Englishness that he can fnd his happy ending with a man. Maurice has no need to bury his “crock of gold” memories, because he is free to create more beautiful ones for the rest of his life with Alec, the man he loves; Charles loses that option because he chooses society over passion. Maurice and Alec’s budding relationship is tested in a similar way that Charles and Sebastian’s is at its end. Tey mark the commitment and outlook of each relationship, as one comes out successful and the other crumbles apart. Te ending of Charles and Sebastian comes after months of Sebastian’s worsening alcoholism. Charles enables Sebastian’s drinking because he knows it would be pointless to pretend that one day of forced sobriety would aid Sebastian in any way. Teir relationship was doomed from the start with their fundamentally diferent understandings of how to attain self-fulfllment in a heavily prescriptive and heteronormative society. Tings end with a simple exchange: “Tell me honestly, do you want me to stay on here?” “No, Charles, I don’t believe I do” (Waugh 193). As Charles leaves Brideshead, however, he refects that [He] was leaving part of [himself ] behind, and that wherever [he] went afterwards [he] should feel the lack of it, and search for it hopelessly, as ghosts are said to do, frequenting the spots where they buried material treasures without which they cannot pay their way to the nether world. (Waugh 194) He could not put a name to it, but he knew that the part of himself that belonged to Sebastian had to be left behind. Charles was never to rediscover and dig up the crocks of gold he had buried with Sebastian; “A door had shut, the low door in the wall I had sought and found at Oxford; open it now and I should fnd no enchanted garden” (Waugh 194). It was time to abandon the beautiful queer space he had found with Sebastian; it could no longer be a part of Charles’ life. He had to move on and become the English gentleman he had been raised to be. And now, it was Sebastian Contra Mundum, except now with Charles absent from his side. Sebastian’s homosexuality barred him from a happy future because he did not have the tools or knowledge to reconcile his English aristocratic identity with his true, natural self. Tis is the ending that Evelyn Waugh crafted in order to avoid retribution from English society as well as from the God he believed in. Contrastingly, E.M. Forster understood the contentious relationship between nationality and queerness, but chose to examine it more closely and represent a happier alternate ending for homosexuals, simply because it was deserved. Te burgeoning relationship between Maurice and Alec is tested during a cricket match. Forster wrote the scene in a way that allegorizes the match to represent how homosexual relationships are perceived and what they must withstand

in order to exist: Tey played for the sake of each other and their fragile relationship– if one fell the other would follow. Tey intended no harm to the world, but so long as it attacked they must punish, they must stand wary, then hit with full strength, they must show that when two are gathered together majorities shall not triumph. (Forster 201) Maurice and Alec made the choice to face the threats their sexualities brought on in Edwardian England, and to face them together. Both characters are equipped with confdence and selfpossession that enable them to “defy the world” together (Forster 135). Te cricket match represents this struggle that people in the LGBTQ+ community used to and continue to face today: it is how to exist in a world that does not want you to exist as you are. Tis is why gay literature is so important to read, honor, and internalize in contemporary times. It presents the problems and solutions projected onto queerness in oppressive societies, and provides inspiration to people who seek representation. Brideshead Revisited illustrates the problems with English nationality and how it conficts with queerness and does not fnd a solution. Maurice undertakes these issues with curiosity and respect, which was unprecedented, but it allowed for discovery of the answers poor Sebastian was desperate to fnd for himself. Forster proposes a more inclusive and reconcilable understanding of queerness in England. Waugh writes a more realistic ending for the characters as contextualized by the national upheaval and wartimes. Tese novels show that homosexuality always existed, but was not allowed to be advertised: Maurice shows that it was a signifcant part of societal thought in the 1910s, but was too controversial to be shared. By the 1940s, England was prepared to accept inklings of queerness, but not in a positive light. Society progresses, but ever slowly. We can see the progress of human thought through literature, and groundbreaking novels like Maurice and Brideshead Revisited are what will propel humanity to a more accepting and healthy state of being.

Works Cited “1885 Labouchere Amendment - UK Parliament.” UK Parliament, https://www.parliament. uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/private-lives/relationships/collections1/ sexual-ofences-act-1967/1885-labouchere-amendment/. Bailey, Quentin. “Heroes and Homosexuals: Education and Empire in E. M. Forster.” Twentieth Century Literature, vol. 48, no. 3, 2002, pp. 324–47. JSTOR, https://doi. org/10.2307/3176031. Cook, Matt. A Gay History of Great Britain: Love and Sex between Men since the Middle Ages. Greenwood World Publishing, 2007. Eluere, Christiane, translated by Daphne Briggs. Te Celts: Conquerors of Ancient Europe. Harry N. Abrams, Inc.; Discoveries Ser., New York, 1993. Forster, E. M. Maurice. W.W. Norton & Company Inc, New York & London, 1987. —. “Notes on the English Character.” Te Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, originally published January 1926, electronically published 28 May 2022, https://www.theatlantic. com/magazine/archive/1926/01/notes-on-the-english-character/648361/?utm_ source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share. Gopinath, Praseeda. Scarecrows of Chivalry: English Masculinities after Empire. University of Virginia Press, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ cnu/detail.action?docID=3444116. Hartree, Anne. “‘A Passion Tat Few English Minds Have Admitted’: Homosexuality and Englishness in E.M. Forster’s ‘Maurice.’” Paragraph, vol. 19, no. 2, 1996, pp. 127–38. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43263490. Hilliard, David. “Unenglish and Unmanly: Anglo-Catholicism and Homosexuality.” Victorian Studies, vol. 25, no. 2, 1982, pp. 181–210. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3827110. Hulan, Haley. “Bury Your Gays: History, Usage, and Context.” ScholarWorks@GVSU, 2017, scholarworks.gvsu.edu/mcnair/vol21/iss1/6/. Taddeo, Julie Anne. “Plato’s Apostles: Edwardian Cambridge and the ‘New Style of Love.’” Journal of the History of Sexuality, vol. 8, no. 2, 1997, pp. 196–228. JSTOR, http://www. jstor.org/stable/3704216. Toda, Ma Ángeles. “THE CONSTRUCTION OF MALE-MALE RELATIONSHIPS IN THE EDWARDIAN AGE: E.M. FORSTER’S ‘MAURICE’, H.A. VACHELL’S ‘THE HILL’, AND PUBLIC SCHOOL IDEOLOGY.” Atlantis, vol. 23, no. 2, 2001, pp. 133– 45. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41055031. Waugh, Evelyn. Brideshead Revisited: Te Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder. Back Bay Books, 2020.

About the Author Molly Burke is a member of the class of 2023 with a major in English and minor in theater. Trough her time at CNU, she was involved with the National Teater Honor Fraternity Alpha Psi Omega and held a position on the executive board during her senior year, where she focused on the chapter’s fundraising and publicity. She worked on several TeaterCNU productions and danced in the department’s Annual Dance Concert all four years. She worked for CNU Residence Life as a front desk assistant in a freshman residence hall for three years. As an English major, Molly conducted research and focused primarily on English and queer literature and studied abroad in England and Wales in 2022. She developed relationships with her professors that helped her grow in her academics as well as her personal life, and could not have succeeded without their unwavering support. After graduation she plans to move back to Northern Virginia and pursue a career in childcare and youth education.

Why It’s Good to Know the Plot of Te Hobbit: A Defense of the Epistemic Value of Intrinsic Intra-Literary Knowledge William Grey Cashwell Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Kyle Garton-Gundling, Department of English

Abstract In Rik Peels’ essay, “How Literature Delivers Knowledge and Understanding,” he contends that literature teaches fve valuable categories of knowledge: 1) about the work and world of said literature, 2) in shaping the epistemic dispositions of the reader, 3) as a vehicle through which to apply imaginative hypotheses, 4) about ethical propositions, and 5) about aspects of the extraliterary world. Peels contends that, for category 1, the intra-literary knowledge of a literature’s plot, characters, language systems, and world are epistemically valuable because they “are important cultural products and expressions of humanity,” and thereby teach us about the extra-literary or “real” world (206). However, Peels does not argue that intra-literary knowledge is intrinsically valuable, or valuable regardless of what readers can infer about the extra-literary through it. In this essay, I contest this exception. I argue, with Te Hobbit as my case study, that due to its ability to induce pleasure, intrinsic intra-literary knowledge does have epistemic value, and in fact the same kind that Peels’ fve categories of literary knowledge do. Demonstrating the pleasure principle behind Peels’ categories of literary knowledge and matching it to the epistemic value of intrinsic intra-literary content, I lay a foundation for a hedonic utilitarian reimagination of literary epistemology.

Since at least as far back as Plato’s attacks against imitation, academics have debated whether literature has anything useful to teach us (Kasprisin 17). Although recent scholarship has largely returned to skepticism about the epistemic value—that is, the value of being known—of the literary work, many scholars agree that there are at least some valuable forms of knowledge literature can provide, from historical and scientifc facts to desirable character qualities like empathy and even to ethical values (Sevänen 48). For example, take Tolkien’s Te Hobbit (1937), which seems to provide all three of these types of knowledge. Te language of Tolkien’s writing can teach us something about the literary style of English authors post World War I. We can learn empathy by feeling for Gollum, whose obsession with the One Ring has driven him to madness. And Bilbo’s leaving the Shire for a dangerous but ultimately fulflling quest might inform us that there is value in going on unexpected journeys, because we may transform our lives for the better. Notice, however, that each of these types of knowledge, as well as others commonly accepted by literary epistemologists, all relate to the extra-literary world, which is to say, the “real world” separate from the internal aspects of the literature. True, Bilbo’s journey is part of the world of Te Hobbit, and therefore is intra-literary content. However, in each of the three aforementioned cases of knowledge, the epistemic value of that content relates to what we can know about the extra-literary world. But what about the epistemic value of the intrinsic intra-literary world? By this term I mean the fctional world itself, irrespective of whatever it can teach us about the external world. If we treat the work of fction as a vacuum in which no knowledge can be extrapolated about the world in which it was written, is there any good reason to know about it? Plot being one aspect of intra-literary content, for instance, in this vacuum, is the plot of Te Hobbit epistemically valuable? In this essay, I will respond to literary epistemologist Rik Peels, a scholar who afrms the epistemic value of several categories of literary knowledge but refrains from defending the epistemic value of the intrinsic intra-literary. Peels represents a much larger contemporary tradition of interpreting the epistemic value of literature positively, including scholars like Paul Hirst, who argued that literature could teach propositional knowledge, and Dorothy Walsh, who held that literature could teach us what it “feels like” to live in various existential contexts (Kasprisin 18). Egan focuses on the value of literary thought experiments (139). Carr expresses the moral educational value of literature (1). I agree with Peels, and thus many of these other scholars, except to the extent that he excludes the epistemic value of the intrinsic intra-literary. What I aim to demonstrate is that his grounds for accepting the epistemic value of his fve categories also, in fact, support the notion that intrinsic intra-literary content is epistemically valuable. In Peels’ analytic essay on the types and value of literary epistemology, “How Literature Delivers Knowledge and Understanding,” he contends that literature teaches fve valuable categories of knowledge: 1) relating to the work and world of said literature, 2) in shaping the epistemic dispositions of the reader, 3) as a vehicle through which to apply imaginative hypotheses, 4) about ethical propositions, and 5) about aspects of the extraliterary world. Tese categories, while perhaps not comprehensive, account for much of the valuable knowledge acquired through literature. However, Peels refrains from defending the intra-literary content of literature, including narrative aspects like plot, character, and setting, except to the extent that it refers to the extra-literary world, the knowledge of which is valuable. Tus, Peels implies that the intra-literary is only epistemically valuable when it informs readers about the extraliterary. Intrinsic intra-literary value, in other words, might exist at the aesthetic level, but not at the epistemic level, and is therefore separate from the other categories in Peels’ list. However, an analysis of how the knowledge of each of these categories is valuable defeats the very dismissal of the epistemic value of intrinsic intra-literary knowledge. For the epistemic value of each of Peels’ fve categories hinges on the ultimate and superior value of pleasure,

the same as the aesthetic dimension. Tus, whereas Peels refrains from acknowledging that intrinsic intra-literary knowledge is more than aesthetically valuable while maintaining that categories 1-5 are epistemically valuable, I argue that both intrinsic intra-literary knowledge and categories 1-5 are epistemically valuable due to a shared and superior value based in pleasure. Terefore, Peels’ defense of his fve categories rests upon the same grounds on which we can afrm the epistemic value of the intrinsic intra-literary content of literature, including Te Hobbit. Te Hobbit as a Case Study and Tolkien’s Literary Epistemology My decision to, if not outright analyze Te Hobbit in light of my thesis, include examples from it in support thereof, stems partly from justifcations J.R.R. Tolkien himself established regarding the epistemic value of fantasy literature. In his 1939 lecture “On Fairy Stories,” Tolkien set out to explain and legitimize his own writing within the then burgeoning literary genre of fantasy, which would come to include such works as Te Hobbit and its sequel, Te Lord of the Rings. To do so, in the lecture he outlines some of the defnitive qualities of fairy stories. Among these are that the story must be presented as if “true,” or part of a factual rather than fctional world. Fairy stories, he writes, “cannot tolerate any frame or machinery suggesting that the whole story in which they occur is a fgment or illusion” (Tolkien, “Fairy Stories”). And in fact, Tolkien iterates that there is no confict between reason—the faculty through which we gain and apply knowledge—and the writing and consumption of fantasy literature. Tolkien writes that fantasy does not “destroy or even insult Reason; and it does not either blunt the appetite for, nor obscure the perception of, scientifc verity. On the contrary. Te keener and the clearer is the reason, the better fantasy will it make” (“Fairy Stories”). Te writer becomes what Tolkien dubs a “Sub-Creator,” one who “makes in [his] measure and his derivative mode . . . because [he is] made . . . in the image and likeness of a Maker” (“Fairy Stories”). Essentially, the writer of fantasy, including Tolkien himself, embodies the role of a creator who derives narrative aspects from the world in which he, himself, was created. Religious language aside, Tolkien is undoubtedly correct here. Te work of fantasy, like, I would argue, any work of literature, is derived from knowledge and experiences of the extraliterary world. Tus, as its product, fantasy literature teaches us not only about itself—its intraliterary world—but about the extra-literary world. For this reason, Te Hobbit serves as an excellent case study for both the application of Peels’ fve categories and my own theory about the epistemic value of intrinsic intra-literary content. Terefore, whereas in his essay Peels cites Tomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles and Edith Wharton’s Summer as case studies, I draw my own examples from Te Hobbit. Te Aesthetic Hedonism of the Intrinsic Intra-Literary Peels, without defending the epistemic value of the intrinsic intra-literary, notes that several other epistemologists at least afrm its aesthetic value (206). Tis notion seems correct, for, even if denied that knowing the plot of Te Hobbit were epistemically valuable, the experience of said plot has aesthetic, or artistic value. Te majority of aesthetic philosophers today subscribe to one form or another of aesthetic hedonism in terms of providing the grounds for assessing the aesthetic value of an artwork. Servaas van der Berg writes that aesthetic hedonism is the theory that the aesthetic value of an artwork depends on its ability to induce pleasure, that an artwork has aesthetic value if it is hedonic or pleasurable in some way (1). In his Critique of Judgment, Kant posits a version of aesthetic hedonism in which a special kind of pleasure, “aesthetic pleasure,” characterizes the valuation of art (130). Tis kind of pleasure, he says, is “disinterested” because the subject, “indiferent as regards the being of an object, compares its character with the feeling of pleasure and pain.” (Kant 140). What

this disinterestedness indicates is that aesthetic pleasure comes from pure appreciation of the artwork rather than desire for it in any way. In all cases, aesthetic hedonists hold that the aesthetic dimension ultimately reduces to pleasure, the means of beauty instrumental to the attaining the ends of pleasure. Tere are, however, several competing theories within the feld of aesthetics and a revival of attempts to challenge the predominance of aesthetic hedonism. One criticism leveled against the theory asks, “Is the artwork beautiful because it is pleasurable or is the artwork pleasurable because it is beautiful?” Aesthetic hedonist Rafael de Clercq has responded in a somewhat popular fashion that “experiences of beauty are experiences in which it appears that something is beautiful, and that such experiences are identical to experiences of aesthetic pleasure” (Abstract). He means that there is no distinction between beauty and aesthetic pleasure; therefore one need not “follow” the other. But even the objection he’s responding to strikes me as somewhat lackluster because it presumes that beauty is the single aesthetic quality linked to pleasure even though one can think of innumerable works wherein qualities like tragedy and horror—not beauty or beauty alone—evoke the sublimity of pleasure. Ten again, opponents of aesthetic hedonism often cite this fact, that tragedy, horror, and other “unhappy” genres or artistic styles do not always evoke simple pleasure but often at least a degree of pain. Kant replies by defning the “Sublime,” an aesthetic judgment which “pleases in [itself ]” but which “is incompatible with charms” (204). In encounters with the Sublime, “the mind is not merely attracted by the object but is ever being alternately repelled,” inducing what Kant terms “negative pleasure,” as opposed to the positive pleasure of the Beautiful (205). Te contemporary aesthetic hedonist typically appeals to the derivative concept of mixed pleasure, in which an ultimately pleasurable aesthetic experience can include some aspects of displeasure. “[Aesthetic hedonism] is perfectly compatible,” writes de Clercq, “with the idea that appreciating the beauty of a modernist, or a tragic, work may also involve a certain amount of displeasure” (122). For the purposes of this essay, and despite the ongoing debate surrounding the prevalence of aesthetic hedonism within aesthetic studies, let us accept pleasure as the lens through which to account for the value of art, including the aesthetic value of fction and its many components. Te aesthetic value of the intrinsic intra-literary is that it is pleasurable. For example, the aesthetic value of the plot of Te Hobbit is that it makes for a pleasurable reading experience. A crucial point is that, to experience the aesthetic dimension via pleasure, a certain cognizance is required, and this cognizance includes at least some knowledge about the artwork in question. To experience the aesthetic dimension, one must also appeal to the epistemic one. To experience the plot of Te Hobbit and take pleasure in (enjoy) it, one must know what it is about. To enjoy Bilbo and Gollum’s game of riddles, one must have fundamental knowledge, including the fact that this event occurred within the text, of the language used in crafting the encounter (dialogue and narration), et cetera. Te pleasure attained from art cannot be enjoyed completely unknowingly, in the way that one could be stimulated by a pleasant drug without knowing he has ingested it. It is enjoyed with a degree of knowledge about the art itself. What this all amounts to is that the aesthetic value of the intrinsic intra-literary requires knowledge, or engagement with the epistemic dimension, too. Knowledge of Te Hobbit’s “Riddles in the Dark” chapter allow one to experience it at the aesthetic level, attaining pleasure. Terefore, to know about the chapter is pleasurable because, in a sense, it opens up the aesthetic dimension; readers can now appreciate its sublimity (whether beautiful or of whatever other aesthetic qualities). I could stop here and simply declare that the intrinsic intra-literary has epistemic value because it is “good” to know it on the basis that it is pleasurable, pleasure being the value in question. However, it is possible that Peels or others would object that, even if the intrinsic

intra-literary has some epistemic value, it is not of the type or quality that characterizes the fve categories of knowledge listed in his article. It could be said that all I have done is describe the aesthetic dimension in more detail by linking it trivially to the epistemic one. Analyzing and Updating Peels’ Epistemic List To combat this rebuttal, we must assess whether the epistemic value of each of Peels’ fve categories of literary knowledge also ultimately hinges on pleasure. For, if these categories are epistemically valuable because they are pleasurable, then they are valuable on the same grounds that we could consider the intrinsic intra-literary to be valuable. Tus, the exclusion of the intrinsic intra-literary as an epistemically valuable category would be hypocrisy. True enough, after scrutinizing Peels’ categories of literary epistemology, it becomes clear that each afrms the pleasure utility of knowledge itself. In other words, each category of knowledge that Peels calls epistemically valuable ultimately hinges on the cultivation and experience of pleasure. Tis is not a conclusion Peels explicitly draws himself, but it does account for why we should deem the types of literary knowledge he catalogues epistemically valuable. Let us summarize and analyze each of Peels’ categories in turn: First, Peels defends intra-literary knowledge as a cultural product. To reiterate, this means that he defends knowledge of the internal world of literature, including such aspects as plot, characters, language systems, and setting, on the basis that they “are important cultural products and expressions of humanity,” (206). Peels, distinguishing literary epistemic value from its aesthetic value, does not challenge writers who assert that intra-literary content lacks intrinsic epistemic value, only arguing that internal literary aspects “reveal something pivotal about our human identity and about what we value” (207). For Peels, the value of the knowledge of the internal elements of a literary text are what they can teach readers about the extra-literary, external world, including authorial biography and intention, facts and descriptions of realworld phenomena, and the historical situation in which the literature was written (207-208). Above all, they inform readers of the value systems and identities surrounding the fgures who lived in said historical situation and who may or may not have contributed to the production of the literature. Peels seems to take for granted that this kind of intra-literary knowledge is valuable. “Literary facts,” he writes, “that one learns as one studies literature are very often important facts,” because “they are part of the reality we live in” (206). It is not entirely clear what Peels means by “important,” except that Peels, himself, values the information about the extraliterary world that we can extract from literature. My contention is that, regardless of how we interpret Peels’ valuation of “literary facts,” the value must relate either directly or indirectly to pleasure. Te route could very well be direct. Te reader, consuming intra-literary content as a cultural product and extrapolating knowledge about the extra-literary world, may, as a quote commonly attributed to Da Vinci says, fnd that “the noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.” Take learning about the phonetic quality of the Cockney accent through the dialectically rendered dialogues of the three trolls who capture Torin Oakenshield’s company. Te following snippet of dialogue comes from the troll William: Yer can’t expect folk to stop here for ever just to be et by you and Bert. You’ve et a village and a half between yer, since we come down from the mountains. How much more d’yer want? And time’s been up our way, when yer’d have said ’thank yer Bill’ for a nice bit o’ fat valley mutton like what this is. (Tolkien, Hobbit 55) One can learn about the Cockney pronunciation, diction, syntax, and more from this passage alone. And acquiring this information, a product of Tolkien’s nationality, prejudices,

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writing style, and other extra-literary factors, very well can, in itself, prove pleasurable.1 Te other possibility is that the epistemic value of the intra-literary as a cultural product comes from indirect pleasure. In this version, the direct pleasure of acquiring information about the Cockney dialect through Te Hobbit is unimportant. What remains important, however, is how the acquisition of this knowledge informs the latent behavior of the reader toward pleasurable outcomes. Tere are a multitude of ways one could behave, having learned about Cockney, that would lead to greater pleasure for himself or others. He could use his knowledge to better understand people with that dialect and have friendlier interactions with them. He could educate others about his discoveries. He could learn how to speak the dialect in a play, entertaining others. Imagination knows no limits here. Te point is, learning about Cockney through Te Hobbit could help make a more pleasurable world. Tus, rather by direct or indirect means, the epistemic value of Peels’ frst category of literary knowledge—intraliterary knowledge as a cultural product—hinges upon pleasure. Te second category of literary knowledge featured in Peels’ essay regards shaping the epistemic dispositions of the reader. Peels also calls these “intellectual virtues.” Among them are “open-mindedness, empathy, love of knowledge, intellectual autonomy, epistemic humility, imagination, and inquisitiveness” (Peels 208). Tis category is not so much a “know-that,” as in knowing that the Cockney dialect includes th-fronting2 , but a “know-how,” as in knowing how to be empathetic. Know-that refers to “a relation between a thinker and a proposition,” a sort of assent to the truth-value of a proposition, whereas know-how has to do with being able to accomplish something (Stanley and Williamson 411). Te know-how, know-that distinction, famously articulated by philosopher Gilbert Ryle, is now widely accepted by mainstream academic epistemologists (Stanley and Williamson 411). Of course, Peels iterates that reading literature does not necessarily lead to the cultivation of intellectual virtues but that it can and stresses the important role that imagination plays in this process (209). Consider, again, empathy, a disposition that has enjoyed a long history of discussion within the literary community.3 One could develop a greater degree of empathy through the imaginative process of putting oneself in Bilbo’s position when he experiences the death of his friend, Torin: Bilbo turned away, and he went by himself, and sat alone wrapped in a blanket, and, whether you believe it or not, he wept until his eyes were red and his voice was hoarse. He was a kindly little soul. Indeed it was long before he had the heart to make a joke again. (Tolkien, Hobbit 235) By asking what it would be like to be Bilbo in this situation, one can develop empathy that extends to extra-literary applications. Te same could be said of any of the intellectual virtues Peels mentions. One could learn how to be inquisitive, for example, by exploring Tolkien’s rich fantasy world and yearning to delve deeper into the lore. I will readily admit, before proceeding, that Peels has not provided an exhaustive list of these virtues, but I doubt there are any beyond his list for which pleasure is not the ultimate value. I see no reason that having these virtues would be valuable in a vacuum, devoid of the external consequences of having them. Instead, it is valuable to know how to be empathetic, or inquisitive, or imaginative thanks to literature because of the positive outcomes such dispositions generate 1

2 3

Tis kind of direct pleasure could apply to learning anything, including things related to Peels’ other four categories. For example, learning an ethical proposition from a work of literature (category 4) could feel pleasurable regardless of how one applies that proposition in real life. I only describe it at length here due to uncertainty about why Peels values intra-literary knowledge as a cultural product to begin with. T-fronting is the spoken replacement of the phonemes corresponding to the English “th” with either [f ] or [v] (Schleef and Ramsammy 25). See, for example, Suzanne Keen’s 2006 article, “A Teory of Narrative Empathy.”

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in our world. Someone who is empathetic is more likely to generate pleasurable outcomes for himself and others than someone unempathetic. For instance, empathy helps people relate to one another’s struggles and either provide emotional support or assistance alleviating said struggles. Terefore, like category 1, category 2 also hinges on the utility of pleasure to justify the epistemic value of literature. After the section on epistemic dispositions, the third category of Peels’ list relates to the application of thought experiments via literature, which he terms the “invitation to apply hypotheses.” Peels says: . . . fction can provide hypotheses that may very well be true about the real world as well, even though they are made concerning an imaginary world. Given the many resemblances with the real world, the reader is invited to consider whether this also works out for his or her own world. (212) I take Peels to mean that the literary world consists of a particular setting and situation in which events, initiated by characters or outside forces, yield corresponding consequences. Trough this cause and efect, readers may consider whether a similar relationship does or could exist in the extra-literary world. Tis is a position for which Peels has received a great deal of support from other literary epistemologists. David Egan points out that many philosophers question the diferentiation between fction and thought experiments in the frst place. “[Some philosophers],” he writes, “[go] so far as to say that works of literary fction are a species of thought experiment” (Egan 139). Whether fction and thought experiments are distinct in the technical sense, it does seem that Peels’ claim is reasonable. Here is an example, taken from Te Hobbit, that illumines this concept. In Te Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins is at frst quite reluctant to take up the mantle of the quest laid before him by the wizard Gandalf and his company of thirteen dwarves. For the Bagginses are well known “because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected” (Tolkien, Hobbit 31). When frst interrogated by Gandalf, Bilbo calls adventures “Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things” and insists that hobbits “are plain quiet folk and have no use for [them]” (Tolkien, Hobbit 33). Yet, by facing up to this prejudice and trepidation, at the conclusion of his fantastical journey, this is where we fnd Bilbo: He took to writing poetry and visiting the elves; and though many shook their heads and touched their foreheads and said “Poor old Baggins!” and though few believed any of his tales, he remained very happy to the end of his days, and those were extraordinarily long. (Tolkien, Hobbit 245) Bilbo’s adventure leads him to true happiness, happiness “to the end of his days,” leagues beyond the feeble, ignorant contentment of being a homebody. Te thought experiment one could apply to the extra-literary world, suggested by the text, thus yields the following result: Trying new things, even bold and risky ones, can lead people to greater happiness. Tis case make it clear what the epistemic value of literary thought experiments is—the attainment of more pleasurable outcomes in the extra-literary world. When one applies a thought experiment to literature, one does so in consideration of whether causal or initiating aspects in said literature afect desirable change. In the case of the example, the reader asks, “Does trying new things, even bold and risky ones, lead people to greater happiness?” By embarking on a bold and risky adventure, Bilbo is “trying a new thing,” and this is the causal or initiating aspect. Te change or efect is his attainment of greater happiness, which is a highly pleasurable outcome. Te Hobbit thus informs the reader toward trying new things in the extra-literary world to achieve a similar efect. Te reader accepts these thought experiments in the frst place to see what causes he can enact to achieve desired efects. Te epistemic value, in other words, of literary thought

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experiments relates to how readers apply causes analogous to those in the literature to achieve analogously pleasurable efects. On the other hand, the reader could also engage with a thought experiment in which intra-literary causes lead to undesirable, unpleasurable efects and thereby learn not to apply said causes in the extra-literary world. Peels himself refers to this when he mentions how one of the thought experiments suggested by Othello is that “jealousy can destroy what we hold most dear” (212). Either way, the epistemic value of literary thought experiments, as with categories 1 and 2, hinges on how readers can apply knowledge to the extra-literary world for pleasurable ends. Next, Peels’ fourth category refers to literature’s ability to teach normative propositional knowledge, including moral knowledge. He focuses on the moral aspect, claiming that literature either teaches moral propositions directly, in which moral propositions are explicitly written in the text, or indirectly, in which moral propositions are implied by the narrative content of the text (Peels 216). Although as controversial among literary scholars as any of the other epistemic categories in his list, Peels’ assertion here also has a long history of scholarly agreement. In his 1595 “Te Defence of Poesy,” Philip Sidney wrote that “no learning is so good as that which teaches and moves to virtue, and that none can both teach and move thereto so much as poesy” (“Defence of Poesy”). And modern scholars like David Carr posit that literature can deliver even more than just the propositional moral knowledge endorsed by Peels, including virtuous character qualities in the style of Aristotle’s virtue ethics (1). Let us stick to propositional knowledge, a kind of know-that, as in knowing that “X behavior is good/bad.” Tis category connects perhaps the most obviously with the pleasure principle I have established. We need only ask if the value of moral propositional knowledge is its practical application for the ends of attaining pleasure. As a form of consequentialism, and indeed, utilitarianism, this moral theory enjoys nearly as long a history as Peels’ own. Consequentialism means that ethical value, or the “good,” derives from the outcomes of actions. Utilitarianism, though multifarious in its manifestations by various philosophers, is at base a type of consequentialism in which goodness equates to attaining pleasure or happiness for the greatest number of people possible per outcome. Tis means that (most) forms of utilitarianism, such as those prescribed by philosophers Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, are hedonic, like aesthetic value (Lu 30). Referring to Mill, Lu explains the basics of utilitarianism as a moral system clearly: Mill (1863) believes that morality, like money, rights, and fame, has no value in itself. Te reason why people want to ask for these things is they are attracted by another purpose. Te existence of another purpose allows people to associate morality with happiness, interests, benefts, and so on. Terefore, morality is actually a means to obtain happiness, which is a bridge to achieve the purpose. (Lu 30) Te “purpose,” you will already have guessed, is pleasure. Against utilitarianism, the primary competing theories of morality are deontology, the most famous defender of which was Kant, and virtue ethics, generally founded on the writings of Aristotle. Basically, deontological theories posit that moral propositions are true regardless of outcomes; meanwhile virtue ethics focuses on cultivating ethical habits that make a person more virtuous (“Moral Teory”). Virtue ethics, however, being unconcerned with moral propositions themselves, is of little challenge to the application of utilitarianism to Peels’ category in the way that deontology could be. Pitting these latter theories against each other is a topic expansive enough for a paper of its own, and indeed, such an essay would be one of hundreds within the history of philosophy. Here I will simply demonstrate one example of how Peels’ valuation of moral propositional knowledge taught by literature relates to the pleasure principle, and in so doing briefy reopen the great debate surrounding consequentialism and deontology. A moral proposition implied by the narrative of Te Hobbit is that it is good to have

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mercy on the pitiful and the defenseless. Tis implication comes from the chapter “Riddles in the Dark,” at the conclusion of which Bilbo decides to be merciful to Gollum—despite his aggression—and spare his life while under the invisible disguise of the One Ring: Gollum had no sword. Gollum had not actually threatened to kill him, or tried to yet. And he was miserable, alone, lost. A sudden understanding, a pity mixed with horror, welled up in Bilbo’s heart: a glimpse of endless unmarked days without light or hope of betterment, hard stone, cold fsh, sneaking and whispering. (Tolkien, Hobbit 93) Utilitarianism provides a reasonable interpretation of why this moral proposition is good to know, and of why literature, once again, has something valuable to teach readers. Te proposition that it is good to be merciful to those who are downtrodden, pitiful, or defenseless is true because it minimizes sufering, which is to say, maximizes potential pleasure for oneself and said downtrodden, pitiful, or defenseless other. Tis leads to the most pleasurable outcome. By sparing Gollum, Bilbo neither brings further sufering upon the creature nor upon himself, whose conscience compels him to leave well enough alone. Deontologists, on the other hand, would have to demonstrate some non-consequential grounds for why the proposition in question is true. Tey have historically appealed to such grounds as God and rational maxims like Kant’s categorical imperative (“Moral Teory”). Without delving too far into these, sufce to say, I am skeptical that any such grounds succeed at proving a moral proposition to be “true” despite whatever efects they have on people’s lives or welfare. At the very least, even if accepted that some moral propositions are true in the deontological sense, pleasure as the basis of utilitarianism can evaluate them as well, explaining why they are “good” to know and thus put into practice. Alternately, if literature delivers a moral proposition that proves not to generate net pleasure when put into practice, utilitarianism can explain why this proposition is immoral. Either way, the proposition is validated as “good to know,” since it informs the reader about either how or how not to behave. I argue that moral propositional knowledge also plays a major role in the defnition of Peels’ ffth and fnal category of valuable literary knowledge, which he dubs “Providing Full Understanding of Aspects of Our World.” Tis is the most curious and vaguely defned category, one about which even Peels himself expresses unsurety. He repeatedly cites scholar John Gibson, who claims that literature delivers not only criterial understanding (roughly, category 1 of Peels’ list) but also axiological understanding. Axiological understanding regards why a set of extra-literary facts and values taught about by the literary text matters or what is at stake in understanding it (Peels 219). Piketty recalls this theory when describing how Jane Austen’s novels describe nineteenth-century class hierarchy and confict “with a verisimilitude and evocative power that no statistical or theoretical analysis can match” (qtd. in Erkki 48). But Peels does not fully accept this distinction of understanding, and nor do I. I contend, rather, that this category of literary knowledge is extraneous because it simply combines aforementioned categories. Citing Gibson again, Peels explains that “full understanding” occurs when the literary narrative gives “shape” or structure to a set of facts and values (218). I say this is a reiteration of category 1, which concerns facts about the culture in which the literature was produced, and category 4, which relates to moral propositions and value theory. Tus, recapitulating each of these categories, it seems that category 5 is a know-that category of knowledge that, once again, is epistemically valuable because it either includes knowledge that directly pleases the reader or indirectly pleases the reader and or others through the reader’s modifed social behavior. Conclusion: Implications for the Epistemic Value of Literature I have referred to the term “pleasure utility” or “pleasure principle” throughout the preceding section to indicate that each of the fve categories of epistemic value Peels lists are

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utilities for the attainment of pleasure, either for individual readers or for the others—the world—with whom they interact. In so doing, I have demonstrated the legitimacy of accepting the epistemic value of the intrinsic intra-literary. Te aesthetic experience of the intrinsic intraliterary includes the quaint but sophisticated society of the Shire, the quirky characteristics of Torin Oakenshield’s company, and the story of Bilbo’s journey from stubborn homebody to unexpected hero. To have this experience, at least something about these elements must be known. Tus, the literary epistemic dimension opens up the aesthetic one to attain the ends of a pleasurable reading experience, grounding the epistemic value of the intrinsic intra-literary in pleasure. Tis pleasure principle, indeed, also grounds the fve categories of valuable literary epistemic knowledge found in Peels’ list. Terefore, further literary epistemology should consider intrinsic intra-literary knowledge valuable as well. It should acknowledge that, yes, even if the world itself were swallowed up, along with all the crises to which we happily apply the knowledge we learn from our books, there would still be good reason to know the plot of Te Hobbit. Further, this pleasure utility has laid a simple groundwork for a reinterpretation of literature as a moral act per utilitarianism, a concept that past consequentialists have, for the most part, ignored. If we consider the value of literary knowledge and fnd it in pleasure, we must next ask ourselves the value of knowledge itself. Regardless of where such exploration takes us, it is clear that, on multiple levels, the value of reading literature is not merely aesthetic, not merely epistemic, but ethical as well. Good literature’s lower limit is pleasing the individual reader with knowledge, but its upper limits stretch into the realm of praxis, of making the lives of other people more pleasurable, perhaps even happier.

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Works Cited Carr, David. “Four Perspectives on the Value of Literature for Moral and Character Education.” Te Journal of Aesthetic Education, vol. 48, no. 4, 2014, pp. 1-16. JSTOR, https://doi. org/10.5406/jaesteduc.48.4.0001. Accessed 4 Apr. 2023. de Clercq, Rafael. “Aesthetic Pleasure Explained.” Te Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, vol. 77, no. 2, 2019, pp. 121-132. Wiley Online Library, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ doi/pdf/10.1111/jaac.12636. Accessed 21 Mar. 2023. Egan, David. “Literature and Tought Experiments.” Te Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, vol. 74, no. 2, 2016, pp. 139-150. Oxford Academic, https://doi.org/10.1111/ jaac.12270. Accessed 4 Apr. 2023. Kant, Immanuel. Critique of Judgment. Translated by J.H. Bernard, E-book, Macmillan and Co, 2015. Kasprisin, Lorraine. “Literature as a Way of Knowing: An Epistemological Justifcation for Literary Studies.” Journal of Aesthetic Education, vol. 21, no. 3, 1987, pp. 17–27. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3332867. Accessed 28 Mar. 2023. Keen, Suzanne. “A Teory of Narrative Empathy.” Narrative, vol. 14, no. 3, Oct. 2006, pp. 207-236. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/nar.2006.0015. Accessed 24 Apr. 2023. Lu, Xin Yuan. “Utilitarianism of Mill and Bentham: a comparative analysis.” Francis Academic Press, vol. 2, no. 9, 2019, pp. 30-35, DOI: 10.25236/FER.2019.020906. Accessed 4 Apr. 2023. “Moral Teory.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 27 Jun. 2022, https://plato. stanford.edu/entries/moraltheory/#:~:text=These%20theories%20can%20be%20 divided,theories%20that%20were%20not%20consequentialist. Accessed 24 Apr. 2023. Peels, Rik. “How Literature Delivers Knowledge and Understanding, Illustrated by Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles and Wharton’s Summer.” British Journal of Aesthetics, vol. 60, no. 2, 2020, pp. 199-222, DOI:10.1093/aesthj/ayz040. Accessed 3 Mar. 2023. Schleef, Erik, and Michael Ramsammy. “Labiodental Fronting of /θ/ in London and Edinburgh: a Cross-Dialectal Study.” English Language & Linguistics, vol. 17, no. 1, 2013, pp. 25–54. Cambridge University Press, doi:10.1017/S1360674312000317. Accessed 29 Mar. 2023. Sidney, Philip. “Te Defence of Poesy.” Poetry Foundation, 1595, https://www.poetryfoundation. org/articles/69375/the-defence-of-poesy. Accessed 14 Apr. 2023. Stanley, Jason, and Timothy Williamson. “Knowing How.” Te Journal of Philosophy, vol. 98, no. 8, 2001, pp. 411-444. Philosophy Documentation Center, https://doi. org/10.2307/2678403. Accessed 29 Mar. 2023. Sevänen, Erkki. “Modern Literature as a Form of Discourse and Knowledge of Society.” Sociologias, vol. 20, no. 48, pp. 48-85. ProQuest, DOI:10.1590/15174522-020004803. Accessed 4 Apr. 2023.

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Tolkien, J.R.R. Te Hobbit. Enhanced Edition, E-book, Mariner Books, 2012. ---. “On Fairy Stories.” Te University of Houston, 8 Mar. 1939, https://uh.edu/fdis/_taylordev/readings/tolkien.html. Accessed 28 Mar. 2023. Van der Berg, Servaas. “Aesthetic hedonism and its critics.” Philosophy Compass, vol. 15, no. 1, 2020, pp. 1-15. Wiley Online Library, https://doi.org/10.1111/phc3.12645. Accessed 21 Mar. 2023.

About the Author William Grey Cashwell ‘23 is a graduate of CNU who majored in English and Philosophy. At CNU, William was the president of Phi Sigma Tau, the International Philosophy Honor Society, and conducted research on Plato with Dr. Elizabeth Jelinek. In fall 2023, William will begin a two-year MA in Philosophy program at American University.

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Sexualization in Adaptation: Te Infuence of the Male Gaze on Bram Stoker’s Dracula Jace Chanseman Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Sharon Rowley, Department of English

Abstract When a story is adapted from one form of media to another, it is natural for it to change. Te diferences in forms of media completely change not only how a story is experienced, but how it is structured, and thus a tale needs to be altered in order to ft its new form. Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula demonstrates this immensely, as it changed greatly when it was adapted by Francis Ford Coppola into the movie Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Te movie especially changes the characterizations of Dracula and Lucy, and several scenes become more sexual in nature. Dracula, in contrast to his strictly monstrous persona in the book, becomes a character who was originally human, with a clear backstory that explains why he became a vampire, humanizing him signifcantly and allowing the audience to relate to him. Lucy changes as well, becoming much more overt about her sexual desires on screen instead of them just being implied by the text. By applying Laura Mulvey’s theory about how women and men are portrayed in flm and Linda Hutcheon’s theory about how stories are adapted into diferent forms to these new aspects of the flm, Coppola’s intentions begin to become clear, and they show how he takes advantage of how men view flm to create both pleasure and horror in his adaptation. Te men see themselves in Dracula, feeling pleasure when Dracula pleasures himself. Tis, in turn, helps explain how adaptations are made, and the infuence of the male gaze in their making.

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Adaptations are almost always very diferent from the original story, regardless of how closely the original was followed. It’s only natural that change happens when a story is transmitted from one media to the next, as even when the story is almost entirely the same, the method of experiencing it is completely diferent. Alternatively, sometimes the adaptation needs to be changed signifcantly in order to function in its new format. Te latter is true for the novel Dracula, which experienced several changes, which were made with several motivations. Reading Bram Stoker’s Dracula and watching Francis Ford Coppola’s movie Bram Stoker’s Dracula through the lens of Laura Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze in flm and Linda Hutcheon’s A Teory of Adaptation reveals how there are patterns of heavy sexualization in golden-age Hollywood, and how those patterns are refected in the adaptation of the novel to the flm. More specifcally, by looking at how Dracula becomes more humanized in the flm, the increased sexualization of Lucy, and the way that Coppola manipulates the usage of male gaze throughout the flm, one can better understand how men view flm, and how those views shape how flm adaptations are made. To begin, it is necessary to understand how adaptations are similar and difer from the originals, and Hutcheon’s A Teory Adaptation goes into this in depth. Films, as a visual medium, need to rely on “message by images and relatively few words” (Hutcheon 1), as if there were a reliance on words, a flm would be no diferent than a book. As such, when a story is adapted from novel to flm, changes must be made, as “technical restraints of diferent media will inevitably highlight diferent aspects of that story” (Hutcheon 10). Essentially, due to the diferences in the mediums, novels, flms, and other media will focus on diferent parts of a story, either adding, removing, or changing pieces of a story in order to better ft the constraints of their particular medium. Tese changes are acceptable, though, and serve to give the adaptation its own unique identity. According to Hutcheon, “an adaptation is a derivation that is not derivative—a work that is second without being secondary” (Hutcheon 9). What this means is that adaptations are not beneath their originals, they stand side by side as two diferent versions of a story. One can prefer one over the other, but strictly speaking, one is simply a retelling of the other, a retelling that is unique in its choices and tale. Nowhere is this clearer in Coppola’s adaptation of Dracula than the portrayal of Dracula himself. In Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula is always portrayed as a monster, regardless of what form he takes. At the beginning, when Jonathan is at Dracula’s castle in Transylvania, he is portrayed as almost human, but with unsettling diferences. Jonathan notes Dracula’s “cruel-looking mouth,” his “peculiarly sharp white teeth,” his “extremely pointed” ears, and, Jonathan noting as particularly strange, the “hairs in the centre of [Dracula’s] palm” (Stoker 27). Later, when Dracula feeds on Lucy for the frst time, he is described simply as “something long and black, bending over the half-reclining white fgure” (Stoker 95). Te white fgure is Lucy, and the black, Dracula over her body, feeding on her blood. He is only a monster, his humanity is warped and his desire for blood is lethal, later causing the death of Lucy, turning her into a vampire (Stoker 157). However, in Coppola’s flm, Dracula is changed utterly. While he is a monster for much of the flm, he is also shown to still have humanity within him. He’s shown in the introduction of the movie to have originally been a human who became a vampire after his wife committed suicide, thinking him dead, damning her to hell despite Dracula’s many contributions towards the church (Coppola 4:30). He is not just a monster, but also a man stricken by grief and rage. A man who was betrayed by the forces he once believed in, with clear reasons for his fall to evil. A little later in the flm, when Jonathan meets Dracula, he appears similar to his description in the book. He is humanoid, but with a hairstyle, costume, and attitude that is unsettling and unfamiliar towards the audience, complete with the novel Dracula’s hairy palms (Coppola 16:20). Centuries after his initial transformation, Dracula has become a monster, just like the

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one in Dracula. He is no longer the man he once was, and the visual change shows this. However, he does not stay this way. After drinking Lucy’s blood, Dracula is able to become fully human once more, for a time, and in this form, he pursues Mina, who looks just like his deceased wife (Coppola 45:40). Troughout the flm, Dracula is shifting between detestable monster to relatable human, and while these changes feel quite diferent from the original novel, they are more faithful to the story than one would assume at frst glance. Despite being labeled as a villain in the original novel, Dracula’s perspective is never actually known, as noted by Carol Senf, in her article “Dracula: Te Unseen Face in the Mirror.” Dracula is “never seen objectively and never permitted to speak for himself while his actions are recorded by people who have determined to destroy him” (Senf 477). He’s never given a chapter in the story dedicated to his actions, and the unreliability of the narrators serve to sweep aside the supposed Good vs. Evil story that Dracula appears to be telling at frst glance. Dracula’s existence as an “internal, not an external, threat” (Senf 481) further proves this point, as Dracula “cannot infuence a human being without their consent” (Senf 481) since he must frst be invited into a home before being able to enter it. While Dracula appears to set up Dracula as a monster, it is through the lens of unreliable narrators, and as such, it is difcult to conclude that Dracula is evil without hearing his own perspective. With this in mind, Dracula’s characterization in the flm begins to make more sense. Just like Senf, who was the frst to do so, Coppola determined that Dracula himself needed a voice, and as such, decided to give him one, by granting him a backstory and clear motivations. He does not cease his evil acts, nor does he cease being a monster, but that monster has become signifcantly more human. According to Hutcheon, “adapters are frst interpreters and then creators” (Hutcheon 18). Tey fnd their own meaning in the story and then bring that meaning to their adaptation, and a more humanized Dracula is Coppola’s interpretation of the character. Dracula is not the only character who changes heavily in the flm, however. Lucy also appears to change drastically, transforming from a girl who simply caught the eye of three diferent men to one who actively sought them out. In the novel, Lucy merely tells Mina that she received three diferent proposals, and decided to accept one of them (Stoker 63). She neatly turned the other two men down, feeling sorry for them. However, as Phyllis Roth indicates in her essay “Suddenly Sexual Women in Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” Lucy undergoes a change when she is eventually transformed into a vampire, suddenly being “allowed to be ‘voluptuous’” (Roth 545) and sexual. Roth stipulates that not only is vampirism “equivalent to sexuality,” it also is “a disguise for greatly desired and equally strongly feared fantasies” (Roth 546), indicating that Lucy’s sudden fall to sexualization was not actually a fall at all, and instead her own repressed desires. However, as a vampire, Lucy must be slain, and slain she is when Van Helsing, Holmwood, Seward, and Morris stake her heart and decapitate her midway through the novel (Stoker 204-205). As Franco Moretti indicates in his essay “A Capital Dracula,” she is punished because she is the only character to express desire (Moretti 516), and is killed for it. Te other characters resist the temptations of the fesh, most notably seen with Mina and Harker, who were the only two characters to get fully married, and who only did so to allow Harker to forget his pains, rather than indulge in pleasure (Moretti 516). Lucy becomes a vampire and is slain in order to both represent her sexual desire, and punish her for it. Tis interpretation of Lucy’s character remains in Coppola’s flm, but it is much more overt. Instead of just being the recipient of three proposals, she is shown to actively be leading all three men on, firting with them one by one in the same room (Coppola 21:42). She also showcases a much more sexual persona, shown being interested in sexual acts and claiming to dream about doing them (Coppola 20:27). Her desire is left unrepressed, and it’s out on the forefront for all to see. Lucy’s sudden overt desire is supported by Hutcheon, especially when considering her claim that flm “has little tolerance for complexity or irony or tergiversations”

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(Hutcheon 1). Cuts need to be made for the story to make sense, and to fully adapt the novel to flm it must be “made suitable” (Hutcheon 7) for its audience. Films are inherently more fast-paced than novels. One can spend as long as they need on the lines of a novel, but movies drag the audience along at their own pace, eliminating the ability to fully ruminate on what is occurring in the story. With careful reading, a casual reader can feasibly come to the same conclusion as Roth, that Lucy’s vampirism is a metaphor for her sexual desire, but a flm viewer does not have that same luxury, so if Coppola desires his audience to come to the same conclusion about Lucy, he must present her diferently. Tus, the sexual Lucy is born. Lucy’s changes, as well as Dracula’s were not only made for the simple desire of making implied truths of the novel more obvious, though. Tey are also a product of Coppola’s desire to utilize the male gaze in his storytelling. To understand that gaze, and how Coppola evokes desire in his audience to later bring horror, it is necessary to frst understand Laura Mulvey’s theories on how the male gaze operates in flm. According to Mulvey, women in flm can serve two purposes, both linked to each other. Te frst, is where “man can live out his fantasies and obsessions through linguistic command by imposing them on the silent image of woman still tied to her place as bearer, not maker, of meaning” (Mulvey 668), with a focus on giving women a sense of “to-be-looked-at-ness” (Mulvey 670). Tis stems from a sense of power, where men hold the power to objectify women and derive pleasure in that objectifcation. Te second, though, is the opposite, where women imply “a threat of castration and hence unpleasure,” threatening “to evoke the anxiety it originally signifed” (Mulvey 672). Essentially, sexualized women can evoke both positive and negative emotions in the men who objectify them, and this dichotomy is used in Coppola’s adaptation constantly. Tat is not to say that men in flm do not also play a role in Mulvey’s theories on flm. Tey are not objectifed, but instead meant to act as “a main controlling fgure with whom the spectator can identify,” (Mulvey 671), acting as a surrogate for the audience and an agent with which to further objectify the women. Tey serve as ideal fgures for male spectators to project themselves onto in order to derive visual pleasure. Essentially, when the men on screen are objectifying the women, the male spectators feel pleasure both from objectifying the women themselves as well as from identifying with the men, who are also feeling pleasure from the objectifcation. In Coppola’s flm, the role of surrogate is most commonly played by Dracula himself, which further serves to explain the changes to his character. As mentioned prior, Dracula is heavily humanized in the flm, having a backstory and clear desire. He is shown to lust for Mina, and pursues her from the middle of the flm onward, frst meeting her as she walks the streets of the city (Coppola 47:10). He pressures her, showing his power over her and control of the situation, but she accepts his invitations and is shown to reciprocate his feelings (Coppola 1:10:00) to prevent the audience from feeling too uncomfortable with Dracula’s abuse of power. Eventually, this culminates in an incredibly sexual scene between Mina and Dracula, where Mina begs him to turn her into a vampire (Coppola 1:38:50). Te focus is mostly on Mina and what Dracula is doing to her, objectifying her by putting her into a position where Dracula, and thus the audience, holds power over her, clutching her in his arms and holding her by the head. Despite her agency in the situation, where she asks Dracula to turn her into a vampire, at the end of the day, Dracula is the one who gets the fnal say of the matter, showcasing his power as he instructs her to drink from his breast, pulling her away, then pulling her back towards him (Coppola 1:40:45). Mina is to be looked at, and Dracula, and thus the audience, is to look at her. Tis is not the only time that Dracula acts as a powerful observer. Earlier in the flm, after Lucy receives her proposals, she exclaims with joy that she has been proposed to, and runs with Mina in the rain. However, as they dance and kiss, they are unaware of Dracula observing them with his mystical powers (Coppola 38:20). He once again acts as objectifer, and while in this

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moment, Dracula is not the handsome human that he once was, in this scene, his purpose and the audience’s align: to project their own sexual fantasies onto Mina and Lucy. Tese focuses on sexuality are because of Coppola’s desire to use the nature of flm to the fullest. Knowing Hutcheon’s claims that the limitations of technology shape an adaptation, it is also safe to assume that the strengths of technology will also shape those adaptations. When applying Mulvey’s claims that women and flm can create pleasure on top of that, it becomes clear that Coppola’s adaptation of the characters is done to exploit how men objectify women to create pleasure. However, pleasure is not the only thing that Coppola seeks to create. At the end of the day, Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a horror flm, based on a horror story, so Coppola also needs an outlet to create unease. One of the ways he does this is by exploiting the male gaze in a diferent way: he sets up pleasure, only to rip it away in the next moment. Te frst case of this occurring is with Jonathan Harker, Mina’s fancé, while he is trapped in Dracula’s castle. In the book, Jonathan is almost bitten by three voluptuous vampire women, who seem to promise sexual gratifcation but are stopped by Dracula before they harm him (Stoker 47). He believes that he will receive pleasure, and instead is threatened with injury, but no physical harm befalls him. Tis is remarkably diferent from the portrayal of the scene in the movie. In the flm, the sequence of events is similar, but the presentation and intensity are remarkably diferent. Jonathan is lured by the women, when the frst of them appears between his legs, half naked (Coppola 32:45). As the rest of the women begin to emerge, they and Jonathan press together. Te women undress Jonathan and for a moment, the objectifcation of the women is prominent, as the camera focuses on their naked bodies rubbing against Jonathan (Coppola 33:30). However, as they unbutton his pants, the illusion is broken, and the women bite down on him, torturing him for the next minute of flm (Coppola 33:45). Mulvey’s theory applies perfectly to this scene, as the women represent both sexual desire and sexual unease. Especially given Coppola’s decision to have the women attack as soon as they unbutton his pants, as once they start to attack, the three vampire women begin to represent the fear of castration, creating an extreme sense of fear and unease in both Jonathan and the audience. By frst promising pleasure and delivering pain, Coppola creates a sense of horror in the audience because of the harsh contrast. Te male gaze is exploited, with the audience believing they have control over the situation, that the vampire women are acting for their pleasure, but the illusion is soon broken and all that is left is a feeling of helplessness as Jonathan is ravaged relentlessly. When Hutcheon’s theory is applied to these two scenes, the changes begin to make sense. As a text, the audience’s engagement comes “in the realm of imagination” (Hutcheon 23), as the reader paints the scenes described in the text in their minds. Te reader can place themselves in Jonathan’s shoes, and feel the looming threat of the vampire women so clearly after they promise pleasure. However, flm requires the audience to engage in the “realm of direct perception” (Hutcheon 23), where the audience does not have the luxury of slowly imagining the scene, but are forced to watch from an outsider’s perspective. Terefore, to evoke the same emotions, Coppola could not have made the scene as short as it was in the novel, and thus had to both extend the duration and intensity to get the same feeling of horror across. Another example of Coppola exploiting the male gaze, albeit in a diferent fashion, is when Dracula frst mesmerizes Lucy. In the novel, Dracula rarely shows up visibly, instead tending to appear either from a distance, or out of view from the narrators, like how he is only seen as a long, black shape hovering over Lucy by Mina before he disappears from view (Stoker 95). In the flm, though, the scene begins with a slow sequence featuring Lucy in a sexualized outft, as the camera pans at diferent angles, including a shot of her almost revealing her genitals underneath her dress as she walks (Coppola 41:27). Tese shots create a sense of objectifcation, that Coppola immediately betrays once Mina fnds Lucy being ravaged by a

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monstrous Dracula (Coppola 42:10). By allowing the audience time to fantasize about Lucy and her sexualization, Coppola is able to immediately shatter their fantasies with the sudden appearance of the monstrosity that is Dracula, but also retain a sense of pleasure. As Moretti states, “Dracula, then, liberates and exalts sexual desire. And this desire attracts but—at the same time—frightens,” (Moretti 516). Te fear in the contrast between fantasy and reality permeates the scene, along with the unease that comes because the only spectator to the event, Mina, lacks a penis. Tis disturbs the male audience, as they are left without a clear surrogate to project themselves onto for their own gratifcation, as Dracula is far too monstrous, and both Mina and Lucy are female. However, as the scene still starkly focuses on Lucy’s sexualization, with her moans flling the air as her red dress and pale skin allow her to stand out amongst the dull tones of her surroundings and Dracula, there is still a sense of eroticism. With this, Coppola adapts the scene from the novel to both abuse the male gaze to create horror, but still imbue a sense of erotic fascination with the female form, and does so in a way that only flm can truly emulate. Essentially, many characters and scenes undergo heavy changes when Coppola adapted Bram Stoker’s novel into flm. However, these changes can be understood when Hutcheon’s theories of adaptation and Mulvey’s theories of female sexualization in flm are applied to said scenes. Dracula turns from monster to sexual surrogate, Lucy’s hidden sexual desires become more overt, and several scenes are made more sexual in nature. By doing this, over the course of the flm, the male gaze is exploited to evoke both pleasure and fear in the audience, to allow Coppola to tie the story together as a flm, not just a retelling of a novel.

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Works Cited Coppola, Francis, writer and director. Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Sony Pictures, 1992. Hutcheon, Linda. A Teory of Adaptation. 2nd ed, Routledge, 2013. Moretti, Franco. “A Capital Dracula.” Dracula. W. W. Norton & Company Inc., 2022, pp. 508-521. Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” Te Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016, pp. 667-675 Roth, Phyllis. “Suddenly Sexual Women in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” Dracula. W. W. Norton & Company Inc., 2022, pp. 542-553. Senf, Carol. “Dracula: Te Unseen Face in the Mirror.” Dracula. W. W. Norton & Company Inc., 2022, pp. 474-484. Stoker, Bram. Dracula. W. W. Norton & Company Inc., 2022.

About the Author Jace Chanesman is part of the class of 2025, majoring in English with plans to participate in the Master of Arts in Teaching Program after graduation to eventually become a high school English teacher. Outside of his studies, he has been a dedicated member of the Trebled Youth a cappella group and the Ballroom Dance Society at CNU for two school years, and has worked as a math tutor at CNU’s Center for Student Success for two semesters.

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Te Tuskegee syphilis study Lauren Colarossi Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Sara Black, Department of History

Abstract From 1932-1972, the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) investigated and examined the efects of untreated syphilis in Black men, conducted in the rural outskirts of Macon County, Alabama. Te USPHS had no intentions of treating these men, as they recorded participants suferings and lied to the participants about their diagnosis. Previous historical analyses have focused on the medical facts and medical professionals involved in this event, promoting, and popularizing their perspectives. However, to better understand those impacted by the study, primary source analysis and comparisons between white and black publications of immediate study reactions help to uncover the totality of the event. Reframing the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and allowing survivors the opportunity to tell their story suggests the constant unfolding of American history to incorporate hidden and often untold histories. Survivor accounts from Tuskegee better explain the perspective as a Black American and point to the more modern hesitancy of COVID-19 vaccinations.

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Te Tuskegee syphilis study can be summarized by the following quotation: “Te project came to be known almost like genocide; a literal death sentence was cast on some of those people.”1 Although quite vivid, the quotation provides insight into the serious implications of the Tuskegee syphilis study and how many individuals were afected, some more than others, resulting in death or medical complications. It appears this event should be properly known and acknowledged by most of American society, however the opposite realization can be concluded. Tis event is not emphasized or taught to most individuals, so there is a lack of background knowledge and little factual basis for individuals to analyze the situation. When asking individuals what the Tuskegee syphilis study was, most would either say they have never heard of the study or describe it as the experiment that purposefully infected individuals with syphilis. Some responses confuse the syphilis study with the Tuskegee airmen of World War II. In other words, there is mass confusion and misinformation surrounding the American public’s perception of the Tuskegee syphilis study and what it was exactly. Te United States Public Health Service (USPHS) conducted the Tuskegee syphilis study between 1932-1972. Te study was designed to examine the progression of untreated syphilis in Black men. Syphilis is a sexually transmitted bacterial disease. It is transmitted by direct contact with a syphilitic sore, a chancre. Sores can be found on or surrounding genitalia and can continue to spread throughout the body. Syphilis has several diferent stages including the primary, secondary, latent, tertiary, and neurosyphilis stages.2 Each stage gets progressively worse causing symptoms such as fever, severe headaches, and changes in mental status. In its latter stage, neurosyphilis, the bacteria enters the brain and spinal fuid. Te “discoveries of nefarious syphilis to the internal organs, made clear that the disease was much more dangerous than many doctors had previously assumed.”3 Oftentimes syphilis is “the great pretender” and comes of as other diseases or remains dormant for years until its efects will present themselves.4 All of these factors must be considered when analyzing the study, as the efects on the participants ranged from dormant to severe and in some cases death.5 Te United States Public Health Service had a specifc interest in analyzing and observing the untreated efects of syphilis in American society. Te main goal of the USPHS was to conduct autopsies on the individuals who passed away from the syphilitic disease. Knowing the symptoms and progression of syphilis, the USPHS rationale was completely unethical and frightening, as they knew the horrors these participants endured. Te United States Public Health Service followed the survey results of the Julius Rosenwald Fund, an organization that focused on the promotion of health and welfare of Black Americans, especially those in the rural South.6 Te Julius Rosenwald Fund advised the USPHS to focus on Macon County Alabama, where 35-40% of the men sampled by the fund were found to have syphilis.7 Although the Tuskegee study was named after a specifc town in Alabama, it focused on that county more broadly. It is important to understand the contextual factors surrounding the rural South and how this implicated Black men and their 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

James T. Wooten, “Survivor of the ’32 Syphilis Study Recalls a Diagnosis,” New York Times (1923-), July 27, 1972, Accessed September 28, 2022, https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/ survivor-32-syphilis-study-recalls-diagnosis/docview/119516865/se-2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs): Syphilis Detailed Fact Sheet,” Last updated April 12, 2022, Accessed October 19, 2022. https://www.cdc. gov/std/syphilis/stdfact-syphilis-detailed.htm. Allan M. Brandt, No Magic Bullet: A Social History of Venereal Disease in the United States Since 1800 (Oxford: Oxford University, 1987), 9. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs): Syphilis Detailed Fact Sheet,” https://www.cdc.gov/std/syphilis/stdfact-syphilis-detailed.htm. James H. Jones, Bad Blood: Te Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment (New York: Te Free Press, 1993). Tomas and Quinn, “Light on the Shadow of the Syphilis Study at Tuskegee,” 235. Stephen B. Tomas and Sandra Crouse Quinn, “Light on the Shadow of the Syphilis Study at Tuskegee,” Health Promotion Practice 1, no. 3 (2000): 234-237, 235.

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overall community. Tis specifc county was the result of the long-lasting impact of slavery and Reconstruction, as the Black community was trapped in a stage of poverty and sharecropping. In Macon County Alabama, “white rule over blacks was virtually absolute and where Blacks lived in extreme poverty and with total lack of access to health care, there was no shortage of volunteers to participate in the study.”8 Te United States Public Health Service ofcials noted the condition of this county as a “ready-made situation.”9 Te urgent need for healthcare and the uneven power dynamics of Macon County provided an opportunity for these ofcials without them having to make extensive eforts to group individuals together. Te United States Public Health Service exploited the underfunded and unavailable healthcare network provided to these Black men in the rural South. Tese ofcials acted as though these tests, such as spinal taps or blood draws, were medically necessary and would improve their well-being. Te men being ofered the medical care and diferent varieties of tests were unaware of their conditions and were being exploited by medical professionals who knew the intention of their actions. Te study recruited 400 men, who were identifed as testing positive for syphilis, and also recruited about 200 individuals as a control group. Although there were a large percentage of positive cases surveyed in Macon County, the USPHS had an incredibly hard time recruiting individuals, as many were unaware of their condition. In addition, many individuals believed they were being drafted into the military and did not want to become involved in such processes. Tis example shows the level of mistrust between Black individuals and government interaction, as they thought simply interacting with government medical authorities implied deceit. To keep individuals participating, the USPHS used a plethora of deceitful tactics. Many individuals would come to receive medical care, as many had never received medical care before. Te ofcials would inform participants that they had “bad blood,” not specifcally informing them of their syphilitic diagnosis, just informing them they were infected with something. Te reason many individuals continued to participate is because they were promised treatment for the “bad blood” they had contracted.10 Some individuals in the community remained integral in the process of maintaining participation, including Black medical ofcials such as Nurse Rivers, who helped to transport individuals to appointments. Nurse Rivers is seen as a dichotomy within the study, as she is a Black woman trying to provide her community with healthcare options, however she is choosing to participate in its unethical activities. Te main reason for the study was for the Public Health Service to conduct autopsies, evident by continuing individuals’ participation and promising the coverage of burial expenses. Another signifcant deceitful tactic used by the USPHS were conversations with the Alabama Health Department and the United States Army to not treat those infected, whether they became enlisted into the military or came seeking treatment because this would skew their results.11 Furthermore, it is important to note prior syphilitic studies and their observations. One specifc study had been conducted in Oslo, Norway on the untreated efects of syphilis and acknowledged the danger of the disease remaining untreated.12 Knowledge and information was concluded from the Oslo study that resolved any questions surrounding the untreated efects of syphilis. In light of these facts, the Tuskegee study should have never begun in the frst place, however the study continued to be justifed using racial comparisons to the Norway study. Scholars have often explored the Tuskegee syphilis study as an example of medical malpractice and unethical behaviors. Tis research seeks to explore the other side of the study, involving the participants and how the study has impacted broader American society, analyzing 8 9 10 11 12

Tomas and Quinn, “Light on the Shadow of the Syphilis Study at Tuskegee,” 235. Allan M. Brandt, “Racism and Research: Te Case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study,” Te Hastings Center Report 8 no. 6 (1978): 21-29, 22. Brandt, “Racism and Research: Te Case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study,” 24. Brandt, “Racism and Research: Te Case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study,” 25. Brandt, “Racism and Research: Te Case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study,” 22.

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the social and cultural implications. Tis paper will analyze the immediate reactions to the study from 1972 up until the post-1997 White House apology concerning the Tuskegee study to show the difering points of view between white and black communities. Tis paper will argue the Tuskegee syphilis study legacy continues to unfold, allowing for its retelling by survivors, as they share the realities of the situation. Giving survivors a space to share their experience allows for deeper analysis of the implications on the Black community that continue to afect their relationship with American medical practices and the United States government. Te Tuskegee syphilis study caused lasting mistrust between the Black community and medical institutions, seen through survivor accounts and the more recent COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Historiography of the Tuskegee syphilis study Te Tuskegee syphilis study is one of the most studied examples of medical wrongdoings within American history. To fully grasp the seriousness of the study, it is necessary to analyze its inner workings, developments, and implications for contextual understanding. Scholars continue to analyze the study in a variety of diferent ways, through primary sources or a new lens of analysis, which helps to create a more inclusive and developed perspective. Most of the secondary literature written focuses on the basic narration of the study’s development, including the progression of the study over its years of continuation. Each author tends to put their own spin on the historical analysis, however when writing about the Tuskegee syphilis study each author tries to discuss the immediate background. Tis is important to consider when analyzing the historiography of the Tuskegee syphilis study because each piece of literature contains its own bias, or chooses to include specifc pieces of information, to solidify their analysis. Te following paragraphs will summarize the progression of the Tuskegee study’s historiography as it develops from medically focused to survivor focused. From basic historical recollection of the event, scholars have made smaller steps forward moving from simple storytelling to analysis on some level. Tis small step includes combining the use of historical narrative and medical ethics which was signifcant because it began to process Tuskegee as a signifcant historical event in American history. Most secondary literature continued to focus on the medical aspect of Tuskegee, regarding the ethical dilemmas and medical malfeasance exemplifed throughout. Several works of scholarship reference medical contexts, but more specifcally three scholars that develop this lens of analysis are James Jones’s book Bad Blood: Te Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, Stephen Tomas, and Sandra Quinn’s article “Light on the Shadow of the Syphilis Study at Tuskegee,” and Allan Brandt’s book No Magic Bullet: A Social History of Venereal Disease in the United States Since 1800.13 Tese sources maintain the presence of medical studies and procedures throughout, indicating the primary reason for the study being autopsies. Overly scientifc terminology dominates the conversation to illustrate the medically biased objectivity. Te main argument presented by these authors is that the basis of the Tuskegee study illustrates scientifc ends over human rights and decent treatment. Some scholars have analyzed the Tuskegee syphilis study under specifc lens, using American history as a guide and uncovering the impact of race within this context. Racial motivations were somewhat obvious behind the study’s conception, however showing the connection between racial science and eugenics helped to solidify these connections. Two scholars that analyze this connection are Paul Lombardo and Gregory Dorr’s article “Eugenics, Medical Education, and the Public Health Service: Another Perspective on the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment” and Allan Brandt’s article “Racism and Research: Te Case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.”14 Lombardo 13 14

Jones, Bad Blood: Te Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment; Tomas and Quinn, “Light on the Shadow of the Syphilis Study at Tuskegee,” and Brandt, No Magic Bullet: A Social History of Venereal Disease in the United States Since 1800. Paul A. Lombardo and Gregory M. Dorr, “Eugenics, Medical Education, and the Public Health

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and Dorr analyze the internalized racism of the USPHS by showing the connection between the leadership and the medical terminology and curriculum they were instructed by faculty at the University of Virginia. Racism remained entrenched within the medical curriculum, the USPHS leadership attended the same university, which emphasized the importance of eugenic medicine and racial purifcation. As one of the USPHS ofcials in charge of Tuskegee stated, “eugenics is a science. It is a fact, not a fad.”15 Understanding the connection between leadership and eugenics shows how the participants of the study were seen as subjects and not as equal human beings to their white counterparts. Brandt takes a similar approach, as he explores the relationship between those conducting the study and those who participated. He shows the disconnect between the two populations, illustrating the lack of communication and understanding. He notes comments made by ofcials at this time, which refected the distance between these two groups. Describing the study participants, one ofcial explained: “We must remember we are dealing with a group of people who are illiterate, have no conception of time, and whose personal history is always indefnite.”16 Tere were no eforts of mutual respect or development, as the study continually used tactics of deceit and coercion to keep participation. Race is an important lens to consider when analyzing the Tuskegee syphilis study, as social Darwinism and racial science impacted the development of the study.17 Many scholars have analyzed the Tuskegee syphilis study as a marker of historical memory and how American society chooses to recollect the event. Understanding how American society perceives the study helps to develop a sense of cultural importance surrounding the events. Carol Yoon’s “Families Emerge as Silent Victims of Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments,” and Susan Reverby’s articles “Te Tuskegee Syphilis Study as a ‘Site of Memory’” and “More Fact Tan Fiction: Cultural Memory and the Tuskegee Syphilis Study” discuss the complex interactions between historical fact and its perhaps skewed results.18 Tese scholars suggest there is an extreme confusion and lack of understanding the development of the study. Furthermore, they note the lack of focus on the authentically Black experience within American medical institutions. Building upon historical analysis and memory development, scholars have begun to include the survivors of the study into the immediate conversation, to provide an authentic and meaningful analysis. Carol Yoon’s “Families Emerge as Silent Victims of Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments,” Fred Gray’s book Te Tuskegee Study: An Insiders’ Account of the Shocking Medical Experiment Conducted by Government Doctors Against African American Men, Ray Otero-Bell’s book Te Wives of the Tuskegee Study: An Untold History, Susan Reverby’s book Examining Tuskegee: Te Infamous Syphilis Study and Its Legacy19 discuss the often untold and lack of

15 16 17 18

Service: Another Perspective on the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment,” Bulletin of the History of Medicine 80, no. 2 (2006): 291-316 and Brandt, “Racism and Research: Te Case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.” Lombardo and Dorr, “Eugenics, Medical Education, and the Public Health Service: Another Perspective on the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment,” 308. Brandt, “Racism and Research: Te Case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study,” 23. Brandt, “Racism and Research: Te Case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study,” 21- 25. Carol Yoon, “Families Emerge as Silent Victims of Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment” in Tuskegee’s Truths: Rethinking the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, Susan Reverby ed. (Chapel Hill: Te University of North Carolina, 2000): 457-460; Susan Reverby, “Te Tuskegee Syphilis Study as a ‘Site of Memory,’” in Te Search for the Legacy of the USPHS Syphilis Study at Tuskegee, Ralph V. Katz and Rueben C. Warren eds. (Lanham: Lexington Books, 2011): 29-40; and Susan Reverby, “More Tan Fact and Fiction” Cultural Memory and the Tuskegee Syphilis,” Hastings Center Report, Hastings (2001): 22-28. Yoon, “Families Emerge as Silent Victims of Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment,”; Fred Gray, Te Tuskegee Syphilis Study: An Insiders’ Account of the Shocking Medical Experiment Conducted by Government Doctors Against African American Men (Montgomery: NewSouth Books, 2003);

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focus on the actual experiences of survivors. Tese scholars provide a deeper analysis of the survivor’s authentic experience, which has often been overlooked and neglected in larger conversations about Tuskegee. Many use survivor accounts and consider their point of view when discussing the study and how the study failed to demonstrate this ability. Furthermore, these sources provide broad implications of Tuskegee, more specifcally implications on the Black community and how their story remains largely untold to this day. Tis paper seeks to build upon the existing historical analysis of the Tuskegee syphilis study by examining often underutilized accounts, such as Black owned newspapers and survivor accounts. Although it is important to consider specifc lens of analysis such as race and medical accountability, this analysis tends to overlook those directly impacted by the study. Recent scholars have begun to emphasize the voice of the survivor and larger community implications of the Tuskegee study. Tere has been an insufcient focus on the Black community whether it be their initial reaction or how they continue to see this study as racism intrenched into American medical practices and broader society. Tis research builds on a culturally centered focus, through analyzing primary sources such as survivor interviews and newspapers to show the real-life implications of the study on those involved. Immediate reactions to the Tuskegee study story Although the Tuskegee syphilis study was conducted for over forty years, public knowledge of its occurrence was limited or nonexistent. Te study was eventually leaked by a public service employee and published in major communication mediums, such as in newspapers and other various publications. Te immediate reactions of the study illustrate the contextual circumstances and develop unique perspective concerning the American public’s perception, specifcally surrounding the source of publication and the type of message portrayed in the newspaper article. Unfortunately, most information that was immediately available about the Tuskegee study was controlled by the white media and did not allow for survivor accounts or include the perspective of the Black community, which was most impacted. Te white controlled publications focused more on the medical perspective, with most using information gathered from past United States Public Health Service ofcials and sticking to the overarching chain of events that produced the study. For example, the most immediate coverage of the study was published on July 26, 1972, by Ms. Jean Heller.20 She wrote the article to break the story of the Tuskegee study, as this was the frst publication to ofer insight into the situation. Tis article introduces the syphilis study and the larger narrative surrounding its initiation. Heller notes the complicated situation and discusses the motivations of the USPHS. Most early articles were published for the purpose of being informational and shared the unknown to its readers. While Heller introduced the study and gave an overview of its continuation, future authors ofered a more informative approach by including more specifc analysis, such as through including survivor accounts. James Wooten, a writer for the New York Times, ofered a more specifc account in his brief article “Survivor of ‘32 Syphilis Study Recalls a Diagnosis.”21 Te article was published on July 27, 1972, only a day after the unveiling of the story, showing the lack of in-depth research and analysis by most authors. Te survivors were willing to share their side of the story to reporters, however many overlooked their experiences as authentic and rather tell the story dispersed by the United States government and the United States

20 21

RayLee Otero-Bell, Te Wives of the Tuskegee Study: An Untold History (LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing: Moldova, 2019); Susan Reverby, Examining Tuskegee: Te Infamous Syphilis Study and Its Legacy (University of North Carolina: Chapel Hill, 2009). Jean Heller, “Syphilis Victims in the U.S. Study Went Untreated for 40 Years,” Te New York Times (1923-), July 26, 1972, https://www.nytimes.com/1972/07/26/archives/syphilis-victims-in-usstudy-went-untreated-for-40-years-syphilis.html. Wooten, “Survivor of the ’32 Syphilis Study Recalls a Diagnosis.”

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Public Health Service. Wooten tried to include the survivors’ voices to show their authentic experiences. He quoted one survivor who said, “All I knew was that they just kept saying I had the bad blood – they never mention syphilis to me, not even once.”22 Providing a conversation with a Tuskegee syphilis study survivor, Mr. Pollard, made the narrative a bit more personal and showed the true dilemma faced by study participants. Actual confusion consumed the study participants as they did not know what they were a part of, as this information was withheld from them. Wooten marked an exception to most authors who worked for dominant publications, as they tended to silence survivors, he used a few quotes by Mr. Pollard. Te brief inclusion of quotes allowed for brief survivor discussion but is not to suggest that Wooten centered his whole piece around embracing their point of view. Although major publication networks were controlled by white individuals, Black newspaper publications and networks ofered their take on the Tuskegee syphilis study and ofered a difering perspective. Black newspaper publications concerning the Tuskegee syphilis study were more abundant and emphasized diferent issues surrounding the study and the individual survivors. Te article entitled “Humans Used as VD-Test ‘Guinea Pigs:’ Suit For Damages Considered”23 was published on August 1, 1972 in both the Baltimore and Washington Afro-American. Much like other newspaper articles, the authors ofered a brief overview of the Tuskegee syphilis study and how participants sufered physically, emotionally, and psychologically. For example, the participants were subject to medical procedures and some developed long-term damage from the disease’s progression. Te men who participated in the study were expected to participate in a specifc way, to follow the instructions of the Public Health ofcials and do nothing else, even if to improve their condition. Te Afro-American newspaper continued to publish articles as information concerning the Tuskegee syphilis study became more available. Specifc excerpts provide insight into how the Black community reacted to the study and in what ways they chose to act. Te article titled “Reparations for VD Study Victims”24 was written on August 12, 1972 and refected on the movement to provide compensation to the participants and their families. Furthermore, it went a step further in including the point of view and arguments made by Black individuals and the community, such as the NAACP and the Congressional Black Caucus. Te Black community believed that the study “refects the defated value white people have historically placed upon Black lives.”25 Using Black men as test subjects and not providing them basic medical consent showed the lack of human decency white individuals failed to apply during the study. Many of the white publications failed to accomplish what this article did, in that they called out the white dominated culture for their lack of consideration. On August 19, 1972, Te Afro-American published another article titled “Ask 25,000 for each VD Victim,” which described the bill introduced by US Senators to allocate funds for26 study participants. As the study had grave consequences and asked survivors for an ultimate sacrifce, some Senators believed these men deserved justice from the government. Even after 22 23

24 25 26

Wooten, “Survivor of the ’32 Syphilis Study Recalls a Diagnosis.” Humans Used as VD-Test ‘Guinea Pigs:’ Suit For Damages Considered,” Baltimore Afro-American, August 1st, 1972,https://news.google.com/newspapers/p/ afro?nid=JkxM1axsRIC&dat=19720801&printsec=frontpage&hl=en&safari_ group=7 ; “Humans Used as VD-Test ‘Guinea Pigs:’ Suit For Damages Considered,” Washington Afro-American, August 1st, 1972, https://news.google.com/newspapers/p/ afro?nid=BeIT3YV5QzEC&dat=19720801&printsec=frontpage&hl=en&safari_group=7. “Reparations demanded for VD study victims,” Te AfroAmerican, Aug. 12th, 1972, https://news.google.com/newspapers/p/ afro?nid=UBnQDr5gPskC&dat=19720812&printsec=frontpage&hl=en. “Reparations demanded for VD study victims,” Te Afro-American, 1. “Ask $25,000 For Each VD Victim,” Te Afro-American, Aug. 19th, 1972, https://news.google. com/newspapers/p/afro?nid=UBnQDr5gPskC&dat=19720819&printsec=frontpage&hl=en.

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the study’s transgressions became public, the USPHS still failed to release accurate fgures and statistics of those involved and those efected, not allowing for full recognition of their actions, and more importantly not allowing the participants to be served properly. Larger community involvement was also considered by the author as the study implicated any sexual partners, children, and so on. Tis article also ofered the testimony of a doctor who tried to serve syphilitic patients in Macon County during the study’s reign. He noted how he was told to not ofer treatment services to his patients, as this could do more harm than good. He suggested that the patients were told to not seek treatment options because they never came back to his ofce after their interactions. Providing this perspective shows the true nature of the study, as well as provided a doctor who was willing to ofer the truth about the nature of the USPHS and how doctors should always put their patients’ health frst, not using racially motivated actions and subhuman treatments. Ofering monetary compensation was often a topic of conversation, which allowed for a refocus on the study to be about the survivors and what their needs could be. Another contribution from the Black community that refected their struggles to accept and comprehend the continuation of the study is an excerpt from Te Afro American titled “Tuskegee Experiment.”27 Although other articles, whether published by white or black publications recognized the unethical behavior of the United States Public Service, many failed to recognize other organizations and afliations that enabled the study. Some of these organizations included the Alabama state Health Department and doctors who administered the tests. Tis allowed for its continuation, developing a sense of secrecy as the years continued. As both the American government and various institutions allowed for its continuation, racism was continually perpetuated as Black individuals were treated as second-class citizens, in a society where they should have been protected from such behaviors. Te assertion about racism provided an explanation for why the USPHS ignored treatment options and acted as though participants were less than human. Te articles published in the Black publications question why the Tuskegee syphilis study was even considered in the frst place and argue racial motivations allowed for its procession, as there were “federal ofcials who felt they can say or do anything where black people were concerned.”28 Tere are stark diferences between the articles produced by white organizations and those produced by black organizations. Tose written and discussed by predominantly white organizations tend to focus on the narrative of the study and do not focus on the larger implications, rather just recount the event and what happened. Tere is brief discussion in some of the white sources about ethical violations presented by the study, however little accountability or government denouncement occurs. Te black organizations discuss the Tuskegee syphilis study and make broader societal connections with racial inequality and begin to shift the focus back onto the survivor, with compensation and community representation discussed in their analysis. Tis shows how the Black community focuses on the actual implications of the study and how the survivor should be considered in the broader narrative of the Tuskegee syphilis study and the United States Public Health Service. Another diference involves the location of the newspaper publications. Out of the white publications, only one out of the three discussed were printed on the front cover, as most of these articles were short and placed in later pages. Tis is signifcant because typically the most important information is presented on the front cover or following page, however the demographic for these publications were interested in other topics and or concepts. In contrast, the black published articles are either on the front cover or the second page, showing their signifcance and the story as relevant to its reader base.

27 28

“Tuskegee Experiment,” Te Afro-American, Aug. 12th, 1972, https://news.google.com/ newspapers/p/afro?nid=UBnQDr5gPskC&dat=19720812&printsec=frontpage&hl=en. “Tuskegee Experiment,” 3.

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Te Tuskegee study in the eyes of the government and their afliates Te immediate reactions continued, but from a diferent perspective which impacted the narrative of the Tuskegee syphilis study. Te following paragraphs will analyze the reaction and storytelling of government ofcials and organizations, as they use a specifc lens of medical analysis and underplayed the severity of the situation. Te United States Public Health Service wrote “Interview Notes”29 that documented comments made by several diferent study participants. Te participants were asked questions by the government ofcials to follow up and make note of their experiences. Te documentation was produced on November 11, 1972, and noted that four individuals were questioned, however only provided quotations by one individual. No individuals were acknowledged by their actual names. Te questions asked were very basic in nature and did not go into much depth or how the study continually afected their interactions with the healthcare system. For example, the questions posed were “How did the study start?” or “Could all the people in the group aford hospitalization?”30 Questions to this degree provide little insight of personal knowledge, as many of these men were unaware of their condition, let alone should know the economic status of other participants. Te way the interview page was produced adds to the confusion while analyzing the survivors’ statements, as it seems to be written in third person from the perspective of the person being interviewed. Te interview notes one of the unnamed participants “hadn’t thought much about whether his disease had been cured. Te doctor was seeing him every year, and he was feeling pretty good. He was not told what the disease might do to him. He stayed in the program because they asked him to.”31 Tis documentation noted the confusion of those participating in the study and how they were given relatively little information concerning procedures, or even what disease they supposedly had. Te responses given by the participant does provide some insight into what this actual survivor went through, as he mentioned several procedures and how this afected his health and mental status. For example, the documentation discussed how the participant had to “stay in bed 10 days after a spinal puncture” and “had headaches from that.”32 Although this does provide insight into this man’s experience, there is only one survivor perspective provided, when the experiences of the various study participants could have been drastically diferent. Te government might have chosen to interview individuals that would make the study seem less severe than it was. Furthermore, the USPHS might have censored or changed the responses, as there are no direct quotations ofered or ways to verify the information. Te responses could have been shortened or altered to address their agenda. Tere was some efort to include the survivor, but in this instance, it is not to change the focus of the narrative, but to just ask questions and record the medical issues and responses of the participants. Government agencies were at the forefront of Tuskegee communications, as they were the reason the program ceased to exist in the frst place. Te United States Public Health Service being the main organization in this process ended the study with “Te Memorandum Terminating the USPHS Study of Untreated Syphilis”33 on November 16, 1972. Te USPHS 29 30 31 32 33

Records of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention 1921-2006, Tuskegee Syphilis Study Administrative Records, 1929-1972 Interview Notes, November 11th 1972, https://catalog. archives.gov/id/650715. Records of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention 1921-2006, Tuskegee Syphilis Study Administrative Records, 1929-1972 Interview Notes. Records of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention 1921-2006, Tuskegee Syphilis Study Administrative Records, 1929-1972 Interview Notes Records of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention 1921-2006, Tuskegee Syphilis Study Administrative Records, 1929-1972 Interview Notes. Records of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1921-2006. Tuskegee Syphilis Study Administrative Records, 1929-1972, Memorandum Terminating the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, November 16th 1972, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/650716.

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was forced to act because of the Advisory committee. Te committee was formed in 1972 to determine the level of unethical behavior and to ponder the continuation of the program. Once the Advisory committee noted the syphilis study should be terminated, the USPHS had to shut down the program, as it was internally investigated. Te note came from the Assistant Secretary for Health, and was addressed to the director of the program and the Center for Disease Control. Te lack of specifcity and lack of information given in the note shows the insincerity and underwhelming nature of the organization. Te note began with the phrase “as recommended by” showing that the USPHS only ended the study based on this committee’s analysis, not fully recognizing the unethicality and the pain and sufering of the individuals and their families who were implicated. Tere is no sense of wrongdoing throughout the memo and provides an extremely brief, two sentence, ending of the program. Te last portion of the note stated that “necessary steps to be taken to assure that the appropriate medical care be given to all remaining participants in the ‘Tuskegee Study.’”34 Te memo provided basic documentation that those still involved in the several decade process would somehow be given medical care, failing to provide concrete steps to achieve this goal, or address the mere fact that several individuals had lost their lives, as medical care and treatment was intentionally withheld, although it was available. Government organizations and public health ofcials continued to provide information throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s and developed a sense of accountability for the actions carried out during the Tuskegee syphilis study, providing a shift from basic storytelling about the study to examining how, why, and its broader implications. Some public health ofcials began investigating Tuskegee and its broader medical implications. One of the individuals who did so was Mr. Peter Buxtun, a United States Public Health interviewer and investigator who learned about the Tuskegee study and brought the story to the public’s knowledge. He participated in a television interview to share the Tuskegee story. Te interview was published in 1993 and provided his interpretation and medical knowledge concerning the study. Mr. Buxtun discussed how he uncovered the study from an old United States Public Health ofcial and was confused how the study was allowed to continue. Buxtun stated, “In 1932, you could do that sort of thing, and nobody would look over your shoulder. But in 1965, ‘66 uh, it was, it was suicide to do this sort of thing from a, a bureaucratic standpoint, from a moral standpoint, even from a standpoint of the efcacy.”35 His analysis of this point is extremely important because it shows that it is somehow considered acceptable behavior in the 1930’s. He argued the USPHS failed to see the study as unacceptable and older public health ofcials did not acknowledge the moral inconsistencies present. After learning about the length of the study, Buxtun continued to push for its ending and investigate information published by the CDC and USPHS. He even noted instances where medical treatment was refused, as it might alter the results of the study. With the amount of evidence showing the unethical nature of the study, he confronted his superiors and those in charge of the CDC. He read the doctors their own words mentioning “the individuals were volunteers and lacked true understanding of the disease, were very unsophisticated, uh, were using only the term ‘bad blood,’ and I read several of these quotes and I remember this doctor getting this horrifed look on face, “Oh, my God, you know, who, who wrote that?”36 Te medical community was shocked by their own actions and did not know how to respond, as that clearly showed their lack of racial equity and ethical actions. Although the Buxtun interview provided signifcant information concerning the inner workings of the USPHS and 34 35 36

Records of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1921-2006. Tuskegee Syphilis Study Administrative Records, 1929-1972, Memorandum Terminating the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. Peter Buxtun, “Te Man Who Broke the Story of the Tuskegee Experiment,” interview by Tony Brown, Tony Brown Productions (1993), https://0-video-alexanderstreet-com.read.cnu.edu/watch/ the-man-who-broke-the-story-of-the-tuskegee-experiment. Buxtun, “Te Man Who Broke the Story of the Tuskegee Experiment.”

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the CDC, he failed to focus on those involved in the study and focused rather on the medical and organizational analysis. As he answered the questions asked, he gave formal responses and only explained his point of view, not necessarily allowing those involved to tell the story. Te interview proceeded to shift focus, as conversation changed from simple narration of the study to drawing conclusions and making connections from the study within society. Buxtun did acknowledge that syphilis could have been passed on to both wives/partners and children but argued the men’s ability to infect them was slim. Although he used his medical knowledge and background, there were known women afected by the transmission of syphilis. He then began to touch on the term scientifc racism quite carefully and argued for broader concepts of inequality within the medical community and its institutions. He argued that racial groups, including people of color, were easily targeted when conducting studies and experiments, as they are often mistreated and stuck in positions of oppression. He declared “Who’s gonna watch the doctors? Tat’s the question.”37 Tis response by Buxtun was signifcant because it shows a government and medical representative acknowledging the racism present in American institutions and advocates that individuals keep the medical community in check. Tis showed a shift in accountability and recognizing the continued wrongdoings that have not received proper consequences. As medical professionals and government ofcials continue to uncover the unacceptable acts committed during the study, the truth becomes clearer and provides an accurate picture of the wrongdoings committed. However, this analysis was only made possible with the shift in thought surrounding the Tuskegee syphilis study. Part of this shift in thought was only made possible by the development of the Advisory committee in late 1972. Te advisory committee was assembled after the study came to light, to uncover the possible unethical behaviors displayed during the study. Teir thought processes came forth and suggested the government was to blame for their own actions is the Final Report of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study Ad Hoc Advisory Panel,38 published in 1973 by the United States Public Health Service. Te document outlined their discussions/intentions and the thought processes/facts/information used to develop a recommended response. Although the document reads very formal it provided a resource to investigate the unethical practices displayed at Tuskegee. Te committee was tasked with investigating three specifc aspects of the study. Te frst aspect was “to determine whether the study was justifed in 1932 and whether it should have been continued when penicillin became generally available.”39 While debating and analyzing available information, the committee noted the background of Macon County and determined the validity of the study’s protocol. Tey noted that “Macon County was 82.4% Negro. Te cultural status of the Negro population was low, and the illiteracy rate was high.”40 Tis shows the demographics of the area and how the United States Public Health Service used this information to their advantage. Furthermore, the committee noted its unethical origins in 1932 and discussed how the penicillin treatment should have been immediately ofered as the study participants should “never be subjected to avoidable risk of death or physical harm unless he freely and intelligently consents. Tere is no evidence that such consent was obtained from the participant in this study.”41 Te second aspect examined by the committee was to “recommend whether the study should be continued at the point in time, and if not, how it 37 38 39 40 41

Buxtun, “Te Man Who Broke the Story of the Tuskegee Experiment.” United States Public Health Service, Final Report of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study Ad Hoc Advisory Panel, 1973: 1-47, https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/102293884. United States Public Health Service, Final Report of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study Ad Hoc Advisory Panel,” 1. United States Public Health Service, Final Report of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study Ad Hoc Advisory Panel,” 6. United States Public Health Service, Final Report of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study Ad Hoc Advisory Panel,” 6-7.

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should be terminated in a way consistent with the rights and health needs of its remaining participants.”42 Te committee described how there were known and well produced studies concerning the efects of syphilis on the body, such as its connections to disabilities and premature death rates. As this and the medical conditions of the participants were considered, the committee ruled the study be terminated and future studies should be supervised with lines of defense against unethicality. Furthermore, it outlined that the government should continue to help the participants afected and to mitigate current and future economic barriers to equality. Lastly the committee analyzed the events surrounding Tuskegee to “determine whether existing policies to protect the rights of patients participating in health research conducted or supported by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare are adequate and efective to recommend improvement in these policies, if needed.”43 Tis section focused on direct government actions that should be revised to allow for ethical research in the future. Tis study showed and brought specifc examples of medical malfeasance to the “surface once again, the unresolved problems which have long plagued medical research activities”44 Although the committee and overall document noted the unethicality of the USPHS and the government, it does not touch on how institutionalized racism is intertwined within American society and institutions. It failed to take survivor accounts into consideration while making their decisions and undermines their eforts to tell their own experiences. One question and concern was raised that clearly proves its own point: “If the requirement of informed consent is to be taken seriously, should impoverished and uneducated Blacks from rural Alabama have been selected as subjects in the frst place?”45 Tis showed how the study never even considered the ethicality from its origins, as they took advantage of those involved. Although the study is a formal government document, it provided evidence of the shift in thought, which would soon allow for the survivors to come forward and tell their own story, the true narrative rather than the medically based one that was the focus of conversation. Post-1997 and the emergence of the survivor After the committee recommended the termination of the study, the USPHS obliged and called for its end. Te years following the termination of the Tuskegee syphilis study, more information continued to be released and the way the government responded changed. 1997 marked this transformation as the White House hosted a press conference and gathering to apologize for its role in facilitating the Tuskegee syphilis study. Te conference consisted of the President issuing an ofcial apology and recognition of the study and allowing the remaining survivors to speak and share their experiences, creating the true narrative of what Tuskegee meant to them and how it afected them. Te fact that it took almost 25 years after the study’s termination for the government to recognize and apologize for its role in facilitation shows the lack of reaction and carelessness by the government. As survivors were given the space to share their stories, they did and were not hesitant in expressing their discontent with the state of Tuskegee narratives. During the press conference, a question-and-answer session occurred with Mr. Herman Shaw, a Tuskegee syphilis study survivor, an Mr. Fred Gray, the Civil Rights movement lawyer who assisted in getting reparations to the survivors. Shaw made it known that survivors have historically been left out 42 43 44 45

United States Public Health Service, Final Report of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study Ad Hoc Advisory Panel,” 1. United States Public Health Service, Final Report of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study Ad Hoc Advisory Panel,” 1. United States Public Health Service, Final Report of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study Ad Hoc Advisory Panel,” 21-22. United States Public Health Service, Final Report of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study Ad Hoc Advisory Panel,” 29.

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of the Tuskegee conversations as he stated, “we’ve been left out and used as guinea pigs.”46 Tis matters because the survivors have not been the projected voice in Tuskegee’s historical memory, however they should be at the forefront of the narrative. Te government’s recognition of this lack allowed the survivors to tell the truth and develop an authentic history of the study. Mr. Shaw noted the discrimination concerning the Tuskegee study and how its participants were chosen racially and concludes the survivors have been pushed of for far too long, but this has been continued as Black Americans are continually marginalized. Te apology was noticed and appreciated by the remaining survivors present however Mr. Shaw noted “It would not climax the thoughts and peace of that kind but we would consider the case closed with an apology. We would like to be recognized; we would like to have recognition.”47 By recognition, Mr. Shaw was referring to the construction of a memorial in Tuskegee, AL to memorialize the survivor’s experiences. Te memory of Tuskegee will continue to live with the survivors and how they perceive the United States government and its institutions. Mr. Shaw, the main spokesperson for the survivors, continued to speak on his experiences and express his discontent with the portrayal of the Tuskegee syphilis study in mainstream culture. He expressed his struggles with having individuals listen to his authentic experience, as the Black community was unable to maintain control of their own community’s experience, as the dominant white culture overtook coverage. He made specifc note of the show Miss Evers Boys. Miss Evers Boys, produced and released in 1997, was a television program that attempted to portray the experience of the Tuskegee syphilis study. Prior to this program, television or movie coverage of this event was nonexistent, suggesting its infuence of being the frst program. Mr. Shaw stated “Miss Evers’ Boys has been a disgrace to this program. We never had anything like that during the time we were in the study. Another thing, we were discriminated against.”48 Shaw was deliberate in his wording and wanted to convey his experience as truthfully as possible, as he is disappointed with comparisons made in the media. An interesting comparison of this analysis can be made with Mr. Peter Buxtun who stated the flm “uh there’s already been one play [Miss Evers Boys was also a play], and a very good play in many ways.”49 Tis stark diference marks the lack of true knowledge of what the survivors went through, as outsiders have little knowledge of the authentic experience if they agree with the flm’s portrayal. He wants the event to be remembered and individuals to not forget the pain he and fellow participants sufered through to convey the actual experience of the Tuskegee survivor and how they want the event to be remembered in history. He noted that the participants and himself “were treated inhuman at times.”50 His experience was not humane and does not want people to misconstrue the actuality of the trauma he underwent. Mr. Shaw was expressing his frustrations with cultural interpretations and portrayals. Additionally, it shows how the event continues to infuence the survivors, as he is having to explain the actual treatment during the event, since its portrayal is extremely inaccurate and ofensive. Furthermore, he noted the signifcance of the survivors’ experience to be known and discusses the importance of remembrance. Taking note of the survivors’ intentions and remarks, Mr. Fred Gray released a letter 46

47 48

49 50

Fred Gray and Herman Shaw, “Question and Answer Period, April 8th, 1997,” In Te Tuskegee Syphilis Study: An Insiders’ Account of the Shocking Medical Experiment Conducted by Government Doctors Against African American Men, Fred Gray ed. (Montgomery: NewSouth Books, 2003), https://0-ebookcentral-proquest-com.read.cnu.edu/lib/cnu/detail.action?docID=3017587, 155. Gray and Shaw, “Question and Answer Period, April 8th, 1997,” 157. Herman Shaw, “Statement of Mr. Herman Shaw, April 8, 1997,” In Te Tuskegee Syphilis Study: An Insiders’ Account of the Shocking Medical Experiment Conducted by Government Doctors Against African American Men, Fred Gray ed. (Montgomery: NewSouth Books, 2003), https://0ebookcentral-proquest-com.read.cnu.edu/lib/cnu/detail.action?docID=3017587, 153. Buxtun, “Te Man Who Broke the Story of the Tuskegee Experiment.” Shaw, “Statement of Mr. Herman Shaw, April 8, 1997,” 153.

