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Item Soviet Past and its Burdens on the Democratizing Civil Society of Georgia(2017) Todria, Nita; Argentieri, Federigo; De Caprariis, LucaThe presence of active, engaging and interactive civil society is fundamental for the sustainability and fluidity of democratic regimes. As one of the influential scholars on social capital Robert D. Putnam puts it “there is a mounting evidence that the characteristics of civil society affect the health of our democracies, our communities, and ourselves” (Putnam, 2002, pg.6). The possibility for the social interactions in public spheres enables citizen participation and engagement not only in political lives, but also triggers their aspiration towards the global causes. The purpose of this research is to highlight the discrepancies as well as achievements of Georgian civil society, while measuring its role in the process of democratization during the Rose Revolution. The thesis is divided in two main parts. First part provides a thorough theoretical insight about the peculiarities of posttotalitarianism, processes of democratization, and obstacles to transitional movements. The second part of the research applies the experience of Georgia to the theoretical propositions and measures the impact of Soviet-past on the civil society, which eventually affected certain revolutionary as well as transitional dynamics of the country.Item From Westernization to Islamification Women’s Rights before and after the 1979 Iranian Revolution(2017) Siah, Rachaell; Driessen, Michael; Clough Marinaro, IsabellaThe relationship between Islam and gender equality is one that is often disputed, particularly in reference to the experiences of women in the aftermath of the 1979 Iranian Revolution. After the revolution women were subject to an intense Islamic regime and many of their rights and freedoms they had gained in previous decades were considered null and void. This has led many scholars to believe that Islam is in fact incompatible with gender equality. However, in the aftermath of the Iranian revolution, even when women were subject to patriarchal constraints with respect to shari’a law, female citizens were able to defy, resist and negotiate gender discrimination and further prove that feminist interpretations of shari’a law are possible and even inevitable. This interesting phenomenon also serves to highlight that once Islam is no long the culprit in gender inequality with respect to women in Iran, we can also see better how women were subjugated prior to the 1979 Iranian Revolution, during the Pahlavi Era.Item The Complete Analysis of The Tarot Garden by Niki de Saint Phalle: a Comparison with Renaissance Gardens(2017) Shomber, Georgia; Smyth, Carolyn; Caruso, MartinaThis thesis will carry out an analysis of the Tarot Garden created by Niki de Saint Phalle, by comparing it with the surrounding Renaissance gardens in northern Lazio and southern Tuscany. It will describe and compare the ground plans of The Villa d’Este at Tivoli, The Monster Park at Bomarzo and Villa Lante a Bagnaia, which will be compared with that of the tarot garden. The use of formal attributes, as well as nature will also be part in the discussion of this topic, and similar attributes at these gardens such as, fountain and grotto of these gardens will be compared. Finally, the symbolizim that is shared between some of these estates will also be a topic of discussion, as well as their intended meaning.Item Body and Memory in Persuasion and Mrs. Dalloway(2017) Rzhenetskaya, Daria; Russell, Shannon; Klausner, Lewis SamuelThis thesis examines the use of body language in Jane Austen’s Persuasion and Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway and the way in which these authors portray the strong bond between memory and the body. Chapter 1 discusses memory of lost love in relation to the body, investigating how both authors use hands to connect body to feeling. Chapter 2 considers the notion of embodied memory – the idea that memories have lives of their own. The chapter investigates how memories are metaphorically represented by the elements of nature, physical objects, and written works, such as books, letters, and lists. Chapter 3 talks about the strategic positioning of the body and its role in the plot of the novels. The chapter also discusses emotional and social wars the characters are involved in and how strategic placement and removal of bodies change the course of these wars.Item The Failed War: The Merida Initiative(2017) Puga Herrera, Maria Jimena; Clough Marinaro, Isabella; Harris, PamelaDrug trafficking in Mexico has been an ongoing issue since the 1900s. Throughout this last century, many presidents in the United States have attempted to approach this issue in different