This thesis aims to critique, amend and offer original analysis on the existing theoretical framework that denotes an internment camp. By utilizing Giorgio Agamben's "What is a Camp?" (2000), and analyzing six case studies of specific camps, this thesis combines political theory and empirical research to offer a more comprehensive explanation of what an internment camp is and how it can be categorized. In "What is a Camp?", Agamben examines one case study-Nazi concentration and extermination camps-to support his claims. It is very common among political theorists to study just one camp and apply Agamben's theory to that one example. However, as many scholars have found, Agamben's theory on what a camp is does not perfectly align itself with any one example of an internment camp. Therefore, this thesis will take a comprehensive approach to analyzing what an internment camp is, and how all camps are connected in essence. The six case studies I will analyze are the Soviet Gulag, Nazi concentration and extermination camps, Chinese re-education camps for Uighur Muslims, Japanese American internment camps, Irish Direct Provision, and Australian mandatory detention for asylum seekers. While these camps have served, or serve, as different purposes to the governments that implemented them, they all share the same characteristics of exclusion, lack of humanity, and brutal leadership, among others. These shared characteristics among camps are oftentimes disregarded by scholars who write about only one camp and how that specific example relates to Agamben's work. This approach is counterproductive to the study of Agamben's camp and makes it easy to disregard what he theorizes. Instead, this thesis will take a comprehensive view to analyze how empirical examples fit together and how they relate to the theoretical camp.
This thesis explores the combat roles of Soviet and American airwomen during World War II. Both the Soviet Union and the United States utilized women in the war effort between 1943-1945 in different capacities. The United States and the USSR were in very different geographical locations when it came to Germany; the US was across the Atlantic Ocean and not in a vulnerable position while the USSR was fighting a war on its home turf. The need for soldiers was very different. In addition, the cultures of the two countries were very different in their attitudes towards the equality between men and women. Communist ideology dictated that both genders were capable of the same work whereas in the US, society was still heavily inclined towards patriarchal norms. The Soviet Union was in desperate need of soldiers as German moved farther into the interior of the country. Due to the geographic size of the country, Stalin had no trouble filling his quotas and was willing to accept massive numbers of casualties. In addition to conscripting men, women could join the Red Army in a variety of roles, one of those roles were pilots. In 1941 Marina Raskova was given permission to form Aviation Group 122 which would contain three regiments comprised entirely of women. Those regiments included the 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, the 122nd Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment, and the 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment. The women of these regiment took part in numerous combat missions and suffered numerous casualties. In the United States, most of the jobs women took were in the factories as the men went to war and they kept the United States afloat. Women joined the Army Nurses Core (ANC), the Women's Auxiliary Core (WAC), and took on various administrative roles, but never entered the war in a combat capacity. In 1942, the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) and Women's Flying Training Detachment (WFTD) were formed before they were merged to become the WASPs. Though these women never saw combat, they were responsible for ferrying aircrafts and commanders and were expected to help train the ground troops. The WASPs were disbanded in 1944. This thesis examines both Aviation Group 122 as well as the WASPs in their formation, their equipment and missions, their relationships with their male counterparts, and their disbandment.
Russian language is a difficult language to master with verbs of motion providing a particular challenge. We created two mobile phone based augmented reality experiences that help students to practice these verbs in different ways. The first project adds review videos to a verb handout. This links the videos to a tactile object that the students can physically interact with to boost recall. The second project guides students through an experience in which they must react to verbal voice commands by moving to specific locations denoted by geotags. This mimics real language commands, encourages kinesthetic learning, and gives students real time feedback. These projects will be used as supplements to in-class learning to complement and reinforce other forms of practice for Russian verbs of motion.
This poster will comparetwo English translations of Pavel Bazhov's"Fire Fairy"; specifically I focus on how the translationsconvey the sexual themes of the story. "Fire Fairy" is a short storypublished in The Malachite Casket, which is an anthology of stories written by Bazhov when he was traveling the Ural Mountains in the late 1930s. The story is about a young boy, Fedyunka, and hispursuit of a dancing girl that appears before him when he creates fires. Fedyunka believes that she will leave gold in the spots where she dances. The sexual undertones of this story are primarily conveyed through motifs that are common in Russian and eastern European folklore. I will discuss how two translators—Alan Moray Williams and Eve Manning, whose works were published in 1944 and 1950, respectively—compensate for cultural differences in order to retain this aspect of the story.
“ … ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Special thanks to Professor Kristin Bidoshi and Union College Summer Research Program for … generous support. Special … students prefixes of VoM. KristinBidoshi, Ziyi Hu, Union College Department of Russian and … ”
Abstract
The Russian language is widely considered one of the most difficult languages to master for native English speakers. Moreover, Russian Verbs of Motion (VoM) are one of the most difficult grammar points for students to comprehend. In the 1960s, James J. Asher proposed the Total Physical Response (TPR) method to facilitate students' learning of Russian; this method has proven to be effective. We adopted the TPR method, which is commonly used in the classroom, and applied it to Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) platforms to assist students in learning Russian VoM in an immersive environment. In our VR program, which currently runs as a web based application and on VR headsets, students are given verbal voice commands in Russian and are expected to move according to those commands. Feedback is provided immediately upon the student's action. At the conclusion of the program, by way of assessment, the student takes a short quiz to see if s/he has mastered the material. The Augmented Reality program, which consists or a booklet and a pilot exercise, requires students to install the application ARIS on their mobile phones; the use of mobile phones enables students to physically move in real locations. Feedback is provided through geolocation tags and AR targets.
“ … Advisors: Prateek Arora, Department of Economics and KristinBidoshi, Russian and East European Studies UNION COLLEGE … ”
Abstract
The central bank uses monetary policy to maintain the balance of the economy in the country. Each country in Europe has a central body that regulates the total supply of money and supports economic expansion. By using expansionary and contractionary monetary policies the central bank in each country targets inflation and keeps unemployment low. The central bank frequently employs the discount rate, open market operations, and reserve requirements as its three primary monetary policy tools. Through monetary policy, the central bank affects the profits, revenue, income, investment, turnover, and long-term and short-term liabilities of businesses. Adjusting interest rates influences the borrowing and expectations of firms. In order to grow, firms need to focus on labor, technology, marketing, investing, capital, and customers. This research focuses on the effect that interest rates have on businesses' performance in European countries, particularly in nations that are members of the European Union but are not in the Eurozone such as Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Sweden as well as East European nations that are neither members of the EU nor the Eurozone such as Albania, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Ukraine. Using 1995-2019 data from the statistical websites of each country and the World Bank, this study finds that interest rates have a negative effect on firms' performance in these European countries.
“ … Advisor: Alicia Dang Department of Economics Advisor: Kristin Bidoshi Department of Russia and East European … the … important people in my life. My advisors, Professor Kristin Bidoshi and Professor Alicia Dang, have of course … ”
Abstract
Following the Russian aggression into the Ukraine in 2022, a large number of Russian citizens temporarily emigrated to avoid being trapped in Russia as the conditions worsened and the threat of the draft loomed. Many migrants are of middle to upper income and their movement is concentrated into urban areas of the various nations of the Caucasus and Central Asia. There have been reports of more than 350,000 Russian citizens flying into Armenia's Zvartnots airport alone in the first six months of 2022. Hundreds of thousands also flew into countries like Georgia, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan. All of these countries have relatively small developing economies and their ability to accommodate the new immigrants is limited. This paper analyzes the impact the increase in the average rent costs as a result of the influx of the high income migrants. This is shown through a simple difference in difference model, similar to the work of Albert Saiz (2003) in his analysis of the housing shock in Miami due to the influx of low income migrants. The results of the paper indicate that the migrants had a significant and positive relationship with the average cost of short term housing in the impacted regions of Tbilisi, Batumi, Yerevan, Dilijan, Almaty, Toshkent and Ulaanbaatar during the period when the treatment is deemed to have been experienced. As the migrants are temporary, their departure threatens the economies of these affected countries as the cost of living increases in tandem with poverty and other concerning statistics.
This thesis explores the combat roles of Soviet and American airwomen during World War II. Both the Soviet Union and the United States utilized women in the war effort between 1943-1945 in different capacities. The United States and the USSR were in very different geographical locations when it came to Germany; the US was across the Atlantic Ocean and not in a vulnerable position while the USSR was fighting a war on its home turf. The need for soldiers was very different. In addition, the cultures of the two countries were very different in their attitudes towards the equality between men and women. Communist ideology dictated that both genders were capable of the same work whereas in the US, society was still heavily inclined towards patriarchal norms.
The Soviet Union was in desperate need of soldiers as German moved farther into the interior of the country. Due to the geographic size of the country, Stalin had no trouble filling his quotas and was willing to accept massive numbers of casualties. In addition to conscripting men, women could join the Red Army in a variety of roles, one of those roles were pilots. In 1941 Marina Raskova was given permission to form Aviation Group 122 which would contain three regiments comprised entirely of women. Those regiments included the 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, the 122nd Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment, and the 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment. The women of these regiment took part in numerous combat missions and suffered numerous casualties.