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to President Clinton and the White House following the ceremony. Te letter expressed the statements and recommendations of the survivors towards future government action. Te development of this note marked the transformation in the way the Tuskegee study was thought about, as the survivors are telling the government how their own history should be told, as opposed to the government expressing their own narrative of typical blame shifting. Mr. Gray thanked the President for his remarks and making the event possible, fnally allowing for recognition of the survivors and the signifcance of the study. Mr. Shaw noted “we want to construct in Tuskegee a permanent memorial, a place where our children and grandchildren will be able to see the contributions that we, and others, made to this country.”51 Te survivors made it known they request government assistance in constructing a memorial and creating a center in Tuskegee to develop historical accuracy and multicultural inclusiveness. Te Tuskegee Human and Civil Rights Center “will not only recognize the contributions made by individuals, including the participants of the Study, but it will assist in bringing the races together.”52 Not only ensuring the remembrance of Tuskegee, but this also enticed the government to improve its relations to people of color and efectively deal with multicultural issues. Specifcally, Black Americans have often gone unrecognized for their contributions and suferings within mainstream society and this action hopes to counteract these struggles. Te development of government actions since 1997 continued to prioritize the survivor and acknowledged the actuality of their experiences. In 1999 the Tuskegee News published an article showing the launch of the Center Of Bioethics In Research And Healthcare At Tuskegee University. Te article was published in May of 1999 and referenced the comments made by Mr. Shaw and Mr. Gray during the 1997 White House gathering. Tis is an example of an outgrowth from the White House sentiments to provide a sense of advocacy and remembrance strategies of the survivors. Te mission of the center was to “develop a sensitive and efective health care ecosystem relative to African-Americans, reduce racial disparities in medical treatment, and holistic approaches coordinating health care, education, and social services programs.”53 Te Tuskegee syphilis study brought an undeniable attention to racism and discrimination present within American society, and specifcally within medical institutions. Te construction and development of the center showed an efort to counteract racism with equitable healthcare to specifcally prioritize marginalized communities and people of color. Additionally, the center constructed and displayed “plaques to honor survivors of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.”54 Although this action might seem insignifcant, it showed how far the history of Tuskegee has come and continues to develop as the years continue. Te survivors have fnally become the forefront of attention concerning the study and have not only advocated for its remembrance but broader social change, regarding racism and American medical institutions. Although the Tuskegee study was formally ended in 1972 with the recommendation by the Advisory committee, its impact is far lasting and continues to afect the Black community. Tuskegee survivor descendants and families comment on their difculties grasping the treatment of their loved ones and how this impacts how they see American society and institutionalized racism within medical institutions. Lillie and Joyce Christian comment on these struggles after how their father, Freddie Lee Tyson, was a participant in the Tuskegee syphilis study. 51

52 53 54

Fred Gray, “Fred Gray Letter to Clinton, May 21, 1997,” In Te Tuskegee Syphilis Study: An Insiders’ Account of the Shocking Medical Experiment Conducted by Government Doctors Against African American Men, Fred Gray ed. (Montgomery: NewSouth Books, 2003), https://0ebookcentral-proquest-com.read.cnu.edu/lib/cnu/detail.action?docID=3017587, 169. Gray, “Fred Gray Letter to Clinton, May 21, 1997,” 169. “Scenes from day of launching Tuskegee University’s Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care,” Te Tuskegee News, May 20th 1999, http://tkg.stparchive.com/Archive/TKG/ TKG05201999P03.php?tags=tuskegee%7Csyphilis%7Cstudy. “Scenes from day of launching Tuskegee University’s Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care,” Te Tuskegee News.

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As members of the Black community struggled to understand the audacity of the American government, they pushed for recognition of their fathers by opening the Bioethics Center and formed their own non-proft to ensure this. Lillie and Joyce Christian state, “We wanted to tell the full story and clear the misinformation that was out there. We would come each year, and it’s all a part of the healing. Whatever we can do to make their voices heard, that’s our platform.”55 It is important to bring awareness to the survivors and make sure to stop the spread of misinformation, as this afects people’s perception about the study. Trough their nonproft, scholarships are awarded, anthropologists investigate the events, and a memorial garden was planted to ensure its remembrance. With the difculties their families have had to deal with, many became advocates and decided to enact change from within. Joyce Christian speaks on this matter when she states, “I’ve been able to help other people in decision-making, medical diagnosis, and questions to ask. Being an advocate. We need to be at the table, and we need to be saving lives, and Black lives do matter.”56 Understanding that advocacy is an important component of racial equality must be considered and is made evident by the Tuskegee syphilis study. Another way Tuskegee continues to impact the Black community is seen through COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy. Many individuals connect all medical institutions with the racist mentality presented in the Tuskegee syphilis study and struggle to trust the ethics of American medical institutions. As health disparities disproportionately afect people of color, those in the Black community “are very fearful to take something from someone who’s been oppressing them since slavery. But we need to be at the table. We need to be a part of something that’s bigger than us, and we need to step out on faith.”57 Te daughters of Mr. Freddie Lee Tyson, a study survivor, understand the struggles people of color must consider when making medical decisions. Tey are advocating for temporary trust to save lives and to ensure COVID-19 can be addressed properly. To try and counter the hesitancy movement, infuential fgures related to Tuskegee have commented on the COVID-19 vaccine. Mr. Fred Gray discussed these concerns and argued there should be no connection made between the Tuskegee syphilis study and the COVID-19 vaccination. Mr. Gray noted how “you have to, number one, look at what the Tuskegee Syphilis Study was all about and look at the current virus. It wasn’t a virus involved in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.”58 It is important to consider the facts of the virus and understand the study was a purposeful decision made by the USPHS with observing syphilis’ untreated efects. Furthermore, Gray notes the diferences made in medical procedures and the development of ethical agencies/organizations when dealing with medical information. Te COVID-19 virus is rather diferent from that of the venereal disease of syphilis and are transmitted in diferent ways. He wants individuals to keep this in mind and understand that a comparison should not even be made because “the federal government started this program for Black folks back in 1932 and didn’t tell them about it, there’s simply no similarities between the two.”59 Te 55

56 57 58

Lillie Head and Joyce Christian, “Descendants of Tuskegee Syphilis Study Survivors Say It Was Nothing Like the Covid-19 Vaccine,” interview by Morgan Jerkins, Produced by ZORA (Dec. 16th, 2020), https://zora.medium.com/descendants-of-the-tuskegee-syphilis-study-survivorsspeak-out-on-the-covid-19-vaccine-6bb800d1ad17. Head and Christian, “Descendants of Tuskegee Syphilis Study Survivors Say It Was Nothing Like the Covid-19 Vaccine.” Head and Christian, “Descendants of Tuskegee Syphilis Study Survivors Say It Was Nothing Like the Covid-19 Vaccine.” Chuck Chandler, “Alabama attorney who gained settlement for Tuskegee victims endorses COVID-19 vaccinations 2021,” Alabama NewsCenter, Feb. 17th, 2021, https:// alabamanewscenter.com/2021/02/17/alabama-attorney-who-gained-settlement-for-tuskegeevictims-endorses-covid-19-vaccinations/. Chandler, “Alabama attorney who gained settlement for Tuskegee victims endorses COVID-19 vaccinations 2021.”

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goals of the COVID-19 vaccination are much larger than the United States population and can be applied to a global pandemic eradication. Te study itself was the government targeting a specifc demographic in the United States that they did not view as equal or important. Te Tuskegee syphilis study has had massive implications and has continued to afect the trust between the Black community and American medical institutions and organizations. Although the Tuskegee syphilis study ended in the 1970’s, it continues to be analyzed in diferent ways. Tose directly involved in the study’s creation have since been removed from the USPHS, which marks a shift towards providing security and justice towards marginalized groups, more specifcally the Black men involved in the study. As the progression of its analysis continued, the survivor was given the space to share their truths and provide an outlet of their pain and distrust towards American medical institutions and broader societal practices. Te Tuskegee syphilis study should be remembered in American history and contributes to understanding and irradicating intuitional racism from society.

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Bibliography Primary Sources “Ask $25,000 For Each VD Victim.” Te Afro American. August 19th, 1972. https://news.google.com/newspapers/p/ afro?nid=UBnQDr5gPskC&dat=19720819&printsec=frontpage&hl=en Buxtun, Peter. “Te Man Who Broke the Story of the Tuskegee Experiment.” By Tony Brown, Tony Brown Productions (1993). https://0-video-alexanderstreet-com.read.cnu.edu/ watch/the-man-who-broke-the-story-of-the-tuskegee-experiment. Gray, Fred. “Fred Gray Letter to Clinton, May 21, 1997.” In Te Tuskegee Syphilis Study: An Insiders’ Account of the Shocking Medical Experiment Conducted by Government Doctors Against African American Men. edited by Fred Gray, 169-170. Montgomery: NewSouth Books, 2003. Accessed September 27, 2022. ProQuest Ebook Central. Gray, Fred and Herman Shaw. “Question and Answer Period, April 8th, 1997.” In Te Tuskegee Syphilis Study: An Insiders’ Account of the Shocking Medical Experiment Conducted by Government Doctors Against African American Men. edited by Fred Gray, 155-157. Montgomery: NewSouth Books, 2003. Accessed October 5, 2022. ProQuest Ebook Central. Head, Lillie and Joyce Christian. “Descendants of Tuskegee Syphilis Study Survivors Say It Was Nothing Like the Covid-19 Vaccine.” By Morgan Jerkins. ZORA, December 16, 2020. https://zora.medium.com/descendants-of-the-tuskegee-syphilis-study-survivors-speakout-on-the-covid-19-vaccine-6bb800d1ad17. Heller, Jean. “Syphilis Victims in U.S. Study Went Untreated for 40 Years.” Te New York Times (1923-), July 26, 1972. https://www.nytimes.com/1972/07/26/archives/syphilisvictims-in-us-study-went-untreated-for-40-years-syphilis.html. “Humans Used as VD-Test ‘Guinea Pigs:’ Suit For Damages Considered.” Baltimore AfroAmerican (Baltimore, MD), Aug. 1st, 1972. https://news.google.com/newspapers/p/ afro?nid=JkxM1axsR-IC&dat=19720801&printsec=frontpage&hl=en&safari_group=7 “Humans Used as VD-Test ‘Guinea Pigs:’ Suit For Damages Considered.” Washington AfroAmerican (Washington, D.C.), Aug. 1st, 1972. https://news.google.com/newspapers/p/ afro?nid=BeIT3YV5QzEC&dat=19720801&printsec=frontpage&hl=en&safari_group=7 Records of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1921-2006. Tuskegee Syphilis Study Administrative Records, 1929-1972 Interview Notes, November 11th, 1972. https:// catalog.archives.gov/id/650715. Records of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1921-2006. Tuskegee Syphilis Study Administrative Records, 1929-1972, Memorandum Terminating the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, November 16, 1972. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/650716. “Reparations demanded for VD study victims.” Te Afro-American, Aug. 12th, 1972. https://news.google.com/newspapers/p/ afro?nid=UBnQDr5gPskC&dat=19720812&printsec=frontpage&hl=en.

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“Scenes from day of launching Tuskegee University’s Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care.” Te Tuskegee News (Tuskegee, AL), May 20th 1999. http://tkg.stparchive. com/Archive/TKG/TKG05201999P03.php?tags=tuskegee%7Csyphilis%7Cstudy. Shaw, Herman. “Statement of Mr. Herman Shaw, April 8, 1997.” In Te Tuskegee Syphilis Study: An Insiders’ Account of the Shocking Medical Experiment Conducted by Government Doctors Against African American Men. edited by Fred Gray, 153-154. Montgomery: NewSouth Books, 2003. Accessed September 27, 2022. ProQuest Ebook Central. “Tuskegee Experiment.” Te Afro American, Aug. 12th, 1972. https://news.google.com/newspapers/p/afro?nid=UBnQDr5gPskC&dat=19720812&print sec=frontpage&hl=en United States Public Health Service. Final Report of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study Ad Hoc Advisory Panel, 1973. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/102293884. Wooten, James T. “Survivor of ‘32 Syphilis Study Recalls a Diagnosis.” New York Times (1923), Jul 27, 1972, accessed September 28, 2022. https://www.proquest.com/historicalnewspapers/survivor-32-syphilis-study-recalls-diagnosis/docview/119516865/se-2. Secondary Sources Brandt, Allan M. No Magic Bullet: A Social History of Venereal Disease in the United States Since 1800. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987. Brandt, Allan M. “Racism and Research: Te Case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.” Te Hastings Center Report 8, no. 6 (1978): 21–29. https://doi.org/10.2307/3561468. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs): Syphilis Detailed Fact Sheet.” Last updated April 12, 2022. Accessed October 19, 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/std/syphilis/stdfact-syphilis-detailed.htm. Chandler, Chuck. “Alabama attorney who gained settlement for Tuskegee victims endorses COVID-19 vaccinations 2021.” Alabama NewsCenter, February 17th, 2021. Accessed September 27, 2022. https://alabamanewscenter.com/2021/02/17/alabama-attorney-who-gained-settlementfor-tuskegee-victims-endorses-covid-19-vaccinations/. Gray, Fred. Te Tuskegee Syphilis Study: An Insiders’ Account of the Shocking Medical Experiment Conducted by Government Doctors Against African American Men. Montgomery: NewSouth Books, 2003. Accessed September 27, 2022. ProQuest Ebook Central. Jones, James H. Bad Blood: Te Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment. Te Free Press: New York, 1993. Lombardo, Paul A.., and Gregory M. Dorr. “Eugenics, Medical Education, and the Public Health Service: Another Perspective on the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment.” Bulletin of the History of Medicine 80, no. 2 (2006): 291–316. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44448396. Otero-Bell, RayLee. Te Wives of the Tuskegee Study: An Untold History. LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing: Moldova, 2019.

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Reverby, Susan. Examining Tuskegee: Te Infamous Syphilis Study and Its Legacy. Te University of North Carolina: Chapel Hill, 2009. Reverby, Susan. “More Tan Fact and Fiction: Cultural Memory and the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.” Hastings Center Report, Hastings (2001): 22-28. http://www.examiningtuskegee. com/MoreTanFactAndFiction.pdf. Reverby, Susan M. “Te Tuskegee Syphilis Study as a ‘Site of Memory.’” In Te Search for the Legacy of the USPHS Syphilis Study at Tuskegee, edited by Ralph V. Katz and Rueben C. Warren, 29-40. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2011. Tomas, Stephen B., and Sandra Crouse Quinn. “Light on the Shadow of the Syphilis Study at Tuskegee.” Health Promotion Practice 1, no. 3 (2000): 234-37. http://www.jstor.org/ stable/26734161. Yoon, Carol K. “Families Emerge as Silent Victims of Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments.” In Tuskegee’s Truths: Rethinking the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, edited by Susan M. Reverby, 457460. Chapel Hill: Te University of North Carolina Press, 2000.

About the Author Lauren Colarossi is a 2023 graduate of Christopher Newport University. She graduated with a bachelors in history and a minor and leadership studies. Lauren was born on Long Island, New York, and moved to Williamsburg, Virginia, in 2010 where she resides today. She is pursuing her masters in teaching and will graduate in the spring of 2024. She is currently employed as a substitute teacher in both York County and Newport News public schools and plans to share her passion for children and teaching upon graduation.

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Fan or Foe: K-Pop Fandom Boycotts as Commodity Activism E. Peri Costic Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Danielle Stern, Department of Communication Studies

Abstract In 2022, fans of K-Pop girl group NewJeans proposed boycotting the group due to oversexualization of the members, while fans of Loona proposed boycotting the group due to unfair contract terms. While fans of Loona ended up organizing a successful formal boycott, fans of NewJeans were not able to organize a boycott. By examining discussion of the boycotts through the theoretical framework of commodity activism, this paper seeks to answer the question of what diferences between the two boycotts contributed to the failure of one and the success of the other. Tis paper takes a grounded theory approach to examining Tweets discussing both movements in order to answer the research. Tree themes of fandom structure, the inciting issue, and motivations emerged. Implications include the fact that commodity activism must be collective in order to be successful, and the ways in which outside factors afect success.

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Te debut of K-Pop girl group NewJeans and the announcement of a member being removed from girl group Loona may seem like unrelated incidents which have little bearing on the feld of communication studies. Yet the events which followed present a fascinating case study on fandom, online communication, and the power of boycotts as commodity activism. Both of these occurrences spawned heated discussions about boycotts and moral consumption, but with very diferent results. NewJeans’ debut seemed ordinary at frst, made remarkable only by the fact that they released their frst music video without any prior promotion or introduction to the members. However, concerns were raised when the members were revealed to all be minors under Korean law, with the oldest being 18 and the youngest just 14 (Wang, 2022). While teenagers debuting in K-Pop groups is far from a new phenomenon, fans have more recently begun to worry about the well-being of young teens in the notoriously tough industry (Bell, 2023). Concerns escalated after the release of their third single, “Cookie”, that had lyrics which many perceived to be sexual innuendos (Yeo, 2022). Tis led to many fans (both of the group and within the K-Pop community at large) to call for a boycott of the group, urging other fans to not monetarily support the group. No organized boycott ever came to fruition though, and the group has had immense commercial success (Lee, 2022). By contrast, Loona fans (called Orbits) were able to organize a formally structured boycott of the group. When label Blockberry Creative announced in a statement on November 25, 2022 that member Chuu had been removed from the group due to “violent language” and “misuse of power” (Soompi, 2022b), many fans were shocked and angry. It was widely known that Chuu and the agency had been involved in contract disputes for several months, and many fans speculated that her removal was actually retaliation for her attempts to dispute her contract (Guy, 2023). As more details emerged about the unfavorable terms in all the members’ contracts, the idea of a boycott gained signifcant traction. On December 4, 2022, a group of both Korean and international fans opened a Twitter account called 이달의 소녀 연합 대응팀 (LOONA Union) as a way to ensure a unifed response. On December 7, the account posted a formal statement announcing the specifc terms of the boycott, as determined by an online survey they had conducted. Te aim was to avoid giving any monetary support to Blockberry Creative, so the boycott involved such measures as not streaming music videos or purchasing merchandise (Loona Union). Te boycott (while still ongoing) has already seen a measure of success. Blockberry Creative announced the release of Loona’s 7th EP (titled: Te Origin Album: [0]) on December 11. Te release, originally scheduled for January 3, 2023, has been delayed indefnitely, presumably due to pre-order sales being 98% lower than their previous release (@loona_stats). While there is abundant research on commodity activism through organized efort by companies or individual choices of consumers, there is a lack of focus on organized eforts by consumers—in other words, boycotts as commodity activism. Studying the two boycotts outlined earlier will help to fll not only this gap in research, but will also contribute to the emerging feld of study of online activism. Both boycotts were primarily organized and discussed on social media platforms (especially Twitter), which allows for examination of the intersection between digital activism and commodity activism. Furthermore, there is a growing interest in K-Pop fandom culture, both in the scholarly world and outside of it. In particular, the online activism of K-Pop fandoms during the Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020 drew signifcant media attention (Bruner, 2020). Hollingsworth (2020) describes how K-Pop fans are already skilled at using algorithms to promote their artists, a skill which translates into digital activism. Furthermore, while there is an increasing amount of scholarly literature on the subject (see Kang et al., 2022; Maros & Basek, 2022), there is still plenty of room for additional research. Studying these boycotts through the lens of commodity activism will help to expand our knowledge on commodity activism, online activism, fandom

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activism, and the way in which all of these intertwine—essential knowledge for an increasingly commodifed and online world. Tis paper seeks to determine what diferences between the two boycotts contributed to the failure of one and the success of the other. To answer this question, I examined Tweets from both movements through the framework of commodity activism using a grounded theory approach. After reviewing the existing literature on the subject, I discuss emergent themes of the fandom structure, the inciting issue, and motivations. Literature Review Te literature review will frst examine previous literature on the theory of commodity activism before addressing online activism—both in general and by K-Pop fans more specifcally. Beginning with the historical roots of commodity activism and the origin of the theory itself, the literature review will move into the ways in which activism has evolved with the rise of social media, before examining more specifcally how K-Pop fans leverage social media as a tool for activism. Commodity Activism First coined by Sarah Banet-Weiser and Roopali Mukherjee (2012), commodity activism can be described as the intersection of activism and economy. Banet-Weiser and Mukherjee (2012) explain that, “within contemporary culture it is utterly unsurprising to participate in social activism by buying something” (p. 1), referencing the Dove Real Beauty campaign and ProductRED as examples of commodity activism. Although the codifcation of the term is recent, the concept of “citizen” as “consumer” is not a new one. As Banet-Weiser and Mukherjee (2012) relate, there is a long line of commodity activist movements through American history that have taken many forms. In the 1800s, women asserted their autonomy by shopping for pleasure outside the home, as opposed to remaining inside the household. Tese new consumption practices helped reshape gendered expectations and were about more than just fulfllment of personal desires—they were aimed toward a larger political goal (BanetWeiser & Mukherjee, 2012,). Additionally, the civil rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s relied heavily on consumer activism such as bus boycotts, and also revolved around the concept of equal access to retail spaces such as lunch counters and stores (Banet-Weiser & Mukherjee, 2012). Tese movements were all centered around collective and community action. Tey were about more than individual consumer desires, instead focusing on “enabling broader goals of equal access, social justice, and community building” (Banet-Weiser & Mukherjee, 2012, p. 8). In other words, these movements had a much larger communal goal in mind, and focused on creating more access and opportunities for all, not just certain individuals. Teir success was due to the members’ ability to work together towards a larger goal, not just fend for themselves. Companies also engage in commodity activism, albeit in diferent ways than consumers, by creating commodity activist campaigns by branding (or attempting to brand) certain products as socially responsible. Repo (2018) uses the example of feminist T-shirts, describing several examples of companies and designers producing T-shirts with messages intended to be empowering. While acknowledging that they can help raise awareness, her analysis of these shirts reveals numerous issues. She makes the point that “awareness raising and empathy are important, but wearing feminist T-shirts does not necessitate debate and discussion nor the dedication of time, efort, and thought to feminist action” (p. 229), meaning that while these shirts have some benefts, they also run the risk of further reducing feminism to a mere commodity. Repo (2018) is not the only one to make this point. As Banet-Weiser and Mukherjee (2012) explain, commodity activism is a deeply nuanced concept that cannot simply be categorized as “good” or “bad.” Tompson and Kumar (2022) elaborate on this further as they

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explore the efects of commodity activism which they refer to as political consumption. In their study of Slow Food, a grassroots movement focused on preserving local food cultures, they acknowledge several arguments against commodity activism/political consumption. A major theme of these criticisms is that commodity activism can become an excuse for not doing more (Tompson and Kumar, 2022). Essentially, consumers who feel as though they are “consuming ethically” may feel as though that is all they need to do in order to combat societal problems. While Tompson and Kumar (2022) found that this was not the case for the organization they were studying, they still acknowledged that other movements may fall prey to this issue and that “...political consumerism won’t be the savior of our world…” (p. 23), and is simply “...one of the many pieces in the puzzle of a sustainable society” (p. 23). Tis essentially means that commodity activists movements can be a force for good, but are not always. de Bruin-Molé (2018) takes the complexity of the concept even further by examining the ways in which one commodity activist campaign, Disney’s Star Wars: Forces of Destiny merchandise, has both positive and negative efects. Te Forces of Destiny merchandise featured female characters, and was explicitly marketed towards young girls as a way of broadening the Star Wars fandom. On one hand, this seems to be a positive attempt on the part of Disney to send the message that the Star Wars franchise is for girls as well as boys. On the other hand, the creation of a line of toys specifcally for girls (with signifcantly more feminine marketing) also serves to reinforce traditional gender stereotypes (de Bruin-Molé, 2018). Te consumer is now faced with a dilemma—will participating in this clear attempt at commodity activism actually have the intended efect (advancing the message that Star Wars is for everyone)? de Bruin-Molé’s (2018) argues that in this case, the answer is ultimately no. However, she does acknowledge that “Forces of Destiny’s call to commodity activism was certainly successful in generating discussion about its motivations, and about its intended audience” (para. 30). In other words, while the actual commodity activism itself was not successful, it at least was able to spark a discussion surrounding feminism and Star Wars which may eventually lead to positive change. In a way, the commodity activism succeeded and failed at the same time. Another dimension of commodity activism which has recently seen much exploration is motivation. In examining anti-consumerist movements, Kozinets and Handelman (2004) found that many anti-consumerism activists viewed the system of consumerism itself as the enemy, and the consumers who participated in it almost as victims. Tus they are both fghting against and trying to save the typical consumer—demonstrating how commodity activist movements are often fraught with contradictions. Furthermore, activists seeking ideological change tend to have a strong moral and ideological connection to their cause (Kozinets & Handelman, 2004). One way this manifests is through how they view their opponents. Kozinets and Handelman’s (2004) fndings reveal that those they call consumer activists tend to view their opponents as both ideologically opposed and morally inferior to themselves. Tis can lead to less success with their movements, as it is difcult for them to “convert” others over whom they assert superiority. Related to this is Alison Hearn’s (2012) concept of the branded self, a highly individual and competitive self-image, that contemporary consumer culture encourages the creation of. In today’s culture, everyone must have an opinion on everything (their personal “brand”) and the appearance of this brand is of utmost importance. Accordingly, this type of self-image serves to undermine the potential for community activism, instead putting the emphasis on individual activism (or appearances of activism) (Hearn, 2012). When someone allows their personal brand to take precedence, what becomes most important is the appearance that “I” have a certain stance on an issue, not that “we” are able to create positive change for “us” as with the historical examples of commodity activism referenced by Banet-Weiser and Mukherjee (2012). Tis means that actually achieving change is not so much a priority as making sure others know that one wants to achieve a change. Tis relates back to Kozinets and Handelman’s (2004) points about issues with activists claiming

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moral superiority. Te branded self is all about being able to claim moral superiority—e.g., “I’m better than you because I posted this infographic on my Instagram story”—rather than achieving action. Turning activism into a competition has no benefts except to infate the egos of the so-called “activists” constantly trying to one-up each other. Additionally, Hearn (2012) notes how social media plays a large role in exacerbating this issue as it further encourages the promotion of a branded self by creating more opportunities for any person to create a “brand.” Govind et al. (2017) also focus on the diference between explicit and implicit attitudes towards products, explaining that while explicit attitudes are easier to change, they do not afect behavior as much as implicit attitudes. While certain customers may say that they prefer a more socially responsible product, that does not mean they are going to purchase it. Also on the topic of motivation, Edinger-Schons et al. (2018) explore whether consumers respond more strongly to marketing a sustainable product with intrinsic appeals (good for the environment generally), extrinsic appeals (good for the consumer) or both. Tey found that for consumers who already feel involved in sustainable consumption, adding extrinsic appeals can actually cause a negative reaction—but for consumers who are not as involved, extrinsic appeals have the opposite efect. Tis means that consumers who do not feel connected to sustainable consumption are less motivated by the intrinsic social value a product has and are more motivated by the personal benefts it has for them. Similarly, Trudel et al. (2019) found that ethical purchases are often motivated by a desire to boost self-esteem, rather than purely altruistic motives. All of these studies echo Hearn’s (2012) argument about commodity activism encouraging the appearance rather than the substance of activism, as they demonstrate that consumers often choose socially responsible products for self-beneftting reasons. Online Activism Te concept of online activism is one which has generated much discussion and study in recent years, as it is a relatively new phenomenon. While many have hailed the Internet as benefcial for encouraging greater numbers of people to engage in activism, others have cautioned that online activism can actually have the opposite efect. Smith et al. (2019) elaborate on this by explaining how in some cases social media use can lead to a lazy form of activism (dubbed “slacktivism”), but assert that this is not always the case. Tey further argue that factors such as empowerment and engagement determine the efectiveness of activism—not the technology itself. Bonilla & Rosa (2015) provide a robust defense of social media activism in their examination of the #Ferguson protests, with several examples of how online activism furthers and supports ofine activism. Furthermore, Chon & Park (2020) describe how social media is especially suited to activism. Tey conceptualize activism as “collective action of likeminded people (i.e., polarized people) to change a society, a policy, or an organization in relation to contentious issues” (Chon & Park, 2020, p. 74). Using this defnition, it is easy to see how social media is particularly useful for activism. One of the main benefts of social media is that it allows people who are in physically distant locations to gather and communicate as if they were not, making it far easier for like-minded people to fnd each other. A specifc area in which the advent of the Internet has encouraged activism is that of fan activism. As early as 2009, researchers began making connections between an increase in fan activism and the advent of the Internet (Earl & Kimport, 2009). In their analysis of this phenomenon, Earl & Kimport (2009) also asserted the importance of fan activism as a topic of study, and cautioned future researchers against dismissing fan activism as unimportant. Amaral et al. (2021) continue this line of thought by outlining several ways in which fan activism manifests as political participation, such as fans of a lesbian couple on a TV show causing networks to incorporate more representation. Beyond the specifc examples they give, their analysis makes clear that even when the content of fan activism is not explicitly political, the actions mirror political participation (such as

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protesting online for a favorite show to be renewed), lending a political air to all fan activism. Additionally, as Jackson & Welles (2015) note, social media also provides an ideal space for counterpublics (groups made of up marginalized people) to form and network. While fans are not necessarily a marginalized group (in that they are not systematically discriminated against) many fans are part of a cultural minority. In other words, social media provides opportunities for members of fandoms to form communities that would be impossible to form in person due to physical distance. Tis is especially true for K-Pop fandoms, since many are comprised of fans from multiple diferent countries. K-Pop Fans as Twitter Activists In order to understand how K-Pop fandoms leverage Twitter as a site for commodity activism, it must frst be understood how these communities form and operate more generally. Schmidt’s (2014) conceptualization of the “personal public” on Twitter is helpful in understanding this. Schmidt (2014) describes a personal public as one “where information is selected by criteria of personal relevance for a known, networked audience in a conversational mode” (p. 7). He goes on to explain how personal publics do not exist solely on Twitter, but how Twitter does provide a perfect space for the proliferation of personal publics. Because Twitter allows users to control both who they interact with and the type of content they see, as well as allowing and even encouraging conversations (through replies and quote tweets) it is well suited to this type of public. One practical implication of this is that two users on Twitter can have completely diferent experiences based on the makeup of their personal public. With traditional mass broadcast media, all audience members experience the same content—that is, when a TV show airs, everyone sees the same actors speaking the same dialogue. Twitter is entirely diferent—two users could both be on Twitter and never see any of the same Tweets, because they have curated for themselves a completely diferent experience. Tis leads to diferent “sides” of Twitter emerging, such as Black Twitter or, what I will be discussing here, K-Pop fandom Twitter. Even saying “K-Pop Twitter” is a bit of a generalization, as fans of diferent groups often have their own “sides” or communities of Twitter. Dufett (2013) explains how fans tend to organize into social groups, which are usually supportive spaces which provide members with a sense of belonging. Tese communities can be formal (such as a literal fan club which has a roster of members) or informal (such as a group of fans discussing something online with no formal boundaries). Even informal fan groups typically have some sort of hierarchy and structure (Dufett, 2013). In K-Pop fandoms on Twitter, this comes in the form of fanbases—Twitter accounts dedicated to fandom organization and mobilization. Tese accounts can be broad—dedicated to general promotion of the group—or specifc and focused on one platform, country, or service. While these fan communities do provide the members with support, it is critical to understand they are not monolithic “hive minds”, but instead often the site of disagreement and discussion (Dufett, 2013). Tese discussions can range from the superfcial (e.g. preferences about songs or styling) to the serious (such as feelings about potentially ofensive comments made by artists). Either way, fandoms are not uniform in their thinking, and can frequently be rife with confict. A frequent division seen in K-Pop fandoms is that of international fans and Korean fans. Cultural diferences frequently cause confict, especially when idols engage in conduct that may be considered appropriate in one culture, but not in the other. Despite this confict, these communities still provide a powerful source of identity. As Maros and Basek (2022) explain, many K-Pop fans create an online social identity based on their involvement in a fandom. Tey also explain that a common aspect of community building is comparison to other communities, which in K-Pop fandoms manifests itself as comparison between fandoms. Tis can then turn into what is known as a “fanwar” where two fandoms essentially fght over which artist is superior.

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Contrary to the concept of fanwars is the process of fandom collaboration, where two fandoms will work together for the mutual beneft of their artists. An example of this might be if an awards show has multiple awards that fans can vote for, then fans of a group nominated for one award may collaborate with fans of a group nominated for another, and they both vote for each other. Since the groups are not nominated in the same category, there is no aspect of competition, and both groups get a bump in votes. Kang et al. (2022) emphasize that collaborations will typically only occur when there is a reciprocal relationship involved (i.e. both groups get a beneft)—fans generally are not willing to collaborate for the beneft of only one artist. Additionally, the main reasons that fandoms engage in collaborations is to build relationships with other fandoms (Kang et al., 2022), presumably in hopes of receiving support from them in the future. It is clear that these fans take collaborations and promotions in general quite seriously, which leads into the concept of fan labor. Busse (2015) explains how many fans participate in what she calls a labor of love, where fans essentially do work for free. Most fans do not even view their “work” as work, since they are doing it out of love and dedication, but this can unfortunately lead to exploitation by industries, which occurs when companies understand how to leverage fan labor for their beneft. Te more dedicated fans are, the more work they are likely to engage in—and this is extremely prevalent in K-Pop fandoms. Research Question While there is abundant research on commodity activism through organized efort by companies (e.g. de Bruin-Mole, 2018; Repo, 2018) or individual choices of consumers (e.g. Edinger-Schons et al., 2018; Trudel et al., 2019), there is a lack of focus on organized eforts by consumers—in other words, boycotts as commodity activism. Studying the two boycotts outlined earlier will help to fll not only this gap in research, but will also contribute to the emerging feld of study of online activism and more specifcally, fan activism. Both boycotts were primarily organized and discussed on social media platforms (especially Twitter), which allows for examination of the intersection between digital activism and commodity activism. Te proposed NewJeans boycott failed, while the Loona boycott has seen success. Tis study aims to answer the following question: what diferences between the two movements contributed to the failure of one and the success of the other? Methodology While both the Loona and NewJeans boycotts were discussed on a variety of social media sites, the primary site for discussion was Twitter, so this study will focus solely on Tweets discussing the boycotts. Additionally, the public discussion-oriented nature of Twitter makes it easier to see reactions and discussions surrounding a topic, instead of isolated opinions. Because there is no singular unifying hashtag, there was no way to automatically collect data by downloading tweets with a specifc hashtag, a common practice for similar studies (e.g. Jackson & Welles, 2015; Pennington, 2018). Instead, I adopted a theoretical sampling approach. Morse et al. (2021) defne theoretical sampling as “seeking further data according to the analytic needs of the study” (p. 6). In other words, theoretical sampling involves not sticking to a rigid set of rules regarding sampling, but letting the research guide further data collection. I began my theoretical sampling by searching Twitter for keywords related to discussion of the boycotts. I also used the date fltering feature of Twitter Search to help ensure that results are relevant and timely. For the discussion of NewJeans, this means searching keywords such as “boycott newjeans” and “newjeans ages”, with the date flters set to only show tweets from shortly after the release of the controversial music video for “Cookie.” For the discussion of the Loona boycott, I plan to use terms such as “boycott loona” and “blockberry creative” (Loona’s label), with the date flters set to days just after the initial announcement of Chuu’s removal and the initial post by @unionloona announcing the boycott.

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After the initial searches for key phrases is where the theoretical sampling aspect really began to emerge—letting my data guide my data collection. One way I did this is by looking at replies and quote retweets of the tweets that are results of my initial search. Responses to initial tweets may not contain keywords related to the discussion, but still be relevant— for example, replies saying a user agrees or disagrees can provide a good sense of attitudes toward a proposed boycott, without ever mentioning the word boycott. Another way the initial results further guided my searches is by revealing slang or shorthand commonly used in the fandoms. For instance, while conducting preliminary searches I discovered that NewJeans fans commonly abbreviated NewJeans as “nwjns” or “nj.” Tus, a further search for “boycott nwjns” (as opposed to simply “boycott NewJeans”) yielded even more results. After collecting the tweets, I examined them using a constructivist grounded theory approach. According to Corbin & Strauss (2015), the goal of grounded theory is to “demonstrate how logic and emotion combine to infuence how persons respond to events or handle problems through action and interaction” (as cited in Perks, 2019, p. 23). Tis made it an ideal method to examine the two boycotts, as they are quite literally people responding to events and attempting to handle problems by interacting with one another. One important aspect of constructivist grounded theory is that it does not assume the researcher is a neutral observer, but acknowledges that the researcher’s subjectivity will afect the research process (Charmaz, 2021). Tis is very much true for myself in this study. While I attempted not to be unfairly biased or ignore important data based on personal preferences, it would be a lie to try and pretend that I was a completely neutral observer of this data. I was already aware of both of these issues before beginning my research, and I had even engaged in some discussion surrounding them on Twitter. However, I believe that this pre-existing knowledge makes my ability to research better, not worse. I understand how K-Pop fandom discussions in general progress, which allows me to better sort through search results to determine the most relevant tweets. Another important aspect of constructivist grounded theory is that it does not seek to produce generalized theories which are applicable outside of the particular situation being examined, but instead “locates theories (and research process) in the historical, social, cultural, and situational conditions of their production” (Charmaz, 2021, p. 159). What this means is that my goal in this study is not to produce a theory which is applicable to all boycotts, past and future. Rather, my goal is to produce a theory that is grounded in the specifc situation I am researching. Te implications of this study may have some applicability outside of it, but the main goal here is not to create a widely generalizable theory. Grounded theory is often applied to research involving interviews with human participants, which obviously this study does not have. However, I would argue that tweets, while certainly not equivalent to interview answers, can serve a similar function in that they demonstrate someone’s view on a certain subject. Tus, it is not unreasonable to apply a grounded theory approach in this context. In fact, I drew my inspiration for using a grounded theory approach from a recent study of an online Twitter movement similar to my own. Pennington (2018) describes how she used a grounded theory approach in her study of #MuslimWomensDay movement. Morse et al. (2021) describe the process of grounded theory analysis as “continually looking and listening, transcribing, coding, and memoing to see “what is going on” in your data” (p. 5). Tus, after collecting the tweets through theoretical sampling, I analyzed them further through close readings as well as comparisons. Boeije (2002) describes how the constant comparative method involves comparing data in many diferent ways and on diferent levels, which will be key to my analysis. Not only did I compare tweets about the NewJeans boycott to tweets about the Loona boycott, but I also compared tweets within each group to each other, to determine any sub-groups or categories that exist among those responding to each situation.

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Tis constant comparison and analysis led to the emergence of themes which can answer the research question. Analysis Tree major themes emerged after analyzing the data: fandom structure, the inciting issue, and motivations. All three of these themes are examples of diferences between the two movements that contributed to their success or failure. Fandom structure refers to who is in the fandom and how it is organized. Te inciting issue refers to exactly that: the issue that sparked discussion of a boycott in the frst place. Finally, motivations refers to what seems to be the driving force behind most contributions to the discussion. Fandom Structure One major diference between the two boycotts that analysis revealed was the makeup and organizational structure of the respective fandoms. Concerns about NewJeans were raised as soon as they debuted, meaning they did not have an existing fandom when a boycott frst began to be discussed. Tis actually is not always the case for K-Pop groups, as companies will frequently promote their upcoming groups, at the very least revealing all of the members and teasing music and other content to build anticipation (Sesoko, 2021). When this is the case for groups, they can establish a more organized fandom before the groups ofcial debut. NewJeans had none of this, instead revealing themselves to the world by releasing a music video for their frst single. Importantly, while there were some fanbase accounts established before NewJeans’ debut (created as soon as label ADOR announced their intent to debut a girl group), there was not a NewJeans fandom, as no content involving the members was revealed until the group’s debut. What this means also is that instead of the NewJeans fandom collectively deciding to take action, potential or even non-fans were urging others to not support the group. Because the issue manifested itself before a fandom could form, it did not cause a divide between existing fans, but rather a split between who became a fan and who did not. Tis divide can be seen in the reactions to a Tweet by user @newjikr (2022), posted shortly after the release of their initial singles, which lists the ages of all the members. One quote Tweet said “I think i have to reconsider if i want to stan them. Would they all be 17 and 18 then of course yes, because thats my age but not 14” (@alexes184, 2022). Tis user evidently initially wanted to become a fan of NewJeans, but reconsidered after learning their ages. Tey clearly did not consider themself a member of the NewJeans fandom (they said they wanted to stan the group, not that they already did), but still was taking action and implying through their Tweet that it would be inappropriate for someone of their age to be a fan of a 14 year old. While this user did not go so far as to directly call others to action, other users did. Another quote rebukes fans of the group, saying “Fourteen?? yall need to stop stanning children wtf ” (@aquarianfle, 2022). Tis user clearly takes issue with the ages of the members, referring to them as children. Not everyone was bothered, however, with a third quote Tweet saying “that’s literally normal … I thought all of them were like 12 or 13 omg” (@yenbmi, 2022). Tese diferent reactions demonstrate how those who took issue with the members’ ages, instead of collaborating with other fans as part of a preexisting group, simply chose to not become fans of the group, while those who had no issue did become fans. Tis led to the debate being between fans and nonfans, instead of a discussion among fans. Tis also meant there was no organization of the type Dufett (2013) names as essential to fan community surrounding the discussion. Tis was not a discussion among an organized community, with established trust in each other, but instead a debate between fans and perceived “antis”, a term used to describe those who are against a certain artist’s success. One user commented on the divide by saying, “Didn’t realize how many new jeans shooters there already was… which is precisely why we’re never gonna have a meaningful discussion about a boycott or collective action.” (@darlingpixy, 2022). Te term

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shooters refers to those who blindly (and sometimes aggressively) defend their favorite artist no matter the issue. Tis Tweet, then, expresses concern over the fact that many NewJeans fans would be unwilling to engage in an actual discussion about a boycott. Tis concern would prove to be well-founded, as many fans of NewJeans did end up dismissing concerns raised by those who were not fans of the group. For example, I found numerous Tweets accusing supporters of a boycott of only wanting to see the group fail, and not having actual concerns. User @newjeansdior (2022), commenting on a Tweet which describes NewJeans’ high album sales, said “see how the qrts [quote retweets] are now talking about age bc they’re just so salty? yeah NewJeans is gonna be so successful.” Referencing the several other quote Tweets which comment on the members’ ages, this user believes that others’ concerns are not genuine, but only being used as an excuse to hate NewJeans for being more successful than other groups. Unlike NewJeans, Loona was an established group with an established fandom by the time the issue of a boycott arose. Te most important part of this diference is the fact that an informal hierarchy of the type Dufett (2013) describes already existed within the fandom. Loona fans (called Orbits) were used to discussion and debate, and numerous well-known and trusted fanbase accounts were already in existence. Troughout the course of Loona’s career, these fanbase accounts frequently collaborated for important events (such as encouraging Orbits to vote for Loona on a reality competition series). Tis existing network of collaboration led to the creation of Loona Union, a Twitter account described as “a joint response team of domestic and foreign fanbases” (Loona Union, 2022a). Te main purpose of the account is to provide a single, unifed response and to have one source for information regarding the boycott. Tis account seems to generally be regarded as the highest authority on the boycott, as I noted several tweets which involved users answering questions about the specifc terms of the boycott by referring to statements from Loona Union (@keyIium, 2023; @aintnocrime, 2023). After making initial statements explaining the purpose of the account, Loona Union administered a survey which received 7,506 responses in order to determine the specifc parameters of the boycott, and then posted a formal statement outlining the goals and parameters as determined by the survey (Loona Union 2022b; 2022c). Tere were several detractors, but most criticisms seemed to be directed towards specifc decisions made by the account, not its overall existence. For instance one user, responding to screenshots of a Reddit post criticizing Loona Union’s frst statement, said: scepticism is certainly my attitude towards the ‘loona union’, this frst statement and its outcomes, however i fnd it entirely unhelpful and arrogant to see people calling it cringe. as holydust42 points out, the key here is consolidation and representation of fan voices. (olhyejuul, 2022) While this user admits they are skeptical of the Union, they also are not dismissing it out of hand, and they acknowledge that it does serve a useful purpose. Loona’s existing fandom meant that it was much easier for fans to respond to the issue in an organized manner and create a formal boycott. Te highly specifc, organized and formal nature of the Loona boycott is a likely contributor to its success. By contrast, the fact that the NewJeans fandom was still developing meant that organizing a boycott of the same formality and magnitude would have been signifcantly more difcult if not impossible, and one never came to fruition.

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Inciting Issue Te second main diference between the two movements was the issue which prompted a boycott in the frst place. Part of the reason why it was difcult for fans to organize a boycott of NewJeans was due to the fact that there was disagreement about whether there was an issue. As already mentioned, not everyone took issue with the ages of the members. It is important to note that K-Pop groups frequently debut with members under 18, but 14 is generally regarded

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as unusually young (Bell, 2023). Te issue regarding the lyrics to “Cookie” was similarly divisive, with some users taking no issue with the song and fnding the lyrics to be appropriate. For instance, one user expressed that they …would have NEVER perceived this song as s*exual (and I am still not seeing it as such) if it weren’t for this stupid controversy. I would have see teenagers talking about cooking some cookies while being cute because that’s all they are (@bigdeal0818, 2022) Like many fans of the group, this user interpreted the lyrics literally, viewing the song as being about baking actual cookies. However, this was certainly not the majority opinion, as many other users expressed sentiments similar to @KeroppisBFF, who tweeted “People defending the NewJeans writers on that cookie song must not be seeing the shit they write… that song is AN INNUENDO! THEY ARE CHILDREN. Be serious!” (2022). Tis user actually touches on what made the issue of the lyrics so divisive, which is that they contain innuendo rather than being explicitly sexual. Additionally, NewJeans’ label ADOR released a statement in response to the backlash where they stated that “Te ADOR team didn’t take any issue with the lyrics to ‘Cookie’ when we were making the album because our vision for original and wholesome music was crystal clear to us” (Soompi, 2022a). Te lengthy statement goes on to detail how the team intended for the song to be comparing baking cookies to making music and claims that “cookie” is an unfamiliar and uncommon slang word. An important aspect of the statement, and another contributor to the divisiveness of the lyrics, is the idea of language. “Cookie”, like most K-Pop songs, contains both Korean and English lyrics. Tis led some users (especially those who did not speak Korean) to claim that the lyrics were poorly translated or that the Korean lyrics were not sexual in nature. For instance, one user responded to a Tweet expressing concern about the lyrics by saying “It’s mistranslated I see that u guys r concerned but the knetz [Korean social media users] r loving the song for having cute lyrics. Te eng translations r just not the vibe” (@ntsuha1231, 2022). In addition to claiming that meaning was lost in translation, defenders of the song also accused detractors of ethnocentrism—such as one user who wrote “THANK YOU!! I’ve been saying this about the translation and slang since day 1. Americanized drama queens acting like every language is the same and is commanded by their own language’s grammar and linguistic rules” (@ptrsdrkds, 2022). What this person is trying to say is that American fans were imposing their own culture onto the song’s lyrics, and by extension, that the song would not be inappropriate if viewed through a diferent cultural lens. Taken together, the subtle and implicit nature of the lyrics, the statement from ADOR, and the language barrier all contributed to making it difcult for fans to come to a consensus about whether or not there was an issue. Even for those who believed there was an issue, what exactly the end goal of a boycott should be was not clear. A small number of tweets mentioned fring creative director Min Heejin, but many simply called for a boycott without a clear end goal. Combined with the lack of a clear issue, this lack of a goal was a major contributing factor as to why a boycott was never formally organized. Unlike the situation with NewJeans where the issue was unclear, the issue which began the Loona boycott was clear and almost immediately agreed upon. Te initial response to Chuu’s removal from the group was overwhelmingly negative, with reactions ranging from disappointment: “gutted. heartbroken. shattered. this is my 9/11” (@loonathekitty, 2022) to outrage: “THIS IS STANK AND UGLY AND BITCH I HOPE THAT RAGGEDY ASS COMPANY CHOKE! STANK BOOTY BITCHES” (@2NEP1NK, 2022). Fans swiftly began accusing Blockberry Creative of lying in order to defame Chuu. Like ADOR, Blockberry Creative also attempted to release a statement to quell the backlash. However, this second statement only served to further anger fans, many of whom were quick to mock the statement. One user wrote in response to the second statement, “Tem guilt tripping orbits at the end like ‘if you really care about Loona then you’ll shut up about this’ like every orbit here doesn’t want Loona to disband just to get them out of there” (@stupidhorse420, 2022). Tis user takes issue

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with the end of the statement which asks fans to refrain from speculation “so that the LOONA members are not hurt by this incident and can start team activities again” (Soompi, 2022). @ stupidhorse420 makes the point that many fans are not actually in favor of Loona resuming promotional activities as an 11-member group under Blockberry Creative, and would rather see their contracts terminated. Tis reference to contract termination is a key point in the discussion of a boycott because it indicates that many fans had a specifc goal in mind when talking about a boycott—the termination of Loona’s contracts. Even tweets like @stupidhorse420’s which were posted before the formal announcement of a boycott posted by Loona Union still referenced the goal of disbandment or contract termination, indicating that fans had a general sense of what they wanted to achieve through boycotting. Having a clearly defned issue and goal helped with the ultimate success of the boycott. Motivations Te fnal emerging theme is that of motivations, or what seems to be the driving force in most contributions to the discussion. Across both boycotts, many contributions to the discussion seemed driven by concern and frustrations, but in diferent ways. Discussion of the NewJeans boycott was marked by concern for the members, specifcally regarding their careers and their dreams. One user responded to the suggestion of a boycott by saying, “you’re not just boycotting a company tho, you’re boycotting girls that just want to achieve their dreams. talking about it and giving negative feedback to the company is a way more efective way of solving this problem” (@savemybraincell, 2022). While this user acknowledges there is a problem, they are opposed to a boycott—seemingly because they are concerned that it will prevent the members from achieving their dreams. Another also takes issue with a proposed boycott, writing “why is it that y’all want to boycott these poor girls that are most likely victims because it’d be supporting [creative director Min Heejin] otherwise instead of making threads and asking [NewJeans’ parent label] hybe to fre her dangerous ass” (@namuzuha, 2022). Like @savemybraincell, this user also suggested social media activism instead of a boycott, again citing concern for the members. What is interesting about responses like these is that they seem to miss the point that the boycott is being suggested by people who are concerned about the well-being of the members. @namuzuha’s tweet calls the members “victims”, yet evidently intends to continue consuming the content (such as suggestive music videos) that victimizes them. In other words, the users who are opposed to a boycott out of concern for the members seem to be more concerned about the members’ success rather than their wellbeing. Tis provides a stark contrast to the concerns of Loona fans, who frequently mention a desire for disbandment in their discussion of a boycott. One user stated that “Loona is one of my faves but I’d rather they disband than go in to more debt. ” (@chaeryful, 2022). Tis tweet seems to encapsulate the attitude of most Loona fans—prioritizing the members’ security over their success. Another user explains in more detail fans’ hopes for the group: “i think our intention is for loona to drop the label and then have a possibility to redebut under a diferent label, even if they have to rebrand. if we cant do that, then disband bc we dont want them being under [Blockberry Creative] anymore” (@soobinwishlist, 2022). Tis user explains that while many fans hope the group will be able to stay together, the ultimate priority is to ensure the members are able to terminate their contracts with Blockberry Creative. Tose who raised concerns about the members tended to be more worried that the members would feel abandoned by fans, such as @nkmrkzh_ (2022) who wrote, “i mean, unless it’s also clear with the girls that this isn’t against them then i guess it’s tolerable. just dont want them to think that we dont want them anymore.” However, expressions of this type of concern tended to be quickly met with responses that the members were likely both aware and supportive of the boycott (@gajadrip, 2022). What users such as @nkrkzh_ seem to struggle

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to grasp is the fact that commodity activist movements frequently have both positive and negative consequences, and are often full of contradictions. Like the movements discussed by Kozinets and Handelman (2004), fans of Loona were trying to “save” the members by fghting against them (or rather, their label). Fans of Loona had to accept the fact that disbandment may actually be in the group’s best interest, contradictory as it sounds. In addition to expressions of concerns, the diferent expressions of frustration reveal diferent orientations held by the two fandoms in discussion of the boycotts. In discussion of the NewJeans boycott, frustrations with the lack of success tended to manifest as accusations of hypocrisy or disappointment in others. One such post states, “‘boycott newjeans’ this and ‘hold min heejin accountable that’ so why are you still streaming fancams and praising them??” (@ greenteab0ttle, 2022). Tis user is evidently disappointed with others who may have claimed to support a boycott, but then went on to consume content anyway. One important aspect of both this tweet and others like it is its ambiguity. @greenteab0ttle (2022) is not responding to or calling out a specifc person, but instead expressing a general disappointment with these hypothetical hypocrites. Many tweets expressing this disappointment also cite NewJeans’ high album sales and digital streams as “proof ” that others are hypocrites (@jenniebodyguard, 2022; @cosmicdalso, 2022). However, none of these tweets point to an actual link between those individuals who claimed to support a boycott and those who streamed NewJeans’ music. Instead, they express a vague disappointment with ephemeral “others”, who may or may not be paying attention. Tweets of this kind seem to be in line with Hearn’s (2012) concept of the branded self, which prioritizes the appearance of individual action of the substance of communal action. Whatever the intentions of the authors were, the tweets mentioned above serve little purpose other than to signal to other users that the tweeter is still engaging in the boycott. Tese tweets may have the appearance of activism, but only on a surface level. A vague expression of disappointment and a substantial attempt to promote the boycott are two very diferent things. Once again, this same topic is handled very diferently in discussions of the Loona boycott. While there certainly were those who engaged in the same vague accusations of hypocrisy, there were many more who actually responded to and called out specifc people. Some of these discussions (especially closer to the start of the boycott) were more calm and understanding, but as time went on, response to those who broke the boycott grew more heated. For example, @onlyforjnsl (2023) posted an image showing they had won a video call with Loona members by purchasing Loona albums. Tere were numerous replies to the tweet criticizing the user for breaking the boycott by purchasing albums, such as one which read “after all they went through you still decided to spend your money supportimg that evil company that the girls so desperately have been trying to leave....” (@icxtae, 2023). Because the Loona boycott was so widely acknowledged, almost any tweet demonstrating an individual breaking the boycott was met with this type of negative response. Similar tweets from fans of NewJeans were not met with the same overwhelming vitriol, because the NewJeans boycott was not as universally agreed upon. Te diferent manifestations of concerns and frustrations provide signifcant insight into the primary motivations of those engaging in discussion of the boycotts. Te concern for the members’ success and vague expressions of frustration which characterized the NewJeans discussion seems to indicate a primarily self-oriented motivation. By contrast, the concern for the members’ well-being and specifc expressions of frustrations common to the Loona discussion generally indicate a more other-oriented motivation. By no means am I suggesting that all people engaged in discussion of a NewJeans boycott were selfsh or lying about their concerns, or that all people engaged in the discussion of a Loona boycott were completely selfess. However, the majority of tweets in each discussion tended to refect those general attitudes.

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Discussion Limitations and Further Directions One of the biggest limitations of this study was language. I was only able to collect tweets in English, despite a signifcant portion of discussion occurring in other languages such as Korean, Spanish, and French. A future study which examines tweets in all languages and possibly diferences in discussion and themes between cultures would be deeply benefcial to expanding this work. Additionally, this study was based solely on my perceptions of tweets, and there is a possibility that I have misinterpreted users’ meanings. Future research could take a survey approach, interviewing those who participated in the boycotts and discussion to get their perspectives. Perhaps the biggest limitation to this study is the fact that it is taking place several months after both of these discussions were initiated. Unfortunately, there is no simple way around this issue, as these discussions were not planned in advance, making it impossible to plan to study them ahead of time. While I did witness much of the discussion happening as it occurred simply due to my own personal Twitter use, this is very diferent from engaging in a planned study. Conclusion Tere are numerous factors which impacted the success level of these boycotts, including various aspects of context and timing which are afected by chance. However, it seems clear that having an existing and organized fandom, agreement about the issue at hand, agreement on priorities, and a collective focus all greatly contributed to the success of the Loona boycott. Conversely, the lack of these aspects contributed to the failure of the NewJeans boycott. While many people are quick to dismiss actions taken by fans as unimportant or not worthy of attention, this is not the case. Both of these boycotts were spurred by concerns about the safety and well-being of the artists, not a petty concern. As demonstrated by the success of the Loona boycott, fans can wield signifcant power. A key aspect of the theory of commodity activism is that consumers have power, and what individuals choose to buy or not to buy matters. It is no small thing for an album release to be canceled entirely, and this was a direct result of actions taken by fans. However, as demonstrated by the failure of the NewJeans boycott, it can be very difcult for fans to wield this power efectively. A common thread that I discovered during my data collection which ran throughout discussion of both boycotts was that of collective action. Both NewJeans fans and Loona fans acknowledged what I believe to be the most important fnding of this study: that if consumer-based activism is to be successful, it must be collective. A single fan does not have power over a corporation—but when thousands come together, they have the power to make change.

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Hollingsworth, J. (2020, June 22). K-pop fans are being credited with helping disrupt Trump’s rally. Here’s why that shouldn’t be a surprise. CNN. Retrieved April 30, 2023, from https:// www.cnn.com/2020/06/22/asia/k-pop-fandom-activism-intl-hnk/index.html @icxtae (2023, February 5). after all they went through you still decided to spend your money supportimg that evil company that the girls so [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/ icxtae/status/1629419674596147206?s=20 Jackson, S. J. & Welles, B. F. (2015). Hijacking #MYNYPD: Social media dissent and networked counterpublics, Journal of Communication, 65(6), 932–952. https://doi. org/10.1111/jcom.12185 @jenniebodyguard. (2022, August 3). what happened to protecting minors and now all of a sudden new jeans has 500k sales yall just want min [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/ jenniebodyguard/status/1554846070785691648?s=20 Kang, J., Kim, J., Yang, M., Park, E., Ko, M., Lee, M., & Han, J. (2022). Behind the scenes of K-pop fandom: unveiling K-pop fandom collaboration network. Quality & Quantity, 56(3), 1481–1502. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-021-01189-5 @KeroppisBFF. (2022, August 1). People defending the NewJeans writers on that cookie song must not be seeing the shit they write… that song is [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/ KeroppisBFF/status/1554255032500899841?s=20 @keyIum. (2023, January 3). here u go [Tweet, link to Loona Union Tweet]. Twitter. https:// twitter.com/keyIium/status/1610384539943067650?s=20 Kozinets, R. V., & Handelman, J. M. (2004). Adversaries of consumption: Consumer movements, activism, and ideology. Journal of Consumer Research, 31(3), 691–704. https://doi.org/10.1086/425104 Lee, G. (2022, August 16). NewJeans sets record with debut album. Te Korea Times. https:// www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/art/2022/08/398_334455.html 이달의 소녀 연합 대응팀 (LOONA Union) [@unionloona]. Tweets. [Twitter profle]. Retrieved January 29, 2023 from https://twitter.com/unionloona 이달의 소녀 연합 대응팀 (LOONA Union) [@unionloona]. (2022a, December 4). 안녕하세요, 이달의 소녀 연합 대응팀입니다. Tis is LOONA Union [Tweet, Image]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/unionloona/status/1599418278681927681 이달의 소녀 연합 대응팀 (LOONA Union) [@unionloona]. (2022b, December 7). 대응팀에서는 앞서 공지했던바 대로 보이콧을 진행합니다. As previously announced, we will proceed with the boycott. [Tweet, Image]. Twitter. https://twitter. com/unionloona/status/1600686696542404609?s=20 이달의 소녀 연합 대응팀 (LOONA Union) [@unionloona]. (2022c, December 7). 지난주 진행된 설문 결과를 공유드립니다. We share you the results of the survey conducted last week. [Tweet, Image]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/unionloona/ status/1600689522576363520?s=20

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loona_stats [@loona_stats]. (2022, December 14). [Tweet; image of a graph comparing preorder sales numbers]. Twitter. @loonathekitty. (2022, November 25). gutted. heartbroken. shattered. this is my 9/11 [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/loonathekitty/status/1596363830309031937?s=20 Maros, M., & Basek, F. N. A. (2022). Building online social identity and fandom activities of K-pop fans on Twitter. 3L: Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 28(3), 282–295. https://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2022-2803-18 Morse, J. M., Bowers, B. J., Charmaz, K., Clarke, A. E., Corbin, J., Porr, C. J. (2021). Te maturation of grounded theory. In J. M. Morse, B. J. Bowers, K. Charmaz, A. E. Clarke, J. Corbin, C. J. Porr & P. N. Stern (Eds.), Developing grounded theory: Te second generation revisited (2nd ed., pp. 3-22). Routledge. @namuzuha. (2022, July 27). why is it that y’all want to boycott these poor girls that are most likely victims because it’d be supporting [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/namuzuha/ status/1552355307988336641?s=20 @newjeansdior. (2022, July 25). see how the qrts are now talking about age bc they’re just so salty? yeah NewJeans is gonna be so successful [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/ newjeansdior/status/1551704484790693888?s=20&t=ME9JGFmh-vin-3ft18gLzQ

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@newjikr. (2022, July 23). to those who don’t know or just to inform y’all, this is the age of NewJeans members: Minji - 18 yrs. [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/newjikr/ status/1550902780897873920?s=20 @nkmrkzh_. (2022, December 8). i mean, unless it’s also clear with the girls that this isn’t against them then i guess it’s tolerable. just [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/nkmrkzh_/ status/1600729416581419009?s=20

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@nt_suha1231. (2022, August 1). It’s mistranslated I see that u guys r concerned but the knetz r loving the song for having cute [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/nt_suha1231/ status/1554135229064830977?s=20 @onlyfrjnsl. (2023, February 5). 流石に可愛すぎたから載せていい！？[Tweet, image of two Loona members on a video call]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/onlyforjnsl/ status/1629409106456104960?s=20 Pennington, R. (2018). Making space in social media: #MuslimWomensDay in Twitter. Journal of Communication Inquiry, 42(3), 199–217. https://doi.org/10.1177/0196859918768797 Perks, L. G. (2019). Media marathoning and health coping. Communication Studies, 70(1), 19–35. https://doi.org/10.1080/10510974.2018.1519837 @ptrsdrkds. (2022, August 31). THANK YOU!! I’ve been saying this about the translation and slang since day 1. Americanized drama queens acting like every [Tweet]. Twitter. https:// twitter.com/ptrsdrkds/status/1564962893401100289?s=20

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Wang, S. (2022, July 25). Meet NewJeans, HYBE’s ‘00s-core girl group. Nylon. https://www. nylon.com/entertainment/newjeans-members-danielle-haerin-hanni-minji-hyein-hybe @yenbmi. (2022, July 25). that’s literally normal … I thought all of them were like 12 or 13 omg [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/yenbmi/ status/1551497605225619457?s=20&t=wbQZfQgz8hxylvYm_16oRA Yeo, G. (2022, August 29). Newjeans’ label Ador responds to criticism of “sexual” lyrics in ‘Cookie’ with extensive statement. NME. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://www. nme.com/news/music/newjeans-cookie-sexual-lyrics-controversy-ador-label-respondsstatement-3299682

About the Author Peri Costic graduated Magna Cum Laude from Christopher Newport University in May 2023, with a major in Communication Studies and minors in Leadership Studies and Digital Humanities. She was a part of the President’s Leadership Program as well as Lambda Pi Eta, the Communication honor society. Her campus involvements include serving on the executive board of WCNU Radio all four years, as well as working as a Front Desk Assistant for two years. After graduation, she intends to pursue a career in the feld of communication, possibly involving graphic design.

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Te Relationship Between Teory of Mind Defcits and Youth Criminal Ofending Natalie Cuba Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Nicole Guajardo, Department of Psychology

Abstract For decades, researchers have struggled to identify the origin of criminal ofending in youth. Some researchers are beginning to point to childhood theory of mind (ToM) defcits, difculties in understanding mental states (Wells et al., 2020), as a potential predictor of youth ofending. Biological, social, and environmental factors, along with childhood externalizing behavioral disorders, all may negatively impact a child’s ToM development, making proper decisionmaking and emotional regulation difcult. A predictive relationship between ToM defcits and youth criminal ofending cannot be determined at this current juncture. However, youth ofenders are commonly defcient in ToM, and those with ToM defcits have an increased risk of criminal ofending, indicating there may be a relationship between the two constructs. If such a relationship exists, this opens the door for future research and interventions to mitigate the efects of ToM defcits on children and prevent future ofending in adulthood.

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Te Relationship Between Teory of Mind Defcits and Youth Criminal Ofending One of the most complex topics in criminal psychology is the origin of criminality. Many point to mental health disorders and troubled childhoods as possible causes. Yet, these factors also afect non-ofenders, so they likely are not the only causes of crime. Instead, an underlying construct, combined with these risk factors, may increase the likelihood of ofending. For some, this construct is theory of mind (Noel & Westby, 2014; Schofeld et al., 2015; Snow et al., 2012). Teory of mind (ToM) is the “ability to represent and understand the mental states of others” as well as of oneself (Wells et al., 2020, p. 124). Individuals use ToM to predict, describe, and explain behavior (Poletti & Adenzato, 2013) and the intentions behind behaviors (Wells et al., 2020). ToM predicts social functioning, mental health, and well-being and aids emotion regulation and impulse control (Vai et al., 2018; Wells et al., 2020). When individuals lack ToM, they have trouble identifying mental states and may misinterpret others’ actions. Tese defcits can make engaging in typical social interactions challenging and lead to violent escalations. Ofenders also have these difculties, suggesting possible connections between ToM defcits and participating in criminal activity. Tis paper investigates whether childhood ToM defcits predict criminality by exploring the biological, social, and environmental factors afecting ToM and ofending. Potential interventions to improve ToM and decrease recidivism (ofending and being incarcerated again following an individual’s release from prison or jail) also will be discussed (Boduszek et al., 2014). Teory of Mind Teory of mind (ToM) is an individual’s ability to understand and recognize mental states, which are intentions, beliefs, desires, or emotions. It also includes the notions that individuals may have diferent mental states from others and that behaviors can stem from mental states (McElwain et al., 2019; Wellman, 2014). ToM requires inferring about unobservable information, such as recognizing that a smile does not necessarily mean a person is truly happy. Te most common evaluation of one’s ToM is false belief, which is the understanding that “a person’s belief can … misrepresent reality or be false, and that behaviors can be predicted using that knowledge” (Osterhaus & Bosacki, 2022, p. 2). When an individual passes a false belief task, researchers determine they understand a critical aspect of ToM. However, ToM is a complex concept that may not be fully understood by only measuring false beliefs. ToM encompasses the understanding that actions are intentional and can refect a deeper insight into an individual’s desires and beliefs (Wellman, 2014). For example, a child with a developed ToM observing someone reaching for a cookie instead of an apple would infer that they have a desire for the cookie over the apple. Te components of ToM and how they progress can be described via the Teory-Of-Mind Scale, which assesses Diverse Desires (people can have diferent desires for the same object), Diverse Beliefs (diferent individuals can have diferent beliefs concerning the same situation), Knowledge Access (a person may not know that a particular thing is true), False Belief, and Hidden Emotion (someone may feel a diferent emotion from what they display) (Wellman, 2014). Once children understand these concepts, they can engage in social situations easily and form deeper bonds with others, indicating ToM understanding. While often taken for granted by adults, people are not born with ToM. For example, children a year apart in age show diferences in the number of mental states they attribute to another individual and the success rates of ToM tasks (McLoughlin & Over, 2017; Wellman, 2014). ToM development starts early, as fve to nine-month-old infants accustomed to viewing a particular movement (e.g., reaching for a toy) look longer when this movement is done to achieve a diferent goal (e.g., reaching for a diferent toy) (Wellman, 2014). In later infancy,

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babies can distinguish between a person being unable and unwilling to perform a task and imitate a successful action, even though they never saw a successful instance. Tese fndings indicate that infants begin to treat other people as “intentional agents of behavior” and can interpret the goals of behaviors (Wellman, 2014, p. 17). At a year old, they exhibit social referencing, looking to others to interpret situations. Children between the ages of two and three start the progression described in the Teory-Of-Mind Scale, failing tasks assessing these aspects in early childhood but passing them in late childhood. When children turn 4, they typically pass false belief tasks, suggesting they have achieved some ToM understanding (Wellman, 2014). Nevertheless, ToM continues developing after preschool, and even into adolescence and adulthood. Advanced theory of mind (AToM) refers to the progression in social cognition skills following preschool into middle childhood and adolescence (Osterhaus & Bosacki, 2022). Tis includes second-order false beliefs, the understanding that someone may hold an incorrect assumption about the belief about another’s feelings towards an individual. Other AToM skills include interpreting nonliteral speech, making inferences from nonverbal cues such as recognizing emotion in others’ faces, and faux-pas recognition. Osterhaus and Bosacki (2022) found that second-order false belief tends to progress signifcantly from preschool until age 7. Afterward, development continues at a less dramatic rate throughout the rest of a person’s life. Tis indicates that ToM developments are maintained throughout a person’s life and continue to occur after preschool. ToM is essential for the proper development of social skills and interpersonal relationships. When one has defcits in ToM, it is less likely that they will be able to efectively interact with others and properly communicate their inner emotions and thoughts. In this way, proper intervention and training to improve and develop ToM early in childhood may help to prevent future struggles. Brain Functioning, ToM, and Criminality Damage caused to the brain can negatively afect ToM (Anselmo et al., 2022; Glenn & Raine, 2014; Spenser et al., 2015). Criminal behavior also has been linked to lesions and abnormal activation in brain areas involved in decision-making (Darby et al., 2018) and emotion processing (Glenn & Raine, 2014), processes associated with ToM (Vai et al., 2018; Wells et al., 2020). A less developed ToM makes emotional recognition more complex, leading to abnormal decision-making, such as hitting an individual after perceiving a neutral expression as contempt. Tese apparent overlaps in ToM defciency and criminal behavior may result from biological abnormalities within the brain. Te impact of brain damage on the likelihood of future criminal activity has been well documented. In a systematic mapping of the brains of criminal ofenders with brain lesions, Darby et al. (2018) found a common functional network of lesion areas, including the orbitofrontal cortex, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, anterior temporal lobe, and medial temporal lobe/amygdala. Tese areas are believed to be involved in moral decision-making and ToM. Individuals with lesions in these sites tend to engage in abnormal moral choices (e.g., endorsing harming others) and suggest an increased risk of ofending (Darby et al., 2018). While these lesions do not mean an individual will ofend, damage to these decisionmaking centers makes using ToM challenging. Being unable to recognize that others likely have diferent desires, emotions, and drives than they do and lacking the ability to embody another person’s point of view is indicative of someone who lacks a well-developed ToM (Wells et al., 2020). As a result, individuals may misinterpret positive or neutral actions as negative and respond with disproportionately violent or cruel actions. Furthermore, an individual may not consider the efects of their actions on others, such as the emotional impact of crime on victims, which may promote the possibility of ofending.

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One area of the brain implicated in criminal activity and ToM development is the prefrontal cortex (PFC), located in the frontal lobe. Te PFC infuences decision-making and moral reasoning processes, which, as seen in clinical populations, can be compromised by lesions or abnormalities in activity (Anselmo et al., 2022; Darby et al., 2018). Researchers speculate that the disrupted functioning of the PFC may lead to the origin and stability of criminal attitudes (Anselmo et al., 2022). Various areas of the PFC also are implicated in ToM. Tese include the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLFPC), which is involved in self-regulatory processes such as attention and cognitive fexibility, and the ventral PFC, which infuences emotion processing, learning from rewards and punishments, and decision-making (Glenn & Raine, 2014; Schwenk et al., 2017). Tese processes highly depend on a well-developed ToM. A child having difculties processing emotions, adapting their knowledge to new information, or making appropriate decisions may indicate a less developed ToM. Spenser et al. (2015) further found that, compared to non-ofenders, youth ofenders scored signifcantly lower on ToM and moral reasoning measures, which may indicate dysfunction of the PFC. ToM and moral reasoning are positively associated constructs, as they begin developing at similar times and assist children in controlling their behavior to align with social norms (Spenser et al., 2015). When the PFC is damaged, ToM processes are more challenging as individuals may have trouble adapting to new information about another’s mental states and behaviors. Tis, in turn, may lead to incorrect assumptions about a situation and poor decision-making as a response. Childhood Externalizing Disorders and Teir Infuence on ToM and Ofending Another infuence on criminality is externalizing disorders, particularly Conduct Disorder and Oppositional Defant Disorder. Repetitive aggressive behaviors (e.g., teasing, hitting, or threatening), a disregard for others’ rights (e.g., bullying or stealing personal property), and violations of social norms (e.g., staying out late or truancy) are all characteristics of externalizing disorders (Wells et al., 2020). Children with these disorders project their inner feelings onto others, thus “externalizing” their emotions. For example, children with an externalizing disorder may hit other children or be defant towards an authority fgure like a parent or teacher to express anger or frustration. When children with externalizing disorders exhibit delinquency before adolescence, they are 2 to 3 times more likely to become violent ofenders (Cohn et al., 2012), making these disorders predictors of future ofending. In addition, the characteristics of these disorders may indicate ToM defcits, as children with behavioral problems have been found to score lower than typically developing children on ToM assessments of intentionality behind actions (Wells et al., 2020). For example, children with externalizing disorders are less likely to infer that someone reached for a cookie because they were hungry and wanted it to eat than typically developing children witnessing the same action. Instead, these children may interpret that the other individual purposefully took the cookie so they would not have it or wanted to prevent them from being able to satisfy their hunger. Tis misinterpretation of intentions can lead to escalation and violent outbursts. Conduct Disorder (CD) is characterized by repeatedly violating the rights of others and age-appropriate norms (Boduszek et al., 2014). CD is a strong risk factor for adult criminality, as CD children often show behaviors such as stealing, property destruction, and animal cruelty, which are predictors of future ofending. Incarcerated individuals are 1.2 times more likely to report a prior CD diagnosis (Boduszek et al., 2014). CD children tend to have abnormal activation in brain areas related to ToM and criminality. Violent ofenders with CD often display decreased PFC and amygdala activation (Anselmo et al., 2022; Poletti & Adenzato, 2013; Schwenk et al., 2017). Te amygdala is involved in ToM and the ability to correctly attribute others’ intentions due to its impact on processing emotions, especially fear. CD children with amygdala abnormalities have problems recognizing emotions, impairing their

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intention recognition (Wells et al., 2020). Boys with CD also have been shown not to adjust their behavior in response to explicit emotional cues (Klapwijk et al., 2016), indicating they may be unable to take others’ perspectives and are fxed in a primarily egocentric state of mind. Emotional skills help reduce the likelihood of violence, but CD individuals lack these skills, making them more likely to engage in criminal actions. Te lack of these emotional skills also may prevent benefcial interpersonal interactions as CD children are less likely to respond appropriately to others, making it more likely for them to act out when given feedback (Poletti & Adenzato, 2013). Oppositional Defant Disorder (ODD) is a less severe but more commonly diagnosed form of CD (Boduszek et al., 2014). Children with ODD tend to exhibit high delinquency levels and share the apparent ToM defcits as those with CD. Scores on ToM tasks assessing interpretive understanding of another’s actions negatively correlate with ODD symptoms (Dinolfo & Malti, 2013, as cited in Poletti & Adenzato, 2013). Interestingly, fewer incarcerated ofenders report this diagnosis compared to CD. Children with ODD may receive interventions earlier to combat ofending, or they may not get caught as often as those with CD, and so do not appear in the demographic data (Boduszek et al., 2014). According to the US legal system, neurobiological risk factors for criminality do not pardon the ofender, as they still are determined to be responsible for their actions (Glenn & Raine, 2014). However, it is undeniable that brain activity and abnormalities in certain areas can increase the risk of ofending. Given that defcits in ToM and criminal ofending are linked to activation abnormalities and damage in similar areas of the brain, there is the potential for using neurobiological factors as predictors for those at risk for ofending. In addition, certain behavioral disorders commonly found in youth ofenders also negatively afect ToM, further strengthening the potential connection between ToM defcits and criminality. It is possible that providing interventions during this critical period of childhood, where ToM development and the development of criminal attitudes both appear to emerge and strengthen, could mitigate the efects of ToM defcits on children at an increased risk of becoming delinquent ofenders. Social and Environmental Factors of ToM Development and Criminal Ofending It is likely that social, as well as biological, factors infuence criminality or ToM defcits. Children who face difculties in their social exchanges and environments may be infuenced and face an increased risk of turning to criminal ofenses. Te more stressors children experience, the greater the likelihood they will demonstrate ToM defcits, preventing them from successfully interacting and forming meaningful relationships (Germine et al., 2015; Vai et al., 2018). In addition, children who grow up deprived of complex social interaction may have difculty acquiring and using language to describe their mental states and explain events and behaviors (Noel & Westby, 2014; Snow et al., 2012). Adverse Childhood Experiences Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) (e.g., abuse, neglect, and family dysfunction) create a harmful social environment, negatively afecting the development of social skills, appropriate responses to stress, and emotional control and regulation (Vai et al., 2018). When children grow up in an environment with regular exposure to stress, the stress accumulates and can lead to long-lasting changes, negatively afecting ToM performance in adulthood (Germine et al., 2015). For example, severe childhood neglect negatively impacts face emotional perceptions and social attachment, so children have difculties interpreting the mental states of others and forming social connections due to a decreased ability to engage on an emotional level (Germine et al., 2015). When these children reach adulthood, they may misinterpret positive or neutral facial expressions to be negative, which, combined with trouble making connections, could lead

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to aggressive behavior as a response. Parental criminality, alcoholism, and drug abuse also have been shown to afect ToM negatively due to fewer interactions between children and their parents in a clear state of mind (Germine et al., 2015). Interpersonal interactions may be limited, preventing them from experiencing other perspectives, or primarily harmful due to violence in response to actions, causing uncertainty about mental states and intentions. When children face an unstable or violent home environment, they may be unable to associate diferent mental states with behaviors due to rarely experiencing or witnessing positive emotions. Youth ofenders also have increased exposure to ACEs. Youth ofenders often have chaotic or unstable home environments (Snow et al., 2012). Cohn et al. (2012) found that youth ofenders who reported either persistent high or occasional ofenses tended to come from dysfunctional families or had parents with mental health problems. When children experience an unstable home life, they may ofend to express their aggressive impulses or support themselves when others do not care for them. Children who experience four or more ACEs tend to report higher non-completion of high school, poverty, and unemployment, all indicators of future ofending (Metzler et al., 2017). As youth ofenders have an increased risk of coming into contact with child protective services, they can face further instability (Snow et al., 2012). Children in state care often come from poverty and dysfunctional families, lack stable and quality placements, and have mental health issues, all of which increase the likelihood of crime (Schofeld et al., 2015). As a whole, youth ofenders tend to encounter more ACEs, causing their social and emotional development to be negatively impacted. ACEs afect not just a single person’s life course, but when an individual becomes a parent, ACEs also can extend into the continuity of abuse through the efects on their children (Metzler et al., 2017). Early adversity in life may be difcult to overcome when someone lacks emotional regulation or the ability to understand intentions (Germine et al., 2015). Adults who experience ACEs and do not receive interventions may perpetuate cycles of abuse and cause their children to experience ACEs (Metzler et al., 2017). Parental criminality and incarceration are examples of ACEs and may prevent a child from having stability, leading them to engage in criminal ofending (Germine et al., 2015). If there is a connection between ToM defcits and criminality, the impact of ACEs makes it apparent that early intervention is essential to prevent an intergenerational cycle of trauma that leads to negatively afected social and emotional development within parents and their children. Language Acquisition and Complexity Language is the cornerstone of social interaction. Engaging in verbal conversations with others helps regulate children’s behavior, spoken language, and inner dialogue (Noel & Westby, 2014). Language can alter perceptions of situations, leading to changes in behavior as a result. ToM and language competence are highly correlated (Noel & Westby, 2014; Snow et al., 2012) and ToM benefts from complex language by giving children the words to describe their thoughts, feelings, and experiences and the ability to engage in dialogue with diferent people (Noel & Westby, 2014). Communication competence lets children establish and maintain relationships, allowing them to gain additional language skills through conversing with others with diferent vocabularies and life experiences (Snow et al., 2012). Unfortunately, youth ofenders are three times more likely to display language problems, produce incomplete stories, and exhibit defciencies in reading comprehension (Noel & Westby, 2014). Noel and Westby (2014) found that violent ofenders did not provide resolutions or endings to their stories and less frequently mentioned intentions, mental states, and emotions. Youth ofenders often struggle with abstract narrative features, such as taking the literal meaning of nonliteral devices like sarcasm (Snow et al., 2012). Children with disorders such as ODD and CD (common amongst youth ofenders) often have language difculties as well

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(Noel & Westby, 2014; Snow et al., 2012). Language defcits can be harmful to children involved in the legal system given legal proceedings rely on narrative accounts (Snow et al., 2012). Te speaker must take on the listener’s perspective (who is often unaware of their experience) and adjust their message. Tis requires attentional skills, attention to topic coherence, and the ability to describe characters, events, and the reasoning behind actions. ToM contributes to all of these linguistic capabilities by enabling one to evaluate the mental states and behaviors of the listener and assisting in the remembrance of aspects of the narrative (Snow et al., 2012). Tese capabilities are challenging for most children, who rely on scafolding (prompts and elaborations to assist in storytelling) provided by parents in conversations. Tis cannot be done in investigative interviews since the speaker must provide an account of their own will without manipulation or leading (Snow et al., 2012). Children also tend not to understand that the interviewer does not share their knowledge of situations, so they may produce accounts that omit essential information, preventing them from fully defending themselves or leading to further legal trouble. Youth ofenders face a variety of difculties relating to language. Children with histories of abuse and neglect, commonly seen in youth ofenders, often have cognitive, psychological, and academic developmental detriments, such as being poor at describing their own emotional states (Snow et al., 2012). When children are not presented with conversations about the mental states of others, they do not develop ToM to the extent of children exposed to a language-rich environment (Noel & Westby, 2014; Snow et al., 2012). Tese children also are more likely to be in contact with the legal system. However, due to their less sophisticated language and memory skills, they have a lower status as a conversational partner. Tese language difculties are often interpreted as rudeness or poor cooperation by authorities, making it difcult for youth ofenders to receive fair treatment (Snow et al., 2012). Lacking conversational ability may cause children to engage in criminal activities due to misunderstandings and face challenges when in contact with legal authorities. A well-developed ToM appears to be lacking in youth ofenders, potentially due to social and environmental challenges. An increased likelihood of ACEs in their early years makes it difcult for children to attain the skills necessary to take on new perspectives or describe emotional states. Te optimal environment for children is with a caring, consistent adult who is emotionally attuned and available to the child, but these qualities are often missing for youth ofenders (Snow et al., 2012). Language barriers also prevent children from engaging in conversations about ToM concepts and may pose challenges to accurately and efectively describing their actions. If youth ofenders cannot communicate with others properly, this may exacerbate misunderstandings, leading them into further trouble and committing more ofenses. Interventions It is crucial to determine potential interventions that can be put in place to improve ToM or reduce criminal ofending to help remedy the efects of both and prevent future difculties. While none of these interventions address every infuence on criminality and ToM, they can manage specifc challenges faced by youth ofenders and those with defcits in ToM. A promising biological approach to decreasing criminality and helping those with ToM defcits is Non-invasive Brain Stimulation (NIBS), a procedure involving targeted electrical stimulation of certain brain areas via electrodes (Anselmo et al., 2022). NIBS has been shown to aid in treating ofenders. For example, anodal stimulation of the right ventrolateral PFC reduced unprovoked aggression in children in one study (Rivera et al., 2017, as cited in Anselmo et al., 2022); however, subsequent studies have been inconclusive in replicating this result (Anselmo et al., 2022). NIBS also has been implicated in assisting social cognition and ToM through stimulation of the PFC (Anselmo et al., 2022). In particular, the stimulation

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of the medial PFC, activated when making mental state attributions, has been shown to improve ToM performance in healthy non-ofenders (Anselmo et al., 2022). However, studies involving medial PFC stimulation in ofenders are lacking, so it is unclear whether these efects would be replicated in this population. It also needs to be determined whether these efects on either ToM or criminality last after the NIBS sessions. If patients would need to experience stimulation to their brains to experience these efects constantly, then the practicality of this intervention may be in question. Te current research concerning NIBS is in the early stages, but it appears promising to assist in remedying ToM defcits and reducing ofenses. Another biological intervention involves using medications to decrease criminality. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, stimulants, antipsychotics, nutritional supplements, and many other medications may assist ofenders in reducing aggressive behavior and improving the functioning of brain regions involved in ofending (Glenn & Raine, 2014). Tese medications may assist in treating underlying mental health disorders, which is benefcial since individuals with mental health disorders are more likely to have negative interactions with law enforcement. Decreasing aggression and improving the functions of brain regions, such as the PFC and amygdala, make it less likely for individuals to engage in criminal behavior (Glenn & Raine, 2014). Te impact of medications on ToM in youth ofenders is currently unknown. A fnal intervention that focuses on aiding youth ofenders with ToM defcits is narrativebased social problem-solving interventions. In a study of youth ofenders, Noel and Westby (2014) utilized the BEST PLANS curriculum to teach youth ofenders with emotional disturbances narrative and problem-solving skills to engage in efective social problem-solving. Te BEST PLANS program is divided into two parts. Te frst part (Storytelling Strategy Instruction) has students learn the narrative components of stories and the importance of including details associated with each component (Noel & Westby, 2014). Students may retell stories they have heard and create narratives using this framework. Te second part (Social Problem-Solving Strategy Instruction) teaches students the cognitive, afective, and behavioral steps involved in social problem-solving and decision-making. To accomplish these steps efectively, students must address the characters’ needs and emotions and evaluate their own decisions and actions, processes aided by a well-developed ToM (Noel & Westby, 2014). In Noel and Westby’s study, three youth ofenders who completed the BEST PLANS program showed increased inclusion of social problem-solving strategy steps in their narratives. Trough this intervention, youth ofenders increased their narrative and ToM abilities (i.e., attributing mental states to others and discussing intentional actions), which are essential for social problem-solving situations. While this intervention did not show a long-lasting efect on ToM skills following the end of the program (likely due to the participants being released from their youth facility and not receiving the proper reinforcement following reentry) and needs to be researched with a larger sample of youth ofenders, the focus on developing language skills is vital to bridge the gap between ToM and ofending. One signifcant limitation of these interventions is that they all rely on children having already been caught committing a criminal ofense. Preemptive interventions to identify and assist children before ofending are lacking, such as teaching ToM skills or providing children in underserved areas opportunities to interact with other children in safe environments to facilitate complex conversations involving mental states and developing social networks. While it is unclear if improved ToM skills prevent ofending, the overlaps between those at risk for both issues make it a valid area of study. Combining these interventions to address multiple infuences also may be helpful, such as using NIBS during BEST PLANS sessions. Tese interventions are promising, and more youth ofenders and children with ToM defcits should have access to them.

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Conclusion Youth ofenders tend to have ToM defcits, but whether ToM can predict future ofending is unknown. However, the many overlaps between the characteristics of youth ofenders and those with ToM challenges, and the fact that some youth ofenders display defcits in ToM capabilities, suggest that ToM may play a role in which children become ofenders. In ofenders, brain areas associated with ToM tasks (namely the PFC and amygdala) often have activation abnormalities or brain lesions that can lead to unusual moral choices. In addition, youth ofenders often have ODD or CD and display difculties, indicating abnormal ToM. Youth ofenders are likely to come from harsh environments, making it difcult for ToM development to fourish. Tis may cause speech and language difculties, such as an inability to describe emotional states and to take the listener’s perspective. Tese language difculties make it harder for youth ofenders to develop ToM since they can have trouble forming relationships and conversing with others. In addition, the legal system relies on narratives to investigate a crime, putting youth ofenders at a disadvantage in defending themselves and communicating efectively. Since many youth ofenders appear to be impaired in ToM, and children impaired in ToM are more likely to engage in future criminality, it does appear that there is some relationship between the two. NIBS, medications, and narrative-based problem-solving interventions may increase ToM capabilities or decrease the likelihood of ofending. A sensitive, caring, and emotionally attentive caregiver may assist in preventing ToM defcits and criminal ofending, but this is often lacking in the social environments of youth ofenders. Tere are no widespread preemptive interventions to identify ToM defcits in youth ofenders. Current interventions target those who have already displayed a pattern of ofending. It also should be noted that the currently used interventions may not be generalizable to or benefcial for all youth ofenders. Te longterm efects still need to be discovered, such as if they prevent ofending in adolescence and adulthood. Nevertheless, combining these interventions may address the areas of overlap between criminality and ToM. Overall, the similarity of the risk factors for ToM defcits and criminality indicates a potential relationship between the two concepts. A less developed ToM relates to more difculty in social interaction and challenges when interacting with the legal system. Future research will need to be conducted to determine the best interventions to assist youth ofenders’ biological, social, and environmental challenges and examine the two concepts together to determine the strength of a potential association. Early interventions could assist in reducing the likelihood of future criminality in children and adolescents, potentially reducing the number of youth ofenders continuing to engage in criminal activity later in life.

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Poletti, M., & Adenzato, M. (2013). Teory of mind in non-autistic psychiatric disorders of childhood and adolescence. Clinical Neuropsychiatry, 10(5), 188-195. Schofeld, G., Biggart, L., Ward, E., & Larsson, B. (2015). Looked after children and ofending: An exploration of risk, resilience, and the role of social cognition. Children and Youth Services Review, 51, 125-133. Schwenck, C., Ciaramidaro, A., Selivanova, M., Tournay, J., Freitag, C. M., & Siniatchkin, M. (2017). Neural correlates of afective empathy and reinforcement learning in boys with conduct problems: fMRI evidence from a gambling task. Behavioural Brain Research, 320, 75-84. Snow, P. C., Powell, M. B., & Sanger, D. D. (2012). Oral language competence, young speakers, and the law. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 43(4), 496-506. Spenser, K. A., Betts, L. R., & Das Gupta, M. (2015). Defcits in theory of mind, empathic understanding, and moral reasoning: A comparison between young ofenders and nonofenders. Psychology, Crime & Law, 21(7), 632-647. Vai, B., Riberto, M., Ghiglino, D., Bollettini, I., Falini, A., Benedetti, F., & Poletti, S. (2018). Mild adverse childhood experiences increase neural efcacy during afective theory of mind. Te International Journal on the Biology of Stress, 21(1), 84-89. Wells, A. E., Hunnikin, L. M., Ash, D. P., & van Goozen, S. H. M., (2020). Children with behavioural problems misinterpret the emotions and intentions of others. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 48, 213-221.

About the Author Natalie Cuba is a member of the class of 2025 at Christopher Newport University, double majoring in Psychology and Criminology with a minor in Leadership Studies. Aside from her work in undergraduate research, Natalie is a member of the Honors and President’s Leadership Programs, Planned Parenthood Generation Action, and Vice President of Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity, as well as a volunteer at the nonproft organization Fear 2 Freedom. After graduation, Natalie plans to pursue a graduate degree in psychology and hopes to work with inmates in the carceral system, focusing on mental health in relation to the criminal justice system.

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Orr, Haber, and the Sublime Evelyn Davidson Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Kyle Garton-Gundling, Department of English

Abstract In Ursula K. Le Guin’s, Te Lathe of Heaven, George Orr and Dr. William Haber’s perspectives on the sublime reveal their core moralistic diferences. Orr understands the insignifcance of the individual and has no desire to impose his will on the world. He embodies Edmund Burke’s sublime through self-negation and passivity. In contrast, Haber adopts Immanuel Kant’s interpretation of the sublime which focuses on reason and morals over nature. Tus, he inficts his moral agenda in an attempt to change the structure of reality. Orr’s fnal act of negation and Haber’s resulting failure to harness the power of mind over nature suggests that Le Guin favors the Burkean sublime, in which it is necessary to embrace one’s insignifcance and lack of agency over the world order.

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In Ursula K. Le Guin’s science fction novel, Te Lathe of Heaven, George Orr and Dr. William Haber embody two diferent and incompatible interpretations of the sublime. In the aesthetic sense, the sublime typically refers to feelings of wonder and fear evoked from realizing the immeasurable signifcance of a physical, mental, or artistic experience. Orr and Haber’s conficting subliminal mindsets are refected through their difering interpretations of human agency and the potential to infuence the surrounding world. Orr fears his ability to dream efectively because he doesn’t think that free-willed individuals have a right to change the course of human events or dictate a broader world narrative. In contrast, Haber believes that it is not only his right to manipulate the existing reality, but his duty to shape reality on the basis of his own values. Orr demonstrates Burkean sublime in his feelings of individual insignifcance and his passive acceptance of the world as it is; however, Haber’s championing of reason and morality suggests a Kantian interpretation of the sublime. In order to discern Orr’s character, frst, one must understand philosopher Edmund Burke’s defnition of the sublime. In his article, “Burke’s Teory concerning Words, Images, and Emotion,” Dixon Wecter describes Burke’s sublime as “...objects which impress us with their power, vastness or infnity, succession and uniformity, or their efect of ‘painful delight’ upon the senses…” (Wecter, 170). He states that the Burkean sublime typically refers to the natural world, such as mountains, storms, and clifs. When humans encounter the boundless power of nature, it instills a sense of fear and awe; they are reminded of their own insignifcance in comparison. Te jellyfsh scene that Le Guin depicts in the beginning of chapter one epitomizes the burkean sublime and alludes to Orr’s nature. Le Guin writes: Current-borne, wave-fung, tugged hugely by the whole might of ocean, the jellyfsh drifts in the tidal abyss… the most vulnerable and insubstantial creature, it has for its defense the violent and power of the whole ocean, to which it has entrusted its being, its going, and its will. (Le Guin 1) Te jellyfsh simply exists, it does not make futile attempts to control or overcome the ocean in all its immensity. Similarly, Orr exists as a single insubstantial individual, subject to the will of the world around him. Le Guin literalizes this metaphor later on in the novel when Orr rides the subway, “supported solely by the equalizing pressure of bodies on all sides, occasionally lifted right of his feet and foating…,” his submissive malleability suggests this acceptance of the Burkean sublime (26). Le Guin further emphasizes Orr’s passivity in his frst encounter with Haber who immediately typifes him as “unaggressive,” “placid,” and easy to dominate (7, 18). Tis is exactly why Orr dreads his power and vehemently disagrees with the doctor’s intentional manipulation of his dream abilities. Orr would much rather allow the surrounding world to impose itself on him, than manipulate reality to ft his mental schema. Furthermore, he sees no point in attempting to infuence his surroundings because he believes there is no proven intentionality to the functions of life. Orr tells Haber, “‘I don’t know if our life has a purpose and I don’t see that it matters. What does matter is that we’re a part. Like a thread in a cloth or a grass-blade in a feld. It is and we are. What we do is like wind blowing on the grass’” (Le Guin, 82). In other words, Orr accepts his position in the sublime universe and he is content with being made to feel small in comparison. He embraces what Tom Cochrane describes as self-negation in his article, “Te emotional experience of the sublime.” Cochrane defnes it as “... a sense how physically insignifcant, or utterly contingent we are in comparison to the object. And this, I claim, is a necessary component of the sublime experience” (Cochrane 130). Orr self-negates himself by relegating his existence to that of a jellyfsh in the vast ocean or a grass-blade in a feld. Haber reinforces the sense of self-negation when he reveals that, according to standardized test results, Orr is “so sane as to be an anomaly” (Le Guin 137). Haber refers to this as “self-cancellation” and tells Orr, “You cancel out so thoroughly that, in a sense, nothing is left” (137).

