Humanities

Christopher Wiltsie, Utah Valley University Humanities Low racial diversity in Utah leads to common assumptions about the lack of racial tensions. This has resulted in a general disregard for the history of civil rights struggles, specifically in education, for people of color in Utah. In the US as a whole, the 1970s featured both legal and social reform in issues of race and its role in education, but accounts from minorities in Utah tell a different story. This project will be a comparative history, analyzing oral histories regarding educational experiences of people of color that lived in Utah immediately after 1968 until 1980, within the context of the trends at the time throughout the United States. Extensive interviews will provide documentation regarding racial tensions and their effects on educational experiences and achievement. The synthesis of these accounts will help fill in the gaps that exist within Utah’s historical record. Obstacles in education for people of color during the 1970s will be discussed and compared to successes and failures throughout the United States.

William Palomo, Westminster College Humanities While researchers have historically marginalized the literature of El Salvador, Alfonso Kijadurías (formerly Alfonso Quijada Urías) has earned an international reputation for his diverse and incisive poetic style. Contextualizing Kijadurías’ work within the Salvadoran literary tradition reveals the historical and political backdrop driving Kijadurías’ political stances and literary experimentation. Examination of the political, philosophical, and mystical obsessions in Kijadurías’ works demonstrates how his literary career has lived up to and outlasted La Generación Comprometida, a politically-charged literature and arts movement that revolutionized the Salvadoran arts scene during the 1950’s. His work challenges contemporary politicians and the philosophy of Deconstructionism in an attempt to guide the reader through a spiritual transformation that leads to the abandonment of the self and ultimately to freedom.

Lacy Culpepper, Dixie State University Humanities In the past century, women have made monumental progress in their presence and authority in American politics; unfortunately, print mass media outlets overall have not positively reflected those changes. In his work, On Rhetoric, Aristotle argues that a person’s character is the most effective method of persuasion, and as female politicians fall subject to the words of the media, their perceived character, and impact as a leader, depends heavily on the opinions of the writers and analysts of the various American print sources. Print media outlets tend to categorize notable female politicians into two categories: the bitch, who must abandon her well-rounded, understanding realm of femininity and adopt notions of an aggressive, haughty persona; or the ditz, who must heavily rely on the dated, stereotypical femininity that encourages beauty over brains and forsakes a hold of influence and legitimacy. This seemingly timeless application proves that, regardless of which category a female politician is assigned, such press pushes her politics aside and can have a serious negative impact on both her career and reputation. For this paper, I analyze the print treatment of Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin during the 2008 presidential election to explain the rigid Bitch/Ditz classification of female politicians that sources including Time and People have assigned.

Daniel Howell, Utah Valley University Humanities Over the years research has proven again and again the important role that sexual satisfaction plays in marriage and relationships. Researchers have identified emotional safety, sexual frequency, sexual communication, sexual communion, sexual ability, and sexual arousal as elements that are important elements that influence sexual satisfaction. The aim of this study is to identify which of these elements are more effective in predicting sexual satisfaction and which ones are not. Using as a sample of 597 participants which primarily represented a white, LDS, middle class to upper class population. One of the questions that had to be asked was, are there differences between men and women in the variables and what are they? Another question that had to be asked was where do these factors rank in importance? Which factors are the most important? The study showed that when emotional safety, sexual frequency, sexual communication, sexual ability were increased, sexual satisfaction was increased. Sexual communion had a positive influence on sexual satisfaction as well. As long as the other partner focused on that individual. Another significant finding is that in sexual arousal played a more significant role in satisfaction for women than it did men. The goal of this study is to publish the results in scholarly journals and to implement the findings into the family life education program.

Ward Symes, Dixie State University Humanities Some people think a heavy blanket of intellectual darkness was thrown over Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire and not lifted until the Renaissance. Were the Dark Ages a time of total illiteracy when learning and education ceased to exist? Did the Dark Ages only end with the emergence of great milestones like the invention of Gutenberg’s movable type printing press and Martin Luther protesting the Catholic Church?

Michael Nielson, Dixie State University Humanities Character development is arguably the greatest driving force in fiction writing. But how does an author create a believable, complex character? Oftentimes, writers attempt to mimic characters they’ve encountered in literature. These characters repeated over time are generally known as character-specific archetypes; However, these archetypes delve deeper than writers simply copying other writers. The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms defines archetypes as a “symbol, theme, setting, or character-type that recurs in different times and places in myth, literature, folklore, dreams, and rituals so frequently or prominently as to suggest that it embodies some essential element of ‘universal’ human experience.” This paper will survey the effectiveness of writers consciously using character-specific archetypes—such as the hero, the sage, and the jester—drawing upon the expertise of Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell, and Victoria Schmidt with specific attention to J. R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of The Rings series and Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories. Ultimately, I will suggest that the best way to create a believable, complex character is through the conscious use of archetypes, which allows the reader full immersion into the fictional work and fosters the suspension of disbelief.

Nicholas Sheets, Brigham Young University Humanities This honors’ thesis analyzes a lesser-known drama by Jorge Ibargüengoitia, Llegó Margo (1956), by approaching historic social critiques in Mexico through dialogue, plot, and character development. Readers will approach this play through various elements of Marxist and historical criticism. Through this, higher significance to social themes develops when considered in the historical context of the semicentennial celebration of Mexico’s revolution of 1910. The play then falls into a broader national dialogue of Mexico’s social structures post-revolution. Research for this thesis includes the Ibargüengoitia papers at the Firestone Library, an interview with Joy Laville (the author’s widow), and travels to various locations in Mexico, ultimately resulting in the thesis’ higher awareness to historic social themes and a richness of Mexican ideals. Ibargüengoitia offers a critique of & for his own middle-class audience, calling attention to its hypocritical treatment of the poor as well as a hyper awareness to social traditions which ultimately maintain an unsympathetic class structure in Mexico.

Jordan Bracken, Dixie State University Humanities Of the many problems facing woman today, one of the more serious is the unrealistic standard of beauty and behavior that women are expected to achieve, maintain, and accept as normative. However, I will show how select works of fiction, including Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Birthmark and Edgar Allen Poe’s The Oval Portrait, exemplify the dangers of the male gaze; additionally, I will explicate non-fiction works such as Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique and Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex, which explore the severe consequences of attempting to force women to conform to a gendered societal paradigm. These works demonstrate the destructive characteristics to both men and women which can be easily overlooked by those who believe that a cultural standard, any cultural standard, represents a natural or necessary state of gendered behavior. When the image of the perfect feminine is idealized and internalized it both pressures women to alter their true identities and expects men to hold women to an unattainable behavioral and physical standard.

