Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2015, History

Although it is universally acknowledged that Islam was one of the pillars of the Ottoman Empire, modern scholars have placed little emphasis on Muslim scholars or the contested interpretations of sacred law (shari'a) in describing the empire's political dynamics. In the early nineteenth century, however, both played a significant role in the debates that pervaded the empire and its provinces, especially those surrounding European-inspired military reform. Indeed, although often studied without regard for the Ottoman context, the case of early nineteenth-century Egypt exemplifies many of these trends. After the withdrawal of Napoleonic forces from Egypt in 1801, a series of Ottoman governors sought to impose a local analog to the reforms known as the nizam-i cedid (new order), spearheaded in Istanbul by Sultan Selim III. Due partly to the opposition of many Muslim scholars (ulama), these efforts lacked legitimacy and fell victim to a popular uprising in 1805, led by scholars such as Umar Makram. Rather than advocating a rejection of Ottoman rule by native Egyptians, the protestors acted on Ottoman religio-political ideology and opposed the ostensibly arbitrary rule of the reformists, for reasons similar to those of the rebels who overthrew Selim III in 1807. Many believed that the next governor, Mehmed Ali (governor of Egypt, 1805-1848), would govern in a more limited and just fashion, but Mehmed Ali's regime was much more radical and invasive than any before. He succeeded in defanging public opinion by turning elite scholars against populist ones, particularly Umar Makram, a man of obscure background who had become the head of the Prophet's descendants in Egypt (naqib al-ashraf). Imposing military reform and peasant conscription, Mehmed Ali depended on sympathetic scholars to woo public opinion, which they did through manuscript chronicles and treatises; these treatises, written according to the logic of Islamic scholarship, attempted to convince a skeptical public (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2009, History

This dissertation examines how public history and historic preservation have changed during the twentieth century by examining the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1683, Germantown is one of America's most historic neighborhoods, with resonant landmarks related to the nation's political, military, industrial, and cultural history. Efforts to preserve the historic sites of the neighborhood have resulted in the presence of fourteen historic sites and house museums, including sites owned by the National Park Service, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the City of Philadelphia.Germantown is also a neighborhood where many of the ills that came to beset many American cities in the twentieth century are easy to spot. The 2000 census showed that one quarter of its citizens live at or below the poverty line. Germantown High School recently made national headlines when students there attacked a popular teacher, causing severe injuries. Many businesses and landmark buildings now stand shuttered in community that no longer can draw on the manufacturing or retail economy it once did. Germantown's twentieth century has seen remarkably creative approaches to contemporary problems using historic preservation at their core. What was tried, together with what succeeded and failed, help to explain how urban planning, heritage tourism, architectural preservation and museum studies have evolved in the country overall. Each decade offered examples of attempted solutions and success stories, frequently setting standards for historic preservation nationally. In Germantown's case, history was identified early and throughout the century as a useful tool to build into an economic engine for the neighborhood. And yet, history has not proved to be as beneficial to the neighborhood as had been hoped. Why did history not provide the development spark that people thought it would? The answer to this question is beset with many ironies to be explored (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2002, Educational Policy and Leadership

This dissertation is a conceptual study of the development of the concepts of the ‘public school' and the ‘private school' in the United States from colonial times to the present day. In creating an analytical framework for examining these concepts and the institutions they represent, this treatment includes both a historical and a legal examination of the development of this distinction. Four distinct facets, or sets of facets regarding the institutional identity of public and private schools are analyzed: sectarianism versus nonsectarianism, control and support, openness, and benefit. The discussion is pivoted around a particular facet, or set of facets, for each chapter, examining the extent to which both public and private schools have come to exhibit a public or private nature regarding that characteristic. This will generally be done by looking at ‘public schools' as public in a particular sense, and contrasting this with ‘private schools' as private in that sense. In some senses, these two concepts will appear antithetical, while in others they will be described as part of a continuum. Conceptual conflicts or contradictions, both between and within these classes of institutions are also examined. Furthermore, for each of the facets of the public school – private school relationship discussed, the historical examination to the present day will be followed by some analysis of how recent school reform efforts, especially those referred to as ‘privatization', are challenging or changing, our conventional concepts of these institutions. Building upon the examination of the four sets of facets for each of these concepts, applicable reform efforts or proposals will be analyzed with regard to how they may be changing that aspect of the public or private school identity. Applications toward educational policy-making and reform are also discussed.