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Orr’s self-negation in his experience of the Burkean sublime is also evidenced by an afnity for nature and his desire to escape from civilization. Haber makes this a reality for Orr by encouraging him to dream into existence a cabin in the Siuslaw National Forest. Despite disapproving of Haber’s infuence, Orr seems to be at peace when he visits the cabin. Surrounded by the vast forests and the crashing sounds of the creek, Orr can fully immerse himself in the sublime of nature. Heather Lelache observes the creek, noting that “It was incredible that it had kept up that tremendous noise for hundreds of years before she was even born, and would go on doing it until the mountains moved” (Le Guin 110). In encountering the Burkean sublime, Orr can surrender his feelings of individuality and submit to the seemingly limitless forest. In contrast, Haber asserts his own power over nature, subverting the Burkean sublime. He frst demonstrates this by manipulating the mural of Mount Hood that hangs on his ofce wall. As a visual experience of a natural object, the mural of Mount Hood, suggests a sense of sublime wonder, “Blue sky, snow from foothills to peak” (Le Guin 7). Although Haber unintentionally infuences Orr to change the mural into a depiction of a horse, he intentionally has Orr change it back to Mount Hood. Haber’s intentional manipulation of natural reality elevates him beyond the insubstantiality of the individual and suggests a dominance and control over nature. According to Carl D. Malmgren’s article, “Orr Else? Te Protagonists of LeGuin’s ‘Te Lathe of Heaven,’” Haber’s name alludes to the Creator role that he assumes, “His last name suggests a confation of homo faber, man-the-maker, and he is particularly interested in getting results, in exploiting Orr’s power to bring about a better world…” (Malmgren 315). Tis exploitation of power defes the natural order and corrupts the boundary between man and nature that seems central to the Burkean understanding of the sublime. Haber further embodies the man-the-maker role by using Orr’s dreams to establish himself in an important job that comes with a bigger, grander ofce. In the beginning of the novel, Haber’s windowless ofce is in the Willamette East Tower, but after he harnesses Orr’s efective dream powers, he erects the Oregon Oneirological Institute for which he is the founder and director. His new ofce doesn’t have a mural of Mount Hood; instead he has an extensive view of the city around him: “It was a large corner window, looking out east and north over a great sweep of world… the curve of the much-bridged Willamette close in beneath the hills… Hood, immense yet withdrawn…” (Le Guin 52). Before, the mural of Mount Hood dominated his tiny ofce, but now, Haber literally towers above his surroundings and Mount Hood has been reduced to the distant background. With the power to construct new realities, Haber is not, as Cochrane would call it, contingent on a greater force of nature. His over-infated sense of personal grandeur quickly evolves into a sense of moral superiority. With this newfound power to mold the world to ft his vision, Haber begins making changes to the framework of reality under the frm belief that, “A person is defned solely by the extent of his infuence over other people, by the sphere of his interrelationships; and morality is an utterly meaningless term unless defned as the good one does to others, the fulflling of one’s function in the sociopolitical whole” (Le Guin, 53). For Haber, the power to infuence is paramount and this utilitarian approach to morality allows him to justify making changes for the perceived greater good. Haber rejects the Burkean sublime that Orr adheres to, instead, embracing reason and moral purpose, which are central aspects of Immanuel Kant’s interpretation of the sublime. In his essay, “Philosophical Beauty: Te Sublime in the Beautiful in Kant’s Tird Critique and Aristotle’s Poetics,” Richard Gilmore explains that the Kantian sublime represents limitless disorder: Te pleasure that we get from the sublime Kant refers to as ‘negative pleasure.’ It is an indirect pleasure that comes not from the sublime itself, but from the relief we feel when we realize that this external disorder does not really threaten our internal order; when we

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recognize an alternative purposiveness… which is to be good, i.e., moral. (Gilmore) Instead of accepting the seemingly random nature of the world as Orr does, Haber focuses on his internal order and his ability to control society’s moral landscape. In Orr’s opinion, no human being should play God with the world. He tells Haber that his constant tinkering with reality “goes against life,” by which he means the balance of nature ( 140). However, this is exactly what Haber wants to achieve – the sublime feeling of conquering nature and becoming the greater force. In their article, “Burke’s ‘sensitive’ sublime rooted in brain and body versus Kant’s transcendental concept in the German Romantic discourse,” Renata Gambino and Grazia Pulvirenti assert that, “…Kant relates the sublime to the mind’s power of surpassing sensory perception, of feeling pleasure in experiencing the superiority of reason over nature, conveying reason to transcendence” (Gambino and Pulvirenti 215). In this way, Haber transcends nature and situates his own moral reasoning above all else. However, Haber’s pursuit of transcendental reasoning through the Kantian sublime is stifed by Orr’s constant misinterpretation of his requests. For instance, when Haber tells him to dream that overpopulation is not a problem anymore, Orr dreams up a plague that kills a majority of the population. When he asks that Orr address racial inequality, the dreams eliminate race completely by making everyone the same shade of gray. Orr fails to ever accurately fulfll one of Haber’s suggestions, instead, his mind freely assigns its own meaning to Haber’s words. Te doctor’s frustration boils over later on in the novel when he tells Orr, “‘Every step forward that I force you to take, you cancel, you cripple with the deviousness or stupidity of the means your dream takes to realize it’” (Le Guin 147). Like nature itself, Orr’s subconscious is disordered and beyond control, even by Haber’s advanced technology. In other words, his own aimless, free-fowing imagination negates Haber’s thoughtfully reasoned mindset. Kenneth Holmqvist and Jaroslaw Płuciennik touch on these opposing forces in their article, “A Short Guide to the Teory of the Sublime.” Tey explain that, “If we believe Kant, the principal efect of the sublime might be rendered as a negative sign of inadequacy of imaginative power in relation to ideas of reason (Te Critique 26)” (Holmqvist and Pluciennik 724). By Kant’s interpretation, reason conquers imaginative power in the experience of the sublime; however, this is certainly not the case in Le Guin’s novel, as evidenced by Orr’s imaginative interpretations of Haber’s dream prompts. It’s as if Orr’s mind struggles to defy the limits of his own humanity and he subconsciously resists the assertion of his supernatural powers over the natural world. Tis suggests that his own Burkean interpretation of the sublime negates Haber’s reasoned morality. Orr fully leans into this role of negating Haber’s eforts by the end of the novel, when he turns of the dream machine in order to prevent Haber from destroying the world. It’s worth noting that Orr doesn’t save the world in any grand way. In his fnal act of resistance against Haber, Orr doesn’t dream the doctor out of existence or even dream that reality returns to its original structure. Instead, he simply unplugs the machine, fulflling what Malmgren refers to as, “... Orr’s function within the novel’s macroplot– he cancels things out” (Malmgren, 318). Tis external and internal negation is a component of the sublime that Orr is constantly seeking throughout the novel. Unlike Haber, he has no desire to be a hero or Creator, he simply wants to exist in the natural balance of the world, even if that means having no signifcant role as a singular individual. In the end, Haber is put in the Federal Asylum for the Insane where Le Guin describes him as having “lost touch.” While Orr is able to continue his life and even has a chance with LeLache, Haber becomes just a shell of who he used to be. Trough this conclusion, Le Guin seems to suggest to the reader the importance of the Burkean sublime experience. One must confront the reality of human existence, in which they represent just one tiny part in the grand scheme of life– a drop in a limitless ocean.

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Works Cited Cochrane, Tom. “Te Emotional Experience of the Sublime.” Canadian Journal of Philosophy, vol. 42, no. 2, 2012, pp. 125–48. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43297871. Accessed 30 Apr. 2023. Gambino, Renata, and Grazia Pulvirenti. “Burke’s “sensitive” sublime rooted in brain and body versus Kant’s transcendental concept in the German Romantic discourse.” PsyCh journal vol. 10,2 (2021): 210-223. doi:10.1002/pchj.414 Gilmore, Richard. “Philosophical Beauty: Te Sublime in the Beautiful in Kant’s Tird Critique and Aristotle’s Poetics.” Aesthetics and Philosophy of Arts. Te Paideia Archive. https://www.bu.edu/wcp/Papers/Aest/AestGilm.htm#:~:text=Te%20sublime%2C%20 by%20contrast%2C%20according,any%20limits%20to%20the%20thing. Holmqvist, Kenneth, and Jaroslaw Płuciennik. “A Short Guide to the Teory of the Sublime.” Style, vol. 36, no. 4, 2002, pp. 718–36. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/ style.36.4.718. Accessed 30 Apr. 2023. Le Guin, Ursula K. Te Lathe of Heaven. Scribner, 1971. Malmgren, Carl D. “Orr Else? Te Protagonists of LeGuin’s ‘Te Lathe of Heaven.’” Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, vol. 9, no. 4 (36), 1998, pp. 313–23. JSTOR, http://www.jstor. org/stable/43308369. Accessed 30 Apr. 2023. Wecter, Dixon. “Burke’s Teory Concerning Words, Images, and Emotion.” PMLA, vol. 55, no. 1, 1940, pp. 167–81. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/458432. Accessed 30 Apr. 2023.

About the Author Evelyn Davidson is a rising senior majoring in English and double minoring in psychology and journalism. She has been a member of Te Captain’s Log since her freshman year. She served as the News Editor for two years and will be the Editor-in-Chief for the upcoming academic year. Over the summer she worked as a reporting intern for Te Virginia Gazette, the local Williamsburg newspaper. Evelyn plans to continue pursuing a career in journalism after graduation.

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Redlining Virginia: An Investigation into the Ongoing Consequences of Historical Race-Based Housing Sanctions on Virginia Schools Kayla Engel Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Travis Taylor, Department of Economics

Abstract Te United States’ response to housing needs after World War II resulted in many urban areas being redlined. Race-based perceptions of certain neighborhoods led to boundaries being drawn so that people of color were grouped together in what would become considered to be less desirable locations. Te efects of redlining were not restricted to housing resources, as postsegregation communities had greater problems arise, including issues relating to education. Redlining and racial segregation, although now unconstitutional, still have ongoing symptoms in many communities, especially in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Tis discussion aims to assess what types of economic policy can be implemented to improve the education systems in Virginia cities that are most historically impacted by redlining.

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1. Introduction Te Commonwealth of Virginia has an intriguing and storied history. From colonization to the Civil War, to Jim Crow era segregation to Loving v. Virginia, the state has witnessed many government decisions and policies with impacts that are still visible today. One of the most signifcant historical phenomena to occur in Virginia is the practice of redlining. Redlining is the practice of purposefully withholding resources or funding from certain areas because they are deemed “undesirable.” In most cases, the discriminatory factor that made these areas unappealing is their racial composition. In cities across the United States, redlining resulted in certain neighborhoods being underfunded because the people living there were branded as untrustworthy and unable to fnancially thrive (Finn 2023). Due to racial profling and segregationist ways of thinking, these areas were categorized as unworthy of support. Redlining began after the Great Depression, as many Americans tried to purchase homes and rebuild their personal wealth. In cities across the United States, neighborhoods were assigned a “value” (Finn 2023). Neighborhoods were given a letter tanking, A-D, that marked their perceived value. A, the green neighborhoods, were deemed to be the best quality. D neighborhoods, in red, were viewed as “hazardous” (Finn 2023). Many neighborhoods were marked as lower quality due to their urban surroundings, such as industrial areas with poor lighting. B and C neighborhoods on the maps, blue and yellow respectively, were areas of slightly less value than A, but not as low scale as D. Tese neighborhood gradients can be seen in the maps shown in Figure 1. Figure 1: Redlined City Maps of Lynchburg, Norfolk, Newport News, and Richmond

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Te perceived values of these areas were supposed to indicate a degree of need for government assistance in fnancing housing. Te real data that was collected was a racial profle of urban neighborhoods. Financers would then give a grade based on how well it was believed that a community could be trusted to pay for housing (Finn 2023). Te result was a race-based profling of communities that were still combating anti-black policies and practices, especially in Virginia. Te outcomes of redlining are not limited to discriminations related to housing. When observing data about historically redlined districts, it is clear that racist policies have created barriers to community growth. Redlined districts are especially vulnerable to food insecurity, unwanted gentrifcation, intrusive infrastructure, and exclusionary zoning (Finn 2023). An

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important pillar of the community is also largely impacted as a result of historic redlining, which will be the focus of this discussion: education. What disparities still exist in Virginia education systems as a result of racial and socioeconomic redlining? What policy reforms can be implemented to help heal the communities that have been impacted? Questions like these will be addressed in this discussion. Te frst section of the analysis of redlining’s impact on Virginia schools will be a historic background detailing the prevalence of segregationist policy. In the following section, I will present data that will help explain the actual impact of redlining. Other variables, in addition to redlining, have infuenced race-based discrimination in Virginia schools, and it is important to consider their impact as potentially critical variables. After assessing the data, I will present policy implications and proposed changes that may be necessary for correcting the symptoms of redlining that still plague Virginia’s school systems. 2. A historic overview Issues that persist as a result of redlining are apparent across the United States. Millions of people and communities have experienced race-based segregation disguised as land value appraisal. To narrow the scope, this discussion will focus on specifc areas in Virginia that are still recovering from redlining policies. Te urban areas of Richmond, Newport News, Norfolk, and Lynchburg, all have signifcant ongoing issues related to redlining (Nelson, Winling, Marciano, Connolly, et al 2023). State-sanctioned segregation in schools was only deemed unconstitutional in 1954. Te transition to integrated schooling was a slow one, especially in communities that did not agree with the ruling of Brown v. Te Board of Education of Topeka. In 1956, the state of Virginia pushed back on the national ruling, creating a movement called the Massive Resistance. Sponsored by Virginia state senators, the campaign consisted of lobbying for laws that prevented school integration (Virginia Museum of History and Culture 2021). Although the movement was ultimately unsuccessful, the frst integrations of Virginia schools did not occur until 1959, due to the state’s opposition to the federal mandate. While redlining was outlawed more than 50 years ago, race-based housing discrimination still occurs in communities due to residual stigma. Te stock market crash in 2007-2008 perpetuated many unfair housing practices, including foreclosure and exploitative loan agreements. Black people disproportionately felt the efects of these policies (Rothstein 2014). Te economic impact of redlining is still visible as generations of families try to secure higher standards of living. Although less formally named, racial segregation still exists in Virginia school districts. If a school has a greater than 75 percent black population, the U.S. Government Accountability Ofce views it as exceeding the threshold of segregation. In 2018, the Virginia Department of Education collected data on racial makeup of its schools. Data published shows that many schools with over 75 percent black populations of students come from areas like Richmond, Norfolk, Newport News, and their neighboring areas (Hankerson 2019). Schools continue to sufer from historic community divisions that persist from redlining policies. 3. Data Te lasting impacts of historic redlining practices are not only observable through anecdotal evidence, but through empirical data as well. Not all data shows causality, as many input factors may contribute to racial injustice in redlined areas. However, strong correlations between key factors provide a better understanding of the relationships between these factors and their perceived outcomes. Tere are a few notable cities in Virginia that have been historically redlined and show persisting education gaps at present. When comparing these cities, there are clear discrepancies in school district resource use and student success.

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Te Edunomics Lab at Georgetown (Public Tableau 2021) compiled data from the 20182019 fscal year in Virginia that compared public funding for schools with the year’s standard test score outcomes. More than 200 schools are shown on the graph. Public funding varies from $8,000 to $20,000 per student, and pass rates vary from 25 percent to 100 percent. In addition to comparing public funding to testing outcomes, each school is color-coded to refect the percentage of students and families that are low income for that area. Te graph is telling: the lowest performing schools, even if they receive moderate public funding, are not excelling at standardized testing. A majority of the schools that fall below the 80 percent state average test score line are red, the indicating color for a high percentage of low income students at that school. Isolating the specifc regions of Virginia, such as Richmond and Norfolk, demonstrates the disadvantages that these school districts are at due to income disparities. While not exhaustive, these key factors create an important picture of the overall success of city schools to educate their youth. For the specifc focus of this paper, the isolated data sets for this comparison are the city of Richmond, Norfolk, Newport News, and Lynchburg. Figure 2: Richmond

Figure 3: Norfolk

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Figure 4: Newport News

Figure 5: Lynchburg

Te most interesting observation from the data shown in Figures 2-5 is that regardless of funding provided for each student by the school system, there are dramatic diferences in academic performance. A factor that appears in nearly all of the data points but does not seem to have a large impact is the income status of the students’ household. A majority of the data points are red, indicating that majority low income populations attend the schools in that area. However, test scores and per student expenditure vary with seemingly no correlation. Is there a causal relationship between home income status and educational outcomes? Te data shows that this may not be true. One can conclude that there must be an exogenous variable that has greater infuence over learning outcomes than home income and school expenditure per student. One factor that may be a greater determinant for student success in the classroom is the student’s home social environment. Te composition of their family, the community they live in, and the family members that they regularly interact with may be the greatest indicator of their success. Poverty and resource insecurity are often present in redlined communities. And although conditions in redlined communities are not always positive, many families are unable to move away from them. Tis creates a problem of multigenerational poverty

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(Sharkey 2013). Research shows that multigenerational poverty has a major impact on present student success, with one conclusion observing that “living in poor neighborhoods over two consecutive generations reduces children’s cognitive skills by roughly eight or nine [IQ] points … roughly equivalent to missing two to four years of schooling” (Sharkey 2013). Tese fndings help explain the impact of redlined neighborhoods on student achievement. Te perpetuated socioeconomic conditions of families in historically redlined areas have left students at a disadvantage, regardless of their school district’s eforts. As the directed acyclic graph in Figure 6 shows, redlining is connected to many other variables that impact racial discrimination. Factors such as environmental issues, poverty and low income, food insecurity, and school funding all create issues for their communities. When observing the impacts of redlining, it is impossible to ignore the relationship between these variables. Poverty and lower quality standards for living in historically redlined areas are pervasive. In the city of Richmond, 32.3 percent of families in the school district live below the poverty line. In Norfolk, this ratio is 25 percent (National Center for Education Statistics 2020). SNAP beneft reliance in these cities is nearly 40 percent and 33 percent, respectively. Families in these cities struggle fnancially due to lack of community resources. Tese communities have been neglected due to antiquated property values, and the local school systems sufer the same fate. Food insecurity is often observed in areas that have experienced redlining policies. As seen in the diagram below, there is potential for causality between redlining practices and food insecurity. Redlining is not the sole cause of food insecurity, but its efects exacerbate the problems faced by communities.

Figure 6: Directed acyclic graph Narrative histories from people in redlined areas like Newport News share stories of how quality food sources are limited due to perceptions of city neighborhoods (Finn 2023). Grocery stores are less likely to establish locations in communities that have less “value” assigned to them. Access to quality food in these areas is limited due to market access, as well as household fnancial limitations. Te Commonwealth Institute (n.d.) has compiled information from the 2017 U.S. Census Bureau and Virginia Department of Education to assess the status of Virginia school district demographics, funding, and overall wellbeing. Tere

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is an infographic page for each Virginia school division with comparisons to the state as a whole. Data listed on each page includes enrollment and stafng numbers, student poverty rates, free and reduced lunch participation, and district investment in education. Tese fgures can be helpful in demonstrating the larger economic issues that exist in communities that have experienced historical redlining. Information from the Commonwealth Institute (n.d) says that from 2013-2014, 63 percent of students in the city of Lynchburg benefted from free or reduced cost lunch. Other areas of Virginia had similarly high percentages: Richmond with 55, Newport News with 61, and Norfolk with 67 percent, compared to the statewide level of free and reduced lunch needs at 42 percent. Communities like these struggle to adequately provide food for their growing children as a result of institutional shortcomings. Food insecurity is a symptom of larger racial injustices, especially in areas of Virginia that have experienced racial discrimination in longevity. 4. Policy implications Tere are no simple solutions to institutional racism, but there are policies and changes that can be made so that communities can begin to recover from historic mistreatment. Te efects of redlining cannot be erased in a short period of time, but incremental change will make the diference. One necessary policy change that needs to occur is the prevention of political gerrymandering. Gerrymandering, similar to redlining, is the purposeful drawing of district lines to create a majority based on perceived desirability of the population. In 2021, Congress redrew its congressional district boundaries. Te goal of this process, which is redone every 10 years, is to distribute populations of state constituents into groups of the same number. Virginia’s 11 districts were redrawn to refect population changes, resulting in only one district left as “competitive”, as opposed to a previous three (Boschma, Rigdon, Manley, and Cohen 2022). Tis change is anticipated to create a greater number of liberal districts, which better represent the political ideologies of Virginians. Many people have hope that this will lead to increased urgency for change, as historically social justice issues have been championed by more left-leaning politicians. Redlining and gerrymandering are very similar practices, in the sense that those without political power are drawn into districts where they have little to no voice to fght for changes they hope to see. Te Congress of the United States is already making progress at reversing gerrymandering, which is just one step toward betterment of redlined communities. Another highly impactful change that would beneft historically redlined school districts is reduction of racial homogeneity in schools. In an interview with Virginia Mercury newspaper, Superintendent of Richmond schools Jason Kamras is quoted saying “since our schools refect those housing patterns [redlining], we remain a very, very segregated school system” (Hankerson 2019). Richmond schools had submitted a proposal to pair schools that were homogeneous in racial composition so that they could better integrate. Families pushed back against the policy due to inconvenience, but Kamras and the Richmond school district remained strong in their resolve. Richmond’s school district understands the importance of diversity and overcoming the divides that came as a result of redlining. It cannot be denied that diversity enriches the learning and growth of students. Economist Rucker C. Johnson (2011) published research regarding life outcomes of black students who attended integrated schools. His fndings support the notion that integrated schooling can foster better opportunities for students to advance into desired careers and attend college (Johnson 2011). Te importance of integrating schools through rezoning or pairing can be best described in a quote from Rothstein (2014): “the racial isolation of [...] schools cannot be remedied without undoing the racial isolation of the neighborhoods in which they are located.”

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5. Conclusion Te efects of historic redlining are still disproportionately felt amongst Black communities in Virginia today. One of the most critical areas of impact is the school systems that exist within redlined neighborhoods and cities. Student gaps in success have been observed, with speculation about the cause ranging from household income to race. Te most viable explanation for the lasting impact of redlining is a confuence of many issues: racial segregation policies, multigenerational poverty, and lack of community resources. More research in this area would be ideal, but it may be limited by a confounding variable: racism. While racism is an observable phenomenon, it is difcult to quantify. Further empirical studies may be conducted to measure the impact of this variable or even quantify it so that its impact is numerically represented. In order to reverse the impact of redlining on historically underserved cities, the Virginia state government must end political gerrymandering and work to reduce homogeneity in schools. In doing these things, Virginia is conveying care for its historically mistreated communities. An improved education system that recognizes the impacts of redlining and actively works to undo its harm will beneft students most in the long run.

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References Boschma, J., Rigdon, R., Manley, B., and Cohen, E. 2022. Redistricting in Virginia. CNN. Accessed April 28, 2023. https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2022/politics/us-redistricting/ virginia-redistricting-map/. Finn, J. C. 2023. Living Apart: Geography of Segregation in the 21st Century. Torggler Fine Arts Center, Newport News, Virginia. Hankerson, M. 2019. “Decades after Brown decisions, Virginia is still grappling with school segregation.” Virginia Mercury. Richmond, Virginia. Johnson, R. C. 2011. Long-run Impacts of School Desegregation & School Quality on Adult Attainments. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Working Paper 16664. Cambridge, MA. National Bureau of Economic Research. National Center for Education Statistics. 2020. District Demographic Dashboard 2016-20. Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates. Accessed April 27, 2023. https:// nces.ed.gov/programs/edge/Demographic/ACS. Nelson, R. K., Winling, L., Marciano, R., Connolly, N., et al. 2023. Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America. American Panorama, ed. Accessed April 27, 2023. https:// dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/#loc=4/36.71/-96.93&text=intro. Public Tableau. 2021. Virginia FY18-19 Expenditures vs. Outcomes. Edunomics Lab at Georgetown. Accessed April 27, 2023. https://public.tableau.com/app/profle/ edunomicslab/viz/VAScatter_16361336169260/VAFY18-19. Rothstein, R. 2014. Te Racial Achievement Gap, Segregated Schools, and Segregated Neighborhoods- A Constitutional Insult. Economic Policy Institute. Race and Social Problems 6(4). December 2014. Sharkey, P. 2013. Stuck in place: Urban neighborhoods and the end of progress toward racial equality. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Te Commonwealth Institute. n.d. Key School Funding Trends in Virginia: Statewide and in all 132 School Districts. Te Commonwealth Institute for Financial Analysis. Accessed April 27, 2023. https://thecommonwealthinstitute.org/research/key-school-funding-trends-invirginia-statewide-and-in-all-132-school-divisions/. Virginia Museum of History and Culture. 2021. “Separate and Unequal Education: A History of Segregation in Virginia Schools.” Virginia Museum of History and Culture. Accessed April 27, 2023. https://virginiahistory.org/learn/separate-and-unequal-breakdownsegregation-virginia-schools.

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About the Author

Kayla Engel is a member of the Spring 2023 graduating class of Christopher Newport University, graduating cum laude with a degree in Economics and Leadership Studies with a minor in Psychology. While on campus, Kayla was an executive board member of the Campus Activities Board, a two-year Resident Assistant in Santoro Hall, and a sister in Alpha Delta Pi Sorority. In addition to her involvements, Kayla was a President’s Leadership Program scholar, as well as a member of Omicron Delta Epsilon, the international economics honor society. Kayla was also a fnalist for the Dean’s Service Award. Kayla will remain at CNU for the 2023-2024 academic year to serve as a Residential Fellow for the Ofce of Residence Life. Her ultimate goal is to pursue a degree in Higher Education Student Afairs.

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Te “Toughtless” Fascist: Nostalgia, Mimesis, and the Absurd in Don DeLillo’s White Noise Alexandra Fiul Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Kyle Garton-Gundling, Department of English

Abstract In his essay, Te Myth of Sisyphus, Albert Camus creates the idea of the absurd, or the tension between the individual who seeks meaning in the universe and the irrational and meaningless universe. Due to the tendency of individuals to seek out meaning in their lives, “thoughtless” men, or those who deny the existence of the absurd, attempt to reckon with the lack of meaning through exerting control over their surroundings. Don DeLillo’s White Noise, a postmodern novel about consumer culture, fascism, and environmental damage, features a narrator afraid of the absurdity of death. Tis fear of death causes him to develop fascist tendencies and a warped view of Nazism and German nationalism, which he attempts to adopt into his own life. Despite the narrator’s attempts at imposing objectivity onto his surroundings, his methods are ultimately faulty and cannot win over the absurdity of the universe. I argue that through interpretation with theories of nostalgia, mimesis, and simulacra, the narrator’s engagement with fascism can be understood as an attempt to reject the irrationality of the white noise around him and exert control over his reality, despite not “objectively” understanding the fascist project of Nazi Germany or Romantic era German nationalism.

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Introduction In her essay, “Nostalgia and Its Discontents,” Svetlana Boym (2007) unpacks the implications of nostalgia on politics and social movement throughout the Modern Era. She theorizes nostalgia as “mourning for the impossibility of mythical return, for the loss of an ‘enchanted world’ with clear borders and values… Te nostalgic is looking for a spiritual addressee. Encountering silence, he looks for memorable signs, desperately misreading them” (Boym 12). Tis engagement in mourning over the past and searching for answers became popular in the Romantic movement, specifcally in the context of German nationalism; German intellectuals and artists desired to “revive the past” for the purposes of artistic expression and advancement, unique to the newly created state of Germany (Kohn 446). Rather than being trivial or inconsequential, nostalgia was signifcant in creating a German national identity and, by extension, German nationalism. German nationalism and nostalgia are key themes of Don DeLillo’s novel White Noise. Te central character displays fascist tendencies beyond just his area of academic study, including a desire to look to the past and attempting to replicate it. Jack Gladney, a university professor, promotes his Department of Hitler Studies frequently, a department which Jack has created himself. However, the relationship between nostalgia and fascism is far more involved in White Noise than just Jack’s occupation as a professor. Jack’s tendency to gravitate towards fascism can be explained through theories of absurdity and an individual’s lack of control over the universe. In Te Myth of Sisyphus, Albert Camus (1942) defnes the absurd as the tension between the individual, who searches for meaning or a higher being, and the universe, which lacks an inherent rationality or order. Te Myth of Sisyphus discusses the nature of suicide and continued living despite the inability to ever attain a true meaning of life. Due to his inability to cope with the absurd, Jack resorts to fascist behaviors, including mimicry of Nazism and nostalgia for a more “rational” version of reality. Jack’s desire to replicate a German identity through a muddled Nazism, as well as his removal from true, authentic German fascism and German nationalism, will be explained through Baudrillard’s theory of simulations and simulacra. Trough theories of the absurd, simulacra, mimesis, and nostalgia, Jack’s engagement with fascism can be understood as an attempt to reject the irrationality of the white noise around him and exert control over his reality, despite not “objectively” understanding the fascist project of Nazi Germany or Romantic era German nationalism. Te Absurd and the (New) Fascist Project Camus defnes the absurd through Te Myth of Sisyphus, in which he spends much of the work responding to other existentialist philosophers and their ideas about the meaninglessness of life. Although ultimately meaningless, humans attempt to exert control over the universe through science or religion, both of which attempt to establish meaning and Camus believes are futile. Camus creates two types of men: the “thoughtless” man, who is caught up in modern society and consumer culture, and the “absurd” man, who accepts inherent nothingness of existence but continues seeking meaning (Camus 13). It is through the “thoughtless” man that fascism and the fascist response to the universe are produced. According to Te Myth of Sisyphus, political strife occurs as a result of the absurd. A tyrant’s inability to become an “absurd” man results in his desire to accumulate power and wealth; the “thoughtless” man seeks power in response to an inability to reckon with his own meaningless (Novello 206). It is through this process that a rejection of the absurd and an attempt to exert control over an irrational universe can lead to fascist behavior. Te relationship between fascism and the absurd, as written about by Samantha Novello in “Sisyphus in Hell: Te Absurd Tought against (New) Fascism”, has occurred far more recently than just Romantic nationalism in Germany or the fascism of Nazism. Instead, Novello cites “inspirational fascism” and the emotional exploitation of Americans in the 21st century as a sort of “New

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Fascism” (Novello 202). Tis type of fascism distinguishes itself from previous nationalist and fascist projects through mimesis, in which 21st century fascism mimics past fascist movements rather than attempting to mimic an idealized version of a national history (Novello 204). Tus, the fascist behavior in White Noise can be analyzed as a response not only to an irrational universe, which Jack must attempt to exert control over, but also as a response to previous fascist movements. Te initial struggle with the absurd in White Noise appears in his conversations about death with his wife, specifcally in conversation about who will die frst (DeLillo 15). Te question of who will die frst appears frequently throughout the novel and introduces the fear of an irrational universe, which does not have any rational order in death. Jack discusses this fear as being frequently brought up between him and his wife, stating, “Tis question comes up from time to time, like where are the car keys. It ends a sentence, prolongs a glance between us. I wonder if the thought itself is part of the nature of physical love, a reverse Darwinism that awards sadness and fear to the survivor. Or is it some inert element in the air we breathe, a rare thing like neon, with a melting point, an atomic weight?” (DeLillo 15). Tis fear is implied to be a quality of love, in which individuals fear for the loss of their partners due to the inescapable nature of death in love. Te relationship between death and irrationality is persistent throughout the novel and is summarized through this passage, as Jack wrestles with deeming death to be inherent to love and, therefore, rational, because the universe rewards surviving partners with sufering. Tis is contradicted by his next thought, which more closely aligns with the concept of the absurd. Jack does not mention any higher power or order which would dictate death; instead, it is a fact of life that death is inherent to love and cannot be avoided. Tis introduction to Jack’s feelings on death represents the tension between the “absurd” man, who recognizes the irrationality of death, and the “thoughtless” man, who would attribute death to a higher meaning or power. Jack’s overwhelming fear of death and the irrationality of the universe causes him to reject the absurd and attempt to establish control. Jack’s most deliberate attempt at exerting control over the absurd comes in the form of his academics. After being praised by his coworker, Murray Siskind, for the creation of Hitler studies, Murray claims that Jack now has authority over other Hitler scholars, as well as changing actual Hitler into becoming “Gladney’s Hitler” (DeLillo 11). Trough this initial reaction, a change in attitudes becomes apparent; Jack’s academic study of Hitler has somehow changed the academic community’s opinion of Hitler and tied him to Jack. Tis distinguishes Jack and causes the image of Hitler to shift into something diferent produced by Jack’s studies. Furthermore, it establishes Jack as a distinguished scholar of fascism, giving him the appearance of legitimacy and authority. Beyond his legitimacy provided by his academics, Jack also uses Hitler to express a possible change in his physical appearance. After the chancellor of his university suggests he change his appearance for further legitimacy, Jack claims the chancellor wants him “to ‘grow out’ into Hitler’ (DeLillo 17). Finally, after Jack has been encouraged to improve his legitimacy and change his appearance, he briefy discusses the nature of his classes. Jack attempts to be objective through providing “no narrative voice” for his students (DeLillo 26). He presents his students with propaganda and footage of Nazis without an imposition of subjective opinion; when discussing the nature of plots, he presents his infamous quote, “All plots tend to move deathward,” as being objective (DeLillo 26). Rather than outright denounce fascism or the Nazi regime, Jack instead attempts to present it objectively to his students. Trough a lack of subjective opinion and excluding his own analysis on Hitler and Nazis, he presents himself as objective, legitimate, and in control of the narrative, despite lacking a voice in the narrative completely. He reshapes Hitler to appear objective through the material presented to his class and reshapes himself to be in the objective likeness of Hitler. Te use of academics to exert control over the universe is not limited to Jack alone, however. In Chapter 14, Jack consults a coworker, Alphonse, as to why his family enjoys

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watching destructive footage. Alphonse is described as being obsessive over popular culture, as “he exercised the closed logic of a religious zealot, one who kills for his beliefs” (DeLillo 65). Similar to Jack, the desire to exert control over the universe through academic study has caused Alphonse to become overzealous in his arguments to a point of being an individual “who kills for his beliefs”. In order to describe the reasoning for a desire to watch violent footage of natural disasters, Alphonse claims it’s “because we’re sufering from brain fade. We need an occasional catastrophe to break up the incessant bombardment of information” (DeLillo 66). Alphonse attempts to rationalize a desire to watch violent footage while suggesting a confict with the absurd. Te incessant bombardment of information mentioned can be interpreted as the absurd, which would take the form of an irrational and constant stream of information, unable to be ignored or reckoned with. For Jack, Alphonse, and other academics, this stream of information, or the absurd, can be combated with an attempt to rationalize the world; instead of allowing the universe to be meaningless, the academics of White Noise attempt to extract meaning from it, at the cost of justifying violent desires like watching natural disaster footage. Because this behavior brings relief from the incessance of the absurd, it is rationalized through academics and allowed to continue. Te characters of White Noise act as “thoughtless” individuals due to this attempt at exerting control over the world around them, despite subtle acknowledgements, as Alphonse demonstrated, that their world is absurd. Tis control is exerted through academics and power, in which individuals attempt to rationalize meaning from a meaningless universe, as well as through pleasure, where individuals feel pleasure in watching violence. Te attempt at not only exerting control onto the universe, but rationalizing watching and enjoying violence for the purpose of countering the absurd, reads as fascist due to similarities with Novello’s concept of the “thoughtless” man. Unlike the “absurd” man, the “thoughtless” man’s inability to reckon with the absurd leads him down the path of fascism, similar to the actions of Jack, Alphonse, and other academics in White Noise. Mimesis and Nostalgia Beyond the attempts at rationalizing control over the universe, mimesis and nostalgia are also important actors in understanding fascism in White Noise. In “Nostalgia and its Discontents”, Svetlana Boym claims a danger in nostalgia due to the fact that “it tends to confuse the actual home and the imaginary one. In extreme cases it can create a phantom homeland, for the sake of which one is ready to die or kill” (Boym 10). Jack, as discussed previously, has attempted to rationalize fascism around him in order to control an absurd reality. However, much of this was through education and academics, as Jack falls into the category of the “thoughtless” man rather than the absurd man. Beyond his academics, Jack’s nostalgia for a time with a clearer control over the absurd becomes present. Trough this nostalgia, Jack attempts to mimic previous fascist behaviors, especially those seen in Nazi Germany. However, this replication falls into the category of a simulacrum due to the divorce from Romantic German nationalism to American consumer-fascism. Jack’s attempt at replicating Nazism or German nationalism occurs primarily through language. In Chapter 8, Jack refects on the inferiority he feels due to his inability to speak German, despite his own status as being the chair of Hitler studies (DeLillo 31). Not only are his students required to learn some German, but many of his colleagues have knowledge of the language as well (DeLillo 31). Although this inability to communicate with German speakers initially appears to cause Jack to feel inferior, the implications of being unable to understand German while studying German nationalism and fascism are much more severe. Under the linguistic determinist’s school of thought, language shapes perceptions of reality; without understanding the language of the fascism he studies, Jack’s understanding of Nazism is more surface level in comparison to his colleagues or even his students (Despot 374). Indeed, the study of the German language is deemed to be valuable to the study of Hitler, as students

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of Hitler studies are required to complete at least one year of German in order to complete their degree (DeLillo 31). Jack’s attempt at mimicking a language which he does not understand is also apparent in his decision for his son’s name. Jack’s daughter, Denise, asks why Jack chose the name Heinrich for his son (DeLillo 62). Although he initially claims it was out of an attempt at “acknowledging good fortune”, Jack proceeds to characterize the German language as being “forceful” or “impressive” (DeLillo 63). He proceeds to state, “Tere’s something about German names, the German language, German things. I don’t know what it is exactly. It’s just there. In the middle of it all is Hitler, of course” (DeLillo 63). Trough this quote, Jack views the German language as an outsider and attempts to implement the perceived power of the language in his own life. Because the original nationalist project of Germany, beginning in the Romantic era, is so far removed from Jack’s perception of nationalism in Germany, his own understanding of Nazism and the German language appears to be faulty and divorced from capital-T “Truth”. Instead, his understanding of the language is predicated on fascism and does not understand German as a solitary language, nor the origins of German nationalism. Tis artifcial nature of the reality Jack has produced through his academics and attempt to co-opt the German language appears to be detrimental due to his feelings of inferiority which are not helped through academics or language but instead, increased. However, Jack’s co-opting of the German language suggests instead a nostalgia for Nazi Germany in order to counter an irrational universe. Te “enchanted world”, as Boym refers to it, is idolized for a more defnitive version of reality. In order to achieve this reality, Jack’s incompetence in the German language works towards his advantage. Te Nazi reality he attempts to replicate through language and exertion of power over the universe is not “real”. Instead, this reality is equally as irrational as the absurd; Jack’s choice of Heinrich as being a powerful name, despite lacking the reality gained by knowledge of the German language, is irrational as he does not understand German nationalism objectively. Instead, ideas of power and the appearance of rationality appeal to him, causing the irrationality of his own fascist simulacra to be more appealing than the irrationality of the absurd. Jack chooses the lesser of two evils, the artifcial reality of his own creation, instead of attempting to reckon with the absurd. It is through this choice to lean into the comforts of fascism in the face of the absurd that Te Myth of Sisyphus defnes the “thoughtless” man. Conclusion Jack’s inability to reckon with the absurdity of his world, the white noise he constantly hears, results in not only his own acts of violence, but strange behavior of others around him. His wife’s inability to cope with the absurd, while not explicitly fascist, causes her to seek out medication to prevent her from fearing death. Heinrich attempts to intellectualize the world around him, despite deconstructing explanatory arguments frequently. Although Jack falls into the trap of fascism and is a “thoughtless man”, it is worth noting that Jack never concludes that life is meaningless. Much of the analysis, for the purposes of this paper, has instead focused on Jack’s denial of the absurd. Should Jack have attempted to commit suicide, as originally discussed by Camus in Te Myth of Sisyphus, he would have deemed life to be not worth living (Camus 18). Camus believed the appropriate response to the absurd was to revolt against it through continued living and searching for meaning (Camus 19). It is consciousness of the absurd that enables an individual to revolt, rather than attempting to evade the absurd (Camus 19). After shooting Mink, the man his wife has an afair with, Jack begins a conversation with the German nun taking care of both of them (DeLillo 316). Te two bond briefy over Jack’s limited knowledge of the German language, after which Jack claims he feels more comfortable among the German speakers than he did Hitler scholars (DeLillo 317). Soon after, Jack

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questions the nun about heaven, which she rejects along with religiosity as a whole (DeLillo 318). Te nun claims they pretend to believe in religion for others, which allows others to live in peace and believe there is an afterlife (DeLillo 319). Jack denies a lack of afterlife before the nun attempts to speak to him harshly in German, which he fnds to be beautiful (DeLillo 320). Te recurrence of Jack’s interest in the German language is signifcant here, as his previous perceptions of German and its relation to the absurd is shattered. Initially, his comfort with the German speakers refects his delusion, in which he fnds Nazism to be a comfort and the German language to be an extension of Nazism. However, the German nun’s denial of an afterlife, in which she appears to embrace the absurd, is jarring to Jack. Trough this moment, in which a German speaker shatters his perception of nostalgia, fascism, language, and mimicry, Jack is forced to gain consciousness of the absurd. He recognizes the language as beautiful, rather than powerful, and begins shedding the simulacra he has spent the entirety of White Noise developing. Te language no longer exists as a means to achieving fascism to Jack and, instead, is now a method of communication between individuals. Trough this honest interaction between the “thoughtless” man, Jack, and the “absurd” woman, the nun, the resistance to the absurd Jack has previously shown begins to alleviate. During the fnal chapter of the novel, Chapter 40, Jack visits the supermarket with his family and appears to have a changed perspective on the world. When mentioning his possible disease, Jack notes he avoids calls from his doctor due to his fear of the answer (DeLillo 325). Rather than deny the fear or attempt to control his outcome through rationalization, Jack instead accepts his fear explicitly. He acknowledges his unsettlement with the absurd, rather than rejecting it. Furthermore, Jack mentions language again but in the context of binary code, stating, “Te terminals are equipped with holographic scanners, which decode the binary secret of every item, infallibly. Tis is the language of waves and radiation, or how the dead speak to the living” (DeLillo 326). Te binary “secrets” are illegible to humanity but can be understood with the tools of holographic scanners, suggesting absurdity in the consumer world. Furthermore, the binary code being described as “the dead speaking to the living” implies absurdity; the language of death is illegible to people and yet, ever present. Rather than rejecting this, Jack instead presents this as factual and a part of daily life in consumer culture. He does not attempt to refute death, as he did in the beginning of the novel. Jack shifts from the “thoughtless” man, whose fear of death causes him to engage in fascism, to an individual who accepts the inevitability of death and its irrationality. He fnally begins to become the “absurd” man. Te fascism of White Noise attempts to counter the white noise, or the absurdity, present throughout the novel. Te reactions to the absurd were originally outlined in Te Myth of Sisyphus, written by Albert Camus. Trough Jack’s movement from rejecting absurdity and attempting to control the universe to a realization of the universe’s meaninglessness, Jack demonstrates Camus’ ideal movement towards the “absurd” man; rather than attempting to avoid the absurd, an individual, as Jack has, ought to accept the irrationality of the universe. His previous attempts at rejecting the absurd were complex, involving nostalgia, mimesis, and a simulacra in order to evade his fear. However, his acceptance of the absurd is simple: Jack sees it for what it is and no longer evades it, due to his conversation with the German nun. It is through having his perception of German fascism broken, as well as an honest conversation about the lack of inherent meaning of life, that Jack reconciles with the world and changes his perspective on death.

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Works Cited Baudrillard, Jean. “Simulacra and Simulations (1981).” Crime and Media. Routledge, 2019. 69-85. Boym, Svetlana. “Nostalgia and Its Discontents.” Te Hedgehog Review 9.2 (2007): 7-19. Camus, Albert. Te Myth of Sisyphus. London: Penguin, 1990. DeLilllo, Don. White Noise. New York City: Viking Penguin Inc., 1985. Engles, Tim. “” Who Are You, Literally?”: Fantasies of the White Self in White Noise.” MFS Modern Fiction Studies 45.3 (1999): 755-787. Kohn, Hans. “Romanticism and the rise of German nationalism.” Te Review of Politics 12.4 (1950): 443-472. Novello, Samantha. “Sisyphus in Hell: Te Absurd Tought against (New) Fascism.” Coming Back to the Absurd: Albert Camus’s Te Myth of Sisyphus: 80 Years On. Brill, 2022. 202-218. Packer, Matthew J. “” At the Dead Center of Tings” in Don DeLillo’s White Noise: Mimesis, Violence, and Religious Awe.” MFS Modern Fiction Studies 51.3 (2005): 648-666. Reeve, N. H., and Richard Kerridge. “Toxic Events: postmodernism and DeLillo’s” White Noise”.” Te Cambridge Quarterly 23.4 (1994): 303-323. Whorf, Benjamin Lee. “Language, mind, and reality.” ETC: A review of general semantics (1952): 167-188.

About the Author Alexandra Fiul is a member of the class of 2024 and is majoring in Political Science and English with minors in Human Rights and Confict Resolution and Leadership Studies. She is active in the Reif Center for Human Rights and Confict Resolution, Currents Literary Magazine, and Alpha Phi Omega. She is a secretary for Sigma Tau Delta honor society, is a member of Pi Sigma Alpha honor society, and is a part of the English Major with Distinction Program. She has been a peer mentor for a frst-year writing seminar and received an Independent Research Grant to research Italo Calvino and postmodernism. She has presented at Paideia and the Network for Undergraduate Research in Virginia. After graduation in 2024, she hopes to attend a master’s program in human rights, confict resolution, and ethics in the pursuit of research and advocacy.

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Protecting the Right to a Clean Atmosphere and Environment in Germany Victoria Jenkins Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Francesca Parente, Department of Political Science

Abstract Due to high levels of emissions from industrialization and burning of fossil fuels, the human right to a clean environment is continually dwindling as the planet is harmed from such actions. Treaties such as the Paris Agreement and Kyoto Protocol help protect the right to a clean environment, but not all countries agree to or comply with obligations that are outlined in these treaties. In this paper, I analyze the progression of Germany’s success in providing a clean environment and atmosphere for its citizens. Trough qualitative and quantitative evidence, I show that Germany has followed obligations and continued to surpass expectations set by the treaties themselves by, creating an individual Climate Action Plan. I argue that this is because Germany identifes as a sincere ratifer that cares about the goals of treaty ratifcation and is deeply committed to combatting climate change.

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Introduction Climate change is a global concern and afects many aspects of human rights, due to high increases in temperature and pollution. High outputs of harmful emissions such as carbon dioxide (CO2) can have negative respiratory and cardiovascular health efects amongst humans, as well as cause multiple negative impacts on the environment. Excess CO2 in the atmosphere causes the planet to warm, and thus causes efects of climate change. According to the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA): “Human activities [such as the burning of fossil fuels] have raised the atmosphere’s carbon dioxide content by 50% in less than 200 years” (NASA, 2023). Tese factors also implicate various human rights, such as the right to life, health, and access to safe food and water (Chapman and Ahmed, 2021). Additionally, global climate change harms the environment, and causes repercussions such as enhanced storms, high temperatures, and loss of resources, all of which threaten the accessibility of basic human rights and risk human livelihoods. Within this paper, I will examine Germany’s status and progress toward achieving the right to a clean environment by focusing on the right to clean air. Germany’s progress can be identifed through ratifcation of environmental treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement. Te Kyoto Protocol states that countries must “…operationalize the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change by committing industrialized countries and economies in transition to limit and reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions in accordance with agreed individual targets” (United Nations, 2023). Within this paper, I will frst examine the sources within international law of the right to clean air before focusing on sources of Germany’s commitments specifcally. I will then analyze Germany’s progress towards this right by examining CO2 emissions over time and Germany’s additional actions and policies. My evidence will show Germany’s prioritization, progress, and leadership towards being environmentally friendly, and providing the right to a clean environment. International Law and Treaties Regarding a Clean Environment Tere are a multitude of international treaties and documents that target the issue of the right to a clean environment or air. Te largest and most well-known treaties that focus on air and atmospheric quality specifcally are the Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement. Te Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution (1979) sought to bring governments together with the goal of protecting health and the environment from air pollution that is sourced from several countries within the globe (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, 2023) Specifcally, the convention was created to “…investigate the causes of the ‘acid rain’…. [which put] entire ecosystems at risks in the Northern Hemisphere”; it turned out that “air pollutants, a signifcant part of which were emitted thousands of kilometers away, were the culprit” (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, 2023). Te next major step toward combatting climate change occurred in 1992 when countries created the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which encouraged cooperation to combat climate change. In 1995, countries created negotiations to assist in climate change adaptation and mitigation, and by 1997 the Kyoto Protocol was created in response to countries’ concerns over global temperature increase, climate change, and atmospheric pollution (UNFCCC, 2023). Te Kyoto Protocol focuses on the right of clean air, or a healthy environment. Te treaty looks specifcally at emissions, which can lead to lung cancer, asthma, and overall poor general health in humans. Specifcally, Article 2 of the treaty states: “Te Parties included shall strive to implement policies and measures under this Article in such a way to minimize adverse efects….of climate change, efects on international trade, and social, environmental and economic impacts” (United Nations, 1998). Tus, the treaty not only focuses on the scientifc perspective of enhancing the environment and air

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quality, but also goals itself to improve upon social and economic aspects, such as health. Finally, the Paris Agreement is also applicable in terms of clean air, seeing as its goal is to “…reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible to achieve a climate neutral world by mid-century” (UNFCCC, 2023). While the Paris Agreement relates to climate change in general, lowering greenhouse gas emissions enhances clean air for all, and shows emphasis on the right of a clean environment and atmosphere. Germany has ratifed all three treaties, showing a high level of determination to provide a clean environment. Germany ratifed the Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution in July of 1982, the Kyoto Protocol in May of 2002, and the Paris Agreement in October of 2016. Tere are other international human rights treaties that identify the right to a clean environment and atmosphere. Within the African Convention on Human and People’s Rights, specifcally Article 24, it states that: “All peoples shall have the right to a general satisfactory environment favorable to their development.” Due to this being a regional convention focusing on African countries, Germany is not a part of it. However, there are other universal treaties that all countries can participate in. For example, the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) briefy mentions the importance of the right to a healthy environment. Within Article 12, it states that: “Te State Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health…. Te steps to be taken by the States Parties to the present Covenant to achieve the full realization of this right shall include those necessary for: … Te improvement of all aspects of environmental and industrial hygiene” (International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, 1966). Tis treaty does not specifcally state that the environment is a human right, but a clean environment is necessary for the enjoyment of physical and mental health; thus, it can relate to the aspect of air pollution and human health. Germany ratifed this treaty in December of 1973. Te Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement For the remainder of this paper, I will focus on Germany’s obligations under the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement. Te Kyoto Protocol focuses heavily on lowering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions “by committing industrialized countries and economies in transition to limit and reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions in accordance with agreed individual targets” (UNFCCC, 2023). Focusing on lowering emissions not only cleans the atmosphere but is linked directly to human health issues such as lung cancer, asthma, and respiratory illness. Germany signed the Kyoto Protocol April 1998 and then ratifed the Kyoto Protocol on May 2002 (UNFCCC, 2023). Germany signed the Paris Agreement in April 2016, and ratifed it in October 2016. According to the UNFCCC, the Paris Agreement is a “legally binding international treaty on climate change…its overarching goal is to hold the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue eforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels” (UNFCCC, 2023). Te Paris Agreement has countries submit nationally determined contributions (NDCs) that outline their individual climate action plans and goals in order to show proof of climate action, as well as improve annually on lowering emissions and global warming. Tus, countries are “forced” to improve on emissions goals, as well as creating efective climate plans. Germany has been active on their individual action plans. Germany’s 2022 NDC states that “GHG’s emissions are to be reduced by at least 65% by 2030 and by at least 88% by 2040…” (Federal Republic of Germany, 2022). Why Would Germany Ratify? In Mobilizing for Human Rights, Beth Simmons discusses the “Teories of Commitment” that countries make in terms of ratifying treaties. She theorizes that there are three types of

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ratifers within international relations, these being sincere ratifers, false negatives, and strategic ratifers. Simmons defnes a sincere ratifer as “those that value the content of the treat and anticipate compliance” (Simmons, 2009, p. 58). Terefore, these ratifers join the treaty due to having similar beliefs and goals as the treaty and are expected to follow the obligations within the treaty. False negatives are “those who may be committed in principle…but fail to ratify” due to some kind of barrier created by political and institutional challenges within the country. (Simmons, 2009, p.58). Finally, strategic ratifers “ratify because other countries are doing so, and would prefer to avoid criticism” (Simmons, 2009, p. 58) but are not truly committed to the ideals of the treaty. I believe that Germany is a sincere ratifer. Sincere ratifers join treaties because they “value the content of the treaty and anticipate compliance. Some may want to ratify to encourage others to do the same” (Simmons, 2009, p. 58). Simmons states that sincere ratifers likely have a deep historic commitment to democratic governance. Germany is a full democracy based on its Polity score. A Polity score rates an individual country from -10 to 10, with -10 meaning that the country is a strong autocracy, while a +10 indicates that the country is a full democracy. Tis score is composed of multiple components, such as competitiveness of elections and institutional constraints (Center for Systematic Peace, 2023). Germany holds the highest Polity score of 10, which categorizes them as a full democracy. Germany’s Polity score solidifes their historical commitment to democratic governance, as well as highlighting that they are expected to be early ratifers in treaties regarding human rights, and thus we can believe that they are a sincere ratifer. In terms of the right to clean air specifcally, Germany is compliant with treaties in hopes of lowering their own emissions, as well as encouraging international and nearby countries to follow in suit. Germany recognizes environmental protection and advocation highly and supports and collaboratively works with high profle non-government organizations (NGOs) such as World Wildlife Fund and Greenpeace. Germany also has its own non-profts, such as the German Environmental Aid Association, Association for German Nature Conservation, Association for the Environment and Nature Conservation, and German Nature Conservation Association (Deustchalnd.de, 2022). Assessing Germany’s Progress To assess the progress Germany has made on its treaty obligations, I examined the country’s total carbon dioxide emissions to see if treaty ratifcation led to lower emissions. Due to the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement both measuring and aiming to lower harmful emissions, measuring carbon dioxide (CO2) shows the extent to which Germany is complying with obligations to lowering emissions. Even more so, the action of lowering CO2 emissions showcases a healthier atmosphere and access to clean air for citizens. I found this data from the World Bank, for the years 1990 to 2019. Te range of this data is appropriate for the treaties under study, seeing as the Kyoto Protocol was ratifed in 2002, and the Paris Agreement was ratifed in 2016. In 2002, when the Kyoto Protocol was ratifed, Germany’s total CO2 emissions were 957,530 kilotons (kt). Five years after Kyoto was ratifed, 2007, Germany’s total CO2 emissions were 922,930 kt. Tis showcases a decrease in CO2 emissions by 34,600 kt. Similar efects were seen with the ratifcation of the Paris Agreement. In 2016, when the Paris Agreement was ratifed, Germany’s CO2 emissions were 843,880 kt. In the most recent data available, 2019, Germany’s CO2 emissions were 749,710 kt. Tis shows a decrease similar to that following the Kyoto Protocol ratifcation, with a diference of 94,170 kt of CO2 emitted. Terefore, the combination of both ratifcations of Kyoto and Paris has contributed to drastic lowering of carbon emissions in Germany. Overall, there has been a decrease of 210,440 kt of CO2 over a span of 17 years. Tat means Germany has decreased their CO2 emissions by 12,379 kt each year since they ratifed the Kyoto Protocol, in addition to the ratifcation of the Paris

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Agreement. Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, released a report in 2016 addressing climate and environmental goals for 2050. Te “Climate Action Plan 2050” highlights climate action in various sectors, such as energy, mobility, agriculture, business, and buildings. Within the report, Germany states their previous performance on air quality and harmful environmental emissions: “In 2010, the German government decided to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 to 95 percent by 2050 compared to 1990 levels” (German Federal Ministry, 2016). With this, Germany has continuously compared their previous and current CO2 emissions to assist in continuously reducing emissions in 2030, 2040, and 2050. Even more so, Germany has compared their greenhouse gas emissions to EU standards and levels. Within this report, they state that “Germany’s per capita greenhouse gas emissions are higher than the EU average, and considerably higher than the global average” (German Federal Ministry, 2016). With this analysis of their previous performance regarding greenhouse gas emissions, such as CO2, Germany has created the “Climate Action Plan 2050”. Te Climate Action Plan 2050 has been created in accordance with the ratifcation of the Paris Agreement, and Germany’s own historical push towards improving emissions. Within this plan, they state: “Te Climate Action Plan 2050 outlines a gradual transformation in technology, industry, society, and culture…. Te Climate Action Plan will be regularly updated in accordance with the Paris Agreement” (German Federal Ministry, 2016). Tus, Germany’s level of progress in terms of lowering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has been highly successful. Germany has shown to be a leader in lowering GHG emissions due to their ratifcation of both the Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement, as well as their own goals to lower emissions based of their past industrialization levels. Te country’s actions of ratifcation and high level of determination to lower emissions showcases that the country truly cares for the cause, and that sustainability is a part of their identity. Ratifcation of these treaties, along with the creation of Germany’s own Climate Action Plan 2050, ensures that they meet the goals of the treaties, as well as creating their own goals of lowering emission past guidelines exemplifed in the treaties. With the goals that Germany has outlined for themselves, they have demonstrated themselves to be a leader of emission regulation, and give an excellent example to other countries on how to outline goals and procedures to lower their own emissions. Why do countries comply? Some may wonder how Germany was able to achieve such a high level of progress, or why countries comply with treaties in general. Hill Jr and Watson (2019) discuss how “democracies are, by defnition, compliant with many provisions in treaties that protect civil and political rights” (Hill Jr and Watson, 2019). In their research, they discuss the levels of democracy and compliance within human rights treaties, such as the Convention Against Torture (CAT), International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). In their study, they measure the outcome of CEDAW and enjoyment of rights by women. Within their analysis, they fnd that “democracies are constitutively compliant with treaties related to civil, political, and personal integrity rights…. Human rights treaties promote diverse policies. A state may have preferences that align quite well with the goals of one treaty…” (Hill Jr and Watson, 2019). Tus, the authors conclude that democracies are successful in compliance with treaties related to civil, political, and integrity rights, and that their compliance can produce diverse policies within a state based on preferences or behavior that may align with the treaty. Hafner-Burton and Tsutsui (2007) also discuss how “human rights laws are most efective in stable or consolidating democracies or in states with strong civil society activism” (HafnerBurton and Tsutsui, 2007). In their research, they utilize Polity measures, economic factors,

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and political conditions to analyze trends amongst various states and their commitments to treaties. Tey estimate how ratifcation of the CAT and ICCPR afect the probability of the world’s most repressive states reforming human rights over the next 15 years. With the analysis, they fnd that “[h]uman rights treaties are least efective in making improvements in precisely those states that need them the most and for which they were originally designed – the world’s worst abusers” (Hafner-Burton and Tsutsui, 2007). Overall, the authors conclude that: “Evidence shows that international laws are working in some democratic states with an active civil society. But we are confronted with overwhelming evidence that these cases of infuence are not applicable to the world’s most repressive states…. repressive governments that formally commit to international treaties…leaders are not efectively implanting those ideas to better protect people” (Hafner-Burton and Tsutsui, 2007). Tus, the authors case how stable democracies or states with strong civil society activism typically are those in which treaties are the most efective. Both Hill Jr. and Watson (2019) and Hafner-Burton and Tsutsui (2007) ofer explanations that help us understand Germany’s progress. Regarding Hill Jr and Watson (2019), Germany is an example of a state that has promoted diverse policies to achieve high levels of compliance. While air quality is a human right regarding health, GHG emissions are highly politicized and monetized due to involvement in industrialization, globalization, and trade. However, Germany has created diverse policies to implement the Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement and has even created goals that exceed the treaties it has ratifed. For example, the Paris Agreement looks to set “a binding target of a net domestic reduction of at least 55% in GHG emissions by 2030 compared to 1990” (European Commission, 2023). Within Germany’s recent Climate Action Law, the country aims to “[step] up the 2030 target for emission cuts to 65 from 55 percent, tougher emission budgets in all sectors, and new annual reduction targets for the 2030s” (Appunn and Wettengel, 2021). Terefore, Germany not only shows progress in compliance with treaties, but also showcases policies implemented and inspired by treaty ratifcation. Even more so, with Germany highlighting stricter regulations, Germany sets an example for local, regional, and international standards regarding environmental health and status. Hafner-Burton and Tsutsui (2007) found that international treaties and laws are successful in democracies with active civil societies. Germany not only is a strong democracy, but its population highly values the environment and sustainable governance. In a survey done by the European Investment Bank in 2021, it was found that 77% of Germans think that climate change and its consequences are the biggest challenge for humanity and 72% feel that climate change has an impact on their everyday lives. Tese statistics showcase how highly the German population values their environment, and how climate change will be a hinderance to their lifestyles. Terefore, with the combination of Germany being a successful democracy, along with having population actively interested in climate change, Germany can smoothly implement policies and ratify treaties regarding environmental improvements. Recommendation for Future Work Germany has proven itself to be a strong leader in ratifying treaties and creating their own goals surrounding the ideal of better air quality, which is a part of the right to a clean environment. However, while Germany has excelled in lowering emissions, there is still work to be done in other aspects of sustainability. According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) report on Germany’s sustainability progress, Germany needs to make progress in “[w]ater quality standards for nitrogen compounds in fresh and ground water… in order to protect sensitive marine waters” and “[p]olicy measures to avoid further nitrate contamination of ground water and marine waters” (OECD, 2012). Most nitrate pollution in Germany is sourced from agricultural pollutants, fertilizers, or runof

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(Kirschke et al, 2019). For Germany to make improvements, policies towards agricultural pollution should be addressed and implemented, to continually excel in promoting the human right of providing a clean environment. Tese policies could be creating stricter limits on allowed pollution within water, designating water bodies to be of limits of agricultural pollution, or creating alternative ways to dispose of agricultural waste and hazards. Germany can seek assistance from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for guidance on creating and implementing policies towards strengthening water quality within the country. Germany has historically shown their deep commitment to providing a clean environment by ratifying treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, as well as creating their own Climate Action Plan to address environmental concerns. If given the resources or assistance to implement policies to enhance water quality, Germany will execute the actions, due to their identity as a sincere ratifer. As a sincere ratifer, Germany showcases that they truly want to improve in areas such as sustainability. As Simmons (2009) states, sincere ratifers join treaties which refect values of the country itself. Terefore, Germany is likely to implement policies regarding agricultural pollution or runof to enhance the water quality of the country, especially if Germany were to work with the UNFCCC. Compared to other countries, Germany would be most likely to succeed due to previous independent work done to improve their own environment, as well as high values towards the environment. While many countries have ratifed the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, they have also not implemented an additional action plan regarding sustainability or environmental health. With Germany having strength in values, actions, and policies towards environmental health, Germany would be highly successful compared to other countries. Conclusion I have found Germany has made high progress regarding the human right of providing a clean environment and atmosphere. Germany’s ratifcation of the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement has assisted Germany in lowering their CO2 emission levels, which provide a safer and healthier environment for their citizens. Germany’s high level of success with lowering CO2 emissions can be sourced from their identity as a sincere ratifer, which shows that the country highly values sustainability and providing a clean environment. Tis can be proven with Germany’s implementation of a country wide Climate Action Plan, which addresses aspects of the environment such as clean energy, emissions, and building standards. Teir individual actions and levels of ratifcation indicates Germany is an international leader in sustainability policy and procedure. Germany also provides other countries with examples on implementing policies, procedures, and plans in terms of lowering emissions. While Germany has been highly successful in lowering emissions and creating a clean and safe atmosphere and environment, Germany could still improve on aspects of water quality. Additionally, agricultural pollution, fertilizers, and runof have afected water quality for Germany. To combat these negative efects, Germany should seek assistance from the UNFCCC to create, plan, and implement stricter regulations on water pollutants and agricultural practices to continually provide a safe environment. Overall, Germany has been successful in providing the human right of a safe environment and specifcally the right of access to clean air. Climate change not only has a drastic efect on the environment, but it afects all aspects of human society, including human rights. As the environment continues to degrade from harmful emissions, areas such as health, human rights, and politics all face risk of harm or eradication. Actions to combat climate change, such as those that Germany has undertaken after ratifying the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, showcase the importance of adaptations to preserve the environment and save it from future damage. Additionally, treaties such as these can inspire countries to strive further in implementing eco-friendly policies that

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protect other areas outside of the atmosphere, such as agricultural lands and bodies of water. If other countries were to ratify and implement eco-friendly treaties in the way that Germany has, the planet and people would have higher chances of lessening damage and mitigating against a harsh future. Climate change is a dire issue, one that is in high need of direct action and policies. However, with efective policies and treaties, the risk of high damage can be mitigated to save all aspects of the planet and the livelihoods of humans who live amongst it.

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Works Cited Appunn, K. and Wettengel, J. (2021) “Germany’s Climate Action Law.” Clean Energy Wire. Available at: https://www.cleanenergywire.org/factsheets/germanys-climate-action-lawbegins-take-shape [Accessed 16 April 2023] Center for Systematic Peace. (2023) Te Polity Project. Available at: https://www.systemicpeace. org/polityproject.html [Accessed 08 May 2023] Chapman, A. and Ahmed, A. (2021) “Climate Justice, Human Rights, and the Case for Reparations.” Health Human Rights. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ articles/PMC8694300/ [Accessed 08 May 2023] Deutschland.de. (2022) “Environmental Organizations in Germany.” Available at: https:// www.deutschland.de/en/topic/environment/earth-climate/environmental-organizations [Accessed 25 April 2023] European Commission, 2023. “Paris Agreement.” European Commission. Available at: https://climate.ec.europa.eu/eu-action/international-action-climate-change/climatenegotiations/paris-agreement_en#:~:text=The%20EU’s%20initial%20nationally%20 determined,by%20the%20end%20of%202018 [Accessed 20 April 2023] European Investment Bank. (2021) “63% of Germans in Favor of Stricter Government Measures that Impose Changes on People’s Behavior.” European Investment Bank. Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety. (2016) “Climate Action Plan 2050.” Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) Federal Republic of Germany. (2022) “Update to the long-term strategy for climate action of the Federal Republic of Germany.” United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. General Assembly Resolution 2200A (XXI), International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 16 December 1966, available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/instrumentsmechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-economic-social-and-cultural-rights [Accessed 10 May 2023] Hafner-Burton, E. and Tsutsui, K. (2007) “Justice Lost! Te Failure of International Human Rights Law to Matter Where Needed Most.” Journal of Peace Research. 44: 407-425. Hill Jr, D. W. and Watson, K. A. (2019) “Democracy and Compliance with Human Rights Treaties: Te Conditional Efectiveness of the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.” International Studies Quarterly 63:127-138. Kirschke, S. et al. (2019) “Agricultural Nitrogen Pollution of Freshwater in Germany. Te Governance of Sustaining a Complex Problem.” Water Quality and Agricultural Difuse Pollution In Light of the EU Water Framework Directive. 11(12): 6-12.

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National Aeronautic and Space Administration. (2023) “Carbon Dioxide” Global Climate Change, Vital Signs of the Planet. Available at: https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/carbondioxide/#:~:text=Carbon%20dioxide%20in%20the%20atmosphere,in%20less%20 than%20200%20years. [Accessed 08 May 2023] Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. (2012) “OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: Germany 2012.” Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Simmons, B. A. (2009) Teories of Commitment, Mobilizing for Human Rights International Law in Domestic Politics. (57-60). Cambridge University Press. ISBN-13 978-0-51165193-9 Te World Bank. (2020) “Total Greenhouse Gas Emissions (kt of CO2 equivalent) – Germany. Climate Watch, GHG Emissions.” Available at” https://data.worldbank.org/ indicator/EN.ATM.GHGT.KT.CE?end=2019&locations=DE&start=1990&view=chart [Accessed 27 April 2023] United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. (2023) “Te Convention and Its Achievements.” Available at: https://unece.org/convention-and-itsachievements#:~:text=In%20order%20to%20solve%20this,on%20a%20broad%20 regional%20basis. [Accessed 27 April 2023] United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. (2023) “History of the Convention.” Available At: https://unfccc.int/process/the-convention/history-of-theconvention#Essential-background [Accessed 08 May 2023] United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. (2023) “What is the Kyoto Protocol?” Available at: https://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol#:~:text=In%20short%2C%20 the%20Kyoto%20Protocol,accordance%20with%20agreed%20individual%20targets [Accessed: 27 April 2023] United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. (2023) “Te Paris Agreement.” Available At: https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-parisagreement [Accessed 27 April 2023] United Nations, Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 1998, available at: https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-kyoto-protocol/historyof-the-kyoto-protocol/text-of-the-kyoto-protocol [Accessed 10 May 2023

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About the Author Victoria Jenkins is a 2023 graduate of Christopher Newport University, who majored in Environmental Biology and minored in Political Science. Victoria has always found excitement and curiosity within the environment, and now focuses on issues surrounding the environment and society, such as environmental justice and policy making. As a transfer student from Northern Virginia Community College, Victoria entered CNU eagerly looking to participate in undergraduate research. While at CNU, Victoria participated in the Research Apprentice Program through OURCA, and assisted Dr. Bromley Trujillo in research focusing on environmental policy of renewable energy in Virginia. Outside of CNU, Victoria has had experience working at World Wildlife Fund and NASA Wallops Flight Facility, where she has completed interdisciplinary environmental research regarding sea level rise, government partnerships, environmental justice, and environmental mitigations. Victoria is now working with NASA Langley Research Center, where she will mentor students of the inaugural east coast Student Airborne Research Program (SARP). In this program, Victoria will be assisting interns in creating interdisciplinary research projects from environmental data collected on NASA aircraft with satellites and remote sensing. Outside of work and academics, Victoria enjoys seashell collecting (she currently has 5 mason jars and counting), going to concerts, discovering new cofee shops, and spending time with family and friends. Victoria is delighted and grateful for the opportunity to be published in the Cupola, and thanks her professors, friends, and family members for their continued support and encouragement.

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Te Anti-Plague and its Cure: Mumbo Jumbo as Ishmael Reed’s Challenge to Western Tradition and Practice Matthew Johnson Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Kyle Garton-Gundling, Department of English

Abstract “Te Anti-Plague and its Cure: Mumbo Jumbo as Ishmael Reed’s Challenge to Western Tradition and Practice” examines signifcance of Reed’s postmodernist text and its position within the larger literary sphere. Ishmael Reed has crafted a work that is inherently in conversation with literary “Western” (white) tradition. As a postmodernist writer, Reed very clearly speaks out against larger “metanarratives,” superstructures that both implicitly and explicitly guide a populace through ingrained ideology. Mumbo Jumbo is a clear example of Reed’s attempt to completely deconstruct Western Civilization/tradition as the dominant metanarrative. His postmodernist techniques of anachronism, disorientation, and the African American tradition of “Signifyin’” craft a complex, confounding story about resilience, and act as an introduction to Reed’s NeoHoodoo aesthetic. Reed’s use of these techniques, highlighting the satire of an endemic confict between Black and White. In his satire, Reed works to ironically place upon a pedestal Western Civilization – traditional “values,” the result of Enlightenment sentiments of reason and logic – only to emphasize its inherent instability. Te central event, the Jes Grew “anti-plague,” acts as a point of considerable contention, a veritable battlefeld on which the novel’s characters meet. Integral to his story is the inherent instability of a “Western” tradition, symbolized by satire, anachronism, irony, and the recognition of an always-already existing tradition. Reed ultimately crafts a novel that decenters the White, Western traditional literary/ ideological form; his is not the creation of a new center, but a systematic destruction of the center.

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Te Enlightened and rational Man dominated and continues to dominate the Western tradition. It asserts a worldview of oppositions in which the Enlightened Individual relies on logic and reason, and is thus made superior over his uninitiated, emotional and spiritual inferior. It is a tradition so ubiquitous as to become an ideology inherent in the creation and reading of literary texts. A superstructure has developed in which all things, all literature I argue, must inevitably be written; this metanarrative suggests a “right” or “canonical” literature. Postmodern works rose to challenge the superstructures in which all things are inevitably couched. Postmodernist rhetoric refuses the confnes of a totalizing narrative: patriarchal order, religious hegemony, and for Black writers especially, white supremacy. Tis third option might be understood as being the dominant metanarrative; certainly, Black writers of the 20th century understood white supremacy, a mode of thought preferencing white masculinity over the Other, as being wholly hegemonic. Enlightenment thought fts neatly within the scope of white supremacy: white men, burdened by logic and reason, must then spread their civilization among the subaltern populations of the world. It is totalizing in its scope, confning, and creates a worldview in which whiteness is central. Everything not white – biological and ideological whiteness, the outward and internal/cultural expression – is thus forced into the periphery. Ishmael Reed situates his novel Mumbo Jumbo within this context not in acquiescence, but in defance. Te novel is rife with allusions and metaphors situated within its cultural context, the Harlem Renaissance paired with Voodoo (Ishmael Reed’s Neo Hoodoo aesthetic), while the Knights Templar are revived in an attempt to combat a veritable “plague,” Jes Grew. Reed purposefully positions the Jes Grew phenomenon – a nebulous, paradoxically physical and metaphysical entity sweeping across the nation – within the context of the Harlem Renaissance to draw a parallel between it and the cultural phenomenon of the Black Arts of the ‘20s and ‘30s. As a “plague,” or what Reed deems an “anti-plague” that dates to Ancient Egypt, Jes Grew adopts the ironic position of inherent evil. An irrational, emotional, and physically captivating phenomenon, it is directly positioned in opposition to the enlightened, hegemonic white narrative superstructure. Jes Grew, organic in that it is both a “sickness” and sentient entity seeking its sacred text, confronts Western civilization as a destabilizing order. Te “antiplague” symbolizes Reed’s attempt to decenter Western civilization, to deny white hegemony its place as periphery-maker, and to institute a new, Black tradition that rejects a “charitable” position within the periphery of literary and social construction. I argue that Reed is successful in creating a revisionist history, for the act of formal rebellion is inherently self-fulflling: Reed’s work challenges the traditions made hegemonic by centuries of Western civilization’s totalizing control and creates a space in which Western tradition is made the periphery. Key to Reed’s work is his ability to disregard established literary and narrative tradition, and to craft his own unique literary space. Teodore O. Mason, Jr in his essay “Performance, History, and Myth: Te Problem of Ishmael Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo” suggests that the novel collapses “under the vastness of its intentions” (108). Reed, Mason suggests, added too much into the creation of his work, inviting scrutiny that supposedly weakens the novel’s impact. Te novel is an attempt to “revise fction—to ‘rehistorify’ it—by taking liberties with the established historical ’facts’ of Judeo-Christian culture,” though Mason inevitably suggests an inability to follow through on Reed’s part (Mason 98). W. Lawrence Hogue argues that Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo, along with two other African American potmodernist texts produces “a fuid, indeterminate, and self-consciously postmodern fction in hopes of liberating the African American from the position of Other,” a sentiment with which I undeniably agree (170). Mason asserts that the weight of Reed’s literary revision is insurmountable, denying its own author the reality of his attempt; what this suggests, then, is that Reed is incapable, through Mumbo Jumbo, of breaking from Western, white literary form. How does Reed fail in his attempt to critique totalizing conventions? Does Lawrence mean to suggest that Western Tradition is without challenge, that it is immutable?

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Reed frames the novel with the impending threat of Jes Grew. Te phenomenon is not just becoming a pandemic, but an existential threat. It can’t be seen “under 1 of them microscopes,” or contained; “if this Jes Grew becomes pandemic it will mean the end of Civilization As We Know It” (Reed 4). As the name suggests, it “Jes Grew,” is impossible to trace by conventional means; it is not transmitted physically, it grows spontaneously, extends to anyone irrespective of race. Positioned in the Harlem Renaissance, it refects jazz and the blues in that it is “improvised and open to change” (Hogue 184). It is unfxed, unmoored, indicative of Mumbo Jumbo’s lack of a label, given no fnality. One of the frst patients with Jes Grew in New Orleans said that he, now infected, “felt like the gut heart and lungs of Africa’s interior. He said he felt like the Kongo: ‘Land of the Panther.’ He said he felt like ‘deserting his master,’ as the Kongo is ‘prone to do.’ He said he felt he could dance on a dime” (Reed 5). By referencing Africa and the Kongo, the “Land of the Panther,” Reed creates an inextricable link between Jes Grew and the African American tradition. Furthermore, to feel like deserting a master is an explicit reference to Reed’s extrication from hegemonic white supremacy under which the infected was formerly enslaved. In so doing, Reed makes the phenomenon linked to and caused by blackness, the Other in the Western tradition. It is signifcant that Jes Grew entered frst into “the Govi of New Orleans; the charming city, the amalgam of Spanish French and African culture,” a city that inhabits the periphery of a white-centered circle (Reed 6). Te horror of Jes Grew, then, is not its ability to kill – for it is not deadly, not a physical malady – but its ability to create a link between the past and present, activating what, for a time, was only potential. Tis ability to activate and “enliven” its host situates the anti-plague as an existential threat (Reed 6). Te “jubilant spirit of jazz,” Jes Grew contrasts “the bleak asceticism of the European Middle Ages,” which takes literal form in the Wallfower Order, a sect of the Knights Templar. In the narrative it is positioned in direct opposition of Jes Grew. Te Order “is well aware of what Jes Grew wants and what Jes Grew needs,” and with that recognition comes fear, for they feel that its “Celebration” must be captured so “then it will dissolve” (Reed 64). Te Wallfower Order had “launched the war against Haiti in hopes of allaying Jes Grew symptoms by attacking their miasmatic order” (Reed 64). In constructing the literal opposition between the Wallfower Order and Haiti, Reed underscores the racial tensions inherent in a system dominated by white supremacy. Hinckle Von Vampton, an immortal Knight of the Knights Templar, leads the charge against Jes Grew. His goal is to fnd a “Black Pragmatist,” someone who can use “White talking out of Black instead of the Brown or White talking out of Black… A new kind of Robot” (Reed 80). Woodrow Wilson Jeferson, about whom Hinckle is speaking, represents one of the “Black Atonists” that Reed satirizes as being consumed by “single-visioned ideologies advanced in the name of Black American progress” (Jessee 134). To “cure” the antiplague, the Wallfower Order asserts the signifcance of totalizing ideologies, neglecting Jes Grew’s improvisational and heterogeneous qualities. Akin to Hofstadter’s paranoid style, the Teutonics (or Atonists, those opposed to Jes Grew) place the Knights Templar in “charge of the anti-Jes Grew serum” for fear that “Te Black Tide of Mud will engulf ” them all (Reed 69). Te fear is one of complete eradication by erasure, the consummation of the white race by the black. On one level it refects the racist fear of the majority race being made irrelevant; it also signifes Western civilization’s unstable hegemonic position. Te Wallfower order relies upon notions of ethnocentricity, coopting them as weapons against Jes Grew. As an improvisational anti-plague reliant on diference and the varied expression of identity, Jes Grew inherently rejects attempts by Western civilization to totalize and contain. Te real danger of ethnocentricity “is its tendency to view all members of an ethnic group as homogeneous and to ignore diferences among members of the group,” a concept favorable to the Wallfower Order (Jessee 129). Von Vampton’s associate pines that were the “New Negroes” real Black men then they would be out shooting ofcials or loitering on Lenox Avenue or panhandling tear-

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jerking pitiful autobiographies on the radio, wringing them for every cheap emotion they can solicit. Tey would be massacred in the street like heroes and then… why I could snap pictures of the corpses and make a pile of dough. Tat’s why they should do this if they were real black men… Te dances were difcult to write down though. Eccentric and individual. (Reed 103). As a satirized and extreme view of Black “culture” and expression, Reed’s objection to “critical tendency to enforce rigid standards on all African American writers” might be translated to an objection to apply the same tendency to all African Americans (Jessee 129). Furthermore, as the extremes of Western civilization – the literal embodiment of the Knights Templar and, consequently, the Crusades – Vampton and his colleague symbolize Western racism and harsh generalization. It becomes a method of control, an attempt to confne an entire race within a single identifer, and thus label them all as dangerous. But as is evidenced, when one does not meet the prescribed standards – especially when one is a “free thinker,” or contaminated by the improvisational anti-plague – they become an existential threat to Order. It is the Order then that is situated as the cure to Jes Grew, the anti- anti-plague. Tis double negative, an ironic acceptance and adoption of white supremacy as a method of control reveals Reed’s technique of “signifying.” Te Signifying Monkey, the ultimate signifer of the African American tradition, “is technique, or style, or the literariness of literary language; he is the great Signifer” (Gates 689). Ultimately, this “great Signifer” is a composite of Western literary techniques but is wholly a product of African American culture and tradition; the Wallfower Order, then, does not stand in, but signifes. And it is not important that it signifes something, but that it “signifes in some way” (Gates 689). Te Wallfower Order, then, signifes through clearly racialized language, attempting to maintain ethnocentric homogeneity, and an assault on “rebellious” disorder. In using the Wallfower Order as signifer, Reed “is determined to draw our attention to such diferences” that exist in opposition to it (Jessee 129), creating an explicit juxtaposition whose narrative thread guides the novel along. Bif Musclewhite, having been captured by the militant sect of Papa LaBas’ Neo Hoodoo Mumbo Jumbo Kathedral, makes an appeal to Tor, another white man, in favor of combating Jes Grew and the culturally/racially heterogeneous Mu’tafka. Berbelang, the leader of the group, is “aware of his past and has demystifed” Musclewhite’s; his assault is one against “Judeo-Christian culture, Christianity, Atonism…. Tey are lagging behind,” threatening the established order (Reed 114). Here Reed’s signifying is explicit, revealing the nature of the Wallfower Order and those opposed to Jes Grew as being opposed not to dance or music, but to a phenomenon that cures the infected of confnement. Te Atonists, an ancient monotheistic order of which the Wallfower Order is the militant sect, is an anachronism the intrinsically destabilizes the centrality of Western civilization. Te Atonists have no political party, no race. Teir cause “went to the very heart of Western Civilization,” and exalt “its mission” as ultimate (Reed 136). Te war in Haiti is framed as “Te Holy War in Haiti,” drawing a comparison between the Crusades in which monotheistic Christians waged war against the Saracen Other, a group perceived to be pagans (Reed 140). Te “Text” becomes the sacred symbol for the Atonists, persisting from the Ancient World until its destruction in the Modern period. Jes Grew is drawn to these texts, which are “the embodiment and emblem of a religious mystery, the point of origin of an authoritative tradition” (Hofman 1246). By situating the text as an origin of tradition, Hofman underscores the stakes of the confict between Jes Grew and the Atonists: two competing traditions, both having originated from the same confict between Set and Osiris, neither more valid than the other. What Western civilization posits, however, is the supremacy of the Atonist path. Set, one of many deities in the Egyptian pantheon, established “his own religion based upon Aton (the Sun’s faming disc)” (Reed 174). Creating a religion in opposition to the polytheistic Egyptian practice, Set attempted to dominate religious expression and to weaken Osiris’

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infuence; it was Osiris who frst “started” Jes Grew, sparking a tradition in which the people “would celebrate dancing singing shaking sistrums and carrying on,” disturbing Set’s sleep (Reed 162). Set’s motive, then, is diminished to petty jealousy and cranky vengeance, satirizing the very construction of Western ideology. His legacy sparked the “Crusade against Jes Grew,” an attempt to keep Jes Grew and the Book of Toth (its text) separate, to strip the former of its power (Reed 190). Reed again signifes in such a way as to exaggerate the relevance of the “Crusade” against Jes Grew; it takes on mystic signifcance, relying on ancient ideology to combat what has become a modern problem. Jes Grew, an evolving, improvised anti-plague is thus immutable in the face of a force rendered constant: monotheistic, confning, “civilized” Atonism that rejects either change or diference. Mumbo Jumbo espouses a view of Western Civilization in its most unstable, an ironic and satiric force of “Order.” Jes Grew, symbolic of African American synthesis which “follows the spirit, and learns how to improvise” contradicts the Atonist’s totalizing anti- antiplague (Hofman 1249). Hogue argues that ultimately the two, the Atonists and Jes Grew practitioners symbolize Dussel’s “trans-modernity,” wherein the postmodern Atonists and “its negated alterity (Jes Grew practitioners) co-realize themselves in a process of mutual creative fertizilation” (189). Jes Grew, however, is organic in its construction, sentient in its desire where the Atonist Western civilization is created wholly in opposition. In this way, Western civilization is destabilized, uncentered, and forced into the periphery. Tough Jes Grew “dies of” after the destruction of its sacred text, it is suggested that it is a force that will return. It does not depend upon a focal point, but always-already exists within, necessitating external stimulus, contrasting Western Civilization’s artifcial and clearly-constructed nature. It is not Reed whose work collapses under the weight of his intentions, as Mason suggests, but Western tradition and civilization – “civilized world” – that breaks apart.

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Works Cited Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. “Te ‘Blackness of Blackness’; A Critique of the Sign and the Signifying Monkey.” Critical Inquiry, vol. 9, no. 4, 1983, pp. 685-723. JSTOR. Hofman, Donald L. “A Darker Shade of Grail: Questing at the Crossroads in Ishmael Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo.” Callaloo, 1994, pp. 1245-56. JSTOR. Hogue, W. Lawrence. “Postmodernism, Traditional Cultural Forms, and the African American Narrative: Major’s ‘Refex’, Morrison’s ‘Jazz’, and Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo.” Novel: A Forum on Fiction, vol. 35, no. 2/3, 2002, pp. 169-92. JSTOR. Jessee, Sharon A. “Laughter and Identity in Ishmael Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo.” MELUS, vol. 21, no. 4, 1996, pp. 127-39. JSTOR. Mason, Teodore O., Jr. “Performance: History, and Myth: Te Problem of Ishmael Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo.” Fiction Studies, vol. 34, no. 1, 1988, pp. 97-109. jstor. Reed, Ishmael. Mumbo Jumbo. New York City, Simon & Schuster, 2006.

About the Author

Matthew Johnson is a Fourth Year at CNU majoring in English and History with minors in African American Studies and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. After graduating, he plans to attend a PhD program and further study 20th century and contemporary African American literature. His ultimate goal is to become a professional in the feld and make a career out of scholarly research and pedagogy.

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Te Efects of Psilocybin on Depression and Anxiety Keagan Lanham Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Gina Fernandez, Department of Psychology

Abstract Populations around the world have shown an increase in depression diagnoses, a disorder that is congruent with consistent low mood, loss of interest in activities, changes in appetite, and more. For many, these symptoms can be treated with medication and therapy, but not everyone responds to these typical treatment options. In order to provide therapeutic support for treatmentresistant individuals, psilocybin is currently being examined as an adjunctive treatment for individuals with depression. Psilocybin is a naturally occurring psychedelic hallucinogen found in more than two hundred species of fungi that can afect human’s thinking and create a feeling of euphoria. Some mood disorders, such as depression, are linked to changes in serotonin and dopamine levels, chemicals that are involved in the regulation of behavior and emotion within the nervous system. Psilocybin mimics the activity of those chemicals, which leads to both its hallucinogens and anxiolytic efects. Psychedelic therapy may improve comorbid depression, anxiety, and fear of death. Microdosing psilocybin, which involves taking psilocybin at a very low yet efective amount, has been found to have positive efects on mood, emotional well-being, cognition, and can reduce stress, depression, and anxiety. Longterm studies have shown no apparent harm from the use of psilocybin. Although research is limited by the legal status of psilocybin, it appears to be a safe and efective therapeutic avenue for depression.

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Depression is becoming an increasingly common mental disorder worldwide. Te American Psychiatric Association defnes depression as a “mental illness that negatively afects how you feel, the way you think and how you act”(What Is Depression? n.d.). Some symptoms include sadness, loss of interest in activities, changes in appetite, changes in sleep, and more. It afects more than 163 million people of all ages, about 2% of the global population (James et al., 2018). Depression afects 8% of adult Americans and 15% of adolescents from ages 12-17 (Depression, n.d.). Commonly, depression is linked with anxiety, characterized by an unpleasant state of inner disruption, and includes dread over anticipated events (Davison et al., 2022). Tis disorder causes uneasiness and worry in its hosts. Tese comorbid feelings can often be avoided with therapy and medication. Traditional medications, such as SSRIs, do not always have the desired results for every patient. Recently, doctors have investigated a more natural treatment: psilocybin. Tis drug is a naturally occurring psychedelic found in more than two hundred species of fungi and can potentially afect all human senses (McClure, 2021). Tese mushrooms change people’s thinking, sense of time and cause hallucinations and a feeling of euphoria. However, this drug was not recently discovered as having health benefts. South Americans used mushrooms for healing before the 1500s, where Spanish missionaries tried to destroy any documentation of the fungi. South American Aztec Indians called psilocybin teonanacatl, or “God’s fesh” (Nichols, 2020). In 1968, psilocybin became federally illegal due to American recreational overconsumption. Psilocybin was the frst drug to be subjected to federal regulation under the Drug Abuse Control Amendments of 1965 (Wark, 2007). In 1961, Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert, professors at Harvard College, began studying psilocybin’s potential for psychological benefts, such as creativity. However, the director of the Center for Research in Personality claimed that the study subjects were experiencing “social withdrawal, insensitivity, impulsivity, and an unrealistic sense of omniscience .”Both Harvard administrators and government ofcials scrutinized Leary and Alpert. Te Dean of Harvard College argued that psilocybin had a “serious psychiatric hazard” to those who partook in consuming the drug. On July 14th, 1969, President Richard Nixon identifed drug abuse as a “serious national threat” due to a dramatic jump in drug-related juvenile arrests and two years later declared a “war on drugs,” stating that drugs are “public enemy No. 1” (Npr, 2007). Yet in the early 1960s, psilocybin was given as a medication referred to as “Indocybin,” but due to the ban on the marketing and possession of hallucinogenic drugs in 1965, the product was discontinued (Johnson et al., 2018). According to research on psilocybin’s potential reclassifcation, the scheduling of psilocybin and its abuse potential is based on political and cultural biases rather than scientifc evidence, thus hindering further research. Today, the euphoric efect is being researched in treating general depression and treatmentresistant depression. Treatment-resistant depression is a branch of depression that does not respond to most medications or therapeutics. In those with mental illness, especially treatmentresistant depression, psilocybin has been shown to therapeutically help with depression and anxiety by changing brain activity. Tis substance is controlled through microdosing, which is taking a minimal efective dose to prevent misuse and encourage safe practices. Psilocybin can Terapeutically Help with Depression and Anxiety Depression is defned as “a mood disorder that is characterized by at least two weeks of pervasive low mood, low self-esteem, and loss of pleasure or interest in normal activities” (Depression, n.d.). It is caused by genetic, environmental, and psychological risk factors. Scientists have found that psilocybin can therapeutically help with depression and anxiety. Twelve patients with moderate to severe treatment-resistant major depression were given two oral doses of psilocybin (10 mg and 25mg) seven days apart with psychological support

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(Carhart-Harris et al., 2016). Depressive symptoms were assessed with standard assessments such as the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptoms from one week to three months after treatment. After one week of treatment, the response rate to psilocybin (e.g., a score of nine or lower on the Beck Depression Inventory) was 67%. Seven of these eight patients met the criteria for remission within one week, meaning they saw either a depletion or a decrease in symptoms. After three months, 42% of patients showed depletion or decreased depression symptoms. Researchers said that the latest psilocybin study introduces a new treatment for depression. People who were nonresponsive to currently available treatments reported decreased anxiety, increased optimism, and an ability to enjoy things. Tese results are an unparalleled success in treatment and could revolutionize the treatment of depression. In a study conducted by Hasler (2004), eight subjects received a placebo, a very low dose (45 µg), a low dose (115 µg), a medium dose (215 µg), or a high dose (315 µg) of psilocybin. Te participants rated their altered states of consciousness to assess the efects of psilocybin on psychopathological core dimensions, attention, and mood. Psilocybin was found to dependently change scores of all altered states of consciousness core dimensions, with only increased anxiety in the highest dose. Psilocybin is a 5-HT1A and 5-HT2A agonist, mimicking serotonin and binding to the respective receptors (Carter et al., 2005). With the binding of psilocybin, in a low dose of 1-3mg per 70kg, 19% of people reported elevated blood pressure, 8% reported physical discomfort, 12% reported psychological discomfort, and 15% reported an episode of anxiety (Prouzeau et al., 2022). In a large dose, which was 22mg/70kg), 47% of people reported high blood pressure, 15% reported nausea, 21% reported physical discomfort, 32% reported psychological discomfort, 26% reported an episode of anxiety, and 2% reported an episode of paranoid ideation. In other studies, high blood pressure, nausea, anxiety, paranoid ideation episodes, headaches, and tachycardia are common. Terefore, this study shows that psilocybin is efective on serotonin receptors and demonstrates that the harm of psilocybin in small doses is insignifcant. Even those who are going through behavioral interventions see results with psilocybin. Behavioral interventions are designed to afect people’s actions for their health. A typical medical intervention is a “clinical trial of a particular drug, surgery, or device” (Cutler, 2004). In patients with clinically elevated anxiety and depression, post-treatment and six-month follow-up efects demonstrated signifcant reductions in depression and anxiety with the introduction of psilocybin (Goldberg et al., 2020). Studies had behavioral intervention in both the control and experimental procedure. Te addition of psilocybin provided benefts and could be substantial alongside behavioral intervention. Rumination has been implicated in the onset and maintenance of depression. It is repetitive, prolonged, and recurrent negative thinking about oneself, feelings, personal concerns, and upsetting experiences (Watkins, 2020). Rumination has multiple negative consequences, such as prolonging negative mood states, interfering with problem-solving, interfering with therapy, exacerbating and maintaining physiological stress responses, and allowing multiple impulsive behaviors. To help with rumination, one can use habit development, executive control, abstract processing, goal discrepancies, and negative bias. Kuypers (2020) says while it is uncertain how microdosing will afect those with depression, it has the potential to induce cognitive fexibility, which can decrease rumination. In the most extreme cases, depression can lead to suicidal intent and ideation. Eight hundred thousand suicides occur worldwide each year, and unfortunately, classic antidepressants are not efective in most suicidal patients (Strumila et al., 2021). However, researchers are fnding that psilocybin could be an alternative to treating suicidal ideation because it acts on mechanisms within suicidal ideation physiopathology, such as alterations in serotoninergic, glutamatergic, and infammatory systems as well as neuroplasticity. It additionally could produce results in one dose trial because it acts rapidly and may not require co-therapy with a

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classic antidepressant after intake. Psilocybin has also demonstrated sustained long-term efcacy and does not show a risk of abuse in users. Agin-Liebes et al. (2020) recorded self-reported symptomatology with an average of 3.2 and 4.5 years following a study in cancer-related psychiatric distress with psilocybin administration. Te long-term study found reduced anxiety, depression, hopelessness, demoralization, and death anxiety. At the 4.5-year follow-up, approximately 60 to 80% of participants met the criteria for clinically signifcant antidepressant and anxiolytic responses. Because of psilocybin’s ability to bind to serotonin receptors, patients with suicidal ideation can shift cognitive patterns, like rigidity and feelings of a disillusioned sense of belonging, to more adaptive thoughts, like spirituality and empathy. Additionally, psilocybin has been shown to decrease cerebral blood fow in the temporal cortex, especially the amygdala, which correlates with reduced depressive symptoms (Carhart-Harris et al., 2017). Psilocybin has also increased resting-state functional connectivity in the default mode network, a network of interacting brain regions active when a person is not focused on their environment. Psilocybin and Terminal Patient Treatment Psychological and existential sufering is common in cancer patients. Promising early-phase clinical research suggested a therapeutic signal for psychedelics such as psilocybin and LSD to treat cancer-related stress (Ross, 2018). Ten trials with a total of 445 participants included patients with advanced or terminal cancer diagnoses. Psychedelic therapy may improve cancerrelated depression, anxiety, and fear of death. Recent studies of psilocybin treatment showed that psychedelic treatment can produce rapid, robust, and sustained improvements. Carhart-Harris et al. (2016) also found that depression signifcantly decreased in anxietyridden cancer patients 3 to 6 months after a single dose of psilocybin. Cancer patients often develop chronic, clinically signifcant symptoms of depression and anxiety. In ffty-one patients with life-threatening diagnoses who displayed symptoms of anxiety and depression, psilocybin was administered. Within six months, patients had less anxiety, increased mood, quality of life, meaning, and optimism (Grifths et al., 2016). Both clinician and self-rated measures demonstrated decreased mood depression and anxiety. Symptom remission of depression after six months was 65% and 57% for anxiety. Psilocybin has been demonstrated to enhance the quality of life in these patients, potentially leading to a subjective sense of well-being and life satisfaction as they near the end of their life. Long-term AIDs survivors with moderate-severe demoralization, which the study defnes as poor coping and a sense of helplessness, hopelessness, and a loss of meaning and purpose in life, used the “Experiences in Close Relationships Scale” to measure attachment insecurity at baseline and after completing a therapy course with a psilocybin addition (Staufer, 2020). Self-reported ratings of attachment anxiety decreased signifcantly from the baseline to three months post-intervention. Tis study provides more evidence on psilocybin helping with terminal-illness induced depression, as those with AIDs have experienced demoralization, especially the older long-term AIDS survivors. Psilocybin changes brain activity Psilocybin has shown positive efects in those with treatment-resistant depression, severe depression, anxiety, and depression related to terminal illness. However, psilocybin has been known to be euphoric in most users, not just those depressed. Twelve participants were observed at the University of Wisconsin through psychedelically aided psychotherapy. Te volunteer panel said the drug had “potential as a life-changing agent in healthy individuals” as it provided a euphoric state to most users (Bambenek, 2016). What makes this drug so life-changing? Psilocybin is known to change the brain’s chemical

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composition and therefore change brain activity. Psychiatric disorders are often associated with changes in serotonin and dopamine, and psilocybin has a high afnity to the 5-HTA receptor of serotonin (Grandjean et al., 2021). Tis study examined psilocybin’s efects on a resting state throughout the entire brain in mice. Te drug was shown to increase functional connectivity between serotonin-associated networks and cortical areas, including the thalamus (our sensory relay center) and midbrain, which controls motor movement, eye movement, and auditory and visual processing. Te interactions between serotonin and dopamine-regulated neural networks contribute to the neural and psychological efects of psilocybin. With this alteration of brain activity, neurotransmitter receptor sites receive psilocybin as an agonist, meaning that psilocybin takes the place of neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine. Terefore, if a patient has impairments or impairments in these transmitters, psilocybin can be used to mimic their efects. In psilocybin treatment, perceptual alterations and changes in a person’s sense of self, afect, meaning and cognition are referred to as ‘mystical type’ experiences. One study examined sixteen healthy participants and their responses to mystical-type experiences (Stenbæk, 2020). Tree intensities were to see how psilocybin afects 5-HT2A receptor activation. Drug intensity was assessed every 20 minutes, and patients completed the Mystical Experience Questionnaire at the end of the session. Te fndings showed that serotonin receptors shape temporal and mystical features of psychedelic experiences, meaning that serotonin receptors put users into a state of euphoria (i.e., mystical experience) and give auditory hallucinations, afecting emotions and encoding memory. Profound psychedelic results were found in those with lower serotonin receptors (those with depression), indicating higher pre-drug serotonin availability and that, combined with psilocybin, leads to more efective receptor stimulation. Psilocybin-mediated serotonin receptor activation also has been examined in the amygdala and the visual and prefrontal cortex. In a Kraehenmann et al. (2016) study, psilocybin was shown to decrease threat-induced modulation, or the amygdala blood oxygen level-dependent signal change when given threat-related visuals, of top-down connectivity from the amygdala to the visual cortex. Tis fnding alludes to shifts towards positive afect states after taking psilocybin. Psilocybin could decrease amygdala-dependent top-down tuning of visual regions during threat processing, which would determine the afective meaning of visual percepts by its efects on sensory pathways. Tis efect occurs subconsciously and may be amplifed in anxiety disorders and depression. When the amygdala reactivity is increased, it may lead to an increase in focus on negative environments and stimuli, therefore blocking out the processing of positive information. However, because psilocybin provides diferent visual perceptions, the top-down processing may be afected by the drug, leading to decreased threat sensitivity. Psilocybin can be used safely through microdosing Microdosing is the implementation of a drug at its minimal efective amount. A microdose has been scientifcally defned as approximately one-tenth to one-twentieth of a recreational dose (Kuypers, 2020). With this dosage, psilocybin can be used without damaging efects such as psychosis and seizures. It has shown improvements in mood, emotional well-being, and cognition in a multitude of studies, as well as reducing stress, depression, and anxiety. Te frst study of microdosing analyzed ninety-eight participants for six weeks and saw improvements across several forms of psychological functioning on microdosing days and reductions in stress and depression (Rootman, 2022). In those with anxiety, depression, and stress, those who microdosed showed lower scores on the Depression Anxiety Stress scale over a month compared to those who did not microdose. While microdosing is a new scientifc study, its efects have shown success in people with anxiety and depression and those who do not sufer from either. A major reason psilocybin was criminalized was due to political concerns about psilocybin

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and recreational use (Kuypers, 2020). While this stigma surrounds psilocybin use today, it is combatted with the introduction of microdosing. In healthy individuals, psilocybin and LSD microdosing was examined and found to have subtle positive efects on cognitive processes and brain regions (Kuypers, 2020). Tese cognitive processes include time perception as well as convergent and divergent thinking. Low doses are well tolerated in healthy volunteers and have either no or minimal efect on physiological measures. Te use of psilocybin has also shown no apparent long-term harm. In a double-blind study, psilocybin was given to 110 healthy subjects that received 1-4 doses of psilocybin (45-315 micrograms/kg body weight) (Studerus et al., 2010) in 1999, and long-term efects were observed in 2008. Tey found no subsequent drug use, persisting perception disorders, prolonged psychosis, or other long-term impairment. Subjects reported in the long-term follow-up that they were more self-understanding, more tolerant of others, less selfsh, less materialistic, and more appreciative of music, art, and nature. However, the efect of microdosing on anxiety has been tested in rats using an elevated plus-maze (Kuypers, 2020). A microdose in this scenario was 0.05mg/kg, which equates to 3.5 mg for an average 70 kg human. Rats received three doses for six days. Anxiety was measured two days after the fnal dosing session, and microdosing was found to have an anxiogenic efect. Limitations Psilocybin has been demonstrated to be an efective treatment for depression and anxiety when patients are resistant to other treatments. For those with severe depression and anxiety, this drug provides a new frontier in medicine. However, limitations do exist. First and most importantly, in incorporating and researching this drug as a mood disorder treatment option, psilocybin is illegal and, therefore, hard to attain. According to the Food and Drug Act, psilocybin is a Schedule I drug, meaning it has a high potential to be abused and demonstrates no medical purpose. While research suggests this is incorrect, unfortunately, this research is limited by law. Because the FDA does not enforce psilocybin, it can have unreliable purity. Psilocybin has the possibility of being laced with products that can cause fatality. Medical legalization could regulate production and make more reliable sources of attainability. Like any drug, psilocybin can have side efects. One study found that 10.7% of people who had consumed psilocybin had placed themselves and others at risk of physical damage (Bienemann et al., 2020). 2.6% of users reported being violent or physically aggressive with themselves or others, and 2.7% reported needing to get emergency medical assistance. Psilocybin has the potential to create perceptual changes such as hallucinations, synesthesia, and changes in emotions and thoughts. With its illegality and potential to be harmful, there is increased anxiety surrounding possession and following ingestion. In several studies, psilocybin has been found to help depression and its symptoms while inducing an anti-depressive efect (Bornemann, 2020). However, anxiety is afected both positively and negatively. Most patients have reported relief from anxiety, especially social anxiety, but one study had 35% of people report increased symptoms. However, Bornemann asked participants from previous studies directly, and 59.2% answered afrmatively. Nonetheless, euphoria from psilocybin is more likely than heightened anxiety. In the Hasler study (2004), one subject reacted with transient anxiety to the high dose of psilocybin. However, psilocybin was found to have no cause for concern that it is hazardous to bodily health. As previously discussed, the euphoric efect of psilocybin is more likely than the increased anxiety, and this can also be prevented through controlled microdosing.