In the United States, most of the jobs women took were in the factories as the men went to war and they kept the United States afloat. Women joined the Army Nurses Core (ANC), the Women's Auxiliary Core (WAC), and took on various administrative roles, but never entered the war in a combat capacity. In 1942, the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) and Women's Flying Training Detachment (WFTD) were formed before they were merged to become the WASPs. Though these women never saw combat, they were responsible for ferrying aircrafts and commanders and were expected to help train the ground troops. The WASPs were disbanded in 1944. This thesis examines both Aviation Group 122 as well as the WASPs in their formation, their equipment and missions, their relationships with their male counterparts, and their disbandment.
“ … Eastern European Studies, 2020. ADVISORS: David Siegel and Kristin Bidoshi This thesis aims to critique, amend and offer … ”
Abstract
This thesis aims to critique, amend and offer original analysis on the existing theoretical framework that denotes an internment camp. By utilizing Giorgio Agamben's "What is a Camp?" (2000), and analyzing six case studies of specific camps, this thesis combines political theory and empirical research to offer a more comprehensive explanation of what an internment camp is and how it can be categorized. In "What is a Camp?", Agamben examines one case study--Nazi concentration and extermination camps--to support his claims. It is very common among political theorists to study just one camp and apply Agamben's theory to that one example. However, as many scholars have found, Agamben's theory on what a camp is does not perfectly align itself with any one example of an internment camp.
Therefore, this thesis will take a comprehensive approach to analyzing what an internment camp is, and how all camps are connected in essence. The six case studies I will analyze are the Soviet Gulag, Nazi concentration and extermination camps, Chinese re-education camps for Uighur Muslims, Japanese American internment camps, Irish Direct Provision, and Australian mandatory detention for asylum seekers. While these camps have served, or serve, as different purposes to the governments that implemented them, they all share the same characteristics of exclusion, lack of humanity, and brutal leadership, among others. These shared characteristics among camps are oftentimes disregarded by scholars who write about only one camp and how that specific example relates to Agamben's work. This approach is counterproductive to the study of Agamben's camp and makes it easy to disregard what he theorizes. Instead, this thesis will take a comprehensive view to analyze how empirical examples fit together and how they relate to the theoretical camp.
The Cold War escalated at the end of World War II when the tension between the United States and Soviet Union significantly increased. The stakes of the Cold War were considerably high, especially during the atomic age. Hence the creation of the Venona Project, which began in 1943 and was originally a small project intended to break down Soviet diplomatic communications, but later expanded to be a full-blown counterintelligence operation. The project's American cryptologists took nearly two years to decode the first Soviet coded telegraph cable. The project exposed multiple Soviet Spies in the United States, some of the most famous being Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. The Rosenbergs were implicated when Ethel Rosenberg's brother, David Greenglass alerted the FBI to their involvement in a Soviet spy ring. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg never confessed to conspiracy to provide atomic secrets to the Soviet Union, and both were ultimately executed by electric chair in 1953. David Greenglass, who turned his family into the FBI, did not experience the same fate as his sister and brother-in-law. Through analysis of court documents, decoded cables, and media coverage of the trial, I discuss the four factors that led to the execution of the Rosenbergs and the legitimacy of their trial and its outcome. These factors include the location of the Rosenbergs, their Communist party membership, Ethel Rosenberg's submissive position as a woman in the 1950s, and anti-semitism in the United States.
“ … Language, March 2015 Advisors: Michele Angrist, Kristin Bidoshi My research focuses on Russia's … ”
Abstract
My research focuses on Russia's foreign policy interests and actions in the context of the post-soviet space and its relations with western nations and organizations. I used three case studies: the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict, the Russo- Georgian War, and the Crimean Crisis. The Russian government has pursued intervention in these areas for various reasons. The most prominent of these reasons are ethnicity, religion, irredentism, great power politics, and economics. The Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict centers on the Eastern Orthodox Armenian enclave in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, a nation otherwise consisting of a majority of Turkic Sunni Muslims. The Russo-Georgian War was fought in the separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Ethnic issues were a part of the outbreak in fighting, but fighting also erupted due to Georgia becoming a transport state for oil and natural gas through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline. Russia sees Georgia as a competitor and so aided separatist rebels. The Crimea Crisis was studied in the context of current events and the history of the marginalized Muslim Tatars in the region. I analyze Russia's motivations for intervention, the type of intervention it pursued, international mediation, and the outcomes of the conflicts.