forms. However, it was not until 2006 that Mexican President Felipe Calderón (2006 - 2012) signed a bilateral agreement between Mexico and the United States of America in order to eradicate drug trafficking called the Merida Initiative. A decade before this initiative was signed, a similar plan was created between Colombia and the United States of America. There are many similarities between both initiatives as most of the money that was financed by the United States, was assigned to the military, leaving the population with a insignificant portion of the money allocated to each plan. Throughout this thesis, while focusing mostly on the security aspect of the initiative, I will highlight the reasons why a military tactic in fighting drug trafficking was not the proper solution in either countries, as well as the differences between Mexico and Colombia which make it difficult to apply the same strategy in both countries. Furthermore, I will support my argument based on Immanuel Wallerstein’s world systems theory that highlights the relationship between Latin American countries and the United States of America.Item Libya as a War-Torn State, principal causes and consequences of the Libyan 2011 Civil War; Rethinking the Concept of State Failure(2017) Misino, Mara; Driessen, Michael; Schepisi, AlbertoThe aim of this thesis is to identify, by using a theoretical framework, Libya’s current state and to dissect the principal variables which amount to its political and economic involution. Furthermore, this thesis examines Libya in the context state failure. After the fall of the Gadhafi regime, the whole system was destabilized. For this reason, the aftermath of 2011 NATO intervention has been analyzed. Social havoc, tribal tensions, and the demise of the political and economic institutions characterize Libya’s current state and can be considered as the major sources for its instability, and perilous state. Even though six years have passed since the civil war, Libya is still encumbered by the consequences of the fall of its Qa’id. The formation of two governments, the takeover of major oil production facilities by militias and other armed groups, and tribes which continue to strive for power are significant indicators that conflict has remained. Libya’s a war-torn state, with very limited power to manage its affairs.Item Eco-Cities: An Analysis of the Ecological and Social Costs of the UAE’s Masdar City and the Chinese Eco-City Projects(2017) Loner, Flavia; Clough Marinaro, Isabella; Kneller, MargaretAcross the developing countries, the emerging phenomenon of the ‘eco-city’ is attracting the imagination of local and international architect to build new master-planned cities as fast solutions to pressing economic, environmental and political challenges, ranging from energy scarcity and pollution to mere need for new cities to accommodate a wave of new city dwellers. Local governments push for the creation of urban districts that will minimize pollution, maximize energy efficiency, utilize renewable energy and resources as much as possible, and provide extensive landscaping features such as public parks and many green spaces. A series of critics have negatively described these pilot experiments as over-reliant on new technology, showcases for clean-tech products, elitarian districts, and areas where sustainability is an empty label employed by stakeholders to cover unfriendly economic objectives. This thesis tries to analyze if and how the eco-cities have lived up to their original promises and I try to find out if these eco-hypotheses at the city level can be actually applied at large scale in the real world. I chose to analyze the eco-city experiments of two different countries: the United Arab Emirates and China. In particular, I looked more in depth at the UAE’s Masdar City project and the ecoproject China and Singapore collaborate on, the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City. My plan is to analyze the countries’ various projects, what they both have in common, their divergences, and see if these plans might be applicable only to a certain category of countries and why.Item Bulgaria’s foreign policy and the three major players in Europe – the EU, Russia and Turkey(2017) Iotov, Mihail Vasilev; Argentieri, Federigo; Welsh, BridgetThe indicative nature of this thesis aims to present how Bulgaria balances its foreign policy between the three most influential regional players in Europe – the EU, Russia and Turkey. The history with each of these players will be presented, along with cases that will help clarify how Bulgaria manages pressures from the three actors in the shaping of its foreign policies. This thesis also offers a study and analyses on the South Stream pipeline and the refugee crisis in relation to Bulgaria and the three regional