Jeremy Lofthouse, University of Utah Humanities The identity of Mormon women has been sharply contested throughout the Latter-day Saint movement. Women in the nineteenth-century were targeted by critics of Mormonism as oppressed, even enslaved through polygamy. Following the termination of polygamy, Mormon women became hyper-domestic, following patterns of mainstream America. The identity of some Mormon women has made another dramatic transition in the last decade.

Zacrey Hansen, Utah Valley University Humanities Within Old Norse myth lurks Hildolf, whose name means Battle-Wolf. He only appears in the Medieval Norse poems twice: in a name list of Odin’s sons in the Prose Edda, and then is off-handedly mentioned by Odin himself, in the Poetic Edda. Since the mythic stories make no other mention of Hildolf, the general scholarly consensus is that Hildolf is simply another of Odin’s many aliases. Indeed, Odin’s association with wolves, especially those that attend him, makes this a likely conclusion. This thesis, however, takes a different approach; that the Poetic Edda reinforces Hildolf’s status as Odin’s son by listing Thor and Hildolf’s names together. Moreover, a closer look at speech ascribed to Odin places Hildolf’s domain of Rathsey’s Sound within the river that separates Jotunheim and Asgard. Further analysis of cultural context also reveals symbolic and etymological parallels between Hildolf and the Ulfhednar, or Wolf-Coats, Norse warriors famously known for taking on the aspect of the wolf during battle. Through the synthesis of these disparate connections, this paper develops a clearer picture of Hildolf’s place in Norse mythology. Asgardian by birth, though not by station, Hildolf stands as the connection between gods and giants, between man and beast, and as Thor guides men to defend against enemies from without, Hildolf guides them to defend against the enemies from within. The conference presentation of this research stems from a longer work planned for submission to The Journal of Contemporary Heathen Thought.

Meg Siner, Westminster College Humanities I would like to present my research on the 1913 Utah opera The Sun Dance Opera, written and directed by Lakota activist Zitkala-Sa. The opera, score, libretto are found in the L. Tom Perry Special Collections of the Harold B. Library at Brigham Young University. The opera premiered to rave reviews but has since fallen into obscurity.

Steven Hepworth, Weber State University Humanities Mormons and Missourians were at war with one another 1838. At the heart of the issue was the political and literal power of the Mormons in the state. The Mormon leader, Joseph Smith, claimed to have received revelations stating Missouri, and more particularly Jackson County, was to be the land of inheritance for Mormon Saints. Missourians feared a Mormon overtake of the State. During this same time the growing issue of slavery was the issue in Missouri. Mormons and Missourians found themselves on opposite ends of the slavery debate. These heated issues caused both Mormons and Missourians to persecute, harass, destroy, and fight one another. Orson Hyde changed the landscape of this conflict. On October 24, 1838 Orson Hyde signed a sworn affidavit declaring that Joseph Smith and the Mormon Church planned to overtake, possess, and control the State of Missouri. At the time, Orson was an Apostle, or leading member of the Mormon Church. He was well respected within the church and throughout the Missouri community. His testimony against the church and its leaders came as a shock to many. He showed no sign of discontentment previous to his signing a sworn affidavit against Joseph Smith and the Mormon Church. Why would a leading member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day saints testify against his religion, which he still held dear, and his friends? Orson Hyde indicted Mormon leaders of treason to save the lives of his family, to placate non-Mormon neighbors, and because of a failed mind due to illness. I will explore the involvement of Hyde in the Mormon Missouri war, what led him to testify against the Mormon Church, and the consequences resulted from his testimony.

Paden Carlson, Utah State University Humanities Historically, many artists have struggled with mental illness; they use their art as a way to cope with, and explore, their troubled lives. Writers, in particular, often seem to turn to writing when their situations seem empty or their lives appear to be in ruins. Sylvia Plath, Virginia Woolf, Anne Sexton, Mark Twain, and F. Scott Fitzgerald all suffered from depression. Some of their best work originated from their pain. Ernest Hemingway also suffered from depression, though it never manifested itself in his work. Part of my project is to read the letters he wrote to his doctors to see if he reveals his struggles through his correspondence in a way that he doesn’t in his fiction. I’d like to read these letters with my own depressive struggles in mind and think about the relationship between art and depression, thereby coming to better understand my own need to create.

Benjamin Tullis, Utah Valley University Humanities Wayne Both has defined rhetoric as “the whole range of arts not only of persuasion but also of producing or reducing misunderstanding” (10). In The Rhetoric of Fiction, Wayne Booth also writes about four general rules that an author can use to enhance his or her writing and persuade readers. This rhetorical approach to fiction is not common. In addition, literary texts can be analyzed from a rhetorical perspective and many classical texts can be seen in a new way. My research uses Booth’s four general rules to dissect The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This book has been read and analyzed by millions of people since it was first published in 1884. My work finds a new correlation between Booth and Mark Twain. For example, Booth’s first general rule is that “…novels must be realistic” (23). Twain used his life experiences to create a world that, though it is imaginary, still rings true to the reader. Booth also states that, “all authors must be objective” (67), and “true art ignores the audience” (89). Twain was successful in following both of these rules because although he personally believed that that racism was wrong, he knew that other people, especially during his lifetime, did not share this same view. He used rhetoric indirectly in the story so that the reader can make up his or her own mind. Booth’s fourth rule states that authors should use “emotions, beliefs, and the reader’s objectivity” (119). Twain manipulates the emotions of his readers through the characters he created and the scenes he described. By carefully analyzing The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in this new way using Booth’s four general rules, the modern reader will find a powerful rhetorically persuasive function in this classic text that many view primarily as children’s entertainment.

Andrew Gibson, University of Utah Humanities In many languages we have words that don’t have a one-to-one correlation, for instance, ‘Wednesday’ sounds more like ‘wensday’. Although writing systems can be consistent, some syllables are pronounced differently in some contexts. The point is; that words have different sounds from their written form. I theorized this as ‘word deceptive.’ These words can often deceive us when spelled differently from the way they sound. This can be difficult for others learning a language. But to aid in this difficulty is with word deceptive strategies: 1.Make the unfamiliar familiar 2. Associate visuals to the word to increase word retention 3. Use words in interpersonal experiences.