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2024, History

Between 1896 and 1938 Cleveland developed into one of the nation's leading Industrial centers. Cleveland's population of 262,353, which ranked tenth in the nation in 1890, increased to 900,249 by 1930 and reflected this industrial growth. Tom L. Johnson, mayor of the city from 1901 to 1909, often considered the greatest American mayor of the period, built a municipal government that attempted to deal with the urban conditions manifested by this industrial growth. At the same time, Cleveland's business and civil leaders argued that the physical city needed to project an image of modernity and progress that matched the industrial and economic production that had transformed the way of life for the residents of the nation's “sixth city.” Clevelanders had begun to realize that their city, with its growing population and accumulation of wealth due to it industrial prominence, was capable of emulating and rivaling some of great cities of Europe. This elite vision, when realized (first in the Group Plan of government buildings, and later with the Cleveland Union Terminal) often discarded and pushed to the periphery the poor (working classes) and “immoral” who lived, worked, and shopped in the spaces that were demolished and reconstructed in the creation of an imagined community of progress and modernity.

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2024, History

This thesis argues for an interdisciplinary examination of the origins and subsequent appearance of the Wassermann blood test, the first test developed for detecting syphilis, in eugenics initiatives and medicolegal mandates. When this seemingly impartial medical tool intersected with preexisting social and cultural biases regarding syphilis its story became one of blood purity initiatives for the preservation and proliferation of white normativity. Reframing the Wassermann as more than a passive medical tool highlights how ostensibly impartial medical processes can produce institutional violence in masculinized spaces of control. While the Wassermann offered a source of hope for protecting against syphilitic infection, in application, the serodiagnostic tool served as a source of scientific validation when misapplied as a quantifiable method for justifying medicolegal interventions in the 20th century US. This examination traces the bioethical legacy of the Wassermann from its 1906 development in Berlin to its appearance in eugenics-based legal mandates in the US. Through an analysis of scientific publications and court records at archives across the East Coast this paper centers those who didn't benefit from the Wassermann and investigates how scientific authority derived from an imperfect diagnostic test was harnessed to reproduce and reinforce the sociocultural biases that linger today.

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2023, History

Despite being an integral part of the discipline, the traditional academic journal significant contributes to the notion that history is a discipline confined to the ivory tower- inaccessible and unconcerned with the practicalities of the public sphere. This thesis is a proposition, and a paper prototype, for a new form of scholarly communication- an open-access, digital publication of academic history that prioritizes accessibility, the dissemination of “radical” historical theories, and facilitation of new methodologies of historical analysis. Intended to be a supplemental publication for the traditional academic journal, this publication aims to capitalize upon the technological advancements of the digital turn to bridge the gap between historians and the public sphere.

MA, Kent State University, 2023, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of History

American women in the 1800s lived in a social structure designed to reinforce traditional womanhood. This was emphasized and visualized by the restrictive popular fashions for women, characterized by long skirts and restrictive undergarments. Women's fashions began to change as mass production and consumption became paramount to American womanhood at the turn of the century. However, it would not be until the events of World War I where women's fashions transformed to what we would recognize today as modern. As American women mobilized in both civilian and military roles, they adopted working uniforms that were more practical, economical, and safe than popular fashions at the time. Postwar, women's modern fashions embraced the shortened hems and boxy, or boyish, cuts that increased the physical mobility of women. This gave ammunition to social critics who worried about the “masculinization” of American women as they adopted these new styles that mimicked men's fashions, with straight lines and short haircuts like the “bob”. These critics voiced fears about the collapse of traditional womanhood, and in extension, the collapse of American society. Combining historical and material culture analyses, this thesis aims to complicate the view of scholars that the 1920s was a largely stagnant period for the equality of women. Viewing this turbulent and tension filled period of American history through the lens of fashion complicates this understanding and shows how American women created spaces for resistance in their everyday lives.