players. The EU is seen as the actor that is best suited to alter Bulgarian policies, but Russia too, can exert influence through its energy supplies, like-minded parties in Bulgaria and oligarchs such as Delyan Peevski. Turkey is a country which with its close proximity to Bulgaria can complicate the geopolitics of the region, as the refugee crisis and South Stream chapters will demonstrate.Item Virginia Woolf: Caregiving and the Fragmented Self(2017) Grandolfo, Marialaura; Grego, Alessandra; Russell, ShannonThis dissertation examines the interrelationship between caregiving and the notion of self in the fiction of Virginia Woolf. Starting from the premise that caregiving constitutes a challenge to the traditional notion of the self as autonomous, it proposes that Woolf’s depiction of caregiving evolves alongside her writing: from metaphorical death in The Voyage Out and performance or oppressive imposition in Mrs. Dalloway, caregiving becomes a powerful, enabling possibility to transcend the limits of the self in To the Lighthouse. Woolf identifies in the empowered caregiving character the solution to the fragmentation of the narrative and the isolation of the characters typical of Modernist Literature. More generally, this dissertation aims to demonstrate that, though the gendering of caregiving is problematic, the caregiving dynamic is necessary both to society and to the construction of narratives.Item Not some bad apples: How people can turn into abuse perpetrators Lesson from Abu Ghraib and Bosnia Herzegovina(2017) Fuschi, Fabiana; Clough Marinaro, Isabella; Castelli, PaolaThis thesis wants to investigate the applicability of Hannah Arendt’s theory on the banality of evil on current episodes of human rights violations. In doing so, two social psychology experiments are taken into consideration: Stanley Milgram’s experiment on obedience and Philip Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison experiment. The variables isolated in both experiments are analyzed in the context of two case studies: US soldiers’ abuses against Iraqi prisoners in the Abu Ghraib prison, and U.N peacekeepers’ involvement in human trafficking of women in post-war Bosnia Herzegovina. The general conclusion that can be drawn is that under particular situational factors, which are examined in detail, average people can display abusive and sadistic behaviors that they would have never imagined to perform under different circumstances.Item The Right to Disappear Contemporary Search for Anonymity through the Work of Lara Favaretto(2017) Di Sabatino, Maria Vittoria; Caruso, Martina; Foster, LauraSince 2009, Italian artist Lara Favaretto produced a series of works in different media under the name of Momentary Monument, emphasizing the ambiguity between the transcendent value of the artwork and its impermanence. In 2015, twenty monuments have been erected to historical figures, all of which chose private over public life, anonymity over celebrity, disappearance over presence. Each monument is meant to disintegrate through the action of time and weathering, until nothing is left of the work. Similarly, the purpose of much of Favaretto’s other work (e.g. Gummo IV; È così se m’interessa) is to be subjected to a frenetic, self-imposed physical dynamic, so as to ultimately be worn away. This thesis aims to examine the significance of materiality and endurance in some of Favaretto’s works, with regards to the idea of transient monumentality. I further explore the concept of disappearance by choice, both of artworks and of men, in Momentary Monument, and the way in which a contemporary desire for anonymity can be connected to the artist’s drive for entropy. The sources I used are both primary and secondary. As primary sources, the texts edited by Favaretto have been of fundamental importance: Ageing Process and Momentary Monument: The Swamp, the two monographic books edited by Lara Favaretto, and the critics’ and curators’ writings and notes on her works and exhibitions. Hal Foster’s “An Archival Impulse” holds a major role in understanding the artistic context of the age of uncertainty where Favaretto’s artworks are standing in. “An Archival Impulse” introduced me to the work of Tacita Dean and Thomas Hirschhorn, providing me with the means to identify the contemporary international context. Although never mentioned, Rosalind Krauss’s articles on the expanded field and minimalist sculpture in October Journal were key to trying to understand the roots of Favaretto’s art, but also how does it relate to context and what its spatial meaning is. About the last question, Petra Lange-Berndt’s “Materiality” will provide me with a set of case studies to parallel and interrelate with Favaretto’s case, as well as Charles Merewether “The Archive”.Item The Birth of Modern