Mary Ellison Barlow, Brigham Young University Humanities In the 15th and 16th centuries of the Portuguese golden age was followed by a period of decline in the 17th and 18th centuries. For a majority of Western Europe, this latter period heralded the age of Enlightenment and brought with it a cultural movement of reason and individualism that changed the history of the world. There is a vacuity surrounding Portugal in respect to the role and level of influence it had in the movement of the Enlightenment. The purpose of this study is to discover how Portugal received enlightened European thinking and how the enlightened world saw Portugal. This study will include the affect the Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 influenced Enlightenment thinking, foreign and domestic. We will also analyze the reception of ones such as Mozart and Voltaire and their corresponding works, and how these ideas influenced Portuguese society.

Carson Bennett, Brigham Young University Humanities A short story based on my grandfather’s experiences in the Battle of the Bulge.

Hayden Smith, University of Utah Humanities While serving as a full-time volunteer missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 2010-2012, I gained a new perspective of discrimination and racism in contemporary America. My mission was located in West Texas and East New Mexico. While living in this region, I came into contact with a much different setting then I had experienced growing up in Salt Lake City, Utah. I learned Spanish and worked very closely with the Latino and also the African American minority populations. This was compelling as I learned a great deal about the types of discrimination which minorities experienced in the United States. In Lubbock, TX in particular, I saw a very segregated community, as the city was still divided upon racial lines.

Spencer Yamada, Brigham Young University Humanities This project is designed to use the actions of the US military in response to American civilians advocating for direct military intervention in the holocaust as a case study to apply the economic Theory of Disruption. The complex situation during the war, involving Anti-Semitism, technical challenges, political motives and military bureaucracy has traditionally been impossible to untangle. Existing theories of management and economics were applied using their data-proven ability to understand human behavior. Clayton Christensen of Harvard Business School developed the Theory of Disruption to describe the process by which companies are able to innovate, grow, and conversely stall and fail. Christensen found that large companies that had traditionally been innovative and successful had become so by bringing new products to new markets that had been previously ignored. Christensen noted that the world’s most successful corporations had changed dramatically overtime by initiating self-disruption and changing focus from what has traditionally been successful for them to smaller new markets and new products. The Allied purpose during the Second World War was centered on one key policy decided at the Bermuda Conference in 1943, which was to defeat Nazi Germany. Around the same time groups of both Gentile and Jews began clamoring for a new strategy involving the bombing of Auschwitz as reports of the camps reached the American public. The American Military did not produce the product this small market demanded, acting in the same way a large corporation would that failed to initiate the process of disruption and took no action against any holocaust targets. Christensen’s Theory of Disruption explains of this phenomenon as a function of economic forces and organizational behavior.

Bronson Beatty, Dixie State University0 Humanities If we are the targets of bullying and slander, we have the right to defend ourselves and our good name. But how thick is the line separating self-defense from striking back or taking vengeance? This short story, inspired in part by Poe’s classic tale “The Cask of Amontillado,” is historical fiction set in the era of Renaissance Italy and its warring noble families. Fabiano, our protagonist, is the son of fabulously wealthy merchants. He is a respected pillar of his community and hosts tri-annual masques which are the toast of southern Italy. However, the son of a powerful northern family arrives uninvited and reveals that Fabiano was a ward to his family in their youth, humiliating him in front of his guests. Fabiano’s tormentor visits every masque for over a year, insulting Fabiano further and gradually turning him into a laughingstock. Fabiano becomes obsessed with restoring his honor and with defeating his tormentor, but his schemes may carry too far. How far can we go trying to right wrongs committed against us? Is it always right to do so?

Jane Hise, Dixie State University Humanities Modern cultural perceptions of appropriate gendered behavior can pressure individuals into unhealthy, often self-destructive, behaviors in an attempt to attain an unachievable paradigm of gendered and sexual perfection. Social norms, however, are transitory and therefore, any attempts to achieve gendered perfection based on these norms are at best inauthentic performances, and the dangers inherent in the pursuit of such skewed perceptions of masculinity and femininity are inherently dangerous to the physical and emotional health of the individual. While we are not likely to eliminate the indoctrination of current or future generations into the culturally sanctioned roles of gender performance entirely, recognizing the artifice in these expectations and behaviors can expand the boundaries of socially accepted standards to allow for healthier expressions of identity.

Matthew A. Kearney, Brigham Young University Germanic and Slavic Amid the chaos and anticipative excitement of fin-de-siecle Europe, German society quickly became a historical hotspot of unique political and social transformations. It was felt to be a period of degeneration, but at the same time a period of hope for a new beginning. In the midst of a culture that was still perpetuating lively, discriminating social appetites, it is intriguing to note that a broad examination of texts written by German women at this time, which experiment with the very question of social walls and new decisions, shows that these women most often employed conclusions laden with themes of madness, chaos, loneliness and suicide. For this research I have chosen three significant texts which can be viewed from historical and anthropological standpoints on the subject of traditional walls and choices. These are Jenseits der Mauer by Elisabeth Heinroth, Meine Freundin by Hermione von Preuschen-Telmann, and Helene Monbart-Kessler’s Kameraden. The approach to these works, and for the purpose of my research, evaluates the female literary characters in these texts in light of Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophical view on the fragile balance between the Apollonian and Dionysian drives inherent in art and in life itself. Nietzsche asserted that in life there rages a constant battle between these two major forces, each striving to control the existence of men and women alike. Against the background of this aesthetic discourse, the three texts I have chosen acquire a new dimension: they become an avenue for examining the causes of balance, or lack thereof, in the lives of these female characters. I believe this evaluation is significant because it foregrounds some of the choices and limitations which many women faced as traditional society was changing its attitudes towards them during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Belinda Ramirez, Brigham Young University Anthropology The Hmong are a stateless hill tribe ethnic group originating in southern China. Due to persecution and discrimination from the Chinese, many Hmong migrated to the surrounding regions of the Southeast Asian massif in the eighteenth century. The mountainous homes of the Hmong now lay within the borders of countries such as Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. Religiously, Hmong are traditionally a shamanistic people, believing in spirits and worshipping their ancestors through diverse practices, such as animal sacrifice and spirit calling. In addition to traditional Hmong belief (dab qhuas), many messianic religious groups have recently surfaced within the Hmong diaspora, often accompanied by a prophetic leader, criticisms of traditional Hmong practices, and a hopeful vision of the future in which there exists a Hmong country. My research on this subject is based on an ethnographic field study in Nan Province, Thailand among the Is Npis Mis Nus, a Hmong messianic religious group. Using traditional anthropological field methods, I acquired data on the practices and beliefs of the Is Npis Mis Nus, as well as investigated their conceptions of nationalism, ethnicity, and identity. In this paper, I posit that the rituals and beliefs of the Is Npis Mis Nus reveal the group’s desire for Hmong political, cultural, and economic legitimacy and national sovereignty. These beliefs and rituals also serve as boundaries that provide a clear distinction between messianic and non-messianic Hmong. Additionally, I explain how the characteristics of the Is Npis Mis Nus religion help the Hmong deal with the social and ethnic disruptions that globalization has presented.

