Vassar College Digital Library

Vassar Scholarship

Vassar Scholarship, the institutional repository formerly known as Digital Window, reflects the research and scholarly output of the Vassar College community.  It provides access to a variety of collections, including senior theses and projects across a wide range of disciplines.

Convergence among the U.S. states: Absolute, conditional, or club?

Publication Date
2003-October-01
Document Type
Department or Program
Document Type
Abstract

This paper attempts to ascertain which of the convergence hypotheses – absolute, conditional, or club – best describes the economic development of the U.S. states since 1950. We use regression tree analysis to identify convergence clubs among the states and...

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Duelling and the Fantasmatic Spectre of Male Honour in Imperial Germany: The Kaiser’s Will and Theodor Fontane’s Effi Briest

Publication Date
2022-May-15
Document Type
Access Level
Abstract

Underneath the historiographical disagreements about military honor and dueling in Imperial Germany there lurks a consensus that most duelists simply internalized the dictates of honor. This article troubles that presumption by attending to the Prussian-German military honor code’s mixed messages...

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Sex Work in Cyberspace: Geographies of Desire in Digital Frontiers of the United States

Publication Date
2015-January-01
Document Type
Department or Program
Document Type
Abstract

This project follows the shifting geography of erotic companionship and the changing demographics of women who take on this kind of work. From origins in mining towns, urban centers, and Las Vegas brothels to home-based, online performances for audiences across...

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The Captain of Köpenick and the Uniform Fantasies of German Militarism

Publication Date
2022-June-15
Document Type
Access Level
Abstract

This article examines a famous 1906 event that occurred when a con man dressed in a captain's uniform commandeered two small contingents of soldiers in Berlin and took them to nearby Köpenick, where he proceeded to arrest the city’s mayor...

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The Emperor’s New Uniforms: The Uniform Fantasies of Wilhelm II and His Critics

Publication Date
2024-February-15
Document Type
Access Level
Abstract

In light of Wilhelm II’s well-known predilection for military uniforms and displays, many of his contemporaries regarded him as a real-life version of the titular figure in Hans Christian Andersen’s fable “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” This essay uses the concept...

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Wanted: Smart Students from Poor Families Neoliberal Multiculturalism & Diversity in the New Racial Capitalism

Publication Date
2014-January-01
Document Type
Department or Program
Document Type
Access Level
Abstract

The primary objective of this senior thesis is to explore how the logics of access, affirmative action, equal opportunity, educational pipelines, and diversity have been constructed, defined, and understood in contemporary U.S. American higher education; and how these meanings and...

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