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 1964, Architecture

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 1960, History

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 1950, History

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 1960, History

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2022, Leadership and Change

The purpose of this qualitative participatory action research was to explore how complexity is engaged and experienced in complex regulatory systems, and to understand how cannabis might be regulated in ways that lead to socially equitable conditions. This was accomplished by studying the lived experiences of governmental leaders charged with the responsibility of establishing regulatory frameworks for legalized cannabis where none previously existed. Using the learning history methodology, the study deeply explores the ways that complex systems coexist by capturing the lived experiences of research participants and enhance theoretical understanding of complex regulatory systems. Data collection occurred through reflective interviews, followed by distillation and thematic analysis. This resulted in the creation of a data table and a learning history artifact that were validated by distribution to research participants and used as both an actionable tool for participants and an analytical tool to distill and categorize research findings. The data table and the artifact established three main findings: complexity is both a property and characteristic of systems; complexity is not a behavior, characteristic or action of “leadership” or “leaders” in complex regulatory systems; and the interplay between social justice and social equity is complex and often oversimplified. Rather than directing, participants brought about change by building interactive trust through dialogue and relationship-building in interactive spaces across and between macro, meso, and micro systems levels. Complexity arose from these participatory human relationships when both the properties and characteristics of these systems were engaged, but the theoretical construct of complexity does not explain the presence of agency within this dynamic. By recognizing agency across all systems, structural barriers may be reduced, resulting in regulatory frameworks that may lead to more socially equitable con (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts (M.A.), Xavier University, 1969, History

North College Hill, Ohio, an independent suburban city on the northern boundary of Cincinnati, normally follows the unexciting routine of a typical residential community. The year 1947 was an exception. An ugly school controversy arose that year, which threw this suburb into a bitter sectarian conflict between Catholics and Protestants over policies governing the public school system. Before it was resolved, this school crisis included student strikes, mass resignations of teachers, professional blacklisting, civil disorder, and bitter charges and counter-charges between religious and educational spokesmen. As a prologue to the treatment of the 1947 conflict, chapter one gives a brief history of the consolidation arrangement, which lay at the heart of the controversy. Chapters two, three, and four narrate the course of events from 1938 to 1948 which fomented the community schism. Finally after presenting the points of view of both sides, chapter five explores the impact and truthfulness of each position

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2022, History

My graduate thesis project is a museum exhibit on display through the end of May 2022 at the Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Cincinnati, Ohio which explores the ways in which the newspaper industry in Cincinnati fostered a toxic environment for racial relations in the antebellum era. Editors not only stoked racial tensions to encourage the riots that occurred in 1829, 1836, and 1841, they also shaped the narratives of the riots in their columns to blame the victims and exonerate the perpetrators. What follows is a brief history of the riots, the historiographical research pertaining to the exhibit, and an exploration of the methodological questions I faced when constructing the exhibit.

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2022, History

In September of 1858, a mob of Staten Islanders burned down a quarantine station in order to protect their own health and safety. Though Richmond County citizens destroyed over thirty acres of New York State property in the two-day riot, legal authorities determined that a crime had not been committed. It was an act of "salutary violence." This seemingly paradoxical event shaped the course of health system development in the nation's premier city. Scholars have overlooked the riot's significance or characterized it as an outburst of xenophobic violence. This dissertation argues that the riot was not spontaneous or reactionary. It did not follow a major outbreak of epidemic disease, and it occurred when immigration was at an all-time low. It presents layered contexts to recast the riot as the climax of a longstanding movement that crystalized in the wake of administrative changes at the institution. The polarized political climate of antebellum New York deepened existing tensions, as the quarantine controversy split along party lines. Understanding how momentum for the quarantine relocation movement was gathered through state legislation, sustained through regional support, and ultimately cemented when Staten Islanders became unified by the threat of quarantine expansion, presents a better causal framework for the riot than shallow arguments of fear and xenophobia alone. In the event's aftermath, communities united to resist State conscription to host the "dangerous" institution and lobbied for their own protection. The riot and quarantine relocation movement raised questions about the nature of public health that we still grapple with today: What public does public health protect? This dissertation demonstrates that community level activism, violent protest, and even the will of the mob, shaped the trajectory of public health in the United States.