Garrett Faylor, Dixie State University English Bob Dylan has been called just about every name in the book: voice of a generation, beatnik, icon, songwriter, protest singer, legend, even Judas. But there is one name that people cannot seem to agree upon-poet. In “I Shall Be Free No. 10,” Dylan jokingly says, I’m a poet, and I know it / Hope I don’t blow it.” Rather than take his word for it, one might suggest looking backward to discern the verity of Dylan’s claim. Wordsworth, Shelley, and T.S. Eliot all contributed greatly to the art and our understanding of poetry. Each supplied definitions for what constitutes poetry and better yet, what exactly a poet should be and do. In his Preface to Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth explains that “[the poet] is a man speaking to men.” This, and other definitions given by some of poetry’s most notorious innovators, decisively vindicates the claims of Dylan as poet. In this paper, I will argue that not only does Bob Dylan fit into almost all literary definitions of “poet,” he is the quintessential American poet: a transcendent, folk-rooted traverser and mouthpiece “for the searching ones, on their speechless, seeking trail.”

Summer Mosgofian-Barry, Dixie State University English-Secondary Education Even avid readers of J. R. R. Tolkien’s work may not recognize how extensively his scholarly pursuits and deep knowledge of ancient languages and legends inform his fantasy writing. As a scholar who not only gave new insight into the art of Beowulf, but also as one who proved the existence of a remnant of Old and Middle English untouched by the Norman conquest, he used his mastery of Germanic languages “Old and Middle English, Old Norse, Old Finnish, Welsh” and even his familiarity of Proto-Indo-European vocabulary, to create linguistic and narrative elements in fictional works like The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The connections between his scholarly pursuits and the characters and languages he invented, such as those between Anglo-Saxon syntax and mythology and Tolkien’s idealized Anglo-Saxons, the Rohirrim, as well as those connections between Snorri’s Edda and the Elvish language Quenya, clearly demonstrate his acumen as a philologist. In fact, some of Tolkien’s Middle Earth legends were clearly inspired by his extensive knowledge of, and are even modeled after, ancient writings and legends, including Beowulf, The Wanderer, “The Maid of the Moor” and Grendel, while he also utilized kennings like those seen in, again, Beowulf, “Caedmon’s Hymn”, and Snorri’s Edda. This paper looks at multiple, though certainly not all, of Tolkien’s use of early language forms and legends and in doing so, delivers the following conclusion: Tolkien’s extensive scholarly work and love of many languages, as well as his passion for the mythology of those languages, clearly plays an integral part in his fiction.

James Gardner, Utah State University Anthropology Distinct perceptions on healthcare reform exist in every part of a society. This paper examines the volatile healthcare system of Nicaragua and the perceptions of healthcare reform among Nicaraguan medical professionals. Data were gathered through ethnographic field methods including participant observation, informal interviewing, and open-ended questions. The informants were selected from the medical personnel of the E.R. in the Hospital Amistad Japón-Nicaragua in Granada, Nicaragua. First, a framework of the history of Nicaraguan healthcare is discussed. This history is presented as a reflection of the sporadic nature of the Nicaraguan political environment over the last 30 years. The changes in healthcare policy over this time period are then examined through the lens of the hospital’s healthcare providers. Perspectives on public vs. private systems, the limited ability to affect reform, and motivations behind entering the medical profession are analyzed as they pertain to job satisfaction of healthcare workers.

Carlos Junior Guadarrama, Utah State University English My poster explores the history of the Migrant Head Start program at the former Indian Intermountain School location in Brigham City, Utah. No one to my knowledge has gathered a history of this program, which operated from the mid-1980s until the early 2000s. I intend to explore this Migrant Head Start’s foundations as an informal school for the children of Latino migrants, as well as how it grew and developed over the almost two decades that it existed, before it became the Centro de la Familia de Utah. I plan to interview a former principal, several teachers, as well as former students. I argue that this Head Start played an extremely important educational and social role in the lives of many inhabitants of Brigham City.

Kimberly Williamson, Utah Valley University History “There is nothing particularly interesting about one’s life story,” Eleanor Roosevelt wrote, “unless people can say as they read it, Why, this is like what I have been through. Perhaps, after all, there is a way to work it out.” Humans throughout time have recognized the need for storytelling and have been preserving oral histories. Narratives supplement our historical memory and offer an in-depth account of personal experience and reflections, which allows another to feel a commonality that often dissolves the barriers of race, class, gender, and even time. During the 19th century, the fight for enfranchisement united Utah’s early settlers with national suffragists. Feminists such as newspaper editor, Emmiline B. Wells and “presidentes” of the women’s organization within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), Eliza R. Snow, were in the forefront of this movement. Wells, Snow, along with other women were actively involved in their family responsibilities. However, they also held public and political positions within their communities that were not typical for women of that period. The women’s movement of the seventies recognized that literature wasn’t acknowledging women’s prominent role in society. Not only was there a lack of sources by and about women, but the historiography in general was male dominated. Hence, the LDS church initiated a crusade to collect women’s journals, letters, and other writings of Utah’s pioneers. These sources increased scholarship of Utah’s suffragists, which caused national recognition of the role they played during First Wave Feminism. Nevertheless, there is a trivial amount written about the women in Utah during Second Wave Feminism from the 1970’s to late 1980’s. My research focuses on stories of women in Utah during Second Wave Feminism. I interviewed four women within higher education where they expressed personal experiences that are similar in spirit to Utah’s early settlers. Inadvertently each woman had some connection with the LDS church. My thesis will argue that by extrapolation there were many women, particularly at Utah Valley University who transcended patriarchy to achieve positions of leadership and notoriety. Their personal narratives challenge the feminist theory of patriarchal suppression, which seems paradoxical considering the fact that Utah’s dominant religion, the LDS church, functions as a male governed society.

