Student Publications

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Browsing Student Publications by Department "Liberal Arts"
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    The Good Wife? : Pearl S. Bucks Feminist Critique
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2016) Li, Lusha ; Du, Jiaying ; Liberal Arts
    Set in early twentieth century China, the novel The Good Earth won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932. Its author, Pearl S. Buck, became the first American woman writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938. Our project explores women and marriage during the early twentieth century in China by analyzing specific scenes, quotes, and characters in The Good Earth. Although our primary method is literary analysis, our larger purpose is to address the novels (and novelists) feminism by discussing O-Lan, the female protagonist and good wife, within the context of Chinas ever-changing birth control policy. In this way, we will draw attention to gender issues in China. Buck understood these issues quite well, having lived the majority of her life in China. Our main sources will be Bucks biography and novel, selected scholars comments on her work, and reports of Chinas birth control policy as well as. We will highlight the parallels between life and art in a timeline that features relevant events in the history of early 20th century China and in the biography of Pearl S. Buck. The audience for our project includes anyone interested in womens history, China, American literature, or Pearl S. Buck.
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    Why are some United Nations peacekeeping operations more successful than others?
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2014-11) Mailyan, Emiliya K. ; Liberal Arts
    The most often used method for stopping conflicts such as civil wars and genocides is peacekeeping by the United Nations. But these operations don't always work completely. In fact, they prove to sometimes be great failures. But what can we consider to be a success? According to the UN, a success in peacekeeping is defined as an operation where basic security guarantees and response to crises were provided, as well as support for political transitions and fragile new state institutions. The UN lists operations in countries such as Cambodia and El Salvador to have been successful in ending conflict and promoting normal development, even if major peacebuilding challenges remain. However, there have been instances of failure (where the above criteria weren't met), and the UN considers the operations in Rwanda and Bosnia among them. To determine the chance of success, I have examined research on the effects of four factors on four countries, and I have produced the a causal model with hypotheses.