BS, Kent State University, 2020, College of Public Health

Interviews contained in this thesis, conducted in 2019, served as a method to address community health and barriers faced by the transgender community. Interviews of transgender members of the Kent State community were gathered to provide feedback about experiences in healthcare. One of the most common challenges discussed by individuals who were interviewed were accessibility issues in healthcare. This research provided participants both the space and opportunity to openly share about there negative and positive experiences interacting with the healthcare system. An analysis of the interview data has found that there is a wide range of experiences, but the transgender community feels as though they are not being heard by professionals in healthcare. They struggle to access services and overcome discrimination. This research continues to provide insight on the challenges, triumphs, and perseverance of transgender community in healthcare.

Bachelor of Arts, Ohio University, 2020, Political Science

This thesis explores how historical sites impact the collective memory of slavery in the United States.

PHD, Kent State University, 2020, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Foundations, Leadership and Administration

The purpose of this humanities-based study is to evaluate how the American public broadcasting system has traditionally served children, how it currently fulfills that role, and finally to propose a new approach to children's public broadcasting that is more democratic and attentive to children's interests. American broadcasting developed as a series of compromises amongst ideologically-opposed voters and organizations. Further, public broadcasters are reliant on private donors, thus diluting the democratic quality of their programming. The author argues that this paradigm violates children's rights. The unsatisfied adult consumer of public broadcasting has political recourse by which they can attempt to influence regulations that affect public broadcasting. Children lack such political agency, so extra care must be taken to protect their interests; public content generated for them should be as free of market influence as possible, until they gain the agency to decide for themselves their thoughts on the interplay of public and private goods. The current public broadcasting paradigm does not evidently or obviously seek out children's thoughts on the programming provided for them. The author argues that by allowing children a more direct voice in the shaping of programming created for them, public broadcasters may both serve their traditional, recognized function better by empirically demonstrating that their content matches their publics' interests while also helping to ensure that children's right to speak is being respected.

Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Studies and Public Affairs, Cleveland State University, 2019, Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs

In The Administrative State, Dwight Waldo challenges the discipline of Public Administration to remember the purpose of or meaning behind the discipline. In response to Waldo's question “efficiency for what?”, this dissertation interprets the motivating values of the calls for reform to the process of governance at the turn of the twentieth century in Chicago. The research uses a narrative analysis of archived and published texts of Progressive reformers from the City of Chicago. Philip Selznick's concept of the process of institutionalization, or to infuse with value, merged with Anthony Giddens's concept of contextuality guides the interpretation of the actions of the reformers. The concept of institution as a process that infuses a social structure with values at a specific time in a specific place allows for an interpretation of the motivating values of reformers within a physical environment or community. The motivating values of reformers reflect the meaning of the calls for reforms in Chicago.

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2019, History

This dissertation is a cultural history of the American reaction to the Upper Canadian Rebellion and the Patriot War. This project is based on an analysis of newspaper articles published by William Lyon Mackenzie and his contemporaries, diplomatic cables between Washington D.C. and London, letters, and accounts of celebrations, toasts, and public meetings which occurred between 1837 and 1842. I argue Americans and Upper Canadians in the Great Lakes region made up a culture area. By re-engaging in a battle with the British, Upper Canadians, and their American supporters sought redemption. Reacting to geographic isolation from major metropolitan areas and a looming psychic crisis motivated many of these individuals to act. And, even though the rebellion and Patriot War were ultimately unsuccessful, the threat of a rekindled conflict with Britain crept into North America while thoughts of the revolutionary Spirit of `76 invigorated the masses and served as a litmus test for maintaining peaceful international relations between the U.S. and Britain, a preface to Manifest Destiny, and a testament to the power of the nineteenth-century culture industry.