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Conclusion Multiple studies have shown that psychedelics can be safely incorporated into medical treatments (Sellers, 2017). Randomized, blinded, and controlled clinical trials have reported long-term reductions in anxious and depressed mood, existential distress, and improved quality of life after single oral doses of psilocybin. Tis drug has the potential to create a new wave of mental health solutions, especially for those who do not often respond to normalized treatment. With depression’s possible segue into suicidal thoughts or ideation (Pampouchidou, 2019), psilocybin can help those who feel they have no solution. Psilocybin will continue to be a part of the mental health discussion.

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Npr. (2007, April 2). Timeline: America’s War on Drugs. NPR. https://www.npr.org/templates/ story/story.php?storyId=9252490 Pampouchidou, A., Simos, P. G., Marias, K., Meriaudeau, F., Yang, F., Pediaditis, M., & Tsiknakis, M. (2019, October 1). Automatic Assessment of Depression Based on Visual Cues: A Systematic Review. IEEE Transactions on Afective Computing, 10(4), 445–470. https://doi.org/10.1109/tafc.2017.2724035 Prouzeau, D., Conejero, I., Voyvodic, P. L., Bécamel, C., Abbar, M., & Lopez-Castroman, J. (2022). Psilocybin Efcacy and Mechanisms of Action in Major Depressive Disorder: a Review. Current Psychiatry Reports, 24(10), 573–581. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920022-01361-0 Rootman, J. M., Kiraga, M., Kryskow, P., Harvey, K., Stamets, P., Santos-Brault, E., Kuypers, K. P. C., & Walsh, Z. (2022, June 30). Psilocybin microdosers demonstrate greater observed improvements in mood and mental health at one month relative to non-microdosing controls. Scientifc Reports, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-14512-3 Ross, S. (2018, July 4). Terapeutic use of classic psychedelics to treat cancer-related psychiatric distress. International Review of Psychiatry, 30(4), 317–330. https://doi.org/10.1080/095 40261.2018.1482261 Sellers, E. (2017, May 26). Psilocybin: Good Trip or Bad Trip. Clinical Pharmacology &Amp; Terapeutics, 102(4), 580–584. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpt.697 Staufer, C. S., Anderson, B. T., Ortigo, K. M., & Woolley, J. (2020, December 9). PsilocybinAssisted Group Terapy and Attachment: Observed Reduction in Attachment Anxiety and Infuences of Attachment Insecurity on the Psilocybin Experience. ACS Pharmacology &Amp; Translational Science, 4(2), 526–532. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsptsci.0c00169 Stenbæk, D. S., Madsen, M. K., Ozenne, B., Kristiansen, S., Burmester, D., Erritzoe, D., Knudsen, G. M., & Fisher, P. M. (2020, October 8). Brain serotonin 2A receptor binding predicts subjective temporal and mystical efects of psilocybin in healthy humans. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 35(4), 459–468. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881120959609 Strumila, R., Nobile, B., Korsakova, L., Lengvenyte, A., Olie, E., Lopez-Castroman, J., Guillaume, S., & Courtet, P. (2021). Psilocybin, a Naturally Occurring Indoleamine Compound, Could Be Useful to Prevent Suicidal Behaviors. Pharmaceuticals, 14(12), 1213. https://doi.org/10.3390/ph14121213 Studerus, E., Kometer, M., Hasler, F., & Vollenweider, F. X. (2010). Acute, subacute and long-term subjective efects of psilocybin in healthy humans: a pooled analysis of experimental studies. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 25(11), 1434–1452. https://doi. org/10.1177/0269881110382466 Wark, C. (2007). A social and cultural history of the federal prohibition of psilocybin (Order No. 3351674). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Teses Global; ProQuest One Academic. (304841629). https://cnu.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/ dissertations-theses/social-cultural-history-federal-prohibition/docview/304841629/se-2

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About the Author

Keagan Lanham is a 2023 graduate of Christopher Newport University. Tey received a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, Bachelor of Arts in Leadership Studies, and a minor in Biology. Troughout their time at CNU, Keagan served as President of Innovative Minds, a service organization that teaches STEM concepts to kids at the Boys and Girls Club. Keagan served as Fundraising Vice President for the service fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega. Keagan Lanham is a Registered Behavioral Technician in ABA at Family Insight, P.C in Manassas, Virginia.

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Roman Time in Times New Roman: Te Form and Function of the Roman Fasti Erin Mahoney Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Deirdre Harshman, Department of History

Abstract Calendars and schedules run our lives. On Tuesday at 6:00 p.m., I go to class. On Wednesday at 11:30 a.m., I volunteer. Imagining life without counting down the minutes to my next appointment is nearly impossible, but not every society lives or lived as the modern Westernized world. Tis paper explores the necessity of calendars in complex societies, specifcally in the context of Rome. Rome was once a small city-state but grew to control the Mediterranean and beyond. One city acting as the headquarters for vast lands and peoples was a challenging feat. To succeed, Rome had to use a device that organized its domain. Tey had to use a calendar. Te Roman calendar, also called the fasti, in form provides a unique lens on Roman civilization. Fasti such as the Antiates Maiores and Capitolini are flled with abbreviations designating festival days, business days, loan payment days, and more. Tese dates organized the lives of all citizens, wealthy and poor. It told them where to go and when, revealing details about daily religious, social, and political Roman afairs. In function, the fasti was a social tool that organized its citizens in the city and empire. Analyzing fasti artifacts, literature by Plutarch and Cicero, and research conducted by historians such as Jorg Rupke proves that the fasti of the Republic and early Principate acted as a microcosm of the city while enabling empire. Without a tool so complex and successful at organizing its citizens, Rome could never have been an empire.

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Introduction Tere is something special about a city’s rush hour. During the day, people run to and from diferently timed appointments, but when the clock strikes 5:00 p.m., their schedules align so that thousands of people tightly pack freeways, sidewalks, and trains. Tough few enjoy the crowd, rush hour is a signifcant phenomenon because it speaks to how our world functions. Every day, we use calendars, clocks, agenda notebooks, and other tools to organize our busy lives. We do this because schedules tell us where and when to leave work. Tey keep us structured which enables us to be productive. However, schedules are so tightly woven into our lives that we forget that not everyone accesses them, nor does everyone perceive time like today’s Westernized culture. More than two-thousand years ago, ancient Romans did not use Google Calendars and even functioned on a ten-month system, so how did they organize their complex society? It cannot be argued that Rome was not complex. In 753 BC, Rome was just a small citystate in eastern Italy, but it grew. By 44 BC, Rome had engulfed the Mediterranean and beyond. Now, 44 BC is also the year that Julius Caesar died ushering in a new Roman monarchy under Emperor Augustus. Tis era is called the Principate and is often referred to as the Roman Empire. However, when acknowledging Rome’s already enormous size, it becomes clear that the nation had been an empire with a voracious appetite for centuries. A city complex enough to manage government shifts, wars, and vast lands needed a system to organize its citizens and reckon time. Tis system was the fasti. Analyzing the Republic to the early Principate exposes the fasti as a social tool that refected Roman religion, social hierarchy, politics, and imperial attitudes while enabling empire by providing a framework that organized Rome’s population. Social Time Calendars are interlinked with time. We employ time to note the passing months and years, but why do we do so? What is time? Time is an intangible, barely fathomable force that “measures a period during which an action, process, or condition exists or continues.”1 Tis is a broad, difcult concept to grasp, so our brains create time frameworks we do understand. Te frst categories that time can be broken into are natural and social. Natural pertains to the seasons and the cycles of the moon. Social pertains to time’s human use and comprehension, making this category an important one to discuss. Between 1900 and 2005, 130,000 books were written on time’s concept demonstrating how thousands of authors have wrestled with this subject, struggling to pinpoint our relationship with time. Emile Durkheim wrote one of the frst.2 In his revolutionary piece, Te Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1915), Durkheim found that time is a system of symbols with a shared meaning to society.3 People’s values, norms, and beliefs contribute to their chosen symbols and means of comprehending time. Since then, anthropologists and sociologists, such as Claude Levi-Strauss (1963), Pierre Bourdieu (1977), and Wilbert E. Moore (1986), have built on Durkheim’s work. Each agrees that time is a social construct. Societies create timing systems, such as calendars and clocks, to reckon time in a way associated with their culture. Here is a simple example. Suppose I asked a Dutchman and a Spaniard to meet me at 3:00 p.m. Te Dutchman would show at 3:00 p.m., and the Spaniard would show at 3:30 p.m. Both are on time according to their culture and are engaging in time for social reasons. Bourdieu gives a more complex example. Depending on the time of day, a North African Kabyle woman is in diferent rooms of the house, undertaking diferent chores. Her gender roles are a mechanism 1 2 3

“Time Defnition & Meaning.” Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster. Accessed March 21, 2023. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/time. Feeney, Denis. Caesar’s Calendar: Ancient Time and the Beginnings of History. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007. Accessed February 21, 2023. ProQuest Ebook Central, 1. Harvey, David. “Between Space and Time: Refections on the Geographical Imagination.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 80, no. 3 (1990): 418

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to track time with the rooms, and the chores are her culture’s timing symbols.4 E.P. Tompson pokes at time in relation to religion and politics. In “Time, WorkDiscipline, and Industrial Capital,” he analyzed how western Europe modifed time in the presence of Puritan capitalism. In the 1300s, Western Europe was a task-oriented peasant society. Teir time system consisted of work and domestic chores cycles, so a day was done when the chores were completed.5 Tis pattern consumed each day and extended to the seasons. Planting and harvesting chores told of the month. However, as Puritanism and capitalism consumed western European culture, time was reckoned diferently. Children were not just taught to complete their chores but to strive to be the most accomplished child every minute of the day. Tompson writes that there was an urgency in respectable time values.6 By 1650, Western Europe was obsessed with being productive every second of the day. Tese examples give insight into various ways people reckon and move within time. Moreover, without the word “people” in the previous sentence, there would be no need to comprehend time. We reckon time because it is a framework necessary for interpersonal connections, so we grapple with clocks and calendars to measure what chores should be done on a given day, when to meet for lunch, and even how old we are. It seems people create time systems to grapple with time’s impact on our lives. In turn, timing systems created for us and by us result in culture’s infuence on what they look like. Now, time and society are not a duo. Our understanding of space and place is also wrapped up in them, forming a messy, tangled web of infuences. It is not my ambition to detangle that web, but I do want to describe its signifcance to a city. Everything happens somewhere. Agrarian societies will reckon time according to their chores and seasons. Tis refects the open space and farming place they are in. Slowly growing crops makes for a slower perception of time. However, a city is a place of condensed space. Te proximity of many people creates a seemingly fast-paced world. Natural time fows the same, but the perception of social time difers.7 People in cities are moving, interacting, and generating ideas and energy at an incredible scale, making time feel like it is fying by. Te sheer number of people interacting is complex. Norburt Elias argues that a complex timing system is needed in response to this complexity.8 Now, add the cultural and economic pressures created when people are brought together. Timing systems must respond to this too. Culture, time, space, and place all push and pull at each other, creating an environment that humans perceive time out of, so complex timing systems must be created and evolve in response to their environment. A calendar is needed for organization and productivity because a city can only efectively produce goods or services if something is holding them together. Te complexity we see in our society is not so diferent from Rome’s. Te ancient city was home to hundreds of thousands of citizens, immigrants, and slaves. Its inhabitants owned stores, went to restaurants, sued each other in court, and voted in elections. With so many people hustling and bustling within its walls, Rome needed a way to organize its people and structure city life. How can two citizens plan to meet in court if they are unsure when to meet? So, Rome developed a calendar. After its creation, the fasti continued to evolve in periods of cultural shifts and societal pressure, such as the start of the Principate. Trough the subtle changes in its form, we can see elements of Rome’s political, religious, and social culture further proving that the fasti was the framework that upheld Roman society keeping its people from chaos and enabling empire. 4 5 6 7 8

Harvey, “Between Space and Time,” 419. Tompson, E.P. “Time, Work-Discipline, and Industrial Capital,” 25. Tompson, 27. Harvey, 42

Rüpke, Jörg. Te Roman calendar from Numa to Constantine: time, history, and the fasti. John Wiley & Sons, 2011, 4.

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Te Early Calendar Bears and fsh have no idea when their birthday is, nor can they distinguish the month’s frst week from its second. As mentioned, days, weeks, months, and years are all human mechanisms. Tey have no reference outside a calendar’s format. Tis concept sounds absurd. To us, a day is a day because it follows the rising of the sun, and a month is a month because it tracks the moon cycle. It is challenging to understand because the modern calendar aligns so closely with natural time. Our months follow the moon’s cycle, and one year equates to the earth’s revolution around the sun. However, natural time and social time are not required to link. Rome’s fasti proves this. Romans ignored math discovered by Greek and Egyptian thinkers that could have aligned natural and social time.9 Instead, they based their calendar on tradition, which ofset the year. December 21st is always the darkest day of the year for us, but for the Romans, the darkest day could have been in April. For instance, we know that Rome experienced a solar eclipse on March 14th, 190 BC. However, their records indicate that it occurred on July 11th.10 In response to situations like this, Joseph Scaliger exclaims, “theirs was the worst calendar to ever exist.”11 Authors from the Principate thought it was irritating too. Suetonius exasperatedly notes that the early calendar’s “harvest did not coincide with the summer nor the vintage festivals with the autumn.”12 Denis Feeney, however, points out that anger towards the early Roman calendar results from our modern notion of time because we cannot comprehend anything but cohesion between natural time and civil time. 13 It is only remarkable to us that their calendar was a purposeful tool that reckoned social time, not natural time. To them, it was normal. According to legend, Romulus, Rome’s founder and frst king, established the fasti in 753 BC.14 He drew inspiration from the Greeks to create a ten-month calendar starting in March and ending in December. Each month consisted of twenty-nine to thirty days adding up to a 304-day year.15 Romulus ignored the days during what would become January and February because these months were cold and useless to their agricultural society. King Numa Pompilius, Rome’s second king, thought diferently. He revised the calendar to include January and February, so the fasti became 355 days long. To compensate for the uneven solar year, Numa inserted the leap month, Mercedinus, every other year at the end of February. Numa’s calendar was much closer to natural time, but the months were not fxed in time or season, so the calendar shifted further of course each year.16 By 509 BC, Rome’s line of kings ended, and the Republic began. Te calendar was only edited slightly over the years, so it remained unaligned until Julius Caesar’s calendar reforms of 45 BC. What we know of Rome’s early Republican fasti comes from sources such as Macrobius and Varro, who wrote during the frst century BC, centuries after the calendar’s founding. Tere are also no physically surviving fasti inscriptions until 84 BC. Te Fasti Antiates Maiores, named after its location in Antium, is this oldest surviving fasti and the only one predating the Julian Reforms. All other fasti within the archaeological record date to the principate.17 Furthermore, most of these remaining fasti are not whole. Clear pictures and calendar translations are only available for analysis due to the hard work of historians and archeologists piecing fragments together. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

Feeney, Denis. Caesar’s Calendar: Ancient Time and the Beginnings of History. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007. Accessed February 21, 2023. ProQuest Ebook Central, 195. Denis, 193 Denis, 193. Macrob. Sat. 1.40.1. Denis, 193. Macrob. Sat. 1.16.30 Jörg, 38. Jörg, 40. Jörg, 7.

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Tese same scholars have also popularized referring to the fasti as two types of timing systems. Te frst system is the annual or calendrical calendar, which kept track of Rome’s months and dates. Te second is the consular calendar. Rome’s two chief magistrates, called consuls, were the heads of the state and armies, but their terms were only one-year, allowing the consular calendar to diferentiate the passing years. For example, when referencing a year, ancient authors would write, “this event happened in the year of consul one and consul two.” Together these two-timing systems told Roman social time. Tey also often, if not always, appeared together, so historians do not shy away from referring to them interchangeably as the fasti.18 As the consular fasti only held a list of names, the calendrical was much more complicated. To organize it, the Romans designed the fasti as a grid structure with thirteen columns and eight rows. Te columns represented the twelve months plus the leap month. Marked above each column was the abbreviation for the month. For instance, the frst month is labeled IAN for Ianuarius, or January. Te eight rows represented their eight-day week system. Days were arranged by letters “A” through “H.” For organization, Romans divided their months into three primary markers the Kalends, the Nones, and the Ides. Te Kalends, marked “K,” was always the frst day of the month and signifed that loan payments were due. Te Nones was normally the ffth but sometimes the seventh day of the month. It also constituted a market day, when village dwellers visited the city to sell goods and trade. Te Ides was the ffteenth and sometimes the thirteenth day. Tese days counted down to the next month’s Kalends. Other meaningful abbreviations on the fasti include “F,” “N,” “C,” and “NP.” “F” denotes fastus dies, which were the days Romans could conduct civil and legal business. Days marked “N” for nefastus dies meant they could not conduct business. “C” was the abbreviation for comitialis dies, when Roman citizens could hold assemblies and vote on issues. Finally, “NP” was the abbreviation for nefastus publicus or public holidays. It should also be mentioned that other large letters signifed religious festivals, corresponding with smaller abbreviations for the celebrated deity. “EN” endotercisus or “in-between” were business days or assembly days in which mornings and afternoons had diferent designations.19 Religion Te calendrical fasti was so embedded in religion that to take religion out was to have no calendar at all—even the number of days in the year related to religious beliefs. During Numa’s reforms, he purposely altered Rome’s year from 354 days to 355. Te year needed to end in an odd number because that would surely bring good fortune, whereas an even number would induce an unlucky year.20 Six out of twelve months also refected religious attitudes. Tese were Martius, Aprilius, Maius, Junius, Januarius, and Februarius. Te other six months, Quintilis, Sextilis, Septembre, Octobrius, November, and December, were numerical. Martius, or March, was named for the war god Mars. After a dreadful dreary winter, spring was the time to brush of the snow and begin preparation for military campaigns. Soldiers would fght during the spring and summer coming home for the harvest season. Aprilis was the second month named for a Latin derivative of the Greek Aphrodite, making April sacred to the goddess Venus. Maius or May was named after the goddess Maira, a daughter of the Titan Atlas. Te following month, Junius honors the mother goddess Juno. When January was added, Numa named it for Janus, the god of beginnings and endings. However, it was not because January was the year›s frst month. January would not be the frst month until 18 19 20

Feeney, 167. Jörg, 8.

“Fasti Antiates.” https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/ calendar/antiates.html.

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153 BC when Rome needed more time for war preparation. Instead, Numa chose to honor Janus because he represented the beginning and ends of peace and war during the early years of Rome’s founding. Numa also named February for Februus, a god associated with death and purifcation. February needed to be a time of purifcation because it had fewer days in the year, making it an unlucky, dangerous month.21 Festival days and major temple dedication days were also instrumental to Roman religion. Te meaningful state festivals were marked with large, bold letters on the fasti, while smaller festivals and temple dedication days were written smaller. Fulvius Nobilor introduced temple dedication days. Tey celebrated great Roman war victories by building temples for the god or goddess who helped them succeed.22 Much of what is known about Roman festivals and temples comes from Ovid’s Fasti, with other ancient sources flling in missing pieces. Publius Ovidius Naso, commonly referred to as Ovid, was a poet during the reign of the frst emperor Augustus. His poem, the Fasti, recounts a year of Roman festivals and traditions month by month until Ovid. Tere are many festivals and religious ceremonies that we already know nothing about, and without Ovid, we would be in the dark on almost all. John Miller tells us that Ovid thought of himself as a scholar. Ovid was quick to inform his readers on the background and procedures of each ritual and festival, writing as if he were instructing other Romans on how to participate in each event.23 Festival and ritual instructions had to be precise because if any rite contained the slightest error, it was repeated. So, Ovid carefully explained how farmers should conduct a lustratio or purifcation ritual, how artisans should celebrate Minerva on Quinquatrus (March 19-23rd), and how prostitutes should honor their patroness on April 23rd. Ovid was so helpful with instructions.24 Tanks to Ovid’s precision, historians can see the explicit connection between religion, culture, and the calendar. His works give us insight into Roman citizens’ lives, how they were required to move within the city, and which deities were most important to them. Te fasti and Ovid inform us that most festivals were linked to seasonal events. April is crop growth season and animal reproduction, so April’s festivals concern fertility. For example, the Fordicidia was celebrated on the 15th. Pregnant cows were sacrifced to Tellus, the earth god, during this festival. Ten, the mother’s unborn calves would be taken and burned. Its ashes were then used by the Vestal Virgins, Rome’s priestesses, to bless the earth.25 August parallels April. Tis is a harvesting month; however, it is also prone to autumn storms. Many of its festivals are intercessions for possible disasters. For instance, August 19th, the Rustiva, was dedicated to Jupiter. Priests would sacrifce a lamb and pick unripe grapes so that the rest may ripen with no interference from Jupiter’s storms.26 Te festivals during August and April were very diferent, as are the seasons they are in. However, both refect the fears and desires of Rome’s citizens concerning agriculture. Practices for festivals also varied depending on location. In the city, rituals were conducted by high priests and priestesses, but village dwellers had diferent access to materials. Tis is why Ovid explains a distinct method for farmers’ lustratio. Another example of distinction is April 19th. On the Cerealia, weeklong games and grain giveaways celebrated the grain goddess Ceres. Te last day consisted of burning torches tied to foxes’ tails and let loose. Meanwhile, 21 22 23

Michels, Agnes K. “Roman Festivals: January-December.” Te Classical Outlook 67, no. 3 (1990): 44–116. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43936643. Feeney, 169

Miller, John F. “Ritual Directions in Ovid’s Fasti: Dramatic Hymns and Didactic Poetry.” Te Classical Journal 75, no. 3 (1980): 205. http://www.jstor.org/ stable/3297153. 24 Ovid. Fast. 3.815; 1.663; 4.865 25 26

Ovid. Fast. 4. 65 Varro. On the Latin Language, Volume I: Books 5-7. Translated by Roland G. Kent. Loeb Classical Library 333. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1938. 6.20

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farmers ofered Ceres honey mixed with milk and wine.27 Te diference between citizens and the city and the countryside speaks to the importance of religious organization and the extension of the fasti. Te fasti organized the festivals in the city and the countryside, uniting the Italian Peninsula under its structure. Other festivals were in honor of historical events. February 24th, the Regifuium, marks the expulsion of Tarquinius Superbus, the last Roman king.28 July 5th was Poplifugia meaning “fight of the People,” which interestingly commemorated Rome’s defeat by the army of Fidenae.29 August 21st observed the Consulalis and honored the god Consuls. Romulus invented this holiday so that Romans could kidnap the daughters of the Sabines, a population that had refused to give women to Romans in marriage.30 It is signifcant that Rome had festivals concerning war because warfare was instrumental in Roman society. Te nation’s expansion was directly related to winning series of battles and wars, so it makes sense that war would be religiously refected in the fasti. Later in this paper, religious ties to the fasti will be revealed as a tool for political advancement. Similar to the temple dedication dates, as Rome’s transitioned to the Principate, emperors sought to connect their names to the gods in the fasti. Tis reminded the public of the emperor’s power and lead to a rise in imperial cults who specialized in worship of the imperial family. Religion was tied to all means of power in Rome. After discussing religion in the fasti, much of Rome’s culture is illuminated. Festivals revealed the city’s focus on agriculture and warfare. Agriculture can be seen from the various celebrations for Venus and Ceres, where war is evident in days honoring battles and Mars. Religion also exposed primary Roman values, such as piety. Piety referred to one’s duty to the gods and homeland.31 So, all Romans needed to engage in these festivals because they were required by law, the gods blessed Rome during the festivals, and because Romans needed to appear pious. Te more pious a man was, the more favored and respected he was over his peers. Keeping up with each festival meant he would gain social favors because he pleased the gods, which in turn blessed Rome. Religion was also a critical part of organizing Rome’s people. It was a top-down force. Troughout Rome’s history, its high priests in the Pontifcal College established each festival and temple dedication day. Tis group of men, who were elected into position from the senatorial class, chose the days that all Romans had to stop work and celebrate their deities. Whether or not they recognized it, all the people in Rome’s city moved within the calendar’s constraints and structure. Te fasti proves that religion was integral to Roman society and was a tool whose function regulated religious observance; therefore, it regulated the people as well inside and outside the city. Religion did not stop being important once a person left the city. Ovid tells us that throughout the Italian Peninsula, Romans celebrated these festivals, However, the fasti reminds us that the city was the heart of festival days and temple dedication days as that is where all of the temples were. Lastly, the fasti’s religious aspects emphasize the difculty between natural and social time. Suetonius commented that the fall festivals did not coincide with the harvest, yet sources indicate that the festivals were still celebrated during the correct season. Te Romans were able to use the fasti as a base for when the holidays should be, but as the calendar shifted of course, they stuck to tradition. It was still possible for them to use a fasti and celebrate their festivals in the right month. It is difcult to grasp, but the Romans did not need natural time and social 27 28 29 30 31

Ovid. Fast. 4.654 Ovid Fast. 2.15 Varro. Ling. 6. 18 Livy. Books VIII-X With An English Translation. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1926. 1.9

Rodney Stark, “Religious Competition and Roman Piety,” Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion 2 (2006), 2.

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time to use the fasti as a framework for celebrating religious festivals. Citizen Access Tere are limits to what is known about the fasti because we have so little archeological evidence. It is expected that there were hundreds of calendars created in the Republic and the Principate, yet only twenty-nine survived time. Four of these twenty-nine are paintings, and the rest are marble and stone inscriptions of various sizes. 32 We likely have so few fasti because its material form was degradable. Jorg Rüpke theorizes that many more paintings were created than survived because of paint’s transitory nature. He also points out that Ovid and Cicero describe portable calendars written on papyrus scrolls during the late Republic and early Principate. None remain because the paper dissolved.33 Despite a lack of surviving fasti, there is still a stark diference between the singular Republican calendar and the thirty-nine Principate calendars, which needs to be accounted for. Why are so many fasti left from the Principate but not the Republic? Rüpke explains that the diference is a result of popularization. Te fasti was not widespread in Rome until Julius Caesar’s reforms and Emperor Augustus’ embrace. Augustus built calendars in religious places transforming the fasti into a fashionable accessory of propaganda in temples and wealthy homes. Tese places made the fasti out of marble, which lasted longer than the papyrus. Even so, there is far too limited knowledge on the fasti forcing historians to guess at why there are so few fasti and who had access to them. Rome’s social hierarchy was divided into two unique groups. Te patricians and the plebeians. Patricians were the ruling class of Rome because their ancestors formed Romulus’ court. Every other citizen fell under the plebeian category. Plebeians could amass wealth and power, but their status was always limited. We do know that wealthy patricians and plebs had access to physical copies of the fasti as the Fasti Antiates maiores was found in a wealthy crypt. However, all citizens had to have some access to or knowledge of the calendar to participate in daily life. For instance, people needed access to participate in festivals. During religious holidays Romans were banned from working. Te festivals provided rest days to a calendar with no weekends. Te ban from work required all citizens to participate in religious activities. While an average citizen might not have a personal fasti inscription to inform them of the religious festivals, Ovid tells us that a patrician priest, the Rex sacrorum, announced the month’s festival at the Nundinae market.34 Tis explains why only one festival comes before the Nones on the calendar. Te citizens had to be told when the festivals were so that they could keep in step with religious requirements. Lower-class Romans also needed knowledge of the fasti to participate in voting. Voting was divided into tribes according to a family’s Italian origin. In the early Principate, citizens met at Campus Martius, which held approximately 70,000 people. 35 Troughout the Republic and even into the Principate, the people had signifcant power in Rome. However, to legally participate in government, voters needed to know which days were assembly days or “comitialis dies” on the fasti. When assemblies were not gathered on voting days, courts could be held. Labeled fastus dies on the fasti, these days were considered lucky, so Rome permitted citizens to meet each other in court or make pleas to go to aristocratic benefactors. Nefastus dies marked on the fasti barred business because of religious festivals or unlucky days. 36 Unlucky days were instituted when disaster struck, whether it was a day Romans lost a major battle or a memorial of a plague. All 32 33 34 35 36

Rüpke, xii-xiii. Rüpke, 15. Michels, 114 “Literacy and Roman Voting,” by Edward E. Best; Historia 1974, 428. Rüpke, 161.

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romans had to know the fasti’s information in order to assemble or conduct business on the correct days. Another calendrical day citizens interacted with was the nundinae. According to Sempronius Tuditanus, the nundinae was invented by Romulus.37 After he founded Rome, Romulus invited farmers and village dwellers from the country to visit the city and discuss political matters. Te nundinaes evolved into a consistent holiday for country folk. Every eight days, they visited the city to conduct private matters, trade, sell goods, or weigh in on politics. Julius Caesar feared that the crowds would leave to revolts and kingship, so he tried to argue that citizens were not allowed to rally or be addressed on the nundinae.38 Macrobius thought that was a little bit of a stretch. To counter Caesar, he pointed to multiple historical events, including the nundinae’s founding, to prove that larger crowds should be gathered, especially for laws that afect all citizens. Te nundinae cycle also lent itself to religion. After an infant was born, the parents would wait seven days to perform a girl’s purifcation rights and eight days for a boy.39 Other rituals, such as bathing, shaving, or cutting one’s nails took place on the nundinae.40 Romans could also listen to lectures if they were not engaging in religion. Suetonius tells the story of grammarian M. Antonius Gnipho, who took breaks from his teaching routine to speak at the nundinae.41 During the Republic and the early Principate, the weekday the nundinae fell on changed yearly because the calendar was not divisible by eight. In response, the Romans developed a moveable peg system. Te peg moved over the day of the week, which correlated to the correct year’s nundinae.42 Tis system was adopted by other cities throughout the Italian peninsula and beyond. In all, the nundinae is refective of Roman social habits, expansion, religion, and politics. Expansion is evident in the spread of moveable pegs in calendars across the empire. Religion is visible in purifcation rites, and politics is notable in Caesar’s attempt to control the nundinae. Pieces of Roman society were present in the nundinae enabling James Ker to argue that “to regulate the nundinae was to attend to several diferent ideals of Roman identity: self-sufciency, rustic credentials, and patrician control over Rome’s social order.”43 Rome’s market days were a time of mass gatherings. People were interacting, and ideas were blending, revealing these ideals. Trough the markets, we can see the hustle and bustle of a city that needed a complex calendar to regulate city interactions. If there was no fasti, the nundinae would have been impossible to maintain. Tere would not have been an efective marketplace or society. Furthermore, all citizens participated in the nundinae as well as the festus dies, nefestus dies, comitialis dies, and festival days because they were essential for public life, meaning that both wealthy and poor Romans knew the fasti. Wealthy citizens certainly could have accessed physical fasti, but the lower class remains to be determined. It is possible that lower class citizens had access to the papyrus fasti, but that is rather unlikely. Instead, there was a trickle-down efect. Te lower class learned fasti information from their employers and their aristocratic benefactor or from priests’ announcing special days, much like the festivals were at the nundinae. However, during the principate, calendrical and consular fasti appeared in public temples, so it is certain that all citizens could view the fasti whenever they went to worship. Although much of what is known about citizen access to the fasti is a mystery, piecing the evidence together clarifes that all citizens engaged with the fasti. Every citizen, whether 37 38 39 40 41 42 43

Macrob. Sat. 1.16.32 Macrob Sat. 1.16.28-30 Macrob. Sat. 1.16.36 Pliny the Elder, Te Natural History (English) (ed. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. 28.28 Suet. Gram. 7 Ker, James. “‘Nundinae’: Te Culture of the Romans Week.” Phoenix 64, no. 3/4 (2010): 378. Ker, 376.

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cognizant or not, moved within its structure and constraint when they sued at the courts or voted in elections. Once again, the fasti’s form refects parts of Roman culture in the designated days. Rome valued its court, voting, and market system, so it integrated it into the fasti. We also see the calendar’s function as a tool for organizing social time, not natural time. Te priests determined which day was which, and the people followed. Tis top-down system kept the people in check. It did not truly matter if the day was a full moon or in the spring; the calendar informed people for social purposes. Politics Because calendars are a tool for societal organization, politicians and governing bodies are never far behind. King Romulus established the frst fasti. Ten, King Numa edited it. When Roman kings were eradicated, the pontifex maximus of the Pontifcal College oversaw the calendar’s alterations. Two critical jobs of this position included regulating festival days and adding intercalation days.44 Intercalation days were extra days inserted in the fasti to realign natural and civil time, but often they was used for political purposes. During the Second Punic War (218-201 BC), Rome sufered at Carthage’s hands, so the priests avoided adding intercalation day, which might have brought bad luck to Rome.45 In 59 BC, Julius Caesar’s co-consul, Bibulus did not want Caesar’s laws passed, so he declared that the year’s remaining days as holidays.46 Tis meant that the assemblies could not gather to vote. Caesar, of course, ignored Biblius and encouraged the people to pass his laws anyways, but technically, Caesar’s actions were illegal. As soon as Julius Caesar was able, he hungrily accepted the role of pontifex maximus. With this power, he began reforming the calendar. It was a topic of much debate as many senators preferred tradition. Only a few, like Cicero, recognized that Caesar’s changes represented a greater transformation. On the last day of the Republican calendar, Plutarch tells us that someone mentioned how the constellation of the lyre would be rising the next day. Cicero wittily remarked, “yes, by decree.”47 After midnight on 46 BC, the Republic was close to its end. Soon, lifelong princes like Augustus would rule over everything the calendar touched, Rome’s citizens, religion, and politics. Early in his reign, Emperor Augustus continued Caesar’s reforms and popularized its inscriptions. He erected the Fasti Capitolini at the east end of the forum as one of many public calendars. Tese ornamental fasti were beautifully engraved in marble, starting a trend in decorative calendrical and consular fasti.48 Augustus had discovered the fasti’s potential for propaganda. Now, Augustus was clever in his calendrical reforms. He subtly altered traditions to increase and demonstrate his power in ways that would not alarm the people for Romans were vehemently against kingship. To avoid saying “et tu Brutus,” Augustus was careful not to raise any fags, so when the Fasti Capitolini listed his name eleven times in a row, Augustus knew something had to change. Te frst emperor stepped away from the ofce, giving the consulship to L. Sestius.49 Tis was not enough, Augustus instilled a reform that undermined Rome’s consular fasti. Instead of relying on names to tell the year, Augustus marked every ten 44 45 46 47 48 49

Stern, Sacha. “Calendars, politics, and power relations in the Roman empire.” In Te construction of time in antiquity: ritual, art, and identity, Edited by Ben-Dov, Jonathan and Doering, Lutz., New York: Cambridge University Pr., 2017. 32. “Fasti Antiates.” https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/calendar/antiates. html. “Fasti Antiates.” https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/calendar/antiates. html. Feeney, 132. Rüpke, 15. Feeney, 175.

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years since Rome’s founding in the left-hand margin of the fasti.50 Consuls did not need to be elected every twelve months to keep track of the passing years, now they kept track of the years by numbers. Augustus made it acceptable to be elected multiple times. What is more, this action cunningly connected his name to the time of Rome’s divine origins. Te consulship was no longer crucial for timekeeping. Feeney writes that this shift in time structure is “refecting a revolution in what the magistracy and its fasti were all about.”51 Te consular fasti’s purpose shifted so it was dominated by Augustan glory and the men he gave preference to. Other brilliant propaganda moves are evident on calendrical fasti, such as Fasti Praenestini and Fasti Ostienses. Tese calendars contain new dates and festivals dedicated to the imperial family. Previously, the Republican calendar contained no human names. Only deities were a part of its inscription until 44 BC when the senate renamed the ffth month Julius or July. Te same was done in 8 BC. Sextilius was changed to Augustus.52 Te frst emperor then expanded the reforms, so holidays were made in connection to the imperial family. Every few days, there was another imperial commemoration. Feeney lists “births, deaths, apotheosis, assumptions of power, accessions to the priesthood, coming of age, dedications of temples, and victories in battles,” all were present on the fasti.53 When Horace asked Rome’s senate and citizens how they will make Augustus’ glory live forever, they responded “through inscriptions and the memory preserving fasti.”54 Ovid comes to the same realization. In the Fasti, he writes that Tiberius’ honor will be “picked out in the painted calendar.” Tiberius, the second emperor of Rome, denied the honor of having September named after him and October named after Augustus’ wife, Livia. He asked the senate, “what would Rome do if there were thirteen Caesars?”55 Still, Tiberius and every accomplished emperor after him would be celebrated in the fasti. Julius Caesar and Augustus had deeply embedded politics in the fasti. Religious cults dedicated to worshiping the imperial family hung a massive fasti, the Feriale Cumanum, in their temple complex. No longer did the consular fasti and the calendrical fasti objectively tell of the social passing of years and days. Tey preached about the emperor’s glory. In the Republic, no human name was on the fasti, but during the Principate, the Fasti listed birthdays as state religious observance days. Tis evolution refects broader shifts in Rome’s society. Te senate, consuls, and citizens were now controlled by a singular ruler. Te form of Rome’s calendar had to respond to these societal pressures with the city, displaying imperial glory on diferent dates, which allows us to see bits of Roman culture in the calendar. Yet, again, the calendar is being controlled by an elite and is organizing the people under him for his own glory. It was unnecessary for natural time to be involved. It is interesting to note that the people were not upset about being ruled by an emperor. Augustus brought peace to Rome after decades of civil wars. Tis new stability made Romans want Augustus to remain in power. Tey even revolted when he left the city. Although the Republic had transferred into the Principate, the people went about their lives following the election days, court days, and market days just like before. Despite changes in government, the nation remained orderly and continued to expand. Imperialism Half of the surviving fasti were discovered outside the city of Rome. After piecing their fragments together, clear consistency in the calendar’s structure became evident. Every 50 51 52 53 54 55

Feeney, 177. Feeney, 177. Feeney, 100. Feeney, 176. Q. Horatius Flaccus (Horace), Carmina (Latin) (ed. Paul Shorey, Gordon Lang, Paul Shorey and Gordon J. Laing) 4.14.3-4 Ovid. Fast. 1.7-12

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fasti is gridded and tabular within thirteen months and approximately thirty days.56 Tis uniformity leads historians to believe that there was a system for copying or producing fasti, but there is no evidence for what that system might be.57 However, when looking beyond the fasti’s form, each appear to be flled with errors. Some fasti used diferent abbreviations for months and voting days. Others did not list holidays. Te areas they were found in explain these diferentiations. As Rome expanded, the fasti spread too. Localities mixed the fasti with their own timing systems creating variations in calendars. Troughout the Republic and early Principate, Rome grew from a city to an empire, enveloping the Italian Peninsula, the Mediterranean, and beyond. Tis expansionist mindset is evident in their government and culture as they adopted administrators and soldiers with specifc provincial purposes that accounted for growth. While Romans traveled abroad, they used the fasti for managerial purposes. Te fasti organized meetings among governors, soldiers, and the native population.58 New populations were likely to encounter the fasti, but Romans did not force others to adopt their calendar. If a foreign community’s institution already produced an efective society, Rome refused to change it by implementing a Roman style of rule. Rome wished to display an illusion of civil autonomy to keep subjected populations peaceful and running smoothly.59 However, some cities freely adopted the fasti or at least certain elements of it. Te Italian Peninsula had been integrated into Rome for many centuries, so most of its city-states threw out their traditional calendar for the fasti. Still, some places did not fully adopt each detail on the fasti because of their distance from Rome. Te Fasti Guidizzolenses found in Augusta Brixia or present-day Brescia is arranged like every fasti with the same months, Kalends, Nones, and Ideas, but there is nothing indicating the nundinal cycle and business days.60 Also, festivals and temple dedication days were listed on the side of the fasti not under the dates. Feeney believes that communities like the Roman colony in Augusta Brixia adopted the fasti to keep in touch with Rome and its laws, but Roman calendrical information mostly did not apply to them.61 Tere was no point in labeling the voting and court days because none of the population would bother travelling from northern Italy to Rome for these days. Tey did not need to write Roman business days and such on the fasti because that purpose was irrelevant to them. Sasha Stern researched communities more directly impacted by Rome’s expansion. In her work, Stern argues that the “spread of the Julian calendar was not the result of romanization but rather deliberate political decisions.”62 Adopting the calendar was a testimony to the relationship a locality wanted to have with Rome. Some populations profusely rejected Rome’s rule. Groups like the Jews, Samaritans, and Macedonians despised Roman rule, so they refused to accept any form or function of the fasti.63 Clearly, they wished to retain their cultural independence and autonomy despite Roman political and military domination. Other communities reacted oppositely. In Asian Minor and the Near East provinces, scholars have found local public inscriptions recording imperial inscriptions and edits that honored roman ofcials.64 Asia Minor’s inscriptions are from 8 BC, when the adopted the 56 57 58

59 60 61 62 63 64

Rüpke, 15 Rüpke, 15

Stern, Sacha. “Calendars, politics, and power relations in the Roman empire.” In Te construction of time in antiquity: ritual, art, and identity, Edited by BenDov, Jonathan and Doering, Lutz., 32. New York: Cambridge University Pr., 2017. Doi: 10.1017/9781316266199.003 Stern, 33. Inscriptiones Italiae. Fasti Guidizzolenses. 13.2, ed. Attilio Degrassi, Rome, 1963. Feeney, 210 Stern, 32. Stern, 34. Stern, 35.

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Julian calendar with a special ritual demonstrating subservience to Augustus. By the time Rome had conquered the Arabian Province in 106 CE, the local lunar calendar quickly became the Julian solar calendars.65 Like other groups before them, the Asian provinces only adopted the bare structure of the calendar not all the details, because of the distance from Rome. Stern then takes her argument a step further by claiming that these groups integrated not a Roman fasti but a Julian and Augustan calendar into their community.66 Te distinction is important because the fasti’s adoption meant that they had a relationship with the emperor, not Rome itself. Stern’s analysis points to the shift between Republic and Principate while acknowledging the political power that the fasti had in sending a message. Adopting something that refected Roman culture and mastery appealed to imperial egos. Another calendar that should be mentioned is the Coligny calendar. Tis was discovered in the French Jura region of Roman Gaul. Te calendar is structured similarly to a fasti. It is gridded, includes the nundinal pegs, is written in Latin, and its equinoxes align with the Julian calendar, but this calendar is not considered a fasti.67 It is too Gallic. Te Coligny calendar was likely created by the elites as a necessary blend of Roman and Gallic cultures. Tey had the wealth to make their calendar out of bronze but were included Roman elements in their calendar because of Rome’s long-term closeness in the region. Despite Roman infuences, the elites still wanted to retain their culture. Coligny’s calendar does not include Roman deities, instead the months and days are named after Gallic gods.68 Tis calendar is interesting to study because the battle between the ruler and the ruled is refected in their timing system. It is unique that Coligny supported Rome, while maintaining their own culture. As Rome spread, the fasti became a symbol of expansion. Everywhere Rome went the fasti was employed as a social tool to structure and organize Rome’s military, so the fasti was continuously presented to new communities, such as the Arabian Province. Rome did not require these communities to adopt the fasti, but many did because of Rome’s proximity and infuence. In all situations there was a balance and stand taken by the subjugated populations over how much they allowed Roman culture represented by the fasti to mix with their own. It should also be noted that time was perceived diferently in the outer areas of Rome’s empire than in the city. Te city was fast paced, successful society that was able to produce people and institutions to run a massive empire from a single city. However, places outside of the empire did not have the same pressure. True, they had their own cities, but these cities functioned on diferent calendars, which represented their own cultures. Because their cultures difered, the way they navigated time was diferent too. It was not necessary for outer lying areas to include Roman festival days and business days in their timing systems, because it was irrelevant to their society. Rome was too far away, and the fasti was too specifc to citizens. Conclusion Tis paper is meant to prod and push today’s Westernized notion of time by exploring the form and function of Rome’s fasti. In its form, we see aspects of Roman culture. Religion, social hierarchy, politics, and imperial attitudes are all embedded in the fasti. Religion is evident in month names and festivals. Social hierarchy is present in how Roman citizens interacted with the fasti and how Romans used it for information in their daily lives. Politics is clear through the fasti’s intercalation days and the inclusion of emperors during the Principate. Lastly, imperial attitudes are exposed by the spread of the calendar and the small variations that result from the fasti blending of diferent cultures. Moreover, these categories comprise specifc pieces of Roman society, such as Rome’s focus on agriculture and war or their hatred of kingship. All 65 66 67 68

Stern, 37. Stern, 37. Stern, 45. Stern, 45.

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of the pieces found within Rome’s form characterize Rome culture. Tey defne Rome. Te function of the fasti was to reckon social time. Like all timing systems, calendars provide a framework for social interactions. Tey inform a person of when to be somewhere because they give meaning to what a date is. Because calendars are created for us and by us, these timing systems are specifc to social time and do not need to be aligned to natural time. Rome’s fasti proves this as they did not have an aligned calendar for six centuries yet still managed to function efciently and grow as an empire. Troughout these centuries and beyond, the fasti was a tool enforced by elites to organize Rome’s citizens. Tis enabled productivity in the empire. Kings, priests, and emperors all organized which days would be which on the fasti. Tey had the power to control what the year looked down to its number of days. From this position of power, they regulated Rome’s population. Its citizens were required to move within the fasti’s framework by participating in religious festivals, voting, going to court, selling goods at the market, and simply engaging in public life. A structure like this meant that Rome’s citizens moved cohesively. Every day, society agreed to follow this framework for public life. Without the fasti’s structure, Rome would have been in chaos. If citizens could never agree on when or where to do business, business would never get done, and the city would not be an efective society. Furthermore, a chaotic city means no empire, so the fasti was necessary for Rome’s expansion success. Understanding time as a social tool, apart from natural time, enables us to truly understand the purpose and power of the fasti. It was an amazing framework in that all citizens moved within without being conscious of its power. Tis is much like today. We never ask why we have weekends or what the signifcance of our holidays really is, but these details within our calendars actually provide the structure of our lives and keep us organized. Tey provide insight into our culture and values. It only takes a quick glance at my own schedule to learn that I go to class every day of the week, so schools are an important institution in America. Someone can also learn that I have no appointments on Sundays because they are rest days due to America’s Judea-Christian heritage. Lastly, voting day is circled in red on my calendar, emphasizing that voting days are an important part of American politics. Just as my calendar gives snapshots into my life and culture, the fasti is a microcosm of Rome’s city. In its form, we see the Roman culture. In its function, we see the fasti as a social tool employed to organize its citizens and subjected populations. Without a complex and successful tool, Rome could not have been an empire. Without a calendar, humans could not provide frameworks for social interaction. We would descend into chaos. Everyone should appreciate their calendar and marvel at rush hour’s phenomenon.

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Bibliography Ancient Sources Inscriptiones Italiae. Fasti Antiates Maiores. 13.2, ed. Attilio Degrassi, Rome, 1963. Inscriptiones Italiae. Fasti Capitolini. 13.2, ed. Attilio Degrassi, Rome, 1954. Inscriptiones Italiae. Feriale Cumanum. 13.2, ed. Attilio Degrassi, Rome, 1963. Inscriptiones Italiae. Fasti Guidizzolenses. 13.2, ed. Attilio Degrassi, Rome, 1963. Inscriptiones Italiae. Fasti Ostienses 13.2, ed. Attilio Degrassi, Rome, 1963. Lucretius. De Rerum Natura. William Ellery Leonard. E. P. Dutton. 1916. 5.744-45 Livy. Books VIII-X With An English Translation. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1926 Macrobius. Saturnalia, Volume I: Books 1-2. Edited and translated by Robert A. Kaster. Loeb Classical Library 510. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2011. Marcus Tullius Cicero. On the Laws. Translated by David Fott. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press. 2014. Ovid. Fasti. Translated by James G. Frazer. Revised by G. P. Goold. Loeb Classical Library 253. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1931. Pliny the Elder, Te Natural History (English) (ed. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. 28.28 Q. Horatius Flaccus (Horace), Carmina (Latin) (ed. Paul Shorey, Gordon Lang, Paul Shorey and Gordon J. Laing) 4.14.3-4 Varro. On the Latin Language, Volume I: Books 5-7. Translated by Roland G. Kent. Loeb Classical Library 333. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1938. Modern Sources Best, Edward. “Literacy and Roman Voting.” Historia. 1974, 400-430. “Fasti Antiates.” Fasti antiates. Accessed March 21, 2023. https://penelope.uchicago. edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/calendar/antiates.html. Feeney, Denis. Caesar’s Calendar: Ancient Time and the Beginnings of History. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007. Accessed February 21, 2023. ProQuest Ebook Central. Harvey, David. “Between Space and Time: Refections on the Geographical Imagination.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 80, no. 3 (1990): 418–34. http:// www.jstor.org/stable/2563621.

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Rüpke, Jörg. Te Roman calendar from Numa to Constantine: time, history, and the fasti. John Wiley & Sons, 2011 Stern, Sacha. “Calendars, politics, and power relations in the Roman empire.” In Te construction of time in antiquity: ritual, art, and identity, Edited by Ben-Dov, Jonathan and Doering, Lutz., 31-49. New York: Cambridge University Pr., 2017. Doi: 10.1017/9781316266199.003 Tompson, E.P. “Time, Work-Discipline, and Industrial Capital,” Ker, James. “‘Nundinae’: Te Culture of the Romans Week.” Phoenix 64, no. 3/4 (2010): 360–85. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23074751. Miller, John F. “Ritual Directions in Ovid’s Fasti: Dramatic Hymns and Didactic Poetry.” Te Classical Journal 75, no. 3 (1980): 204–14. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3297153. Michels, Agnes K. “Roman Festivals: January-December.” Te Classical Outlook 67, no. 3 (1990): 44–116. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43936643. Stark Rodney. “Religious Competition and Roman Piety.” Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion 2 (2006). “Time Defnition & Meaning.” Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster. Accessed March 21, 2023. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/time.

About the Author Erin Mahoney graduated summa cum laude from Christopher Newport University in May 2023 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in History and minoring in Leadership. While on campus, she was a member of the Presidential Leadership Program and the Phi Alpha Teta History Honors Society. Erin spends her extra hours volunteering and subbing in elementary schools. She is preparing to chase down her dream of becoming a teacher by achieving her Master’s degree in Elementary Education from Christopher Newport University in 2024. Her favorite subject to teach is, of course, history.

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Te Efect of Religion and Age on Te Satisfaction and Intent to Stay Married Between Couples: An Analysis Between Generations Hayley R. Mayette, Madison S. Garrett, and Emma M. Parker Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Alice Veksler, Department of Communication Studies

Abstract Te divorce rates in America have reduced signifcantly over the past century, from reporting only 15 divorces per every 1,000 marriages in the 1950s to a high of 40 divorces per 1,000 marriages in the 1970s, and more recently reduced to 2.3 per 1,000 marriages recorded in 2020 (Quinn & Shino, 1994; Center For Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). Te present study investigates the factors that have infuenced this change. We hypothesized that the age at which a couple married, the generation of birth of the individuals, as well as their individual religious identities would impact their marital satisfaction and intent to stay married. An examination of past literature undergirds these predictions and provides an argument for why we believe that these factors afect marriage in ways that are unique to how society views and engages in marriage in the present day. Tere were 361 participants in this study, collected from a national sample. Participants were asked to complete a survey regarding their marital satisfaction and intent to stay married using existing validated measures. Te largest and most interesting efect was for religious identifcation. According to these data, individuals who identifed as religious were more likely to plan to stay married and had more consensus in their marriages than were those who do not identify as religious. Interestingly, religious individuals also reported higher levels of quality alternatives than did those who were not religious. Finally, there were a series of diferences across groups on all of the dependent measures when examining whether there were generational diferences across Boomer, Gen X, Millennial, and Gen Z participants. Tis information can help provide insight for scholars studying interpersonal relationships on how and why martial trends have been changing over time. Implications and directions for future research are discussed in the context of these fndings.

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As the twenty-frst century progresses, motives for marriage have changed over time based on factors such as the bearing of children, economics, and household formation goals and desires (Stevenson & Wolfers 2007). Tere have been only a few research studies completed to understand the motives for marriage. One of these studies, completed by Eekelaar (2007), found fve reasons people chose to marry: compliance with convention, external manifestation of an internal process (concrete actions and items which show the meaning of the relationship), the shift of a relationship from temporary to permanent, presence of a framework to drive internal processes and achievement of pragmatic objectives. Younger generations have adopted a new view of what marriage means and how to approach the union. Te meaning and marital timing correlate directly with two marriage mentalities: marriage naturalists and marriage planners. Marriage naturalists view marriage as another step in the obvious life path we as humans must take. Tese individuals tend to also have a higher commitment (Carr et al., 2011). Marriage Planners wait until later in life to marry, mainly because these individuals wait until they have had ample time to acclimate to their career and lifestyle. Planners tend to have mediocre commitment because they view it as a choice every day and choosing to stay committed can prove to be challenging (Carr et al., 2011). Te purpose of this study is to investigate if the age and year in which a couple is married, as well as their individual religious identities, have an efect on their marital satisfaction and intent to stay married. Te results reveal a breadth of knowledge about infuences on healthy and long-lasting marriages and has implications for a large swath of society. Meaning of Marriage Te meaning of marriage has transformed over the past few centuries. Tree major transitions have happened regarding the meaning of marriage; the frst is the notion of “institutionalized marriage,” the second is of “companionate marriage,” and the third is of “individualized marriage”(Amato, 2004, p. 959). Te common description of an institution is something that “governs behaviors by orienting an individual’s actions and intentions, which thus leads to recognizable, patterned regularities” (Lauer & Yodanis, 2014, pp. 184-185). Referring to marriage as an institution refers to the union’s conformity to social norms and expectations; this includes a combined view of moral values and religious beliefs. Society, over past centuries, had placed a set of expectations for married couples, namely patriarchal marriages where women made more sacrifces than men. In addition, the community depended on the survival and stability of marriages (Amato, 2004). During the turn of the century, marriage went through a period of deinstitutionalization (Cherlin, 2004). Te main idea of the woman as a housewife and the man as the head of the household and breadwinner was dismantled. Te division of labor in the household was divided evenly and began to be more focused on the companionship of the couple and on their family dynamics (Cherlin, 2004). With this deinstitutionalization of marriage, companionate marriage emerged as the dominant model and became the new social norm (Amato, 2004). Tis norm focused more on equality between couples, rather than the set gender roles and power dynamics within the union. Marital partners still held two major roles as breadwinner and homemaker, but the roles were interchangeable between men and women. Tis type of marriage was supposed to emphasize the couple as each other’s companion, friend, and lover (Lauer & Yodanis, 2014). Companionate marriage provides room for each individual to fourish in “self-expression and personal development” (Amato, 2004, p. 961). During this transformation in the meaning of marriage, the connotation and denotation of divorce also changed. Divorce was no longer restricted to those who could prove a spouse violated their vows (Amato, 2004). Divorce became more accessible to many couples, however, it was not widely used because of the new model of companionate marriage. Many people choose to marry because of their ties of love

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leading to less divorce (Amato, 2004). Te fnal transition is to individualized marriage, focusing on individuals building relationships how they want to. Both the husband and wife then may choose to explore their dynamics as a couple, free of social infuences. Furthermore, both men and women are free to act as independent beings and no longer sacrifce their individual goals and identities for the other (Kelly, 2000). Couples choose to be in a relationship, especially marriage, because of what they get from it. Each individual provides support for the other’s goals, identity, and needs within and outside of the marriage. When one feels that support is lost, the marriage is more likely to end (Kelly, 2000). As a result of this newer orientation toward marriage, couples began taking more time to acquaint themselves with one another before committing forever (Kelly, 2000). Defning Marital Timing Tere was no direct information in the literature regarding the most successful age at which individuals marry. Scientifc research exists regarding diferent ages of marriage, specifcally defning “young marriage” and “late marriage.” Some studies focused more on psychological and cognitive maturation while others found success for marriages in regard to physiological maturation (Berardo et al., 1985). Te timing of marriage is shown to be determined by two gains: human capital and the income of each spouse and their wage rates. Entering into marriage means using one’s own resources and opening up to share those resources (Keeley, 1979). Younger generations are taking more time to settle into their lives and create a fnancially stable lifestyle, and with this waiting period, studies are showing couples choosing to marry later in life or even resorting to strictly cohabitating. Based on psychological studies, the age group 18-22 is considered to be in emerging adulthood, followed by early adulthood consisting of 22-25-year-olds (Somerville, 2016). To capture the pivotal ages where emerging and early adulthood are coming to a close and where one will begin the transition to middle adulthood, young marriage was defned as occurring before the age of 24 for the purposes of this study. Given that decisions at this age will have major efects on one’s life and future, separating younger and later marriages was prudent. Knowing diferences in outcomes for those who are married older or younger should help provide information to help guide couples as they make decisions about their future and what will be best for their relationship, based on past marriage trends and social scientifc theory. Generations Another factor that carries a large infuence on marriage is the generation of individuals. A generation is a niche cohort population; a group of people that were all born in the same range of years. A generational group shares the defning characteristic of their birth years, grouping them together (Kolnhofer-Derecskei et al., 2017). We predict that people of each generation will report diferences in their perspectives on marriage as they relate to commitment and satisfaction. However, given that research is scarce on this variable, we did not propose prior predictions about the nature of these diferences. Te Boomer Generation For purposes of this study, the range of the Boomer generation will be from 1946-1964 (Dimock, 2019). Tis cohort signifed a change in American families, due to the increased rate at which women were having babies, especially in response to the end of World War II and husbands returning home. In 1948, mothers in America birthed nearly 4 million babies (Gillon, 2010). Te Boomer generation experienced many changes that infuenced American values and trends. One of the most prominent was the increase in religious denominations and

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church attendance (Gillon, 2010). Generation X Te Generation X (Gen X) cohort is defned as those individuals who were born between 1965 and 1980 (Dimock, 2019). Tis generation grew up during the Watergate scandal, the Vietnam war, personal computers, and other infuential historical events. Full of analytical, creative, self-sufcient individuals, Gen-Xers difer greatly from the previous generation. Tis is the generation where the motto “work to live’’ was frst embraced. Furthermore, Generation X was infuenced by global events and disasters, which ultimately afected their personal relationships and communication (Berkup, 2014). Te Millennial Generation For the purposes of this study, the Millennial generation is defned as those born from 1981 to 1996 (Dimock, 2019). Examining the Millennial generation through a qualitative lens, both culturally and socially, this generation was seen as one of signifcant change. Te technological revolution which occurred in the United States is what prompted this change (Dimock, 2019). Te Internet’s ofcially adopted birthday is January 1, 1983, and this is because a standard way to communicate with each other was developed-- the Transfer Control Protocol/Internetwork Protocol (Beranek, 2005). As the computer and internet were being born, so were the children of this generation. Tese devices signifcantly afected the way these children were raised, in addition to the way they function in society to this day, and have afected their individual values and the way that they engage in relationships. Generation Z Generation Z (Gen-Z), raised amid the technological boom, is one of the most infuential generations today. “Generation Z is raised with the social web, they are digital-centric and technology is their identity” (Dangmei & Singh, p.2). Gen-Z is defned as any individual born between 1997-2012 (Dimock, 2019). Gen-Z, like past generations, has had their identity as a cohort, but their emphasis is honesty, kindness, humor, fairness, and judgment (Grace & Seemiller, 2018). Tis is important because just as the millennial generation was infuenced by Generation X, Gen-Z was afected by the Millenials. Gen-Z individuals grew up in a world where dating was made available online as well as in person, which ultimately can afect a relationship and its development (Grace & Seemiller, 2018). Religion in Marriage Religion is an important infuence in many individuals’ lives; a fair amount of decisions are made based on religious beliefs (Onedera, 2007). More specifcally, participation in religion has been found to correlate with a high commitment to marriage (Larson & Goltz, 1989). Tis does not mean the couple must have religious homogamy. Tere was no correlation found between commitment and religious homogamy, but the practice of religion did afect commitment (Larson & Goltz, 1989). Informed by past research, religion is predicted to have a signifcant infuence on the commitment and satisfaction of couples. Multiple research studies exist which show that commitment and satisfaction within marriage do correlate directly with the religiosity of a marriage, whether homogamous or not. (Tomas & Cornwall, 1990; Larson & Goltz, 1989; Tebbe, 2015). Past Research on Marriage and Satisfaction After extensive research in the past, regarding marital satisfaction, one conclusive idea emerged, there are multiple aspects that factor into marital success. Some of these include premarital pregnancy, low education, short premarital acquaintance, socioeconomic factors,

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and more (Lee, 1977). A set of research was published in 1979 regarding three generations and their marital satisfaction. Tis research looked at fve positive and fve negative factors within a marriage, how they afected the marriage’s satisfaction, and how those results were compared between the generations (Bengston & Gilford, 1979). In this research marital satisfaction and marital tension were operationalized using a fve-point scale and then the results were broken down by generations. Te fndings of the study indicate that the youngest generations hold higher marital satisfaction and lower marital tension. Tis generation also held the highest frequency of positive interactions (Bengston & Gilford, 1979). However, this study does point out that the linear curve of marital satisfaction could not be fully predicted, and further research needed to be completed. In addition to research on marital satisfaction, there is a plethora of research related to the meaning of marriage such as marriage concerning homosexual couples, parenting, confict and violence, and remarriage (Brown, 2010; Eskridge, 2015; Kelly, 2000). Brown (2010) studied how the well-being of a child is afected by the marital status of the parents. Brown found that children of unmarried parents tend to have more behavioral problems and scholarship setbacks, than those children with married parents. Tere were also a multitude of outside factors that were shown to have an efect on the marriage of the parents and the child: socioeconomic status, education of the parent, race, and ethnicity. Kelly (2000) focuses on studying the efect of divorce on parenting and children. Te fndings indicate higher levels of violence and adolescent behavioral issues. Tey also support the notion that divorced parents have a more hostile relationship and are less likely to agree to co-parenting. Te past research provided on the meaning of marriage focuses more on the divorce outcome between all marriages rather than the success of the marriages. One source specifcally notes that many women chose to marry in the early-mid twentieth century, due to pregnancy out of wedlock and the fear of being socially shunned (Quinn & Shiono, 1994). Certain data paints a picture of how most marriages, which began due to an unplanned pregnancy, tend to fail and end in divorce (Quinn & Shiono, 1994). Tis difers greatly from a modern society where women, pregnant out of wedlock, are less likely to marry solely for this reason. Tere has been an increase in single-mother households since the meaning and stigma around such a topic have changed (Quinn & Shiono, 1994). Even with as much research as there is on marital satisfaction and marriage itself as an institution, there is very little on the most recent generations, and this is integral to understanding how future generations will experience marriage. Hypotheses Based on the preceding literature, we developed 6 hypotheses to study: H1: Tere will be a diference in marital satisfaction if married before or after the age of 24. H2: Tere is a diference in intent to stay married if the couple is married before or after the age of 24. H3: Tere is a diference in marital satisfaction between generations. H4: Tere is a diference in intent to stay married between generations. H5: Tere is a diference in marital satisfaction based on individuals who do or do not consider themselves to be religious. H6: Tere is a diference in intent to stay married based on individuals who do or do not consider themselves to be religious.

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Methods Procedures Participants were recruited from a convenience sample from the authors’ social networks and on social media more broadly. Participants completed an online questionnaire from their personal computers/tablets/mobile devices through a link posted on social networking sites such as Facebook and Reddit. Te frst page of the online questionnaire contained the consent form. Once they agreed to participate in the research, participants answered items assessing their perceived satisfaction within their frst marital union and their perceived success of the union. Finally, participants completed demographic items. Te research was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the researchers’ University. An incentive was ofered to participants in the form of a chance to receive a $30 gift card. Participants Participants in the study were 361 married people across the United States. Tey ranged in age from 20 to 75 years old (M = 34, SD = 9.11). Te age at which participants were married ranged from 18 to 48 years old (M = 24.5, SD = 3.30). Males made up 38.8% of the sample (n = 140) and females made up 57.6% of the sample (n = 208). Te remaining .3% (n = 1) of the sample did not report their sex. Participant ethnicities are reported in Table 1. Table 1 Ethnicity Demographics

Ethnicity White African American Asian Latino or Spanish Origin American Indian or Alaska Native Eastern or North African Native Hawaiian or Other Pacifc Islander Multiethnic Other Prefer not to answer

Frequency 308 10 15 11 8 1 3 6 5 1

Percent 85.3 2.8 4.2 3 2.2 0.3 0.8 1.7 1.4 0.3

When participants were asked if they considered themselves to be religious, 204 answered “Yes” and 140 answered “No”. A breakdown of religious beliefs is provided in Table 2 with the majority of respondents indicating Christian beliefs. Level of education is reported in Table 3 with most reporting having completed a bachelor’s degree. No other demographic data were collected.

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Table 2 Participants’ Religious Beliefs

Religious Beliefs Christian Buddhist Hindu Jewish Other

Frequency 154 14 2 12 8

Percent 42.7 3.9 0.6 3.3 2.2

Did Not Answer

171

47.4%

Table 3 Level of Education

Level of Education

Frequency

Percent

Bachelor’s Degree

115

31.9

Some College, No Degree

25.5

Associates or Technical Degree

16.9

Graduate or Professional Degree High School Diploma or GED

49 25

13.6 6.9

Some High School or Less

1.9

Prefer Not to Say or Did Not Answer

3.3

Measures Marital satisfaction was measured using thirty-two items from the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (Spanier, 1976) to measure four areas of the couple’s relationship: Dyadic consensus (α=.88), Dyadic satisfaction (α=.84), Dyadic cohesion (α=.55), and Afection expression (α=.58). Each item is measured on a six-point scale, except cohesion which is measured on a fve-point scale. Sample items include, “In general, how often do you think that things between you and your partner are going well?” Dyadic satisfaction is the feeling of being content with the current state of the relationship and wanting its continuance. Dyadic consensus is the degree to which the couple agrees on matters of importance to the relationship. Dyadic cohesion is the number of activities both individuals participate in and enjoy together. Lastly, afectionate expression is the mutual agreement between partners on how much and when afection is expressed (Spanier, 1976). Marital success was measured with the Investment Model Scale (Agnew, Martz, and Rusbult, 1998). Tis scale measures commitment level, satisfaction level, quality of alternatives, and investment size. For this study, we used only the items measuring commitment level and quality of alternatives. Commitment level had an alpha of (α=.84), and was measured with seven questions on an fve-point scale. Quality of Alternatives was divided into two subgroups based on satisfaction with a current partner and the second group focused on specifc and global quality of alternatives. Quality of Alternatives 1 had an alpha of (α=.83), and was measured with six questions on an fve-point scale. Quality of Alternatives 2 had an alpha of

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(α=.82), and was measured with fve questions on a 4 point scale based on sections. In both cases, high scores indicated low commitment level. A sample question would be “I feel satisfed with our relationship.” Results To examine the frst hypothesis, we looked at marital satisfaction by group. An independent sample t-test with a group (married before or after the age of 24) as the independent variable and marital satisfaction (consensus, satisfaction, cohesion, afection expression) as the dependent variable was conducted. Consensus, t(330) = .32, p = .75, was not signifcant; Satisfaction, t(331) = -.43, p =. 67, was not signifcant; Cohesion, t(331) = -.66, p =. 51, was not signifcant; Afection expression, t(327) = 2.0, p < .05, was signifcant. H1 was partially supported, results indicated that there is a statistically signifcant diference in afection expression between participants who were married before the age of 24 (M = 1.66, SD = .39) and participants who were married after the age of 24 (M = 1.57, SD = .41). To examine the second hypothesis, we looked at intent to stay married by the group. An independent sample t-test with group (married before or after the age of 24) as the independent variable, and intention to stay married (commitment and assessment of alternative relationships) as the dependent variables, was conducted. Commitment, t(309) = .13, p = .90, was not signifcant; Alternatives 1, t(325) = -.44, p =.66, was not signifcant; Alternatives 2, t(321) = -1.01, p =. 31, was not signifcant. H2 was not supported. We tested the third hypothesis by evaluating whether marital satisfaction difered between groups (Boomer, GenX, Millennial, GenZ). We compared levels of satisfaction within a participant’s marriage for each generation. To assess these diferences, we ran an ANOVA with the generation group as the independent variable and marital satisfaction as the dependent variable. Results of the ANOVA indicated a signifcant diference between groups for Consensus F(3,333) = 7.90, p < .001; Cohesion F(3,335) = 5.61, p < .001; Satisfaction F(3,335) = 11.17, p < .001; and Afection Expression F(3,331) = 4.69, p < .01. Te results indicated a statistically signifcant diference between all four groups for all four subfactors of satisfaction. Specifc diferences between groups were probed using the least squared diferences (LSD) procedure. Hypothesis three was therefore supported. Means and standard deviations are reported in Table 4. Table 4 Descriptives for ANOVA Test of Diference in Means for Satisfaction Across Generations Measurement

Consensus

Boomer Mean Std. D 5.089+* 0.597

Generations Gen X Millennial Mean Std. D Mean Std. D 4.587 0.809 4.360  0.731

Gen Z Mean Std. D 4.804 0.826

Afection

1.900+*

0.280

1.587

0.406

1.582 

0.412

1.765

0.310

Cohesion

3.718

0.729

3.583



0.732

3.492 

0.824

4.109

0.886

Satisfaction

4.939*

0.921

4.575



0.971

4.439

0.726

5.217

0.702



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We tested the fourth hypothesis by evaluating whether marital success difered between groups (Boomer, GenX, Millennial, GenZ). We compared levels of success within a participant’s marriage for each generation. To assess these diferences, we ran an ANOVA with the generation group as the independent variable and marital satisfaction as the dependent variable. Results of the ANOVA indicated a signifcant diference between groups for commitment F(3,313) = 23.19, p < .001; Quality of alternatives 1 F(3,329) = 13.27, p < .001; and Quality of Alternatives 2 F(3,325) = 15.82, p < .001. Te results indicated a statistically signifcant diference between all four groups for all three subfactors of commitment. Specifc diferences between groups were probed using the LSD procedure. Hypothesis four was therefore supported. Means and standard deviations are reported in Table 5. Table 5 Descriptives for ANOVA Test of Diference in Means on Investment Across Generations Measurement

Commitment

Boomer Mean Std. D 4.945* 0.160

Generations Gen X Millennial Mean Std. D Mean Std. D 4.579* 0.676 3.714 0.852

Alternatives 1

3.453*

0863.

3.123*

0.858

2.684

0.702

3.293

0.734

Alternatives 2

4.413+ *

1.004

3.572*

1.166

3.150

0.908

4.020

0.854

Gen Z Mean Std.D 4.419 0.855

Note: Special characters refect a signifcant diference between groups. * A signifcant diference with Gen X is represented by + * A signifcant diference with Millennials is represented by * * A signifcant diference with Gen Z is represented by  To examine the ffth hypothesis, we looked at marital satisfaction by group. An independent samples t-test with a group (individuals who do or do not identify as religious) as the independent variable, and marital satisfaction (consensus, satisfaction, cohesion, afection expression) as the dependent variable was conducted. Consensus, t(340) = 3.86, p = <.001, was signifcant; Satisfaction, t(342) = -1.06, p =. 29, was not signifcant; Cohesion, t(342) = -.40, p =.69, was not signifcant; Afection expression, t(341) = .98, p = .33, was not signifcant. H5 was partially supported, results indicated that there is a statistically signifcant diference in dyadic consensus between participants who identify as religious (M = 4.58, SD = .67) and participants who do not identify as religious (M = 4.26, SD = .86). To examine the sixth hypothesis, we looked at the intent to stay married by group. An independent samples t-test with a group (participants who do or do not identify as religious) as the independent variable, and intention to stay married (commitment and assessment of alternative relationships) as the dependent variables, was conducted. Commitment, t(320) = 4.36, p < .001, was signifcant; Alternatives 1, t(341) = 4.59, p < .001, was signifcant; Alternatives 2, t(341) = 2.86, p <.01, was signifcant. H6 was supported, and results indicated that there is a statistically signifcant diference in commitment to a spouse between participants who do identify as religious (M = 4.113, SD = .84) and participants who do not identify as religious (M = 3.68, SD = .91). Tere was also a statistically signifcant diference in the assessment of alternatives 1 between participants who do identify as religious (M = 3.00, SD = .79) and participants who do not identify as religious (M = 2.61, SD = .71). Lastly, there was a statistically signifcant diference in the assessment of alternatives 2 between participants who do identify as religious (M = 3.47, SD = .98) and participants who do not identify as religious

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(M = 3.16, SD = .99). Discussion Tis study helps inform a better understanding of satisfaction and commitment within marriages. All but one hypothesis was either partially or fully supported. Specifcally, these results indicate that there is a diference in afection expression between people who married before 24 and people who married after 24. Tis fnding was not surprising because of the previous literature on individuals of younger generations and ages carefully choosing their signifcant other and their reasons for choosing to marry. Te age of 24 was set as determining “young marriage” based on psychological scholarship but turned out to have no real efect on the results. However, the generation of younger individuals did have an efect. A diference was found in marital satisfaction and commitment between all of the generations. After the past research from Lee (1977) and Keeley (1979), conducted on motives for marriage between generations, whether that be premarital pregnancy, economic status, arranged marriage, etc., our conjecture that there would be a diference was all based on the changing models of the family and how couples went about dating and marriage. Tere is a diference in consensus, commitment, and perceived quality of alternative relationships between people who do and do not identify with a religion. Tis was our most surprising result. While we, as researchers, did expect some diference, the level of change was signifcantly higher than expected. Tis could imply that those who identify with a religion are more likely to be more successful and satisfed in their relationships than those who do not. Ane et al. (2011) supports the notion that commitment is related to religious beliefs, but that many of the couples reported little connection with one another. Tis study attributes the commitment to moral and religious beliefs alone. Limitations While our study had many protocols taken to ensure proper data collection and unbiased samples, we did incur limitations as does every study. Te sample size for our study was large but had the sample size been greater, more reliable results may have been produced. Another major limitation was the possibility of bots flling out the survey given the nature of our recruitment strategy. In order to address the issue, the data were cleaned in an attempt to reduce the likelihood of automated responses by removing any that were substantially below the mean completion time for the full sample. Conclusion and Suggestion For Future Research Te results found in this study will be integral to the growth of the interpersonal communication feld of research, furthering knowledge and predictions of marital trends in the United States. Given the somewhat surprising fndings regarding religion and commitment, further research should be conducted to better understand these results in context. For instance, it would be valuable to probe deeper into the variable of religion and the various types of expectations each religion carries as they relate to marriage and commitment. Furthermore, the high level of commitment associated with the high level of quality of alternatives should be examined further. Further research on this particular topic could help society understand and predict marital trends regarding religion both in and outside of the United States. Overall, the fndings of this study suggest that although age at frst marriage may not have a signifcant infuence on commitment and satisfaction, diferences do exist based on both religiosity and generational membership.

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Quinn, L. S., & Shiono, P. H. (1994). Epidemiology of divorce. Te Future of Children, 4(1), 15-27. https://doi.org/10.2307/1602475 Somerville, L. (2016). Searching for signatures of brain maturity: What are we searching for? NeuroView, 92(6), 1164-1167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2016.10.059 Spanier, G., & Tompson, L. (1982). A confrmatory analysis of the dyadic adjustment scale. Journal of Marriage and Family, 44(3), 731-738. https://doi.org/10.2307/351593 Stevenson, B., & Wolfers, J. (2007). Marriage and Divorce: Changes and Teir Driving Forces. Journal of Economic Perspectives. 21(2), pp. 27- 52. Tebbe, N. (2015). Religion and marriage equality statutes. Harvard Law & Policy Review, 9(1), 25-62 Tomas, D. L., & Cornwall, M. (1990). Religion and family in the 1980s: Discovery and development. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52, 983-992.

About the Author Hayley Mayette is a ffth-year undergraduate student at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, VA, currently working towards a bachelor’s degree in communication studies with a minor in writing. While fnishing her degree, Hayley spent a semester during her junior year, interning at Studio Center in Virginia Beach as a social media specialist and then was hired as a communication specialist at Church of Te Ascension in Virginia Beach. She has also participated in the John Paul 2 Project’s Social media internship to help gain a breadth of knowledge in her feld. Currently Hayley is a Toddler Teacher at La Petite Academy in Virginia Beach. Hayley’s plan after graduation is to continue her work in the feld as a communication/ Public Relation specialist or in the feld as a Marketing and sales representative. In Hayley’s free time, she enjoys spending time with her almost 2-year-old daughter, painting, cooking, attending church, and any time spent outdoors. She has goals to travel and live overseas, and to help serve her local community. Hayley has studied German for majority of her life, leaving her with a profciency in the language and the ability to learn new languages easily. She is excited to take all she has learned in her time at Christopher Newport University and apply it to her future career.

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Postmodern Paranoia Dillyn Minson Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Kyle Garton-Gundling, Department of English

Abstract In this paper I examine the relationship between paranoia and postmodern literature. Tis is done by comparing the postmodern styles and social commentaries in Ishmael Reed’s novel Mumbo Jumbo and Karen Tei Yamashita’s short story “Colono:Scopy.” Te two stories are vastly diferent in their layouts, lengths, and settings, but the ways in which they engage with the theme of paranoia is fundamental to what makes postmodernism such an impactful period in literature. Yamashita’s short story touches on the paranoia that comes from racial tensions in America, when those who have immigrated into America are told they have no place. “Colono:Scopy” puts the reader in a position where they are forced to take the place of the narrator even if it is entirely foreign to them. In Mumbo Jumbo rather than placing the reader in the position of the narrator there is no one central narrative voice. Instead, the novel constantly changes voice and style which adds to its own unique style of paranoid postmodernism.

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Paranoia in postmodern writing is in many ways a common symptom of the style. It is difcult to fnd postmodern writing without a hint of paranoia. Tis is built into the nature of a postmodern writing as it was a period of literary curiosity during which writers attempted to question what had been considered normal until then. Where the modern period of literature, from about 1914-1945, was a movement towards new ideas and experimentation the postmodern period took that experimentation to new heights. All previous conceits of linearity, narration, and style were shifted and fipped on their heads. Ishmael Reed’s novel Mumbo Jumbo and Karen Tei Yamashita’s short story “Colono:Scopy” are prime examples of the paranoia and nuanced literary styles that commonly arise in the postmodern style. While the stories have seemingly nothing in common, from their time periods to their prose, it is the paranoia that arises from racial tensions in each of the stories that binds them together and highlights the ability of the postmodern style to pose deeper questions about politics and race than may have been previously seen in other literary periods. “Colono:Scopy” was originally published in Yamashita’s collection of short stories Sansei and Sensibility. Te story is striking from the outset. Not only is it easy to speculate on the plot of the short story before reading, based of of the odd title, but the narration style is quite unusual. Te story is narrated in the second person. Te narrator addresses the reader as the protagonist of the story, without regards to of how the may reader may or may not relate to the circumstances of the protagonist. Te story begins with the narrator declaring “You are a Sansei” (Yamashita 1). Te story goes on to discuss “your” age and the fact that “You used to be feisty and youthful and, quite frankly, intolerable…but now they pretend to tolerate you because, well, you’re old” (Yamashita 1). Not only has Yamashita made the reader a part of her story, but she has placed the reader in an uncomfortable position. Before the reader can truly grasp what is going to happen to them in this story, which is of course a colonoscopy, they are already being attacked for their age and how they are perceived by society. It certainly is telling of Yamashita’s storytelling that readers continue after they begin her story being attacked for their age and temperament, only to discover they are about to read about undergoing a colonoscopy. It is enough to make the reader wary, and even a little paranoid, over where the story will go from that point. While “Colono:Scopy” may begin as a short story about an aging individual enduring their frst routine colonoscopy, the story takes a much deeper turn into racial tensions between the doctor and the patient. At frst it seems as though the trip through the patient’s colon and the drugs they are on causing them to consider history and other colonizations, which is seen as they reminisce that the colonoscope is reminiscent of “la Niña, la Pinta, or la Santa María” (Yamashita 2). Te Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria were the three ships that Christopher Columbus sailed on his frst exploration to fnd the West Indies in the 15th century. However, Christopher Columbus is no longer the once revered explorer he was seen as. Now it is far more common for him to be seen as a symbol of European, and specifcally white, colonization. Te mention of Columbus’ ships is the frst hint that there is tension between the patient and their doctor who is wielding the colonoscope upon them. Tis is a common facet of Yamashita’s work. She does not outright argue with systems that she disagrees with, but she weaves a path for her readers to fnd where she stands on particular racial issues (Chuh). Rather than calling for the eraser of boundaries, Yamashita’s work “encourages an opening out of US bound- arise in diferent registers (the political, the imaginative, and the critical) and multiple directions (south and west, especially)” (Chuh 621). When her work is published in America it is more like she is asking for Americans to stretch their imaginations that there is a greater world outside of one nation. When reading Yamashita’s works all together, it is clear they are “coherent wholes without insisting upon or privileging unity, and the energy and narrative pleasures of the work issue from the plotlines and characters that manage to be at once surprising and deliberate” (Chuh 621). Chuh’s reading of Yamashita insists that Yamashita’s goal is not to protest any sort

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of political agenda, but rather to show there are engaging stories from diverse cultures and her characters and plots can make that clear. Regardless of whether Yamashita is forcing an political agenda or not, it is clear that the character within “Colono:Scopy” is enduring their own personal racial torment. As the doctor makes their way through the narrator’s colon they seem to become far more tense. As this occurs tension builds between the doctor and the patient. Te doctor and the patient even fght over the patient’s Asian heritage. When the patient asks about the Chinese who helped to build Transcontinental railroad and questions why they are not in the photograph with everyone who supposedly built the railroad, the doctor invites them to join the picture while calling them “an accomplice to indigenous genocide” (Yamashita 2). Te doctor is bringing up the Native Americans who were displaced by the railroad, and it is at this that the narrator protests “wait a minute, I’m not Chinese” (Yamashita 2). Te doctor’s response to the narrator’s attempt at an innocent plea is “so much for solidarity” (Yamashita 2). Tis is where the paranoid, anxious tense of the story begins to rise. From this point forward the conversation between the narrator and the doctor in their head who is attempting to colonize them is tense and involves one side constantly battling the other and asserting what racial injustices have been done to them by the American government. In Flieger’s essay on “Te Paranoid Eye” in postmodern literature he references the three common ways in which postmodernism and paranoia often intersect: “thematic, structural, and transferential (referring to the transactional nature of the reading process)” (87). However, Filegar inserts that there is a fourth domain, which is the “domain of the social, widely construed” (87). It is this fourth domain that shows how key racial tensions are in the postmodern paranoia. Tese four realms where postmodernism and paranoia intersect can highlight the tensions between races as occurs in both Mumbo Jumbo and “Colono:Scopy.” In most postmodern writing there is an overwhelming feeling that “we are watched everywhere, monitored and transcribed by a ubiquitous information bank” (Filegar 87). Tis is seen in a large amount of science fction flms and novels as well, the idea that there is an “ever growing database which catalogues us all has its eye on us, tracking our social and economic history, sometimes for political reasons, sometimes to facilitate the new economic or cultural order” (Filegar 87). Paranoid characters often feel overwhelmed and that they are being tracked. To the outsider this may seem like mindless paranoia. But, when the reader feels empathetic for the protagonist who fears they are being tracked and will be forced into conformity, there is a greater understanding. Tis can be accomplished by authors in a number of ways, but if the author can make the reader feel as though they are truly in the narrator’s shoes, for example by addressing the reader in the second person, readers can gain a greater understanding for circumstances out of their own. Mumbo Jumbo takes a far diferent approach than Yamashita with postmodern paranoia. While the story is still centralized around concepts of paranoia in the racial tensions in America, the story is a little more difcult to track. While “Colono:Scopy” takes a direct path and leads the reader through the patient’s thought process as their colon is explored and colonized, it is never clear in Mumbo Jumbo where the story will go next. Rather than tracking one character’s progression and paranoia through the realization of their own racial background, Mumbo Jumbo tracks the paranoia around the rise of Jazz music. Trough the postmodern style of the book, which has no main protagonist but rather a main concept of Jazz, called Jes Grew in the novel, the reader comes to understand multiple perspectives on the paranoia that surrounded the growing trend. Te purpose of this paranoia is that readers can see that the fear of white people in America around the music was really a fear of black culture taking a frm stand in American culture, and uprooting the racist beliefs that had been the backbone of a culture for far too long. If Jes Grew could become popular, so too could the culture that comes with it and racism may lose its footing in America. Tis is the paranoia that drives groups like the

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Wallfower Order, who seek to eradicate Jes Grew. Te order notes the spread “which began in New Orleans has reached Chicago…[and] will settle in New York” (Reed 25). Te order fears this spread from coast to coast, because they fear the music “won’t stop until it cohabits with what it’s after” (Reed 25). Tey fear the realization of this cohabitation will occur when other Americans who do not oppose Jes Grew see that there is nothing to fear in the unknown, but will want to join in and support black Americans. Te Wallfower Order believes that one example of this happened after their war against a Haitian nation. After their actions were discovered Americans began to educate themselves on what had occurred, truly scaring the order when they discovered that “more books concerning Haiti had been checked out of American libraries in a week than in the previous history of the library system” (Reed 63). Not only were Americans now aware that something terrible had occurred, but they were now trying to educate themselves whereas before they had allowed themselves to exist without care. Te Order fears that such concern could become its own type of epidemic in America as they may discover there are far more marginalized groups that are being harmed by groups such as the Wallfower Order. What the Order fears the most is the ways in which the culture may seep into American culture as a whole. After the discovery of the violence against Haiti they saw “people walk all over New York speaking Creole and wearing tropical clothes” (Reed 63). Te order is incredibly paranoid that this could occur more and more frequently if pandemics like Jes Grew are not stopped immediately. It is interesting to note that in “Colono:Scopy” the racial paranoia arises from the narrator who is both attacking the doctor inside his head while also feeling racially discriminated against by her. While in Mumbo Jumbo the racial paranoia comes entirely from the white groups in America who have bonded together to end the spread of Jes Grew, which is to accomplish their end goal of stopping the spread of black culture and acceptance towards it in America. Yet, both stories follow a similar path. Tis is due in part to their particular postmodern styles. While there is not one strong black protagonist throughout Mumbo Jumbo that the reader may be searching for to root for it is more the concept of Jes Grew that the reader is rooting for. Tis is because Reed has turned Jes Grew into a character. Tis is a common postmodern style that he implements, which he says is “an old tradition in Afro-American culture where abstract forces are referred to as though they are real or as if they were people” (Nazareth 117). Reed goes on to insert that it is common in the Blues to do this, but he has adopted it into his writing. He believes that the idea of referring to abstract ideas as people is “deeply rooted in the Afro-American view of the world” (Nazareth 117). While the concept in and of itself is not incredibly paranoid it lends itself strongly to the postmodern style of the novel, which experiments in new ways with what literature can look like. Elias in his essay on the theology of paranoia in postmodernism makes the insertion that “paranoia yokes disparate arenas of inquiry” (281). Meaning, whatever else the purpose of paranoia in postmodernism it serves the ultimate goal of dismantling what literature before then looked like. Tere is no one way to write a novel in postmodernism, it is its own type of “theological mysticism” (Elias 281). Writers like Yamashita and Reed can write stories in completely diferent political climates about their own ancestors and experiences, but what unites them is the paranoia. Tey have both written entirely unusual stories wherein the change that comes with race frightens either one group or another.

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Works Cited Chuh, Kandice. “Of Hemispheres and Other Spheres: Navigating Karen Tei Yamashita’s Literary World.” American Literary History, vol. 18, no. 3, 2006, pp. 618–37. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3876726. Accessed 1 May 2023. Elias, Amy J. “Paranoia, Teology, and Inductive Style.” Soundings: An Interdisciplinary Journal, vol. 86, no. 3/4, 2003, pp. 281–313. JSTOR. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41179113. Accessed 1 May 2023. Flieger, Jerry Aline. “Postmodern Perspective: Te Paranoid Eye.” New Literary History, vol. 28, no. 1, 1997, pp. 87–109. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20057403. Accessed 1 May 2023. Nazareth, Peter, and Ishmael Reed. “An Interview with Ishmael Reed.” Te Iowa Review, vol. 13, no. 2, 1982, pp. 117–31. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20155874. Accessed 1 May 2023. Simons, John. “Postmodern Paranoia? Pynchon and Jameson.” Paragraph, vol. 23, no. 2, 2000, pp. 207–21. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43263598. Accessed 1 May 2023. Reed, Ishmael. Mumbo Jumbo. 1972. Yamashita, Karen Tei. Sansei and Sensibility 2020.

About the Author

Dillyn Minson is a member of the class of 2024. She is graduating with a major in English literature and double minors in American Studies and Leadership Studies and will be graduating with service distinction. She is also involved in the Presidential Leadership Program, Greek Life, an on-campus job, and several clubs on campus. Tis past year she served as the President of the Pen Pal club on campus that partnered with Newport News Public Schools and won the award for Emerging Organization in the Spring of 2023. Tis is her frst publication, which came from her time studying Postmodern Literature in Professor Garton-Gundling’s English 343 Seminar. After graduation she hopes to teach high school English.

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Creating a Safe Space for the LGBTQ+ Community: “When Issues Stop Being Issues and Become Flesh and Blood” Tracy Nguyen Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Andria Timmer, Department of Sociology, Social Work, and Anthropology

Abstract Te push against heteronormative performance and behavior has become prominent in recent years as the LGBTQ+ movement has gained momentum. Yet, even in relatively progressive countries, such as the United States, there remains a prominent group that continues to promote the gender binary and heterosexual relationships, despite vast amounts of individuals that challenge it—Christians. Conservative and traditional Christians are known to justify their intolerance with their heteronormative-afrming religion, spreading this framework through various mediums, including church and private education. However, not all Christians are proponents of heteronormativity. Some Christians are taking a stand to support those that identify as LGBTQ+ by founding and being a part of open and afrming churches. Te qualitative research presented explores how members of self-identifying open and afrming churches have fashioned a sense of acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community. As will be discussed in detail, careful analyses demonstrate that there are three overarching ways in which an accepting environment can be achieved within open and afrming churches: (1) LGBTQ+ visibility, (2) LGBTQ+ afrming dialogue, and (3) establishment of God’s acceptance and afrmation. By engaging in and promoting these pursuits, open and afrming churches serve as a safe haven for those that seek acceptance and afrmation. By understanding how open and afrming church members are navigating this tension between Christianity and LGBTQ+ identities, my hopes are that the wider Christian community in America can consider following suit—to ensure that afrmation, acceptance, and inclusion is attained on a large-scale.

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Introduction To not talk about LGBTQ+ identities in this day and age is ignorant and ill-considered. Relationships between children and parents, teachers and students, and peers, alike, are being broken out of stubbornness and orthodoxy. Fundamentally, it is Christian beliefs and Christian frameworks that have constructed this hostility between the LGBTQ+ community and society. Terefore, it may be the case that Christians are responsible for healing the wounds they have inficted upon LGBTQ+ individuals. Fortunately enough, open and afrming churches are growing rapidly, with Christians realigning their values and belief systems in order to fully support and advocate for LGBTQ+ identities. According to the Open and Afrming Coalition of the United Church of Christ, for a congregation to be open and afrming, they must declare a public covenant fully afrming and welcoming LGBTQ+ individuals, or people of all sexual orientations and gender identities and expressions, throughout life and in ministry (UCC, 2016). As religious institutions are persistent in invalidating LGBTQ+ identities, open and afrming churches fulfll a signifcant role in supporting and strengthening the LGBTQ+ community. Tus, this research explores how members of self-identifying open and afrming churches have been creating a sense of acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community. It has been profound to discover how these churches and the members within them are able to challenge what has become so hegemonic. It was particularly fascinating to inquire about the extent to which non-heteronormativity is understood and accepted, uncovering how belief systems have changed. Insight on how members of open and afrming churches have created a sense of acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community is worthy of attention as American society navigates creating a safe space for LGBTQ+ individuals. Literature Review Educational and Familial Socializations of Heteronormativity Scholarship on the performance of heteronormativity is widely dominated by how social structures, including familial upbringings and educational settings, have fashioned a sense of “normalness” to gender. Generally, it is children who are most afected by these socializations. Teir values and beliefs are shaped by their surrounding environments and become reinforced and solidifed the more they interact with such environments. A study comparing the impacts of media and everyday life on gender norms found that participants are able to reject traditional gender norms presented in the media, but not so much when it is present in their everyday life (Halie & Harrison, 2011). Tus, it is confrmed that engagement with social institutions have a great impact on perceptions of gender roles. Children are more vulnerable to this socialization. Te fndings of a 2013 study exploring the manifestations of rigidity in gender-typing behaviors suggest that if children are taught about gender categories at a young age, then they will be highly motivated to conform to gender stereotypes and less likely to deviate (Halim et al., 2013). Depending on how they are raised, children will either feel pressures to conform or be encouraged to explore beyond the gender binaries. Terefore, if a child is constantly surrounded by traditional gender expressions, roles, and behavior, then the child will likely copy this model. From school play, to school uniforms, to school gendered bathrooms, there is this reinforcement of gender binaries in the education system. It can be observed that the socialization of gender is a latent function of the education system. A study done in the Belgian education system found that Flemish boys have been socialized to become more distressed about their gender performance than their educational performance (Vantieghem & Van Houtte, 2015). Te boys were more concerned with opposing school authority, acting tough, and rejecting femininity rather than their academic pursuits. As a result, the boys scored higher on gender-conformity pressures than the girls and the girls scored higher on academic self-

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efcacy than the boys. So, whereas boys were socialized to become “men,” the lack of pressures on girls socialized them to become “good students.” Tere exists diferent expectations for the “two” genders. Terefore, the educational environment can have lasting implications for gender-conformity. When considering familial infuences, parents have an almost direct efect on the socializations of their children. Typically, parents are conscious and intentional in the way they construct their child’s gender identity and performance. Tis can be done in an inclusive, counter-hegemonic way or a conforming, heteronormative way. Research with lesbian and gay parents show that parents were anxious they would socialize their child “incorrectly,” perceiving their own gender nonconformity, as well as their queer identity, as a barrier to raising their children (Berkowitz, 2011). Nonetheless, by celebrating gender nonconformity and discouraging the gender binary, as most lesbian and gay parents do regardless of intentionality, the fundamental assumptions of gender, sexuality, and family can become challenged and deconstructed by parenting. All in all, it is evident how powerful the damaging socializations of heteronormative behavior and performance are, especially when individuals are young. However, if heteronormativity can be socialized, it should be possible for non-heteronormativity to be similarly socialized. Tis is where open and afrming religious institutions can play a role. How do they go about this? Is there a way without over-sexualizing the LGBTQ+ community? Efects of Exposure to LGBTQ+ Identities While heteronormativity is reinforced and strengthened through institutions, heteronormative behavior and performance does not dominate society anymore. Compared to decades ago, deviance from hegemonic social constructs today is more widely accepted and tolerated. Various studies have found that exposure to and awareness of non-heteronormative behavior contributes to this move away from the expectation of heteronormative behavior, performance, and dichotomies. A qualitative videogame content analysis investigated how videogames are able to allow players to explore non-heteronormative roles (Biscop, 2019). Te results prove that countering heteronormative performance is becoming more common, given that individuals have the opportunity to do so. Tat being the case, videogames and certain media can be a platform for non-heteronormativity to become normalized. Nonetheless, this study poses the question of how mere exposure can create space for people to become accepting of non-heteronormativity; does it work? To speak to this, there was a recent quantitative research project seeking to understand how exposure to diferent types of LGBTQ+ media content afects people (Dias et al., 2023). Te researchers found that, in general, positive portrayals of the LGBTQ+ community in the media have positive correlations with an attitude change towards the LGBTQ+ community. Terefore, LGBTQ+ representation in the media plays an instrumental role in reducing prejudice. Moreover, a study investigating the efect of exposure of transgender people on participants’ attitudes produced fndings similar to the quantitative study aforementioned (Flores et al., 2018). Te results of this study indicated that mere exposure can indeed be a source of prejudice reduction. By comparing the responses of three treatment groups who were shown transgender facial images and one control group, it was found that discomfort and transphobia levels were lower after exposure. People had improved attitudes toward unfamiliar features when given the opportunity to interact with and categorize said features, such as categorizing transgender as a new subcategory to the established gender binary. Hence, exposure and awareness can have positive correlations with acceptance, or at least tolerance, rates. As this literature pertains to my research, I question if intolerance and non-acceptance within the church is due to the lack of conversation surrounding LGBTQ+ identities. Conversely, if churches were to acknowledge

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and recognize the LGBTQ+ community, would this encourage their members to be more accepting? Tis, again, demonstrates the insightful opportunity examining open and afrming churches presents. Tese are places that are working to be inclusive and welcoming. Do they do this by actively encouraging conversations and education? Gender Diferences and Pressures to Conform to Heteronormativity Research on non-heteronormativity also sheds light on the existing gender discrepancies when it comes to societal pressures to conform. “Doing gender” and “doing heterosexuality” is inevitable in the contemporary United States context, provoking scholars to research why heterosexual marking exists, who does it, and where it is done. An overwhelming amount of research confrms that boys and men face a more rigid set of expectations than girls and women. A study in 2016 revealed that men engage in public displays of heterosexual status in an efort to avoid judgment from other men (Morgan & Davis-Delano, 2016). Men feel that their masculinity is constantly being questioned and therefore needs to be reafrmed. Consider the study done by Vantieghem and Van Houtte (2015) of the Belgium education system comparing the school performance of boys and girls to their gender conformity. Te Flemish school boys were socialized to believe that high academic standing was feminine, leading them to become more interested in gender performance, not school performance. Tis pattern inspires inquiries regarding if men are the reason heteronormativity persists. Men put expectations on other men and boys. Most church leaders are men—men that most likely encourage this heterosexual marking. Te diference between genders lies in the idea that society has been more lenient on girls that do not behave or perform in a heteronormative manner and are tougher on boys who do the same. A study examining the behaviors of girls who fall into the “tomboy” category confrmed this notion that boys have more expectations than girls (Bailey et al., 2002). Tomboy girls are accepted, and society has created room for their non-conforming nature. However, there lacks a category for boys who engage in non-conforming behaviors and performances. Moreover, research has found that boys do indeed conform to their gender in a more solidifed way as time goes on because they generally have later maturity rates (Halim et al., 2013). Te later maturity rates of boys allow for their rearing environments to shape their perception of themselves and their societal expectations. Girls, however, generally have more autonomy in how they grow up. Tis is not to say that girls and women do not face gender and sexuality conforming pressures, but more so that they have greater agency in their behavior and performance. Women have been reported to be more secure in their femininity, or womanhood, acting signifcantly more independent of societal pressures than men do. Interestingly, a study narrowing in on the intersection between gender confdence and ethnic identity found that women do not see their gender as a critical component of their identity because they perceive all aspects of their lives with equal value (Hofman, 2006). Ultimately, women do not experience as many pressures from society nor pressures from themselves to mark their heterosexual or heteronormative identity as men do. With the understanding that women are more inclusive and welcoming, this literature sparks the question in my research of whether the gender of church leadership afects the way a congregation views heteronormativity. Religious Socializations of Heteronormativity Most prominently, literature on non-heteronormative performances and behavior frequently involves religiosity and its role in shaping attitudes against non-conformity. Tis is because being afliated with religion commonly includes gendered roles, making it hard for people who do not ft the limited categories to be true to themselves or their partners. Familial and educational heteronormative socializations are also rooted in religious traditions.

