Culp’s Hill: Key to Union Success at Gettysburg

Brigadier General George S. Greene’s position on Culp’s Hill during the Battle of Gettysburg is arguably the crucial lynchpin of July 2, 1863. Had this position at the barb of the fishhook defensive line fallen, Confederate General Robert E. Lee and his army would then have been positioned to take Cemetery Hill, thus breaking the curve of the hook on the Union right. This most likely would have sent the Union into retreat, leaving the direct route to Washington unguarded. Fortunately, valiant efforts were made by men like Generals George S. Greene and Henry H. Lockwood in order to preserve the Union Army’s possession of the hill and, as a result, preserve the Union itself. While leaders distinguished themselves during the Battle of Gettysburg with exceptional decision-making and ingenuity, the battle for Culp’s Hill also embodied the personal cost these decisions made, as evidenced by the experience of Marylanders who literally fought their neighbors. [excerpt

The Epistemic Benefits of Religious Disagreement

Scientific researchers welcome disagreement as a way of furthering epistemic aims. Religious communities, by contrast, tend to regard it as a potential threat to their beliefs. But I argue that religious disagreement can help achieve religious epistemic aims. I do not argue this by comparing science and religion, however. For scientific hypotheses are ideally held with a scholarly neutrality, and my aim is to persuade those who are committed to religious beliefs that religious disagreement can be epistemically beneficial for them too

Republican Monsters: The Cultural Construction of American Positivist Criminology, 1767-1920

This dissertation examines the history of and cultural influences on positivist criminology in the United States. From Benjamin Rush to the present day, the U.S. has produced an extensive corpus of empirical and theoretical studies that seeks to discern an objective, scientifically-grounded basis for criminal behavior. American positivist criminology has drawn on numerous subfields and theories, including rational choice / economic theory, biology, and psychology, but in all cases, maintains that a purely scientific explanation of offending is possible. This study proceeds from the perspective that divisions between scientific and non-scientific thought are untenable. Drawing on scholarship in literary criticism and sociology, I argue that positivist criminology confronts an inherent contradiction in purporting to develop a purely scientific account of phenomena that are defined by the moral and cultural sentiments of a society. I thus hypothesize that positivist criminology is in fact reliant on the irrational and fictive cultural tropes and images of crime that it claims to exorcize. The dissertation proceeds by reviewing the literature on the history of criminology, developing a set of functional types or tropes for character analysis, and then examining four separate periods in the development of scientific criminology: eighteenth century studies of rational action, nineteenth century studies of defective reasoning, early twentieth century studies of race and crime, and the development of scientifically informed criminalistics programs. Each of these cases captures a different period and focus in the development of scientific criminology. In threading continuity between these cases, I show how criminological positivism is consistently reliant on culturally informed tropes and characters to render itself sensible and coherent

Plan of the William Watts Sherman House Library

As a unique room designed by renowned late 19th - early 20th century architect and designer Stanford White, the library of the William Watts Sherman House is considered an exemplary representation of American decorative art and architecture. The purpose of this report is to analyze and make recommendations to Salve Regina University, the present owner of the building, in regards to the Library. This study will involve, but is not limited to, a survey of the room’s history, including information about the designer, former inhabitants, and historical functions. It will draw on a large number of research venues, including historic maps, photographs, illustrations, drawings, diagrams, floor-plans, measured drawings, scientific analysis methods, wills, land evidence records, and other legal documents of previous owners. In addition, this report will also include an intimate analysis of the room through the utilization of methodologies coming from the emergent field of Material Culture Studies, which will yield information of an evolving culture. As this report will attempt to track the various changes of the room over time, materials and methods of construction will be included. Furthermore, works from contemporary authors will be consulted in regards to “country living”, socioeconomic conditions characteristic of Newport throughout the Gilded Age, architecture, interior design, and book collecting. To gain a basic understanding of the Sherman family history, both a cursory genealogical study and oral history project was undertaken. We intend to conclude with an interpretation of the room which will include the room’s significance and relevance to our own time and place. Our interpretation will form the basis of future recommendations for this room, with goals that are consistent with the preservation and the possible utility of the room. Ultimately, we will be left with a valuable document that can be employed as an informative tool for research

Barnes Hospital Bulletin

https://digitalcommons.wustl.edu/bjc_barnes_bulletin/1117/thumbnail.jp