Hanna Higginson, University of Utah Anthropology The study, “Sentimentality Preserves Our Past” focuses on two branches of nostalgia: sentimentality and historical utility and their relationship to cultural relics. Our approach assumes we can recognize similarities and differences between cultural communities by describing the extent to which individuals are sentimental or utilitarian with regard to their possessions. We are currently collecting data from the northern Utah community and Utah Tongan community. We set up a preliminary exercise asking participants to free list the items they have a difficult time throwing away for sentimental reasons. So far we have collected 40 questionnaires and 13 interviews that focus on the five most referenced items. Our target is to conduct about 45 questionnaires and 45 interviews for each community. For the Utahan population we have enough data to identify an S:U RANK – the ratio between a participant’s measure of sentimentality to the measure of utility. For the 25 questions where a respondent’s answer could be classified as appealing to sentimentality (s) or historic utility (h), we summed the totals then divided it by the sum of the answers appealing to utility (u). All totals above 1 indicate that the respondent prefers protecting items for nostalgic purposes; all answers below 1 indicate the respondent prefers items of utility. The S:U RANK gives a general view into a particular population. From this we can discuss the effect of variables such as age, marital status, children, age of children, and years in Utah on an individual’s preference. Currently, the pattern from the S:U RANK suggests that marital status and children are having the greatest effect on the ratio, but this will become clearer as the interviews progress. The research began as an effort to understand the presence of nostalgia as applied to five common relics among a particular diaspora, in light of the incoming data, this question is developing into an attempt to understand nostalgia in a cultural and universal sense as well.

Jeffrey Green, University of Utah Linguistics Although learning a second language can be difficult, especially for adults, many people believe that once an individual has acquired a second language, it will be easier to learn a third. Individuals may utilize strategies learned from studying a second language (L2) to their study of a third, but this does not necessarily mean that learning a third language (L3) will be easier. As individuals study an L3, their knowledge of both their native language (L1) and their L2 will compete with their developing knowledge of the L3. Previous research has shown that during early stages of L3 acquisition, both L1 and L2 phonology (that is, the underlying sound system of a language) influence the phonology of their L3. This is evident, for example, in learners’ production of some word-initial consonants, such as d, p, and k. Languages differ in the timing between the articulation of the consonant and the beginning of vibration of the vocal folds (voicing) associated with a following vowel sound. This timing is known as Voice Onset Time (VOT). Studies suggest a stronger influence from L2 than from L1 in L3 VOT production. However, learners in these studies had some (if limited) knowledge of the L3, and the influence of this knowledge is unclear. In addition, previous studies have addressed L3 production, but not L3 perception. Research has yet to investigate (i) the influence of L1 and L2 phonology in the very initial stages of L3 acquisition (when the language is totally unfamiliar), and (ii) the influence of L1 and L2 phonology on the perception of VOT boundaries. This study investigates (i) and (ii) by presenting English and Spanish bilinguals with stimuli representing a range of VOT in their L1 and L2, as well as from a third, unfamiliar language in a series of tasks designed to elicit evidence of VOT boundaries in each language. The results of these tasks will be examined to determine whether learners rely more on their L1 or their L2 for processing a third, unfamiliar language. Preliminary results and analyses will be available by February 2013. This research will give important insights into the process of acquisition of a third language.

Melanie Cooke, University of Utah Geography Range Creek is a small deeply incised canyon located in south central Utah. It is a remote canyon that has experienced minimal impact to its rich archaeological heritage by European-American settlers during the last two hundred years. The canyon contains hundreds of important archaeological sites and thousands of artifacts from the Fremont culture that inhabited the area from around 800 A.D. to 1350 A.D. Though work has been done on the archeological sites in the canyon, a better understanding of the paleoclimate and environment are needed to help understand why the Fremont culture disappeared so abruptly around 1160 A.D.Dendrochronology has been shown to provide excellent data for reconstruction of climatic conditions. Conifer tree species, including Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga mensiezii), are well-suited for studying past climate through the analysis of their tree rings. In this study, I use increment cores from Douglas fir to build a local history of tree-ring growth rates through time and will compare these results to regionally available climate records. By comparing changes in ring widths with weather station data, including monthly and seasonal temperature and precipitation records, I hypothesize that Douglas fir will provide a sensitive indicator of past changes in winter precipitation. Twelve tree cores collected from climatically sensitive locations during the 2012 summer are being analyzed from Range Creek Canyon. Preliminary analyses of the tree ring series suggests this study will provide a climatic history spanning the past ~300 years. Although this analysis cannot provide direct observation on climate conditions during the period of the Freemont occupation and abandonment of Range Creek, it will provide insights into the natural climate variability occurring within the Range Creek Canyon. All tree cores are being analyzed with ARSTAN and COFECHA software, commonly used by dendrochronologists, and results will be made available at the time of presentation.

Duke Cruz, Westminster College Philosophy This research focuses on the nineteenth-century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, his philosophy, and how that relates specifically to what he thinks about music. In general this presentation will consist of three main parts: 1) analyzing passages on music in a few of Nietzsche’s works, specifically, “The Birth of Tragedy”, “Beyond Good and Evil”, and “Twilight of the Idols’” with supplementary material relating to his philosophy taken from “The Anti-Christ”, and Walter Kaufmann’s biography of Nietzsche “Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist”; 2) showing the relation of music and reason in each example; 3) postulating the importance of this relation. Throughout my research on Nietzsche and his thoughts surrounding music, it is apparent that whenever he discusses music, it is never about the specific score, keys, melodic content, etc. Instead, I found that in most of the passages that I have ran across, Nietzsche’s thoughts on music collide directly and importantly to his philosophy. In this presentation I aim to elucidate what the importance of this relation between music and reason could be for Nietzsche.