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In America, the intersection between religiosity and sexuality is extremely visible. A study interviewing a group of Catholic Latinos who identifed as bisexual reported that these individuals equated their bisexual identity with the notion of “sinning” and “immorality” (Severson & Kaufman, 2014). Teir perception of their own sexual identity resulted from religious socializations from a young age. Moreover, a study following a group of non-binary individuals revealed that the church has systematically invalidated the non-binary community for generations (Darwin, 2020). Terefore, the “Christo-normative” framework causes incredible harm for people outside the limits of heteronormativity. Over the years, Christianity has been manipulated to intentionally cause harm to individuals who identify as a part of the LGBTQ+ community. As a result, individuals who identify as both Christian and LGBTQ+ often experience tensions in their self-identity. Research with a group of non-binary Christians revealed that these individuals adjusted their religious beliefs to accommodate their non-binary gender or accepted being mis-gendered by fellow adherents (Darwin, 2020). Te non-binary community has not shied away from voicing their frustrations with the church for invalidating their non-binary identity. With this being said, it is possible for any non-heteronormative Christian to feel invalidated and unwelcomed. Te Church’s insistence on heteronormativity carries implications for not just the individual who is a part of the LGBTQ+ community, but also their partner. Research with religiously afliated married couples in which one partner identifes as heterosexual and the other as LGBTQ+ revealed that strains on the relationship were caused by Christian frameworks (Legerski et al., 2018). Not only did the LGBTQ+ partner report having internalized homophobia, their partners disclosed that they saw their LGBTQ+ partner’s sexual deviance as a sign of gender inadequacy. Further, the straight partners expressed hopefulness that their LGBTQ+ partner’s sexual identity would be resolved in the afterlife. Tus, it is the case that religious afliation prevents people from being fully accepting. Now, open and afrming churches claim to be fully accepting. It seems almost paradoxical given the prevailing Christo-normative frameworks. Terefore, this study provides an informative opportunity to investigate how open and afrming churches create this accepting environment. Te studies presented up to this point have all provided insight as to how religious ideals of heteronormative behavior have a profound efect on the LGBTQ+ community. Yet, LGBTQ+ individuals continue to have faith and remain religious because, if not for their own beliefs and values, it provides social support. Are open and afrming churches a space for nonreligious individuals to fnd comfort and safety? For Christian LGBTQ+ individuals, how can open and afrming churches help them deconstruct the Christian frameworks that have been governing their lives? Tere even exists a Christian fear that progress towards the LGBTQ+ community is a threat to Christianity. In 2022, psychology and religious experts found that Christians believe that tolerance and acceptance of the LGBT community is correlated to increasing rates of biases against Christianity (Wilkins, 2022). Tis study speaks to why Christians are so blatantly against the social progress of the LGBT community—because they are threatened. With this apparent tension between religion and the LGBTQ+ community, clergy in protestant churches have expressed difculties navigating issues surrounding acceptance for LGBTQ+ identities (Olson, 2002). As the debates of acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community are gaining momentum in American society, church leaders and members must take a stance, despite the disruptions it may cause to their church. How are leaders of open and afrming churches answering this need for acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community? Teoretical Perspective Sociological Teory Erving Gofman is a sociologist concerned with the impacts of symbolic interactionism on

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individuals and the larger community (Gofman, 1959). Te social facts that Gofman support informs how I observe and record my data. Essentially, Gofman’s theory is the lens through which I view my data. Specifcally, my research relates to Gofman’s symbolic interactionism theory in the following three ways: (1) social life consists of a front and back stage, (2) theory of impression management, and (3) the self is vulnerable so it seeks identity afrmation. Gofman focuses on people’s behavior and the way that people are constantly performing, as social life consists of a front and back stage. My research explores how gender boundaries are approached and how sexuality is exists and is performed in the context of open and afrming churches. For example, how a gay man performs when he is surrounded by religious adherents (front stage) will be diferent from how he performs when he is by himself (back stage). For this reason, Gofman’s theory of impression management is applicable to my research. Further, Gofman speculates that the self is vulnerable, always looking to have its character reafrmed by others. It is vital to consider the insight Gofman provides when conducting my research, because Christians are regularly reafrmed by other Christians. Tis is why it must be hard for non-conforming individuals to maintain their faith—because their front and back stage performances confict, and they struggle to create a true self that receives support from the community they are in. In all these ways, my research examining the shaping, or reshaping, of non-heteronormative orientations draws on Gofman’s theory of symbolic interactionism. Field Research Teory Complementary to the sociological theory informing my data collection is the feld research theory. Tis is how I interpret, perceive, and analyze my data. Te feld research theory explains what I am actually seeing, not necessarily what my participants are saying. I am looking to explore the environment of acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community in regards to churches. For this reason, I am an interpretive theorist, seeking to understand the perspectives of my participants (Hessie-Biber, 2017). In my research, I sought to identify how Christians understand their religion’s infuence on their abilities to be accepting. I focused on uncovering how open and afrming churches have pursued and promoted the value of acceptance. Likewise, I attempted to gauge how valuable acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community is to congregants, especially if this value of theirs is compromised by their church. Ultimately, I look to understand what being a member of an open and afrming church means to each of them. Furthermore, I approached this research from a critical theory perspective, seeking to expose existing societal structures that afect society and culture (Hessie-Biber, 2017). From this perspective, I will also work to challenge existing structures, particularly structures that contribute to the marginalization of LGBTQ+ individuals. Tis social aspect part of my research speaks to what is known as queer theory (Hesse-Biber, 2017). Trough my research, I strive to confront traditional religious beliefs that exclude non-heteronormative behaviors and identities. I aim to challenge those who use religion as a way to “other” and alienate people that do not conform to the hegemonic systems of sex, sexuality, and gender. I attempt to make clear that sex, sexuality, and gender identities are historically and socially constructed, particularly in religious settings, and for this reason, open and afrming churches may contribute to the fght against these traditional understandings. My participants engage with this research project from a critical theory perspective as well, hoping that their responses will instigate social change in regards to the LGBTQ+ community. Methodology Research Paradigm My research paradigm, the method of which I conducted my research, is ethnography. Ethnography relies on detailed and accurate descriptions to depict a narrative, phenomenon, concept, or culture (Babbie, 2021). I conducted my research through observing and interviewing

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members of open and afrming churches. My in-depth observation was conducted during a church service, in which I was a participant observer. I gathered much of my data through the lived experiences of my participants. Trough hearing my participants’ stories and narratives, I mapped out similarities, diferences, and overall patterns. In doing so, I was careful to not be ethnocentric and to recognize my own biases when analyzing their responses. By collecting my data this way, I understood more fully how each individual’s religious framework shaped their understandings and discovered patterns between members of diferent churches. Research Design, Sampling, Data Collection For this qualitative research project, I conducted interviews with members of selfidentifying open and afrming churches in Newport News, Virginia. Tis exploratory research project is better suited for qualitative research because long, detailed responses from participants provide better insight on my research question of how members can create a sense of acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community, despite religious socializations. Tis way, I recognized how diferent people understand and encourage acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community. My sample population included members of Flower of Hope Church (FOHC) and Noland Church. I selected these churches because they both issued public statements revealing their support for individuals of all backgrounds and interests, including LGBTQ+ individuals. Tey both identify as open and afrming as well as progressive churches. Tus, I expected my participants to be motivated to challenge traditional, heteronormative frameworks and inform the answer to the research question. For this reason, my primary unit of analysis are the individuals, or members, within these churches. I used purposive sampling to select the participants in order to best answer the research question. Te participants I sought out had particular knowledge and experiences of how churches can create a sense of acceptance to be embracing of the LGBTQ+ community. Furthermore, I engaged in non-probability sampling because my participants are not representative of the typical and larger Christian population. Essentially, I sought to interview a very specifc set of people, so the sampling method had to be purposive, non-probability, and non-random. It is known that these sampling methods can result in unreliable and biased data because of its subjective sample selection, but I am willing to accept these faults because I avoided drawing general conclusions from their experiences. Te snowball sampling method largely contributed to my ability to connect with a range of members from FOHC and Noland Church in the past and present—past members referring to individuals who are no longer members of either church but played signifcant roles in shaping their church’s values and mission as an open and afrming church. Moreover, I was able to do an observation of the FOHC Sunday morning service, which inclined members to reach out to me to be interviewed. All of my participants expressed great interest in the project and were enthusiastic about interviewing. To set up a time and place, I communicated with all my participants through phone or email. Some interviews were more difcult to schedule than others, but everyone remained fexible and willing to adapt. Te locations of my interviews varied by participant. Interviews were always conducted in comfortable spaces for the participants including their homes, their place of work, and on Christopher Newport University’s campus. All interviews were conducted in person, with the exception of one which took place over the phone. Interviews generally lasted 45 minutes to an hour long and were individual; there was one focus group interview with a married couple. All interviews were audio recorded with the permission of the participant and later transcribed by me, the researcher. I took notes and observer comments throughout each interview. When I did my observation at FOHC, I reached out to the church moderators to inform them of my visit and it provided me the opportunity fully experience and see my sample population. Due

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to time restrictions, I only spoke to ten people from both FOHC and Noland Church over the course of two months. All my participants were older than 40 years, at least. Tis is probably a refection of the Newport News area. FOHC, in particular, admitted to having an older congregation because the kids are growing up and moving away. Te majority of my participants were white. About half of my participants were female and the other half was male. Some participants identifed as straight, some identifed as a part of the LGBTQ+ community. So, even though I only spoke to ten people, there seemed to be a good mix of people to diversify my fndings. Moreover, ten people make for a small sample size, yet this is acceptable because I do not plan to generalize the fndings of my research. Instead, my data will be transferable in that the individual experiences of each participant will have enough overlapping patterns to help the greater religious and LGBTQ+ community navigate the tensions between religion and non-heteronormativity. My interviews were semi-structured. I had a set of predetermined questions that I planned to ask my participant (see Appendix A). I brought my printed interview guide with me to every interview, acknowledged it in front of my participants, and had it in view so that my participants did not think I wanted to conceal any information from them. However, I let my participants know that they were free to take the interview whichever direction they pleased. I wanted to guide the interview, but not lead it. All my questions would help answer the question of how members of open and afrming churches are able to create a sense of acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community. By building rapport before and during my interviews, I was able to get my participants to open up about two very sensitive topics in society: religion and sexuality. Positionality Of course, as a researcher, I was cautious about my positionality going into the interviews. I recognized that I am an Asian-American woman doing research in a predominately white and Black community. However, I did not see this posing as a complication in regards to my research. I was also conscious of the fact that I was entering a religious community as someone who has never been afliated with any religion in her life. Tis, I was nervous about because I worried I would not understand the religious references that my participants were speaking about. Nonetheless, I was prepared to ask relevant follow-up questions for clarifcation if the situation presented itself. Lastly, being a part of the LGBTQ+ community, myself, I was careful to not be biased or leading when asking my questions. Ethics and IRB To be clear, this is an IRB approved project. I took every consideration in protecting my participants. Before each interview, I read the informed consent of my project to the participant, clearly articulating the purpose of the study, the process of the interview, the foreseeable discomforts and risks, and the benefts of the interview and project (see Appendix B). Afterwards, the participant verbally consented to involvement and consented to audio recording. I assured that any data acquired from participants would remain confdential, including identity. Tis meaning, any personally identifable information that was shared would not be connected to participants or their responses when the data is published. I ensured this confdentiality and privacy through pseudonyms in my research. Once the project is complete, I will destroy all records and personal information in full. Coding and Data Analysis Over the course of two months, the process of data collection and data analysis were done simultaneously. Data collection refers to the 10 completed feld notes I gathered to support my research: nine interviews and one observation. Field notes are considered complete only after they were transcribed with the observer comments and notes that were taken during the real-time data collection. Data analysis refers to the process of coding the completed feld

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notes. Coding would include the identifcation of patterns and creation of themes. Coding of the completed feld notes were generally done within a week or two of the data collection date. Te beginning phases of coding were done inductively, or open. Tis way, any and all events, ideas, issues, behaviors, statements, or activities that were relevant to the research would be identifed. After inductively coding the frst two completed feld notes, there were over 50 open codes to begin deductively coding. By the time the ffth completed feld note was coded, some patterns were becoming visible, prompting the collapse of codes that were related to one another. Tis would mark the start of axial coding in which patterns were identifed. A working codebook was developed at this point to keep track of the various codes and their defnitions throughout the data analysis process. As deductive coding continued on for the rest of the completed feld notes, it became clear that consistent relationships among various patterns existed—themes. In order to get a better grasp of these fndings, focused code sheets were developed to help organize a working analytic memo in which themes would be created. A focused code sheet, as the term suggests, focuses on one specifc axial code across all coded feld notes. When viewed together, the major axial codes help identify the recurring themes that answer how members of self-identifying open and afrming churches create a sense of acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community. Credibility, Dependability, and Transferability With an extensive empirical literature review to back up the premise of this research and as a knowledgeable researcher executing this project, the fndings that result from this research can be considered highly credible. I have spent almost a year working on this project, utilizing my academic resources to ensure the quality of my research. Academic resources include collaboration with my peers and professors, as well as turning to scholarly texts to ensure that my methodology and analysis process remain consistent and ethical. For this reason, the research can be considered highly dependable. Moreover, the fndings of this research is transferable to a diferent population. Te research focuses on how members of two open and afrming churches in the Newport News area can create a sense of acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community. No matter, their responses can help explain the role members of open and afrming churches can play in creating a sense of acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community on a broader scale. People who share similar values to the participants, who are seeking to establish an accepting environment for the LGBTQ+ community, may beneft from this research. Key Codes and Findings Now that there is a complete understanding of how this research project came to be, we can discuss the fndings. To make clear, the research at hand seeks to answer the following question: “How do members of self-identifying open and afrming churches create a sense of acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community?” In order to answer this question, I drew from Gofman’s theory of symbolic interactionism and 15 peer-reviewed empirical sources. Furthermore, I approached the data collection and analysis process from an interpretive and critical theorist perspective and using ethnographic methods. After collecting and analyzing 10 completed feld notes, which included coding nine interviews and completing an observation of an open and afrming church service, three themes, in no particular order of importance, have emerged to answer the question. Tese three themes address how members of open and afrming churches create a sense of acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community. LGBTQ+ Visibility: “We are the rainbow church!” All participants revealed that having LGBTQ+ representation at their church is of utmost importance to them in creating an accepting environment. Tis, I confrmed when doing my

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participant observation at FOHC. By LGBTQ+ representation, I mean the visible presence of LGBTQ+ afrmation, acceptance, and identities at the church. I found that all members were eager to share how their church has been active in promoting and engaging in events and signage that afrm, value, and support the LGBTQ+ community. In doing this, participants hoped to be seen in the community as a safe space for LGBTQ+ individuals to seek refuge. Additionally, participants emphasized the need for community outreach so that LGBTQ+ individuals can see that there are people who truly accept and afrm them, despite occasional societal pushback. During my visit to FOHC, I immediately noticed the outstanding LGBTQ+ signage that FOHC proudly displays around and inside the church. Facing the busy intersection, sitting right in front of the church are seven large pallets painted in rainbow to represent LGBTQ+ identities. When looking straight at the front exterior of the building, I see the cross of Jesus, the carefully crafted rainbow plallets, the brick wall on which the pallets hang, and then the church hidden behind the brick wall. It is an excellent visual of the intersection between Christianity and the LGBTQ+ community—a convergence that is rarely boasted in the Christo-normative world. At the back entrance are two pride signs propped up on the grass. To the right of the door is a wooden palette colored with rainbow stripes reading “Love is Love.” To the left is another bright and colorful wooden palette that reads “God’s Love is Not Just Straight.” After entering the building, I am lead down two short hallways that are lined with LGBTQ+ afrming pride fags. At the corner of one hallway is a rainbow Christmas tree; this, I recognize is another physical symbol of the intersection between Christianity and LGBTQ+ identities. Once at the front of the sanctuary, there are pamphlets and brochures that advertise resources and services for LGBTQ+ people: “Transgender Health Services” and “How to Talk with Your Child about Sexuality.” I was optimistic seeing that there was an information stand in a church that was inclusive of LGBTQ+ identities. Finally, inside the actual sanctuary, hanging on the walls are four angels depicted with varying skin tones. Although this is unrelated to LGBTQ+ representation at FOHC, I call attention to this detail to demonstrate that FOHC is intentional in creating a safe and diverse environment for all that walk through the door. Te observation at FOHC provided me with great insight on the atmosphere of the church and contextualizes the interviews that I had with members of FOHC. Trough this observation, it is clear that members of open and afrming churches can create a sense of acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community by simply decorating their church and outwardly expressing that they are open and afrming. After interviewing with several members of FOHC, I was told that the boldness of the LGBTQ+ signage was actually in response to and in protest of the “Don’t Say Gay” legislation that Florida Governor DeSantis wanted to pass. After this anti-gay movement, members of FOHC expressed an urgent need to make their church more visible so that LGBTQ+ individuals would feel seen and afrmed, in spite of this hateful legislation. Terefore, members of the congregation organized a Pride art event to show support; hence, the rainbow wooden pallets. Tere was a great turnout and all the members of the church, both LGBTQ+ identifying and straight identifying, were eager to talk about the event. However, this is not to say that FOHC only put up LGBTQ+ afrming signage to protest. As identifed from the observation I did, FOHC keeps LGBTQ+ afrming symbols up and around their church yearlong to show their constant support. FOHC almost always decorates the sanctuary for Pride month as well. Speaking of Pride, participants from both FOHC and Noland Church spoke to how their church often attends Pride events in order to show their support for the LGBTQ+ community. Members explained that they believe having a church presence at Pride events is so important to show that not all churches adhere to the long-lasting heteronormative frameworks that have been ingrained in society. Isla Bronson from FOHC was so proud to share that her church attends Pride annually: “Our church went to Pride…no churches do that, and so it’s great!”

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Pastor Eleni from Noland Church, who identifes as asexual, herself, always makes sure to have a table for her church at any Pride event in the area. She does so to afrm any LGBTQ+ identifying individual, regardless of their religious afliation. Literature supports that it is inherently more difcult for LGBTQ+ identifying Christians to feel accepted and afrmed (Severson & Kaufman, 2014). Terefore, it makes it all the more important that churches show up to Pride. In remembering a conversation she had with another LGBTQ+ member of her congregation about Pride, Pastor Eleni perfectly describes the importance behind why open and afrming churches, like FOHC and Noland Church, need to be at Pride: “Mostly it was just having somebody afrm to them, that they were doing the right thing, and that God is pleased with their loving on their neighbors.” It is clear that members of open and afrming churches value the LGBTQ+ community and want to show them that. An easy way to do that is by attending Pride! Moreover, comparable to FOHC and their art event, Noland Church holds their own LGBTQ+ afrming and accepting events. Tere was one social event that made Pastor Eleni particularly emotional to share. It involved older members of her congregation who identify as LGBTQ+ chatting with CNU college students who identify as LGBTQ+. She felt encouraged by this interaction, seeing that she was able to create a space for LGBTQ+ individuals form diferent generations to express themselves and encourage each other to do the same. With that being said, LGBTQ+ events that FOHC and Noland Church organize are always open to the public. Someone does not have to be a member of a church, or even religious for that matter, to be afrming and accepting of the LGBTQ+ community. For this reason, members want to keep their events open. Gracie Little, a prominent member of FOHC, essentially believes that friends and family should fulfll this supportive role in helping individuals be comfortable in their own skin; yet, she recognizes that many LGBTQ+ individuals lack this supportive family environment. Tat is where faith communities can step in. She discloses that FOHC has seen several people come into this space “because of the open and afrming [aspect]; their son is gay or something like that.” Likewise, Pastor Eleni from Noland Church asserts that a goal of her church is to give the community hope in a world of judgment: Te goal is to ofer the larger community the space to be who they are. To have somebody say ‘it’s okay, God loves you exactly as you are.’ Because they don’t hear that very often, and some people don’t ever hear it… that’s why it’s important that we do that. Truthfully, members revealed that they really just want to serve as a resource and safe place for LGBTQ+ individuals, and any other marginalized group, who need a community to afrm them. Tere is this judgment that often comes from the church. Tus, to have two churches that proudly show up at and host their own Pride events really makes a signifcant diference in the community. All members that were interviewed exhibited a deep understanding of the religious traumas that are often associated with church and they are committed to help heal those that have been hurt by the church in any way. LGBTQ+ Afrming Dialogue Being present at Pride and advocating for the LGBTQ+ community through signage and events means little without consistent action. To actively afrm and accept, members of FOHC and Noland Church comfortably converse about and discuss topics regarding LGBTQ+ identities. Tey do this by normalizing conversations about sexuality and gender. Tere is also the use of inclusive speech and language. Naturally, good church leadership will be most infuential in inspiring this safe environment for discussions to be had. By having the conversations and recognizing the power of dialogue, FOHC and Noland church are able to create a sense of acceptance for those that identify at LGBTQ+ within their churches. Familial, educational, and religious institutions are three systems that have the most

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profound efects on producing perceptions of the world. It is through these interactions that people are socialized to be accepting. However, Tate Conway at FOHC does not see that conversations about acceptance can be happening anywhere else but church. He discerns that at the core of it, it is religion that has long steered the way people have come to promote heteronormativity. Henceforth, Tate asserts that “the church needs to take responsibility, they need to take responsibility for what they created, and they need to start to change the course.” Basically he contends that the church is responsible to be welcoming and accepting now. With good leadership, Tate is confdent that this can be accomplished. Now retired, Reverend Elaine refects on her time at FOHC, sharing that as a LGBTQ+ identifying woman serving at the pulpit, she felt that it was her responsibility to make sure that people, particularly other LGBTQ+ individuals, felt embraced and included when at church. She recognizes the power of ritual and disclosed that when the shooting of a gay nightclub in Florida happened, she and other members of FOHC immediately organized a prayer vigil in the sanctuary to honor those that the FOHC stands in solidarity with. When Reverend Elaine was pastor, the conversation was very much present. Moreover, by not limiting herself to such sexist and heteronormative language in her sermons, Reverend Elaine was able to challenge fundamental frameworks that exclude LGBTQ+ identities. For example, she would preach that God is God, believing that to impose a pronoun on an entity, such as God, is unnecessary. Likewise, as Pastor Eleni works to be inclusive in her own sermons at Noland Church, she also makes sure to never use judgment language. She avoids what many of her colleagues would say, which is “you’re going to hell because… [A, B, C].” She believes that it is extremely hurtful that the church even claims the power to condemn because it is so “damaging on the emotional and spiritual level.” Frustrated and emotional when speaking about the church’s power to alienate and persecute anyone who is deemed “deviant,” Pastor Eleni began to recognize her role over the years as a pastor: “I guess it’s the reason that in the midst of difculties in ministry that I have stayed—because I want the world to know that there is something diferent.” In spite of discriminatory religious frameworks, Pastor Eleni devotes herself to creating an accepting, welcoming, and afrming environment for those that are LGBTQ+ identifying in her church. On top of that, Pastor Eleni encourages her members, LGBTQ+ or not, to ask the questions that people often avoid in fear of being judged. Tis helps trigger conversations amongst congregants and is particularly insightful for people who are navigating how to be Christian and LGBTQ+, or be Christian and accepting of the LGBTQ+ community. At Noland Church, members are open to learning about LGBTQ+ identities because they are exposed to it through conversation. Members are encouraged to listen to the narratives of their fellow congregants who are LGBTQ+ identifying, allowing those members who have been so rigid in their beliefs to become more aware and respectful of LGBTQ+ afrming terminology. With that being said, this is not to say that church leadership should expect the LGBTQ+ community to educate people, but more so that open and afrming churches can be a starting point for those who need a space where they can learn to be accepting. After all, it is something that is and has been socialized. If someone has been raised to be non-tolerant, they deserve the grace period to unlearn that. Pastor Eleni describes Noland Church as “a safe place for this person who is trans [and] also a safe place for [the] people who are trying to learn—and it goes both ways.” It has been such taboo to talk about LGBTQ+ identities, therefore the leaders of open and afrming churches want to change this through respectful and open conversations. Even with intentional, afrming dialogue at FOHC and Noland Church, the members of either churches create a sense of acceptance by also, for a lack of better words, not making a big deal out of someone’s sexuality or gender. When asked about the conversation surrounding LGBTQ+ discussions at FOHC, couple Amber and Leo Moreau reveal that it is so normalized there may not be any conversation at all! Leo admits that “there isn’t a conversation on whether

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to do things like [Pride events] because there’s no disagreement…it might be whether we should do a particular event or how we would do an event…not whether it’s right or wrong.” Leo adds that if someone was not accepting, they would have left a long time ago. Same with Pastor Eleni at Noland Church. She has not had any member vocalize their opposition to the LGBTQ+ community, because members who are a part of either of these churches just know that anything hateful is not to be tolerated. Isla, tired of being told that LGBTQ+ identities are wrong, exclaims that “they’re just people like everybody else and they have the same struggles that everyone else has, on top of the LGBTQ stuf!” She was raised in a fundamentalist church and has seen how the church likes to push this dehumanizing narrative about LGBTQ+ individuals: “Tey don’t believe that gay people have families, and they go to church, and they live in your neighborhood.” It has taken Isla years to break away from the heteronormative socializations of her previous religious afliations and now she is so excited to be a part of a church that values someone’s LGBTQ+ identity just as much as the other parts of their identity. Elaine, in her sermons, would emphasize that “there’s more to you than just how you experience intimacy.” Isla perfectly sums up what all the participants feel when asked about the environment for LGBTQ+ individuals at their church: “Who you are doesn’t matter at our church. It’s also none of our business.” Tis is not to say that someone’s identity is not acknowledged and valued, but more so that someone’s LGBTQ+ identity will not be exploited at the church, just because the church is open and afrming. Establishment of God’s Acceptance and Afrmation Now to tackle the larger component that contributes to how members set the tone for an accepting environment at FOHC and Noland Church. After interviewing with nine members of two open and afrming churches, it is clear that what ultimately drives these members to be accepting is their understanding of their faith. When asked questions pertaining to the overlap between their religion and acceptance towards the LGBTQ+ community (see Appendix A), participants would often establish that their faith has lead them to be accepting, despite Christonormative socializations that have led people to think diferently. I found that members of FOHC and Noland Church truly believe that non-tolerance of the LGBTQ+ community is contradictory to what they know to be the Christian faith. Accordingly, members believe that justifcations of intolerance are based on incorrect conjectures, out-of-context scriptures, and misinterpreted teachings of God, Jesus, and the Bible. Tat being so, in order to push forward their ideals and challenge what other non-afrming, non-accepting, and non-tolerant churches preach, members of open and afrming churches are dedicated to (1) calling out the hypocrisy of non-tolerant Christians to defend their LGBTQ+ peers, (2) focusing on God’s acceptance and love for everyone, and (3) welcoming the ambiguity of the Bible. Te root cause of religious trauma for Christians, particularly LGBTQ+ individuals is long-lasting heteronormative frameworks that are reinforced by Christian churches. Te church’s ability to cause harm was confrmed throughout the nine interviews. Tree of the nine participants I interviewed directly admitted that they have experienced religious traumas themselves, one of them due to his LGBTQ+ identity. Hence, to these three members, the importance of open and afrming churches is all the more important. With that being the case, all participants see that open and afrming churches are the frst step to moving forward. Still, when the interview prompted a conversation about intolerance towards the LGBTQ+ community and their being alienated by the church, all participants got emotional, sad, frustrated, and angry. Clearly upset, Emmy Jenkins from FOHC explicitly calls out the hypocrisy of some Christians in the way that they pick and choose which people to marginalize and condemn: “Well, you know, if [being gay is] a sin, then so is this, and so is that.” Emmy further questions the Christians who justify their rejection of the LGBTQ+ community with

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religion: “if you know the teachings of Christ, how can you feel that way?” Dorothy Schmidt from FOHC similarly has a hard time understanding how fellow Christians can be so hateful towards the LGBTQ+ community: “I don’t see how you can follow what I think the church says and harbor those kinds of feelings.” Te way that Emmy and Dorothy understand and know the Christian faith has not led them to be non-accepting, but just the opposite. Of course, these reactions were more or less the same across the board with all the participants— as expected. How these two women and the other participants have come to know their Christian faith has encouraged love, embracement, and acceptance. Tere is little room for hate, judgment, and rejection. Although it seems obvious that participants believe that intolerance is incompatible with their Christian faith, it is moving to see that all of the participants are taking a stand to fght against the intolerance by joining an open and afrming church. Tese people, especially those that identify as straight, could have easily stayed in a congregation that was not so open about their afrmation for the LGBTQ+ community. However, these participants are all motivated to stand against what other churches are preaching as fact—that being LGBTQ+ identifying is wrong. In order to do this, members of FOHC and Noland Church are committed to disputing the hate speech, including the out-of-context scriptures and misinterpreted teachings, that have traumatized so many people. For one, part of the conversation about the LGBTQ+ community at these churches is that there is an emphasis on how LGBTQ+ individuals are God’s creation. Gracie, Emmy, and Pastor Eleni all asserted that God created everyone to be who they are, thus LGBTQ+ individuals are who God wants them to be, and thus LGBTQ+ individuals must be afrmed. LGBTQ+ people should not be ridiculed for who they are meant to be. Reverend Elaine afrms that one’s “sexuality is God’s gift.” Pastor Eleni tears up when she contemplates how efective the church has become at alienating: “To know that people are being condemned for who God created them to be…” Tis is not what the members of these open and afrming churches want and Amber asserts that “that’s not what Jesus wanted.” Tese members want LGBTQ+ individuals to know that they are taken by Jesus as they are, no strings attached. Tey want LGBTQ+ individuals to be comfortable in their own skin; open and afrming churches are a place for that. Moreover, participants from both churches like to highlight the love aspect of life, calling attention to the love that Christians are supposed to give in order to honor God’s commands. At FOHC and Noland Church, members remind each other that God commands people to love, God loves and accepts everyone as they are, and Jesus loved and accepted everyone. To make this love exclusive to straight cis-gendered individuals is wrong; to do this would be contradictory to the ideals of Christianity. Leo maintains that if he could simplify Christianity with one scripture, it would be “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Likewise, Tate is passionate about love, wanting that all kinds of love be celebrated. Tate sums up what all the other participants were expressing when referring to LGBTQ+ love. If you’ve got somebody who really loves you, and cares about you, then you should be allowed to be with that person… there’s no such thing as the wrong kind of love... the world is screwed up and if you fnd somebody that you love, you got to hold on to it. FOHC and Noland Church truly preach that love is love. Members advocate for a world in which the pure love that someone exhibits is never shut down and is instead, as Tate puts it, celebrated. Finally, all participants work to contextualize and dismiss the clobber passages that have long been used to spread hate and invigorate non-tolerance towards LGBTQ+ individuals. Reverend Elaine and Nathan Eastwood, both LGBTQ+ individuals at FOHC, expressed their exhaustion at hearing out-of-context scriptures and misinterpreted teachings being used for decades in order to justify intolerance. Nathan points out that “people who are not tolerant

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use religion to justify all sorts of businesses and phobias,” including homophobia. He, just as other participants have, found it most comical and ridiculous that people will even use religion as a way to validate their hate. Having strong feelings about these clobber passages and hate speech, Leo and Nathan each proceeded to counter the various comments that have been used to instigate bigotry towards LGBTQ+ individuals. For instance, Leo explained that people took a story about rape in the Bible and called the problem homosexuality and drew attention to the fact that the frst Christian convert to Christianity was a Black transgender person. Whereas Leo was short in his response, Nathan insisted on listing all the ways in which Christian intolerance is foolish, referencing New and Old Testament texts: Johnathan says he loved David more than he loved any other woman…Jesus never said one single word about homosexuality…Paul said nothing can separate us from the love of God…and it would also include the fact that I love other men… I can tell you about Ruth and Naomi… By interrogating the foundations of Christianity, members of open and afrming churches are able to recognize that it was society who framed Christianity to be the intolerant and discriminant body that it is known to be today. It is not religion, itself, that is harmful and imposing judgment, but more so the corrupt religious systems and fabrications. With this understanding, members can make clear that LGBTQ+ individuals are wanted, valued, and loved. Te unwavering distinction between the two is critical in healing the religious wounds of the LGBTQ+ community. Limitations and Moving Forward Religion and sexuality, as aforementioned, are two very sensitive and personal topics. I was fortunate to be able to speak with participants that were so open in and excited about sharing their personal experiences with their own religious journey and identity formation. Again, I examined how members of self-identifying open and afrming churches can create a sense of acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community. I was looking for ways in which members give value to the LGBTQ+ community through afrmation and inclusion, with hopes that they can inspire other members of churches to do so the same. However, as important as it is to socialize adults to be accepting, it is arguably more important to socialize children; yet, both of these churches lack the presence of children in their congregations. Speaking to this, there remains the question of how open and afrming churches can create an environment where children feel comfortable to engage in non-conforming behavior and performance, if they choose. Of course, it can be assumed that there are overlaps in these inquiries, but childhood is really where perceptions and attitudes are formed. For this reason, future research can explore if open and afrming churches have a role in childhood socializations of acceptance for LGBTQ+ identities. Additionally, I recognize that I focused my research at two churches that tend to be more liberal, progressive, and fuid depending on the congregation; this would be the United Church of Christ (UCC) church, which falls under the Protestant branch, and the Disciples of Christ (DOC) church, which is non-denominational. Tese churches do not have to answer to a higher power. Terefore, in a sense, the members of these churches are more equipped than say a Catholic or Mormon would be in welcoming LGBTQ+ individuals. Moreover, beliefs of the participant changed little in order for them to create a sense of acceptance; members of more conservative and fundamentalist churches may struggle with this a bit more, whether it be due to internal struggles or higher power restraints. I bring this up to address that the idea of open and afrming churches seems to already be catered to a specifc group of Christians. Tus, there is an implication that LGBTQ+ identifying Christians may only ever feel accepted and afrmed at an open and afrming church, reinforcing the religious “othering” of LGBTQ+

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individuals. Future research can explore how the manifestation of acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community can cross the borders of all religious institutions. Is it possible for an LGBTQ+ individual to truly feel that organized religion validates them? Is there a place for organized religion as people come to terms with the harm that organized religion has inficted upon marginalized groups, such as the LGBTQ+ community? It goes without saying that this would call for a study observing the intersections between religion, society, and politic all together. For now, my research flls the gap in showing how open and afrming churches, specifcally, have a functional role in society and religion as it relates to LGBTQ+ individuals. Conclusion All in all, research with members of two open and afrming churches in the Newport News area brings hope to society in that members have demonstrated the possibility of the LGBTQ+ community feeling accepted, afrmed, and included in church. Te self-identifying churches do this by (1) being visible in their LGBTQ+ acceptance and afrmation, (2) initiating inclusive dialogue about LGBTQ+ identities, and (3) establishing that Christianity is an accepting and afrming religion. In spite of governing Christian perspectives, members of open and afrming churches work relentlessly to deconstruct the skeletal systems of what has left everlasting scars on people that do not meet heteronormative standards and expectations. By creating a sense of acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community, members are efective in confronting the socializations of heteronormative behavior and performance. After this research, it can be observed that Erving Gofman’s theory of the self being vulnerable is upheld. Christians and LGBTQ+ identifying Christians seek to be afrmed, whether or not they admit it, by their peers and by God. Tat is why people still go to church in face of the damaging consequences it has imposed upon others and themselves. Tat is why open and afrming churches need to be more prominent as younger generations—younger generations whom seek afrmation—are driven away from religion. Religious and spiritual spaces, if crafted carefully, can be a safe haven for afrmation, no matter the identity. To add, by approaching this research from interpretive and critical perspectives, it has been understood that the value of creating an accepting environment in open and afrming churches derives from social justice eforts to advocate for every and all marginalized groups. Using both theories, I made sense of why members care so much about the position of their church, as well as uncovered the social change that these members want to be a part of. My hope is that the research conducted has disrupted the invisible, yet powerful boundary between religion and sexuality. By shedding light on how members of self-identifying open and afrming churches are creating pockets of safety for the LGBTQ+ community, I am encouraged that religion will no longer be used a tool to dismiss LBGTQ+ identities. As America grapples with how all institutions are essentially undergirded by religion, specifcally Christianity, acceptance and afrmation of the LGBTQ+ community can no longer be negotiated. LGBTQ+ identities and LGBTQ+ individuals exist and this research confrms that there is no place for non-afrming, non-accepting, and non-tolerant Christians in today’s society.

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References Babbie, E. R. (2021). Qualitative Field Research. In Te practice of Social Research (15th ed., pp. 323–336). chapter, Cengage. Bailey, J. M., Bechtold, K. T., & Berenbaum, S. A. (2002). Who are Tomboys and Why Should We Study Tem? Archives of Sexual Behavior, 31(4), 333-341. https://www. proquest.com/scholarly-journals/who-are-tomboys-why-should-we-study-them/ docview/72010279/se-2?accountid=10100 Berkowitz, D., & Ryan, M. (2011). Bathrooms, Baseball, and Bra Shopping: Lesbian and Gay Parents Talk about Engendering their Children. Sociological Perspectives, 54(3), 329–350. https://doi.org/10.1525/sop.2011.54.3.329 Biscop, K., Malliet, S., & Dhoest, A. (2019). Subversive Ludic Performance: An Analysis of Gender and Sexuality Performance in Digital Games. DiGeSt. Journal of Diversity and Gender Studies, 6(2), 23–42. https://doi.org/10.11116/digest.6.2.2 Darwin, H. (2020). Navigating the Religious Gender Binary. Sociology of Religion, 81(2), 185-205. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/socrel/srz034 Dias, E. V. A., Santos, I. L. S., & Pimentel, C. E. (2023, February 8). LGBTQ+ Media Exposure and Attitudes: Measures’ Development and the Moderating Role of Sexual Orientation. SpringerLink. Retrieved April 25, 2023, from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/ s13178-023-00792-5 Flores, A. R., Haider-Markel, D. P., Lewis, D. C., Miller, P. R., Tadlock, B. L., & Taylor, J. K. (2018). Challenged Expectations: Mere Exposure Efects on Attitudes About Transgender People and Rights. Political Psychology, 39(1), 197–216. http://www.jstor. org/stable/45094424 Gofman, E. (1959). Te presentation of self in everyday life. Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group. Halie, W., & Harrison, K. (2021). Emerging adults and Gender Norms: Everyday Life Experiences, Media Perceptions, Attitudes, and Future Expectations. Gender Issues, 38(4), 420-437. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12147-020-09270-3 Halim, M. L., Ruble, D., Tamis-LeMonda, C., & Shrout, P. E. (2013). Rigidity in GenderTyped Behaviors in Early Childhood: A Longitudinal Study of Ethnic Minority Children. Child Development, 84(4), 1269–1284. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23469377 Hesse-Biber. (2017). Paradigmatic Approaches to Qualitative Research. In Te Practice of Qualitative Research (3rd ed., pp. 20–33). essay, Sage. Hofman, R. M. (2006). Gender Self-Defnition and Gender Self-Acceptance in Women: Intersections with Feminist, Womanist, and Ethnic Identities. Journal of Counseling and Development : JCD, 84(3), 358-372. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6678.2006. tb00415.x

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Appendix A Question Guide for Semi-Structured Interview 1)

How long have you been going to your church?

How often do you go and with who?

Why did you want to join this church?

Has your religion changed over time? How so?

In general, do you think your religion has afected your attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community? How so?

How important is it that your religion, and thus your church, accepts the LGBTQ+ community?

How important is the acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community to you, in general?

How do you think your role at the church afects wider acceptance towards the LGBTQ+ community?

Is there anyone in your life that identifes as LGBTQ+? Did this afect your view on this community?

10) What do you think of the church expressing its allyship with the LGBTQ+ community? 11) Have you been a part of any events or services that promote and/or show support to the LGBTQ+ community? Tell me about them. 12) What is the conversation surrounding the LGBTQ+ community at church among the members? Is there a conversation? 13) How has the church created an environment where a person’s sexuality and identity does not compete with their identity in Christ/their faith? 14) Have you ever been in a position where you have seen tension between religion and support for the LGBTQ+ community? Tell me about it. 15) How do you perceive the church’s ability to alienate people identifying as LGBTQ+? 16) Do you have any advice for people who are religious and are feeling a tension between their religion and their queer identity? 17) How can churches be a safe place for parents and LGBTQ+ kids to empathize with each other? 18) And what of future generations? How do you think progressive and/or openafrming churches will serve them? 19) Can you think of anything else that you think I should know or ask? Is there anything else you would like to add? 20) Do you know of anyone else who would be willing to talk to me about this topic?

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Appendix B IRB Approved Informed Consent

INFORMED CONSENT Title of Project: Religious Socializations and Developments in regards to the LGBTQ+ Community Principal Investigators: Tracy Nguyen, Undergraduate Anthropology and Sociology Student Christopher Newport University tracy.nguyen.20@cnu.edu Andria D. Timmer, Associate Professor of Anthropology Christopher Newport University andria.timmer@cnu.edu You are being asked to take part in a study that explores how acceptance and tolerance for the LGBTQ+ community is socialized and developed within open-afrming and/or progressive religious institutions. I will request your permission to record this interview that will take no more than an hour. Your participation and responses are completely voluntary. Feel free to skip any question(s) that you would prefer not to answer; you may end the interview at any time. Tere are no foreseeable risks that would result from your participation and there is no direct beneft in the form of compensation. However, your participation will help me and the larger society better understand the perceptions and attitudes surrounding non-heteronormative behavior in relation to religious afliation. Your identity will remain confdential in any publications that results from this research. I will be here to answer any questions you may have about the study, including what I intend to do with the information you provide me. Purpose of Study Te purpose of this study is to understand how members of open-afrming and/or progressive religious institutions come to tolerate, and even further, accept those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer. I am looking to understand how these religious institutions have socialized and developed perceptions and attitudes in support of the LGBTQ+ community, particularly in Newport News. Procedures You will be asked to participate in an interview that will take between 45 minutes to an hour. If you consent, this interview will be recorded, but only for the researcher to listen to; it will not be shared. If you do not consent to be recorded, the interviewer will take notes. You will be asked about your attitudes and feelings towards the LGBTQ+ community and how your religious afliation has shaped these attitudes and feelings. You will be asked questions that refer to your faith and religion.

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Discomforts and Risks Tere are no risks in participating in this research. Some of the questions are personal and might cause discomfort. You may be asked to reveal some sensitive and personal information regarding your experience as a member of this, or another, religious institution. Please share as much or as little as you wish. You may stop the interview at any time. You may withdraw consent to participate at any time without penalties. Benefts You will not receive any compensation for your time and involvement, but your participation will beneft the greater society in understanding how religion contributes to perceptions of and attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community. Moreover, your participation can be helpful for people who have experienced or are experiencing similar religious frameworks in their own lives. Statement of Confdentiality Your participation in this research is confdential. Tis means that any personally identifable information you share will not be connected to you or your responses when the data is published. Data Storage Data related to this study will be stored on a password protected computer accessible only to the researcher and professor. It will be deleted in full after the study is completed. Do you consent to being a part of this study? Do you consent to being audio/video recorded? Te recordings will be used for the researchers’ purposes only. Questions If you have any questions regarding this research, please contact Tracy Nguyen (tracy.nguyen.20@cnu.edu) or Dr. Andria D. Timmer (andria.timmer@cnu.edu). You may report dissatisfaction with any aspect of this experiment to the Chair of the Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects (IRB), Dr. Leslie Rollins at irb@cnu.edu.

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About the Author Tracy Nguyen graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Sociology from Christopher Newport University (CNU) in May 2023. She is passionate about social and cultural justice, fueling her desire to pursue careers in public health equity and community development in the future. Her goal is to empower and strengthen youth, senior, and underserved populations by providing and educating about accessible services and resources. Tracy’s dedication to her studies led to her memberships in numerous honors societies including Alpha Chi National College Honor Society, Lambda Alpha National Anthropology Honor Society, and Alpha Kappa Delta International Honor Society of Sociology. During her undergraduate experience, Tracy had the opportunity to study abroad in Florence, Italy for a semester. She plans to utilize the intercultural communication and adaptability skills she honed from her experience as she continues to travel and interact with diverse groups. Some notable achievements of Tracy’s include (1) her presentation on systemic racism and white supremacy in America at CNU’s annual Paideia Conference in 2020 and (2) her involvement in a panel discussion about the challenges and barriers to refugee resettlement in the Newport News and Hampton Roads area at the Hampton Roads Social Justice Conference in 2023. Te paper included in this edition of Te Cupola, “When Issues Stop Being Issues and Become Flesh and Blood,” earned her recognition from her departmental faculty in which she was awarded the Robert Durel Teory Award. Tis award is a testament to her exceptional understanding and application of sociological theory. Beyond academia, Tracy was actively involved in campus life through being a part of Campus Activities Board and Women’s Club Soccer. Moreover, she was a regular volunteer at Meals on Wheels for three years.

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Aerospace, Defense & Government Equity Multiple Analysis Hayden Olsen Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Niazur Rahim, Department of Accounting and Finance

Abstract Historical equity multiple trends in the Aerospace, Defense & Government (ADG) has been loosely studied in the past, mostly focusing on which valuation technique is most viable and accurate for valuing companies within this sector. Little research has been conducted examining the relationship between the United States Defense Budget and EV/EBITDA equity multiples produced through the DCF valuation method. Te Defense Budget was the factor that was selected due to its prevalence within the ADG sector and the prevalence and implications it has on the ADG sector. Te time period between 2010 – 2022 was selected, and at least 10 deals per year were collected. Over that same period, the U.S Defense Budget was collected and analyzed for the relationship between the budget and EV/EBITDA multiples. Te analysis displayed an inverse relationship between the U.S Defense Budget and ADG EV/ EBITDA multiples. Tis information can be used by investment banks and private equity frms to help forecast equity multiples for the year ahead based of of the Defense Budget passed by Congress.

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Introduction Mergers & Acquisitions are highly relevant in the Aerospace, Defense & Government (ADG) sector. Mergers can enable companies to expand capabilities and enter new markets, while acquisitions can allow companies to retain market share and reduce competition. Historically there has been many approaches to structuring M&A buyouts, difering between individuals on the sell-side and the buy-side of the transaction. Tese diferences stem from the valuation method that is used to generate an enterprise value. Due to this, the need for uniformity and efciency became apparent in the M&A process, which is when the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model came to the forefront. In general, the DCF method of M&A valuation uses Free Cash Flow (FCF) generated by a business during their growth periods and a terminal value (the value of the business beyond its growth stage through the going-concern of the entity), then uses a discount rate to bring these values back to present value. Te summation of the present value of FCF and terminal value is what results in the valuation of the business entity. Although the DCF model is industry standard, there are a handful of other M&A valuation techniques such as: comparable companies, precedent transactions and the leveraged buyout. Tese methods will be discussed in detail Generally, the DCF approach is best when the FCF of the entity can be reasonably projected; whereas the other methods are generally used when FCF is difcult to adequately estimate. Once the DCF generates a value for a business entity, investment bankers and private equity frms typically apply equity multiples to the price generated by the DCF. Tis multiple represents the value of the business in during the terminal stage, as well as accounting for buyout premium of the entity. Te methodology and outcomes of the comparable companies methodology and precedent transactions methodology will be discussed in the literature review portion of this essay, as well as the reasoning and existing literature that supports the usage of the DCF valuation methodology. Te most popular multiple, and the one that will be discussed in this paper, is Enterprise Value (EV)/EBITDA. Te EV/EBITDA (referred hereon as “multiple” or “multiples”) multiples difer from industry to industry. Multiples difer from industry to industry due to many factors, including growth rates, inventory turnover and the age of the industry. For example, when technology came to the market in the late 1990s, the tech sector experienced unprecedentedly high equity multiples. As industries mature and become more established, their multiples tend to level out and the fuctuation from year-toyear tends to tighten. Historically, the ADG sector has been rather isolated from broader market conditions, as most of the funding in the sector is supported by the defense budget passed by the United States Congress. Government subsidies enable ADG companies to spend larger amounts on R&D and CAPEX, which allows them to be on the leading edge of technological advancements and stay ahead of adversaries. Additionally, a large portion of revenue streams for defense and government contracting companies comes from contracts with the United States government. Currently, average ADG multiples sit at 12.7x for EV/EBITDA multiples, which has fallen slightly since 2020 when they were at record high levels of 14.5x during a historic year for M&A activity within the sector. Sector median for 2022 FCF yield per publicly traded share of the company sat at 6.5%, which is over a percentage point increase from 2021 FCF yield per publicly traded share of the company which was 5.2%. In 2022 ADG average EBITDA margin sat at 10.4%, which was an increase from 9.0% in 2021 for the sector. Even in the turbulent overall market conditions in 2023, the ADG sector has proved not to be sensitive to the current market conditions, with multiple staying high and equities trading sideways for the last twelve months. One emerging and highly relevant trend within the ADG industry has been the United States Department of Defense and the Federal Trade Commission voicing their concerns about

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consolidation within the sector, with large conglomerates such as Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT), Raytheon Technologies (RTX) and Boeing Co. (BA) holding a large percentage of all outstanding contracts. Te DoD stated that this is a threat to national security, as the consolidation has efectively handcufed the government to using one of the big players in the industry for every contract. Due to this, the FTC has begun restricting M&A activity to protect national security, most notably Lockheed Martin’s blocked acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne (AJRD) for $4.4 billion in cash in 2022. Tis precedent has been used since to block other notable acquisitions and will inarguably change the landscape for the industry going forward. Te long-term efects of this will likely be an entrance of new major players to the marketplace, such as L3Harris’ (LHX) recent acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne for $4.7 billion in cash in late 2022. Te blocked acquisition of LMT and the permitted acquisition from LHX illustrates the attempts made by regulators to reshape the industry. Tis will promote growth within the industry and likely entice more businesses to attempt to enter the marketplace, as the government is actively seeking to dilute market share held by large conglomerates and bring in new players. As a result of this, forecasts for ADG M&A activity remain strong. Te main factor that will be examined in relation to ADG multiples is the defense budget of the United States. Te United States has the largest defense budget in the world, and makes up over 60% of all expenditures on defense globally. In 2021, the defense budget was $800.67 billion, which represents a 2.86% YoY increase from 2020, or 3.48% of the United States’ 2021 GDP. Te defense budget grows year-over-year, and it can be reasonably assumed that this trend will continue. Tere has been a long established relationship between the defense budget and ADG equity multiples (PwC, 2022); however, this paper will examine how strongly this relationship exists and what efects the budget has on multiples in the short- and long-term. With a strong industry outlook and a shifting industry landscape, the ADG sector is set for a historic decade ahead for M&A activity. Being able to predict how equity multiples will react in relation to congressional defense budgets would enable organizations both on the buyside and the sell-side to more accurately structure buyouts based on preceding transactions and historical trends. Literature Review Historically there have been many approaches to the valuation process for M&A deals, specifcally within the ADG sector. Prior to the emergence of the EV/EBITDA multiple method through the utilization of the DCF model, many sell-side advisors would attempt to use other metrics as a proxy to generate a buyout multiple. Te Center for Strategic and International Studies discusses these approaches, as well as the faws in the methods (Berteau, 2011). During the study buy-side private equity associates and sell-side investment banking analysts were interviewed and asked to discuss the prior deals that utilized outdated methods, such as the comparable companies valuation or precedent transactions valuation, which would create a buyout multiple (Berteau, 2011). Berteau begins his study with the analysis of the comparable companies’ analysis. In short, this method looks for previous deals within the same sector with similar metrics, typically gross proft margin, and then applies the buyout multiple that was paid for preceding deal to the transaction that is currently getting priced. Just as the name implies, this method fnds the most comparable prior transaction and applies its structure to the company that is looking to get sold. When determining what preceding transaction to use as the comparable transaction, historically bankers have used gross proft margin. Berteau discusses how gross proft margin is an inadequate measure for the ADG sector, as the revenue streams can be highly concentrated in one or a few contracts. Tis difers from a “typical” company, as ADG companies do not have nearly the amount of inventory turnover (Berteau, 2011). Berteau discusses an alternative

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metric that bankers attempt to use when conducting comparable companies valuation, which is operating proft margin; however, Berteau found that “operating proft margin has surprisingly not shown steady growth during his study (FY90 – FY10); rather, has experienced fuctuations in line with changes in the US defense budget” (Berteau, 2011). Berteau then discusses the precedent transaction approach to M&A valuation that dominated the ADG sector in the early 2000’s. In the precedent transaction approach bankers examine the aggregate buyouts within the ADG sector and the correlating multiple that was paid, then takes the average from all of the precedent transactions and applies that to the current deal that is seeking to get valued. Te popularity of this approach is shown through the spread of historical averages of buyout multiples being very tight over time, as prior deals were priced using historical averages, which would keep the industry average steady overtime. Berteau then discusses how industry changes have led to this valuation method becoming increasingly inadequate (2011). Te metric Berteau uses to represent the change in the industry is liquidity ratios, as he claims this is most relevant when a buyout is occurring. Berteau found that “liquidity ratios for ADG companies have actually declined since FY90”, which is “attributable to the laxing of governmental regulation and FTC oversight in the industry, as conglomerates have bought out much of the competition and the need to have competitive liquidity ratios is reduced” (2011). As conglomerates have grown within the sector, Berteau explains that the industry landscape has changed due to the consolidation. Te precedent transactions method would soon be widely controlled by conglomerates as they continue to buyout and consolidate the space; however, Berteau argues that this change in multiples would not be the equilibrium market price for an acquisition, rather they would be artifcially created by the conglomerates (2011). Berteau’s study concludes that the EV/EBITDA method through the DCF model is a more accurate method of valuation, as it is able to generate an intrinsic value of a company based of of the summation of the cash-fows, discounted back to their present values (Berteau, 2011). Columbia Business School expanded upon this topic and ofered a more in-depth look at the accuracy of EBITDA multiples generated through a DCF model; specifcally, when the company who is getting acquired is publicly traded (Liu, 2001). Liu begins his study by discussing the problems involved in the comparable companies valuation method for publicly traded frms. Liu found that “performance declines substantially when all frms in the crosssection each year are used as comparable frms,” and “utilizing comparable companies improves performance mainly for poorly-performing multiples” (Liu, 2001). In short, he concluded that when investment bankers fnd companies that are similar based of of ratio analysis, the whole essence and enterprise value of the frm cannot be fully captured. Tis, in turn, results in poor companies getting masked as having a fnancially strong position, as the comparable company selected does not adequately represent their current stature as a going-concern. As a result, the antiquated comparable companies valuation technique does not produce accurate multiples for structuring a corporate buyout (Liu, 2001). Liu proceeds to discuss how the DCF method of valuation results in the most accurate projection of company value. Similar to Berteau’s (2011) research conclusion regarding the DCF method, Liu concludes that “DCF valuations approximate transacted value reasonably well” and that the method is the “most accurate method that is currently disposable” (Liu, 2001). While there is existing and ample literature on valuation techniques and methods, there is little academic precedent regarding specifcally the historical trends of EV/EBITDA generated by the DCF valuation method in the ADG sector. However, there were sources that compiled these multiples over-time without ofering commentary on the driving forces of the historical trends. Tese sites included: Capstone Partners, Valueanalytics and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

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In this paper the historical trends of EV/EBITDA multiples will be discussed, as well the impact that the U.S. Defense Budget plays in the fuctuation of these equity multiples. Te ADG sector emerged within fnance in the early 2000’s, and since then it has experienced much growth. However, there is not as much scholastic literature exclusively focused on the ADG sector when compared to other industries, such as technology; however, the ADG sector can be seen as a sub-sector to technology, which allows valuation methods to be transferrable between the two. Tis is likely due to the fact that the ADG sector is seen as an isolated and inelastic industry, meaning macroeconomic conditions tend not to afect the sector. As a result, the ADG sector has relatively stable historical equity multiples. Tis stability is seen in the trailing 12-year trend for EV/EBITDA multiples fuctuating between 11.70x and 14.50x; whereas the technology sector experienced EV/EBITDA multiple fuctuations ranging between 12.8x and 23.9x during the same period (Drazdou, 2022). However, this is not to say that no academic research has been conducted on the ADG sector, with many prominent businesses releasing outlooks and analyses for the industry. Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG) is a prominent auditor for ADG companies and has been since the emergence of the sector in the early 2000’s, which in turn has made them a centerpiece for ADG research and analysis. KPMG releases statistics annually on the ADG sector focusing on sponsor activity within the sector, which entails buyouts from Private Equity, Strategics and Family Ofces within the ADG sector. In their release in 2023 titled “Te Private Equity Opportunity in Aerospace & Defense” KPMG examines the trends in 2022 equity multiples, as well as discussed their outlook for the industry in the coming years (KPMG, 2022). One metric that KPMG found as a leading indicator of EV/EBITDA multiples was the DoD’s Discretionary Defense Budget, which they analyze starting in FY00 through FY25 utilizing projections and growth rates for the budget (KPMG, 2022). Tese projections again show EV/EBITDA multiples staying within the 12.0x range, with little movement to the upside or downside presumed (KPMG, 2022). KPMG then goes on to examine the current industry landscape of the ADG sector, and the implications of past M&A activity within the sector. Tree companies are primarily focused on and are referred to as the “Tree Players” within the ADG industry, which are: Lockheed Martin Global Inc. (LMT), Raytheon Technologies Corp. (RTX) and Boeing Co. (BA) (KPMG, 2022). Tey examine the large-scale buyouts that the Tree Players have participated in, and the resulting consolidation within the industry that has ensued. In essence, this consolidation has created “three corporate structures that efectively have monopolized the industry for Government contracts” (KPMG, 2022). As a result of the creation of these conglomerates, the United States Department of Defense (DoD), in tandem with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), have been closely monitoring the competitive landscape within the industry for government contracting frms competing and re-competing for government contracts. Due to this strict scrutiny, the DoD and DHS have concluded that the widespread control that the Tree Players have within the ADG space is a threat to national security, as the reduction in competition has led to lackluster output from these companies on contracts (KPMG, 2022). As a result of this conclusion, the DoD and DHS have put pressure on the FTC to block acquisitions that would serve to reduce competition within the already heavily concentrated sector. Tis was exemplifed by the FTC’s blocked acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc. by LMT in early 2022 (FTC, 2022). Tis concerted efort by the DoD and DHS will inarguably serve to reshape the ADG sector, as their goal is to promote the entrance of new players into the competitive landscape. Methodology Domestic companies within the ADG sector were analyzed and the equity multiple that was paid for the acquisition was recorded. Tis data was sourced from a multitude of sources,

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including: Bloomberg, CapitalIQ, Wall Street Journal, and the Financial Times. In addition, documents published by both investment banks and private equity frms were also used in the collection of the data, as well as to outline the industry landscape and historical trends. Federal documents released by the Department of Defense (DoD) were collected and used to record the U.S. Defense Budget annually. Te period analyzed is from 2010 – 2022, as this period is representative of historical M&A activity that plays an integral role in the pricing of mergers currently. At least 10 data points were taken a year, with up to 33 data points taken from a single year. Te inconsistency is due to the lack of transparent public disclosure of acquisitions within the space. Te criteria for selection into the data set was multifaceted, and served to ensure that companies within the data set were of a similar size. To do this, companies had to have over $750 M in annual revenue and an EBITDA of over $450 M. Additionally, companies had to be found within the United States and be categorized in the ADG sector. Technology companies that performed services for defense or government contracting companies were also included, as they provide services that are crucial to the national defense of the U.S. and can therefore be included in the ADG data set. Lastly, the company that was acquired had to have publicly available fnancial statement information for both the year of the acquisition as well as the year prior. Tis allows the multiple paid to be calculated if it cannot be found on Bloomberg or CapitalIQ. All fnancial statement information was collected from Bloomberg, Te Wall Street Journal and disclosures either found on the company’s website or from the SEC. Te data set consisted of 324 data points from acquisitions that met the criteria discussed above. Table 1 shows the average of the data series for the 324 data points, as well as the annual defense budget for the U.S. Table 1. Historical Trends

Year 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Avg. EV/EBITDA Equity Multiple 12.10 12.30 11.90 11.70 12.80 13.20 12.50 12.80 13.10 13.50 14.50 13.30 12.70

U.S. Defense Budget (in Billions) $ 738.01 $ 752.29 $ 725.21 $ 679.23 $ 647.79 $ 633.83 $ 639.86 $ 646.75 $ 682.49 $ 734.34 $ 778.40 $ 800.67 $ 813.30

Tis data was used to conduct analysis on the historical trends of EV/EBITDA equity multiples, as well as the relationship between the trend and the U.S. Defense Budget. Analysis Te fuctuation observed in the defense budget was greater than that observed in EV/ EBITDA equity multiples during the period. To visually see the interaction between the two categories analyzed, please see Figure 1.

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Figure 1. Historical Trends Visualization

During this period the dataset proves that the defense budget and EV/EBITDA equity multiples are inversely related, with downward trends in the defense budget leading to increases in the multiple paid during buyouts. Te variance observed in the ADG sector is much less volatile than that of other sectors in the economy. Tis is due to the isolated and somewhat anti-cyclical nature of the ADG industry. Te sector does not follow broader market trends, as exemplifed in Figure 2. Figure 2. Equity Multiples vs. S&P 500 Performance

Because the industry is shielded from broader market conditions, this allows equity multiples to remain stable over time, as supported from the data collected in our sample set. Tis stability

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promotes efciency in the pricing of M&A deals in the sector and proves the maturity of the sector. Tere is no clear reasoning behind this trend in the data that was observed over the 13-year period. Te presumed relationship between the Defense Budget and EV/EBITDA multiples is a linear one, as typically an increase in the budget would result in a correlated increase in multiples within the industry. Tis, however, is not the case with the ADG sector, as the indirect relationship between the two seemingly defes the basic economic fundamentals of supply and demand. Tese economic laws would assert that, as the DoD Budget increases, the demand for activity within the sector would simultaneously increase, and M&A activity would be hot during the period. However, the data does not support this, as in actuality the opposite has happened over the last 13 years. Conclusion While the U.S Defense Budget has an efect on EV/EBITDA equity multiples, the two are not directly correlated. Rather, trends in multiples tend to act in an opposite direction, or display an inverse relationship, to that of the Defense Budget. Tis study examined the last 13 years of available data for ADG buyout multiples using the EV/EBITDA multiple method produced through the DCF model. Decreases in the Defense Budget resulted in equity multiples rising during that same year. As discussed, this is seemingly contradictory behavior, as increases in the Defense Budget leads to decreases in multiples, and vice-versa. Te reasoning behind this inverse behavior should be studied further, to determine why the two factors are inversely related, and what drives equity multiples down as the government passes larger Defense Budgets. Te implications of this research are primarily in forecasting multiples for investment banks and equity researchers, as the historical data proves there is a relationship between the Defense Budget and ensuing EV/EBITDA multiples. Te Defense Budget could change for a plethora of reasons; however, two of the most common are political and global afairs. As proposals of the Defense Budget get introduced and work their way through Congress, it will help predict how multiples will react in the year to follow. Similarly, global afairs, both domestic and abroad, play a large role in the determination of the Defense Budget. Generally speaking, conficts will result in an increase in the U.S. Defense Budget, which would in turn lead to equity multiples receding. On the contrary, peacetimes typically lead to smaller growth in the Defense Budget, which would result in equity multiples rising. While this research does shows signifcant results over the period of 2010 – 2022, there is still more research to be done regarding the long-term historical trends of these two factors. Tis would help to shine light on how correlated the relationship is overtime. Boundaries to this research will be accessibility to M&A documentation to fnd information of multiples paid for the acquisition. While most all publicly available information for the time period was digitalized, this would not be the case when examining the historical trends. In short, accessibility would be an issue for any further research on this topic. In addition, disclosure requirements have vastly changed over the last 30-years for M&A activity, which would make data collection difcult for further research.

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References Berteau. (2011). Enterprise Value Multiples by Sector. Web. https://www.pwc.com/us/en/ industries/industrial-products/library/aerospace-defense-deals-outlook.html Drazdou. (2022). Software Valuation Multiples: 2015-2022. Web. https://aventis-advisors. com/software-valuation-multiples/ FTC. (2022). FTC Sues to Block Lockheed Martin Corporation’s $4.4 Billion Vertical Acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc. Web. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/ news/press-releases/2022/01/ftc-sues-block-lockheed-martin-corporations-44-billionvertical-acquisition-aerojet-rocketdyne KPMG. (2022). Government contracting M&A update - H2 2022. Web. https:// corporatefnance.kpmg.us/insights/2023/government-contracting-ma-update-2022.html Liu. (2001). Equity Valuation Using Multiples. Web. https://www0.gsb.columbia.edu/mygsb/ faculty/research/pubfles/318/Equity_Valuation_Using_Multiples.pdf PricewaterhouseCoopers. (2022). Aerospace and defense: US Deals 2023 outlook. Web. https://www.pwc.com/us/en/industries/industrial-products/library/aerospace-defensedeals-outlook.html

About the Author Hayden Olsen is a 2023 alumnus of Christopher Newport University, graduating Magna Cum Laude and holding degrees in Accounting and Finance, with a minor in Leadership Studies. Hayden began his undergraduate research in 2021 in the feld of quantitative fnance and machine learning. Following graduation, Hayden joined JPMorgan in the strategic advisory practice, focusing on debt advisory and debt capital market transactions.

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Te Child Behind the Mask: Efects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Child Temperament, Coping Strategies, and Behavior Sierra Palian Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Kevin Shortsleeve, Department of Interdisciplinary Studies/Childhood Studies

Abstract While it is widely acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic has had negative implications on the mental health of children worldwide, it is becoming increasingly apparent that chronic social isolation has more of a long-term impact on younger generations than previously acknowledged. With children being pulled from classrooms for over a year and missing out on key developmental milestones, a spike in quarantine-related loneliness has been observed, which could lead to feelings of depression and anxiety up to nine years after isolation (Loades et al. 1218). Additionally, new avoidant coping strategies and adjustment problems are being observed among children post-pandemic (Tompson et al. 128). With these issues in mind, this paper aims to explore the connection between restrictions of socially rich settings and the development of maladaptive temperamental traits and negative afect within children. Additionally, the link between isolation, avoidant coping, and behavior problems will be examined, with an emphasis on post-pandemic strategies that can be used to ease anxiety and promote active coping in afected children.

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It is widely acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic has had negative implications on the mental health of children worldwide, with isolated children experiencing unprecedented levels of anxiety and negative afect. However, it is becoming increasingly apparent that chronic social isolation has more of a long-term impact on younger generations than previously acknowledged. With children being pulled from classrooms for over a year and missing out on key developmental milestones, many children are not socializing in the same manner as previous generations. Due to restrictions of novel, socially rich settings during the COVID-19 lockdown, isolated children continue to experience increased levels of introversion and negative afect, relying more on avoidance coping and spurring post-pandemic adjustment problems. However, adult intervention during this time of childhood stress can efectively ease anxiety and promote active coping in afected children. Successful methods of intervention may take the form of social skill training and the incorporation of emotionally safe classrooms, to start. Novel, socially-rich settings are invaluable for child development, and for most modern adolescent children, this role is flled by educational institutions such as schools and childcare centers. Serving as a place for learning, socialization, and connection, schools provide constantly rotating activities that allow children to express their capabilities and knowledge. Such communal spaces are a basis for the “creation of a context of social development,” with children consistently meeting new peers and being exposed to new ideas outside of their home environment (Blazevic 42). Additionally, while educators are important role models in this environment, the primary learning of social behaviors occurs within peer clusters, which “infuence the growing personality structure of an individual” (Chandio and Ali 68). From peer groups, children can learn behaviors of surgency, emotional afectivity, and efortful control, all of which impact child temperament independently from the family domain (Liu et al. 59). In an ideal dynamic, socially-rich setting, these positive temperament qualities are strengthened, while negative temperament qualities that children may possess, such as impulsivity, inhibition, and negative emotionality, are diminished. Educational institutions allow developing children to be exposed to extroverted behaviors and positive emotionality through their peers, traits which otherwise may not have been domestically fostered. Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, not every child was aforded the opportunity to develop in a socially-rich setting such as school or a childcare facility. Mild instances of peer isolation and social restriction have previously been studied in homeschooled children, whose lives partially parallel that of quarantine living. Homeschooling, which generally limits children to the social confnes of their own family and family friends, has demonstrated that socially restricted children tend to shy away from social interaction and lack efective coping skills that they would have otherwise acquired in a peer group dynamic (McMullen 83). While moderate instances of human isolation research are unethical, rodent studies have shown that there are “potentially long-term efects of social deprivation… in adolescence on neurochemistry, structural brain development, and behaviors associated with mental health problems” (Orben et al. 638). Similar studies conducted with humans, although limited, have also observed increased distress, loneliness, depression, and aggression in isolated individuals. Even preceding the COVID-19 pandemic, the research was already established: chronic isolation negatively impacts the ability of children to socially and cognitively cope in an efective manner (Smith and Pollak 810). Following the worldwide shutdown and subsequent quarantine in March of 2020, physical distancing measures signifcantly reduced children’s abilities to engage in in-person social interaction outside of their family unit. Children were no longer in school, efectively putting a halt to meaningful peer socialization. Tis situation was a unique form of mandated isolation for society at large: limited trips to public spaces, no access to communal third places, and concentrated time with household members. As for dynamic, socially-rich settings, it was quickly realized that quarantine could not adequately fll the empty roles left by a lack of

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formal education, extracurricular activities, and childcare settings. For children worldwide, the prolonged state of physical isolation that resulted from social distancing dramatically increased feelings of loneliness, with “more than one-third of adolescents report[ing] high levels of loneliness” during lockdown (Loades et al. 1218). Tis loneliness only heightened juvenile stress levels further, feeding a vicious cycle of loneliness and negative afect; “Children who perceive themselves to be socially isolated may be more likely to construe events in their environment as stressful” (Smith and Pollak 809). Not only were children subject to a lack of social connection, but they were also faced with the very real fear of sickness and the potential death of themselves or their at-risk loved ones. Isolation and stress from the pandemic was found to be associated with sadness and fear, with 61.9% of children presenting with feelings of fear and 68.5% with worry (Oliveira et al. 133). Tis was especially difcult for adolescents, who in accordance with developmentally universal fears, begin to worry about the concept of death at about nine years old (Last 5). With the combination of unprecedented illness, mandatory social distancing, and intense negative afect, it is unsurprising that the incidence of emotional disturbance among children was signifcant in most observed countries. Of the children who exhibited negative emotionality as a result of the pandemic, the two primary emotional responses observed were either anxietycentered or frustration-centered. COVID-induced anxiety among children ranged from 17.6% to 43.7% of the observed populations (Oliveira et al. 130), and stress, frustration, and indiscipline were also commonly observed in children stuck at home (Chaabane et al. 1). However, the way in which children have processed and coped with these emotions has varied greatly based on their temperamental traits. As noted earlier, while temperament remains relatively stable across a child’s lifespan, contextual characteristics such as parenting styles and independent experiential infuences can encourage or suppress the expression of these traits (Wachs 29). During lockdown, the social, emotional, and cognitive benefts of school were missing for many children, and combined with exposure to familial stress, the contributions of temperamental traits to developmental risk are exponentially stronger. Tis developmental risk is seen most often in children with temperamental traits of negative emotionality and impulsivity (Wachs 29). So, many children who were expressing high levels of negative afect, such as anxiety or frustration, thoroughly lacked the self-soothing coping skills associated with their temperament. Tough childhood anxiety and frustration appear to deviate down two separate emotionally-driven paths, they tend to lead to the same result: avoidant coping. Children most often utilize avoidant coping when they have no other means of dealing with intense emotions. According to researchers Tompson, Zalewski, and Lengua, fear and anxiety during pre-adolescent adjustment were concurrently related to avoidant coping, and “frustration predicted decreases in active coping,” as well (122). Recognizing that the pandemic led to social isolation, it is now evident that this isolation, combined with negative afect, contributed to an increase in avoidant coping among afected children. Avoidant coping in children is composed of cognitively and behaviorally denying or ignoring stressful situations, which often manifests as acting out in other ways as a means of expression. Children may ignore rules and disrespect authority fgures, or inversely, become withdrawn. Both of these behavioral styles were observed among children during and after lockdown, with a majority of countries witnessing “[adolescent] behavioral problems which included emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity-inattention, peer problems, and a decrease in prosocial behaviors” (Oliveira et al. 133). Because children were confned to their homes for a large portion of the COVID-19 pandemic, the range and frequency of coping strategies they witnessed dropped signifcantly; children were solely relying on household members for emotional scafolding, however many adults were also experiencing high levels of anxiety and stress and could not cope efectively themselves. Tis led to children missing important developmental milestones, such as learning to verbally communicate

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emotions and desires instead of physically acting out. Additionally, for children who were already at risk of impulsivity, inhibition, and negative emotionality due to their temperament, these maladaptive behaviors only grew more pronounced, as it took smaller amounts of stress for them to resort to harmful behaviors. From this, it can be concluded that avoidant coping mediated the connection between fear and adjustment problems, which consist of both behavioral issues and reduced social competence. Although immediate adjustment problems were already apparent prior to the end of the pandemic, incidence levels remained consistent as children were sent back to school en masse. It was originally predicted that even after the conclusion of social distancing, children could experience feelings of depression and anxiety up to nine years after isolation (Loades et al. 1218), and the manifestations of these emotions are apparent in schoolchildren today. A statistically signifcant decline in social skills has been observed in classroom children from 2019 to 2021, with fewer children agreeing to statements like “other people like me” and “I make friends easily” (Bayley et al. 215). During lockdown, many children lacked signifcant peer engagement during the most critical time for social and emotional development, leaving a considerable proportion of children unequipped with the confdence and social skills to make friends. Further, if these children are utilizing avoidant coping strategies to deal with feelings of inadequacy, they are perpetuating this lack of connection by never directly addressing the problem and instead recoiling into introversion. However, if children are not anxious or withdrawn, many others have been noted to “exhibit disruptive, aggressive, or non-compliant behaviors” (Al-Hendawi 178). Interrupting the teacher, not following class rules, and not properly socializing into the classroom environment are behaviors observed in post-pandemic adolescents. Overall, for children with adjustment problems, school can be a difcult experience, causing more frustration and disengagement on the part of the student. Of course, these difculties have implications for student burnout. Intense emotional experiences and behavioral problems in children are a recipe for school refusal, as well as behavioral problems in the home. In order to mediate these post-COVID-19 efects, children must be equipped with strategies to shift away from social isolation and cope with negative emotions efectively, replacing learned avoidant coping strategies with active coping. For isolated children, peer socialization can be a task riddled with anxiety, especially if all they have recently known is social distancing and the safety of their own home. To encourage positive temperamental traits like extroversion and agreeableness, adults can scafold the development of social aptitude by teaching three skills: initiation, friend-making, and listening (Gottman et al.183). Adults are frst able to teach children how to initiate interaction by either ofering introductory phrases such as “what are you playing?” or showing them media that depicts a child being successfully accepted into a play group after approaching and asking to join. Tis technique is important because it demonstrates to children that there are multiple ways to approach a new friend, and oftentimes, initiation will be met with acceptance. Teaching a child that they can be accepted by others will counteract the idea that the only way to deal with feelings of inadequacy is to ignore the need for socialization entirely. Secondly, children can be taught a friend-making sequence that involves small talk such as “asking for information, giving information, [and] extending an ofer of inclusion” (Gottman et al.183). For children who were not able to practice this at school or on the playground because of lockdown, a solidifed sequence is a reassuring device that can be referenced during any social interaction. Finally, children can learn how to listen to others, which works hand-in-hand with the temperamental skill of inhibition. Peers can practice listening through rule-based games and dramatic play, which may require children to stop, pay attention, and follow the orders of a peer. Each of these components completes a toolbox that children can reference to overcome anxiety surrounding peer socialization. Educating children on what to expect in a social situation increases feelings of safety, empowering them to act instead of bottling up

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their loneliness. Children that struggle with negative emotions such as anxiety require an environment of safety and open listening in order to feel comfortable, especially in a setting outside of their home. Feelings of anxiety can be signifcantly reduced in emotionally safe classrooms, which are characterized by certainty, safeguarding, and listening (Calland and Hutchinson 21). Adults and educators can foster an environment of certainty through maintaining a predictable schedule and not forcing a child to complete an activity that elicits anxiety or strong discomfort. Tis is coupled with safeguarding, which takes the form of a dependable adult fgure who is nurturing and allows children to express their emotions in a healthy way. Lastly, adults should listen to children when they communicate feelings of discomfort and be able to reassure them efectively. Each of these components can be encouraged using specifc anxiety-reducing activities, which are generalizable to environments outside of the classroom, as well. Tese activities include, but are not limited to, visualization, yoga, and changing thinking patterns, all of which help children to “manage their feelings and behavior” by equipping them with coping strategies (Calland and Hutchinson 21). Utilizing visualization, or guided imagery, children are taught to envision a calm space that they can revisit in their mind, efectively sharpening their focus and soothing them. Similar results are achieved through yoga, which increases self-awareness through stretching and balancing activities (Calland and Hutchinson 22). Additionally, while there are many facets to thought alteration, children often reap the most benefts from externalizing their negative thoughts using an imaginary character and being taught to replace them with positive afrmations. Each of these individual strategies encourage active coping, which works to tackle emotions directly and employ a mindset of problem-solving. When compared to avoidant coping, active coping is the healthier and more productive alternative, correlating with overall greater emotional well-being in children (Frydenberg and Lewis 745). Active coping also encourages the expression of positive temperamental traits like surgency, successfully replacing neurotic behaviors and overall negative emotionality. Upon analyzing the efects of isolation on children, it is clear that restrictions of socially rich settings due to the COVID-19 pandemic induced a host of negative emotions within children worldwide, prompting the surge of maladaptive temperamental traits and avoidant coping strategies as a means of dealing with difcult feelings. Children with unresolved emotions surrounding lockdown demonstrated behavioral problems as a result, primarily taking the form of conduct problems or social withdrawal. However, with the incorporation of active coping tactics and emotionally safe learning environments, children can learn how to properly resocialize into society and manage their feelings in a safe and developmentally appropriate manner.

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Works Cited Al-Hendawi, Maha. “Temperament, School Adjustment, and Academic Achievement: Existing Research and Future Directions.” Educational Review, vol. 65, no. 2, 2012, pp. 177–205. Bayley, Stephen, et al. “Ruptured School Trajectories: Understanding the Impact of COVID-19 on School Dropout, Socio-Emotional and Academic Learning Using a Longitudinal Design.” Longitudinal and Life Course Studies, vol. 14, no. 2, 28 Nov. 2022, pp. 203–239. Blazevic, Ines. “Family, Peer and School Infuence on Children’s Social Development.” World Journal of Education, vol. 6, no. 2, 28 Mar. 2016, pp. 42–49. Calland, Chris, and Nicky Hutchinson. Tackling Anxiety in Schools: Lessons for Children Aged 3-13. Routledge, 2022. Chaabane, Sonia, et al. “Te Impact of Covid-19 School Closure on Child and Adolescent Health: A Rapid Systematic Review.” Children, vol. 8, no. 5, 19 May 2021, pp. 1–17. Chandio, Abdul Rahim, and Manzoor Ali. “Te Role of Socialization in Child’s Personality Development.” Te Catalyst: Research Journal of Modern Sciences, vol. 1, Nov. 2019, pp. 66–84. Frydenberg, Erica, and Ramon Lewis. “Relations among Well-Being, Avoidant Coping, and Active Coping in a Large Sample of Australian Adolescents.” Psychological Reports, vol. 104, no. 3, 2009, pp. 745–758. Gottman, John, et al. “Teaching Social Skills to Isolated Children.” Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, vol. 4, no. 2, 1976, pp. 179–197. Last, Cynthia G. Help for Worried Kids: How Your Child Can Conquer Anxiety and Fear. Guilford Press, 2006. Liu, Chang, et al. “Genetic and Environmental Infuences on Temperament Development across the Preschool Period.” Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, vol. 64, no. 1, Jan. 2023, pp. 59–70. Loades, Maria Elizabeth, et al. “Rapid Systematic Review: Te Impact of Social Isolation and Loneliness on the Mental Health of Children and Adolescents in the Context of Covid-19.” Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, vol. 59, no. 11, 3 June 2020, pp. 1218–1239. McMullen, Judith G. “Behind Closed Doors: Should States Regulate Homeschooling.” South Carolina Law Review, vol. 54, no. 1, Fall 2002, pp. 75-110. Oliveira, Júlia Meller, et al. “Mental Health Efects Prevalence in Children and Adolescents during the Covid‐19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review.” Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 130–137. Orben, Amy, et al. “Te Efects of Social Deprivation on Adolescent Development and Mental Health.” Te Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, vol. 4, no. 8, 12 June 2020, pp. 634–640.

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Smith, Karen E., and Seth D. Pollak. “Early Life Stress and Perceived Social Isolation Infuence How Children Use Value Information to Guide Behavior.” Child Development, vol. 93, no. 3, 2021, pp. 804–814. Tompson, Stephanie, Zalewski, Maureen, and Liliana J. Lengua. “Appraisal and Coping Styles Account for the Efects of Temperament on Pre‐Adolescent Adjustment.” Australian Journal of Psychology, vol. 66, no. 2, 2014, pp. 122–129. Wachs, Teodore D. “Contributions of Temperament to Bufering and Sensitization Processes in Children’s Development.” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 1094, no. 1, 16 Feb. 2007, pp. 28–39.

About the Author Sierra Palian is a member of Christopher Newport University’s graduating class of 2023. She graduated summa cum laude with a major in Psychology and minor in Childhood Studies. Sierra is a member of both Psi Chi Psychology Honor Society and Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Honor Society and was heavily involved during her time on campus as the president and editor-in-chief of CNU’s chapter of Her Campus. She is currently conducting research with Dr. Kelly Cartwright on executive functioning and early reading development. Following graduation, she is taking a gap year before pursuing her Master’s in Speech-Language Pathology.

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Investigating the Relation Between Presence & Duration of Injury and the Mental Health of College Athletes Austin Parker Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Michelle Lange, Department of Psychology

Abstract College athletes are often faced with many challenges during their careers, whether it be in the classroom or on the feld. Although some are lucky enough to avoid it, injury at some point is nearly inevitable for athletes that play at such a high level of competition. Te presence and severity of these injuries, and the intense recovery that often accompanies them, have an impact beyond the player’s physical health. Often these injuries are associated with a detriment to the athlete’s mental health too, including symptoms of depression and anxiety. Tis study examines college athletes at two universities in Virginia (DI and DIII) to determine if there is a signifcant relationship between presence of injury, the length of recovery period, and mental health disorders. A signifcant relationship was not found between presence of injury and both anxiety and depression; moreover, signifcance was not detected between length of recovery period and prevalence of mental health disorders.

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Many athletes, especially those that compete at the college level, form their identity around playing their sport (Stephan & Brewer, 2007). Years of practice, often thousands of dollars, and nothing short of absolute dedication get a youth player in the collegiate ring. Because of this, the efect on injury on college athletes can go well beyond their physical health. Experts in psychology, sports science, and sports psychology specifcally have begun to take notice of the detrimental efects injuries have on athletes’ mental health (Appaneal et al., 1999; Brewer & Petitpas, 2005; Chase et al., 2020; Clement et al., 2015; Lichtenstein et al., 2018; Mainwaring et al., 2010; Putukian, 2016; Roiger et al., 2018; Stodel, 2007; Shuer & Dietrich, 1997; Tasiemski & Brewer, 2011; Walker et al., 2007). As mentioned above, this is due to factors such as the large time commitment, monetary investment, association with identity, and more to be discussed in further detail. Studies show that recovery time plays a role in this situation as well, as higher-level athletes often sufer more serious injuries because of heavily taxing their bodies (Appaneal et al., 1999; Chase et al., 2020; Clement et al., 2015). Common psychological responses to injury in college athletes are post-injury depression, generalized anxiety, return to play anxiety, and more (Appaneal et al., 1999; Brewer & Petitpas, 2005; Chase et al., 2020; Clement et al., 2015; Lichtenstein et al., 2018; Mainwaring et al., 2010; Putukian, 2016; Roiger et al., 2018; Stodel, 2007; Shuer & Dietrich, 1997; Tasiemski & Brewer, 2011; Walker et al., 2007, Walker et al., 2004; Yang et al., 2014). Tere is also rising investigation of the importance of social support for athletes when it comes to maintaining their mental and physical health during injury (Appaneal et al., 1999; Brewer & Petitpas, 2005; Clement et al., 2015; Lichtenstein et al., 2018; Putukian, 2016; Shuer & Dietrich, 1997; Tasiemski & Brewer, 2011; Walker et al., 2007; Yang et al., 2014). Efect of Injury on Depression Past literature points frmly in the direction of injury being associated with or causing higher levels of depression in injured athletes (Appaneal et al., 1999; Clement et al., 2015; Lichtenstein et al., 2018; Mainwaring et al., 2010; Putukian, 2016; Roiger et al., 2018; Stodel, 2007; Tasiemski & Brewer, 2011; Walker et al., 2007). In comparison to non-injured athletes, those that are injured show higher levels of depression and emotional distress (Appaneal et al., 1999; Lichtenstein et al., 2018; Mainwaring et al., 2010; Putukian, 2016; Roiger et al., 2018; Tasiemski & Brewer, 2011; Walker et al., 2007). In addition, multiple studies follow the longitudinal efect of injury on depression, fnding that longer recovery periods are often associated with higher levels of depression in afected athletes. Many of these studies break the recovery period up into phases: Clement et al. (2015) aligns their cognitive appraisals with the three physiological phases of recovery established by athletic trainers (AT); Appaneal et al. (1999) and Rogier et al. (2018) both assessed participants at one week, one month, and three months post injury to fnd increased levels of depression among injured athletes. Tis approach provides markers for cognitive assessment through the recovery period to determine if a particular phase or overall recovery period is associated with higher levels of depression. Walker et al. (2007) even compares post injury emotional distress and recovery to the grief process, fnding that athletes sufering from injury have cognitive appraisals comparative to those sufering from bereavement, illness, and disability. Due to distress regarding a confusion in identity (Tasiemski & Brewer, 2011), a lack of outlet for emotions and mood through physical exercise (Lichtenstein et al., 2018), feelings of performance failure (Putukian, 2016), or other factors, there is a strong trend of athletes sufering from post injury depression. Te screening and treating of these athletes for their psychological health, along with their physiological health, is imperative. Efect on Injury on Anxiety Past literature also points frmly in the direction of injury being associated with or causing

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higher levels of anxiety in injured athletes in comparison to non-injured athletes (Brewer & Petitpas, 2005; Chase et al., 2020; Clement et al., 2015; Lichtenstein et al., 2018; Putukian, 2016; Tasiemski & Brewer, 2011; Walker et al., 2004). Tere is a specifc focus on return to play and reinjury anxiety in some studies (Brewer & Petitpas, 2005; Putukian, 2016; Yang et al., 2014). Return to play anxiety is characterized by feelings of stress or worry in regards to future intentions or actually being immersed back into one’s sport-specifc training and competition (Clement et al., 2015; Walker et al., 2004). Reinjury anxiety is the fear or worry of being injured again and having to go through the entire process of recovery another time. Tese feelings are extremely common among athletes returning from injury, regardless of if they sufered post injury depression and emotional stress or not. Brewer and Petitpas (2005) focus their article on methods for suggested treatment and intervention strategies to implement with injured athletes that are sufering from post-injury anxiety or stress, return to play anxiety, and/ or reinjury anxiety including establishing a collaborative alliance between athlete and athletic training staf. Studies show there are strong connections between levels of anxiety, notably at the beginning and end of the recovery period, and the athlete’s satisfaction with their social support (Walker et. al, 2004, Yang et al., 2014) Importance of Social Support For athletes that sufer injuries, and must go through recovery and time away from their sport as a result, social support from family, friends, teammates, coaches, peers, and especially athletic trainers (AT) is essential to their well-being (Appaneal et al., 1999; Brewer & Petitpas, 2005; Clement et al., 2015; Lichtenstein et al., 2018; Putukian, 2016; Shuer & Dietrich, 1997; Tasiemski & Brewer, 2011; Walker et al., 2007; Yang et al., 2014). Where athletes seek support during injury has difered based on the Division in which they compete. Yang et al. (2014) studied athletes at the Division I level and found that they most frequently sought support from their athletic trainers. However, Clement et al. (2015) studies college athletes at the Division II level and discovered that signifcant others were most sought for social support during time of injury. Tis distinction may be important to ensuring access to professional resources for Division II and Division III athletes that might not have athletic training programs with the same funding or resources as a Division I institution. Putukian (2016) and Shuer and Dietrich (1997) point out an important barrier for athletes for receiving the help and support they need, specifcally for their mental health, during times of injury. Tere is often a stigma around mental health in athletics, and many athletes see it as a sign of weakness to request help for their mental health. It is important for athletic trainers to be wary of this and ensure that they are providing social support and easily accessible resources for their athletes to help maintain good mental health during recovery periods. Brewer and Petitpas (2005) emphasize having a strong rapport between student-athlete and athletic training staf, which can carry over to coaching staf, as well. When the athlete is comfortable with and trusts their athletic training staf, they are more likely to ask for help regarding their mental health in response to postinjury depression and anxiety or return to play and reinjury anxiety. Beyond their mental health, it is imperative that injured athletes have this support because studies show that their psychological state is indicative of the success of their physiological recovery (Putukian, 2016; Yang et al., 2014). For all reasons discussed above, and more, support for injured athletes, specifcally in regards to their psychological well-being, is essential to their physical and mental health and their full recovery. Current Investigations Tis study investigates a population of college athletes, with a primary focus on those competing at the DI & DIII level. Based on previous literature, it may be assumed that injury’s efect on mental health may be stronger among DI or professional athletes because of the

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increased time and efort they commit to their sport. However, for DIII athletes, college athletics is often their last chance to compete in their sport as they will most likely be ending their career after college. Both these factors pose meaningful explanations for why college athletes, regardless of their division of play, might experience depression or anxiety when facing injury and recovery. Additionally, most of previous literature focuses on one aspect selected for this study, and does not encompass presence of injury, length of recovery period, levels of depression, and levels of anxiety altogether. Tere is also an abundance of previous research focusing on the mental health efects of concussions, as they are a brain-related injury, but this study is not limited to brain-related injuries. Instead, it examines negative mental health changes as a byproduct of bodily injury in college athletes, not the neurological cause. Where previous literature does not, this study focuses on the relationship between presence of injury, length of recovery period, levels of depression, and levels of anxiety altogether in a sample of both non-injured and injured DI & DIII athletes of various diferent collegiate sports teams with a focus on the association between bodily injury and mental health, not the neurological efect of concussions. Tis study aims to discover whether college athletes that have an injury report higher levels of depression than college athletes that are not injured. Additionally, this study looks at whether college athletes that have an injury report higher levels of anxiety than college athletes that are not injured. Furthermore, whether or not the longer the recovery period for a given injury, the higher reported levels of depression by injured college athletes is investigated. And fnally, this study explores whether the longer the recovery period for a given injury, the higher reported levels of anxiety by injured college athletes. Based on existing research and theory, it is hypothesized that the presence of injury will be linked to greater levels of depression. Additionally, presence of injuries will be linked to greater levels of anxiety. Furthermore, when injuries are present, greater recovery periods will be linked to greater levels of depression. Finally, when injuries are present, greater recovery periods will be linked to greater levels of anxiety. Method Participants Te participants in this study were student-athletes at two diferent Virginia universities (N=50) who were recruited through their athletic training departments during the Spring 2023 semester. 12 participants were not included in data analysis because of incomplete data. Demographic information was not collected from participants. Measures Presence of Injury Presence of injury was measured with a self-reported yes or no answer to the question “Are you currently injured?” Recovery Time Recovery time was measured with a self-reported answer to the question “What is the total predicted recovery time for your current injury?” with options of 0-3 months, 4-9 months, or 10+ months.

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Table 1 Injury Status of Included Participants

Injury Status Not Injured Injured (0-3 Weeks) Injured (4-9 Weeks) Injured (10+ Weeks)

N(%) 28 (74%) 2 (5%) 3 5

Note. Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item Assessment (GAD-7) Anxiety levels were measured using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD7) (Spitzer et al., 2006). Seven statements evaluating symptom severity are provided with instructions to select the statement that describes how many times in the past 2 weeks the participant has agreed with the provided statement. Te answer options ranged from “Not at all” to “Nearly Every Day” on a four point Likert scale. Higher scores indicate higher levels of anxiety. Scores of 0–4 indicate minimal anxiety, scores of 5–9 indicate mild anxiety, scores of 10–14 indicate moderate anxiety, and scores of 15–21 indicate severe anxiety. Personal Health Questionnaire 9-Item Assessment (PHQ-9) Depression levels were measured using the Personal Health Questionnaire (PHQ9) (Kroenke et al. 2001). Ten statements evaluating symptom severity are provided with instructions to select the statement that describes how many times in the past 2 weeks the participant has agreed with the provided statement. Te answer options ranged from “Not at all” to “Nearly Every Day” on a four point Likert scale. Higher scores indicate higher levels of depression. Scores of 0–4 indicate minimal depression, scores of 5–9 indicate mild depression, scores of 10–14 indicate moderate depression, scores of 15–19 indicate moderately severe depression, and scores of 20-27 indicate severe depression. Procedure Te participants of this study each were requested to sign an informed consent form electronically before the study was conducted. After consent was given, the study was then administered electronically through the Qualtrics survey software. Tis electronic survey took about fve minutes to complete. Te survey was structured in three or four brief sections that participants complete, depending on their answer to the frst section. Te sections of this survey measured presence of injury, recovery time (in the case of injury), anxiety levels, and depression levels. Tis study did not require any demographic information from the participants; therefore, the participants’ responses were kept entirely anonymous. Results It was hypothesized that college athletes who are injured will have greater levels of anxiety and depression. Two one-way, independent analyses of variances (ANOVAs) were conducted to compare the relationship between presence of injury and levels of depression and anxiety. Results indicated that there was not a signifcant relationship between presence of injury and levels of anxiety (M = 14.00, SD = 5.05) [F(1, 36) = 2.20, p = 0.15] and depression (M = 15.79, SD = 5.33) [F(1, 36) = 2.19, p = 0.15]. Tese results suggest that the presence of injury does not have a signifcant impact on college athlete’s mental health. It was also hypothesized that college athletes who have longer recovery time for their

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injury will have greater levels of anxiety and depression. Two one-way, independent analyses of variances (ANOVAs) were conducted to compare the relationship between recovery time and levels of depression and anxiety. Results indicated that there was not a signifcant relationship between length of recovery time and levels of anxiety and depression (M = 16.00, SD = 5.16) [F(2, 7) = 0.15, p = 0.86] & (M = 17.90, SD = 5.20) [F(2, 7) = .09, p = 0.92]. Tese results suggest that the length of recovery time of injury does not have a signifcant impact on college athlete’s mental health. Discussion Te results of this study did not show a correlation between presence of injury and college athletes’ mental health, including both depression and anxiety. Tese fndings do not support the hypotheses that college athletes that have injuries will display higher scores on the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 assessment scales and, in turn, higher levels of depression and anxiety. However, the association between presence of injury and levels of both depression and anxiety were trending on signifcance which is comparable to previous literature that supports the relationship between injury and mental health in students athletes. Furthermore, statistical insignifcance does not indicate that it is not important for athletes, athletic trainers, parents, coaches, teammates, etc. to be wary and cautious of the damage injury can cause to college athletes’ mental health as well as their physical health . As discussed in previous literature, support for an injured athlete is essential to their recovery and mental health. Additionally, although statistical signifcance was not reached between the presence and duration of injury and negative mental health in student athletes, moderate to severe levels of both anxiety and depression were measured in the average student-athlete, regardless of their injury status. It is important to note this, as it shows that athletes as a whole may be at risk for experiencing symptoms of anxiety and depression and may need additional resources to maintain good mental health, regardless of injury status. For all tests run, test-retest reliability is accounted for by utilizing established and regularly used assessment scales, including the PHQ-9 and GAD-7. Both scales clearly assess what they are measuring: levels of depression and anxiety by asking participants to rate the occurrence of known symptoms of each disorder in their own lives. Tese same scales can be used by supporting parties to injured college athletes to screen their symptoms during injury recovery. A limitation of this study is the lack of random assignment, as it is unethical to assign a participant to the injured condition or manipulate the length of their recovery period. Tis weakened the internal validity of the study, as it cannot be ensured that presence of the injury was the only factor afecting levels of depression and anxiety in participants. Additionally, the sample size was small, afecting the statistical validity. Tere is a strong possibility that a Type II error occurred in both ANOVA tests run. Tis is due to the small sample of participating athletes, specifcally those that were injured. Additionally, it was impossible to run a post hoc analysis because there were not enough participants in each category of length of recovery period to account for standard deviations. Finally, it should be noted that not all athletes surveyed were in-season. Tere may be a diference in the impact of injury on an in-season athlete versus an out-of-season athlete, and this could be a future direction for research. Additionally, the diferences between DI & DIII athletes were not measured due to lack of sufcient data for analysis. Tere may also be unknown factors that contribute to the relationships between presence of injury, length of recovery period, and mental health. Tese factors may include, but are not limited to, demographic characteristics such as age, gender, socioeconomic status, nationality, etc. Number of injuries, reinjury to the same area, and levels of anxiety and depression before injury could all be potential additional factors, as they may afect an individual’s ability to cope. Further research must be conducted to investigate these confounds. Additional research

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may also assess other possible factors that could afect mental health in college athletes to limit confounding variables including, but not limited to, resiliency, coping mechanisms, physical health (disregarding present injury that qualifes them for the study), and sleeping patterns. A multivariate approach could rule out or confrm some of these potential third variables. With the access and resources to make these changes, future research would most likely result in stronger, more reliable results. Most importantly, this study and previous literature make it apparent that college athletes are at risk for mental health disorders and/or symptoms of anxiety and depression regardless injury status, so it is essential for those individuals and their surrounding communities and supporters to be aware of this and act accordingly.