Pornography: Contextualizing the Production and Destruction of I Modi(2017) Desjardin, Marie-Claire Lynette; Smyth, Carolyn; Hansen, IngeClementine Rome was a dualistic period both of libertine artistic abundance and of reformative attitudes in response to Northern criticism of the Papacy. The election of a second Medici pope had artists excited at the possibility of increased papal benefices after the conservative of regime of Adrian VI. The amicable atmosphere of production aided by the workshop environment, and convivial relationship between artists, patrons, and their elite circle, created a false sense of liberty of expression. It was in this precarious climate that the project of I Modi was conceptualized. Giulio Romano, one of the pope’s favorites, would provide a set of pornographic drawings to engraver Marcantonio Raimondi. The translation of the images into print, a newly burgeoning genre, allowed the perfect opportunity to initiate censorship laws concerning the decorum of production and consumption of art. While models of pornography exist both preceding I Modi and after their destruction, the project was annihilated from existence save for secondary editions of dubious quality and provenance. What were the motivating factors in the eradication of the images? The following presents a socio-historic examination of the context of production, the extant remains, and motivation for the conspicuous eradication of I Modi.Item Portraying Patrons: The Marchesa Luisa Casati, Isabella Stewart Gardner and their Collections(2017) Cordova, Cristiana; Georgi, Karen; Caruso, MartinaCollecting is usually understood and recognized as a personal and subjective activity in which collectors gather, according to personal criteria, a collection of objects. Following my interest in the figure of the collector and the collecting activity, the dissertation focuses on analyzing how the collectors are visible through their collections to the point that they themselves become part of them. The research highlights this dynamic as recurrent in this practice. I considered two women collectors, the marchesa Luisa Casati and Isabella Stewart Gardner, their collections, and two portraits of them to see how their characters shaped the collection and how the latter was referenced in the portraits of the collectors. The portrait analyzed to study the Casati Collection is The Marchesa Luisa Casati as Euterpe by Alberto Martini, while the portrait considered from the Gardner Collection is Portrait of Isabella Stewart Gardner by John Singer Sargent. The collectors prove to have had two different approaches both to collecting and to their collections, but they equally show an interest in the representation of their image, be it through artworks or display.Item A New Interpertation of the Oedipus the King(2017) Collick, Christopher; Govero, Thomas; Bailey, TomMany classical period works are still not completely understood due to the considerable amount of information that has been lost or destroyed over the years. There is also a great deal of information that has yet to be deciphered one hundred percent, however if the study of classical works continues information could be brought to light to further ones understanding of that particular time period. Unfortunately there is little-to-no pieces of works that explain exactly what a author wanted to show through their work, so current scholars only interpret the different works by what meaning they think the author may have intended. This is the entire premise for this thesis, which will shed a new light on an original text from the antiquity times that has been read and studied for over 2000 years. This thesis will show the opposite of what most scholars have stated about Oedipus the king and the idea of fate versus free will. I will argue that in reality if one looks closely through the tragedy from the viewpoints of philosophy, psychology, and language, one can see the theme fits more with the theory of free will. With the ideas and theories of ancient philosophers, as well as modern philosopher, one can clearly see free will in the tragedy if one looks for it. This idea that free will guided Oedipus’s decisions will be backed up by Freud’s two theories of negation and Oedipus complex, which helps prove Oedipus in fact chose to act the way he did. A visual look at the English text will assist in bringing both philosophy and psychology together to make a more rounded argument. Three specific methodologies will be used that will make this thesis transition smoothly through each subject.Item In Creativity Begin Responsibilities: Analyzing Creativity in Relation to Social Commitment and Individual Development in Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore(2017) Bidetti, Alice; Russell, Shannon; De Luca, CarolinaThis