Paul Greenhalgh, Weber State University History Much has been written about the tactics and strategies of World War II, as well as the effects of the war on the world. Far less, however, has been written about the cultural aspect of the war experience, and in particular about the day-to-day culture of the servicemen during the war. Archival research at the Library of Congress and The Institute on WWII and the Human Experience at Florida State University yielded the bulk of the primary sources while a review of the literature on WWII and the culture of U.S. servicemen during the war provided context. Additionally, a cross-disciplinary review of psychological literature on pets and their importance to well-being, as well as why it is important for people to create a sense of home, has nuanced the research. This study looks at the personal effects that servicemen had during the war and how their possessions contributed to the creation of a sense of home while they were deployed. Servicemen carried a vast variety of possessions with them that were not Government Issue. These possessions included diaries, pictures of, and letters from, loved ones, Bibles, pets, musical instruments, and talismans. Moreover, in letters and in diaries, these servicemen have described why they personally have carried these objects with them. This study adds to the body of knowledge on the cultural aspect of WWII servicemen, and therefore adds to the overall understanding of WWII and the culture of war in general.

S. Geneva Balin, Weber State University Anthropology In the past, mythology served as a guide to how life should be lived and provided a context for the condition in which people found themselves. As the sacred gave way to the secular, mythology lost its power to influence and guide the people as it did in the past. Rather than myths, people turned to literature for guidance. These stories have been told and retold through different eras in history. They have also been shared in contemporary forms such as books and movies which now reach a large audience. This paper will examine stories of social outcasts in an interpretive exploration into culture through the lens of literature. The multiple versions “The Phantom of the Opera” and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” reflect the cultures in which they were produced as well as the contemporary cultures that love them. A basis for comparison will be established by first recounting, in summary, the plotline for each of the novels. Then theories relevant to exploring meaning will be approached, notably those of Claude Levi-Strauss, Émile Durkheim, Dame Mary Douglas and Carl Jung. From here, variations of the stories and the history surrounding them can be examined to discover potential social meaning and show the importance of stories as a way to bind a culture together.

Betty Stoneman, Utah Valley University Philosophy The “American Dream” and the “Working Class Promise” are ubiquitous ideologies in American culture. For this paper, I will argue these ideologies are social constructs which perpetuate and reinforce discrimination, the social hierarchy and the domination of the American working class. First, I will define the key concepts of this paper: ideology, stereotyping, domination, discrimination, the ideologies of the American Dream and the Working Class Promise. Secondly, I will argue these ideologies, as defined by communications professor Kristen Lucas, lead to discrimination and domination of the working class. I will argue the Working Class Promise is an example of philosopher Frederick Nietzsche’s slave morality, where a lower status group attaches positive values to themselves which only serves to perpetuate discrimination against them. Further, I will argue domination arises from such discrimination by examining a study by psychologists Shannon K. McCoy and Brenda Major regarding positive stereotyping, self-stereotyping, discrimination and domination. Next, I will argue, using sociologist Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of habitus, both the Working Class Promise and the American Dream are structured and structuring social concepts which reinforce discrimination and domination through exclusion. In line with Bourdieu, I will use social philosopher Louis Althusser’s arguments to show how the Working Class Promise and the American Dream reproduce the roles of the social hierarchy and domination. I will support this demonstration with evidence from McCoy and Major’s study showing how various forms of discrimination are reproduced in society when individuals believe in the American Dream. Having accepted the social insights of these scholars, I would propose, based on the arguments of philosopher Immanuel Kant regarding the intrinsic worth of rational beings and contrary to elitist or socialist views, the solution is for Americans to reject these ideologies.

Ryan Krage, Utah Valley University English and Literature Within Freshman Composition Studies, little research has been produced on writing conferences between students and teachers since Laurel Johnson Black’s Between Talk and Teaching: Reconsidering the Writing Conference in 1998. Most published research has not included any systematic information about the nature of the writing conference, a consultation between the student and teacher designed to discuss the student’s paper in order to make changes. Student feedback and involvement in this study is of crucial importance because there is no existing data whether teacher-student conferences are working from a student perspective. The major research question is “What is the relationship between types of teacher-student conference interaction and subsequent revision of students’ papers?” The purpose of the research is to discover what the writing conference between teacher and student accomplishes in terms of better writing outcomes, what the expectations of the student are, and what and how the power dynamics between student and teacher affect the quality and quantity of revision from both student and instructor perspectives. We will examine the connection of students’ perceptions about the writing conference to their final scores and other data. During the spring 2012 semester, we drafted three surveys designed to capture students’ perspectives and expectations regarding the conferences (a pre-conference, post conference, and post final grade). The methodology includes transcribing voice recordings of conferences, collecting student surveys before and after conferences, and collecting students’ rough and final drafts for two papers during the semester. This raw data will be coded into usable data, which will then be analyzed to identify behaviors that facilitate or impede the conference and determine its overall effectiveness. We hypothesize that a dialogic conference will occur when the power dynamic between student and teacher is more equitable, resulting in more student-ownership over the revision process. The extent of student ownership within the revision process will be determined by both the quantity and quality of revision. These findings will, in turn, enable teachers to take a closer look at the nature of their own writing conferences in order to develop better consultations with their students.

Nina Cook, Utah Valley University History As events of the 1978 April Revolution in Afghanistan played out during the Cold War, U.S. policy makers became concerned about the Soviet sphere of influence and began to fund the Mujahedeen-rebel groups that formed in Pakistan. The Mujahedeen, inspired by jihad, remained divided across ethnic lines, began a religiously inspired struggle against Communist usurpers and oppressors. The United States saw the Mujahedeen as a useful Cold War tool in order to contain Soviet expansion and therefore throughout the 1980’s the United States continued to head the effort to supply the rebels with money and weapons. This aid was crucial in the Soviet decision to withdraw from Afghanistan and contributed to the eventual breakup of the Soviet Union. Yet, many of the Arab Mujahedeen saw this outside the Cold War context, as a victory for concepts of militant Jihad. Thus, the Soviet-Afghan war became a catalyst for the ideas of Radical Jihad, which would lead to a global holy war against the U.S and the West by the al Qaeda network, created during the Soviet-Afghan war, beginning in the 1990s. The significance of the Soviet-Afghan War, then, lies in some unintended consequences for the U.S.: Cold War containment of the Soviets in Afghanistan fueled Jihad, which in turn targeted American interests in an entirely new war.