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References Appaneal, R. N., Levine, B. R., Perna, F. M., & Roh, J. L. (2009). Measuring postinjury depression among male and female competitive athletes. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 31(1), 60–76. Brewer, B. W., & Petitpas, A. J. (2005). Returning to Self: Te Anxieties of Coming Back After Injury. In M. B. Andersen (Ed.), Sport psychology in practice. (pp. 93–108). Human Kinetics. Chase, D., Slicer, K., & Schatz, P. (2020). Relationship between standalone performance validity test failure and emotionality among youth/student athletes experiencing prolonged recovery following sports-related concussion. Developmental Neuropsychology, 45(7–8), 435–445. https://doi.org/10.1080/87565641.2020.1852239 Clement, D., Arvinen-Barrow, M., & Fetty, T. (2015) Psychosocial responses during diferent phases of sport-injury rehabilitation: A qualitative study. J Athl Train, 50(1), 95–104. https://doi.org/10.4085/1062-6050-49.3.52 Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R. L., & Williams, J. B. (2001). Te PHQ-9: validity of a brief depression severity measure. Journal of general internal medicine, 16(9), 606–613. https://doi. org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.2001.016009606.x Lichtenstein, M. B., Nielsen, R. O., Gudex, C., Hinze, C. J., & Jørgensen, U. (2018). Exercise addiction is associated with emotional distress in injured and non-injured regular exercisers. Addictive Behaviors Reports, 8, 33–39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. abrep.2018.06.001 Mainwaring, L. M., Hutchison, M., Bisschop, S. M., Comper, P., & Richards, D. W. (2010). Emotional response to sport concussion compared to ACL injury. Brain Injury, 24(4), 589–597. https://doi.org/10.3109/02699051003610508 Putukian, M. (2016). Te psychological response to injury in student athletes: a narrative review with a focus on mental health. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 50 https:// www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/psychological-response-injury-student-athletes/ docview/1808619628/se-2 Roiger, T., Weidauer, L., & Kern, B. (2015). A longitudinal pilot study of depressive symptoms in concussed and injured/nonconcussed National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I student- athletes. Journal of Athletic Training, 50(3), 256–261. https://doi. org/10.4085/1062-6050-49.3.83 Shuer, M. L., & Dietrich, M. S. (1997). Psychological efects of chronic injury in elite athletes. Te Western journal of medicine, 166(2), 104–109. Spitzer R.L., Kroenke K., Williams J.B., & Löwe, B. (2006) A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: the GAD-7. Arch Intern Med, 166(10), 1092-7. doi: 10.1001/archinte.166.10.1092. PMID: 16717171.

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Stephan, Y. & Brewer, B. (2007). Perceived determinants of identifcation with the athlete role among elite competitors. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 19, 67-79. doi: 10.1080/10413200600944090 Stodel, E. J. (2007). Review of Literature reviews in sport psychology. Te Sport Psychologist, 21(2), 265–266. Tasiemski, T., & Brewer, B. W. (2011). Athletic identity, sport participation, and psychological adjustment in people with spinal cord injury. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 28(3), 233–250. Walker, N., Tatcher, J., & Lavallee, D. (2007). Review: Psychological responses to injury in competitive sport: a critical review. Journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, 127(4), 174–180. Walker, N., Tatcher, J., Lavallee, D., & Golby, D. (2004). Te emotional response to athletic injury: Re-injury anxiety. In D. Lavallee, J. Tatcher, & M. Jones (Eds.), Coping and emotion in sport (pp. 87-99). New York: Nova Science. Yang, J., Schaefer, J. T., Zhang, N., Covassin,T., Ding, K., Heiden, E. (2014). Social support from the athletic trainer and symptoms of depression and anxiety at return to play. J Athl Train 49(6): 773–779. doi: https://doi.org/10.4085/1062-6050-49.3.65

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Appendices Figure 1 Injury Status & Mental Health

Appendix A

Note. Tis is a graph depicting the average GAD-7 and PHQ-9 scores for injured and non-injured student athletes.

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Figure 2 Injury Duration & Mental Health

Appendix B

Note. Tis is a graph depicting the average GAD-7 and PHQ-9 scores for the three groups of injured athletes based of three-month intervals for recovery.

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About the Author Austin Parker graduated Summa Cum Laude from Christopher Newport University in Spring 2023 with her bachelor’s degree, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Leadership Studies. Austin was a member of the Women’s Varsity Soccer team and worked as an undergraduate research associate in Dr. Lindsey Hicks’ SOAR Lab, as well as a Writing Fellow for Dr. Michelle Lange’s Research Methods course. Under the supervision of Dr. Meredith Romito, Austin completed an internship at Family Restoration Services, conducting parental capacity evaluations for the Department of Social Services. She would like to thank these women for their support of her research endeavors, with a special thank you to Dr. Lange for supervising this study. Austin will be joining the Baylor Behavioral Medicine Laboratory as a research assistant in July of 2023 before going on to pursue her PhD in Health Psychology.

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Evolution of International Cooperation in Space: From 1945 to the Present Joseph Plucker Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Andrew Kirkpatrick, Department of Political Sciences

Abstract Over the course of the past several decades, the idea of space travel has evolved from science fction to an everyday occurrence vital to our lives. As space capabilities advanced, many in the international community found it necessary to cooperate with one another for their mutual beneft. At the beginning of the space age, the United States and Soviet Union were in ferce competition to dominate the feld, but eventually began to cooperate as the 1960s wore on and it became clear that the United States had won the space race. Te only international organization in space, the European Space agency was also created around this time as European nations decided to pool their resources and work together to cement their place in space. Te crowning achievement of these cooperative projects between the space-faring nations of the world is the International Space Station, which has been permanently inhabited by humans for over twenty years. In this essay, I will examine how space programs began, how the frst building blocks of international cooperation came together, and how we can expand and improve international norms in space.

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Introduction In our contemporary period, international law and cooperation have become commonplace, and states have begun to cooperate on a variety of issues. One facet of this is modern international cooperation in space, as well as a variety of international norms that are now present in space. Te most important product of international cooperation in space is the International Space Station. Te International Space Station (ISS) was constructed in the late 1990s and has been permanently occupied by humans since 2000. In this research paper I hope to answer the question of how space law and international cooperation have evolved since the beginning of the space race. Tis begins with a discussion of how the frst space programs began, and how space exploration was viewed by government ofcials. Next, the Outer Space Treaty and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project proved that international cooperation did have a place in space, even between two bitter rivals. Around this time Europe became involved in space through their shared involvement in the European Space Agency, an international organization dedicated to operating a space program. International cooperation in space peaked in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the most notable product of this is the ISS. Despite the progress of the past few decades, scholars argue that more international norms need to be put in place in the future as space travel becomes more commonplace. Origins of Space Exploration In the aftermath of World War II, the Soviet Union and United States scrambled to capture German scientists, engineers, and weapons technology for their own respective arsenals. One of these technologies that had been particularly devastating was the German V-2 rocket. Tis weapon was one of the frst ballistic missiles ever developed and was used against a variety of targets in England in the waning months of the war. Military planners from both nations realized the potential of such a weapon and captured V-2s and the scientists who worked on them for their own rocket programs. Tese were eventually developed into intercontinental ballistic missiles, which became a major component of the Cold War and the Mutually Assured Destruction Teory (MAD). Despite the decidedly military aims of these rocket projects, there was some room for scientifc discovery as well. V-2 Missiles launched from the White Sands test range in New Mexico were ftted with cameras that took the frst pictures of Earth from outer space. Eventually, the frst artifcial satellite was launched by the Soviet Union in 1957 using a modifed ICBM. Te Soviet government did not originally think that this achievement was particularly noteworthy. After seeing the western media’s reaction to Sputnik, however, they realized that achievements in space could be very important propaganda tools. While both space programs made incredible scientifc discoveries and inspired millions, most of the funding and resources they received were based on the propaganda value of their achievements (Werth, 2004). Karsten Werth writes about the merge of military and civilian activities during the early space race in their article A Surrogate for War - Te US Space Program in the 1960s. Werth describes the US national attitude towards the space race during the 1960s as a surrogate for war because it promoted peaceful, symbolic competition as an alternative to nuclear war between the two superpowers. Early manned spacefight also created national heroes to rally around who fought these symbolic battles in space. Tese battles for historic frsts also fed of concerns about the strength of US technology, and these insecurities led to the investment in space technology that allowed NASA to land men on the moon. Many conservative anticommunist thinkers also thought that there would be a true military presence in space, but this ambition was never realized due to the signing of the Outer Space Treaty in 1967. (Werth). During this very early period there was basically no international cooperation in space or in space policy. Despite the lack of international cooperation, the early space race was an important part of the cold war geopolitics during the early 1960s.

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Te Outer Space Treaty and Early International Cooperation In 1967, the United States, Soviet Union, and dozens of other states ratifed the Outer Space Treaty (OST). Tis treaty sought to ensure that outer space remained demilitarized. Among other things the Outer Space Treaty declares, “outer space cannot be subject to claims of national sovereignty; military installations, manoeuvres, and weapons testing are forbidden on the Moon and other celestial bodies; states are bound to refrain from stationing nuclear weapons in space; and space activities shall be conducted solely for peaceful purposes and the beneft of all humanity, regardless of economic, scientifc, or technological development” (Buono, 2020). Tis was the frst treaty relating to human activity in space, and declared that outer space would be regarded as Terra Communis, similar to international waters on Earth. Te OST enjoyed broad support from many organizations at its inception. Te treaty was passed unanimously in the UN general assembly and was ratifed by the US Senate in an 88-0 vote. Not only did this treaty enjoy broad support, but it has largely remained in force with few violations. Some scholars debate the true value of this treaty considering the fact that there were no military eforts in space at the time and bringing nuclear weapons to space would have been a huge technical challenge (Buono). Regardless, the OST was an important building block for future international cooperation in space and helped prevent the militarization of space. In the contemporary period the OST may be in jeopardy, as President Trump established the US Space Force during his term and sought to establish American dominance in space. So far it seems that President Biden will continue to support the US Space Force, and the program has bipartisan support in Congress. Insinna writes, “U.S. President Joe Biden will not seek to eliminate the Space Force and roll military space functions back into the Air Force, the White House confrmed Wednesday.” (Insenna, 2021). Despite the Space Force becoming the butt of many jokes in popular culture, it seems like the organization is here to stay. While the OST made overtures about international cooperation in space, there was very little actual cooperation until a little later. Several factors encouraged the Soviet Union and United States to cooperate in space during the 1970s. First, geopolitical factors such as the Nixon administration’s policy of detente, which sought to build a more cooperative relationship with the Soviet Union based on shared interests, allowed for more cooperation between the United States and Soviet Union. Another important factor that led to more cooperation is the refocusing of both space programs after the Apollo program landed the frst men on the moon. NASA saw its budget decreased as the public’s appetite for space travel declined amid troubles at home and the feeling that the space race had been won. As a result of this, NASA was forced to limit the scope of its projects in the post-Apollo era. Despite this limit in scope, NASA still sought to maintain its manned spacefight program while the Space Shuttle was still in development. Te Soviet space program refocused its eforts around low Earth orbit docking systems, space stations, and international cooperation after their own moon program failed to produce results (Jenks, 2021). Te culmination of these factors was the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, which involved the docking of American and Soviet spacecraft in low Earth orbit. Tis mission took place on July 17, 1975 and was a major success. In an atmosphere of hostility where the United States and Soviet Union both saw each other as existential threats, the ASTP showed the world images of Soviet cosmonauts and American astronauts smiling and shaking hands in orbit. In addition to the political power of the images of cosmonauts and astronauts shaking hands, the ASTP also had a practical safety goal in mind when it was designed. Te technology developed for the ATSP project allowed a US spacecraft to come to the rescue of a stranded Soviet spacecraft or vice versa (Jenks). While the Outer Space Treaty encouraged peaceful exploration on paper, the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project was the frst practical example of international cooperation in space.

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Te Development and Policies of the European Space Agency One of the few international organizations dedicated to spacefight and exploration, the European Space Agency (ESA) was founded in 1975 with the goal of advancing scientifc discovery. Te United Kingdom had launched a satellite in 1971 on its own, but outside of that European countries were largely uninvolved during the early space age. Similar to the European Union, the ESA was created by merging several existing IOs together. European scientists from ten countries met in 1960 to set up a commission on spacefight where government representatives would decide on European cooperation in space. A year later, the European Space Research Organization (ESRO) was formed with an eight year budget and an established secretariat. In 1962, European representatives decided to create two separate organizations for their spacefight eforts. Te ESRO would focus on developing spacecraft, while the newly created European Launch Development Organization (ELDO) would focus on developing a launch vehicle. To clear up this distinction, spacecraft are the satellites and other craft that fy in space, while launch vehicles are the rockets that get them from Earth into orbit. In 1964 the conventions for establishing the ESRO and ELDO came into force, and while the ESRO was extremely successful at cooperating with other space agencies, the ELDO was plagued with technical problems and political red tape that prevented the launches of any European rockets. One example of the ESRO’s success in cooperating with other agencies is their agreement with NASA to build a science package that would be fown with the Space Shuttle in exchange for fight opportunities for European Astronauts. By 1972, the idea of a single European space organization was becoming somewhat popular after the failures of the ELDO (European Space Agency, History of). In 1975 the European Space Agency was formed by merging the ESRO and ELDO together. Tere are ten founding members but eight more nations have joined since the founding of the ESA. After the merger, Europe’s space capabilities expanded dramatically. In 1979 the frst Ariane rocket was successfully launched, and during the 1990s the ESA was the world’s leader in commercial launches. In 1983, Ulf Merbold became the frst European astronaut to fy on the Space Shuttle on STS-9. Te ESA became heavily involved in deep space exploration in the late 1980s, and today the ESA is a global leader in deep space scientifc missions. Te ESA also cooperated with NASA on many of their successful scientifc missions. Te ESA contributed to the Hubble Space Telescope, and the Cassini-Huygens mission to study Saturn. More recently the ESA helped contribute to the James Webb Space telescope, and the telescope was launched on an Ariane rocket. Te ESA has also contributed several modules to the International Space Station, and European astronauts regularly live and work in orbit (European Space Agency, History of). Te administration and procurement of the ESA is very complicated, and Ioannis Petrou writes about the complexity and provides some critique of the ESA’s administration in his article Te European Space Agency’s Procurement System: A Critical Assessment. Petrou believes that the ESA’s procurement system has been relatively successful at promoting compromise and cooperation between the organization’s member states. Te ESA’s procurement process operates on a so-called “fair return” policy, which seeks to distribute the production of ESA hardware in a geographically even manner. Tis policy somewhat reduces competitiveness, but ensures that their member states are content with the distribution of the economic benefts of a space industry. European space activities have also been divided into two categories, mandatory and optional. Te use of optional activities promotes harmony within the organization as it allows some member states to work on projects important to them but prevents these projects from being funded by unwilling members. Tis also improves the quality of ESA projects by avoiding pure consensus decision making. Te ESA’s procurement system is also somewhat protectionist as it gives priority to companies in member states. Tis policy, known as Domestic Preference, helped Europe develop its domestic space industry and protected

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budding industries from more developed US space capabilities. Another protectionist ESA policy is the Ariane preference provision, which asks that European spacecraft launch on the domestic Ariane launch system. ESA member states are not strictly required to use Ariane for their launches, but most member states are also heavily involved in the development of Ariane and receive industrial benefts for using it. In general, some of the procurement policies of the ESA have led to cost overruns and restricted fair competition, but these policies have reduced confict between member states while still allowing for many successful missions and programs (Petrou, 2008). Te History and Legal Framework for the International Space Station Te International Space Station (ISS) was frst proposed in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan in his State of the Union Address. Reagan gave NASA a mission to create a, “permanently manned space station and to do it within a decade” (Uri, 2020). Space stations were not an entirely novel concept at this time, as the Soviet and American space programs had both built space stations during the 1970s. Te proposed space station was originally dubbed “Space Station Freedom” by President Reagan and in 1988, the United States, Japan, Canada, and nine ESA member states signed the frst Intergovernmental Agreement regarding the space station. During the late 1980s the Soviets operated the advanced MIR station, which was the world’s frst modular space station. MIR was constructed over the course of several launches, and the modules of the station met and docked in orbit to create a larger station without having to create a larger rocket to launch it. After the collapse of the Soviet Union the MIR station was in jeopardy due to the lack of resources available to the Russian space agency. In 1993, President Clinton invited the Russians to the project as full partners in order to acquire and preserve their technical expertise with space stations. Tis partnership would also allocate modules constructed for the defunct MIR-2 project for the budding space station. After the inclusion of the Russians, the Space Station Freedom name was ditched in favor of the International Space Station. Te US-Russian collaboration in space during this period also allowed for 11 Space Shuttle fights to dock with the MIR station over the course of the 1990s (Uri). Astronauts and cosmonauts had not met in space since the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, so this cooperation was encouraging. After the last Space Shuttle fight in 2011, US astronauts relied on Russian Soyuz spacecraft to take them to the ISS for a number of years. Tis was because the United States had no domestic manned spacecraft lined up to replace the Space Shuttle (Hogenboom, 2012). Tis partnership was somewhat uneasy but after the frst SpaceX Crew Dragon fight in 2020, US astronauts exclusively fy on the new Dragon spacecraft. On January 29th, 1998 the International Space Station Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) was signed by all ffteen member states involved in the construction of the ISS, providing the legal framework for the station. Te other major pieces of the International Space Station’s legal framework are the Four Memoranda of Understandings between NASA and the four other cooperating Space Agencies. Tere are a variety of other bilateral agreements that also underpin the ISS and focus on the more detailed aspects of the memoranda (European Space Agency, International Space Station). Te ISS is the most signifcant example of international cooperation in space. Te station has been occupied by humans continuously since November of 2000, and the station has contributed to scientifc research on the human body in zero gravity, as well as performing hundreds of other experiments over the past 20 years. Today the ISS is headed towards retirement for a variety of reasons. Te modules and laboratories themselves are becoming less structurally sound after 20 years of micrometeorite impacts, and NASA plans to deorbit the space station by 2031 into a remote part of the Pacifc Ocean called Point Nemo. Tis area is some 2,000 miles from the nearest land, and has been used as a target for derelict spacecraft since 1971. Te Russians have threatened several

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times to undock their parts of the ISS in recent years as geopolitical tensions between Russia and the West have risen. Te ISS is very unique and currently there is no concrete plan to replace the station. China has constructed its own modular space station over the past year, and Russia plans to launch their own space station in the near future. NASA has stated publicly that it hopes to share its space station expertise with private companies so they can construct their own space stations, but nothing concrete has been established and there are few private companies publicly planning to build space stations (Hunt, 2022). NASA has committed to going back to the moon in the very near future with the Artemis Program. While the hardware for these missions has been in development for almost a decade, the United States brought together more than 20 countries to sign the Artemis Accords in 2020. Tis treaty outlines how the US and their partners will cooperate on these new moon missions, and also outlines and solidifes some of the principles from the 1967 Outer Space Treaty . Te ESA and other international partners will provide mission hardware for the Artemis missions, and SpaceX’s innovative Starship has been selected as the lander for these missions. Russia is not part of the Artemis Accords, and with tensions between the United States and Russia ever increasing, it seems as though any cooperation between the two countries in the near future will be impossible. Te Artemis accords also outline a policy of interoperability, which looks to create common infrastructure and standards for space hardware. Te accords also urge signatories to develop a plan for the mitigation of space debris, and to responsibly utilize space resources (NASA, Te Artemis Accords). Overall, the Artemis accords are an important addition to international space law as they help outline important principles for states to follow as we expand further into the cosmos. International Norms in Space and the Creation of Space Law Very soon after the frst satellites went into orbit, various nations began to develop the laws to regulate activities in space. After the signing of the Outer Space Treaty, four other major treaties were signed to govern aspects of spacefight. Tese treaties are known as the Rescue Agreement, the Liability Convention, the Registration Convention, and the Moon Agreement. Many of these treaties have done a poor job of creating consensus and they have not efectively hashed out specifc details. Te reason that many of these treaties failed to do this is because of disagreements between the United States and the Soviet Union, who were the only spacefaring nations at the time when these treaties were signed. Even though they were an important step in establishing space law, they fail to provide “precision and defnition” (Carns). One important aspect of spacefight that has been subject to laws is the creation and management of space debris. Over the sixty years we have been sending satellites to space, a large amount of debris has been created in orbit. Tis is dangerous because objects in orbit move at incredible speeds and the possibility of collision is very real. Usually, these pieces of debris are not particularly large, but they are still dangerous. Most of the debris in orbit right now can be traced to several accidents that happened over the span of decades. Some scholars have theorized that eventually the volume of debris in orbit could reach a point where pieces of debris collide with each other and start a chain reaction that would make space largely inaccessible. Tis theory is known as Kessler Syndrome, which is named after the scientist who created the theory. Tere has been little action on the potential space debris crisis as most debris is still considered the property of the entity that launched it into space. Te legal aspect of this problem stems from all man-made objects in space being classifed as objects, instead of there being a distinction for debris or non-functional objects in space. Mark Carns, a Major in the US Air Force, describes this dilemma in his article on space debris, “Much debate has surrounded whether a piece of debris is also a space object. Were a distinction to exist, property rights relevant to this discussion would be much easier to settle and the resulting authority to remove debris without consent would likely be

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moot. As it stands, the fve space treaties and subsequent declarations do not provide any defnitive explanation of what space debris is or how to defne it. Consequently, a custom has evolved that treats all artifcial material in space as ‘space objects’” (Carns). As it currently stands, any removal of space debris would require consent from the entity it originated from, and there is no legal recourse for states who have their space objects removed without their consent. Currently there are no active eforts to mitigate space debris. Carns argues that removing debris larger than 10cm2 should not require permission, and this would allow the world to mitigate a possible Kessler crisis (Carns). Te management and eventual clearing of debris in low earth orbit is extremely important today as there are hundreds of new satellites going up every year thanks to the new private space sector. Paul Larson writes that there should be solid technical norms developed to ensure commercial activities in space are safe. Currently there are not any such norms which can make things like space trafc control and other important safety activities consistent across all spacecraft operators. Te cause for uniform technical norms in space received a big boost when the United States issued U.S. Space Policy Directive 3, which declared the United States’ intentions to develop such norms. Tis directive also stated that the US would support the development of international technical safety norms as a leader in space. Tese technical safety norms would not afect any economic activity in space, they would merely ensure that all spacefight activities were performed safely to prevent collisions and manage debris. Te aviation sector faced a similar problem near the end of World War II and the United States convened an international conference in Chicago to establish international air safety norms. Te conference failed at creating any meaningful economic norms, but the technical safety norms established during the Chicago Convention have been very successful. In general the need for international technical safety norms to protect satellites and people in orbit from collisions and the further creation of debris is extremely important (Larson, 2018). Conclusion While there is some international precedent for cooperation in outer space, there is still room for expansion. During the early part of the space race, there was almost no cooperation in space because the only two nations capable of spacefight, the United States and Soviet Union, were rivals locked in a constant competition to one up each other. Tis changed as the United States won the space race and both country’s programs received less funding and refocused on low Earth orbit activities. Tis shift in priorities coupled with geopolitical initiatives to reduce tensions between the two superpowers led to the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project which was the frst practical example of international cooperation in space. Te ESA is one of the only international organizations pertaining to space, and their system of procurement and administration has allowed Europe to develop a capable space program. During the late 1960s, some of the frst space law was codifed by the Outer Space Treaty and several subsequent treaties. While these have been less than perfect, their primary goal of keeping space demilitarized has been successful so far. After the end of the Cold War, one of the largest and most important examples of international cooperation in space, the ISS, was created. Tis is signifcant because the ISS has brought together the United States and Russia in one project, which is a hard thing to do. International norms and technical safety precautions regarding space trafc management and the mitigation of orbital debris are currently non-existent, but it seems likely that such norms may be negotiated soon as commercial space trafc increases. In conclusion, space law has evolved signifcantly since the 1960s, but there is still some way to go as more countries and private companies have access to space.

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Works Cited Buono, S. (2020). Merely a ‘Scrap of Paper’? Te Outer Space Treaty in Historical Perspective. Diplomacy and Statecraft, 350-372. Carns, M. M. (n.d.). Consent Not Required: Making the Case that Consent is Not Required under Customary International Law for Removal of Debris Smaller than 10cm2. Air Force Law Review, 173-233. European Space Agency. (n.d.). History of Europe in Space. Retrieved from Te European Space Agency: https://www.esa.int/About_Us/ESA_history/History_of_Europe_in_space European Space Agency. (n.d.). International Space Station Legal Framework. Retrieved from Te European Space Agency: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_ Robotic_Exploration/International_Space_Station/International_Space_Station_legal_ framework Hogenboom, M. (2012, February 21). America and Russia: Uneasy partners in space. Retrieved from BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-17074388 Hunt, K. (2022, February 2). NASA plans to retire the International Space Station by 2031 by crashing it into the Pacifc Ocean. Retrieved from CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/02/ world/nasa-international-space-station-retire-iss-scn/index.html Insinna, V. (2021, February 3). With Biden’s ‘full support,’ the Space Force is ofcially here to stay. Retrieved from DefenseNews: https://www.defensenews.com/space/2021/02/03/withthe-full-support-of-the-biden-adminisration-the-space-force-is-ofcially-here-to-stay/ Jenks, A. (2021). U.S.-Soviet Handshakes in Space and the Cold War Imaginary. Journal of Cold War Studies, 100-132. Larson, P. B. (2018). Minimum International Norms For Managing Space Trafc, Space Debris, and Near Earth Object Impacts. Journal of Air Law and Commerce, 739-785. NASA. (n.d.). Te Artemis Accords. Retrieved from NASA: https://www.nasa.gov/specials/ artemis-accords/index.html Petrou, I. (2008). Te European Space Agency’s Procurement System: A Critical Assessment. Public Contract Law Journal, 141-177. Uri, J. (2020, January 23). Space Station 20th: Historical Origins of ISS. Retrieved from NASA: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/space-station-20th-historical-origins-of-iss Werth, K. (2004). A Surrogate for War—Te U.S. Space Program in the 1960s. American Studies, 563-587.

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About the Author Joseph Plucker is a student at CNU majoring in political science, and just fnished his second year. He is from Lynchburg, VA, and lives there with his family when he is not on campus. Last year Joseph worked as an FDA in Santoro Hall on campus, and in May of 2023 he studied abroad in Ireland. In his free time, Joseph enjoys watching football, hanging out with friends, and playing video games. Joseph was excited to write his essay on international norms in space because of his passion for space and interest in international relations.

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Emigration and Exile: Transcending Borders in Eastern European Women’s Literature Sarah Poole Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Margarita Marinova, Department of English

Abstract Despite the rapid growth of women’s literature in post-communist countries, there is still a dearth of research on Eastern European female writers’ beliefs about themselves and their place in the world. Tis essay centers women’s travel writing from countries that were once a part of the Soviet bloc, revealing their attitudes towards home, exile, borders, and national identity. Women in these countries have a particularly unique perspective as they respond to Western feminist ideals that were enforced by Soviet rule, sometimes incorporating them into their work and sometimes rejecting them. Each female author has been forced to come to terms with this difcult period and what followed, simultaneously reckoning with gender identity and national identity. Te books chosen for this project reveal this confict, allowing Eastern European women to speak on their complicated relationship with the past and present. Flights, by Olga Tokarczuk, weaves together fragments of narratives set all over the globe, expressing the universal feminism of the author yet still relating to her Polish identity. Kapka Kassabova’s Border: A Journey to the Edge of the Europe tells a story of returning to one’s home after years of distance, as the author collects stories from the diasporic communities of Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey. Finally, Te Museum of Unconditional Surrender, by Dubravka Ugresic, ofers an intimate portrait of the life of an exile, merging past and present to form a multifaceted narrative about the modern condition of formerly Yugoslavian nations and peoples. Each of these works exist on the boundary between many opposing themes, just as Eastern Europe sits on the boundary between two continents. Te texts address this liminality through explorations and disruptions of narrative structure, time, and space, revealing a newly expansive and fuctuating sense of identity in Eastern Europe.

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Transnational literature, or writing which expands beyond borders, has the capacity to address shifting personal and national identities through a multitude of unique forms of expression. Tese instabilities manifest clearly in Eastern Europe, where boundaries and governments have remained in fux from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 through the fraught development of independence. Transnational literature emphasizes “not only the passage among cultures, literatures and languages, but also the overcoming of national borders” (Federici & Fortunati 47). As national borders continue to change, cultural communion becomes more important than ever, and Eastern European authors provide one way to address this need. Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk, Bulgarian writer Kapka Kassabova, and formerly Yugoslavian, but now Croatian writer, Dubravka Ugresic each bring to fruition a transnational literature that is expansive, connective, refective, and transformational. Tese women answer Hélène Cixous’ call for a new feminine writing which embodies “the very possibility of change, the space that can serve as a springboard for subversive thought, the precursory movement of a transformation of social and cultural structures” (879). Tey paint a portrait of the exile that recognizes the complexity and trauma held within former Soviet bloc countries, yet avoids nationalism or idealization of the past. Tokarczuk, Kassabova, and Ugresic develop a subversive and deeply personal expression of Eastern European identity, using innovative and revolutionary techniques to convey the upheaval within their own pasts as well as their national histories. Experimental Forms and Self-Indicative Structures Te frst and foremost method used by these authors to upend the traditional reading experience is that of structuring their texts in unexpected ways. Each book takes an experimental form that is essential to its central conceit; they are divided into fragments of stories that force the reader to draw their own connections and excavate internal, hidden narratives. Scholar Vera Eliasova explains, “Te writing of mobility stems from such imaginative challenges to go beyond the fxed and the familiar in both content and style” (171). Te very point of origin of transnational literature is this expansion beyond traditional modes of expression. In these Eastern European women’s writing, this takes the form of a fractured web of narratives that come together to form a complete text. Olga Tokarczuk’s Flights is one such complex novel which has been divided into over one hundred fragments, calling into question the classifcation of the book as it includes memoir, historical fction, personal refections, and more. Scholars Anna Hanus and Patrycja Austin argue that Flights breaks the mold of classic expectations for novels, forming a “genre in the form of a collection” (72). Tis collection includes stories separated into series, such as that of Kunicki and his missing wife: “Kunicki: Water (I),” followed by “Kunicki: Water (II)” and “Kunicki: Earth.” Tese narratives are broken up and redistributed across the novel; two sections entitled “Benedictus, Qui Venit” and “Panopticon” sit between “Kunicki: Water” I and II, while “Kunicki: Earth” is placed much later in the novel. Others fragments are connected more implicitly, by theme, imagery, or characters. One consistent motif is a focus on the human body, from the second fragment of the novel in which the narrator states, “I have a practical build. I’m petite, compact. My stomach is tight, small, undemanding…” (Tokarczuk 13), to the “Cabinet of Curiosities” that the narrator visits, consisting of preserved specimens and anatomical displays. Tere is close attention paid to historical methods of preserving bodies throughout many fragments, including Dr. Blau’s visit to the seaside home of the deceased Professor Mole, in order to examine his lab, his specimens, and the formula with which he preserved them. Blau is captivated by bodies in many ways, taking advantage of his female students and photographing their naked forms. Tokarczuk links this to his anatomical work, revealing his belief that “every body part deserves to be remembered. Every human body deserves to last” (128). Dr. Blau’s frst section is followed by a letter from Josefne

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Soliman about Emperor Francis I’s inhumane public display of her father’s body, a case that Blau mentions immediately preceding this letter. Tis connection and others like it form an ever-shifting map through the novel, guided by Tokarczuk’s careful narrative hand. Troughout the fragments of Flights, Tokarczuk encourages the reader to connect the dots and draw their own conclusions about the themes, messages, and links between stories, through the book’s unique structure which she terms a “constellation novel.” Tokarczuk explains, “it means fnding enjoyment in the fragment, and trusting that the novel will be assembled in the reader’s mind, like an assembly model, rather than by the author. It is also the feeling that the whole we long for can be found between details” (Perfect Vehicle 2007). By creating subtle implicit as well as clear explicit ties between fragments, Tokarczuk entices the reader to develop their own “constellation.” Tis efort is furthered by the lack of a table of contents, allowing readers to mentally reorder the fragments at will and forge their own path through the novel (Hofman 115). “Te mystery of what links these stories pulls the reader along,” states one reviewer (Bye 65). Tough each section may seem separated by setting, genre, narrative voice, title, or even physical space on the page, Flights requires the reader to transcend these borders and travel across space and time along with the narrator. In the same way, Dubravka Ugresic instructs readers on how to uncover meaning in Te Museum of Unconditional Surrender through its structure, its themes, and even its title. Tough the titular museum is a real one visited by the narrator, it also alerts readers to the fact that the book itself is a museum. Parts One, Tree, Five, and Seven are divided into paragraphs that are numbered in sequential order, much like the numbers corresponding to museum exhibits and their descriptions. Tese sections catalog the narrator’s time in Berlin, the location of her exile as well as the eponymous museum. Te intervening parts tell the story of the narrator’s past through a variety of lenses, including a transcription of her mother’s diary, a series of somewhat surrealist tales entitled “Archive: Six stories with the discreet motif of a departing angel,” and a recollection of the narrator’s friends from her work at Zagreb University. Scholar Vera Eliasova writes, “[Ugresic’s] narrative style is polyphonous and intertextual, echoing various literary voices and juxtaposing a variety of experience – personal, observed, as well as strictly literary” (183). Like Tokarczuk, Ugresic draws together many disparate events and characters, allowing connections to emerge as the reader progresses. Te motif of the angel is one such thread which can guide the reader through the text. Part Four contains six angel stories, each with varying levels of explicit connection to this motif. In one story, the narrator recalls her limited memories of her grandmother, then imagines her as an angel in heaven (129); another tells of a heated but brief love afair in Lisbon. When the narrator refects on their time together in her taxi to the airport, she remembers the scars on his shoulder blades “where, until recently, there had been wings…” (154). Part Six is a continuation of this motif, containing a story in which an angel visits the narrator and her friends in Zagreb. Tere is no ambiguity here; he appears in a fragment entitled, “‘Knock! Knock! ‘Who’s there?’ ‘An angel from heaven!’” When he departs, he leaves each woman with one of his feathers and erases her memory of the incident, all except the narrator, who remains to tell the story. She later refects, in an obfuscation of the narrative persona and the author, “Writers are grown-up people, who like inventing things. Tat’s why I gave them an angel. A little something to make life more bearable…” (216). Although the angel stories are told with utmost sincerity, this “author’s note” calls into question whether they are presumed to be real within the world of the novel and the narrator. Ugresic’s text asks readers to question the boundaries between reality and fction just as they cross the borders between the parts of the novel and uncover thematic intersections. In fact, Ugresic provides direct instructions at the beginning of Museum for how it is meant to be read. She opens the novel with a description of an “unusual display” in the Berlin Zoo, a glass case containing all the objects that were found in the stomach of Roland the

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walrus when he died. Te objects are widely varied and seemingly random, but Ugresic writes, “Te visitor… cannot resist the poetic thought that with time the objects have acquired some subtler, secret connections” (xi). She then instructs the reader to view the collection of stories and refections that follow in a similar way: “If the reader feels that there are no meaningful or frm connections between them, let him be patient: the connections will establish themselves of their own accord” (xi). Tis echoes Tokarczuk’s afrmation that “the novel will be assembled in the reader’s mind.” Like the thread of the angels, Ugresic also revisits the story of Roland the walrus, repeating her description and then comparing Roland’s stomach and its contents frst to an artist acquaintance’s studio, then a Berlin hill called Teufelsberg, then Berlin itself (161). As Ugresic suggests, the exhibit of Roland’s stomach parallels the structure of the book itself, as well as these locations within the narrative. Te metaphor of the walrus advises the reader to allow (borrowing Tokarczuk’s terminology) constellations to take shape, while at the same time forming part of one such constellation. Kapka Kassabova’s Border: A Journey to the Edge of Europe is presented with a more selfevident structure, but still encourages readers to draw connections between sections and themes in order to devise meaning. Border is organized into four parts in the order of Kassabova’s journey: Starry Strandja, Tracian Corridors, Rhodope Passes, and Starry Strandja. Within each part is a collection of stories from travelers, locals, exiles, Kassabova herself, and the histories of the region. Each story is divided from the next by a description, beginning with a defnition of “border” and ranging from locations, to fora and fauna, to historical and mythical fgures, to vernacular terms with no direct translation. Te descriptions are reminiscent of the museum composition that Ugresic employs; they guide the reader from one story-exhibit to the next, providing context and direction. Tis structure forms a clear progression throughout the book, aligning with Kassabova’s progression from site to site. However, her journey is not quite as linear as the overarching organization might lead one to believe. Te map illustrated at the beginning of the book helps readers to follow her travels, and forces them to visually recognize that her path doubles back, parallels, and returns to locations just a few steps away from where she began, but across the border into a diferent country. Te imagery of the map, along with the arrangement of stories, emphasizes the arbitrary nature of the boundaries that divide each leg of her journey as well as the text. Kassabova visits twin border cities Edirne and Svilengrad, the former in Turkey and the latter in Bulgaria. Tey are cities of crossing, of cultural communion, despite the difculty of traveling to Svilengrad for Turks, who need a visa to enter. Kassabova reveals their close proximity: “In Svilengrad, you could almost hear Edirne’s chanting imams, and in Edirne, the beat of Svilengrad’s nightclubs” (126). Tis intimacy is paralleled in the book’s structure; the description of Kassabova’s time in each city is separated only by a translation of the Turkish memleket: homeland. Connections are also drawn between diferent sections by the people Kassabova meets along her journey, often on both sides of the border. In Edirne, she sees a refugee named Erdem seeking passage into Bulgaria, then encounters him and his family in Svilengrad after they succeed in crossing over. Tis reacquaintance marks a return to Svilengrad after its initial introduction in the beginning of the “Tracian Corridors.” Te individuals and places that populate Kassabova’s narrative recur, encouraging the reader to note connections and repetitions within the text. Circuitous Time and Nostalgia Tis recurrence, present in each text, highlights the elusive and serpentine nature of time within the narratorial perspective. Te act of returning, or the wish to return, is pervasive throughout the exile’s experience, emerging as nostalgic desire. Te traumatic state of departure is evident, as “the sudden transformation from citizens of a country to exiles deepens the characters’ need to rediscover the ideal space, called home, which made them feel safe” (Bot 186). Yet this rediscovery is impossible for exiles; barred from returning to their

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homeland, they can only look backwards, often idealizing the past in the process. In Te Future of Nostalgia, Svetlana Boym qualifes this tendency: “Nostalgia… is a longing for a home that no longer exists or has never existed. Nostalgia is a sentiment of loss and displacement, but it is also a romance with one’s own fantasy” (xiii). However, this fantasy requires a sense of linear time, which provides the exile with a clear past to recall and idolize. Kassabova, Ugresic, and Tokarczuk each depict and deconstruct the nostalgia of the exile using a fuctuating, evasive, and circuitous sense of time, also disrupting the dominant masculine idea of time as linear. According to Cixous, “As subject for history, woman always occurs simultaneously in several places” (882). Tis multiplicity, defying patriarchal or nationalistic nostalgia, emerges in narrative structures and expressions that circle one another, returning and resurfacing throughout each text. Despite the seemingly linear structure of Border, Kassabova plays with time in several ways, including the doubling of both movement and place. She opens in reminiscence on the halfway point of her journey, a moment of terror in the mountains and a mythic adventure (Kassabova 3). Yet she leaves the resolution for later, tantalizing the reader with a forthcoming return to this moment. Te second narrative section, entitled “Red Riviera,” is another reminiscence. Tis recollection comes from Kassabova’s childhood along the border, at a time when it was threaded with barbed wire and crawling with border guards. In order to reenter Strandja, she frst returns to her past, refecting on its impervious landscape and all that has changed in her absence. She explains, “I wanted to know what was happening there, twentyfve years after I had left… I wanted to see the forbidden places of my childhood, the oncemilitarized border villages and towns, rivers and forests that had been out of bounds for two generations” (xvi-xvii). By opening the story with a fash-forward to the Mountain of Madness and a fashback to her youth, Kassabova begins to demonstrate cycles of return and repetition, instilling a sense of temporal fuidity within the reader. In addition, the doubling of place occurs in the aforementioned twin cities of Edirne and Svilengrad; they mirror one another and blur the sequence of Kassabova’s travels, subverting the straightforward passage of time. Tis is further developed by the circuitous organization of the parts of the book, both starting and ending in “Starry Strandja.” Tis cycle is particularly visible through her experience in the Village in the Valley. Early in her journey, she travels with the villagers to a nearby spring, or agiasma, to witness the circular fre-walking ritual of the nestinari. Marina, one of the women, warns her, “Strandja isn’t for everyone. It’s a mountain that doesn’t let you in… And doesn’t let you out” (40). Tough Kassabova has planned to leave and continue her journey, she delays her departure. Time meanders, and she feels helpless; she writes, “My sense of impasse was mixed with languor, as if I was waiting for something to split open and reveal itself ” (108). After she fnally makes her way onwards to Trace and the Rhodopes, as her journey later comes to a close, she returns to Strandja and the Village in the Valley. Kassabova once again inscribes the text with circuity as she narrates her connection to a prehistoric mythic dimension “outside linear time and therefore history” (344). Tere is an inevitable sense of pull, of magnetism in Kassabova’s writing about the Black Sea coast of her childhood and her present. Since she last departed two years earlier, she “had revisited it many times, in my dreams… Strandja was now holding me in” (362). As she makes her way back to the Village in the Valley, she visits a healer with Marina, who reminds her, “Te mountain has let you in… Now it won’t let you out” (363). Kassabova proceeds to the cave of Saint Marina to cleanse herself at the healer’s recommendation, but frst, she envisions a possible future in which the mountain never lets her out. She sees a life in which she would move into an empty house and, “by staying in the Village in the Valley for ever, I’d be reunited with something” (373). Tis intense longing epitomizes nostalgia – the desire to return home, to end the journey where one started. Inevitably, Kassabova realizes what Boym suggests is true – that this home is a fantasy, an invention of the past. Finally, she leaves, but not without visiting the cave of Saint Marina

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and washing herself in its waters, “crazy with love for this earth where everything begins with a spring” (375). While Kassabova travels in circles, Ugresic alternates back and forth between past and present, and between others’ stories and that of the narrator. She obscures linear time by overlapping the narrator’s life with her mother’s, creating a feminine genealogy of the exile. Cixous imagines the mother who “flls your breast with an urge to come to language and launches your force… that part of you that leaves a space between yourself and urges you to inscribe in language your woman’s style” (882). For Ugresic, the mother is deeply intertwined with this impulse to write. She presents in Part Two, “Family Museum,” a transcription of the narrator’s mother’s diary, the “notebook with the fowery cover” (33). Te entries cover the mother’s daily life, her refections on the past, and her hopes that her daughter will call or write more. However, it does not become completely clear whose diary it is until after the transcription is completed and the narration returns to the narrator, who jumps back in time to explain, “At the beginning of 1989, before I went abroad for several months, I gave her a little notebook with a fowery cover” (49). Te narrator does not leave the diary untouched, though “what its pages scattered on an already open wound was… salt” (50). Rather, she begins to rewrite her mother’s entries to suit her purposes, correcting grammar and spelling mistakes, adding or removing punctuation, removing cliches, and clarifying expressions. Her ability to change history and excavate memory calls into question the solidity of linear time; she carries on these eforts in the following section. Te narrator imagines an interaction her mother might have had with a customs ofcer, who asks her, “And are all Bulgarian girls so pretty?” (57). Just a few lines later, she reveals that this sentence “in fact belonged to my father and was spoken somewhat later, with sincere admiration, I believe” (57). Te narrator continues to retell her mother’s memories including her mother’s interjections – “’I don’t know why I should remember that, of all things,’ she says” (58) – but also includes her own speculation about what her mother may have thought or felt in any moment. In this way, the narrator creates a history of her mother that is infused with her own identity and imagination. Te narrator overlaps with her mother in more than just memory; she begins to recognize her mother in her own image, further confusing the boundaries between past and present. Ugresic writes, “In the mirror, for an instant, for a fash, as in a double exposure, instead of my own refection, I catch hers” (56). Te narrator notices herself performing the same mannerisms as her mother, and “sometimes her voice breaks in under mine, I speak in a duet” (56). In one adolescent instance, she becomes confused after returning from a “romantic rendezvous” with a boy, and mimics her farewell with him by kissing her mother on the lips. Tis intimacy is another moment of merging with her mother, which unsettles her even in the present: “Tis clumsy gesture provoked a strange disquiet in me. To say now that what I did then was kiss some future me, as though in a mirror, would be too simple” (57). Ugresic represents the narrator and her mother as intertwined, mirrored, and overlapping, deconstructing the linear passage from one generation to the next. In addition to the maternal parallels, Ugresic uses the arrangement of the novel to confuse the timeline of events. As she fits through past and present, she repeats herself and reuses the same phrases in numerous situations. In the frst numbered section, which takes place in Berlin, the narrator begins: 1. ‘Ich bin müde,’ I say to Fred. His sorrowful, pale face stretches into a grin. Ich bin müde is the only German sentence I know at the moment. And right now I don’t want to learn any more. Learning more means opening up. And I want to stay closed for a while longer. (Ugresic 3) Te same exact sentences are repeated within the eighteenth section, after which the narrator looks around at the belongings collected in her room, much like the objects in Roland the walrus’ stomach, and realizes she is unable to make sense of them; she explains, “I don’t

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understand the meaning of all of this, I am dislocated…” (9). Tis sense of being scattered comes across in the temporal organization, as the narrator alternates between her time in exile and her childhood in Yugoslavia. Ugresic writes, “Te exile feels that the state of exile has the structure of a dream… Te dream is a magnetic feld which attracts images from the past, present, and future” (9). Te novel takes on this dream-like structure by the blending and reordering of narrative timelines. Tese eforts serve to further deconstruct nostalgia; the obfuscation of linear time allows for no idealization of the past, as it merges with the present and takes on new color through Ugresic or the narrator’s alterations. Similarly, Tokarczuk’s wide-ranging storytelling allows no space for nostalgia in its expansive and universal representation of time. Troughout Flights, she shares histories spanning centuries, including the narrator’s modern experiences, and refections that seem to exist outside of time. In one fragment, Tokarczuk comments on the religious relics held by the city of Prague in 1677; the next story seems to take place in the present day, with the narrator witnessing a belly dance in a “cheap pub” (105). Another series of fragments imagines the history of Philip Verheyen, a 17th-century anatomist with an unusual connection to his amputated leg (181). Te sections that precede and follow this story are timeless musings from the narrator on the way that she experiences the world – “I see lines, planes, and bodies, and their transformations in time” (181) – and the way that she tells her ‘Travel Tales’ (212). Te narrator comments on her view of time itself, saying that it “seems a simple instrument for the measurement of tiny changes… it’s just three points: was, is, and will be” (181). Tough she seems to distinguish between past, present, and future, the actual length of time or the order of events become warped or irrelevant through her storytelling. Tokarczuk instead represents a multiplicity of time; she writes, “Every traveler’s time is a lot of times in one, quite a wide array,” including “the hectic time of big cities you’re in for just a bit… and the lazy time of uninhabited prairies seen from the air” (53). She further distorts these qualities through her reordering of stories like Kunicki and Dr. Blau’s tales, both of which are linear narratives divided across the novel by other fragments. Tese narratives stretch and fuctuate, taking on new meaning through the fragments that separate them, and escaping temporal defnition. Like Ugresic, Tokarczuk utilizes repetition to confuse the sense of time in the novel and demonstrate the overlapping nature of the narrator’s travels and tales. Troughout the novel, the narrator visits diferent collections of anatomical models, fascinated by each unique method of preserving the human body. Te frst models are described early in the book, in a fragment entitled ‘Seeing is Knowing.’ Tokarczuk writes, “Each of my pilgrimages aims at some other pilgrim. In this case the pilgrim is in pieces, broken down” (19). Te same formula is reused for each visit; for instance, on page 122, she begins, “Each of my pilgrimages aims at some other pilgrim. Tis time in wax.” Tokarczuk uses mirrored openings to tie these fragments together, but the repetition also obscures the timeline of her travels. She gives no indication of the order in which she has viewed the collections, organizing the fragments thematically rather than chronologically. Te collections themselves evade the linear passage of time, as the models are preserved outside of chronology, resisting decomposition and decay. Tey position fragments of human bodies “with no relation to one another, separated by space and time,” yet side by side within the museum (19). Tokarczuk’s writing exemplifes Cixous’ assertion that “in woman, personal history blends together with the history of all women, as well as national and world history” (Cixous 882). Te narrator’s own travels and her fascination with preserved historical bodies meld with her expansive depiction of global history, legend, and imagination; this synthesis is only possible through a fuid chronology. Tokarczuk continues to explore time in the novel through the term kairos, which she frst alludes to as “a perfect point where time and space reach an agreement” (79). She does not actually reference the term itself until the fnal section in Kunicki’s story, when he fnds the word kairos on a ticket in his wife’s purse and becomes obsessed with it. He seeks out

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a number of sources which echo the novel’s frst allusion to the term, defning it as “critical moment, right time, appropriateness” (347) and “something happens at the appropriate time” (348), also noting that Kairos is the name of an old Greek god. Tokarczuk returns to this notion in the section named “Kairos,” in which the narrator relates her appreciation of a travel lecture on forgotten gods, including Kairos. According to the lecture, he “operates at the intersection of linear, human time and divine time – circular time… at the intersection between place and time, at that moment that opens up for just a little while, to situate that single, right, unrepeatable possibility” (387). Tis idea of the opportune moment runs through the novel, and the reference to circular time further undermines traditional sequencing. Te fnal fragment of the book ends with the narrator boarding a plane, wondering if “perhaps we will be born anew now, this time in the right time and the right place” (403). Kairos is key to an understanding of Flights, with each fragment coming into view at the right time and place for the narrator and reader to experience it. Tokarczuk depicts time as malleable, as is the reader’s path through the novel, constantly shifting and seeking connecting threads across history. Te Liminal Space of the Border Te space of the border is similarly malleable in each text, as a place of motion and communion, but also as a locus of trauma. Tokarczuk, Kassabova, and Ugresic address this trauma through a deconstruction of static space and a dissolution of boundaries, representing at once the danger and the joy of crossing them. Cixous writes that women “take pleasure in jumbling the order of space, in disorienting it, in changing around the furniture, dislocating things and values, breaking them all up, emptying structures, and turning propriety upside down.” (887) Te authors at hand accomplish this in a focus on change and the duality of the border. Each text reckons with places of transit, home, exile, and remembrance, revolutionizing seemingly stable spaces as fuid, evasive, and transformative. In Flights, Tokarczuk characterizes space and position as constantly mobile. Te narrator realizes from a young age that “a thing in motion will always be better than a thing at rest; that change will always be a nobler thing than permanence” (Tokarczuk 4). Tis sentiment is repeated throughout the novel; one fragment simply transcribes an airport billboard which reads, “Mobility is reality” (226). Tis is followed by a fragment sharing the title of the novel, “Flights,” which follows a woman named Annushka as she abandons her family and her established routine to remain in motion by spending all day riding the subway. She reads “of mobility becoming reality” (251), and meets a shrouded woman, a runaway like her, who tells her: “So go, sway, walk, run, take fight… Leave whatever you possess, give up your land, and get on the road” (258-259). Te shrouded woman, like the narrator, eschews that which is stable or static, instead worshipping movement. Tis privileging of motion is exemplifed in the novel’s representation of transit and, more specifcally, airports as a center of fuctuating identities. In a fragment entitled “Airports,” Tokarczuk writes that “real life takes place in movement” (55). She characterizes airports as having their own “emancipated” identity through modern development, even considering them to be like a sovereign nation: “Tey are more than travel hubs: this is a special category of city-state, with a stable location, but citizens in fux” (56). Tokarczuk uses fights to create connections; she imagines one man in a plane overhead another man stepping outside of his home, drawing a line between the two as “vertical neighbors” (328). As the narrator fies to Amsterdam, she notices a record left by other travelers about their trip, written on the airsickness bag, and she desires to know more about their future and their travels (361). In the last fragment of the novel, which takes place in an airport, the narrator observes another traveler and imagines that he is also writing about her. She explains, “we will reciprocally transform each other into letters and initials, immortalize each other, plastinate each other, submerge each other in formaldehyde phrases and pages” (401-402). Tokarczuk references

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the novel’s focus on preservation, now reimagining it as occurring through writing in the fuid space of the airport, harkening back to the narrator’s childhood realization that “that which is in motion is able to last for all eternity” (4). Tokarczuk’s narratives acknowledge, but subvert, Cixous’ assertion that “for centuries we’ve been able to possess anything only by fying; we’ve lived in fight, stealing away, fnding, when desired, narrow passageways, hidden crossovers” (Cixous 887). For Tokarczuk, fight is expansive rather than restrictive; it is connective and uninhibited rather than hidden. Flights, or other modes of transit, are frequently used in the novel to return home; however, Tokarczuk represents home as another space that is in motion, transforming in one’s absence, and rarely greeting the returning traveler in the way they might expect. One short section describes home as a hotel, in which the narrator fnds herself alienated from her bedroom, her library, even her own clothes (170). A lengthier narrative fragment follows a successful biologist as she returns to Poland, which is also Tokarczuk’s home country, to fulfll a request from her childhood lover to euthanize him. When she arrives and goes to wander in the Old Town, she realizes that “everything here repels her” (300). For her, the city is “impenetrable,” almost unrecognizable as the same place she once lived. Te space of home is unstable and unexpected, reiterating Boym’s expression that memory often shapes home into a “romance with one’s own fantasy,” a vision which does not exist in reality (Boym xiii). Kassabova deconstructs the space of home in Border through the stories of refugees and travelers who depart from their origins, whether willingly or by force. She relates the history of Bulgarian Muslims through Ayshe and Ahmed, a couple who were relocated across the border into Turkey like so many others. Ahmed refects, “But I still miss it. Even if in Bulgaria they call me a Turk, and in Turkey they call me a Bulgarian. What am I, tell me!” (Kassabova 139). In 1989, he and his family were forced to leave, only returning to their home years later to buy it back for double the price – “But it was worth it… it’s where our memories are,” explains Ahmed (140). For Bulgarian Muslims, home became a complicated space of trauma regardless of whether they returned or not. Tose who stayed during this turbulent decade were forcibly assimilated, renamed with Christian names, and bereft of religious expression, as mosques were banned (141). Tose who left had no promise of faring better; Ayshe and Ahmed lived in tents – “Mud, rain, fooding, no sanitation, for two years” (145). Kassabova calls herself lucky, but relates her childhood of emigration and relocation to theirs, saying “we had been spat out by the same loveless motherland” (149). Despite the circumstances of removal, home became a distant dream rather than a present reality. Tese stories of departure are utilized by Kassabova to characterize the border as a liminal space – between home and exile, known and unknown, past and future. Spaces surrounding the border take on a mythic quality, including Saint Marina’s cave of cleansing, and a rose garden that Kassabova seeks but never fnds. An archaeologist and retired spy promises to help her locate it, but he proves more elusive than the garden itself: “I looked for the rose garden but nobody knew of it,” Kassabova writes, “And I never saw the archaeologist again, though I tried” (173). Te mythic attributes of the border are also expressed in Kassabova’s “Mountain of Madness, II” section, in which she continues the story that she began out of sequence at the beginning of the book. She characterizes the journey into the Rhodope Mountains as “sinister” and “shifty,” as she and her guide, Ziko, venture along the “Road to Freedom.” As Kassabova treads the same paths as the refugees, vagabonds, and exiles who sought this freedom, reality begins to meld with fantasy and nightmare. Ziko brings her to a house at the top of a mountain, where her imagination runs wild and she begins to believe she may be in danger; she writes, “A curse fell over the scene. Time stopped, my heart stopped. Ten I woke up and broke into a run, down the steep road” (273). When she fnally reaches the bottom, she encounters “a biblical tableau” of a kind group of strangers who help her to regain her bearings (275). Kassabova recognizes the strange ties to legend within this episode, including two of her

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saviors being named, “rather improbably, Orfeus and Achilles” (276). She is safe, but shaken; upon encountering Ziko again at her hotel, she refects, “In this mountain, I couldn’t even trust myself ” (278). Kassabova continues to build on the notion that the border is a place of danger; while she navigates the Road to Freedom, she comments that during the Cold War, “marauding bands of all stripes… robbed refugees, tradesmen, partisans, and each other” (246). Ziko remembers the “smell of fear,” saying, “When people cross a border, they don’t run from good, Kapi. Tey run from bad. Sometimes very bad” (242). Te border is also a place of death; the ofcial record of ‘missing’ foreign tourists in Bulgaria between 1961 and 1989 counts 415, but “not a single soldier or politician has been indicted” (49). Te Bulgarian border had a “deceptively friendly reputation” compared to the Berlin Wall, making it a target for desperate citizens of the Soviet bloc. Yet the border is equally a space of beauty, as Kassabova realizes one evening along the road, writing, “despite my exhaustion I couldn’t rest. It was the new sensation under my skin: there are beautiful places on earth where nobody is spared” (251). Te border holds this beauty because it is nigh-untouched, but its remote and elusive nature also make it deadly. Ugresic echoes Kassabova’s portrayal of the rapid changes forced on Bulgarian Muslims in her discussion of the Yugoslavian unrest and civil war beginning in 1991. It was in this year that “the wrong side became right, and the right side was suddenly wrong… when a lie became the law, and the law a lie; when people pronounced nothing but monosyllabic words: blood, war, gun, fear” (Ugresic 22). Both Kassabova and Ugresic utilize these histories to demonstrate the fuid and often futile nature of borders; Eliasova writes, “Ugresic’s artistic, cultural, and even political mission lies not only in crossing these boundaries, but in simultaneously exposing their shaky premises” (184). Museum reveals how continued changes to nations, boundaries, and ideologies only served to heighten the emerging resentment between peoples that were once a part of the same country. One of the narrator’s friends from Zagreb, Doti, spirals down the path of this resentment, siding defnitively and proudly with Croatia. Te narrator hears rumors that Doti “assiduously assembled secret fles on faculty employees, putting little plus or minus signs beside their names” to represent their loyalties, and later comes to discover that Doti placed minuses next to hers (210). Tough a longtime friend, Doti condemned the narrator, reiterating this judgement in a later interview (212). Tis episode demonstrates the insidious capability of intra-national confict to drive a wedge between even the closest of friends; the narrator refects that in their group before the war, “It was Doti, I believe, who had liked me best” (212). Te narrator recalls the efects of these shifting national identities on her childhood: “In the dictionary of the world there was a world. In the dictionary of the world there is no sign of us” (Ugresic 61). She is at frst cut of from the global community, but upon joining the “world” of Berlin, struggles to fnd a trace of her origins. Her time in Berlin seems unreal; she describes the view from her room, a “temporary exile,” as a “romantic stage set” on more than one occasion (3). It is a lonely time, she explains: “In Belin the sense of isolation is very acute and unambiguous” (97). When she confdes in Zoran, a friend, he replies that “everyone in Berlin is lonely” (97). Te city refuses to solidify, remaining a liminal space by Ugresic’s depiction; “Wo bin ich?” (Where am I?) asks the narrator (236). Within Berlin, two key spaces provide redefnition for the narrator, as well as ties to her origin: the museum, especially the titular museum, and the fea-markets. According to Margentina Iasmina Bot, “the fea-markets and the museum become the symbols of the yugonostalgic time and space, because these are the only binders which maintain the connection with Yugoslavia” (187). Berlin “is a city of museums” (Ugresic 221), and the exhibits that the narrator explores either represent, or are viewed through the lens, of her Yugoslavian experience. A Moscow artist, Ilya Kabakov, attempts to categorize everyday life, conversations, and objects. When the narrator views his studio in 1986, she considers it “his own museum of the extinct

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Soviet epoch” (37). Similarly, English artist Richard Wentworth’s studio is almost overtaken by the everyday, and Ugresic compares it both to Roland the walrus’ stomach, and a heap of rubble outside Berlin. He creates an exhibit of plates salvaged from the Berlin fea-markets, and he “is convinced that he is saving his plates from ruin… Tat is why he connects his plates into a family” (162). Te narrator visits an exhibit in the Deutsches Historisches Museum which “is devoted to things;” her companions comment on the everyday objects they recognize from their childhoods, although the objects are sourced from Germany and not their own history: “We had the very same kitchen at home,” says Mira. “We’ll never have a museum like this,” says Zoran. “How could we when the country has disappeared,” says Mira. (Ugresic 233) Ugresic stresses the importance of cataloging their existence, writing, “If the objects that surrounded us have disappeared, then so has memory of the everyday life that we lived” (Ugresic 233). Tese objects are also preserved in the Berlin fea-markets, one of the only sources of community and memory for the narrator. Ugresic explains, “Te Berlin fea-markets are open museums of everyday life, past and present,” also comparing them to the stomach of Roland the walrus (229). Kasmir, a Bosnian refugee, visits the fea-markets with his mother where they meet “our folk,” meaning other Yugoslavians (225). Trough the individuals that coalesce there and the objects that they sell, a makeshift community is formed. At the fea-markets, “the country that is no more, Bosnia, draws its map once again in the air, with its towns, villages, rivers, and mountains. Te map glimmers briefy and then disappears like a soap bubble” (230). Ugresic writes that “things last longer than people” (230); things sold in the fea-markets, or held in museums, preserve the people and places, now deceased or dissolved, that would otherwise fade from memory. Tese spaces, in spite of or perhaps because of their constant motion and change, are capable of briefy recreating the home to which the exile longs to return, while also exhibiting its extinction. Conclusion As repeated themes and techniques emerge from these complex texts, it becomes clear that exile is a fuid state with no single clear defnition. Tokarczuk, Kassabova, and Ugresic demonstrate the trauma of forced emigration from one’s home, regardless of whether return is possible. Tey depict personal identity, through memory, and national identity, through the shifting boundaries of space and time, as constantly fuctuating. Yet this is not out of one’s control – the ability given to the reader to travel through the novel and draw unique connections conveys the importance of individual agency. Each author demonstrates an inescapable need for these connections and for the sharing of stories, ideals upon which the creation of literature relies. Tough Eastern European women’s literature communicates a highly specifc experience, one which demands and deserves a place on the world stage, it is the expansive and permeable nature of these books that endows them with the power to electrify readers across the globe.

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Works Cited Bot, Margentina Iasmina. “A Yugo-Nostalgic Perspective Upon Exile.” Studii de Stiinta si Cultura, vol. 18, no. 4, 2022, pp. 185-189. Boym, Svetlana. Te Future of Nostalgia. Basic Books, 2001. Bye, Sean Gasper. “Flights (review).” World Literature Today, vol. 92, no. 4, 2018, pp. 64–65. Cixous, Hélène, et al. “Te Laugh of the Medusa.” Signs, vol. 1, no. 4, 1976, pp. 875–93. Eliasova, Vera. “Te Mobile Imagination in European Women’s Writing: Parallels Between Modern and Postmodern Times.” Times of Mobility: Transnational Literature and Gender in Translation, edited by Jasmina Lukic, Sibelan Forrester, & Borbála Faragó, Centeral European University Press, 2019, pp. 171-192. Federici, Eleonora & Vita Fortunati. “Teorizing Women’s Transnational Literatures: Shaping New Female Identities in Europe through Writing and Translation.” Times of Mobility: Transnational Literature and Gender in Translation, edited by Jasmina Lukic, Sibelan Forrester, & Borbála Faragó, Centeral European University Press, 2019, pp. 47-78. Hanus, Anna & Patrycja Austin. “Olga Tokarczuk’s Flights as an example of genre transformation in the contemporary novel – a linguistic and literary view.” tekst i dyskurs – text und diskurs, no. 16, 2022, pp. 53-74. Hofmann, Krzysztof. “Always Towards, Not From-to. Experiment, Travel, and Deconstruction in Flights by Olga Tokarczuk.” Czas Kultury, no. 3, 2019, pp. 113-120. Kassabova, Kapka. Border: A Journey to the Edge of Europe. Graywolf Press, 2017. Tokarczuk, Olga. Flights. Translated by Jennifer Croft, Riverhead Books, 2007. Tokarczuk, Olga. “Te body is the perfect vehicle.” Interview by Maja Gawronska. Dziennik, 25 Oct. 2007, https://kultura.dziennik.pl/ksiazki/artykuly/62076,cialo-to-pojazddoskonaly.html. Ugresic, Dubravka. Te Museum of Unconditional Surrender. Translated by Celia Hawkesworth, New Directions Books, 1996.

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About the Author

Sarah Poole is an alumna of the class of 2023 at Christopher Newport University. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a double major in Teater and English. Sarah participated in the Honors Program and the President’s Leadership Program as a Presidential Scholar, and was the recipient of the 2021-2022 Nancy Gonzales Turner Memorial Scholarship. She is a member of Sigma Tau Delta and Alpha Psi Omega. Sarah received an Independent Research Grant for her research with Dr. Margarita Marinova in the English department, and she received one of the inaugural research grants in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for her work as the stage manager of TeaterCNU’s production of Head Over Heels. She was the recipient of the 2022-2023 Undergraduate Paper Prize in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Sarah plans to continue stage managing and pursue a career in publishing.

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Journey to the Past: Anthropology’s Role in Closing the Romanov Case Phoebe Salomon Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Christopher Loy, Department of Sociology, Social Work, and Anthropology

Abstract After ruling Russia for over three hundred years, on July 17, 1918, the Romanov imperial dynasty came to an end when Tsar Nicholas II, his family, and their staf were executed by Bolshevik troops. Until the late 1900s, the circumstances of their deaths and the location of their bodies were unknown. Although many people disagree with the fndings, the Romanov case has been closed through the combined eforts of professionals in a variety of disciplines. Te impact of the felds of archaeology, forensic science, and genetics is relatively well-known and applauded. However, the contributions of the feld of anthropology, specifcally biological anthropology, are less recognized. Following the discovery of nine sets of remains in 1991, forensic anthropologist Dr. William R. Maples was brought in by Russian authorities to identify the bodies. Using anthropological techniques, he concluded that the nine sets of human remains found near Yekaterinburg belonged to fve members of the Romanov family and four members of their staf. Unfortunately, Dr. Maples died before the case was fully closed in 2007, with the discovery and identifcation of Alexei and Anastasia Romanov, but he made a vital contribution to the Romanov case and showed the world just what anthropology can do.

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History is full of murder cases with loose ends and unresolved questions, and the murder of the six members of the Romanov family and their staf was one such case--that is, until 1992. For over seventy years, stories of how Tsar Nicholas II and his family were killed in Russia circled the world—the tale full of mystique and mystery. For a time, there was hope that members of the family had survived and escaped, as individuals such as Anna Anderson emerged, claiming to be the lost grand duchess, Anastasia. However, in 1992, the mystery came partially to a close with the discovery of nine sets of remains in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Fifteen years later, in 2007, despite the persistence of legends of survivors, the case was closed with the uncovering of the fnal two sets of remains. Te impact of the felds of archaeology, forensic science, and genetics in the Romanov case is relatively well-known and applauded. However, the contributions of the feld of anthropology, specifcally biological anthropology, though crucial to identifying the Romanov’s bodies, are less recognized. Te work of forensic anthropologist William R. Maples was instrumental in confrming the identity of the frst fve Romanov bodies discovered in 1992 and laid the groundwork for future forensic anthropologists. Te Romanovs ruled Russia from 1613 to 1917. Te family ascended to the throne following a period of war, turmoil, and unrest, and Mikhail Romanov (r. 1613-1645) was selected by an assembly to begin a new chapter in Russia’s history. According to PBS, “Te Romanov family was popular with all classes of people, including the lower ranks of the gentry and city dwellers” (A Romanov Album). Like with any royal family, the Romanov dynasty was a mix of with famous and obscure rulers. Te more notable Romanov rulers were responsible for westernizing Russia, expanding the country, and introducing European culture. On March 13, 1881, Alexander III (r. 1881-1894), son of Alexander II (r. 1855-1881), succeeded to the throne following the assassination of his father. He would reign for only thirteen years, dying from kidney disease in 1881. His son, Nicholas II would inherit the throne, beginning the fnal chapter of Romanov rule. When Tsar Nicholas II took the throne in 1881, he was the eighteenth Romanov ruler. In 1894, he married the German princess Alexandra of Hesse-Darmstadt. Nicholas had little ruling experience, which led him to make many poor decisions throughout his reign. In an attempt to expand Russia, he incited war with Japan in 1904. Russia was defeated, leading to strikes and riots within the country. Although Russia had strong allies during World War I, they sufered high losses on the battlefeld, and high infation led to a severe food shortage at home. In February 1917, the frst major event of the Russian Revolution began. Widespread demonstrations began in St. Petersburg, protesting everything from food shortages to the war. Having lost all support from his army, on March 15, 1917, Nicholas II was forced to abdicate the throne in favor of his brother. Troughout the next year, the tsar and his family were held in various places, eventually being moved to Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Te Romanov family moved into Ipatiev House on April 30, 1918, and they lived there for seventy-eight days. Tis included former Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, their four daughters, their son, a doctor, and three servants. On July 17, 1918, around midnight, the family was awakened and told to get dressed. Tey were under the assumption that they were being moved to a safer location due to possible danger. Te family and their staf were brought to the basement of the house and executed by Bolshevik troops. Teir murder was a brutal one, “they were shot and bayoneted [. . .] allegedly taking 20 min to complete” (Byard 552). Although they originally intended to bury the bodies in an unused mine, ultimately, they dug a grave beside the road. Te bodies were stripped of their clothes, covered with sulfuric acid, and dumped into the grave. Two of the bodies were buried away from the main grave, likely to try and confuse later exhumations (Byard 554). In 1979, Dr. Alexander Avdonin, a geologist and archaeologist, requested a permit to dig around the Koptyaki forest near Yekaterinburg, Russia, where the Romanovs were killed. Russian authorities assumed Avdonin was using the area for geological research, but he believed

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that the bodies of the Romanovs were buried there. He discovered three skulls but returned them to the site and was forced to keep his discovery a secret until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991(Byard 556). In 1991, nine sets of remains were exhumed and were believed to be the bodies of fve of the seven Romanov members and the four staf members (Gill et al. 130). Dr. Pavel Ivanov, a Russian geneticist, and Dr. Peter Gill, a prominent forensic scientist, performed DNA testing. Although the results continue to be debated to this day, Ivanov and Gill concluded that the remains found did belong to the Romanov family (Gill et al. 130). While Avdonin’s discoveries provided answers for nine of the individuals that lost their lives on July 17, 1918, two of the children were still missing. While it is agreed that Alexei, the Tsar and Tsarina’s son, was one of the missing children, the identity of the other child is disputed by Russian and American forensic anthropologists. “Te Russians were convinced that Maria was missing from the mass grave, while the American experts believed that Anastasia was missing” (Coble 2). In 2007, a group of archaeologists discovered a few bone fragments about half a mile from the frst grave. An ofcial archaeological investigation led to the discovery of forty-four bone fragments. It was concluded that there was a minimum of two people present; one individual was female and roughly ffteen-nineteen years old; the other individual was male and roughly twelve-ffteen years old, and the grave was over sixty years old (Coble 2). DNA analysis concluded that the remains were the missing two Romanov children. Although investigations provided conclusive evidence that all the remains of the Romanov family were identifed, skeptics are determined to prove that there is more to the story. Tantalizing the public, and leading to numerous books and flms, the idea that Anastasia Romanov escaped and survived has been one of the greatest conspiracy theories of the 20th century. Since 1918, there have been several women claiming to be Anastasia, most notably, Anna Anderson. In 1920, Anderson was hospitalized in Berlin after a suicide attempt. She claimed to have amnesia, but others noted her resemblance to Anastasia (Melton 234). Rumors that one of the Romanov children had survived had been circulating since the family disappeared in 1918, and many were convinced that this woman was the missing princess. Anderson had many supporters and opponents throughout her life, and after the Romanov bodies were discovered in 1991, her DNA was compared to theirs. Te samples showed no association (Stoneking 9), and Anderson was ultimately determined to be Franzisca Schanzkowska, a missing Polish factory worker. Although anthropology is often left out of the discussion of the sciences that were crucial in identifying the Romanov remains, the discipline played a role in this case from the very beginning and continued to play a part as developments were made over the years. Dr. William R. Maples (1937-1997) was a renowned forensic anthropologist who worked at the C.A. Pound Human Identifcation Laboratory at the Florida Museum of Natural History. Maples worked on numerous high-profle cases, such as identifying the remains of Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizzaro and determining whether or not former U.S. president Zachary Taylor was poisoned (Goza 692). He has also become one of the most famous forensic anthropologists connected to the Romanov case. In his book, Dead Men Do Tell Tales, Maples wrote that he learned of the discovery of the Romanov bodies in 1992, at an American Association of Forensic Sciences convention in New Orleans (Maples and Browning 251). He knew that solving this mystery would not only be groundbreaking for history, but a way to show the public just what anthropology can do. In 1992, Maples assembled a team made up of Michael Baden, a forensic pathologist, Lowell Levine, a forensic dentist, Cathryn Oaks, a hair and fber microscopist, Margaret Maples, a media specialist, and William Goza, an attorney and historian. Shortly after that, the team received an ofcial invitation, signed by Dr. Avdonin and Dr. Nikolai Nevolin, the head of the state forensic bureau of the Sverdlovsk district, requesting them to come to Russia (Maples and Browning 252). Te frst obstacle that the team faced was that the Russians

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refused to let them photograph the remains. While the lack of photography would not hinder the basic identifcation of the skeletons, as Maples wrote, “all our work would be in vain if we were not able to document our fndings” (252). In a few hours, Maples was able to discern the age, sex, and possible identifcation of each of the nine skeletons. Te Russians were astonished that the conclusions that had taken them several months to come to, Maples and his team had arrived at in the matter of hours. Tey subsequently removed all barriers from the team. Using anthropological techniques, Maples and his team were able to determine that fve of the remains were female and the other four were male. Due to the severe damage to the crania in all the discovered remains, the team relied on post-cranial areas, such as the pelvis, to estimate sex. It is not clear which techniques Maples and his team used to sex the skeletons, but when looking at the pelvis, there are specifc features associated with giving birth that can help identify a female individual. Most of the techniques associated with sexing the pelvis are anthroposcopic, based on the observation of physical characteristics. Typically, the female pelvis is broader and more fared, compared to the male pelvis which tends to be narrower (Berg 146). However, in terms of overall size, the male pelvis is typically more robust. Te only metric technique that is widely accepted is the ischium-pubic index, which relies on the measurement of the length of the pubis and the ischium. Percentages below 84% are considered to be male, and percentages above 94% are considered to be female (Berg 185). Following the estimation of sex, the next important feature to determine is age. Our bones and teeth grow at a predictable rate, so estimating age relies on three methods: epiphyseal union, dental development, and degenerative changes. Epiphyseal union “refers to the appearance and closure of the epiphyseal plates between the primary centers of growth in a bone” (Kendell et al. 560). Timetables have been created that tell forensic anthropologists at what age certain bones stop growing, with the cervical and lumbar vertebrae fusing frst and the clavicle being the last (Byers 217). Dental development is another important indicator of age. Children typically have twenty deciduous teeth that are eventually replaced with thirty-two adult teeth. Anthropologists can look at the teeth present, both in size and number, to help determine the age of the bones. While epiphyseal union and dental development can help identify a skeleton belonging to a child, there are also signs of age that can identify an older adult. Specifc areas of the skeleton, such as the pelvis and the ribs, develop certain characteristics such as lipping and billowing that become more apparent the older an individual gets (Kendell et al. 561). Maples and his team used all three of these methods when determining the age of each of the skeletons. Of the fve female skeletons, Maple’s team concluded that there were three young women present. Tey identifed Olga, the oldest Romanov daughter who was twenty-two when she died, by the fact that her wisdom teeth were fully developed. In White individuals, the third molars, or wisdom teeth, typically fully form by age twenty-one (Byers 215). Tatiana, the next youngest daughter who was twenty-one when she died, was identifed because her collarbone was fully fused, which occurs at age twenty-one (Langley 511). Maria, the second youngest daughter who was nineteen when she died, was identifed through both dental development and epiphyseal union. Not only were her wisdom teeth incomplete, but her sacrum was also not fully developed (Maples and Browning 256). Te other two female skeletons were identifed as fully grown females based on the pelvis and the wear on the joint surfaces and were determined to be the Tsarina and her maid. It is important to remember that two skeletons were not found in the frst grave exhumed in 1991. Tey would not be found until 2007 and were not part of Maples’ team’s investigation. It was agreed upon that one of the missing skeletons was Alexei, the Tsar’s son; however, the identity of the missing female skeleton was contended. According to Maples, despite the fact that the Russian ofcials believed that one of the bodies belonged to Anastasia, who was seventeen years old when she died, none of the female skeletons were young enough to be to hers (256-7). Knowing that Alexei was not present among these remains, Maples and his team

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knew that they should fnd four adults males, and they did. Looking to degenerative changes, two sets of remains showed evidence of aging, aligning with the ages of the family’s footman and physician. However, because of the small age range between the four skeletons, these remains were ultimately identifed using individualizing characteristics (Maples and Browning 253-9). When it came to determining whether the remains discovered by Dr. Avdonin belonged to the Romanov family, it was important to make sure that the injuries matched the reports detailing how the family was murdered. Within forensic anthropology, there are four categories of trauma. Blunt force trauma is an injury caused by low-velocity force and results in a wide area of impact, such as from a club or fst. Sharp force trauma is caused by a tool that is edged, pointed, or beveled, such as a knife, and results in linear incisions. Projectile trauma results from fast-moving objects like bullets and afects a small surface area. When working with remains that sufer projectile trauma, forensic anthropologists aim to provide law enforcement with as much information as possible. Tis often includes the make and model of the weapon, which can potentially lead to a specifc individual. Lastly, miscellaneous trauma includes trauma caused by exposure to extreme heat and explosions (Byers 279). Te bones Maples and his team analyzed showed evidence of projectile, blunt, and sharp force trauma. Forensic anthropologists can also determine when an injury was sustained using three categories: antemortem: before death; perimortem, at or around time of death; and postmortem, after death. Te lack of healing suggested that all the injuries occurred perimortem or postmortem (Maples 2-3). According to his statement on the execution of the imperial family, Yakov Yurovsky, the chief executioner, said that the executioners used both guns and bayonets to kill the family, “At that moment I shot him [Nicholas] and killed him outright [. . .] At that moment disorganized, not orderly fring began [. . .] Yermakov resorted to a bayonet” (Alexander Place Time Machine). Fourteen bullets were found in the grave, and they all came from a .32-caliber gun which matches the information that Yurovsky provided in his statement (Maples and Browning 253). Each skeleton shows evidence of a slightly diferent death. Skeleton One (Fig. 1), believed to be the Tsarina’s maid, sufered one gunshot wound to the right proximal femur. Additionally, there are postmortem injuries that might have come from a shovel. Skeletons Two (Fig. 2), Tree (Fig. 3), and Six (Fig. 6), believed to be the family’s physician, Olga, and Tatiana, sufered through-and-through gunshot wounds to the head. Maples does not provide any trauma analysis of Skeleton Four (Fig. 4), believed to be Tsar Nicholas, but, according to Yurovsky’s statement, the Tsar was fatally shot once in the head. A bullet was near Skeleton Five (Fig. 5), believed to Marie, but there is no evidence on the bones of this wound or what else killed her. Maples hypothesized that Skeleton Seven (Fig. 7), believed to be Tsarina Alexandra, sufered severe damage to the ribcage from a bayonet, but the bones were not preserved well enough for him to be sure. Skeleton Eight, believed to be the family’s cook, was the most damaged and incomplete set of remains, making trauma analysis difcult. Finally, Skeleton Nine (Fig. 8), believed to be the family’s footman, showed evidence of a stab wound that went straight through the breastbone as well as gunshot wound that went through the left femur (Maples et al. 1-3). Although the determination of sex, age, and cause of death is important in an anthropological investigation, these characteristics can only assist with making a presumptive identifcation. Individualizing characteristics are unique individual traits, such as dental restorations and surgical implants, and it is these characteristics that help lead to a positive identity. Additionally, if photographs and medical records are available, individualizing characteristics can play an even larger role in helping to lead forensic anthropologists and authorities to a confrmed positive identifcation. Since Maples and his team were asked to come to Russia to confrm that the remains did belong to the Romanov family and their staf,

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a presumptive identifcation had already been made by the Russian authorities. Because of this, Maples’ team had access to materials such as photographs and medical records to compare the remains against, things not available at the start of an investigation of an unknown individual. Analyzing the dental work, and the lack thereof, on the remains was one of the most important steps in the investigation. When dealing with historical remains, dental work can provide valuable information relating to economic and social class. All the female skeletons had dental work; however, none of the male skeletons did, apart from Dr. Sergei Botkin who had a denture plate in his upper jaw (Maples and Browning 253). Of the fve female skeletons, dental work played a particular role in identifying Skeleton One and Seven, believed to be the Tsarina’s maid and the Tsarina. Te Tsarina’s maid, Anna Demidova, did have dental work, but it was characterized as “a gold bridge of poor workmanship [. . .] not very expensive dental work” (Maples and Browning 254). Te Romanovs would have had the money to spend on quality dental work, allowing this set of remains to be singled out as a non-royal member of the party. Alternatively, the Tsarina was identifed because of her quality and expensive dental work. Forensic dentist Dr. Lowell Levine discovered platinum crowns, porcelain crowns, and gold fllings in the skull of Skeleton Seven (Maples and Browning 258), leading the team to believe that those remains could have only belonged to the Tsarina. Using individualizing characteristics, Maples was also able to identify the set of remains belonging to Tsar Nicholas. Te skull featured a broad and fat palate, as well as a robust supraorbital torus, consistent with the photographs of Nicholas. In addition, the hipbones showed signs associated with many hours spent horseback riding, and historical records confrm that the Tsar was an avid horseman (Maples and Browning 259). One of the most surprising things about Nicholas’s remains was the condition of the teeth. Where Tsarina’s teeth featured some of the most exquisite dental work available in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Tsar’s teeth were rotten with no evidence of dental work. Maples hypothesized that Nicholas might have been afraid of the dentist, and, because of his rank, nobody could force him to go (Maples and Browning 259). Once Maples and his team were confdent in their identifcation of Nicholas and Alexandra, they were also confdent in the decision that the three young women found in the grave were three of the Romanov children, specifcally, Olga, Tatiana, and Marie. Dr. William Maples and his team made an incredible contribution to the Romanov case and to the feld of anthropology. Unfortunately, Maples died in 1997 at the age of ffty-nine and was not able to see the fascinating murder case that had gripped people’s imaginations for decades come to a close. Following Maples’ death, forensic anthropologist Dr. Anthony Falsetti, currently an associate professor in the Forensic Science department at George Mason University, inherited the Romanov case. In 2007, Falsetti became the new hero of forensic anthropology when he confrmed that the two sets of remains discovered by a group of archaeologists belonged to Alexei and Anastasia Romanov, bringing closure to the almost ninety-year-old murder case. It is easy to ignore the contributions of anthropology to historical cases such as the Romanov murders, but individuals such as Dr. Maples and Dr. Falsetti are showing the world just what anthropology can do.

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Appendix:1

Figure 1: Skeletal Remains of Body #1

Figure 2: Skeletal Remains of Body #2

All images from Maples’ Forensic Anthropology Collection at DigitalFGCU

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Figure 3: Skeletal Remains of Body #3

Figure 4: Skeletal Remains of Body #4

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Figure 5: Skeletal Remains of Body #5

Figure 6: Skeletal Remains for Body #6

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Figure 7: Skeletal Remains of Body #7

Figure 8: Skeletal Remains of Body #9

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Works Cited: Berg, Gregory E. “Sex Estimation of Unknown Human Skeletal Remains.” Forensic Anthropology: A Comprehensive Introduction, 2nd ed., edited by Natalie R. Langley, MariaTeresa A. Tersigni-Tarrant, CRC Press, 2017, pp. 143-161. Byard, Roger W. “Te execution of the Romanov family at Yekatarinberg.” Forensic Science, Medicine, and Pathology, vol. 16, no. 3, 2020, pp. 552-556. Byers, Steven N. Introduction to Forensic Anthropology. 5th ed. Routledge. 2017. Clark, Mary L. “Mason faculty member brings feld experience to Forensic Science Program.” George Mason University, https://content.sitemasonry.gmu.edu/news/2019-03/masonfaculty-member-brings-feld-experience-forensic-science-program Coble, Michael D. “Te identifcation of the Romanovs: Can we (fnally) put the controversies to rest?” Investigative Genetics, vol. 2, no. 20, 2011, pp. 1-27. --, et al. “Mystery Solved: Te Identifcation of the Two Missing Romanov Children Using DNA Analysis.” PLoS One, vol. 4, no. 3, 2009, pp. 1-9. Decree of Medical Findings from Gravesite in Ekaterinberg, Russia. William R. Maples, n.d., https://fgcu-fvc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/ fulldisplay?docid=alma99383409017806570&context=L&vid=01FALSC_ FGCU:CUSTOM&lang=en&adaptor=Local%20Search%20 Engine&query=any,contains,decree Gill, Peter, et al. “Identifcation of the remains of the Romanov family by DNA analysis.” Nature Genetics, vol. 6, 1994, pp. 130-135. Goza, William M. “William R. Maples, Forensic Historian: Four Men, Four Centuries, Four Countries.” Journal of Forensic Sciences, vol. 44, no. 4, 1999, pp. 692-4. Kendell, Ashley, et al. “Bioarchaeology and Forensic Anthropology.” Explorations: An Open Invitation to Biological Anthropology, edited by Beth Shook, Katie Nelson, Kelsie Aguilera, and Lara Braf, American Anthropological Association, 2019, pp. 548-581. Langley, Natalie R. “Te lateral clavicular epiphysis: fusion timing and age estimation.” International Journal of Legal Medicine, vol. 130, no. 2, 2016, pp. 511-517. “Maples’ Anthropology Collection.” Florida Gulf Coast University, 10 May, 2023, https:// fgcu-flvc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/collectionDiscovery?vid=01FALSC_ FGCU:CUSTOM&collectionId=81308176730006570 Maples, William R., and Michael Browning. Dead Men Do Tell Tales: Te Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist. Doubleday, 1994. Melton, Terry. “Mitochondrial DNA: Solving the Mystery of Anna Anderson.” Hard Evidence: Case Studies in Forensic Anthropology, 2nd ed., edited by Dawnie Wolfe Steadman, Routledge, 2009, pp. 233-238.

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“Murder of the Imperial Family - Te executioner Yurovsky’s account.” Alexander Palace Time Machine, 2023, https://www.alexanderpalace.org/palace/yurovmurder.php “Nicholas II (1868-1918).” BBC, 2014, https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_fgures/ nicholas_ii.shtml Report from the University of Florida’s Examination of Skeletal Remains in Ekaterinberg. William R. Maples, Lowell J. Levine, Alexander Melamud, William F. Hamilton, Michael M. Baden, Margaret K. Maples, Cathryn L. Oaks, n.d., https://fgcu-fvc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/ fulldisplay?docid=alma99383409009706570&context=L&vid=01FALSC_ FGCU:CUSTOM&lang=en&adaptor=Local%20Search%20 Engine&query=any,contains,report “A Romanov Album.” Russian Archives Online, 2023, gallery/romanof/hist.html

https://www.pbs.org/redfles/rao/

Stoneking, Mark. “Establishing the identity of Anna Anderson Manahan.” Nature Genetics, vol. 9. 1995, pp. 9-10.

About the Author Phoebe Salomon is a rising senior at Christopher Newport University, majoring in Anthropology and minoring in Museum Studies and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She is a member of the Honors Program, has completed three semesters in the Research Apprentice Program, where she has worked with Dr. Christopher Loy and Barbara Stephenson, an intern with the Mount Horeb Historical Society, and has presented at NURVa (2023) and Paideia (2022, 2023). She will continue working as a research apprentice with the staf of the Torggler Fine Arts Center in the Fall. On campus, she has been involved with the Pen Pal Club, the CNU Dance Company, and CNU’s Annual Dance Concert as both a choreographer and dancer. After college she plans to go to graduate school and hopes to pursue a career in the museum world.

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Mathematical Modeling: Optimal Exploitation of Prey within Predator-Prey System Michael Dwight Sparks and John Herrmann Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Iordanka Panayotova, Department of Mathematics

Abstract Atlantic menhaden is one of the most important fsh in Chesapeake Bay. Tey are flter feeders contributing to the water cleaning and are ecologically important as prey for other important fshes in the Bay. Menhaden also supports the largest commercial fshery and is essential for the local economy. However, economic agents such as fshing companies or private fshers often overexploit natural resources like fsh which afects their long-term sustainability. To prevent such overexploitation, fshery managers implement policies on harvesting but frequently the models used do not account for the interspecies dynamics like the predator-prey relationship.

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In this study, we use optimal control theory to determine the optimal harvesting efort on Atlantic Menhaden using a two-species predator-prey model with the Atlantic menhaden as a prey and the striped bass as a predator. We found the efort that will maximize the discounted net revenue for the fsherman while keeping the fsh populations at optimal sustainable levels. Using numerical simulations, we showed that when harvesting the Atlantic menhaden with the optimal harvesting efort, its optimal equilibrium is very close to the biological equilibrium without harvesting; however, the optimal equilibrium value for the striped bass is lower than the biological equilibrium, even though the predator is not harvested. Tis result emphasizes the importance of interspecies relations when deciding on fshing quotas. Simulations also show that increasing the harvesting efort above the optimal value may result in the species extinction and even a small increase of the harvesting efort on the prey results in a signifcant decrease of the predator population’s steady state. Furthermore, a higher discount rate has a positive efect on the long-term equilibrium state of the striped bass, but not on menhaden’s. Tis study has shown that multi-species mathematical models are useful tools that may help in understanding long-term fsh population dynamics. Multi-species models must be used for management decisions about important natural resources such as the fsheries in the Chesapeake Bay to ensure long term economic and environmental sustainability.

optimal harvesting effort 𝐸𝐸𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝛿𝛿 is applied.

■ We are looking for the optimal equilibrium

equilibrium [3].

𝑥𝑥𝛿𝛿 , 𝑦𝑦𝛿𝛿 , when

■ Coexistence equilibrium P = (x*, y*) is a globally stable

■ They satisfy the transversality condition – bounded at infinity.

■ Hamiltonian of the system when only prey is harvested is: 𝐻𝐻 𝑡𝑡 = 𝑒𝑒 −𝛿𝛿𝛿𝛿 (𝑝𝑝1 𝑞𝑞1 𝑥𝑥 − 𝑐𝑐1 )𝐸𝐸 + λ1 𝑓𝑓1 + λ2 𝑓𝑓2 ■ λ1 and λ2 are the adjoint variables, the “shadow prices”

■ We want to maximize the PV subject to the model equations (1)

fisherman is worth today with discount rate δ.

0 0 ■ Present value represents how much the future income of the

𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 = න 𝑒𝑒 −𝛿𝛿𝛿𝛿 𝜋𝜋 𝑡𝑡, 𝐸𝐸 𝑑𝑑𝑡𝑡 = න 𝑒𝑒 −𝛿𝛿𝛿𝛿 𝑝𝑝1 𝑞𝑞1 𝑥𝑥 − 𝑐𝑐1 𝐸𝐸 𝑑𝑑𝑡𝑡

■ The objective functional is the present value given by ∞ ∞

𝑑𝑑𝒙𝒙 = 𝒙𝒙 𝒓𝒓 − 𝒂𝒂𝒙𝒙 − 𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃 − 𝒒𝒒𝟏𝟏 𝑬𝑬𝟏𝟏 𝒙𝒙 𝑑𝑑𝒕𝒕 (1) Predator-Prey model 𝑑𝑑𝒃𝒃 = 𝒃𝒃 −𝒆𝒆 − 𝒄𝒄𝒃𝒃 + 𝒅𝒅𝒙𝒙 − 𝒒𝒒𝟐𝟐 𝑬𝑬𝟐𝟐 𝑦𝑦 𝑑𝑑𝒕𝒕

Mathematical Model

Model fitting and parameters estimations are done in [3]. Atlantic menhaden and striped bass actual time series data from [4].

water cleaning of the Chesapeake Bay; when menhaden declines, phytoplankton blooms, causing hypoxic zones [2]. ● It is a very important forage fish for the Bay’s food chain ● It is the main prey for striped bass, “the most iconic fish in the Bay”, also commercially important, and overharvested [2].

● Atlantic Menhaden is a filter feeder that plays important role in

Background

𝑑𝑑𝛿𝛿 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 = 𝑒𝑒 −𝛿𝛿𝛿𝛿 𝑝𝑝1 𝑞𝑞1 𝑥𝑥 ∗ − 𝑐𝑐1 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑

− 2𝐴𝐴𝐸𝐸 𝑥𝑥 ∗ 𝑞𝑞1 𝑒𝑒 −𝛿𝛿𝛿𝛿 = 0 for E gives

Figure 2: Atlantic menhaden and striped bass populations in billions over 200 years when menhaden is harvested: (a) Half the optimal harvesting effort in black; (b) Optimal harvesting effort in red; (c) Twice the optimal harvesting in blue.

Assumptions: ■ Catchability parameter 𝑞𝑞1 = 0.5, 𝑞𝑞2 = 1; Discount rate 𝛿𝛿 = 0.15 ■ Cost per unit mass 𝑐𝑐1 = 𝑐𝑐2 = 1; Price per unit mass 𝑝𝑝1 = 𝑝𝑝2 = 20 ∗ ∗ ■ Coexistence equilibrium no harvesting 𝑥𝑥 , 𝑦𝑦 = (0.1363, 0.2886) Results: ■ Optimal equilibrium 𝑥𝑥𝛿𝛿 , 𝑦𝑦𝛿𝛿 = (0.1315, 0.1); 𝐸𝐸𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝛿𝛿 = 0.675

Figure 1: Comparison between Maximum Yield effort (black dashed line) and optimal harvesting effort (magenta dashed line) [3].

𝑬𝑬𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒕 =0.657

orange dot on the yield graph shown in green, when the optimal harvesting effort 𝐸𝐸𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝛿𝛿 = 0.675 is applied. ● The recommended harvesting effort is visualized with the dashed magenta line

● The optimal yield is given as

Numerical Simulations and Results

total discount net revenue obtained from harvesting while it ensures that the two species coexist at an optimal sustainable level.

■ This provides an optimal harvesting policy that maximizes the

■ Optimal harvesting effort 𝑜𝑜 𝑞𝑞 𝑥𝑥 ∗ −𝑐𝑐 𝑜𝑜1 𝑞𝑞1 (𝛿𝛿 +𝑐𝑐𝑦𝑦 ∗ ) 𝐸𝐸𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝛿𝛿 = 1 1 ∗ 1, where 𝐴𝐴 = 2 . 𝛿𝛿 +𝛿𝛿 𝑎𝑎𝑥𝑥 ∗ +𝑐𝑐𝑦𝑦 ∗ +(𝑎𝑎𝑐𝑐+𝑏𝑏𝑑𝑑 )𝑥𝑥 ∗ 𝑦𝑦 ∗ 2𝐴𝐴𝑥𝑥 𝑞𝑞

■ Solving

differential equations evaluated at the coexistence equilibrium 𝑑𝑑 λ1 = −𝑒𝑒 −𝛿𝛿𝛿𝛿 𝑝𝑝1 𝑞𝑞1 𝐸𝐸 + 𝑎𝑎𝑥𝑥 ∗ λ1 − 𝑑𝑑 𝑦𝑦 ∗ λ2 (x*, y*) : 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑λ𝛿𝛿 2 = 𝑏𝑏𝑥𝑥 ∗ λ1 + 𝑐𝑐 𝑦𝑦 ∗ λ2

Optimal Harvesting Effort ■ To find the adjoint variables we solve analytically the system of

Purpose of the Project

The Chesapeake Bay is an extremely complex ecosystem, and the interplay between species within it can lead to unintended overexploitation which would be detrimental to the environment and economy. Here, we use optimal control theory[1] constrained by a predator-prey two species model to find an optimal harvesting policy for a key fish in the Chesapeake Bay, the Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus). The striped bass (Morone saxatilis) is considered as the predator and the goal is to optimize the harvesting effort of the prey in such a way that harvesters maximize their profit while the two fishes coexist at an optimal level.

4. Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMF). Stock Assessments, 2022. (Atlantic Menhaden, Striped Bass) http://www.asmfc.org/fisheries-science/stock-assessments.

3. Panayotova, I.N., J. Herrmann, N. Kolling, 2023. Bioeconomic Analysis of Harvesting within a Predator-Prey System: A Case Study in the Chesapeake Bay Fisheries,, Ecological Modeling Journal Vol. 480, No 6, 110330, doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2023.110330.

2. Menhaden. Chesapeake Bay Program. 2023. www.chesapeakebay.net/issues/whats-atrisk/menhaden.Type equation here.

1. Pontryagin, L. S., V. G. Boltyanskii, R. V. Gamkrelidze, E. F. Mishchenko, 1962. The Mathematical Theory of Optimal Processes, New York: John Wiley & Sons1.

References

Natural resources are typically harvested out of commercial interest. Atlantic menhaden’s harvesting plays an important role in the Hampton Roads’ economy. Keeping the renewable resources as fisheries at an optimal level is essential to maintain the balance of the ecosystem. To address this problem, we used two-dimensional non-linear mathematical model and found the optimal harvesting effort that will maximize the discounted net revenue for the fisherman while keeping the fish populations at the optimal sustainable levels. ● When harvesting the Atlantic menhaden with the optimal harvesting effort, its optimal equilibrium is very close to the biological equilibrium without harvesting; however, the optimal equilibrium value for the striped bass is lower than the biological equilibrium, even though the predator is not harvested. ● Increasing the harvesting effort above the optimal value may result in the species extinction. ● Even a small increase of the effort on the prey results in a significant decrease of the predator population’s steady state. ● Higher discount rate has positive effect on the long-term equilibrium state of the striped bass, but not on menhaden’s. We have shown that multi-species mathematical models are useful tools that may help in understanding long-term fish population dynamics. Multi-species models must be used for management of important natural resources such as the fisheries in the Chesapeake Bay so we could preserve them for future generations as the interspecies interactions are very important when deciding on fishing quotas.

Conclusions

Figure 3: Atlantic menhaden and striped bass populations in billions over 200 years when menhaden is harvested with optimal effort and: (a) discount rate δ=0.15 is given in black; (b) discount rate δ=0.30 is given in red; and (c) Discount rate δ=0.60 is given in blue.

DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS, CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT UNIVERSITY

John Hermann, Michael Sparks, Iordanka Panayotova Ph.D.

Mathematical Modeling: Optimal Exploitation of Prey within Predator-Prey System

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About the Authors Michael Dwight Sparks is a major in Economics and Mathematics with a minor in American Studies. He has been involved in undergraduate research since his frst year at CNU and was a Summer Scholar in 2020, 2021, 2022. He is a member of the class of 2023 and plans on working to pursue a PhD in Economics in the future. John Herrmann is a graduating senior and is a member of the PME Honor Society. He is planning to attend the University of Rhode Island in the Fall to pursue graduate studies. His research interests are in mathematical modeling and dynamical systems.

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Te Seeds of Knowledge and Power: British Colonial Education in India Chloe Sullivan Faculty Sponsor: Dr. David Stenner, Department of History

Abstract Education is present in every part of life: culture, politics, philosophy, economics, and more. Its reach is what made education one of the most important aspects of control for the British Colonial Government over their colony of India in the 19th century. It also led to its downfall in the 20th century. For decades, scholars have written about the successes and failures of the British colony of India. Tis paper investigates knowledge and colonial power to recognize that Anglican education in India was a failure of the British. Michel Foucault’s work in the 1970s revolutionized the way scholars think about the relationship between knowledge and power. Knowledge is not power, and power is not knowledge. Tey exist in relation to one another as separate entities. Power dictates the terms of knowledge, what is true, and furthermore, what can even be knowable. If a subject or set of information can be known, it can be controlled. Tis paper weaves Foucault’s theories into the historical study of British educational colonization in India. Trough thorough analysis of British colonial sources such as reports, commissions, and resolutions, this study explains why the British chose to indoctrinate India’s youth with the English language in order to bolster their colonization and argues why that was a mistake due to the civil unrest it caused.

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On February 2nd, 1835, Te Committee of Public Instruction met to decide India’s educational fate. Would the British impose English language learning upon the colony (Anglican approach), or would they allow vernacular language to thrive with monetary support from the British (Orientalist approach)? Te former won over the latter due to the persuasion of T. B. Macaulay’s speech in which he emphasized the need to create a class that is “Indian in blood and colour, but English in tastes, in opinions, in morals and in intellect.”1 Te reason for this is simple: Britain wanted English educated Indians to run the local governments of the colony to keep the Empire alive. Tus, the Western indoctrination of India began and, in the process, strengthened Britain’s power over the colony as they gained control of the knowledge. Te relationship between knowledge and power has long been explored, most notably by Michel Foucault in the 1970s. Foucault’s work takes the traditional political philosophy and turns it on its head. Traditionally, power is explored with a focus on the rulers, but Foucault instead studies the ruled. He explains that knowledge is not merely power; it is a relationship between the two entities in which power is used to reproduce certain knowledge and suppress other types of knowledge.2 Power dictates the terms of knowledge, what is true, and furthermore, what can even be knowable. For example, the feld of wellness and mental health have taken leisure and relaxation and turned it into an entire industry and discipline. College degrees, licensures, and conferences on the subject now exist. Free time, rest, and leisure are being codifed and measured. Foucault would suggest that this is power invading and entering into this new region of our lives. If a subject or set of information can be known, it can be controlled.3 In 1835, 1854, and 1882, British colonialism continually controlled what should be known in India’s education system. Tese years represent the fundamental policy changes in Imperial education that kept Britain in control: Te Resolution of 1835, the Despatch of 1854 on General Education in India, and the Education Commission of 1882. In these fundamental documents—in addition to many more—the colonial system distributed a foreign system of knowledge and suppressed the existing indigenous knowledge. In the realm of British educational infuence in India, some scholars suggest that the British used education as a colonial tool to subdue a rebellious subject population.4 Others fnd that education was received well by the colonized and endowed great signifcance on the institution which advanced the colony intellectually.5 Tere is an ongoing historical debate whether Britain caused great harm to Indian colonial subjects or enlightened them with modern, Western ideas.6 Proponents of British education as a positive assert the expansion of women’s education as an achievement of colonialism.7 Adversaries argue Britain stunted India’s 1 2 3 4

6 7

Tomas B. Macaulay, “Te Hon’ble T. B. Macaulay’s Minute”, February 2, 1835, in A Source Book of Modern Indian Education, 1797 to 1902 ed. Madhav Ramkrishna Paranjpe (London: Macmillan and Company, 1938), 28. Michel Foucault, Te History of Sexuality Volume 1: An Introduction (New York: Random House Inc., 1978), 93. Foucault, History of Sexuality, 94. Tim Allender, Ruling Trough Education: Te Politics of Schooling in the Colonial Punjab (Illinois: New Dawn Press, 2006). Tomas R. Metcalf, Te Aftermath of Revolt: India, 1857-1870 (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1964). Arthur Howell, Education in British India, Prior to 1854, and in 1870-71 (India: Ofce of the Superintendent of Government Printing, 1872). Henry Rosher James, Education and Statesmanship in India, 1797 to 1910 (United Kingdom: Longmans, Green and Company, 1911). Arthur Mayhew, Te Education of India: A Study of British Educational Policy in India, 1835-1920, and Its Bearing on National Life and Problems in India Today (United States: University Microflms, 1978). A. R. Kamat, “Women’s Education and Social Change in India,” Social Scientist 5, no. 1 (1976): 3–27.

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own intellectual progress by enforcing foreign instruction.8 Tere has been a shift in historiography from a Eurocentric, British nationalist perspective to centering the Indian perspective and exploring how Western knowledge was perceived by the native people.9 However, British colonial sources are overwhelmingly more accessible which requires scholars to read against the grain to accurately display the Indian perspective. In the past two decades, scholarship has focused on pinpointing the many failures of the British Empire and emphasizing the achievements of India under colonial rule.10 Tis shift serves as a revisionist approach to give attention to the ruled rather than the ruler. Historian Sanjay Seth argues that the reason British education failed was because Western knowledge was not the ‘holy grail’ of epistemology it was thought to be and failed to produce the loyal, educated subjects it promised.11 Tim Allender criticizes the British Raj for lack of communication among the Imperial Government and local governments, which caused the colonial system to lose control over their subjects.12 In terms of giving credit to India’s achievements, A. R. Kamat demonstrates that Indian higher education made strides for women in educational development after the independent state regained control of its school systems. Kamat emphasizes that the advancement of women should not be a selling point of colonial education because that did not occur until India’s independence.13 Te historiographical gaps form due to the endless reasons to argue how the British empire failed; however, previous historiography addresses failures that occurred towards the end of the empire, whereas I investigate failures that are often ignored since they arose at the very beginning. In this paper I argue that from an educational standpoint, Britain’s failure as a colonial power occurred right at the start: the Anglican approach to India’s education system. Te British colonial power poured resources into India’s education system to assert dominance over the colony. With the mission of exploitation, the Anglican approach seemed to be the necessary choice to the British; however, the Orientalist approach could have created a more long-lasting colonial reign. I employ the complex relationship between knowledge and power to explain why the British felt so strongly about the Anglican approach. Te reasons for taking the Anglican route boil down to the distaste for indigenous language, the need for loyal and educated subjects, as well as the inevitable outcome of Enlightenment-based Western modernity. British power was further cemented by the laws that established Western education in India. Te Resolution of 1835, the Despatch of 1854 on General Education in India, and the Report of the Education Commission of 1882 all helped to legalize Britain’s involvement in Indian education. No matter how illegitimate those laws were to the native population, Indians were forced to follow a law they did not help to legislate. In the eyes of the British, their ‘improvement’ of the previous indigenous education validated their colonization of India; however, it was a false justifcation as India’s educational gains did not fully form until after the country gained independence. 8 9

11 12 13

Sanjay Seth, Subject Lessons: Te Western Education of Colonial India (North Carolina: Duke University Press, 2007). Michael Lackner et al., New Terms for New Ideas: Western Knowledge and Lexical Change in Late Imperial China (Boston: Brill, 2001). Yoweri Museveni and Anthony Appiah, Knowledge Cultures: Comparative Western and African Epistemology (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2005). Jon Wilson, Te Chaos of Empire: Te British Raj and the Conquest of India (New York: Public Afairs, 2016). Shashi Taroor, Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India (London: Penguin Books, 2018). Ilyse R. Morganstein Fuerst, Indian Muslim Minorities and the 1857 Rebellion: Religion, Rebels and Jihad (New York: Bloomsbury, 2017). Seth, Subject Lessons, 5. Allender, Ruling Trough Education, 7. Kamat, “Women’s Education,” 3–27.

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Te Beginnings of Colonial Education: Anglican versus Orientalist (1826-1835) In the very beginnings of colonial education, there was considerable discussion surrounding the best way to spread Western knowledge throughout the colony. Major-General Sir Tomas Munro gave a speech on native education to the Board of Revenue on March 10th, 1826. Munro ascertains the main issues causing the “the low state of education are the little encouragement which it receives from their being but little demand for it, and the poverty of the people.”14 Munro argues in his speech that they cannot fx the poverty issue frst; they must address education for wealthier natives which will have a trickle-down efect to help with the colony’s poverty. Munro contends that education can only be expanded in the colony “by means of an increased demand for it,” and the demand must come from “the acquisition of wealth or rank,” and from natives who are “able to pay for it.” Munro continues to say that the British colonial system “cannot educate those who do not seek, or cannot pay for education,” but they can give an improved education to those able to aford it. Te British aimed to create and encourage “a taste for knowledge,” to indirectly contribute to the expansion of education. Munro’s speech acts as the frst glimpse into the British Imperial approach to spreading knowledge. Before even discussing Anglican versus Orientalist, British ofcials deemed native education far less prestigious than Western education. British ofcials’ next task was to decide which language to use in their school system: English or Sanskrit; the Anglican or Orientalist approach respectively. Serving as the main spokesperson for the Anglican side, the Hon’ble T. B. Macaulay gave a speech known as “Macaulay’s Minute on Education” on February 2nd, 1835, to the British Committee of Public Instruction. Macaulay was a member of the Council of India, the President of the General Committee of Public Instruction, and regarded as the pioneer for India’s transition to Westernized education. Not only does Macaulay want to persuade his fellow colonial ofcials to side with him, but more importantly he is speaking to appeal to Lord Bentinck, Governor General of British India, as he will be the one to pass Macaulay’s ideas into law. Macaulay is very persuasive in his pitch for the Anglican path by answering his own posed question, “which language is the best worth knowing?”15 Macaulay admits to not knowing the native languages of Sanskrit or Arabic but believes English and Western knowledge is superior. He ignorantly states that “a single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia.”16 Macaulay uses phrases like this to propagate the idea that English was superior to Sanskrit and Arabic without contest. Macaulay emphasizes four main issues during his speech. Firstly, the promotion of European literature and knowledge in use of government funding since Parliament gave them the authority “to employ our funds as we choose, that we ought to employ them in teaching what is best worth knowing.”17 Not only does he believe English is better worth knowing than Arabic and Sanskrit, but even the natives are “desirous to be taught English”18 instead of the other two. Secondly, he suggests that all colleges teaching eastern subjects should be shut down as he calls those teachings “false texts and false philosophy.”19 He advocates for his theory of Downward Filtration which was a plan to educate a small group of elite Indian people who would then disseminate the knowledge to the rest of the public and overtime Western knowledge would spread to the masses. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, Macaulay’s intention of spreading Western knowledge was to create a loyal, educated, working class who 14 15 16 17 18 19

George Robert Gleig, Te Life of Major-General Sir Tomas Munro, Bart. and K. C. B., Late Governor of Madras: With Extracts from His Correspondence and Private Papers (United Kingdom: H. Colburn and R. Bentley, 1830), 408. Macaulay, “Te Hon’ble”, 17. Macaulay, “Te Hon’ble”, 18. Macaulay, “Te Hon’ble”, 27. Macaulay, “Te Hon’ble”, 27. Macaulay, “Te Hon’ble”, 24.

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were “Indian in blood and color, but English in tastes, in opinion, in morals and in intellect.”20 Overall, Macaulay’s Minute served as the main catalyst for Britain to favor the Anglican ideology over the Orientalist. On the other side of the warring factions, H. T. Prinsep’s note—written days after Macaulay’s speech in 1835—served as the Orientalists’ last shot at winning the ideological battle. Prinsep calls Macaulay’s argument “groundless” and based on harmful prejudice towards the native literature and knowledge.21 He announces the need for the government to pause their actions as they may commit irretrievable “measures hateful and injurious to the mass of the people under its sway.”22 Troughout his speech, he criticizes the government’s need to abolish the previous institutions—solely to put up their own similar ones in place—because it is unproductive and based in British superiority, not logic. Unlike teaching Latin to a Seminary, or “English to the Catholic uneducated Irish,” Prinsep sees it unft to teach English to this particular population as it would not “improve and make perfect and correct errors in the Institutions.”23 If the British Committee wants improvement in learning, and profciency in knowledge, they would not be successful since they “would have to commence everywhere teaching the English alphabet.”24 Whereas in Sanskrit, natives could continue to learn at a high level. He goes even further to say that not only is it not the right situation, but English is not on the same level of superiority as Greek or Latin, two languages that Macaulay compared it to in his speech. “It is not the language of the erudite” that it was thought to be.25 Prinsep skillfully dissects Macaulay’s argument to reveal the cultural simplicities constructed and trivial deductions made to view the native population as uneager to learn. Te similarities between Prinsep and Macaulay reveal themselves as both committee members undermine the native’s intellectual ability, as Prinsep’s argument rests in the idea that the natives do not have the capacity to learn the English language. Unfortunately for Prinsep, colonialism rests in the idea of superiority over another state, and his argument was neglected by Governor Bentinck. Te Anglican approach availed for the need to Westernize the East, and the English language came with it. On March 7th, 1835, a few weeks after the discussions of Macaulay and Prinsep, the Governor General of India, Lord William Bentinck, issued a resolution ofcially announcing the route the colonial government will take regarding India’s education. Tis document later became the grounds for the English Education Act in 1835 that put the decisions made by Bentinck into law. After Bentinck “attentively considered” both approaches to education, his decision reveals an explicit favor towards the Anglican approach and the ideas voiced in Macaulay’s Minute.26 Te Resolution makes four clear points that serve to accomplish their goals of bringing Western knowledge and the English language to Indian education systems. Firstly, in order to promote the Western literature and science, “all funds” allocated to education “would be best employed on English education alone.”27 Additionally, there has been a large sum of funds directed to the printing of Oriental literature, but this Resolutions

20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

Macaulay, “Te Hon’ble”, 28. Henry T. Prinsep, “Note of the Hon’ble H. T. Prinsep, 15th February 1835”, in A Source Book of Modern Indian Education: 1797 to 1902, ed. M. R. Paranjpe (London: Macmillan and Company, 1938), 37. Prinsep, “Note”, 30. Prinsep, “Note”, 34. Prinsep, “Note”, 45. Prinsep, “Note”, 36. William Bentinck, “Lord Bentinck’s Resolution, 7th March 1835.” in A Source Book of Modern Indian Education: 1797 to 1902, ed. M. R. Paranjpe. (London: Macmillan and Company, 1938), 49. Bentinck, “Resolution”, 49.

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“directs that no portion of the funds shall hereafter be so employed.”28 Not only is the colonial government fscally promoting English and Western literature but they are reducing access to native literature as well. While Bentinck claims the government will not intently abolish any native higher education institutions, he states “no stipend shall be given to any students that may hereafter enter at any of these institutions.”29 With much of the population unable to aford the cost of higher education, there is more incentive to go to an English learning school paid for by the colonial government, leading to the lower enrollment at native universities. Lastly, Bentinck requests a plan of action from the Committee to impart the native population “a knowledge of English literature and science through the medium of the English language.”30 Trough Bentinck’s reinforcement of Macaulay and the Anglican ideology, it is clear that the English language was vital to the British ofcials’ goal of indoctrinating the young Indian population to create a class of people “Indian in blood…English in intellect” to later work for the colonial government and further their mission of exploitation.31 Insights into Power and Knowledge from Michel Foucault Michel Foucault’s work informs the study of British colonization of Indian education on the power structures at play, as well as the motives behind Munro, Macaulay, and Bentinck’s decisions on Indian education. Foucault’s main argument in Discipline and Punish is that modes of punishment change over time. Furthermore, by observing those changes, punishment makes power relations clearly visible. For example, the way societies treat criminals who violate the law difers throughout space and time; for instance, the public execution “has a juridic-political function. It is a ceremonial by which a momentarily injured sovereignty is reconstituted.”32 Punishment has continued to be used as a tool by the person in power inficted on its subject to regain lost power. Over time, a “substitution of objects” occurred in which punishment shifted from the body to the soul and mind.33 Tis reveals how the authority now wants to discipline, not quite punish those who violate their laws. Te rigorous schedules and authoritarian fgures that Foucault sees in prison systems can also be seen in everyday structures such as schools and how education is developed. Foucault states “Discipline ‘makes’ individuals; it is the specifc technique of a power that regards individuals both as objects and as instruments of its exercise.”34 Discipline is used on subjects to conform them to the mode of life required to support existing power structures. Trough education, British ofcials conditioned the native people of India to respond to a particular mode of authority. Incentives and rewards such as scholarships and colonial job opportunities were used to internalize those power structures. What the British deemed as ‘enlightenment’ can be fipped to be seen as discipline; both are modes of control. Additionally, there was a “substitution of objects” as British ofcials found the most efective way to control subjects was with the mind instead of the body.35 If the British successfully infuenced the way their colonial subjects thought, the way their colonial subjects acted would be in accordance with what was taught to them. In order to achieve their goal of spreading Western education and creating loyal subjects to soon become instruments of their own colonization the British invoked these ideas of power, punishment, and discipline. 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35

Bentinck, “Resolution”, 50. Bentinck, “Resolution”, 50. Bentinck, “Resolution”, 50. Macaulay, “Te Hon’ble”, 28. Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punishment: Te Birth of the Prison (New York: Pantheon Books, 1977), 48. Foucault, Discipline, 17. Foucault, Discipline, 170. Foucault, Discipline, 17.

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Te Role of Law and Legal Establishment (1854-1860) Following the early ideas of the colonial education system in India, the Committee of Public Instruction’s decisions were later codifed into law to further cement educational power structures in place. Te Educational Despatch of 1854 is often considered the ‘Magna Carta’ of modern Indian education. At its core, the dispatch acts as a way to legalize what the British Colonial Government has been doing to native education for years since Bentinck’s Resolution of 1835. Furthermore, it is a “review of the progress,” as well as a discussion of additional improvements to be made “to secure the ultimate beneft of the people committed to our charge.”36 Te document revels in its accomplishments and the success of British infuence “to uproot demoralizing practices”; however, they must not stop there as they can “possess further sanction of a general sympathy in the native mind which the advance of education alone can secure.”37 Te British ofcials relied on their control of knowledge to continue to support their colonization. It was their belief that the progress of the native minds had proven to create loyal colonial subjects, and they wished to further that loyalty. If the frst 20 years of colonial education acted as an experiment, these next few important years acted as a turning point that fully bound education to the colonial structure. Te Educational Despatch of 1854 is a lengthy 100 paragraph document outlining the next steps for education. Here the question of language is further discussed, but rather than another Anglican versus Orientalist debate, the court of directors makes a biased attempt on why English is the most suitable language while giving some credit to the progress of native literature. While the court sees the “good efect” produced by Orientalist scholars and Hindu philosophy, they see Orientalism as a “very inadequate foundation for any general scheme of Indian education”; however, “a knowledge of English will always be essential to those natives who aspire to a high order of education.”38 Without question, English will be their language of choice while creating their system of education, even when native higher education institutions have made progress on their own. Te document carefully states that it is not the goal to abolish vernacular languages, because the importance of the vernacular language is to instruct the English language through translation and convey general instruction “while the English language continues to be made use of.”39 To clarify, the court plans to use vernacular languages in order to neglect them once English is well learned throughout the population. Te Educational Despatch of 1854 also covers the plan of action and how it will be enforced and reviewed for “the encouragement of education.”40 Firstly, the court has decided it is now the time to grant the proposal made years ago for a University in Calcutta due to “the rapid spread of a liberal education among natives,” as well as the high attainment seen by native students in private institutions.41 In the general scheme, the court plans to have natives start with “the humblest elementary instruction” and take the best students from early education to continue their education with a liberal higher institution to earn a degree.42 Te best students would be awarded scholarships by merit. Te court frmly believes this plan will “impart life and energy to education in India and lead to a steady extension of its benefts to all classes of the people.”43 Te concept being described here—taking the best students and aiding them to the highest of education, believing that the benefts will spread to the rest of the population over time—is actually something Macaulay coined Downward Filtration Teory in 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43

East India Company, “Educational Despatch of 1854” in A Source Book of Modern Indian Education: 1797 to 1902, ed. M. R. Paranjpe. (London: Macmillan and Company, 1938), 73. East India Company “Educational”, 73. East India Company “Educational”, 75-76. East India Company “Educational”, 77. East India Company “Educational”, 81. East India Company “Educational”, 82. East India Company “Educational”, 91. East India Company “Educational”, 91.

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his Minute on Education in 1835 in which knowledge was to be received by select elites and be disseminated “to the great mass of the population.”44 If this previous idea from 20 years prior to the 1854 Despatch is still attempting to be reworked into the educational system, is it efective? Te concept relies on the passage of time, which can be easy manipulated as seen here. Since the population is not yet fully educated in Western studies, the British Government reevaluates and restates their goals for a new timeline. Another example of evaluating and adjusting the government’s goals for a new timeline is with the Educational Despatch of 1859, written by the Secretary of State for India, Lord Stanley. Te Government of India found it necessary to review the previous Educational Despatch of 1854 since the strong push for British education in India has been “alleged to be among the causes which have brought the recent outbreak in the army of Bengal” as well as general “disquietude and apprehension” in the colony.45 Historian Tomas Metcalf explains the debate that occurred after the Mutiny of 1857: Much as conservatives might argue that “the religious and social innovations of the English” had stirred up massive popular discontent and much as supporters of the Government might insist that neither Dalhousie’s reforms nor the spread of Christianity had anything to do with the events of 1857, on future policy there was a surprisingly wide measure of agreement between them. Apart from a few staunch evangelicals, no one wished to see the Government resume its frontal attack upon “immoral” customs or press forward the evangelization of India. Te overwhelming majority of ofcials agreed that in a time of popular upheaval local prejudices had to be conciliated and Hindu customs left to reform themselves.46 Tis statement aligns with the Educational Despatch of 1859 as the government believes their educational reforms and the missionary schools have nothing to do with the uprisings. Tis document highlights the government’s successes instead of addressing the problems in the system. Lord Stanley writes, “Te Government English and Anglo-Vernacular schools seem to be generally in a satisfactory state, and to be not unpopular with the native community.”47 Furthermore, the Court of Directors reported that the educational system efectively carried out “the principles of perfect religious neutrality on which the system was declared to be based.”48 However, religious neutrality is ignored when it comes to missionary schools that ofer a private, liberal English education to natives for an afordable price due to the grantsin-aid they receive from the government. Tese schools have “maintained in connection with missionary bodies” in order to promote the English language as well as the spread of Christianity.49 Lord Stanley claims there has been great demand and “readiness…shown by the native community” to seek assistance to enroll in schools where “instruction in English may be aforded.”50 Reversely, an unequal reaction was said to be had with Vernacular education with “no great alacrity” shown.51 Te reason for this can be due to the resources put into both types of schools difered greatly. Vernacular education was continually reported to have made little progress and awarded little money from the government. Whereas English and Anglo-Vernacular schools reported large success rates with large sums of money poured into their systems.52 Terefore, the reasoning for why natives seem to be more attracted to English 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52

Macaulay, “Te Hon’ble”, 28. Secretary of State for India, “Educational Despatch of 1859,” in A Source Book of Modern Indian Education: 1797 to 1902, ed. M. R. Paranjpe (London: Macmillan and Company, 1938) 134. Metcalf, Aftermath, 92. Secretary of State, “Despatch of 1859,” 158. Secretary of State, “Despatch of 1859,” 151. Secretary of State, “Despatch of 1859,” 153. Secretary of State, “Despatch of 1859,” 153. Secretary of State, “Despatch of 1859,” 153. Secretary of State, “Despatch of 1859,” 153.

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teaching schools cannot be wholly related to their desire to learn English, but rather the practicality of attending a school that is allocated more resources and pays for the costs of their education with grants. Lord Stanley waits until the last paragraphs of the Educational Despatch of 1859 to address what he thinks is cause for the disturbances in India, and his solutions. He believes it is a problem of “jealousy” that has risen from the government’s work in education.53 Tis jealousy was thought to have originated “from a general indisposition to government interference and from a vague feeling that the spread of knowledge itself is inconsistent.”54 Tis assertion views the spread of knowledge as a positive thing, but the varying distribution left individuals without access to education to be more likely to partake in civil unrest. Government interference is brushed over as something that will inevitably anger some of the natives, but overall cannot be changed. However, distribution of education can be modifed to be more far reaching and hopefully act as a solution to the rebellions. For Lord Stanley’s fnal call to action: by “raising the moral, intellectual, and physical condition” of the native population, and “by means of improved and extended facilities of education, the risk of misapprehension may be lessened, and the minds of the people may be set at rest.” It is clear that the British Government in India believed that education was not the cause of the uprisings, but rather the solution. In fact, the uprisings were said to be caused by not enough education across the colony. Education was deployed as a strategic instrument to subdue a rebellious subject population and control the natives’ minds. Trough the various laws and resolutions passed from 1854-1859, the pattern that emerges is one of control. Te British Government reviews the previous laws, makes the necessary changes, and sets new laws into place, all in accordance with the reaction of the Indian population. Te laws ultimately provide evidence that education was fundamental in order for Britain to gain India’s dependence as it was deemed valuable enough to stop uprisings. Te formal laws in place also serve as legal justifcation of Britain’s educational colonization, even though India did not create the laws it was forced to follow; these laws were legitimate in Britain’s perspective. Insights into the Function of Power from Michel Foucault It is widely thought that laws are created to prevent the public from doing something undesirable, in other words: to suppress. For example, in its simplest form, if a legal system believes murder is an undesirable action, a law is created to forbid murder. Foucault believes viewing power this way, as an act of suppression and nothing more, is a “wholly negative, narrow, skeletal conception of power.”55 Power is much more than repression, for if a law only said “no,” what would make one “be brought to obey it?”56 Te reason why power is accepted— the reason why it is held up by society—is due to all the other factors at hand. Power is obeyed for the fact that “it doesn’t only weigh on us as a force that says no, but that it traverses and produces things, it induces pleasure, forms of knowledge, produces discourse.”57 Foucault says power must be viewed as a “productive network which runs through a whole social body, much more than as a negative instance whose function is repression.”58 To go back to the example of murder, the power of a legal system is accepted not because of the disciplinary action one faces if they choose to murder, but instead by outlawing murder, the society they live in is now one of productive, efective, and positive nature. Te action of murder can be replaced with any 53 54 55 56 57 58

Secretary of State, “Despatch of 1859,” 167. Secretary of State, “Despatch of 1859,” 167. Michel Foucault, “Truth and Power,” in Power/Knowledge Selective Interviews and Other Writings 1972-1977 ed. Colin Gordon (New York: Pantheon Books, 1980), 119. Foucault, “Truth and Power,” 119. Foucault, “Truth and Power,” 119. Foucault, “Truth and Power,” 119.

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other undesirable action and the result is still the same: the public puts power into something that they believe will keep the functions of society alive and keep their best interests in mind. Te laws of British India were given power and acceptance because they were thought to be good. Tey were not seen as suppression, but as enlightenment and progress. Te power the British ofcials held over India was more than a repression of their native education and culture, it was the power to infuence, create, and spread British education and culture. For a portion of the Indian population, the rise of Western education in India was seen as a positive thing that they took advantage of. Former Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru is a prime example of someone who saw the opportunity to use the infltration of Western knowledge to his advantage. Nehru, an anti-colonist and “arch rebel against the Raj came from one of the most anglicized families in India.”59 Nehru used his Western education to become politically involved and by 1937, Winston Churchill regarded him as the “most capable and most implacable of the enemies of the British connection with India.”60 British ofcials attempted to use education to mold Nehru—and others like him—into a loyal British civil servant only to have him use his Western knowledge to fght against British colonialism. Te complexities of Nehru’s story highlight the same complexities with power. Looking at power in the form of education, some of the Indian population reacted positively to Western education, some acted rebellious, but Nehru grew up with his Anglican lifestyle, and used his knowledge as power to climb the ranks presented to him and become an enemy of the very government that created him; that is power. Te Evaluation of Progress of Colonial Education (1870-1900s) In a continuation of the educational commissions of the mid 19th century, the Education Commission of 1882 assessed the state of education in India and re-evaluates the systems in place from the last Educational Despatches of 1854 and 1859. Also known as the Hunter Education Commission after its author William W. Hunter, the document begins with lists of recommendations for each type of school in their system—primary, secondary, collegiate, Anglo and Vernacular alike—followed by minutes discussing personal opinions on the recommendations from prominent fgures in the education committee. In the process of evaluating progress, the commission concluded that primary education had made inadequate headway with less than acceptable reports. Due to this inadequacy, the recommendations focus largely on the shift to vernacular education in primary schools, a stark contrast from what previous commissions agreed upon. One of the frst recommendations states that “primary education be regarded as the instruction of the masses through the vernacular in such subjects as will best ft them for their position in life.”61 Te shift to vernacular languages in primary schools means the commission recognized shortcomings in previous legislation, possibly caused by too early an introduction of the English language. Not only does the commission retract its commitment to teaching English, but it also emphasizes the importance of native culture by another recommendation stating that “physical development be promoted by the encouragement of native games.”62 Te Hunter Commission was a purposeful retreat from the Anglican roots of British educational reform in India due to the lack of evident progress. While previous documents like the Educational Despatch of 1859 groundlessly claim considerable of progress have been made with the adoption of the English language, the Hunter Commission acts as a longitudinal study that comes to terms with low progress and makes changes to correct their mistakes. 59 60 61 62

B. R. Nanda, “Nehru and the British,” Modern Asian Studies 30, no. 2 (1996), 469. Nanda, “Nehru,” 469. William W. Hunter, “Education Commission of 1882,” in A Source Book of Modern Indian Education: 1797 to 1902, ed. M. R. Paranjpe (London: Macmillan and Company, 1938), 170. Hunter, “Commission of 1882,” 172.

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In addition to the promotion of vernacular primary schooling, the Hunter Commission acts in favor of giving government support to indigenous education. An indigenous school is defned by the commission as “one established or conducted by natives of India on native methods.”63 Te commission wants the government to “recognize and encourage” these indigenous schools “if they serve any purpose of secular education whatsoever.”64 With this development, it seems the motivations behind the British educational development of India are less concerned with indoctrinating an Anglican youth class and more determined to promote the education of the Indian population by any means necessary. Te commission aims for a steady improvement of indigenous schools “with as little immediate interference with their personnel or curriculum as possible.”65 Instead of adjusting the previous 1859 Despatch that rejected government assistance with any native schooling, this commission entirely changes routes in order to support indigenous learning. Finally, the last revision the Hunter Education Commission makes to the development of Indian education is the introduction of female education. Te commission recommended that “female education be treated as a legitimate charge…and receive special encouragement.”66 While it is a milestone for young women and girls to have access to an education, the recommendations also state that this education should be “easier,” “simpler,” and “drawn up with special reference to the requirements of home life, and to the occupations open to women.”67 Te British Government uses female education as a talking point to highlight the progressive Western stance Britain takes on the liberation of women, yet enforces their own view of gender roles that women’s education should focus on feminine societal roles. Another form of evaluation comes with early 20th century writings that look back on the decisions made by British colonists in the past and question their efectiveness. In 1911, Henry Rosher James, a British translator, wrote a book titled Education and Statesmanship in India, and in it he grapples with the question of adopting the English language in India. James concludes that there was never a choice in the frst place; it was an inevitable outcome. He explains that it was obvious “what the answer must be when the question was asked in a plain and defnite way.” Macaulay and his followers framed the adoption of the English language as inescapable enlightenment, and “the answer had to be ‘We will admit this light.’”68 James believes this event would have occurred even if Macaulay did not give his famous speech, and even if Lord Bentinck never wrote his resolution. Te Anglicization of India’s education would have come at some point for “when day has dawned you cannot shut out the light by merely refusing to open the windows.”69 Te British colonization of India meant the arrival of English ideas and literature. James theorizes that the more Britain recreated Western culture in India, the more “natives of India aspired to gain the more advanced knowledge of Europe, and to breathe the freer air of European thought.”70 James wholly believes the introduction of English has been a liberating act among the natives. However, he sees the introduction of English not as a choice for natives to accept, nor as a decision made by the colonial government, but as a predetermined fate that would happen no matter what. With Britain’s evaluation of progress, it is important to note that these notions of progress are considered to be progress by colonial terms; the voices behind these documents and ideas are British fgures, not the Indian public. Indian schools, whether English speaking, vernacular, or indigenous, were evaluated by Western standards. Te Hunter Commission was 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70

Hunter, “Commission of 1882,”169. Hunter, “Commission of 1882,”169. Hunter, “Commission of 1882,”169. Hunter, “Commission of 1882,”195. Hunter, “Commission of 1882,”196. James, Education, 28. James, Education, 28. James, Education, 30.

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a turning point in how Britain conducted its educational reforms in India, but the reason for so many evaluations and adjustments in the frst place was to ensure the colonial system was as productive as possible. Conclusions Education is present in every part of life: culture, politics, philosophy, economics, and more. Its reach is what made education one of the most important aspects of control for the British Colonial Government. Controlling the education of the public meant infuencing the ideas, loyalties, and sentiments held by the Indian population. While I do believe Britain made a mistake choosing the Anglican approach as evinced by the lack of progress shown by the Hunter Commission and the levels of civil unrest revealed in the Despatch of 1859, I understand why that decision was made. Te people in power had disregard for any language other than English, they wanted to create a loyal subject class of youthful civil servants, and as explained by Henry Rosher James, they could not outrun the inevitability of Western modernity. I also believe no matter what approach taken—Anglican or Orientalist—the result of exploitation and Western supremacy over India would undeniably still be present. Te Anglican approach functioned by the belief that indigenous culture and language was inferior, and Orientalists believed the Indian people did not have the capacity to learn the English language and European science. Overall, the pros and cons of each approach as well as British education in general cannot be tallied up neatly in a conclusion. Te topic deserves a much more nuanced conversation with its complexities explored as it was done in this research. Michel Foucault’s insights into the relationship between power and knowledge are invaluable to the study of British education in India. His philosophy not only informs us about the history of British India, but it also takes us out of that time and space and into the larger realm of power relations everywhere. Where knowledge lies, power follows. Tey are forever intertwined and constantly shaping the society in which we live. Power decides what is and is not knowledge, but knowledge can also modify and redistribute power. Te cyclical relationship is crucial to the study of power and knowledge, as well as to the application of British education in India. British ofcials ruled through education to grow and expand their own power. Te people in power used laws and discipline to control their subjects as well, but the most salient form of authority was their power to decide how and what knowledge should be dispersed through the colony.

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References Allender, Tim. Ruling Trough Education: Te Politics of Schooling in the Colonial Punjab. Elgin, Illinois: New Dawn Press, 2006. Bentinck, William. “Lord Bentinck’s Resolution, 7th March 1835.” in A Source Book of Modern Indian Education: 1797 to 1902, ed. M. R. Paranjpe. London: Macmillan and Company, 1938. East India Company. “Educational Despatch of 1854.” in A Source Book of Modern Indian Education: 1797 to 1902, ed. M. R. Paranjpe. London: Macmillan and Company, 1938. Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punishment: Te Birth of the Prison. New York: Pantheon Books, 1977. Foucault, Michel. Te History of Sexuality Volume 1: An Introduction. New York: Random House Inc., 1978. Foucault, Michel. “Truth and Power.” in Power/Knowledge Selective Interviews and Other Writings 1972-1977 ed. Colin Gordon. New York: Pantheon Books, 1980. Gleig, George Robert. Te Life of Major-General Sir Tomas Munro, Bart. and K. C. B., Late Governor of Madras: With Extracts from His Correspondence and Private Papers. United Kingdom: H. Colburn and R. Bentley, 1830. Howell, Arthur. Education in British India, Prior to 1854, and in 1870-71. India: Ofce of the Superintendent of Government Printing, 1872. Hunter, William W. “Education Commission of 1882.” in A Source Book of Modern Indian Education: 1797 to 1902, ed. M. R. Paranjpe. London: Macmillan and Company, 1938. James, Henry Rosher. Education and Statesmanship in India, 1797 to 1910. United Kingdom: Longmans, Green and Company, 1911. Kamat, A. R. “Women’s Education and Social Change in India.” Social Scientist 5, no. 1 (1976): 3–27. https://doi.org/10.2307/3516600. Lackner, Michael, et al. New Terms for New Ideas: Western Knowledge and Lexical Change in Late Imperial China. Boston: Brill, 2001. Macaulay, Tomas B. “Te Hon’ble T. B. Macaulay’s Minute, 2nd February 1835.” in A Source Book of Modern Indian Education, 1797 to 1902 ed. Madhav Ramkrishna Paranjpe. London: Macmillan and Company, 1938. Mayhew, Arthur. Te Education of India: A Study of British Educational Policy in India, 18351920, and Its Bearing on National Life and Problems in India Today. United States: University Microflms, 1978. Metcalf, Tomas R. Te Aftermath of Revolt: India, 1857-1870. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton

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University Press, 1964. Morganstein Fuerst, Ilyse R., Indian Muslim Minorities and the 1857 Rebellion: Religion, Rebels and Jihad. New York: Bloomsbury, 2017. Museveni, Yoweri, and Anthony Appiah. Knowledge Cultures: Comparative Western and African Epistemology. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2005. Nanda, B. R. “Nehru and the British.” Modern Asian Studies 30, no. 2 (1996): 469-479. http:// www.jstor.org/stable/313016. Prinsep, Henry T. “Note of the Hon’ble H. T. Prinsep, 15th February 1835.” in A Source Book of Modern Indian Education: 1797 to 1902, ed. M. R. Paranjpe. London: Macmillan and Company, 1938. Secretary of State for India. “Educational Despatch of 1859.” in A Source Book of Modern Indian Education: 1797 to 1902, ed. M. R. Paranjpe. London: Macmillan and Company, 1938. Seth, Sanjay. Subject Lessons: Te Western Education of Colonial India. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2007. Taroor, Shashi. Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India. London: Penguin Books, 2018. Wilson, Jon. Te Chaos of Empire: Te British Raj and the Conquest of India. New York: Public Afairs, 2016.

About the Author Chloe Sullivan is a member of the class of 2023, majoring in History and minoring in Leadership Studies. She is a member of the President’s Leadership Program, Alpha Chi National Honor Society, and Phi Alpha Teta National History Honor Society. Troughout her four years on campus, she has been involved in the Women’s Club Soccer Team, as president of the club her senior year, and a volunteer for Food Fighters. Her research endeavors include being a Summer Scholar and presenting at both Paideia and the Global Conference on Women and Gender. After graduation, she will complete her Master of Arts in Teaching program at Christopher Newport University and become a Secondary Social Studies Teacher.

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Trebling Times: Te Efects of Misogyny on the Popular Music Industry Alyson Toth Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Chelsey Hamm, Department of Music

Abstract Misogyny is a plague upon today’s popular music industry. Women in all areas of the industry have been forced to break through barriers that their male counterparts do not have to face. Te prevalence of sexual harassment and objectifcation within the industry combined with the fact that the majority of the industry’s opportunities and resources are male dominated means that women must work much harder than men on order to succeed in same job. In this essay, I will review previous studies analyzing these barriers, then provide an original analysis of two recent case studies to illustrate the history and perpetuation of misogyny in today’s popular music industry. I will close by providing possible solutions that the music industry may implement in order to dismantle these barriers, as well as ways for educators to inspire the next generation of women in the music industry.

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Te popular music industry is well known for its often unethical and overbearing practices that are detrimental to the artists over which they are intended to take control. It is unfortunately common to see managers or PR teams force artists into uncomfortable situations solely for their own personal, usually monetary, gain. Unfortunately, considering the industry is overwhelmingly male-dominated, it is typically the few women who are brave enough to break into the industry that eventually get taken advantage of by it. Tis rampant misogyny has become so prominent in the music industry that it has essentially been normalized. Women in the industry have come to expect men in more powerful positions to try to control and abuse them and many fnd themselves too terrifed to speak out about this abuse out of fear. Te hushed testimonies of sexual abuse victims and the controversial conservatorship of Britney Spears stand as blatant reminders of how misogyny runs rampant in the music industry of today. In this essay, I will examine previous studies and articles pertaining to the obstacles faced by women in the music industry, then analyze two specifc case studies in more detail in order to more closely examine why exactly these issues are still present today. Literature Review It is frst imperative to defne what exactly I mean by “music industry.” Typically, when someone uses “music industry” as a general term, they are referring to the recording industry.1 While this tends to work in general conversation, its intricacies can become muddy when delving into deeper topics such as misogyny. Discrimination against women can take many diferent forms in many diferent contexts, and the plethora of roles that can be fled under this blanket term are no exception to this. For example, it is not odd to see a successful female pop star; in fact, it is easy to argue that most people would identify a woman if you asked them to name any famous pop star. However, women are far less recognized and supported in other areas of the music industry, such as recording or composition.2 Te primary focus of this essay is the issues women face within the popular music industry, including recording, performing, producing, and anything else associated with the creation and distribution of popular music. Te defnition for popular music is “any commercially oriented music principally intended to be received and appreciated by a wide audience.”3 In other words, popular music is music of any genre that is commercially produced for the masses. Tus, for the purpose of this research, the term “music industry” will refer to the popular music industry and all its facets. Recently, it has been brought to light that women have faced signifcantly more barriers to success than men in the same position, and music is certainly no exception. An article found in Forbes4 by Andrea Bossi from 2021 highlights what women in the music industry identify as the three main barriers that they face. Te article summarizes a 2021 study which was conducted by a digital music distribution company known as TuneCore and authors Hanna Kahlert, Kriss Takrar, and Srishti Das from a research frm known as MIDiA Research.5 Te authors of this surveyed four hundred and one women currently working in the industry. Respondents were 1

2 3 4 5

Williamson, John, and Martin Cloonan. 2007. “Rethinking the music industry.” Popular Music 26 (2): 305-322. https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/ CE6B71D475494901F49767CCE130718A/S0261143007001262a.pdf/rethinking-the-musicindustry.pdf. Kahlert, Hanna, Kriss Takrar, and Srishti Das. 2021. “Be Te Change: Women Making Music.” TuneCore. https://www.tunecore.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2021/03/be-the-changewomen-making-music.pdf. Te Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. 2009. “Popular music.” Encyclopedia Britannica. https:// www.britannica.com/art/popular-music. Bossi, Andrea. 2021. “Tese Are 3 Of Te Biggest Drivers Of Gender Inequality In Music.” Forbes, March 26, 2021. https://www.forbes.com/sites/andreabossi/2021/03/26/these-are-3-of-thebiggest-reported-drivers-of-gender-inequality-in-music/?sh=288692e26290. Kahlert, Takrar, and Das, “Be Te Change”

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mostly from Europe and North America and held positions such as artist, producer, songwriter, or DJ. Sixty-four percent responded that sexual harassment and objectifcation were the most signifcant barriers they faced. Additionally, thirty-eight percent identifed ageism and nearly forty percent identifed male-dominated resources. Considering the percentages total at much more than one hundred percent, it is clear that many respondents had experienced multiple of these barriers over the course of their careers. Even at the height of the #MeToo movement, a 2017 campaign hosted primarily on social media that encouraged victims of sexual harassment and assault to band together and speak out against their abusers, this kind of behavior was still common and relatively unpunished in the music industry. Artists such as Chris Brown, Marilyn Manson, and Dr. Luke continued to have fourishing careers even after numerous allegations were raised against them.6 As a result, according to a 2021 study by the Musicians’ Union, a British workers’ rights organization representing over thirty thousand musicians, a whopping eighty-fve percent of victims choose not to report their abusers, fearing that the only ones who would be punished would be themselves.7 In other words, because men often hold higher positions of power and fame in the music industry, women fear that speaking up will only harm themselves, and thus the cycle of exploitation and abuse continues. An article in Vice written by Stephanie Philips in 2022 explores how this discouragement is forcing women out of their chosen career feld simply because they cannot take the abuse anymore. Tis kind of abuse had become so widespread that it was simply considered an “occupational hazard,” something that women simply have to accept as a risk of the job.8 Tese experiences are certainly not limited to the American music industry; many musicians in the United Kingdom and Australia have had similar barriers and experiences. Over half of all musicians in the UK have reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment in their workplace, and multiple complaints have been launched against Tim Westwood, a former presenter at British national pop music station Radio 1, as of 2022.9 However, strict libel laws in the UK prevent a lot of women from bravely sharing their stories on social media, as the accused can easily quiet those speaking out by suing for defamation of character.10 In Australia, a study by Rae Cooper, Amanda Coles, and Sally Hannah-Osborne, members of the Women, Work & Leadership Research Group of the University of Sydney, shows how lopsided the statistics are regarding women in the Australian music industry.11 While the art industry overall is split almost evenly between men and women, men dominate the composition and performance components, as well as the technical and production areas of music. Men also dominate leadership positions in the industry, with some national bodies having no women in any leadership positions. Tis contributes to the issue of male-dominated resources, another issue identifed by the respondents to the survey in the Forbes article.12 Tis male-dominated 6

7 8 9 10 11 12

Edmonds, Ash, and Ellie Blackwell. 2022. “Te music industry’s problematic relationship with sexual assault and power dynamics.” Voice Magazine, February 4, 2022. https://www.voicemag. uk/blog/10485/the-music-industrys-problematic-relationship-with-sexual-assault-and-powerdynamics. Ibid., “Problematic Relationship” Philips, Stephanie. 2022. “‘Nothing’s Changed’: Sexual Misconduct Is Driving People Out of Music.” VICE, July 25, 2022. https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxnd89/sexual-harassment-musicindustry. Baah, Nana, et al. 2022. “How the Music Industry Silences Women and Nonbinary People.” VICE, July 26, 2022. https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7gvay/how-the-music-industry-silenceswomen-and-non-binary-people.

Ibid., “Industry Silences”

Cooper, Rae, Amanda Coles, and Sally Hannah-Osborne. 2017. “Skipping a beat: Assessing the state of gender equality in the Australian music industry.” Te University of Sydney, (July). https:// doi.org/10.25910/5db1292d585d4. Bossi, ”Drivers of Gender Inequality”

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environment promotes power dynamics that are harmful to women and pressure them to stay silent about their experiences of sexual harassment out of fear of losing their position in the industry. Because of this, women who wish to pursue careers in the industry are taught to expect sexual harassment and emotional abuse as simply a part of being successful in the industry. While men may certainly encounter similar treatment, they are not to expect it like women are. Tis is a prime example of how embedded in the music industry misogyny has become. Case Study # 1: Britney Spears’s Conservatorship Battle A more specifc example of forcibly controlling women in the industry is the unique case of Britney Spears’s conservatorship. A conservatorship is essentially a form of legal guardianship granted by a court for those who are unable to make decisions for themselves, whether that be due to physical or mental illness.13 Spears’s conservatorship was established in 2008 after the erratic behavior she exhibited in 2007 during which she lost custody of her two children in her divorce from Kevin Federline. She was admitted to UCLA Medical Center twice under temporary involuntary psychiatric holds, which typically consist of a maximum seventy-twohour medical detainment and a psychiatric evaluation and may occur when a person is deemed a danger to themself or others.14 After the second hold was extended to fourteen days, likely due to Spears being deemed “gravely disabled,” which is defned as being “unable to provide for his or her basic personal needs for food, clothing or shelter,” a temporary conservatorship was established and later made permanent.15 Spears’s conservatorship was split into two parts: one side controlled her estate and fnances and the other controlled her as a person. Tis latter portion of her conservatorship allowed her conservator to have control over every little thing Spears did, including who she dated and what medications she took. Her father, Jamie Spears, was in charge of both parts until 2019 when he gave up control over the personal conservatorship citing health reasons and was replaced by a court-appointed professional name Jodi Montgomery.16 At the time, the conservatorship was deemed necessary by the court to protect Spears from her own rapidly declining mental health, but even after her recovery, there was still no talk of dissolving the conservatorship. Spears expressed the desire to get remarried and have more children, but the personal conservatorship prevented her from doing so by forcing the singer to stay on birth control. What was originally intended to prevent Spears from making harmful decisions had turned into a micromanaging prison, with the conservators having control over even the smallest details in her life such as the color of her kitchen cabinets, according to court documents.17 Under the strict guardianship of the conservatorship, Spears had little to no control over the majority of things in her day-to-day life, even after she was mentally able to be in control of it. Musically, she was forced to go on tour in a fully-booked schedule with little to no rest, a routine she compared to sex trafcking, and she was also forced to take medication such as lithium, which is typically prescribed for bipolar disorder-induced mania18, against her will.19 Te conservatorship had quickly turned from a form of protection 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

BBC. 2021. “Britney Spears: Singer’s conservatorship case explained.” BBC News, November 12, 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53494405. NAMI Santa Clarita. n.d. “State of California Involuntary Treatment Information.” https:// namisantaclara.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Involuntary-Treatment-Page.pdf. Ibid. BBC, “Conservatorship Case Explained” Ibid. Merative and Micromedex. 2023. “Lithium (Oral Route) Side Efects.” Mayo Clinic. https://www. mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/lithium-oral-route/side-efects/drg-20064603. Blistein, Jon. 2021. “Britney Spears’ Conservatorship Fight: What We Know.” Rolling Stone, November 12, 2021. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/britney-spearsconservatorship-timeline-1193156/.

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to a form of abuse and the only way out was through a ferce legal battle. In November of 2017, two fans of Britney Spears, Tess Barker and Barbara Gray, launched a podcast called Britney’s Gram in support of Spears’s growing fght against her controlling conservatorship.20 Suddenly, the #FreeBritney movement was sparked, leading to an outpouring of fans on social media who expressed their support and spread awareness to others about the situation. Spears fnally felt able to speak publicly about what happened in 2018, when she had last discussed how she was forced into her Las Vegas residency even though she wanted to take a break from performing, a fact her management team profusely denied. She expressed how her father seemed to take great pleasure in her sufering, stating, “Te control he had over someone as powerful as me—he loved the control to hurt his own daughter. One hundred thousand per cent, he loved it.”21 Jamie forced his daughter into rehab where she had to attend meetings for ten hours per day, every day, for four months; if she refused to attend, she would lose the privileges of seeing her boyfriend and children.22 Even when Spears decided to begin court proceedings to remove her father from the conservatorship entirely, her father was using her money to pay for his own lawyers, who billed her nearly nine hundred thousand dollars over the course of four months.23 Despite Spears’s continuous fght, in December 2020, her conservatorship was extended through September 2021. In the midst of all this chaos, on February 5, 2021, a documentary titled Framing Britney Spears premiered on the streaming service Hulu.24 Directed by Samantha Stark, the documentary traced the history of Spears’s conservatorship all the way through the #FreeBritney movement. Tis documentary reignited fans by enforcing the idea that Spears’s conservators may not have always had her best interests at heart. In June 2021, Spears fnally got the second chance she needed to share her testimony at another hearing. Around one hundred and twenty devoted fans showed up to support Spears and listen to her statements that were being broadcast outside over a speaker system.25 Meanwhile, Spears’s management team continuously insisted that this conservatorship, especially Jamie’s control over it, was preventing Spears from hurting or harming herself. Tey tried to pin the blame on Montgomery, whom Spears had actually requested to stay on as her conservator.26 In August 2021, Spears’s lawyer, Mathew S. Rosengart, fled a claim stating that Jamie was attempting to extort two million dollars from Spears in exchange for stepping down from her conservatorship.27 After Jamie surrendered by fling his own petition to step down, a judge ofcially suspended Jamie as a conservator in September 2021. Jamie had fnally surrendered to his daughter’s wishes after years of control and torment, and in November 2021 the conservatorship as a whole was ofcially dissolved. However, Spears’s fght still has yet to conclude. She has expressed the desire to press charges against her father for conservatorship abuse, citing both personal and fnancial exploitation.28 Tus, even though Spears has fnally freed herself from her father’s merciless control, she still must continue to fght in order to bring him to justice. Since the establishment of her conservatorship in 2008, Britney Spears has been struggling to regain the freedom to control 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Blisten, “Conservatorship Fight” Farrow, Ronan, and Jia Tolentino. 2021. “Britney Spears’s Conservatorship Nightmare.” Te New Yorker, July 3, 2021. https://www.newyorker.com/news/american-chronicles/britney-spearsconservatorship-nightmare. Ibid Ibid. Blisten, “Conservatorship Fight” Farrow and Tolentino, “Conservatorship Nightmare” Ibid. Blistein, Jon. 2021. “Britney Spears’ Lawyer Accuses Jamie of Extortion Over Conservatorship.” Rolling Stone, September 1, 2021. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/britneyspears-lawyer-jamie-spears-extortion-conservatorship-1219378/. BBC, “Conservatorship Case Explained”

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her own estate, career, and life. Unfortunately, even after ffteen long years, Spears still has a strenuous fght ahead of her. While the conservatorship was certainly necessary in the beginning, it is important to identify how it quickly spiraled into a legal prison meant solely to control Britney Spears. Tere are two clear reasons as to why this happened and both center around Jamie. Te frst reason was power. Jamie forced his daughter into rehab, controlled who she dated, and forced her to stay on birth control, even after she was of sound mind. Until he gave up the personal side of the conservatorship, Jamie had almost total control over his daughter. While he was seemingly responsible with this power in the early days of the conservatorship, the power slowly corrupted him until he was consumed by it, exerting his control in whatever way possible. Even after he gave up the personal conservatorship, Jamie still loved being able to control how his daughter’s money was managed and spent. Tis also leads to the second reason: money. Spears’s fullybooked music schedule with little to no rest meant she was raking in lots of money. Since her father controlled her fnances, this meant that the more money Spears made, the more money Jamie had to spend however he pleased. Tus, he abused his control over her fnances, even using them to pay the nine hundred thousand dollar bill for his own lawyers during the four-month trial in 2020.29 Because of the schedule her father was forcing her to endure, it wasn’t until nine years after the conservatorship was established that Spears’s struggles against it became known, and it took another three years for her to be able to even initiate any kind of court proceedings. Tough there are times when control like this is necessary, it should not be possible to abuse it the way Jamie did for so many years. Unfortunately, the narrative pushed by Jamie and Spears’s management team caused many people to become biased against her, making the fght signifcantly more difcult for her in the long run. Case Study # 2: Russell Simmons A man who quickly rose to become the “face of hip-hip” in the eighties and nineties, Russell Simmons is one of the co-creators of innovative hip-hop label Def Jam. He began his career in New York City in the early eighties as a well-respected hip-hop promoter who also dabbled in producing. He kickstarted the popularity of rap as a genre in 1983 when he helped to form the hip-hop group Run-DMC, known for hits such as It’s Tricky (1986). In 1984, Simmons partnered with 21-year-old New York University student Rick Rubin to create an independent record label called Def Jam, which was legitimized by the production of their frst record, LL Cool J’s I Need A Beat.30 By 1988, Def Jam had become a popular and proftable label supporting many up-and-coming hip-hop artists such as Public Enemy and Slick Rick. Even after Rubin left Def Jam to pursue production in other genres, Simmons continued to sign and promote even more hip-hop artists, lobbying MTV to air Run-DMC’s music videos and even getting them a collaboration with the rock band Aerosmith.31 Simmons eventually signed white rap group the Beastie Boys, broadening the rap movement beyond just being a Black tradition. After the immense success of Def Jam, Simmons sold the label to Universal in 1999, deciding to break into the television scene instead. His two shows, “Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam” and “Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Jam,” gave Black comedians and poets a platform in an America that still was trying to silence them. Overall, Russel Simmons is considered a pioneer in the hip-hop industry and his life and work certainly seem to support this. Tough he seems to be a champion for hip-hop and rap on paper, the truth is that there 29 30 31

Farrow and Tolentino, “Conservatorship Nightmare” Leight, Elias. 2018. “Russell Simmons Sexual Assault Allegations: A Timeline.” Rolling Stone, February 9, 2018. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/russell-simmons-sexualassault-allegations-a-timeline-202515/. PBS. n.d. “Innovators: Russell Simmons.” Who Made America? Accessed March 28, 2023. http:// www.pbs.org/wgbh/theymadeamerica/whomade/simmons_hi.html.

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have been several women who have spoken out against Simmons for sexual assaults that allegedly occurred all throughout his illustrious career. Te frst of these accounts happened in 1983 when Simmons was still a promoter. Rapper Sherri Hines from the rap group Mercedes Ladies claims that after she ran into Simmons at a club, he invited her to visit his ofce where he forced himself on her.32 In a 2017 interview, Hines stated, “I felt embarrassed, I felt used, worthless.”33 Next was Lisa Kirk, who had dated one of Simmon’s friends. She alleged that Simmons had followed her into a nightclub bathroom, slamming her against a wall and tearing her clothes. Tis story prompted journalist Toni Sallie to come forward as well, alleging that Simmons had assaulted or harassed her twice. He frst sexually assaulted her after inviting her to his apartment under the pretense of a party, then the next year followed her into a women’s bathroom at a music conference, which she was thankfully able to escape.34 In 1991, Def Jam went through a rough patch due to poor decisions by Simmons and his new business partner Lyor Cohen. In the same year, he allegedly assaulted four diferent women, including a minor. Between 1992 and 1996, Simmons developed a passion for yoga, stating his reason for going to be “because there were a lot of hot girls and no guys, except for gay guys who didn’t want the girls.”35 During this time span, Simmons allegedly harassed model Tanya Reid in 1994, demanding sex from her over the phone, and sexually harassed and assaulted his employee Drew Dixon between 1994 and 1995. Dixon, whose soundtrack for the hip-hop documentary Te Show that Simmons tasked her with debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 albums chart, described her experience trying to be successful while resisting Simmons’ aggressive advances as “like making a record while swimming in rough seas.”36 Te next year, Simmons allegedly attempted to coerce actress Natashia Williams-Blach, who was then a freshman at the University of California, Los Angeles, into performing oral sex on him, something she was able to escape by claiming she needed to attend a study hall.37 Tese assaults did not stop as the 2000s rolled around. Four more women spoke out about incidents that they claim happened between 2005 and 2016, including Simmons exposing himself to massage therapist Erin Beattie, groping actress Christina Moore, making inappropriate comments to actress Amanda Seales, and raping aspiring flmmaker Jennifer Jarosik. Jarosik brought a fve million dollar lawsuit against Simmons for the alleged rape, but dropped her claims in 2018 after Simmons produced friendly texts between the two after the incident.38 Unfortunately, most of these women spoke out too late, missing the statute of limitations for their claims to be brought to court. While it must be taken into account that these are all just allegations without a verdict, it is fair to argue that they must have some sort of basis. However, if these women do indeed speak the truth, Simmons’ crimes have gone unpunished for thirty-fve years, which fnally resulted in some sense of accountability when Simmons resigned from his corporate positions in 2018, stating, “Te voices of the voiceless, those who have been hurt or shamed, deserve and need to be heard. As the corridors of power inevitably make way for a new generation, I don’t want to be a distraction, so I am removing myself

32 33 34 35 36 37 38

Leight, “Russell Simmons Sexual Assault Allegations” Ibid. Ibid. Marikar, Sheila. 2016. “Russell Simmons, the Yoga King of Los Angeles (Published 2016).” Te New York Times, November 16, 2016. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/17/fashion/russellsimmons-yoga-los-angeles-tantris.html. Leight, “Russell Simmons Sexual Assault Allegations” Ibid. Te Associated Press. 2018. “Russell Simmons scores a win, accuser Jennifer Jarosik drops lawsuit.” USA Today, April 25, 2018. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2018/04/25/russellsimmons-scores-win-accuser-jennifer-jarosik-drops-lawsuit/552026002/.

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from the businesses that I founded.”39 HBO eventually cut all ties with Simmons and Oprah removed his quotes from her book Te Wisdom of Sundays, but none of these actions bring these women the justice they deserve. Tese women have been silenced out of the fear and shame imposed upon them by such a powerful man with so much sway in the hip-hop industry. Lisa Kirk was so ashamed of what happened, she said that rather than step up and speak out, she simply wished to “make it go away, to keep on trucking.”40 Others, like Drew Dixon, felt that speaking out would jeopardize their successful careers and shut out other opportunities that Simmons had connections with. Te power that men like Richard Simmons hold over and use to control women aspiring to make it big in their chosen profession contributes greatly to why women feel unsupported and unseen in the music industry as a whole. One may question these women’s stories when they fnd out how long they waited to speak out, but there are many reasons why sexual assault victims feel unable to speak out right away. Two reasons stand out in the case of Russel Simmons. Te frst reason is shame. Many women come out of such a traumatic experience feeling scared and alone. Additionally, some may even believe that the assault was their own fault. Because of this, many women simply wish to block the events out of their mind forever so that they can simply return to normal life. Lisa Kirk, for example, stated that rather than step up and speak out, she simply wished to “make it go away, to keep on trucking.”41 She did not want to speak out because she knew that legal proceedings would only prolong her pain. Being forced to recount her story to so many people may have pushed her over the edge and she simply did not want to put herself through all that. Without any kind of support, Kirk, along with many other women in the same position, feel like the best option is to simply move on. Te second reason, loss of opportunity, is extremely to the music industry as a whole. Because many opportunities and resources in the industry are male-dominated, women must often rely on men in order to climb the ladder or fnd better artists or producers to work with. Tis is a major problem, especially when women are forced to choose between reporting infuential men who sexually harass and assault them or staying quiet for the sake of their careers. Drew Dixon, for example, had just written a soundtrack for the hip-hop documentary Te Show, an opportunity that Simmons himself had provided for her, and it debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 albums chart.42 She feared that speaking out would jeopardize her newfound success and shut out other opportunities that Simmons had connections with. In this way, two of the three major barriers as identifed by the Forbes article,43 sexual harassment and objectifcation and male-dominated resources, work together to continuously shame and demoralize women in the music industry. Dismantling the Barriers Tese two case studies make it crystal clear that misogyny is still extremely prevalent in the music industry today. Between Britney Spears’s decade-long fght to end her abusive conservatorship and Russell Simmons’ three decades of sexual crimes towards women, it seems that women have a great disadvantage in the industry compared to men. It will certainly take years for any real change to occur, but in the meantime, it is important to identify the pathways by which that change may arrive. Even discussing the presence of misogyny is a wonderful way to make those both inside and outside of the industry more aware of the issues it continues to cause. Forcing those who use misogyny as a stepping stone to their own success to acknowledge those they have hurt and face justice is the only way to uproot misogyny’s tight grip on the industry as a whole. To do this, the industry must take specifc 39 40 41 42 43

Leight, “Russell Simmons Sexual Assault Allegations” Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Bossi, ”Drivers of Gender Inequality”

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and intentional steps toward dismantling the barriers of sexual harassment and objectifcation and male-dominated resources. To dismantle the barrier of sexual harassment and objectifcation, the music industry must provide a means for women to safely report their abusers. Women should not have to fear the potential consequences of reporting these men. Rather, organizations within the industry should provide resources to women who have been assaulted or abused and assist them in pursuing justice. When they are ready to speak out, their stories should be taken seriously, and while the men they accuse should not be condemned without proper evidence, they should have to face justice just like anyone else, regardless of how powerful they are. Providing means for women to safely tell their stories encourages other women to follow suit. Oftentimes, women wait to speak out until there are others willing to share their stories too, as was the case with those who spoke out against Russell Simmons. However, if a woman is alone in her accusation, she may feel like it is not worth her own mental health to speak out. Encouraging and empowering all women to tell their stories whether they are speaking out as part of a group or alone is the most important step in tackling the barrier of sexual harassment and objectifcation. Regarding the barrier of male-dominated resources, the music industry must make a more conscious efort to promote women in the industry. While women should not simply be promoted based solely on their gender or for the sake of diversity, it is important that organizations and companies within the industry evaluate why there are few or no women in leadership positions. Tey should identify these reasons, remedy them, and encourage more women to apply for leadership positions. Additionally, they must work to normalize the vision of women in music industry positions, especially roles in the technology side of things. Nowadays, it is common to see women in military advertisements and on movie posters, but there is very little promotion for women in the music industry. While organizations such as Women’s Audio Mission, Women in Music, and the International Women’s Music Network do exist, many women do not know about them until after they enter the industry. Tese resources need to be made more accessible to girls in secondary education so that they can identify it as a potential career path much earlier. Recently, the movement to get middle and high school-aged girls interested in STEM, or science, technology, engineering, and math, has been growing exponentially. Unfortunately, technology in the arts often gets overlooked in favor of rocket science and robots. In fact, the STEM education tool SmartLab, deemed the 2022 STEM/STEAM Instructional Solution of the Year,44 does not even identify music as one of its learning experiences.45 A more recent initiative known as STEAM, which adds an extra “A” to STEM to represent the arts, is attempting to remedy this by encouraging STEM programs to incorporate creativity into their curricula. For example, when learning to program a robot, students can design a maze that other students must program their own robots to complete. Some STEAM activities already incorporate music, such as a bubble fute that produces bubbles using sound waves.46 Activities like this bubble fute are a great way to learn about sound and music during a course that does not place a focus on them, such as physics. By purposefully incorporating music technology into STEM/STEAM education programs, more kids, especially young girls, can be exposed to lesser-explored areas of the industry, allowing women to balance out the ratio of men to 44 45 46

SmartLab Learning. n.d. “SmartLab Wins 2022 STEM/STEAM Instructional Solution of the Year | Creative Learning Systems.” SmartLab Learning. Accessed May 1, 2023. https://www. smartlablearning.com/smartlab-wins-2022-stem-steam-instructional-solution-of-the-year/. SmartLab Learning. n.d. “High School | Creative Learning Systems.” SmartLab Learning. Accessed May 1, 2023. https://www.smartlablearning.com/learning-programs/smartlab-hq/high-schoolstem-lab/. Sphero. n.d. “Bubble Flute.” littleBits Classroom. Accessed May 1, 2023. https://classroom. littlebits.com/inventions/bubble-fute.

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women in all areas of the music industry. Opening up young girls to this new possibility much earlier will encourage more and more of them to pursue a career in the music industry and help dismantle the power that men hold through their majority. While misogyny may never be fully erased from the music industry, its pervasive efects need to be mitigated. Women should not have to accept the fact that they may be sexually assaulted in order to enter the industry. Men should not have control over all of the resources, leaving women to be forced to either submit to these men in order to get any worthwhile opportunities or abandon their career dreams forever. As equality continues to be a prominent political topic today, more and more men in the industry who have taken advantage of the women around them are being held accountable for their actions. Tings are starting to change, but this does not mean that those championing this change can stop now. Until women in the music industry no longer have to view misogyny as an “occupational hazard,” the fght must never stop.

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References Te Associated Press. 2018. “Russell Simmons scores a win, accuser Jennifer Jarosik drops lawsuit.” USA Today, April 25, 2018. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/ people/2018/04/25/russell-simmons-scores-win-accuser-jennifer-jarosik-dropslawsuit/552026002/. Baah, Nana, Hannah Ewens, Nilu Haidari, and Natty Kasambala. 2022. “How the Music Industry Silences Women and Nonbinary People.” VICE, July 26, 2022. https://www. vice.com/en/article/m7gvay/how-the-music-industry-silences-women-and-non-binarypeople. BBC. 2021. “Britney Spears: Singer’s conservatorship case explained.” BBC News, November 12, 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53494405. Blistein, Jon. 2021. “Britney Spears’ Lawyer Accuses Jamie of Extortion Over Conservatorship.” Rolling Stone, September 1, 2021. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/ britney-spears-lawyer-jamie-spears-extortion-conservatorship-1219378/. Blistein, Jon. 2021. “Britney Spears’ Conservatorship Fight: What We Know.” Rolling Stone, November 12, 2021. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/britney-spearsconservatorship-timeline-1193156/. Bossi, Andrea. 2021. “Tese Are 3 Of Te Biggest Drivers Of Gender Inequality In Music.” Forbes, March 26, 2021. https://www.forbes.com/sites/andreabossi/2021/03/26/theseare-3-of-the-biggest-reported-drivers-of-gender-inequality-in-music/?sh=288692e26290. Cooper, Rae, Amanda Coles, and Sally Hannah-Osborne. 2017. “Skipping a beat: Assessing the state of gender equality in the Australian music industry.” Te University of Sydney, (July). https://doi.org/10.25910/5db1292d585d4. Daros, Otávio. 2022. “Deconstructing Britney Spears: stardom, meltdown and conservatorship.” Journal for Cultural Research 25, no. 4 (January): 377-392. 10.1080/14797585.2021.2018663. Te Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. 2009. “Popular music.” Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/popular-music. Edmonds, Ash, and Ellie Blackwell. 2022. “Te music industry’s problematic relationship with sexual assault and power dynamics.” Voice Magazine, February 4, 2022. https://www. voicemag.uk/blog/10485/the-music-industrys-problematic-relationship-with-sexualassault-and-power-dynamics. Farrow, Ronan, and Jia Tolentino. 2021. “Britney Spears’s Conservatorship Nightmare.” Te New Yorker, July 3, 2021. https://www.newyorker.com/news/american-chronicles/ britney-spears-conservatorship-nightmare.

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Gilenson, Hal I. 1990. “Badlands: Artist-Personal Manager Conficts of Interest in the Music Industry.” Cardozo Arts and Entertainment Law Journal 9 (1): 501-544. https://heinonline. org/HOL/Page?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/caelj9&id=512&men_ tab=srchresults. Kahlert, Hanna, Kriss Takrar, and Srishti Das. 2021. “Be Te Change: Women Making Music.” TuneCore. https://www.tunecore.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2021/03/ be-the-change-women-making-music.pdf. Leight, Elias. 2018. “Russell Simmons Sexual Assault Allegations: A Timeline.” Rolling Stone, February 9, 2018. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/russell-simmonssexual-assault-allegations-a-timeline-202515/. Marikar, Sheila. 2016. “Russell Simmons, the Yoga King of Los Angeles (Published 2016).” Te New York Times, November 16, 2016. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/17/fashion/ russell-simmons-yoga-los-angeles-tantris.html. Merative and Micromedex. 2023. “Lithium (Oral Route) Side Efects.” Mayo Clinic. https:// www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/lithium-oral-route/side-efects/drg-20064603. NAMI Santa Clarita. n.d. “State of California Involuntary Treatment Information.” https:// namisantaclara.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Involuntary-Treatment-Page.pdf. Newman, Jason, and Ethan Millman. 2023. “Sexual Assault Survivors Call Out Music Industry Ahead of Grammys.” Rolling Stone, February 4, 2023. https://www.rollingstone. com/music/music-news/sexual-assault-survivors-grammys-1234673714/. PBS. n.d. “Innovators: Russell Simmons.” Who Made America? Accessed March 28, 2023. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/theymadeamerica/whomade/simmons_hi.html. Philips, Stephanie. 2022. “‘Nothing’s Changed’: Sexual Misconduct Is Driving People Out of Music.” VICE, July 25, 2022. https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxnd89/sexualharassment-music-industry. SmartLab Learning. n.d. “High School | Creative Learning Systems.” SmartLab Learning. Accessed May 1, 2023. https://www.smartlablearning.com/learning-programs/smartlabhq/high-school-stem-lab/. SmartLab Learning. n.d. “SmartLab Wins 2022 STEM/STEAM Instructional Solution of the Year | Creative Learning Systems.” SmartLab Learning. Accessed May 1, 2023. https:// www.smartlablearning.com/smartlab-wins-2022-stem-steam-instructional-solution-ofthe-year/. Sphero. n.d. “Bubble Flute.” littleBits Classroom. Accessed May 1, 2023. https://classroom. littlebits.com/inventions/bubble-fute. Strong, Catherine, and Emma Rush. 2018. “Musical genius and/or nasty piece of work? Dealing with violence and sexual assault in accounts of popular music’s past, Continuum.” Journal of Media and Culture Studies 32, no. 5 (July): 569-580. https://doi.org/10.1080/ 10304312.2018.1483009.

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About the Author Alyson Toth is a rising senior at Christopher Newport University majoring in Music with a concentration in Creative Studies as well as double minoring in Leadership and Graphic Design. She is also a member of the Honors Program and the President’s Leadership Program. During the Spring 2023 semester, she provided piano accompaniment for the CNU Chamber Choir’s performances of Morten Lauridsen’s Dirait-on during their spring concert season and presented a live coding musical performance with four other members of the electronic ensemble CRISP at Paideia. On campus, she is a member of the panhellenic sorority Alpha Sigma Alpha, the service club Food Fighters, and the University Chorale. Tis summer, she is interning at Winchester Church of God in her hometown of Winchester, VA, running the sound system during service and rehearsals and contributing what she has learned throughout her studies to help improve the church’s worship team program. After graduation, Alyson aspires to become a Disney Imagineer.

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Suspension of Disbelief, Ergodicity, Metalepsis, and Reader Engagement in Mark Danielewski’s House of Leaves Brenna Walch Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Kyle Garton-Gundling, Department of English

Abstract Tis essay focuses on the usage and undermining of suspension of disbelief in Mark Danielewski’s House1 of Leaves. Alongside a combination of critical thought and metaleptic jumps, this experimental utilization of such a cornerstone tool of story creation presents a challenge to the theory that, in order to be efectively engaging, fction must make readers suspend their disbelief throughout the entirety of the text. To depict this, I analyze both the difcult nature of the book as well as the removal of suspension of disbelief across the four storyworld meta-levels within House of Leaves using specifc examples from the book. I argue that House of Leaves proves that literature doesn’t need suspension of disbelief in its entirety for the story to be efective at engaging readers.

All instances of the word “house” will be colored in blue (in the electronic version of Te Cupola). Tis is in reference to Danielewski’s own blue coloring of “house” in House of Leaves. Many people who have written about House of Leaves have also done the same, paying homage to Danielewski’s creative choices.

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Introduction How do readers judge fction novels that don’t follow traditional prosaic forms? In prior literary eras, spanning from Ancient Greece to the mid-1900s, the value of literature has been marked by its storytelling techniques, its consistency of formatting, and even its ability to convey truth. However, like its ergodic literature predecessors, Mark Z. Danielewski’s groundbreaking novel House of Leaves breaks all of these building blocks of fction: it warps the main ingredient of suspension of disbelief; it reformats itself repeatedly; and it forces readers to constantly question what they think is true. Te tactic of messing with reader perceptions in a story isn’t a new thing – there are plenty of other books that fall under the umbrella of ergodic literature – but House of Leaves faunts a postmodern version of them, and it does so efectively and comprehensively. As T. S. Eliot wrote in section one of Tradition and the Individual Talent, “we praise a poet […] upon those aspects of his work in which he least resembles any one else” and “[w]e dwell with satisfaction upon the poet’s diference from his predecessors” (Eliot). Tis essay will answer why House of Leaves has helped update the genre in a compelling way despite its violation of the principle of suspension of disbelief. It will also discuss the examples of metaleptic storyworlds, their individual implications, and their contributions to the overall plot. Trough its requirement of much critical thinking from readers and the slow removal of suspension of disbelief via metalepsis, Mark Danielewski’s labyrinthine House of Leaves challenges readers with its intellectually stimulating content and interactive nature, thus providing a more engaging, updated reading experience in the genre of ergodic literature while also mounting a successful challenge to theories that prioritize suspension of disbelief in judging fction. Suspension of Disbelief and Ergodicity Suspension of disbelief is considered one of the most necessary aspects of interacting with fctional works. It is foundational in the same way that a narrative perspective is or that a relatively linear plot progression is. In a landmark article, Norman Holland explains, “Somehow, what we would not believe in reality, we will believe in a work of art”, that “work of art” being literature. Tis is, in essence, the “test” Danielewski is giving his readers via House of Leaves: seeing how much they will believe of the story he presents them with, and at what point that belief stops working or begins to wear of. Holland gives reasoning for the occurrence of suspension of disbelief from a psychoanalytic perspective which, according to Freud, can be related to the pleasure principle: a theory about how the Id, a mental section of the self, seeks pleasure above other needs/wants and “dominates the operation of the mental apparatus from the start” (Freud). In literature, this can be considered a form of escapism, which is needed when a person suspends their own thoughts and questions about a book – in other words, a healthy dose of escapism is needed for the suspension of disbelief. As Freud notes in his work Civilization and Its Discontents, “Against the dreaded external world one can only defend oneself by some kind of turning away from it” (Freud). Holland indirectly refers to the pleasure principle in this way, saying that we as readers interact with books on the basis of “expecting it to feed us pleasure, at least in imagination, and we are willing to suspend our disbelief to gain the pleasure. And thus literature does make suckers of us all” (Holland). Even with such a difcult to digest novel such as House of Leaves, readers are given the option to derive some form of pleasure from it through critical thinking skills. As Holland notes, “Te brutalities of tragedy, the abusive tricks of comedy, the puzzlement of ‘absurd’ writing, the attacks of satire – all in some way give us pleasure. And because we have been conditioned to expect pleasure from art, we trust in its promise” (Holland). Tis “defensive maneuver built into our response to literature”, as he calls it, is the driving force behind the enjoyment of a work of fction, allowing us to not only “give up our ordinary reality-testing” but also to “give up our own sense of identity […] in a precarious, on-and-of sort of way” (Holland). Te levels of possible

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truths within House of Leaves are applicable to readers, as this essay will discuss later, because of the use of metaleptic story levels and suspension of disbelief. In tandem with each other, they serve as a mechanism for purposefully furthering readers from the story, pushing them from the innermost reality of House of Leaves back to the readers’ own reality outside House of Leaves. Tis ‘absurd’ undermining of suspension of disbelief, combined with metalepsis, contributes to its classifcation as ergodic literature and exemplifes the tactics used by such authors. “Ergodic” is a term defned most simply as difcult, coming from the Greek root words “ἔργον (ergon: ‘work’) and ὁδός (odos: ‘path’ or ‘way’) (Ashley). Te term was frst coined by Austrian physicist Ludwig Boltzmann to describe his fundamental theory of statistical mechanics but has since expanded into diferent felds of study, like physics and literature. In line with the Greek etymology, ergodic literature is a literal ‘path’ or journey of reading which readers must ‘work’ to both get through and understand what they’re reading. Tese types of books are characterized by their challenging nature, causing readers to make difcult choices not only on how to physically read the text but also how to interpret it. In an article by Hayot and Wesp, they paraphrase Norwegian computer academic Espen Aarseth, who himself describes ergodic literature as “sites of interaction in which the artist and the beholder come together as equal partners in a creative team and compose something that was not there before” (Aarseth). Within such a reading experience, Hayot and Wesp clarify, “[…] in certain kinds of texts, the reader makes choices that determine the sequence of signs that present themselves to be seen and read” (Hayot, Wesp). Tey later expand upon that idea, saying, “ergodic texts actively encourage the reader to make decisions, and moreover make visible and central that act of decision-making” (Hayot, Wesp). Tey use the example of Raymond Queneau’s poetry book “Cent mille milliards de poems [A hundred thousand billion poems]” which employs a choice-based tactic of physically rearranging the lines of Shakespearean sonnets using the book’s inner paper strips on which the lines are typed (Hayot, Wesp). In Kilpiö’s article on media in House of Leaves, he notes the “required efort” of reading said book, stating that “the reader’s movement through the text involves something other than the standard practice of turning pages when reading a traditional novel” (Kilpiö). He lists the actions readers must take to interact with and absorb information from the book: “manoeuvre the book, turn it around, leaf back and forth to follow the notes, use a mirror to decipher a piece of mirror-writing, and so on” (Kilpiö). Bell and Alber make note of this theory of ergodicity in their article on ontological metalepsis within narratives, saying on page 168, “Te choice ofered to readers of hypertext fction means that a number of diferent routes exist within the same text” (Bell, Alber). Tis is a similar process to a choose-your-own-adventure style of game or writing. However, while House of Leaves does allow readers to adventure in various orders through the book, it ultimately leads to one story conclusion. In other words, the choose-your-ownadventure portion is reserved for reader interpretation, not the plot’s conclusion. In the case of House of Leaves, the often-abstract yet also scholarly formatting contributes to this variety of reader actualizations by presenting every aspect of the story in one linear fashion – however, the linear way to read it might be neither the chronological way nor the ‘academic’ way. A prime example of this can be found in the footnotes in Zampanó’s (one of the main characters) essay on Te Navidson Record, all of which are part of the larger story inside House of Leaves (the novel itself ). On page 81, two pages into Chapter VII of Zampanó’s essay, the footnotes direct readers to “Exhibit Four for the complete transcript of Te Reston Interview”, encouraging readers to not just fip a few pages but to fip all the way to page 533, post-essay: a section Zampanó intended to include (and another main character, Johnny Truant, included in his absence) for readers to review Te Reston Interview (Danielewski). Upon fipping to page 533, one will fnd that the entire transcript is missing; instead, there are only instructions written as reminders to Zampanó himself to “Reproduce all facsimiles of Te Reston Interview and Te Last Interview” (Danielewski). Te reader could go back

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to page 81 and continue reading where they left of, but there is also the option of going to Te Navidson Record’s table of contents page, only six pages away on page 539, where both Te Reston Interview and Te Last Interview are listed; their listing, however, is given without page numbers. Te reader then has the choice of pursuing Te Reston Interview by going out of order in the book and attempting to track down the page numbers themselves, or by going back to page 81 and reading linearly. If the primary option is chosen, readers will fnd that, in the content span between “A Brief History Of How [sic] I Love” and Exploration #5, there isn’t actually a dedicated selection of pages for either Te Reston Interview or Te Last Interview. In fact, Te Reston Interview can only be found as scattered quotes throughout Zampanó’s essay on Te Navidson Record, like on pages 318, 384, and 418. Another great example of readers navigating House of Leaves in a non-linear fashion can be seen early in Te Navidson Record essay from page 119 to 143. On page 119, footnote 144 appears in the upper-right of the column of text, explaining everything that is missing within the spatial anomaly that Navidson’s house has spawned: “Not only are there no hot-air registers, return air vents, […] no HVAC system at all […] there are no windows—no water supplies” (Danielewski). Ten, the text box cuts of despite the footnote not being complete. Turning the page reveals a backwards version of the text box we just read, as if the lettering has bled through the page; the next text box that picks up where the frst one left of is in fact on the page following the backwards one, continuing, “drains, bathtubs, urinals, sinks, drinking fountains […] wireways, bus ducts, underfoor ducts” (Danielewski). Te process of fipping pages to read the whole footnote within those same-sized text boxes continues until page 143. At this point, the organization of the pages has begun to unravel: columns of text turn sideways and upside-down; words space themselves out diagonally; red footnotes are crossed out; textual squares surround the square text box we’ve been following; and fnally, the text box is found blank. It would take a miracle to intake all the text thrown at readers in a way that reads with any sort of full understanding, introducing readers early on to the difculty of the novel. Without even looking at page formatting, the book still requires a certain amount of efort on the reader’s part. Foreign languages are used liberally throughout House of Leaves, a fact that is introduced in the page directly following Johnny Truant’s Introduction section. Tis page has only a single quote in German; a question posed as such: “Muss es sein?” with no given translation (Danielewski). Readers must take it upon themselves to translate it into “Must it be?” which I personally think is an on-the-nose remark that comments on the main content of Te Navidson Record, intending for readers to ask this themselves. Te foreign languages used in Te Navidson Record are translated in the footnotes by either Truant or the Editors, but on occasion there are languages that occur without clear translation or a translation at all (some not necessarily verbal). Te top of page 601, for example, includes a message from Truant’s mother to Truant, with part of the message written in Old English; no footnote translation is given. Without translating it, though, readers can surmise that it is some sort of uplifting remark since Truant’s mother calls it “advice” on the next line (Danielewski). Page 479, as another example, is a line of a music sheet with no key on how to sound it out. One would think that the music would match the song lyrics to “Daisy Bell” which are typed out in quotation marks two pages prior. However, taking the time to translate the melody only shows that it doesn’t match “Daisy Bell”. Indeed, it isn’t an easy novel to read, but nonetheless a pathway for reading is still there. House of Leaves certainly fts the qualifcations for ergodic literature, forcing readers to actively make highly interactive decisions about how (and when) to read the text. It perfectly matches the qualifcation for a “successful ergodic work of art” that Aarseth gives: it “maintains tension and excitement while providing a path for discovery, a coming into focus of a didactic of the design and hidden principles at work in the work” (Aarseth). Te difculty in the intake of its content doesn’t solely come from its experimental formatting, though. As we will see further on

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in my essay, the analysis of the content itself as well as its retracting direction of suspension of disbelief as reading progresses does most of the heavy lifting, but it is benefted by Danielewski’s choice of formatting and produces a challenging, engaging experience for readers. Characters and Plot Before beginning an analysis of the main techniques of the text – metalepsis and the removal of suspension of disbelief – as well as the text itself to exemplify the difculty of House of Leaves alongside (or perhaps as a consequence of ) its engaging content, it is frst and foremost important to garner context for this essay. House of Leaves is a book made of story layers, literally moving from outermost shell to innermost shell and back again. Within the framework of what is fction and what isn’t, the story technically starts with the Editors. Teir Foreword is what opens the main content, and it is unclear whether the Editors are Danielewski’s, Zampanó’s, or Truant’s, the latter two people being two of the book’s main characters. Te next person introduced is Johnny Truant, a young man who works at a tattoo parlor and parties with his friend on the side. In the beginning of the novel, he fnds the large, uncompiled manuscript of a flm analysis essay in the apartment of the recently deceased Zampanó. Soon after, Truant takes it upon himself to organize, comment on, occasionally translate, and ultimately compile Zampanó’s essay into a fnished product ready for publishing. Tis task propels him into a declining mental, emotional, and physical state, with the formatting of the essay even matching the tone of Truant’s spiraling life most times. Zampanó, the third main character introduced and the author of the flm analysis essay on Te Navidson Record, died under mysterious circumstances. Truant’s friend, Lude, said to Truant before showing him Zampanó’s apartment, “‘Right next to the body […] I found these gouges in the hardwood foor, a good six or seven inches long. Very weird’” (Danielewski). Even more intriguingly, despite Te Navidson Record being a flm analysis essay, which automatically assumes that Zampanó must have seen it to write about it, he was actually completely blind while writing his essay on a documentary released in the early 1990s – “[…] he hadn’t seen a thing since the mid-ffties. He was blind as a bat” (Danielewski). Zampanó’s essay is about a home documentary of the Navidson family and friends, the fctional or real nature of which will be debated later. Since Zampanó existed in the world of Johnny Truant, and that storyworld is supposed to also be the readers’ world, the overlap of the manuscript of Te Navidson Record and Truant’s life complicates things. Te Navidson Record, which frst debuted as simply a video clip titled “Te Five and a Half Minute Hallway” before appearing as a full documentary, stars Will Navidson, his wife Karen Green, their kids (Chad and Daisy), Will’s brother Tom, their friend Billy Reston, and eventually three professional explorers, among other minor characters. Te Navidson Record itself chronicles the Navidson family as they move into their new house. Shortly after their move-in, Will Navidson (who I will refer to as Navidson) notices that ¼” of space has appeared in the house: “Te width of the house inside would appear to exceed the width of the house as measured from the outside by ¼”” – an impossibility considering the house’s blueprints don’t account for that extra space (Danielewski). Based on the evidence of how it ‘acts,’ it’s a type of spatialtemporal anomaly, a “physical reality the mind and body cannot accept” (Danielewski). Tis event leads to more spatial anomalies within the house, then to “a dark doorless hallway which has appeared out of nowhere in the west wall” which, as readers fnd out in the various Explorations that occur, leads to an impossible maze of dark abysses and a giant spiral staircase (Danielewski). Others have termed this space a “haunting” or “the Folly” in an efort to “clearly distinguish it from the House”, but I’d argue that a better name for it would be the Labyrinth, considering the many Minotaur myth references throughout House of Leaves, the frst instance of which can be found on page 109 (Bekavac). Psychological damage is done, people (namely Tom and the three explorers) are killed and injured, etc., and the documentary itself seems to

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just be an elaborate way of showing how Navidson, tortured by guilt over his past actions as a photojournalist, is torturing himself in response to get rid of it. In other words, the Labyrinth is really an “extrafamilial space of emotion generated by guilt, as deep and unstable as a subject can make it” (Bekavac). Tat, however, depends on if Te Navidson Record was intended to be a documentary that went horribly wrong or if it was intended to be a horror short flm from the start, which will be discussed later in this essay. Meanwhile, Truant’s footnote entries have turned into an entire chapter (XXI, pages 491 to 521), and his story ends once that chapter ends. Zampanó’s essay ends seven pages after that, wrapping up Te Navidson Record. Lingering parts of each character, such as their photographs and notes, are afterwards found in the Exhibits and Appendixes sections. Finally, in a section that can only be found attached to House of Leaves in its remastered version, readers have access to Truant’s mother’s letters that she wrote to him during her stay at a mental hospital called Whalestoe. Tis gives readers a bit more insight into Truant’s backstory and also informs readers about Truant’s own mental decline caused by Te Navidson Record, which in turn allows readers to ponder how many of his issues were inherited. Overall, it is a captivating and well-constructed book that does its due diligence in character development and attention to detail. Tis attention to detail serves both as a tool for readers to imaginatively dive deep into their suspension of disbelief and as a tool for readers to critically think about the story in a way that removes their suspension of belief over time. Combining what we know about the ergodic nature of House of Leaves, its tactic of the slow removal of suspension of disbelief, and the characters and plot, we can now move into the meat of this essay: the metaleptic levels of House of Leaves and how they are used to distance readers from the story over time in an intellectually stimulating and successfully engaging way. Metalepsis: Levels of Truth and Teir Implications To understand the levels of truth and the narrative movement throughout them in order to analyze them, we must frst understand the device used to conduct said movement: metalepsis. Metalepsis is a technique and theory defned most clearly by Gerard Genette in his work Narrative Discourse, in which he calls it “any intrusion by the extradiegetic narrator or narratee into the diegetic universe (or by the diegetic characters into a metadiegetic universe, etc.), or the inverse” (Genette). Fludernik expands upon Genette’s writings, discussing the details of ontological metalepsis specifcally – the metalepsis that Danielewski employs in House of Leaves. Ontological metalepsis has two types, the frst being “in which the narrator (or a character) jumps to a lower diegetic level” and the second being “in which a fctional character jumps to a higher narrative level” (Fludernik). She explains the reason for metalepsis on page 384 of her article: “Te purpose of the device is to enhance the reader’s immersion in the fction” (Fludernik). A perfect example of the assistance to reader immersion is Johnny Truant’s role as a semi-co-author to Zampanó’s essay on Te Navidson Record, himself adding footnotes that either provide insight into his own life or help readers understand more difcult sections of Zampanó’s essay, essentially bleeding himself into that storyworld. Because of these actions, the storyworld of Te Navidson Record also bleeds into Truant’s storyworld via his declining mental state. Tis example will be discussed later. In another addition to defning metaleptic movement, Bell and Alber “conceptualize ontological metaleptic jumps as (1) vertical interactions either between the actual world and a storyworld or between nested storyworlds, or as (2) horizontal transmigrations between storyworlds” (Bell, Alber). Te vertical jump is the most applicable to House of Leaves, considering the vertical movement seen most simply in the narrative movement from Truant to Zampanó and from Zampanó to Te Navidson Record; this can also be read in reverse order and still be vertical. I refer to this vertical movement as going from the outermost to innermost (or vice versa) storyworld, a similar process to the unpacking and repacking of Russian nesting dolls. Bell and Alber then insist in their article

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that “the same character cannot exist in two ontologically distinct domains simultaneously” in reference to the utilization of metalepsis in fction, but I argue that, while the story levels in House of Leaves aren’t ontologically distinct, they still engage in ontological metalepsis and actively counter Bell and Alber’s statement (Bell, Alder). If, for example, we as readers suspend in totality our disbelief, then the metaleptic storyworlds of Truant and the Navidson family do exist simultaneously; the characters, in that case, cross over into each other’s storyworlds. My upcoming subsection discusses this “transworld travel between diferent ontological spheres”, as Mikkonen terms it, in further detail (Mikkonen). To keep in mind during this section of the essay, from outermost to innermost storyworld, the order is as follows: Danielewski’s House of Leaves itself, the Editors, Johnny Truant, Zampanó (Truant and Zampanó could be considered in the same storyworld, however), and Te Navidson Record (and, subsequently, the people/characters within said documentary). Kilpiö terms this as “a reading of a reading of a reading” (Kilpiö). Here is a visual representation of those levels:

Te innermost storyworld is where readers automatically begin with their suspension of disbelief; their movement into a full suspension of disbelief with Te Navidson Record is quick and immediate upon learning of said documentary. To analyze House of Leaves from this frst, innermost level, readers must enter this storyworld believing everything in the novel to be true – from Navidson’s experience in his house all the way to Truant’s life. Tus, we as analysts of House of Leaves must assume everything is true, at frst, in order to examine and interpret the innermost level. Before that, however, we must decide on which story of the Navidson family and Te Navidson Record is true, as there are two options. Either 1) Will Navidson made Te Navidson Record believing it would be a normal home documentary but the house’s events turned it into something unintentionally horrifying, which means Navidson’s brother Tom is actually dead, or 2) Will Navidson’s original intention with Te Navidson Record was to make a horror short flm in the style of a documentary, in which case Tom should be alive. However, he isn’t heard from ‘in real life’ following his death in the documentary. Te most viably truthful option, surprisingly, is the primary one because of the unlikelihood that Tom stayed out of the public eye for many years after his death scene in Te Navidson Record. We will proceed with the analysis of the innermost-to-outermost levels of House of Leaves’s storyworlds with the assumption that the house really did create a Labyrinth, nothing was a trick of “movie magic”, and Navidson’s brother Tom really did die as a result of the house’s Labyrinth swallowing him

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into a void – in other words, that everything from the physical copy of House of Leaves to the story of Te Navidson Record is real and true. Tis assumption will alter in increments as we move from the innermost (or frst) level to the outermost (or fourth) level. Te First Meta-Level What can we learn from this assumption that everything in House of Leaves is true? In order to answer this, two other questions must frst be answered: Can fction be true? and what are the stakes of asking if it is? Mikkonen’s article on fction and fact rephrases the frst question, posing it on page 292 like so: “[…] can a fctional text, in the generic sense, a text known and already identifed to be fctional, ever become fact?” (Mikkonen). Tis ‘fction being true’ idea goes beyond the less complicated examples of fction ofering truths within them – like war stories mimicking wartime trauma. Although House of Leaves certainly does ofer truths in that manner, like Navidson’s experience with the ethics of war photojournalism, this analysis isn’t focusing on truths within fction, but rather fction itself being true. Mikkonen suggests, “A text meant as nonfction therefore may be received as fction, or vice versa. What looks like a surrealist poem could be an entry in the diary of a schizophrenic patient” – an apt example, considering the poetic nature of Te Tree Attic Whalestoe Institute Letters, provided in section E. in the back of the remastered version of House of Leaves, from Truant’s mother to Truant (Mikkonen). We can attempt to answer the primary inquiry of fction being fact by looking in depth at the content of House of Leaves itself. If House of Leaves and its contents are true in the sense that they coexist with readers, then this is a terrifying reality to realize exists. Navidson and his family went from purchasing “a small house in the country” in order to “[s]ettle in, maybe put down roots, interact, [and] hopefully understand each other a little better” all the way to “fac[ing] a physical reality the mind and body cannot accept” (Danielewski). Tis experience was compiled as a documentary – Te Navidson Record – and eventually presented to the public as a movie. We as readers are aware of it being common knowledge amongst the public because of evidence from pages 354 to 365. Tis is a section titled “A Partial Transcript of What Some Have Tought by Karen Green”, which itself was intended to be a section of the released version of Te Navidson Record but instead could only be found “in the DVD release” (Danielewski). Te reason for this is explained in the footnotes of page 354, in which Zampanó wrote, “…when Miramax put the flm in wide release, […] Bob Weinstein argued that the section was too self-referential and too far from ‘the spine of the story’ to justify its inclusion” (Danielewski). Tis quote provides further evidence of Te Navidson Record’s existence since Miramax and Bob Weinstein both exist in our (readers’) reality. Karen Green’s “What Some Have Tought” is a series of interview transcripts that detail various scientists’, celebrities’, and authors’ opinions on Te Navidson Record. Included in this transcript are such recognizable names as Stephen King, Hunter S. Tompson, David Copperfeld, and Stanley Kubrick, to name a few (Danielewski). Again, these are more people from our reality, solidifying the content of House of Leaves as true in an internally consistent way. Returning to the reality which Te Navidson Record imposes onto readers, we can safely remark on the verity of a few key subjects both within the documentary and Truant’s footnoted life. Firstly, there is the subject of Navidson’s trauma and how he/it interacts with the house. His own interaction and its consequences aren’t the only ones noted in Zampanó’s essay on Te Navidson Record, however. Tere are also the other people who directly and indirectly interact with the house. Because of its cinematic format, the audience technically indirectly “interacts” with the house by watching the documentary. On the other hand, as listed on page 396, a total of 10 individuals interacted directly in some form with the house, all of whom sufered afterefects of varying severity. Tis list is termed the “PostExposure Efects Rating”, created by “a husband and wife team” within their “Haven-Slocum Teory”, one of three total theories (of which can be found/explained in Chapter XVII)

