Robert Christensen Brigham Young University Member ΦΑΘ–BI Paper presented at the 2012 National Conference on Undergraduate Research Published in Historia: the Alpha Rho Papers, Vol II. Ernesto “Che” Guevara’s contributions to Cuban foreign policy have been underestimated. Much has been written about his direct actions, but it was his indirect contributions that made the most dramatic impact. This paper explores Cuba’s foreign policy as...

Juan Abraham Caballero Prieto University of Utah Member ΦΑΘ–ΑP Published in Historia: the Alpha Rho Papers, Vol II. Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar El Cid Campeador[1] is the greatest hero in Spanish history: to the Christians he is the epitome of what a servant of god is, to the Muslim of Al-Andalus, he was and admired ally and also their foremost enemy. The sources however,...

Andrew Pace University of Utah Member ΦΑΘ–ΑP Published in Historia: the Alpha Rho Papers, Vol II. This paper examines just how radical the American Revolution truly was through the lens of early American Religion by analyzing the effects of the revolution on American churches and the relationship between church and state. The American Revolution created both an institutional and ideological crisis in American religion....

Nick Jame Vigil Brigham Young University Member ΦΑΘ–BI Published in Historia: the Alpha Rho Papers, Vol II. The Jesuit missions in China, Korea and Japan developed subtle and sophisticated strategies in order to realize their goal of bringing souls to Christ.  In China, where the Jesuit mission was most successful, the strategy of accommodation employed by Father Matteo Ricci secured the foundations of the...

Sean Goodell University of Utah Member ΦΑΘ–ΑP Published in Historia: the Alpha Rho Papers, Vol II. The use of film as a method of propaganda is a powerful tool, and it is one the Nazis used quite efficiently. From bluntly political films that had clearly stated goals, to subtle artsy films that hid the message behind entertainment, the full gamut of genre and style...

Kathryn Hain University of Utah Member ΦΑΘ–ΑP Published in Historia: the Alpha Rho Papers, Vol II. The interpretation of devshirme by modern historians has compromised the historiography of this Ottoman institution because of the imposition of modern values on medieval people.  Devshirme is a Turkish term translated the ‘levy of boys’ describing a draft of Christian boys who were enslaved for service to the...

For the land of the free and the home of the brave, the United States has had difficult historical contradictions to explain. How did the institution of slavery exist and thrive for an extended period of time in such a political environment?

Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice and its widely recognized depictions of Shylock, the ‘merciless’ Jew, have argued about over the years.

Jared Taylor Weber State University Member ΦΑΘ–ΑΓΟ Read at the 2011 Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference Published in Historia: the Alpha Rho Papers, Vol I. The U.S.military sniper program is a highly valued asset that has existed since the Civil War.  Public perception since the implementation of these mysterious warriors has been ambivalent due to the nature of the battle they were engaged in. ...

Kip Joseph Kay University of Utah Member ΦΑΘ–ΑΡ Read at the 2011 Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference Published in Historia: the Alpha Rho Papers, Vol I. This paper addresses issues found in the execution of the Saving the Legacy World War II veteran oral history project run in the early 2000s by the American West Center at the University of Utah.  Several mistakes made...

Andrew Pace University of Utah Member ΦΑΘ–ΑΡ Read at the 2011 Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference Winner: Best Religious History Paper Published in Historia: the Alpha Rho Papers, Vol I. Whether as slaves or as free blacks, African-Americans faced immense contradictions between the teachings of the Bible and the experience of slavery in the antebellum South.  Blacks often wondered whether Christianity was a white...

K.R. Lewellen University of Utah Published in Historia: the Alpha Rho Papers, Vol I. After Mohammed died in Medina in 632 C.E. his successors, Abu Bakr and then Umar, ordered the Muslim armies north to Syria, (the region now known as Jordan, Palestine, Israel, Syria, and Lebanon) to conquer in the name of Allah and his prophet, Mohammed. In less than a decade, they...

Kendra Whitaker Yates University of Utah Member ΦΑΘ–ΑP Winner: Department Essay Prize Published in Historia: the Alpha Rho Papers, Vol I. On November 12, 1756, during a treaty council in Easton, Pennsylvania, Governor William Denny asked Teedyuscung,self-proclaimed King of the Delawares,”Have we, the Governor or People of Pennsylvania done you any kind of injury?” Teedyuscung’s famous reply was, “This very ground I Stand on...