Anna Maria Guadarrama, Utah State University Languages, Philosophy, and Communication Studies Guerrilla warfare is an ancient style of armed conflict that continues to be practiced throughout the world today. Many countries and peoples have either taken part in guerrilla warfare or have sought to counteract irregular war with counterinsurgency methods (e.g. United States). This thesis project consists of an analysis of the guerrilla warfare theories and battlefield strategies utilized by Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara—the Argentine-born Cuban revolutionary considered by most people as the premier thinker on the nature of guerrilla warfare. Guevara developed his foco theory of guerrilla warfare based on the model of warfare used successfully during the Cuban Revolution, and then sought to replicate this achievement in The Congo and Bolivia. After a brief introduction on the nature of guerrilla warfare in general, the thesis proceeds to analyze the theoretical writings on guerrilla warfare by Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, as seen in his seminal treatise Guerrilla Warfare: A Method (1963). The thesis then proceeds to analyze Guevara’s application of his foco theory as an on-the-ground guerrilla leader to evaluate the praxis of Guevara’s foco theory during his guerrilla campaigns in Cuba, The Congo, and Bolivia.

Kendra Williamson, Brigham Young University Linguistics and English Language Questions regarding language policy have persisted in Intensive English Programs nationwide. BYU’s English Language Center has revoked an English-only policy in favor of an English-mainly policy. In this environment, a two-month study has been initiated in which four experimental-group classes are provided tools for self-regulated learning to encourage English use during the lunch break. Students record goals and perceived actuals daily, reflect and respond to their individual progress, and receive weekly printed progress charts. As students use tools designed for self-regulated learning, it is expected that their daily efforts to speak English and their speaking proficiency test scores will improve.

David Ridge, Brigham Young University Religion This paper examines 2 Samuel 11 in light of a broadened understanding of the betrothal type-scene first identified by Robert Alter. The definition of type-scene in this context is broadened by comparative study with another feature of traditional narrative, the “theme” identified by Albert Lord as a significant characteristic of oral narratives. Examining the theme and type- scene together allows for a better definition of type-scene which leads to the identification of previously overlooked type-scenes. It is argued that 2 Samuel 11 contains all the elements and key- words necessary to be a type-scene of the betrothal journey narrative type; creating a literary relationship between this passage and the betrothal narratives of the patriarchs including those of Isaac in Gen 24, Jacob in Gen 29 and Moses in Exodus 2. Utilizing this approach allows for a clearer understanding of the textual depiction of David and his actions in the Hebrew Bible, a new understanding of the intertextual relationship between 2 Samuel 11 and narratives in Genesis and Exodus, and a broader and more valuable understanding of narrative structures within the Hebrew Bible.

Joshua Klein, Brigham Young University History In the last half of the 20th Century, the history of the enigmatic British intelligence community has been increasingly exposed as multiple archives have allowed access to original documents. This project involves a study of the Joint Intelligence Community, an agency created a few years before the outbreak of World War 2. The committee had the task of combining reports from the various agencies within the British Intelligence community into one cohesive report for the Chiefs of Staff and the Prime Minister. As part of a research project at Cambridge University, I acquired the primary sources (the JIC reports throughout the war) in a trip to the Kew Archive of the British National Archives in London. Because the reports represent the various agencies’ combined reports, they consequently offer a remarkable insight into the thinking of British policy makers on a week by week basis; thus, they reveal British policy makers’ information, opinions, and perceptions within the context of the war. These extraordinary sources profoundly limit historical anachronism. My discoveries reveal a plethora of inconsistencies between our contemporary understanding of British perceptions during the war and actual British perceptions during the war. Following is a brief list of these preliminary discoveries, which I hope to present at UCUR. I will discuss how these insights helps shape our contemporary understanding of British perceptions during the war. Surprising hesitancy to believe that Germany would attack Russia Over-estimation of Britain’s role in the war and a under-estimation of Russia’s role Relatively late recognition of Germany’s doomed fate on the Eastern Front Failure to recognize German potential to continue fighting as the war nears the end Severe British anxiety regarding German attempts for a peace agreement Explicit failure to identify the Nazis’ ideological motivations throughout the entire war Anti-Soviet tendencies throughout the war

Laura Hatch, Brigham Young University Humanities, Classics, Comparative Literature Art historians and artists have long treated linear perspective solely as an artistic technique. As defined by the Italian Renaissance, linear perspective is a tool to recreate reality on a canvas. But linear perspective carries philosophical implications, as well. Albrecht Dürer, a German Renaissance artist, seems to have understood perspective’s limitations in truth-making. In reading this image with a knowledge of Heideggerian phenom- enology, I propose that while on the surface this woodcut may seem to be nothing more than an illustration of proper technique, Dürer is actually exposing linear perspective’s failure to capture and truly represent an image as reality.

Nathan Gill, Brigham Young University Geography The Africanized honeybee first entered southern Utah within the last five years. This invasive species reduces pollination and honey production and is therefore costly to the farming industry and local apiaries. Additionally, Africanized honeybees are extremely aggressive and pose a threat to the health and well-being of Utah’s residents. The aim of my study is determine if Africanized honeybee habitat in Utah can be accurately modeled through remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems analysis. Locations of known Africanized honeybee presence and absence, acquired from the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food’s ground reference data, were used to identify the characteristics of suitable habitat. Criteria that we considered include minimum temperature, precipitation, distance to water, elevation, slope, aspect, and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, among others. I have identified the conditions for suitable habitat and I am in the process of designing a model to identify Africanized honeybee habitat across Utah. After the model has been refined, it will be tested against additional locations of presence and absence acquired from the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food. The modeled habitat will help the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food and other organizations to focus efforts to educate the public about the dangers of Africanized honeybees in specific locations that are at high risk.

Matt Cox, Brigham Young University History The role of the Magistrate or civil leader was a topic of debate in the time of John Locke and a focus of many of his political writings. Focusing on four of his main political pieces, his Essay on Toleration, a Letter Concerning Toleration, Two Treatises on Government, and Paraphrase and Notes on the Epistles of St. Paul, I examine how he developed his ideas on the role of the magistrate and the changes that take place. I show how Locke transitions from his youthful acceptance of the absolute rule of kings to his final views where he shows how even Paul leaves room open in his epistles for disobedience to rulers. Essential in this transition is Locke’s limitation on the powers of the magistrate. In his early writings Locke allows for the use of force in protecting the overall good of the society. Locke redefines this vague role of the magistrate by limiting the power of the magistrate to acting only in the protection of the rights, liberties and property of their citizens.