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that attempted to answer questions regarding Navidson’s mental state and reasoning for his decisions towards the end of the documentary (Danielewski). So, it is reasonable to assume any variation of interaction with the house – or even Te Navidson Record – will cause either immediate or eventual afterefects. Tose who directly interacted with the house experienced a mix between physical and mental symptoms, whereas those who indirectly interacted with it experienced mostly mental ones with the occasional physical reaction. Going back to the example of Karen Green’s What Some Have Tought, a few of the interviewed people indicated that they experienced such distress after watching and analyzing Te Navidson Record. Hunter S. Tompson, for instance, said of the flm, “It’s, well… one thing in two words: fucked up… What I’d call a bad trip” and told Karen Green, “I broke things because of it […] I was so upset I even threw my friend’s fshtank at their china cabinet’” (Danielewski). Due to their direct interaction with the house via living in it, Navidson’s children, Chad and Daisy, also experienced noteworthy afterefects. As listed in the “Post-Exposure Efects Rating”, Daisy developed symptoms such as an “intermittent fever” and “echolalia”, while Chad developed “tangentiality; rising aggression; [and] persistent wandering” (Danielewski). Navidson and Holloway are probably the best examples of direct interactions and its consequences: Holloway explored the Labyrinth, developed insanity, killed and injured (respectively) his fellow explorers, and never came out of the Labyrinth; Navidson witnessed many traumatic events inside the house and its Labyrinth which led him to his ultimate decision to self-sacrifce, his mindset essentially boiling down to ‘fnd Tom and understand the Labyrinth or die trying.’ Besides the surface-level content of indirect and direct interaction-based symptoms, there is also evidence of non-psychological powers which the house possesses. Part of Zampanó’s essay implies (or in some cases explicitly suggests) the existence of an entity within the Labyrinth. Tis is expressed through sections of text that are typed in red and marked with strikethroughs. On page 335, for example, footnote 295 reads exactly as I have typed it here: “At the heart of the labyrinth waits the Mi[ ]taur and like the Minotaur of myth its name is [ ]” (Danielewski). Te next page, 336, is mostly covered in red, strikethrough-laden text which directly connects the Greek myth of the Minotaur to the events of Te Navidson Record, saying, “Navidson is not Minos. He did not build the lab-yrinth, He only d[ ]covered it”, and then describes the Minotaur/entity in a way that directly mirrors the behavior of the Labyrinth that readers have noted thus far into the book: “Te creature does not know you, does not fear you, does not remember you, does not even see you” (Danielewski). To make the allusion even more obvious, Zampanó arranged the text on this page in the shape of a monster (or Minotaur) head, its horns poking out and its jaw open wide as if ready to swallow its victim, just like how the house swallowed Tom into the Labyrinth later in Te Navidson Record on page 346. Even outside the bounds of Te Navidson Record, the possible entity of the Labyrinth held sway over the lives of those who analyzed the house. Zampanó and Truant are the two foremost examples of this, as Zampanó experienced physical ramifcations and Truant experienced psychological and physical ramifcations. As quoted earlier in my essay, the scene of Zampanó’s death had “‘gouges in the hardwood foor, a good six or seven inches long’”, a detail pointed out by Truant’s friend, Lude (Danielewski). It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that those gouges are claw marks. In this case, the entity would have moved itself from outside the Labyrinth into Zampanó’s residence. Tere is the question of how the entity was capable of such movement, but that could be written of as the entity having the ability to transcend time and space in order to interact directly with anyone who knew about the Labyrinth, especially those who were devoted to analyzing it like Zampanó was. Another example of support for this theory of an entity within the Labyrinth is found post-Exploration #4 in a section known as Te Holloway Tape, which is the transcribed recording of the footage of explorer Holloway in the Labyrinth after he succumbed to madness during Exploration #4. At the end of Te Holloway Tape, he shot himself with his rife to escape the situation he put himself in, and

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after his slow, “two minutes and 28 seconds” of bleeding to death, there were two more seconds of footage, as Zampanó noted, where “Fingers of blackness slash across the lighted wall and consume Holloway”, concluding with a “terrible growl” (Danielewski). Whereas Holloway was both slashed and consumed by the entity in the Labyrinth, Zampanó was only slashed by it, likely because there was no Labyrinth attached to Zampanó’s residence into which the entity could consume his body. Tere were no signs of physical trauma or injury on Zampanó’s body, however, so I personally conclude that the slashing must have been a type of ‘soul death’ that left traces of itself on the foor. With this information in mind, Truant’s reaction to Te Navidson Record as he compiled Zampanó’s manuscript wasn’t unreasonable. His paranoia and resurgence of childhood trauma were only natural, considering both the house and its possible entity existed in Zampanó’s and Truant’s reality. In other words, his metaleptic movement from his own storyworld into Navidson’s storyworld enhanced his immersion to such a degree that the “illusionistic […] efects” had real efects on himself (Fludernik). Te beginning of Truant’s spiral into mental and physical deterioration began in the footnotes on page 79; this was at the end of a footnoteonly, short chapter called “Endnotes” where Truant’s diary entry/commentary flled most of the three to four pages. While observing the emptiness of Zampanó’s residence, he wrote, “Something else has taken their place. Something I am unable to see. Waiting. I’m afraid. It is hungry. It is immortal. Worse, it knows nothing of whim” (Danielewski). It could also be argued that Truant’s spiral began earlier with his panic attack at the tattoo parlor, pages 70 to 72, in which he expressed his anxieties over being “no longer alone” with something that has “[e]xtremely long fngers”; after his panic attack subsided, “a patron point[ed] out the long, bloody scratch on the back of [Truant’s] neck” (Danielewski). However, Truant did acknowledge “some kind of connection between [his] state of mind and Te Navidson Record” in the footnotes on page 25, but he didn’t attribute his symptoms completely to his act of compiling the manuscript until later, as per the previous examples (Danielewski). His anxieties shifted from panic attacks to physical reactions to paranoia as he furthered his task in compiling Zampanó’s essay on Te Navidson Record. In the middle of compiling the essay section on Exploration #4, Truant wrote in his footnote that he “nailed a number of measuring tapes along the foor and crisscrossed a few of them up and down the walls” to ensure that “the dimensions of [his] room remain true to the mark” (Danielewski). At this point, it’s clear that Truant began to situate his own life amidst the lives of those in Te Navidson Record, believing that somehow the Labyrinth could alter his apartment. In fact, as stated on page 324, Truant had begun to draw pieces of the Labyrinth as it was described in Te Navidson Record onto “napkins, the backs of envelopes, anything handy” (Danielewski). “‘Empty rooms, hundreds of black, empty fucking rooms!’” Truant’s friend, Lude, remarked on Truant’s drawings (Danielewski). Why is it, then, that all readers of House of Leaves don’t spiral into insanity like Johnny Truant after interacting indirectly with Te Navidson Record by reading about it? Te answer is ironically and surprisingly straightforward, considering the book being analyzed. Te only way to prevent readers from being mentally ruined is for readers to stop believing in the reality of Te Navidson Record – to remove one part of House of Leaves from their suspension of disbelief. Only by tossing away the belief that everything presented is true can readers cope with the book’s content. Danielewski assists readers in removing, by one level, this suspension of disbelief using Truant’s fnal section of entries, pages 512 to 513 specifcally, in which Truant met a few bandmates at a bar. Te singer used the lyrics “‘I live at the end of a Five and a Half Minute Hallway’”, which caught Truant’s attention since he hadn’t fnished compiling the manuscript yet (Danielewski). Logically, no one except himself should know about the hallway. After talking with the band, Truant was handed “a big brick of tattered paper” – the manuscript, fnished – with the title “House of Leaves by Zampanó with introduction

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and notes by Johnny Truant” and its subtitle of the publication company and book edition (Danielewski). Its existence is a time anomaly since Truant hadn’t fnished compiling the manuscript at this point in his entries; he fnished compiling it sometime on October 31, 1998, as noted on page 515, and soon after, on page 516, he burned it. Tis logically could not exist in readers’ reality, which leads us to the second level of truth in House of Leaves: we as readers no longer believe that the people in and the story of Te Navidson Record are a part of our reality, but Zampanó and Truant are a part of our reality. Te Second Meta-Level Te main question to pose in this section is as follows: what are the implications of Te Navidson Record being fake, but Zampanó and Truant being real? In order to answer this, we must frst provide evidence that proves Te Navidson Record is fctional within the every meta-level except the frst: a fgment of Zampanó’s imagination made solely for the purpose of creating a plausible flm analysis essay. Te clearest proof of its nonexistence is on pages xix and xx, where Truant introduces the story in an entry of his. He states, “Zampanó’s entire project is about a flm which doesn’t even exist. […] most of what’s said by famous people has been made up. I tried contacting all of them. Tose that took the time to respond told me they had never heard of Will Navidson let alone Zampanó” (Danielewski). Tere is also proof of Te Navidson Record’s nonexistence found not within the main story content of House of Leaves but rather in the Appendix, section C., “…and Pieces”, where scanned copies of written documents, strips of paper, etc. are available to read; these, as the Editors note on pages 550 to 552, were “[r]ephotographed for the 2nd edition” of House of Leaves (Danielewski). Page 552 in particular is where the proof of Te Navidson Record’s falseness is found. In the upper lefthand corner of the rephotographed scan, there is a notecard-size document on which are both typed and written notes. Part of the typed section reads: “Perhaps I will alter the whole thing. Kill both children. […] Chad scrambling to escape, almost making it to the front door where Karen waits, until a corner in the foyer suddenly leaps forward and hews the boy in half. At the same time Navidson, by the kitchen, reaches for Daisy, only to arrive a fraction of a second too late, his fnger[s] fnding air, his eyes scratching after Daisy as she falls to her death” (Danielewski). Tis quote correlates to the part in Te Navidson Record post-Exploration #4, where the house retaliates against the Navidsons and the others by attempting to kill everyone inside via the rearrangement, addition, or subtraction of space. Since the documents in Appendix C. are notes from Zampanó during his construction of his manuscript, this proves that Zampanó made up this section of the documentary. Tus, the entire documentary is fake within Zampanó and Truant’s universe and the readers’ universe as well. With this in mind, we can move onto answering the question posed at the beginning of this section. With Te Navidson Record being confrmed as fake in this metaleptic level, Te Navidson Record’s existence as a manuscript of a fctional documentary can be explained through a psychological lens. Zampanó wrote it, so it’s plausible to consider Te Navidson Record as an intensely complicated and thorough coping mechanism for some kind of trauma that Zampanó endured. In the footnotes of page 337, Truant said that Zampanó was an “alchemist to his own secret anguish; lost in the art of sufering”, a remark relevant to the idea that Zampanó had his own undetailed trauma that he worked through by writing his essay on a tragic, horror-style documentary (Danielewski). In a footnote section from pages 34 to 37, Truant told readers about a meet-up he had with a woman, Amber Rightacre, who used to visit Zampanó and read to him. Rightacre said that Zampanó was “‘imperceivable and alone,’” and that “‘[h]e said he didn’t have any children any more’” (Danielewski). Combining this apparent loneliness and the telling “any more” that Rightacre said about Zampanó’s kids, one could easily extrapolate that something tragic occurred in Zampanó’s history that resulted in

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the death of his children, leaving him in solitude to deal with his trauma. Furthermore, there is the occasional slip-up in Zampanó’s essay writing, like in Chapter XIII. Interestingly enough, this slip-up implies that the Editors either didn’t catch it before sending House of Leaves or Zampanó’s essay out for publishing or they purposefully left it in. For context, Chapter XIII is a post-Exploration #4 section dedicated to describing the tenseness of the characters as they waited for Navidson to return from his mission to rescue Holloway – if, that is, he was still alive inside the Labyrinth. Page 320 said of Tom, “He might have spent all night drinking had exhaustion not caught up with me” (Danielewski). Te me used there doesn’t match the previous pronoun of He, which indicates that Zampanó inserted himself into the narrative. Furthermore, the essay is written in the third-person perspective, so having a frst-person insertion in the middle of a third-person sentence is completely unnatural. Considering the depth, complexity, and erudite design of both House of Leaves and the essay’s storyworlds, my personal assertion is that this was purposefully left in. But what specifcally about this chapter would have caused such a slip of the tongue? Perhaps it was the description of the characters’ exhaustion and fear; perhaps it was the description of Chad and Daisy’s all-black house drawings that indicated childhood development trauma: “nothing more than a black square flling ninety percent of the page”; perhaps it was the disturbing details of Te Holloway Tape and some sections of the incomplete Reston Interview; perhaps, even, it was the chapter’s ending, where Tom was swallowed by the house into the Labyrinth (Danielewski). I argue that this chapter of Zampanó’s essay is the part in his story that began his own disintegration in his storyworld, ultimately leading to his mysterious death. After all, this chapter and the one before it seem to show the house’s Labyrinth at its most powerful moments, when it had the most sway over the mental and physical states of those inside the house. Whatever traumatic history Zampanó endured, it was likely about the death of his children and the loss of his sense of familial identity, the latter of which he tried to cope with, according to Rightacre, by saying “‘you’re all my children’” in possible reference to everyone around him or even the readers of his essay on Te Navidson Record (Danielewski). Tis adds more solidity to the theory that his essay was simply a written coping mechanism. What could account for Truant’s distinctly worse reaction to Te Navidson Record compared to the other people said to have indirectly interacted with the documentary? After all, he exhibited panicked, paranoid behaviors which Hunter S. Tompson, to recall a previous example, did not. Not only did Truant have frequent hallucinations and bouts of hysteria, but he also foreshadowed events in Te Navidson Record that neither he nor readers have encountered yet; this occurred at least two times. Te frst occurrence of his foreshadowing ability, likely due to his unique connection to Te Navidson Record, is on page 150 during one of his panicked hallucinatory fts, where he claimed, “Te foor beneath me fails into a void” (the use of “fails” is directly copied from the book and is not an error on my part) (Danielewski). 196 pages later, in Zampanó’s analysis of Te Navidson Record, the story unfolded as follows: “[…] Tom disappears. In less time than it takes for a single frame of flm to fash upon a screen, the linoleum foor dissolves, turning the kitchen into a vertical shaft. Tom tumbles into the blackness […]” (Danielewski). Te next instance of Truant’s foreshadowing occurred on page 299, amidst a long, single-sentence fction story about a sinking ship’s dying crew that spans from page 297 to 300. He wrote toward the end: “… and who would ever know of the pocket of air in that second hold where one man hid, having sealed the doors, creating a momentary bit of inside, a place to live in, to breathe in, a man who survived the blast and the water and instead lived to feel another kind of death, a closing in of such impenetrable darkness, far blacker than any Haitian night or recounted murder, though he did fnd a fashlight […]” (Danielewski). Te solitary man in the darkness and the found fashlight match the ending of Exploration #5 when Navidson, about to die in the cold void of the Labyrinth, exclaimed, “‘Light […] Can’t.

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Be. I see light’” (Danielewski). Tis aligns with the follow-up perspective of Karen Green in Chapter XXII where Zampanó wrote about the Labyrinth “waiting behind her,” and Karen Green in turn shined “a halogen fashlight” into the Labyrinth then “step[ped] forward and disappear[ed] behind the black curtain” (Danielewski). On page 523, the story continues, “forty-nine minutes later a neighbor saw Karen crying on the front lawn […] Navidson cradled in her lap”, both of them alive and escaped from the Labyrinth (Danielewski). How could Truant’s footnote stories and remarks match coincidentally well with Te Navidson Record’s story? I argue that this is because Truant’s trauma resurfaced due to his compiling of the manuscript since some characters in it shared the same theme of trauma, like the children and Navidson himself. If we recall the section in Chapter XIII about a key example of Chad and Daisy’s childhood development trauma as a consequence of living in the house, we can notice a parallel between their childhood trauma and Truant’s childhood trauma in the sense that both traumas are domestic in nature. Living in the house and almost dying to the Labyrinth caused lasting efects on both children, as noted in the “Post-Exposure Efects Rating” list on page 396 and based on their all-black house drawings as described from pages 313 to 315. Readers discover Truant’s trauma in pieces throughout House of Leaves instead of a designated section like Chad and Daisy’s. As Truant continued compiling the manuscript and delved deeper into the story of Te Navidson Record, more details of his trauma came to light. Starting on page 92, Truant began to open up to readers about his childhood: “After my father died I was shipped around to a number of foster homes”, he said in footnote 104, continuing with a narrative about his abusive foster dad; however, this wasn’t the beginning of his childhood trauma (Danielewski). It began before his father died, when he had both his mother and father. Truant frst hinted at his trauma regarding his mother in footnote 164, page 129, in which he mentioned, “[…] my mother wasn’t actually dead yet. Telling everyone she was though made my life far less complicated” (Danielewski). Te core of Truant’s trauma from his mother is detailed on page 380, where he explained that his mother had decided that “[t]he burden of life seemed too much for her to bear and therefore […] an impossible and even horrible burden to impose upon a child”, so she “gathered [Truant] up in her arms and tried to choke [him]”, almost strangling him to death if his father hadn’t stepped in to save him (Danielewski). She was then taken away to a mental hospital called Whalestoe, and the letters she wrote to her son during her time there are provided in the back of House of Leaves – pages 587 to 642/643. In a way, Zampanó’s essay on Te Navidson Record could not only be looked at as a written coping mechanism but also as an attempt to ‘save’ himself in a metaphorical sense, like how Karen Green saved Navidson and how Tom saved Chad and Daisy. Truant, as not only an obsessed reader of Te Navidson Record essay but also as a semi-co-author (in the sense that he included his own footnotes as additions to the essay), understandably tried to use Zampanó’s essay in the way that Zampanó did – as a means of ‘saving’ himself. However, we must remember that Te Navidson Record is fake, created by Zampanó for psychological reasons. Because Te Navidson Record is only “real” to Zampanó since he made it, Te Navidson Record couldn’t be and isn’t real (i.e., it doesn’t exist) to Truant and the readers. Tus, Truant’s attempt at ‘saving’ himself through the essay didn’t work due to his indirect connection to Te Navidson Record. In Truant’s fnal section, pages 491 to 521, he burned the manuscript of Zampanó’s essay and gave himself up into a metaphorical darkness, like a description of depression, ultimately ending with “I’m sorry, I have nothing left” followed by a sad story about a cyanotic baby that fatlined in front of its mother (Danielewski). Te last line of Truant’s section stated, “Te child is gone”, serving as a signal to the readers that Truant (the “child” with its mother) died (Danielewski). While Zampanó might have ‘saved’ himself mentally before his mysterious death, there was no possibility of Truant doing the same via his compiling of Zampanó’s essay on Te Navidson Record since he wasn’t directly connected.

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Te Tird Meta-Level Since readers have, at this point, already removed their suspension of disbelief to exclude Te Navidson Record from what is true to their reality, continuing that piece-by-piece removal comes from a place of general curiosity. After all, what would happen to our perception of House of Leaves if not one but two levels of suspension of disbelief were removed? In other words: if both Te Navidson Record and Zampanó weren’t real? Before answering this question, we must frst determine if it is possible for Zampanó to not exist, considering he created Te Navidson Record, as discussed in the previous metalevel analysis, and is confrmed to be a person within the same universe as Johnny Truant. Interestingly enough, it is possible for Zampanó to not exist, just not in the way that might immediately be thought of. First, there is the slim but plausible possibility that Zampanó was simply a pseudonym or alias which he used in order to provide an aspect of impersonality to his essay, “channeling lyrical speech through a mask or persona”, as Robert Volpicelli said in his article on impersonality (Volpicelli). Tis would classify Zampanó as an author who removed his “self ” in order to obtain “a higher, more productive form of authority” over his creation (Volpicelli). Another possibility comes from Mark Hansen’s article on digital topography in House of Leaves, in which he delves into the complexity of the book as “a tour de force in typographic and media experimentation with the printed word” and includes analyses on the various storyworlds within it, one of those analyses being on Zampanó’s identity (Hansen). On page 601, Hansen reveals that Zampanó isn’t only a character in House of Leaves but is also a character in the real flm La Strada by Federico Fellini. Tis suggests, as Hansen writes, “that Zampanó’s identity as the main character in Fellini’s La Strada makes him a fctional character within the fctional world of the novel [House of Leaves]” (Hansen). He calls Zampanó “a fction to the second-degree”, which seals him as a fctional being at least in a referential sense (Hansen). In the sense of being a character in a storyworld connected to Truant’s, however, there is one fnal possibility: that Truant was using Zampanó as an alias the whole time, making Truant the true author of Te Navidson Record. Tis is a more plausible possibility than the frst one because Truant is an unreliable narrator. His unreliability isn’t a thing that readers have to fgure out along the way; it is directly depicted in the frst few pages of the book, and Truant even admitted to it. On pages 12 to 15, Truant’s footnote described a conversation between himself, his friend Lude, and a group of girls, in which Truant and Lude were trying to impress the girls. Truant launched into a grand, false story about how he used to be a “Pit Boxer”, a term “Lude just made […] up and [Truant] went with it”, after escaping from a barge that was “loaded with dates and pounds of hash and an incredible number of exotic birds, all of it, of course, illegal to transport” (Danielewski). He told the girls about winning a lot of money by boxing, breaking his tooth, and eventually being backstabbed by the people betting money on him; he fnished the story with him losing all his money and fnding out about the illegal transporters being busted by the police while “trying to unload a bunch of exotic birds at a zoo” (Danielewski). All of this was made up, obviously, and Truant admitted that at the end of his made-up story, saying, “And I sure as hell have never boxed or been on a barge. In fact just looking at the story makes me feel a little queasy […] I mean how fake it is” (Danielewski). If Truant was making up things in his footnotes, then what was stopping him from falsifying information that he edited in Zampanó’s flm essay? Te answer is nothing. On page 12, Zampanó wrote a piece of dialogue in his essay: “‘Hey, the water heater’s on the fritz” (Danielewski). Near the end of Truant’s footnote, referring to that dialogue, Truant said, “Zampanó only wrote the word ‘heater.’ Te word ‘water’ back there – I added that. Now there’s an admission, eh? Hey, not fair, you cry. Hey, hey, fuck you, I say” (Danielewski). Not only was Truant comfortable with being unreliable, but he also didn’t care about what readers

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would think about his unreliability. Tus, his unreliability supports the theory that he could very well be using Zampanó as an alias, lying to readers not only about his life details and edits but also about his identity. If we proceed with that fnal possibility of Truant being the real author of Te Navidson Record, then our perspective on Truant shifts to one of story creation and authorial representation. If we recall from the second meta-level analysis, I theorized that the reason Truant wasn’t able to heal from his trauma was because his indirect interaction with the flm as a reader couldn’t save him in the way that Zampanó wrote his essay in an attempt to heal his own trauma. But if Truant is really the author of the essay, then why does he not work through his trauma in a healthy manner? I assert that this is because of the nature of stories. Truant represents the absolute tension between reader/author and story: the want to be a part of the book or creation, either as a reader or creator. A story, however, cannot interact back to its audience, both readers and authors, in the same way (or in a way at all) that readers and authors interact with creations. Stories also cannot care about readers and authors, unlike readers and authors who care about stories. Since they cannot care, Te Navidson Record could have never cared about helping Truant in the way Truant wanted it to help him. Te Fourth Meta-Level If two of the three levels of suspension of disbelief are removed, then there is nothing preventing readers from removing all three entirely – an action Danielewski’s “test”, as I explained toward the beginning of this essay, intends for readers to do. Te Navidson Record is confrmed to not be real, and Zampanó is considered fctional in the third meta-level. So, in this fourth meta-level, that must mean Truant isn’t real either since they both exist in relatively the same storyworld. Readers are left without any suspension of disbelief in this fnal metalevel, set instead back into their own reality – one where Mark Z. Danielewski’s novel House of Leaves is found in the fction section in bookstores; where they can turn to the last page and close the book, leaving its metaleptic storyworlds; and where they are safe from experiencing any of the horrifc events of Te Navidson Record or Truant’s life. As Kilpiö says, “[…] here we, the readers, have the book, the material object in its substantial heft, in which we invest our embodied presence […]” (Kilpiö). In the end, no matter how much analysis is poured into Danielewski’s book, that is all it is: a book; a fctional book. I have been parenthetically citing quotes from Te Navidson Record, Zampanó’s writings on the documentary, and Johnny Truant’s footnotes using “Danielewski” instead of “Zampanó” or “Truant” because, in reality – in our total removal of suspension of disbelief – the true author of House of Leaves is all who is left. No one else wrote and created the book but Danielewski himself. What is left to analyze of House of Leaves if its author is all that remains? Te answer is the fnal perspective: the author’s. In the total suspension of disbelief, readers must see the book from an authorial perspective in order to understand the book as a whole. In the same way that “[t]he business of the poet is […] to express feelings which are not in actual emotions at all”, the construction of House of Leaves is used to show readers how difcult the writing process is and to complexly explain the hardships of being a writer (Eliot). Tis is, in essence, a book about story creation. Tere are plenty of examples that come from all storyworld levels of the text that support this. Te frst example requires a fresh look at pages 119 to 148, some of which I previously discussed in this essay’s section on ergodic literature. Tis is one of the most notable instances in House of Leaves of format shifts and the difculty of keeping up with the storyline. To recap, there are text boxes in the upper right hand corner of the pages; these text boxes bleed into the next, creating a mirrored efect; and around the text boxes, Zampanó’s essay’s text blocks, as well as the footnote entries, begin to move around the pages, turning sideways and upside down. Tis section is a mash-up of formats and fonts, words, blank spaces, and colors,

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but what it represents is more straightforward than its appearance. From a story creation perspective, these pages look like an author’s physical spread of papers, notecards, sticky notes, and other scribblings which aren’t organized yet but have all the author’s ideas written on them to be compiled later. Tis slow organization of notes and thoughts is represented by pages 146 to 149, where the abstract formatting lessens and seems to organize itself into neater sections. Text blocks settle into their own spaced-out places on the pages, the text has righted itself so readers can understand it without turning the book upside down, and ultimately the story realigns itself to how it ‘should’ be – like an author organizing their thoughts on their book in the process of creating it. Another example is the partial inclusion of anything regarding the Minotaur in Zampanó’s essay on Te Navidson Record and in the essay’s footnotes. Minotaur references, information, etc. are all struck through, like on pages 114, in which Zampanó included footnotes on the Labyrinth as a part of Te Navidson Record from a cinematographic perspective. He originally intended to include an opinion on how “the flm itself captures us and prohibits us at the same time as it frees us”, like a maze or the Minotaur’s Labyrinth, but decided to remove it in his manuscript by striking it through (Danielewski). Tis is similar to an author’s process of deciding what to keep and what to remove as they go through their story. If some content isn’t relevant to the story or if the author feels like it shouldn’t be included, then it is removed. Furthermore, an example previously used in the second meta-level analysis can be looked at from a new perspective as well, reframing it within an authorial perspective. Te ending of Truant’s part in House of Leaves, page 518, includes Truant’s statement, “I’m sorry, I have nothing left” (Danielewski). By looking at this in the fourth meta-level instead of the second one, we can view these words as a message from Danielewski speaking through Truant to the readers. He is essentially telling readers that he has “nothing left” to ofer them of Truant’s story, so he must fnish writing Truant (Danielewski). Te story of the cyanotic baby that fatlined, following Truant’s statement, could easily refer to the commonly used phrase describing part of the writing process: one must ‘kill your darlings’ or ‘kill your babies’ if they (characters) no longer have a place in the story. In the same way that Truant killed the child by concluding his story with “[t]he child is gone”, Danielewski killed Truant by speaking through that last line (Danielewski). One fnal example of House of Leaves’s story actually being about writing is the title itself. In a roundabout way, Danielewski tells his readers from the beginning – the book cover – that his book is about the creation of books. Consider the phrase leafng through a book, which means that one is turning pages. Tis phrase thus indicates that another word for pages is leaves. Keeping this in mind, we can refer to the existence of the house in Te Navidson Record. At its most basic breakdown, the house is a fnite structure that contains an infnite world of space. Paralleling this, a book is also a fnite structure that contains, in the creation of a story, a whole world inside its confnes. Tus, a ‘house of leaves’ is simply another phrase for ‘book,’ meaning Danielewski named his book ‘book.’ Tis brings us back to this meta-level’s conclusion: at the end of it all, what we as readers (and what Danielewski as the author) have left is the physical container of infnite possibilities we call a book. Conclusion Coming to terms with the fact that such a complex and intriguing story is fctional should not be a discouraging thing. Tis should be exciting and satisfying instead; there is so much information and so many ways to analyze House of Leaves that no matter how one reads this text, it always provides an engaging experience. Te book’s construction and altering of suspension of disbelief allows for readers to engage with however many levels they want in however many ways they want, proving that House of Leaves is an engaging book no matter how one looks at it. Tis engagement is what makes ergodic literature like House of Leaves enjoyable for readers

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who like this type of fction. House of Leaves is the ultimate postmodern deconstructionist novel “in contemporary media ecology” and “has been said to revalorize the printed book and all its possibilities” (Kilpiö). It has achieved the greatness of updating the genre of ergodic literature through its welcoming demand of reader engagement and its bold, active removal of suspension of disbelief, the latter of which shows how literature doesn’t need to prioritize suspension of disbelief in order to be efective. Te amount of analysis that readers can produce on/about House of Leaves is proof enough of its intellectual stimulation and enjoyability. Its interactivity is seen in both readers’ analyses of the content and the physical manipulation of the content itself whenever pages are fipped back and forth, held up to a mirror, turned sideways, or (in the case of some images in the Appendix sections) viewed under a magnifying glass. I will conclude with words of encouragement to readers of House of Leaves: from Kilpiö’s article, “And if the work itself pre-empts and banalizes interpretation in the traditional sense,

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all the more reason for the reader to fnd meaning in its use” (Kilpiö). Works Cited Aarseth, Espen J. Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature. Te Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 1997, pp. 178-179, chrome-extension:// efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://monoskop.org/images/e/e0/Aarseth_ Espen_J_Cybertext_Perspectives_on_Ergodic_Literature.pdf Ashley, Steven. “Core concept: Ergodic theory plays a key role in multiple felds.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 112,7 (2015): 1914. doi:10.1073/pnas.1500429112 Bekavac, Luka. “Matrix Pauoris: Material Dislocation in House of Leaves.” Diseases of the Head: Essays on the Horrors of Speculative Philosophy, edited by Matt Rosen, Punctum Books, 2020, pp. 315–60. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv19cwdpb.12. Accessed 29 Mar. 2023. Bell, Alice and Alber, Jan. “Ontological Metalepsis and Unnatural Narratology.” Journal of Narrative Teory, vol. 42, no. 2, 2012, pp. 166–92. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/ stable/24484758. Accessed 23 Mar. 2023. Danielewski, Mark Z. House of Leaves. Remastered Full-Color Ed., Pantheon Books, a division of Random House, Inc., 2000. Eliot, T.S. Tradition and the Individual Talent. Poetry Foundation, 13 Oct. 2009, https://www. poetryfoundation.org/articles/69400/tradition-and-the-individual-talent. Accessed 24 March 2023. Fludernik, Monika. “Scene Shift, Metalepsis, and the Metaleptic Mode.” Style, vol. 37, no. 4, 2003, pp. 382–400. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/style.37.4.382. Accessed 23 Mar. 2023. Freud, Sigmund. Civilization and Its Discontents. 1930, pp. 9-10. Translated from German by James Strachey. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefndmkaj/https://www. stephenhicks.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/FreudS-CIVILIZATION-AND-ITSDISCONTENTS-text-fnal.pdf Genette, Gerard. Narrative Discourse: An Essay in Method, Cornell University Press, 1980, pp. 117. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefndmkaj/https://ia902908. us.archive.org/24/items/NarrativeDiscourseAnEssayInMethod/NarrativeDiscourseAnEssayInMethod.pdf Hayot, Eric and Wesp, Edward. “Style: Strategy and Mimesis in Ergodic Literature.” Comparative Literature Studies, vol. 41, no. 3, 2004, pp. 404–23. JSTOR, http://www. jstor.org/stable/40247420. Accessed 13 Mar. 2023. Holland, Norman N. “Te ‘Willing Suspension of Disbelief ’ Revisited.” Te Centennial Review, vol. 11, no. 1, 1967, pp. 1–23. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23737977. Accessed 13 Mar. 2023.

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Hansen, Mark B. N. “Te Digital Topography of Mark Z. Danielewski’s ‘House of Leaves.’” Contemporary Literature, vol. 45, no. 4, 2004, pp. 597–636. JSTOR, https://doi. org/10.2307/3593543. Accessed 29 Mar. 2023. Kilpiö, Juha-Pekka, et al. “Explorative Exposure: Media in and of Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves.” Reading Today, UCL Press, 2018, pp. 57–70. JSTOR, https://doi. org/10.2307/j.ctt20krxjt.9. Accessed 13 Mar. 2023. Mikkonen, Kai. “Can Fiction Become Fact? Te Fiction-to-Fact Transition in Recent Teories of Fiction.” Style, vol. 40, no. 4, 2006, pp. 291–312. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/ stable/10.5325/style.40.4.291. Accessed 13 Mar. 2023. Robert Volpicelli. “Te Varieties of Impersonal Experience.” Journal of Modern Literature, vol. 39, no. 4, 2016, pp. 180–86. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2979/jmodelite.39.4.13. Accessed 23 Mar. 2023.

About the Author Brenna Walch is a graduate of the class of 2023 and has earned her bachelor’s in English with a writing concentration. During her time at Christopher Newport University, Brenna worked in CNU’s Writing Center and presided over Writer’s Syndicate, CNU’s creative writing club. Brenna’s hobbies include reading, writing, and analyzing creative writing. Continuing her journey, she is pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing at Southern New Hampshire University. She hopes to have her own fctional works published in the future.

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Analysis of Microtransaction Strategies in Free to Play Videogames Jack Waldman Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Travis Taylor, Department of Economics

Abstract Microtransactions are individual micro-payments a user can make in order to obtain virtual goods within a video game. Tis paper seeks to analyze diferent strategies of microtransactions found in the video game industry in order to determine which strategy is best. Tis is done by analyzing them through the framework of the second-degree price discrimination strategies of the two-part tarif and bundling. It is determined that bundling, in general, is a superior strategy to that of the two-part tarif. Furthermore, it is then determined that, among the various possible bundling strategies, the mixed bundling strategy is the current best possible pricing strategy for microtransactions given the current state of the industry.

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1. Introduction Video games are currently one of the most popular entertainment mediums with the number of consumers of video games and other related products growing each year. As such, video games make up a large part of the entertainment and tech marketspace, raking in billions of dollars of proft each year. Yet, despite their pervasiveness, there is not much research about video games from an economics perspective, especially when compared to other major entertainment and entertainment-related industries such as television, books, and sports. Additionally, much of the research on video games that does exist is about violence in relation to video games rather than any economics related research. As such, this paper aims to add to the sparse economics-related literature on video games. When it comes to the video games industry, the most important economics-related topic is video game monetization, in other words, how they earn revenue. Due to the large size of the video game industry, there are countless ways in which video game producers can monetize their products. As such, this paper seeks to analyze one of the most prominent methods of video game monetization currently used in the industry: the microtransaction. 2. Te origin and evolution of the Microtransaction Microtransactions are individual micro-payments a user can make in order to obtain virtual goods within a video game (Petrovskaya and Zendle 2021). Microtransactions frst appeared in “freemium games,” a type of video game where one can obtain the base game product for free with the option to make purchases for in-game content at a later time (Schwiddessen and Karius 2018). At the time of their origin, they were largely restricted to mobile games (video games available on smartphones) as the most popular app-store models (Google Play store and Apple’s App store) were the perfect environment for a monetization model based on easy, quick, and small payments to take root. However, after their resounding success, evidenced by 54% of all apps on both the Google Play Store and Apple’s App store utilizing this monetization method in 2019 (Runge, Levav, and Nair 2022), the monetization method quickly grew outside its mobile gaming origin. Now, outside of the mobile gaming market, it can primarily be found in online multiplayer free to play games. Tis online multiplayer game distinction is important as it signifcantly impacts the types of microtransactions utilized. Tis is because mobile games, for the most part, have largely been single player style games for most of their history (likely due to online multiplayer being difcult for older generations of smartphones to run properly) and thus were able to get away with ofering microtransactions that give actual in game advantages (typically referred to as “pay to win”) without drawing too much ire from consumers. Additionally, most gamers do not take mobile games seriously in the same way they do for PC or console games, which also gave mobile game developers more leeway with ofering pay to win microtransactions. Due to PC and console games being taken more seriously by consumers, developers had to take a diferent approach. Te primary approach for microtransaction-based monetization strategies for online PC and console games is to ofer purchasable in-game cosmetic items. Tese items, as the name suggests, are entirely cosmetic and have no efect on gameplay. However, the reason they are necessary (the fact that these games are online multiplayer games) is also the reason why they are successful. Most players want to have fashy cosmetic items to show of to friends and opponents alike. Tankfully, this has led to the monetization of PC and console games being more consumer friendly than their pay-to-win mobile-game counterparts. Tough, this is not to say that every instance of microtransactions in pc/console gaming is completely user friendly. Just as the games themselves vary in style, so do the ways in which their microtransactions are ofered.

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2.1 Types of cosmetic-based microtransactions Te frst and most well-known method of cosmetic-based monetization to appear in PC games is the loot box. A loot box is a virtual item which can be redeemed in order to receive a diferent randomly selected virtual item (Schwiddessen and Karius 2018, 18). And while these randomly selected items do not necessarily have to be cosmetic in nature (as the nature of the received items would obviously depend on the game in which they are found) the examples investigated in this paper will be (as free to play games with cosmetic-based microtransactions are the focus of this paper). Additionally, most loot boxes are designed with diferent drop rates (the chances of obtaining a given item) for diferent items depending on their “rarity” with rarer items typically being much less likely to be obtained (Schwiddessen and Karius 2018, 18). Tis incentivizes players to purchase additional loot boxes if they want to obtain the rarer items, which is often the reason players purchase loot boxes in the frst place, as the best-looking items are made to be the rarest. Apex Legends, a free to play battle-royale shooter game, is an example of a game that uses the loot box monetization strategy, with skins (cosmetics that change the appearance of an object) for characters and guns being its main cosmetics. Tese cosmetics are primarily obtained from loot boxes which can either be purchased with money or obtained for free (albeit at a much lower quantity) simply by playing the game. Te second type of monetization strategy is the advent of the battle pass, a monetization strategy that rewards players with additional content as they play the game and progress through it with progression usually being measured in terms of levels or experience points. Tey typically have two versions, a free default/base version and a paid premium version. While one can get some of the ofered rewards in the free version, the rewards available to earn are typically of lower quantity and quality to the point where, in most cases, the free version of the battle pass really only exists to incentivize players to buy the premium version. Te premium version (typically costing approximately $10 USD in 2023) grants you the ability to earn all of the ofered rewards and more importantly the higher quality rewards. Tis incentivizes players to not only spend the money to gain the ability to unlock all the ofered rewards, but also to continuously play the game as one still needs to progress through the levels of the battle pass to actually earn the rewards. Te battle pass monetization strategy is primarily associated with Fortnite Battle Royale, the frst game with this battle pass system to break into the mainstream. Prior to this most online games with cosmetic-based monetization strategies used the loot box strategy. However, due to the massive success of Fortnite, and in turn its battle pass monetization system, nearly all cosmetic-based monetization games have some sort of battle pass system in place, though some place more emphasis on it than others (i.e., Fortnite and Valorant respectively). Te third method of cosmetic-based microtransaction to be discussed is the rotating shop and bundles. Tis style of microtransaction is based around an in-game shop where players can directly purchase virtual items of their choosing. In order to incentivize players to purchase items from the shop, the items that are available in the shop are changed semi-frequently (this can be anything from daily shop changes to weekly or even monthly shop changes). Tis creates a sense of artifcial scarcity as well as the pressure of a limited-time-ofer to incentivize players to make a purchase or risk missing the chance of getting the item. Additionally, many games will ofer the players individual standalone items as well as limited time item bundles in their in-game shops. Tis rotating shop strategy can be found in many diferent games these days, each with their own method of capturing market value. However, in terms of this paper’s analysis, the focus will primarily be on the bundling aspect of the rotating shops and how they compare to the battle pass as both of these methods are versions of second-degree price discrimination.

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Valorant, a free to play team-based tactical frst-person shooter (FPS) game, primarily earns its revenue through its cosmetic items ofered both in the game’s rotating in-game shop as well as their special bundled ofers. Tis game’s rotating shop has four randomized ofers that change daily (and are also diferent for each player) as well as one bundle ofer which changes every few weeks, with the four daily ofers in the rotating shop consisting mostly of items that were once ofered as part of a set in a bundle (which has since been made unavailable), providing players who may have missed the bundle a chance to purchase the desired items if they are lucky enough to have them appear in the shop. In comparison, Fortnite Battle Royale, a free to play battle royale game, also has its own version of a rotating shop as well as bundles. Fortnite’s rotating shop has many more ofers both in terms of standalone items as well as bundles, with a few ofers changing daily, but with most changing more intermittently. Additionally, Fortnite’s rotating shop is the same for all players. Te key diference between the two games’ shops is in what ofers they choose to emphasize. Valorant, by choosing to only ofer four randomized items each day, has made its rotating shop into more of a background feature with the purpose of emphasizing the value of their bundle ofers. In contrast, Fortnite takes a more balanced approach with their shop by ofering a wider variety of items and bundles. Tese games all have very similar audiences and somewhat comparable player counts (besides Fortnite, which blows the other three games out of the water in terms of raw player count) making them great for this analysis (see Table 1 for average monthly player counts of these games in the past year). Tis is because analyzing games with such similar audiences helps control for any potential confounding variables coming from consumer diferences in tastes, preferences, disposable income, etc., making drawing conclusions easier. Te fact that Fortnite’s player count overshadows that of the other three games is not too big of an issue as, if one had access to the revenue data for these games, one could simply compare the revenue generated proportional to the player count in order to control for the player count diferences. Using this method would control for the diferences in revenue generated due to the diferences in player counts, making it so that the pricing strategy chosen is the only variable with any real impact on the resulting revenue. Unfortunately, many game developers (including the developers for the games analyzed in this paper) are reluctant to release any ofcial revenue statistics, making drawing conclusions based of of revenue data itself impossible. However, while it is not possible to check the theoretical model against revenue data, the model should still hold analytical value due to the fact that the player bases of these games are so similar. Tus, it can be reasonably assumed that any diferences in revenue generated (proportional to player count) are largely attributable to diferences in pricing strategies.

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Month: Last 30 Days March 30, 2023 February 28, 2023 January 30, 2023 December 30, 2022 November 30, 2022 October 30, 2022 September 30, 2022 August 30, 2022 July 30, 2022 June 30, 2022 May 30, 2022 April 30, 2022 March 30, 2022 February 20, 2022 January 30, 2022 December 30, 2021 November 30, 2021 October 30, 2021 September 30, 2021 August 30, 2021 July 30, 2021 June 30, 2021 May 30, 2021 April 30, 2021

Valorant Average Monthly Players: 23,180,242 22,703,469 22,149,726 23,315,501 23,014,487 22,140,789 22,501,445 21,988,040 21,360,284 20,760,260 20,262,155 20,620,584 20,511,587 20,265,793 20,043,764 19,533,465 19,025,704 18,266,124 18,609,014 19,176,158 18,580,129 19,911,291 19,359,119 19,220,481 18,806,260

Apex Legends Average Monthly Players: 66,535,144 65,039,242 62,900,621 65,521,480 64,914,487 65,014,545 63,665,014 63,014,545 63,301,146 62,750,449 62,320,225 62,021,146 61,562,016 61,023,770 58,501,155 57,850,014 57,022,656 56,022,479 53,601,142 50,188,791 47,855,016 43,660,144 40,901,446 39,855,016 33,001,475

Overwatch 2 Average Monthly Players: 25,714,974 25,260,289 24,789,292 23,608,850 23,021,147 20,551,456 18,560,554 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

Fortnite Average Monthly Players: 233,068,627 236,762,116 229,866,132 252,600,145 251,656,507 250,144,756 251,025,598 253,565,010 257,404,123 255,014,413 264,501,166 269,155,466 268,051,143 271,011,546 269,057,706 272,710,226 275,066,417 277,050,146 279,665,014 276,602,214 279,855,016 283,665,016 281,662,014 290,144,760 285,011,465

Table 1: Average monthly player counts for Valorant, Apex Legends, Overwatch 2*, and Fornite Battle Royale from the past year. *Overwatch 2 was released in October of 2022 and thus has no player count data prior to that time. Player count data sourced from https://activeplayer.io/. 3. Economic Teory 3.1 What is Second Degree Price Discrimination? In general, price discrimination is a pricing strategy used by frms where they charge consumers diferent prices for the same/similar product(s) based on a given consumer’s market segment. Tis price discrimination is done in an attempt to extract more surplus out of consumers than they would be able to if they set a single price. Tere are three diferent degrees (types) of price discrimination, each difering in how much extra value they can extract from consumers. Ideally, frms would like to use frst degree (perfect) price discrimination, however, this is nearly impossible to achieve in practice, so frms settle for using either second- or thirddegree price discrimination. For the purposes of this paper, the analysis is only concerned with second degree price discrimination. Tis is because the companies that develop these video games have enough knowledge of their consumers (through their collection of general user data) to be able to utilize second degree price discrimination but fall short of the perfect knowledge required for frst degree price discrimination. Second degree price discrimination is used when a frm wants to practice price discrimination but does not have all of the necessary information to practice perfect (frst degree) price discrimination. Specifcally, it is used by frms when they are somewhat knowledgeable about their consumers’ demand preferences, and they are aware of the existence of diferent market segments among their consumer base, but they are unable to take the fnal step of knowing which segment a given consumer is in prior to them making a purchase (Kolay and Shafer, 2003). As such, frms must induce self-

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selection among their consumers by ofering a set menu of options to the consumers with each option being priced diferently such that consumers will self-select the option meant for them and thus reveal which market segment they are in (Kolay and Shafer, 2003). Tis can be done in three diferent ways with a menu of diferent two-part tarif options being ofered, a menu of diferent bundling options being ofered, or discounts for purchasing items in bulk being ofered. A two-part tarif is when a good or service is ofered with a two-part price tag, a base lump-sum fee and a further per-unit price. A good example of this outside of the video game world is wholesaler retailers such as Costco. Shopping at Costco requires one to pay a fee for a membership card as well as pay for the actual items they purchase in the store. Te membership card fee is the lump-sum fee and the price tag of the actual items shoppers purchase is the further per-unit price. Additionally, Costco ofers diferent levels of membership which each have diferent prices. Tis is where the price discrimination occurs as consumers self-select which level of membership they are willing to pay for and sort themselves out into the diferent market segments. And in terms of video game monetization, the previously mentioned battle pass monetization strategy is a prime example of the two-part tarif. Bundling is when diferent products are ofered together as a set for a reduced price compared to buying them individually. A good example of this outside of the video game industry is meal combos at fast food restaurants. For example, at McDonalds one can buy a burger, fries, and a drink individually, or they can buy them together as a single unit (meal) for a reduced total price. Tis is ofered in order to entice people to get more than they would otherwise if the items were only ofered individually. Tis is where the price discrimination occurs as, in a similar fashion to the two-part tarif method, consumers will self-select the ofer they want, sorting themselves into the diferent market segments. In terms of video game monetization, the previously mentioned item bundles ofered in the in-game shops is the video game equivalent of the fast-food meal bundles. 3.2 Te Uses of Second-Degree price Discrimination in Video Game Monetization Te phenomenon of second-degree price discrimination is quite common in the video game industry, especially when it comes to microtransactions. Tis is because video game developers are aware of the general trends of their consumers’ preferences and the diferent market segments they can fall into as most games now require you to create an account to play and they use that player data in their market research. However, the information they can gather on their consumer base is ultimately limited. As such, they are unable to practice perfect price discrimination and must rely on second degree price discrimination strategies. Te previously mentioned battle pass strategy is one of the most popular methods of second-degree price discrimination currently in use in the industry and is refective of the two-part tarif method of second-degree price discrimination. Tere are two key aspects of the battle pass system found in video games that exhibit traits of a two-part tarif. Te frst is that there are always two diferent versions of the battle pass ofered, the default version and the premium version. Tis is similar to the previously described set menu of options (lump-sum payments) ofered to consumers. Te fact that one of the versions is free (as opposed to both versions being paid but diferent prices) is irrelevant. Te important part is that players, when ofered the two diferent battle pass versions, will naturally self-select the version they want and fall into their respective market segments. Tis inclusion of a paid premium version of the battle pass allows the game developers to capture more of the available market value than only having a free version. Te second aspect of the battle pass system that exhibits aspects of a two-part tarif is that one can pay additional money to buy progress towards their battle pass. Remember that a key part of the battle pass system is that buying the premium version only allows you to unlock the ofered rewards, it does not give them to you outright, you still have to

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play the game to progress your battle pass to the point where you unlock the rewards. As such, there is the fear that one may not be able to fully progress the battle pass in time to unlock the ofered rewards (before it expires) if they do not play the game enough. Te developers remedy this by ofering the ability to directly purchase battle pass progression. Tis feature acts as the battle pass system’s version of the per-unit purchase portion of the two-part tarif. Relating this to the previously mentioned Costco example, players must buy the premium battle pass (pay the membership fee) to gain the ability to earn the ofered rewards (ability to shop at the store). And just like how one is not required to shop at Costco if they are a member (they can shop elsewhere), players are similarly not required to pay for progression on the battle pass (they can earn it by playing or even choose to not earn it at all). Another popular method of second-degree price discrimination in the video game industry is the bundling strategy of second-degree price discrimination, with there being many diferent types and sub-types of bundling strategies present in the industry. One type of bundling is what is known as “mixed bundling,” which is the direct ofering of multiple items together as a set in a bundle for a reduced overall price with the additional option of being able to buy the ofered items individually (Chao and Derdenger, 2013, 1). And in the video game world, these bundles primarily consist of the ofering of diferent item bundles in games’ virtual ingame stores, and are typically only ofered for a limited time when the items in the bundle are frst added into the game. Te key feature of this style of bundling that makes it distinct is the ability for consumers to buy the items found within the bundles individually if they so choose. Tis is an important distinction as some games, such as Overwatch 2 (a team-based FPS game), ofer what is known as “pure bundling” where one is forced to purchase the entire bundle to get a desired item that is part of the bundle, they cannot simply buy just the desired item like they could under a strategy of mixed bundling (Chao and Derdenger, 2013, 1). Tis distinction is crucial as it infuences everything from the perceived quality of the ofered items themselves to the pricing of the items and bundles. For example, in Valorant (which uses mixed bundling), bundles are viewed very positively by the community as a chance to get a set of new high quality matching items for cheaper than one would have to pay for them individually. Tis is because, while the bundles do include some otherwise less desirable items (i.e., profle icons or banners as opposed to weapon skins), players are not forced to buy those items if they do not want to. If they only want one specifc item in the bundle, they can choose to only buy that item. Additionally, if a player wants every item in the bundle except for the typically less desirable ones, buying the entire bundle (including the less desirable items) is still much cheaper than buying every desirable item individually. Tus, players do not particularly mind the inclusion of a few less desirable items in the bundles to bump up the total price a bit as they do not feel that it is forced on them. In contrast, Overwatch 2’s bundles are viewed in a more negative light by the gaming community. Tis is because they are typically ofered as a set of one character skin (the single desirable item) and some other minor odds and ends (profle icons, banners, sprays, etc.), but unlike the bundles in Valorant, one cannot pick and choose the items one wants to buy, it’s either buy everything or get nothing. Tis gives the image of a cheap cash-grab tactic as the bundling of items is forced on the player rather than being presented as a choice like in Valorant. In addition to the strategies of mixed and pure bundling, the main sub-type of bundling in question is bundling using diferences in “quality uncertainty.” Tis type of bundling occurs when the consumer is unable to accurately determine the quality of all of the products ofered within the bundle, and thus has diferent levels of certainty in regards to the quality of each of the items within the bundle (Dassiou and Glycopantis, 2008). I call it a “sub-type” of bundling as it can be applied to both of the previously mentioned types of bundling (mixed and pure bundling). Te closest example of this in terms of micro transactions within the video game industry is the previously mentioned loot boxes of Apex Legends. However, this

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is not a particularly good example as it does not ft well for a few diferent reasons, it is simply the only somewhat relevant example of this in microtransactions. Te main reason they do not ft well is because, while they do exhibit the trait of varying uncertainty (due to the fact that the item received from the loot box is determined by chance and is therefore uncertain) the actual quality of the potentially received items themselves are highly certain (as they can often be previewed by the player prior to purchasing the loot box). Furthermore, all loot boxes, regardless of the game, are required to list what items it can contain and the chances of receiving them further reducing any diferences in levels of uncertainty. 3.3 Bundling vs Two-Part Tarifs Model Te analysis of this paper is looking at the microtransaction-based monetization strategies found in the video game industry to determine which is the most efective. To do this it is frst necessary to match each strategy found in the industry to a matching economic concept in order to translate them from simple game mechanics into something that can actually be analyzed through an economics lens. Tis is done by considering the main monetization strategies in question as forms of second-degree price discrimination. With the two main strategies in question, the battle pass and item bundling, being equivalent to the economics concepts of the two-part tarif and bundling respectively. Te main variables in question are the type of monetization strategy used and the resulting revenue earned from them. Tis is because, as previously mentioned, most of the potential confounding variables that could potentially directly impact revenue (such as game popularity, player base diferences, developer reputation, etc.) are all reasonably controlled for due to the fact that the games have similar audiences and comparable player counts. Other variables such as production cost and item quality are assumed to be less controlled for (as I do not have access to that data, though for that same reason they could very well be exactly the same) but not as worrisome due to the fact that they likely would not afect revenue directly but instead impact it indirectly by infuencing what type of pricing strategy is used. And since the analysis in this paper is only concerned with how diferent pricing strategies afect revenue, anything that afects revenue indirectly by impacting the pricing strategies used is irrelevant, as it does not particularly matter why a given pricing strategy was used, just that it was in fact used. As mentioned previously, the two-part tarif is the economic conceptual stand in for the battle pass monetization strategy and bundling is the economic conceptual stand in for the item bundle ofer monetization strategy. Tus, in order to determine which video game monetization strategy is the most successful (generates more revenue), one must compare the success of their respective economic conceptual stand ins. In simple mathematical terms, it has been established that: battle pass strategy revenue (BP) = two-part tarif revenue (T), and item bundle ofers strategy revenue (IB) = bundling revenue (Bg). Next, we must determine whether T > Bg or vice versa, in order to then apply that result to BP and IB. Tis can be done by comparing the profts that would be earned (by a price discriminating frm) using a menu of two-part tarifs to the profts that would be earned if that same frm instead used a menu of bundles. In order to simplify this part of the analysis (which primarily draws from Kolay and Schafer’s derivations), the frm in question will start by using the optimal menu of two-part tarifs before switching to using a bundling menu. Tis is because the key derivation this analysis is concerned with compares the best-case scenario for the menu of two-part tarifs strategy against a menu of bundles strategy with the same quantities ofered as would be chosen under the two-part tarif strategy. Te logic for this is as follows: It is generally assumed that for any price discrimination strategy there will be high-demand and low-demand consumers who are naturally inclined to consume goods at either a higher price/quantity or a lower price/ quantity respectively. As such, “Bundling does better than a menu of two-part tarifs because it

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constrains the amount of surplus a high-demand consumer can obtain if she chooses the option meant for a low-demand consumer” (Kolay and Shafer, 2003). Tis is because, as previously mentioned, a two-part tarif consists of a lump-sum fee and a further per-unit price, and using the previously mentioned example of Costco membership, a high-demand consumer that has chosen the option meant for the low-demand consumer (basic membership lump-sum fee) can still somewhat re-optimize by increasing the quantity of products (per-unit price payments) they purchase, resulting in some re-captured surplus by the consumer (and thus some lost surplus for the frm). However, under a menu of bundles system, if a high-demand consumer chooses the option meant for the low-demand consumer, they cannot re-optimize/re-capture any surplus as the quantities ofered in the bundle options are fxed. Tus, the analysis starts with the best possible conditions for the menu of two-part tarifs strategy (i.e., starting with its optimal menu) in order to show that a menu of bundles is the better strategy. As seen in Figure 1, under the optimal menu of two-part tarifs, low-demand consumers (signifed in variables by subscript 1), (who buy quantity q*1(p*1) at price p*1, netting the frm a base revenue of [q*1(p*1)] * [p*1]) would have a consumer surplus of section A (were it not for the use of price discrimination), and instead have all that surplus extracted by the frm via the lump-sum fee of the low-demand option. And the high-demand consumers (signifed in variables by subscript 2), who buy qe2 at p*2 (netting the frm base revenue of [qe2] * [p*2]), have some of their consumer surplus (sections A, B, and C) extracted by the frm via the lump-sum fee of the high-demand option. However, in order to ensure that the high-demand consumers do not choose the option meant for low-demand consumers (and thus buy quantity qe2(p*1) at p*1), resulting in the high-demand consumers re-optimizing and re-capturing some of their surplus) the frm must let the high-demand consumers keep some of their consumer surplus (indicated in Figure 1 as areas D and E). As a result, under the two-part tarif strategy, the frm sees a revenue of [q*1(p*1)] * (p*1) + A from the low-demand consumers and a revenue of qe2 * (p*2) + A + B + C, from the high-demand consumers.

Figure 1: Optimal Menu of Two-Part Tarifs (Kolay and Shafer, 2003, 10)

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In comparison, if the frm were to use a menu of bundles system, they would potentially be able to increase their proft by a minimum of E * [the proportion of high-demand consumers], provided the bundles they ofered had the same quantities as consumers would choose under the two-part tarif strategy. Tis is because, by doing so, the frm is able to ofer a low-demand option with the same quantity (q*1(p*1)) and price (p*1) as the two-part tarif low-demand option (again netting them the same base revenue of [q*1(p*1)] * [p*1] plus the additional surplus of area A that they get with the two-part tarif). What changes is that, by switching to a bundling strategy, the frm is now able to ofer a similar high-demand option to the one ofered under the two-part tarif strategy (quantity qe2 at price p*2, netting them the same revenue [qe2*(p*2) + A + B + C from high-demand consumers as the two-part tarif strategy) but with the newfound ability to capture the additional consumer surplus indicated by area E. As a result, under the bundling strategy, the frm sees the same revenue of [q*1(p*1)] * (p*1) + A from the low-demand consumers, but an increased revenue of qe2 * (p*2) + A + B + C + E from the high-demand consumers. Te reason why the frm can capture the additional surplus of area E by switching to this bundling strategy is because, as previously mentioned, the quantities ofered in bundles are fxed so any high-demand consumers that choose the low-demand bundle option would not be able to re-capture any of their surplus by re-optimizing like they would under the twopart tarif system. Tus, the high-demand consumers are not only more likely to choose the option meant for them than they are in the two-part tarif system, but also any high-demand consumers who do still chose the low-demand option can just be treated as any other lowdemand consumer as there is no threat of their re-optimization. Tis allows the frm to attempt to capture more consumer surplus from the high-demand consumers (area E) as the frm does not need to let them keep as much of their surplus as they do under the two-part tarif system due to the reduced threat of high-demand consumers choosing the low-demand option. In short, the main conclusion to be drawn from all of this is that bundling, in general, can allow a frm to capture more consumer surplus than even the most optimal menu of two-part tarifs if it is done correctly. Returning to the earlier mathematical terms, this means that two-part tarif revenue (T) < bundling revenue, in general, (Bg), which in turn, means that battle pass strategy revenue (BP) < item bundle ofers strategy revenue (IB). 3.4 Which Type of Bundling Is Best? Te ultimate goal of this paper is to attempt to determine which video game monetization strategy is the best (i.e., generates the most revenue). As such, it was determined that the main analysis would be between the two-part tarif and bundling strategies of second-degree price discrimination. Following this analysis, it was determined that, in general, bundling is a better strategy than the two-part tarif. However, due to the fact that there are multiple types of bundling present in the video game industry’s microtransactions, we must now determine which type of bundling is the best in order to fnd the most successful strategy for microtransaction pricing. Te frst step in determining which type of bundling is best is to compare the two main types of bundling found in the industry, mixed bundling and pure bundling. When this comparison is made it quickly becomes clear that mixed bundling is a better strategy than pure bundling. Te frst reason for this is that between the mixed bundling and pure bundling strategies, the mixed bundling strategy is much more common in the industry as nearly all games that ofer item bundles use mixed bundling (with the game Overwatch 2 being the only example of pure bundling in a popular game). Te second reason is that the mixed bundling strategy is more attractive to the consumer, leading to higher levels of demand for the ofered bundles. Tis is illustrated by the previous comparison between Valorant and Overwatch 2’s diferent strategies for their bundle ofers and the following discussion about

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consumer reactions to those strategies. Additionally, from a less anecdotal point of view, it has been found that “mixed bundling is more proftable than pure bundling when consumers have substantial heterogeneity in reservation prices for the second good, conditional on having the frst good” (Pierce and Winter, 1996, 10). Tis means that, provided that diferent consumers have signifcantly diferent prices they are willing to pay for additional goods within bundles, mixed bundling is the better bundling strategy. I would argue that the games which use mixed bundling meet this necessary condition as they both ofer a signifcant discount for buying an entire bundle (compared to buying each item within them individually) and also make the items contained within any given bundle have a matching style or theme, making it more likely that some consumers will want to buy more than just a single item from the bundle. In comparison, Overwatch 2, which uses a pure bundling strategy, does not meet this necessary condition (which is likely why they chose to use a pure bundling strategy in the frst place). Tis is because, as previously discussed, Overwatch 2’s pure bundling style bundles primarily only include one item of signifcant value to the player with the rest of the included items being less desirable to the point where they would likely not be purchased at all if they used mixed bundling. In conclusion, when comparing the mixed and pure bundling styles found within the video game industry, mixed bundling emerges as the more successful strategy. Te second step in determining which type of bundling is best is to compare the diferent sub-types of bundling found in the industry, diferences vs no diferences in quality-certaintylevels bundling. In contrast to step one, the results are less clear. Te frst reason for this is that loot boxes, (the closest example of uncertain quality bundling found in the industry) as a monetization strategy, are starting to disappear in favor of the two main strategies analyzed in this paper (battle passes and bundling/rotating shops). Tey were really popular a few years ago, but after being at the center of some controversies (i.e., people viewed them as a form of gambling geared towards children), and newer strategies being created, they started being phased out. Tis would indicate that bundling that does not use diferences in qualitycertainty-levels is the better strategy. However, as previously mentioned, the example of loot boxes does not ft the concept of bundling using diferent quality-certainty-levels particularly well, so this evidence is not particularly conclusive. Additionally, it has been found that “the larger the diference in the degrees of quality uncertainty between two goods is, the smaller the size of the proft enhancement that the price setting frm experiences relative to no bundling” (Dassiou and Glycopantis, 2008, 8). Tis means that when bundling, a frm can actually make more proft if they bundle goods of difering levels of quality certainty together, as consumers are more willing to buy goods of uncertain quality if they are paired with goods of certain quality. An important thing to note is that these fndings are not in reference to the actual quality of an item, just the level of uncertainty the consumer has about the item’s quality. Tese fndings indicate that there is, technically, potential room for improvement in the bundling strategies used in the video game industry. Tis is because all games that ofer purchasable ingame items (regardless of pricing strategy) allow you to preview the item before purchasing it, often allowing you to freely rotate the item model to inspect it fully, with some games (such as Valorant) even going as far to provide small video clips of the item being used in game along with promotional trailers on YouTube. As such, the level of quality certainty of the items within a given bundle are all relatively the same, meaning that these bundles do not gain the benefts of having items of varying levels of quality uncertainty. However, while this means that there is technically room for improvement (from a purely theoretical point of view), I personally do not believe that such changes in bundling strategies would follow the theoretical framework (and result in more proft for game developers) in this particular instance (i.e., in terms of microtransactions). Tis is because, as previously mentioned, most games currently go to great lengths to assure you of the quality of their in-game items. Suddenly switching from this to a system where some items have previews

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and others do not (in order to guarantee diferences in quality uncertainty) would draw a lot of ire from consumers. Tis is because all the in-game items are virtual (meaning that creating such preview/clip options is easy), weakening any potential excuses for such a change. Additionally, there are many people on the internet who livestream or make YouTube videos of these games, and many of them will buy any and all available in-game items as soon as they come out in order to get more views by showing of the newest cosmetic items. As such, it would be next to impossible for the game developers to make it so that consumers would have the varying levels of item quality certainty necessary for the developers to capture the extra available surplus. Tus, I believe that, while the theoretical framework does indicate that there is potential room for improvement, this improvement cannot be realistically achieved when it comes to microtransaction pricing strategies within the current framework of the industry. In conclusion, after an intense process of elimination, we are ultimately left with the mixed bundling strategy as the best possible price discrimination strategy for microtransactions given the current state of the industry. 4. Results and Conclusion Bundling, in general, is better than a two-part tarif, as it captures more consumer value overall. Tis is refected in both the theoretical model as well as within the analyzed games themselves. Furthermore, the mixed bundling strategy found in games like Valorant and Fortnite is the best style of bundling possible (given the current state of the industry) and is thus the best microtransaction pricing strategy overall. And I personally think that the game developers have already realized this to some extent. I say this because while most games do have a battle pass these days, the advent of the rotating shop has started to take over. Te evidence for this is that in games that have both a battle pass system and a rotating shop system the cosmetics one can earn from the battle pass are typically of lower quality than those found the game’s rotating shop (this is especially true in the case of Valorant, which as previously mentioned, uses everything at their disposal to give their bundles the spotlight). Additionally, Fortnite, the very pioneer of the battle pass system has increasingly expanded the number of ofers available in their rotating shop over the years. Tis can be found online as various fan websites keep track of and show the ofers available in the current day’s rotating shop with some, such as fnbr.co, even having the option to view the rotating shops of the same date of previous years. And upon viewing the shops from the earlier years of the game (2018 and 2019) compared to the shops from the current year, the drastic increase in ofers becomes obvious. Additionally, while bundling is the better strategy when strictly compared to the two-part tarif battle pass system, the two strategies are by no means required to be mutually exclusive. Te prior analysis assumes that the same items are ofered in both the bundle ofer and the battle pass, and under those conditions, bundling is superior. However, in practice, these conditions are often not the case as a fair number of games do not use only one strategy. And just because a game employs one strategy does not mean that the other will somehow lose all its captured value if both strategies are used. In fact, I’d argue that there is good reason to believe that using both would actually be the most efective strategy. Tis is because, while the two strategies likely do capture largely the same market sectors (given the fact that they are both forms of second-degree price discrimination), the diferences between the two strategies likely means that the market sectors they each capture do not overlap perfectly. As such, there is potentially more to gain by using the strategies in tandem rather than using any single strategy alone. Te evidence for this is that, as previously mentioned, the games in this analysis all do this in some shape or form already. Additionally, if a given consumer buys the battle pass, there’s no real reason why that would stop them from potentially also buying a bundle ofer. Te only thing that would stop them from doing so for certain is if the cosmetics ofered in both strategies were identical. Tus, there is a decent chance that many consumers would be

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willing to purchase both the battle pass and any bundle ofers provided the items included in both strategies are desirable enough. Some areas for future research include a more expansive look at monetization in the video game industry as a whole as there are many forms of non-microtransaction-based monetization that are not included in this paper. Tis would be good to examine as some areas of the industry may be more conducive to certain strategies than other areas (such as how the previously mentioned diferences in item quality-uncertainty-levels bundling strategy is not conducive to the microtransaction sector of the industry). Another area for future research would be an in-depth analysis of the monetization strategy used by Valve’s game Counter Strike: Global Ofensive (commonly known as CS:GO). As, at frst glance, it appears to be similar to the games analyzed in this paper with a cosmetic-based microtransaction monetization system primarily via loot boxes. However, there are a few key diferences, the main one being the existence of the Steam community market where cosmetics obtained from purchased loot boxes (and even some of the loot boxes themselves) can be bought, sold, and traded with other players, making analysis signifcantly more difcult (hence why it was not included in this paper).

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Appendix In addition to bundling and two-part tarifs, the use of the quantity discount strategy of second-degree price discrimination is also prevalent in the gaming industry’s use of microtransactions. Tis second-degree price discrimination strategy is found in the pricing of diferent games’ in-game currencies. As buying these in-game currencies in bulk nets you more of the currency than buying them piecemeal (i.e., buying the $100 currency ofer gets you more currency than buying the $10 ofer 10 times). Tis is important to note because technically the consumer does not actually purchase the desired items, bundles, battle passes, etc. with money. Tey purchase the game’s in-game currency, which is then exchanged in-game for the desired items, bundles, battle passes, etc. Te reason why this strategy is not analyzed in the paper is because there is nothing to compare it against. Tis is because this strategy has been present in games with microtransactions since their inception and has not changed since. Additionally, buying the in-game currencies is a prerequisite of being able to buy the battle pass and bundle ofers. Tus, there is no way to compare it to the other two strategies as you cannot bypass buying the currencies and just buy the battle pass or just buy the bundles. Inversely, there is no demand for the currencies themselves without the battle pass and/or bundle ofers, as the whole point of buying the currencies is to then exchange them for the battle pass and/or bundles. Tus, while it is possible to do so, no rational consumer would buy only the currency (without frst wanting to buy an item) no matter how large a discount there is for buying in bulk. Additionally, it is the pricing strategies of the desired in-game items, bundles, battlepasses, etc. themselves that is of interest to this paper, not the currencies. When discussing the concept of item quality uncertainty, I conclude that no such improvement can be reasonably made to the current system of microtransaction strategies. However, the industry as a whole can (and already has) made such improvements within areas of video game monetization that are conducive to such changes. One particular example is the ability for consumers to pre-order games. Tis is because many games are now made available to pre-order long before their actual release and typically ofer some sort of extra reward (often in the form of special in-game cosmetic items) for doing so. Tis would qualify as a bundling strategy utilizing varying item quality uncertainty as the in-game cosmetic items are fairly easy to make previews of (and thus have a fairly certain level of quality) while the actual game itself has, in all likelihood, not even began production at that point (and is thus of very uncertain quality). Tis phenomenon is fairly common in the industry nowadays and will only likely continue to become more prevalent as more producers realize its potential. Te reason why this example is relegated to the appendix is because the paper’s focus is on microtransaction strategies, and this is not a form of microtransaction. However, I included this because I felt it was important to give an example of the item quality uncertainty principle in action within the industry since I determined it was not applicable to microtransactions. As mentioned in the conclusion, many games are already using both the two-part tarif strategy (battle pass) and the bundling strategy (item bundle ofers). A great example of this can be found in Valorant. In Valorant, all of the skins one can buy in a bundle also come with their own built-in two-part tarif strategy. Tis is because these skins are able to be upgraded with various extra efects depending on the skin such as animations (when shooting, killing, reloading, inspecting the weapon, etc.), fnisher animations (activate when killing the last member of the enemy team), diferent color palettes, and special sounds when shooting. Each of these upgrades must be bought individually for each weapon and are bought with a separate in-game currency (Radianite Points, RP) than the one used to purchase the weapons themselves (Valorant Points, VP). Additionally, all of the upgrades besides the alternate color palettes must be bought in a certain order with the previous upgrade acting as a prerequisite of buying the next. Tis acts as an additional pricing strategy of a two-part tarif as buying the

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base weapon (either alone or from the bundle) is the lump-sum entry fee and the additional optional upgrades are the further per-unit price. In addition to all of this, the fact that a separate in-game currency is required adds another chance for the developers to utilize the previously mentioned quantity discount strategy in the currency’s pricing. Furthermore, the pricing for directly buying RP is quite steep (and is also only purchasable with VP), as such, the most cost-efective way to pay for RP is actually to buy the battle pass as one can obtain more RP by buying the battle pass for $10 and completing it than one can obtain by buying $10 worth of RP directly, incentivizing players who may otherwise not want the battle pass to buy it anyways in order to obtain the easy RP.

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References: ActivePlayer.io. n.d. “Apex Legends.” Apex Legends Live Player Count and Statistics. Accessed April 28, 2023. https://activeplayer.io/apex-legends/. ActivePlayer.io. n.d. “Fortnite.” Fortnite Live Player Count and Statistics. Accessed April 28, 2023. https://activeplayer.io/fortnite/. ActivePlayer.io. n.d. “Overwatch 2.” Overwatch 2 Live Player Count and Statistics. Accessed April 28, 2023. https://activeplayer.io/overwatch-2/. ActivePlayer.io. n.d. “Valorant.” Valorant Live Player Count and Statistics. Accessed April 28, 2023. https://activeplayer.io/valorant/. Chao, Yong, and Timothy Derdenger. 2013. “Mixed Bundling in Two-Sided Markets in the Presence of Installed Base Efects.” Management Science 59 (8): 1904–26. https://doi. org/10.1287/mnsc.1120.1688 Dassiou, Xeni, and Glycopantis, Dionysius. (2008). “Price discrimination through transactions bundling: Te case of monopsony.” Journal of Mathematical Economics 44(7-8), 672–681. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmateco.2006.11.003. FNBR.co. n.d. “Today’s Current Item Shop.” Accessed April 13, 2023. https://fnbr.co/shop Kolay, Sreya, and Greg Shafer. 2003. “Bundling and Menus of Two-Part Tarifs.” Journal of Industrial Economics 51 (3): 383–403. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6451.00206 Petrovskaya, Elena, and David Zendle. 2022. “Predatory Monetisation? A Categorisation of Unfair, Misleading and Aggressive Monetisation Techniques in Digital Games from the Player Perspective.” Journal of Business Ethics 181 (4): 1065–81. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s10551-021-04970-6 Pierce, Brooks, and Harold Winter. 1996. “Pure vs. Mixed Commodity Bundling.” Review of Industrial Organization 11 (6): 811–21. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00174408. Runge, Julian, Jonathan Levav, and Harikesh S. Nair. 2022. “Price Promotions and ‘Freemium’ App Monetization.” Quantitative Marketing and Economics 20 (2): 101–39. https://doi. org/10.1007/s11129-022-09248-3 Schwiddessen, Sebastian, and Karius, Philipp. (2018). “Watch your loot boxes! – Recent developments and legal assessment in selected key jurisdictions from a gambling law perspective.” Interactive Entertainment Law Review 1 (1), 17–43. https://doi.org/10.4337/ ielr.2018.01.02.

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About the Author Jack Waldman is a 2023 Summa Cum Laude and Honors Program graduate of Christopher Newport University from Sterling, Virginia. He double majored in Economics and Psychology, with a minor in Philosophy, and is a member of the Alpha Chi, Psi Chi, and Omicron Delta Epsilon honor societies. An avid gamer and participant in online virtual economies, Jack is seeking opportunities in game economics, and considering further studies in the feld in pursuit of a Ph.D.

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Teory of Mind Impairment in Patients with Bipolar Disorder Katherine S. Watson Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Nicole Guajardo, Honors Program

Abstract Teory of mind is defned as the ability to attribute mental states to oneself and others and is a prominent aspect of social cognition. Patients with bipolar disorder often show difculties with forming close relationships and navigating social interactions. As such, possible theory of mind impairment is of interest as a potential explanation for these difculties. In the existing literature, discrepancies exist regarding the nature of theory of mind defcits in patients with bipolar I and bipolar II disorders. Tere is, however, emerging work regarding the underlying neurological components of bipolar I and II as well as the diferences between the two disorders. Tis work could provide insight into the nature of diferential theory of mind defcits between the two subtypes. Tis paper will present potential explanations for these discrepancies based upon neurological diferences found between bipolar I and bipolar II patients in the existing literature.

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Being able to have successful social interactions is an important aspect of the human experience. Inability to meaningfully interact with peers often results in loneliness, social isolation, and depression (Koerber & Osterhaus, 2020). An important aspect of social cognition and successful social interactions is the ability to infer accurately what others are thinking and feeling and then basing social interactions on said inferences (Mitchell & Young, 2016). Tis ability is commonly referred to as theory of mind and in typically developing children develops around the age of 4 years (Koerber & Osterhaus, 2020). Bipolar disorder is often characterized by difculties in forming close friendships and with having successful social interactions (Mitchell & Young, 2016). As such, this paper will explore the extent to which theory of mind is impaired in individuals with bipolar disorder as a means of explaining the social difculties typically experienced by individuals with bipolar disorder. Bipolar Disorder Bipolar disorder is commonly characterized as a mental illness in which the individual frequently oscillates between manic and depressive episodes with some occurrence of euthymia (Muneer, 2017). Tere is not a typical age of onset for bipolar disorder, but most patients will display symptoms by the time they are in their 30s (Muneer, 2017). In bipolar disorder, mania is commonly characterized by a period of feeling extremely energized, jumpy, irritable, and experiencing racing thoughts and a decreased need for sleep (Muneer, 2017). Depression is commonly characterized by a prolonged period of feeling sad, anxious, and worthless that also can be accompanied by suicidal thoughts (Muneer, 2017). Tere also can be periods of euthymia, in which the individual is largely asymptomatic with an absence of mood episodes (Mitchell & Young, 2016). Some other markers of bipolar disorder are impairments in interpersonal and social functioning, with an emphasis on impaired social cognition (Cusi et al., 2012). Tere are two types of bipolar disorder that will be examined in this paper: bipolar I disorder and bipolar II disorder. Bipolar I disorder is generally considered to be the more severe of the two and is characterized by manic episodes lasting at least seven days or mania symptoms so severe that hospitalization is required (Mitchell & Young, 2016). Bipolar II disorder is characterized by less-intense mood episodes with absence of extreme manic or mixed episodes (Mitchell & Young, 2016). Tus, bipolar disorder is a condition with similar types of difculties across subtypes yet there is a large diference in severity between bipolar I and II. Neurological Diferences Between Bipolar I & Bipolar II Te neurological bases and diferences between bipolar I and bipolar II disorder are still emerging with most research in this area concentrated in recent years. Largely, these studies investigated neurological diferences between bipolar patients and healthy controls through the investigation of gray matter volume. Gray matter is the brain tissue in which the soma, or cell body, of the neuron resides. Tus, a reduction in gray matter volume is associated with a decline or complete loss of function in the afected region of the brain depending on the severity of reduction (Wu et al., 2021). In a meta-analysis of broad bipolar with no distinction between subtypes, Angelescu et al. (2021) found high variability in the gray matter volumes of the amygdala and hippocampus with lower overall volumes reported in the hippocampus and the brain as a whole. It was proposed that this variability across studies was due to a lack of diferentiation between bipolar subtypes in the samples tested. Tis may suggest a diference in brain structure between bipolar I and bipolar II (Angelescu et al., 2021). Ha et al. (2009) found gray matter volume abnormalities in both bipolar I and bipolar II patients when compared to healthy controls, with more pronounced abnormalities present in bipolar I patients. Bipolar II patients presented with gray matter volume reductions in their bilateral ventromedial prefrontal regions, bilateral anterior cingulate, right insula, and temporal regions

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(Ha et al., 2009). In the case of bipolar I patients, there were additional gray matter reductions in the bilateral frontal, temporal, parietal, and parahippocampal regions when compared to healthy controls (Ha et al., 2009). Te increased severity of symptoms in bipolar I patients supports this increased gray matter reduction when compared to both bipolar II patients and healthy controls. When discussing discrepancies in theory of mind functioning, a greater reduction of gray matter volume in bipolar I patients than bipolar II patients supports a greater theory of mind defcit in bipolar I patients. One area of the brain that has gained signifcant attention recently for its role in social cognition is the cerebellum, an area that also shows signifcant abnormalities in both forms of bipolar disorder (Olivito et al., 2022; Siciliano et al., 2023; Sokolov et al., 2018). More specifcally, Siciliano et al. (2023) found clusters of reduced gray matter volumes in the right Crus II and I-V lobules with extensions into right lobule VI, Crus I, VIIIA, VIIIB, IX, left Crus I and II, vermis Crus II, vermis VI, and vermis VIIIA regions of the cerebellum. It is, however, worth noting that the patient sample in this study did not diferentiate between patients with bipolar I and bipolar II. Further expanding on this, Olivito et al. (2022) found a diferential reduction of gray matter in the two subtypes of bipolar disorder. In patients with bipolar I disorder, there was a general reduction of gray matter density in the anterior and posterior portions of the cerebellum, largely concentrated in the right hemisphere (Olivito et al., 2022). Te specifc regions of the cerebellum in which this reduction was reported were the right lobule V, I-IV, VI, Crus I and II, vermis Crus II, V, and VIIA (Olivito et al., 2022). In the case of patients with bipolar II disorder, a more widespread reduction in gray matter was reported, spanning areas of both the left and right hemispheres of the cerebellum (Olivito et al., 2022). Te specifc regions afected in bipolar II disorder were the right lobule V, I-IV, VI, Crus I and II, IX, and VIIIb, and left VI, crus I and II, VIIb, IX, and vermis crus II regions of the cerebellum (Olivito et al., 2022). Gray matter abnormalities, while the most common focus of investigation, are not the only neurological diferences noted in bipolar patients. Metabolite concentration in the brain is another approach and it refects the level of activity in that area of the brain, not just the volume of neurons present (Cecil et al., 2002). When focusing on the orbital frontal regions of bipolar I patients, there is a decreased metabolite concentration in both the gray and white matter of the orbital frontal region (Cecil et al., 2002). N-acetyl aspartate, which relays information regarding neuron viability, has been reported at decreased levels denoting a decrease in density and number of neurons present in the orbital frontal region (Cecil et al., 2002). Similar fndings also have been reported for other metabolites such as choline and composite amino acid signals (Cecil et al., 2002). Another novel approach in the form of event related potentials was proposed by Ibanez et al. (2012). Event related potentials refer to the electrophysiological response of the brain when a stimulus is introduced and can be measured in distinct waves on an EEG. In bipolar patients, event related potential N170 was found to have reduced modulation when compared to healthy controls (Ibanez et al., 2012). Te N170 event related potential is associated with the fusiform gyrus and is linked to facial processing (Ibanez et al., 2012). Tus, a decrease in the N170 event related potential denotes decreased activity in the fusiform gyrus, potentially manifesting as difculty in facial processing. Teory of Mind Teory of mind is defned as the ability to infer the mental states of others and to in turn utilize this knowledge to inform one’s social interactions (Bianco & Lecce, 2016). Teory of mind also is considered to be an integral aspect of social cognition (Cusi et al., 2012; Donohoe et al., 2012; Mitchell & Young, 2016). According to Wellman (2014), there are fve basic aspects of theory of mind, including diverse desires, diverse beliefs, knowledge access, false belief, and

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hidden emotion. Teory of mind also can be expanded further into advanced theory of mind, which is typically marked by higher order false belief, interpreting nonliteral speech, inferring mental states from nonverbal cues, interpreting social situations, and recognizing faux pas (Osterhaus & Bosacki, 2022). Te aspects that are largely focused on in this paper will be frst and second order false belief, inferring mental states from nonverbal cues, and recognizing faux pas, with a particular emphasis on inferring mental states from nonverbal cues. Inferring mental states from nonverbal cues often is heavily tied to emotional recognition (Cusi et al., 2012). A common theory of mind task used to assess the ability to infer emotions and mental states from facial expressions is the reading the mind in the eyes task (Osterhaus & Bosacki, 2022). Te reading the mind in the eyes task involves inferring and recognizing emotions based upon the eyes of an individual (Osterhaus & Bosacki, 2022). Tis task is frequently used as an assessment of emotional recognition capabilities and as a marker of theory of mind and socio-cognitive abilities (Bora et al., 2016; Cusi et al., 2012; Martino et al., 2011). As such the connections among emotional recognition, theory of mind, and social cognition assumed for this paper is that emotional recognition is a key component of theory of mind, which is in turn a key component of social cognition (Cusi et al., 2012). Tere also exists a distinction between afective and cognitive theory of mind that is pertinent to the fndings of this paper. Afective theory of mind is associated with the ability to infer other people’s emotions and feelings and is often heavily associated with emotional recognition (Cusi et al., 2012; Mitchell & Young, 2016). Cognitive theory of mind covers false belief, the understanding that others can believe something that is not true, and deals with the ability to make accurate inferences about the beliefs of others (Mitchell & Young, 2016). Cognitive theory of mind is also associated with executive functioning (Cusi et al., 2012). Neurological Basis of Teory of Mind Tere are several areas of the brain that are believed to play a role in theory of mind and other aspects of social cognition (Drubach et al., 2008; Sokolv et al., 2018). Te amygdala, orbital frontal cortex, medial frontal lobes, and prefrontal cortex are all broad areas that have been implicated in theory of mind functioning (Drubach et al., 2008). Some of these areas such as the inferior frontal lobe and ventral lateral prefrontal cortex (Drubach et al., 2008) as well as the inferior prefrontal cortex, premotor cortex, inferior parietal lobe, and posterior superior temporal sulcus are believed to make up what is known as the mirror neuron system (Schmidt et al., 2021). Te mirror neuron system is believed to play a role in emotional recognition and intentional inferences based on social cues and certain areas, the posterior superior temporal sulcus, and the inferior frontal gyrus, have shown heightened activation during theory of mind tasks (Schmidt et al., 2021). Te cerebellum has drawn a signifcant amount of attention in recent years for its emerging role in social cognition (Olivito et al., 2022; Siciliano et al., 2023; Sokolov et al., 2018). Te role that the cerebellum plays in theory of mind functioning has largely been elucidated in case studies of patients with cerebellar damage or abnormalities (Sokolov et al., 2018). Patients with spinocerebellar ataxia, a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, showed a range of theory of mind defcits depending on the subtype (location) of the spinocerebellar ataxia (Klockgether et al., 2019; Sokolov et al., 2018). Also, patients with left lateral tumors that encompass the Crus I region of the cerebellum have defcits in perceiving human emotions (Sokolov et al., 2018). It is likely that the manner through which the cerebellum impacts social cognition is more tied to how the cerebellum interacts with other regions of the brain than strict cerebellar function itself. Tis idea is supported by Sokolov et al., (2018) who reported interactions between the posterior lateral cerebellar lobules Crus I and II in connection with the medial frontal and temporoparietal areas have been implicated in social cognition and theory of mind functioning. Furthermore, the left lateral cerebellum also has been shown to activate and

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communicate with the right posterior superior temporal sulcus during social cognition tasks regarding the observation of motion, mentalizing about intentions, inferences on personality traits, and abstraction (Sokolov et al., 2018). If these connections were to be disrupted, a decrease in theory of mind functioning and social cognition could potentially occur. Impairments of Teory of Mind in Bipolar Disorder In recent years, many studies on theory of mind in patients with bipolar disorder have been conducted. While there have been many points of controversy about the specifc nature of theory of mind defcits, such as the type of bipolar disorder with which the theory of mind defcit is associated, the conclusion that patients with bipolar disorder experience signifcant defcits in theory of mind functioning is highly supported (Bora et al., 2016). In a few cases, these defcits have been strong enough for theory of mind impairment to be suggested as a trait marker for bipolar disorder (Bora et al., 2016; Mitchell & Young, 2016). Teory of mind defcits also have been detected in all periods of bipolar disorder, but with variance in degrees of intensity (Bora et al., 2016). In a meta-analysis conducted by Bora et al. (2016), theory of mind was assessed with the use of faux pas recognition, false belief, reading the mind in the eyes, and hinting tasks. Signifcant impairments were observed in all of these tasks when compared to neurotypical individuals with no bias for age, gender, or onset time of bipolar disorder (Bora et al., 2016). Tere were, however, diferences in impairment levels if the patient was manic versus experiencing euthymia (Bora et al., 2016). Patients that were in the midst of a mood episode, especially acute mania, demonstrated an exacerbation of the theory of mind defcits apparent in euthymia (Bora et al., 2016). Tat being said, there have been some instances in which theory of mind impairment has not been detected in patients in euthymia, although these cases are far fewer than the cases in which impairment has been detected (Ang & Pridmore, 2009; Mitchell & Young, 2016). Teory of mind defcits of patients with bipolar I disorder and those with bipolar II disorder also difer (Olivito et al., 2022). Olivito et al. (2022) found that patients with bipolar I disorder performed poorly when compared to healthy controls in aspects of advanced and cognitive theory of mind but showed little to no impairment on afective theory of mind tasks. Patients with bipolar II disorder, on the other hand, showed signifcant defcits in both afective and cognitive theory of mind tasks, suggesting that the extent of theory of mind impairment is more severe in patients with bipolar II disorder. Tese fndings were determined using the reading the mind in the eyes task to assess afective theory of mind and a faux pas recognition task to assess cognitive theory of mind (Olivito et al., 2022). Cognitive and afective theory of mind impairments are commonly assessed in regards to bipolar disorder, with mixed fndings being reported. Te use of the reading of the mind in the eyes test to assess afective theory of mind and the faux pas recognition test to assess cognitive theory of mind has yielded split fndings (Mitchell & Young, 2016). Euthymic patients have shown impairment in cognitive theory of mind, but not afective theory of mind (Mitchell & Young, 2016). However, Bora et al. (2016) reported that while there was a relatively stronger impairment of cognitive theory of mind, afective theory of mind was still impaired. However, this diference in cognitive versus afective theory of mind impairment levels was not signifcant (Bora et al., 2016). Tese fndings suggest that while there may be a small diference in the extent of impairment for cognitive and afective theory of mind (Bora et al., 2016), more research must be conducted to fully understand any signifcant diferences between the forms of theory of mind as well the types of bipolar disorder. Te most common area of theory of mind defcit is in emotional recognition (e.g., Benito et al., 2013; Bora et al., 2016). Across all but one study, the reading the mind in the eyes test was used as a test of emotional recognition. While many report broad defcits on the

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reading the mind in the eyes test, there have been some studies that found either emotion specifc impairment or no impairment whatsoever (Benito et al., 2013; Cusi et al., 2012; Derntl et al., 2009; Donohoe et al., 2012). Martino et al. (2011) examined bipolar I and bipolar II patients in euthymia and found that there were defcits in specifcally recognizing fearful facial expressions with no impairments detected in the recognition of other emotions. Similarly, Montag et al. (2010) found no defcit in emotional recognition in euthymic bipolar I patients. Rather than using the reading the mind in the eyes task, Montag et al. (2010) used a more naturalistic test referred to as the movie for assessment of social cognition task. In this task, emotional recognition is assessed in a more ecologically valid manner and as such some defciencies may have been missed (Montag et al., 2010). Tere is also some disagreement surrounding the extent of emotional recognition defcits in bipolar I and bipolar II patients (Mitchell & Young, 2016). Bentino et al. (2013) and Martino et al. (2011) both report similar levels of theory of mind impairment in regards to emotional recognition based upon the reading the mind in the eyes tests in both bipolar I and bipolar II disorder. Contrastingly, Derntl et al. (2009) reported that while there were signifcant defcits in emotional recognition for patients with bipolar I, there were no such defcits found in patients with bipolar II disorder. Future work is needed to clarify these inconsistencies. Neurological Correlates in Bipolar I & Bipolar II Disorder to Teory of Mind Functioning While the existing literature on the neurological basis for theory of mind is far from complete, there have been several brain structures and systems that have been associated with theory of mind functioning (Drubach, 2008). Functional imaging has shown that the amygdala, orbital frontal cortex, medial frontal lobes, and specifc areas of the prefrontal cortex become active when an individual is performing theory of mind tasks (Drubach, 2008). Neuroimaging studies also have shown activation in the frontal, temporal, and parietal cortices as well as the cerebellum during theory of mind performance (Ang & Pridmore, 2009). In regards to emotional recognition, there seems to be robust associations with both the right hemisphere of the brain and the mirror neuron system (Ang & Pridmore, 2009; Drubach, 2008). Te right hemisphere of the brain has shown activation in both the perception and expression of emotions through facial expression, providing a possible link to theory of mind functioning (Drubach, 2008). Te mirror neuron system is largely located in the inferior portion of the frontal lobe and is particularly active when observing and performing the same action as another person, an activation that extends to the perception and expression of emotions through facial expressions (Drubach, 2008). Tese emotional mirror neurons thus have been implicated in theory of mind functioning due to their role in emotional recognition (Drubach, 2008). Several of these areas of the brain also have been found to have abnormalities in patients with bipolar disorder. Cecil et al. (2002) and Miola et al. (2022) both have found abnormalities in gray matter, brain tissue in which the neuron cell bodies reside, in theory of mind associated regions in patients with bipolar disorder. Cecil et al. (2002) reported signifcantly decreased metabolite concentrations in the gray matter of the frontal cortex, hinting at reduced activity capacity of the frontal cortex. Furthermore, Miola et al. (2022) found reductions in the gray matter volumes of the temporal-occipital-parietal cortex, and the cerebellum in patients with bipolar disorder. Miola et al. (2022) also implicated the prefrontal-temporal-occipital network, in which gray matter defcits also were detected, in the recognition of facial expressions and emotional processing. Direct correlations between theory of mind and the neural abnormalities of bipolar disorder have been suggested by Ibanez et al. (2012), Olivito et al. (2022), and Shamay-Tsoory et al. (2009). Ibanez et al. (2012) found that N170, an event related potential located in the

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fusiform gyrus of the brain and associated with emotional processing, was heavily impaired in individuals with bipolar disorder. Shamay-Tsoory et al. (2009) found individuals with bipolar disorder to be impaired in both cognitive empathy, defned as having accurate knowledge regarding a person’s emotions, and cognitive theory of mind. A reduction in activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex paired with an overactivation of the limbic system, specifcally the amygdala, was proposed as a possible explanation for these fndings (Shamay-Tsoory et al., 2009). Olivito et al. (2022) directly correlated abnormalities in the posterior cerebellum and areas of the cerebral cortex to the defcits in mentalizing aspects of theory of mind typically observed in bipolar patients. Tere was a diference between patients with bipolar I and bipolar II disorders, with a more pronounced theory of mind defcits and neural abnormalities present in patients with bipolar II disorder (Olivito et al., 2022). Examining both the available theory of mind sources and neurological sources comparing bipolar I and bipolar II does not immediately provide a concrete answer to which form of bipolar disorder experiences the more severe theory of mind defcit. When examining gray matter densities across the brain, both bipolar I and II patients demonstrated reductions in their bilateral ventromedial prefrontal cortex regions (Ha et al., 2009). Bipolar I patients also demonstrated increased reductions in their bilateral temporal regions (Ha et al., 2009). Both regions have been associated with theory of mind functioning via the mirror neuron system (Drubach et al., 2008; Schmidt et al., 2021). Te presence of these defcits suggests that there is a neurological basis for theory of mind defcits in both bipolar I and II disorders with a potentially more pronounced defcit in bipolar I disorder. It is, however, worth noting that when the cerebellum is taken into consideration the opposite outcome is observed (Olivito et al., 2022). Greater gray matter volume reductions were observed in the anterior Crus I and II regions in bipolar II patients, an area that has also been tied to theory of mind functioning (Olivito et al., 2022; Siciliano et al., ,2023; Sokolov et al., 2018). It is possible that diferent aspects of theory of mind, such as afective versus cognitive, are controlled by diferent areas of the brain (Olivito et al., 2022). Tis could serve as an explanation for the discrepancies in both severity and type of theory of mind defcits in bipolar I and II disorders, but more research must be conducted to explore this. Conclusion Teory of mind is an important aspect of social cognition and plays an important role in our daily social interactions. Bipolar patients appear to display impairment in theory of mind when compared to healthy controls (Bora et al, 2016). Tat being said, the literature is far from complete and there are many discrepancies regarding theory of mind impairment in Bipolar 1 and Bipolar 2 patients, cognitive and afective theory of mind impairment, as well as theory of mind impairment found in manic and depressive episodes. Future research would likely beneft from placing stricter controls on the participants of each study such as only testing one type of bipolar disorder and one mood state (manic, depressive, or euthymic) at a time. Tis would allow for a greater understanding of the circumstances in which bipolar disorder impacts theory of mind functioning. It is also likely worth investigating other, more naturalistic methods of testing theory of mind, such as the movie for assessment of social cognition task. Tis task was shown to produce difering results from the reading of the mind in the eyes task, despite both being used to assess emotional recognition capabilities (Montag et al., 2010). When considering the literature reviewed it appears likely that there is a neurological basis for the diference in theory of mind defcits experienced by bipolar I and bipolar II patients. Further research is required to fully understand the nature of this relationship. Te importance of this understanding is also great as it stands to not only increase understanding, and thus treatment capability, of bipolar disorder but also understanding of how theory of

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mind functions. A greater understanding of the brain regions involved in all aspects of theory of mind would also aid in the understanding of other disorders that afect theory of mind and social cognition as a whole.

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About the Author

Katherine Watson is a member of the class of 2025, double majoring in neuroscience and molecular biology. She is with behavioral neuroscience research on campus as a member of Dr. Andrew Velkey’s fsh lab in which she is the bench lead for the betta choice project. As a participant in undergraduate research she has presented posters at the Tidewater poster session and NURVA poster session. She has also presented a paper at Paideia with the support of Dr. John Tompson. Outside of undergraduate research, she is the head coach of a youth climbing team at Send it Climbing Gym located in Norfolk, Virginia. Katherine plans to pursue a PhD in neurobiology and return to academia after graduation.

2022–2023

THE CUPOLA volume 17

Christopher Newport u n i v e r s i t y