“ … European Studies, June 2019. ADVISOR: David Siegel and Kristin Bidoshi This thesis focuses on the effects of … ”
Abstract
This thesis focuses on the effects of European Union expansion on Roma populations throughout Europe. The EU instituted a number of policies intended to help European Roma, one of the most persecuted minority groups on the continent, but rather than significantly improving quality of life for this population, in many places relations between Roma and greater European society have worsened. I introduce the topic by reviewing the legal frameworks created for this purpose, and discussing existing literature that examines the pitfalls of EU Roma policies.
Next, I argue that through europeanization and profit-oriented migration policies, the EU has furthered the marginalization of Roma across Europe and created an atmosphere unsympathetic to Roma issues. I analyze the identity frame of Roma promoted by europeanization, which allows states and EU administrative bodies to divert responsibility for helping Roma populations. I then illustrate the ways in which EU migration policy sidelines impoverished groups in favor of skilled workers. This practice disproportionately harms Roma migrants, who commonly work within the scope of the informal economy, and allows for expulsions and other discriminatory practices to persist. I conclude my argument by reiterating the ways in which EU Roma policy has had the opposite of its intended effect, and suggest ways to correct the deficiencies of current measures.
“ … Evolution of Women in Intelligence ADVISOR: Thomas Lobe, Kristin Bidoshi This thesis serves to analyze the evolution … ”
Abstract
This thesis serves to analyze the evolution of women in the intelligence community arguing that the role of women has transformed from one of a sexual nature into one of strong leadership. Early sources portray the female spy as a sexual object using her body to covertly gather intelligence through the disguise of a stereotypical woman. Women hid behind their socially accepted roles as housewives or nurses. Using a mix of primary and secondary sources including the declassified CIA Typist to Trailblazer document collection as well as sources of spy fiction this thesis identifies the factors that inhibited the advancement of women in the intelligence community. Following the creation of the CIA women comprised eighty-six percent of the clerical work force but very few women filled professional roles. As traditional gender norms gave way to discussions of women's equality new opportunities for women were created. Gender stereotypes lack of education and lack of military training had inhibited women from progressing from clerical roles to professional roles within the Agency. The 1991 Glass Ceiling Study Summary identified that the number of women in the workforce had increased to forty percent; however only nine percent of the Senior Intelligence Service were women. Systematic barriers prevented women from advancing to leadership positions. The exceptional women that first entered the intelligence community were pioneers for the subsequent generations of women. Today women are commended for their work within the intelligence community. This research has shown that the CIA once named the "Old Boys' Club" is no longer dominated by men. Modern spy fiction has adapted to more accurately portray the female spy as a strong leader who can balance motherhood and a career. Women have forced change within the intelligence community simultaneously constructing the most diverse and vigorous intelligence communities to date. The evolution of women in intelligence has transformed the fictional portrayal of the female spy. This thesis with analyze the relationship between fact and fiction in the portrayal of women in intelligence.
“ … and Russian and East European Studies, June 2020 ADVISOR: Kristin Bidoshi & David Siegel This thesis examines how … ”
Abstract
This thesis examines how Russia uses its hydrocarbon resources as a foreign policy tool. As one of the most significant gas and oil producers in the world, Russia has gained enormous political power in many nations. In short, for many years, Russia has been building asymmetrical economic relationships with multiple countries, including countries in the European Union. Many of these countries have become partially or entirely dependent on Russian energy. It is true that financially, Russia profits enormously from hydrocarbon exports, but scholars also agree that for Russia, gaining political power by selling hydrocarbon resources is just as important. Another way of gaining political influence in a foreign country is to offer subsidies on energy exports. This tactic has been used primarily in former Soviet countries, mainly because their economies are rather weak.
We also know that corruption, informal politics, and Vladimir Putin's network of close acquaintances are deeply rooted in the contemporary Russian business culture. For example, Russian state-owned energy companies such as <em>Gazprom</em>, <em>Rosneft</em>, and <em>Transneft</em> all have Putin's close allies as board members. In other words, the Kremlin is able to directly control virtually all major Russian hydrocarbon exporters. Thus, we can ask "who really benefits from Russia's natural resources - the Russian nation or a selected group of influential businessmen close to the Kremlin?" In order to answer this question, Russia's role in Crimea and Africa will be analyzed. This thesis argues that no matter what business Russia does, including exporting cheap gas and oil in return for political influence, building gigantic infrastructural projects in Crimea, or selling arms in Africa, Putin's close allies always get their 'fair' share of the pie. Hence, it can be concluded that the Kremlin transfers state-owned wealth to the rich oligarchs, but Russian citizens also gain something from these transactions: geopolitical security abroad, which oftentimes translates to domestic security.