Abbie Black, Brigham Young University History Wet-nursing, a common practice in early modern England, was looked upon as a respectable source of income for women until the latter half of the eighteenth century. Scholars and doctors criticized the practice in both moral and medical terms, which influences how scholars analyze the occupation today. Constant attacks on the occupation continued until the practice was associated with lower class, sinful women; the practice all but disappeared by the early twentieth century because of the negative rhetoric and the advances in safe synthetic feeding practices. Historical scholarship reflects the negative rhetoric that was prevalent for the past two centuries; they forget to mention that wet-nurses continued to be essential to Early Modern English culture and Victorian families. Both the employer family and wet-nurse relied on this labor; families with an at risk child needed the labor of the wet-nurse, and the wet-nurse needed the income for her own support. Recent trends in scholarship focus on the practice from the top down as an institution rather than an occupation for individuals. I intend to fill this gap in scholarship by focusing on the wet-nurse as an individual functioning independently from the increasingly negative rhetoric during the mid-nineteenth century.

Megan Barber, Brigham Young University History This project investigates the British view on the Civil War in the United States. Specifically, it explores the correspondence between Richard Lyons, the British envoy to the United States, and Lord Russell, the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. It charts the changing perception of Lyons’ view of the Civil War as it progressed during the first crucial year of the conflict. The Confederacy actively sought British recognition and in fact sent two representatives to the United Kingdom who were subsequently seized by a Union ship. Lyons’ role in what came to be known as the Trent Affair is known, but has overshadowed his other perceptions of the conflict. This project draws on the original PRO manuscript correspondence held in the UK National Archives in London.

Charles Ankenman, Brigham Young University Spanish and Portuguese The Middle Ages and the cultural, political and social coming of age of the European continent produced a corpus of literature and a literary tradition representative of its religious and cultural values that, amazingly, still continues to influence society today. Commonly employed terms such as “a knight in shining armor”, “prince charming”, and parallels occasionally drawn between children and both literary as well historical princes and princesses of yore are evidence of the longevity of the influence of Medieval culture, it’s ideals and the literary genre that most perfectly reflected it: the novel of chivalry. Today, few academics study the genre, it is seldom analyzed in universities, and almost never read outside of academia. In fine, their legacy and their memory has largely been preserved in the endearing pages of Cervantes’ masterpiece, Don Quixote. In this work, the protagonist, don Quixote, goes mad as he credulously devours his extensive private collection of chivalric literature believing all he reads to be not only true but also worthy of imitation. Nevertheless, despite Don Quixote’s wide reading public, few have ever read a novel of chivalry and, as a result, the exact definition of the novel of chivalry can be both obscure and even beyond the grasp of the modern reader who is uninitiated in the field of Medieval and Renaissance chivalric literature. Nevertheless, through a careful analysis of don Quixote’s private collection of novels of chivalry, the mega-genre that they constitute and the sub-genres that comprise it; the chivalric genre can be clearly defined. Additionally, through the comparative analysis of the English term novel of chivalry as opposed to the Spanish term libros de caballerias (book of great deeds done on horseback) the importance of language’s influence on the perception of the world will be demonstrated and Jacques Lacan’s theory regarding language and perception substantiated. Finally, this analysis will elucidate the novel of chivalry’s status both as a continuation of the great classical epic tradition as well as another link in the universal tradition of epic poetry and storytelling. This presentation will be of interest both to Medievalist as well as specialists in the Renaissance, Don Quixote, Spain and Portugal. Power Point Presentation. 20 – 30 minutes.

Allison Fife, Utah State University History In 2004, Utah State University acquired a collection of approximately 1,200 rare volumes about the history of science and technology as a result of a bequest by Peter W. van der Pas. A Dutch immigrant and survivor of World War II, van der Pas proved to be an avid book collector and intellectual. Examining the nature and origins of this collection of rare books has permitted consideration of how this specific collection reflected the particular ambitions and needs of its creator. As a result, my pre-cataloging analysis of the books has developed into attempts to demystify van der Pas. Driven in part by an immigrant background, I believe that van der Pas used this collection both to demonstrate his worth as a scientist and engineer, and to legitimize himself in American academia. Through this sort of analysis, we begin to understand both the ways and reasons that significant book collections come into existence.

Echo Smith, University of Utah English and Classics In his novel Querelle Jean Genet depicts homosexual relationships among men, primarily in the navy, as narrated by the character of Lieutenant Seblon. The main object of Seblon’s affections and infatuations is Querelle, after whom the work is titled, the reigning protagonist. As the novel quite overtly depicts the occurrence of sexual acts between men, it is easily read as homosexual literature. However, what I argue is that homosexuals, within the novel, are identified more by verbal expressions than acts of the body. Throughout the text, Genet frequently draws attention to the mouth and the ways in which it expresses, imbibes, or expels. Using Georges Bataille’s theories of the mouth, which also focus on a type of oral release, I opine that one can see the relationship between this orifice and the way in which we, as humans, take in or eject things from our bodies. This notion coupled with Genet’s employment of the mouth as a means of homoerotic expression provides for a queering of the mouth to occur. Therefore, I conclude that the mouth, in the text of Querelle, becomes the orifice through which homosexuality is released from the body, primarily through verbal expression, and becomes the more accurate indicator of the homosexual within the text.

A. Emma McFarland, University fo Utah Languages and Literature The Romance of the Rose of Guillaume de Lorris recounts the story of a dreamer who, wandering through a garden, encounters a rose and is overcome with desire for it. While it is undisputed that The Romance of the Rose is an allegory of love, the kind of love it portrays and the stance it takes on the matter remain hotly debated. Is The Romance an ideal depiction of “courtly love” where the rose is the woman admired? Is it an erotic tale of the conquest of desire, the rose symbolizing forbidden sexual aims? This paper conceptualizes The Romance of the Rose as the lover’s quest to attain his erotic desire within the confines of a system of courtly love that valorizes fin amor over fol amor. Romantic love and erotic desire are irreparably alienated from one another within medieval courtship and, here, Guillaume seems to use his allegory to elucidate the harms inflicted by this courtship system. Juxtaposing the woman Rose with the textual image of the rosebush, we see the violence incurred by this love object that has been both exalted into oblivion and objectified into bits. This paper traces the dissection of the rose image, reads the rose as a euphemism of sexual aims, and studies the God of Love as the personification of courtly love’s enforcement. In the realm of The Romance of the Rose, to love is to suffer and both lover and loved are relentlessly subjugated to violence.