thesis investigates the connection between creativity and social responsibilities in the novel Kafka on the Shore, by Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami. Murakami’s personal ideology of the artist’s social responsibility influences the novel in terms of both style and plot. Chapter 1 analyzes the figure of the artist, discussing both Murakami as the committed artist and the artistic characters in Kafka on the Shore. Chapter 2 focuses on art as a source for selfdevelopment, analyzing the evolution of the characters of Kafka and Hoshino.Item ISIS: Its Emergence and ways to Combat it(2017) Almaghlooth, Muhannad; Driessen, Michael; Scarpa, SilviaThe thesis deals with understanding the emergence of the terrorist state ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) and its difference from previous terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda. It will also attempt to answer the following questions: how did ISIS manage to spread in important territories in Syria and Iraq? Who finds ISIS and how does it promote its aesthetics of horror globally? How it does it make use of the most technological postmodernist aspects of the media to spread terror? The thesis will also deal with understanding the theoretical and academic explanations to its emergence so that it can offer suggested solutions to ways in which we can combat it. One of the main questions that the thesis poses: is it enough for the United States and the Western world to combat ISIS by using military force, or are there more effective and more humanitarian ways in which this terrorist group can be combatted? The thesis also poses this question: how far is the United States hegemony responsible in creating those terrorist groups that have excessive hatred for the West, socially the United States? In other words, what are the lessons that the United States can learn from the emergence of such a threatening terrorist group?The thesis deals with understanding the emergence of the terrorist state ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) and its difference from previous terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda. It will also attempt to answer the following questions: how did ISIS manage to spread in important territories in Syria and Iraq? Who finds ISIS and how does it promote its aesthetics of horror globally? How it does it make use of the most technological postmodernist aspects of the media to spread terror? The thesis will also deal with understanding the theoretical and academic explanations to its emergence so that it can offer suggested solutions to ways in which we can combat it. One of the main questions that the thesis poses: is it enough for the United States and the Western world to combat ISIS by using military force, or are there more effective and more humanitarian ways in which this terrorist group can be combatted? The thesis also poses this question: how far is the United States hegemony responsible in creating those terrorist groups that have excessive hatred for the West, socially the United States? In other words, what are the lessons that the United States can learn from the emergence of such a threatening terrorist group?Item Ed Ruscha’s Deadpan Mise-en-Scène(2022) Antonova, Yuliia; Linford, Sarah; Gianni, IlariaEd Ruscha’s artworks have often been discussed in relation to both cinema and deadpan aesthetics. While both issues have been extensively researched separately, they were not discussed concerning one another within Ruscha’s art practice, especially his oil paintings. What is more, even though the impact of cinema on Ruscha’s paintings and photographs has been extensively analyzed, his artworks have never been viewed through film theory itself. By focusing on Large Trademarks with Eight Spotlights (1962) as a case study, this thesis engages with the cinema, both Old Hollywood and experimental, film theory, and deadpan aesthetics in order to show the uniqueness of Ruscha’s use of deadpan aesthetic through the visual devices of cinema.Item Italy and the European Union: how do young Italians see this relationship?(2015) Mereo, Federica; Rensmann, Lars; Clough Marinaro, IsabellaThis senior thesis is the result of a lack of knowledge regarding the public opinions about the EU of specific groups of people. Since the Maastricht Treaty of 1992, the European Union has seen its role in the domestic affairs of the Member States significantly increased. It now has a voice in several sectors of domestic policies, such as economy, education, and the health system, through directives and regulations that aim at guaranteeing some common standards in all member states. The ultimate target of this institution is the EU citizen. Regardless of their nationality, EU citizens have common rights deriving from their state’smembership to the EU. Therefore, the way in which the EU is perceived by the public opinion is of significant importance for understanding how much citizens approve the EU’s modus operandi. Because of this, the European Commission has established a yardstick to measure how citizens perceive the EU, i.e. the Eurobarometer. Since 1973, the EC has conducted surveys in all the member states in order to measure if people in each country were led toward a positive consideration of the EU, or if they were opposing it, thus being Eurosceptic. The main problem with the Eurobarometer - and cause and driver of this thesis - is the consideration of the public opinion of a nation as a whole, without differentiation for age or economic group. The EB has showed the public perceptions about the EU by Italians throughout four decades without subdividing the population into specific groups. Moreover, there is the absence of an analysis about the forces driving the different opinions. What if Italian young people are completely Eurosceptic, or women are all pro-EU? What if the choice of a job or the education path completed does determine a specific attitude toward the EU? The aim of this thesis is to understand if Italian young people (20-30 years) are Eurosceptic and if the theory of domestic proxies by Christopher Anderson can explain their attitude.Item The Populist Regime of François Duvalier: The Role Of Ideology, Terror, and Foreign Policy(2013) Giacché, Joshua Maurizio; Ogle, Gene; De Caprariis, LucaThis thesis examines the Duvalier regime under the reign of Franfois Duvalier. Duvalier, commonly referred to as “Papa Doc”, came to power in Haiti in 1957 on a populist platform. After a short time he became a corrupt dictator who no longer had the masses interests at heart. The Duvalier regime was one of the most oppressive and authoritarian in the Caribbean and Greater Latin American world, but Duvalier enjoyed much popular support during his entire reign. One cannot help but wonder how Duvalier and his regime managed to have widespread support when the masses were being terrorized and the standard of living declined for the large peasant population in Haiti. This thesis argues that Duvalier’s populist regime reflects the dangers of populist movements worldwide. Since Haitian Independence in 1804, there has always been tension between the Mulatto elite and large Black population. Much of previous Haitian political history was authoritarian, corrupt and did little good for the Haitian people. Furthermore, the majority of previous political leaders had always neglected Haiti’s African past. Duvalier however, valued Haiti’s African historical and cultural past. Overall, the Duvalier regime managed to survive and Papa Doc had much popular support for two main reasons. First, because of the pervasive Terror carried out by Duvalier’s paramilitary organization. Second, because of the appeal of his Black mi Nationalist ideology. In the eyes of many. Papa Doc was the best political option Haiti had to offer. Lastly, as a staunch anti-Communist, Duvalier managed to use the tensions of the Cold War to his advantage.Item The thought of annihilation : the non-human in the poetry of Wordsworth, Shelley, and Keats(2016) Capparelli, Jacopo M.; Russell, Shannon; Klausner, Lewis SamuelThe purpose of this thesis is to gain a better understanding of the poetry of Wordsworth, Shelley, and Keats by amending the traditional view of their poetry as one which seeks to establish human subjectivity in a position of primary importance as a reaction to the depersonalizing forces of industrialization. Its amendment consists in the contention that this prioritizing of human subjectivity is based necessarily on the sublation or acceptance of the non-Human, which is defined as the complete opposite of the Human. Definitions of the terms non-Human, Human, and Humanity will be provided, as they are key to the renewed understanding of the poets in question. The thesis will also endeavor to outline the peculiar ways in which these poets articulate this necessary sublation or acceptance by first analyzing their stated theoretical positions, and then applying the results of this analysis to concrete instances of their poetry. Specifically, it will feature analyses of Wordsworth’s “Preface to Lyrical Ballads”, Shelley’s “A Defence of Poetry”, and Keats’s letters on negative capability; it will then look at Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, Shelley’s “Hymn to Intellectual Beauty”, and Keats’s “Ode to a Nightingale” and “Ode on a Grecian Urn”. It will conclude that while both Wordsworth and Shelley sublate the non-Human for the renewal of the Human, respectively as a poet of ‘imaginary reaction’ and of ‘apocalyptic revolution’, Keats is the poet of quietistic stasis.