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Letter From the Editors
Letter From the Editors
“Perseverance” comes from a thirteenth-century Old French word, persévérance, which means “the steadfast pursuit of an aim.” Over the past year, this word has often been used to describe people’s responses to the hardships they were facing in the COVID-19 shutdown. We, too, find this word particularly apropos when reflecting on the research that is featured in this journal as many of these research projects were finished during the Spring 2020 semester in the early months of the pandemic.
Despite the sweeping changes that transformed collegiate life almost overnight, students persevered in their studies. Those undertaking independent research lost access to libraries and archives, the opportunity for informal discussions with classmates, and in-person interactions with professors and mentors. At the broadest level, students lost the normal caliber of support that comes from a vibrant research university community. But even with this myriad of setbacks, undergraduate students not only completed but also excelled in their research. This issue of Inventio proudly showcases the fruit of their studies and, ultimately, of their perseverance.
While the past year has provided many opportunities for us to reflect on the importance of perseverance in difficult circumstances, we have also come to recognize that this virtue has always played a critical role in undergraduate studies, especially in research. Research is a protracted process, with students dedicating months and sometimes years to develop and complete their projects. Further, the experience of research often involves finding new or contradictory ideas that force the researcher to reexamine the claims they are making and explore new avenues of thought. Throughout this process, students must persevere, remaining steadfast in pursuit of their aim, which is ultimately truth.
Publishing in Inventio is a fitting conclusion to this process; during the publication process, students commit to working alongside the Student Editorial Board as they make the final revisions to their projects. When these projects are completed, students are recognized for their labor as they are able to share their research with the university community and beyond.
Ultimately, the perseverance of students in research—and particularly of students in the current circumstances—prompts the question: Why do we persevere? One motive might be a deep commitment to the goodness of the final goal. This commitment impels us to continue our work despite the difficulties we encounter in the process, and it is strengthened when shared with others who possess this same vision of the goal and desire to pursue it alongside us.
For Inventio, both the authors and the members of the Student Editorial Board commit to persevering in seeking the truth through their research and, further, in sharing it with others through publication. Volume 6, Issue 1 is evidence of this. We would like to thank those who make it possible for us to remain steadfast in this undertaking, especially the Office of Undergraduate Studies. We hope you enjoy Volume 6, Issue 1 of Inventio.
Elizabeth Hughes, Editor-in-Chief
Rachel Dugan Wood, Associate Editor
Essays
Essays
by Joel Desmarais
Although Christopher Nolan is a widely respected director, his films are sometimes seen as having limited social impact, existing instead in the complicated and abstract worlds of Nolan’s imagination. However, his film The Dark Knight consciously evokes the images of the 9/11 terrorist attack, and his heroes engage in torture and widespread surveillance in order to stop the antagonist, the Joker, from plunging Gotham City into anarchy. While Nolan avoids an explicit condemnation or endorsement of these tactics, he does show how dangerously close the heroes come to creating a totalitarian police state. The film also draws on Roman history and Greek political philosophy to demonstrate the unsustainability of placing the burden of protecting Gotham on one man. Although Batman’s actions throughout the film are largely portrayed as heroic, this dependence on superheroes seems unnecessary considering the courage displayed by the people of Gotham in the face of the Joker’s most trying schemes. Nolan thus praises the heroism of ordinary people in lieu of a didactic statement on Bush-era counterterrorism tactics, which is an inspiring message in the uncertain times following the 9/11 attack.
by Alexander Santana
When people think about the American Civil War, they focus primarily on the battles and the iconic personalities of the Union and the Confederacy. My paper focuses on a less-focused aspect of the war: the French Intervention in Mexico and how this directly threatened United States’ longstanding policy concerning European involvement in the Western Hemisphere known as the Monroe Doctrine. My paper uses a variety of primary and secondary sources to present how both the North and the South reacted to the French overthrow of Mexico’s democratically elected government in the early 1860s in favor of a friendly regime led by Maximillian I of Austria. I discuss the motivations and viewpoints of leaders on both sides of the Civil War including U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, U.S. Secretary of State William Seward, Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and several others. I describe in detail Lincoln’s pragmatic approach to averting direct war with France as well as how Davis and the Confederacy viewed France’s presence in Latin America as an opportunity to gain diplomatic recognition and an important ally in their quest for permanent secession from the Union. My paper seeks to present the French in Mexico and their threat to the Monroe Doctrine in a larger historical context. I explain the significance of this event occurring during the Civil War and how critical this event was in the history of U.S.-Europe relations. The French Intervention in Mexico left a permanent mark on the development of the Monroe Doctrine and the battle between imperialism and democracy in the Western Hemisphere.
By Nissa S. Flanders
While in his early treatises I.6[1] and I.3[20] Plotinus seems to present beauty as an unambiguous aid in the ascent of the soul to the Good, passages from two later treatises (VI.7[38] and V.5[32]) seem to contradict this view as well as contradict each other: VI.7 states that the beauty of intellect, in and of itself, is unattractive until it is enlightened by the Good, while V.5 suggests that intellectual beauty, separated from the Good, can be attractive enough to be a distraction. These passages can be reconciled with each other and with the earlier treatises by considering them to refer to flawed human perspectives rather than to the essence of the beauty of intellect.
By Laura Roa
Washington, D.C. was a city of dramatic political and social transformations during the Progressive Era. Upon her introduction to the city in 1913, First Lady Ellen Wilson personally experienced many of these transformations, including the evolving definition of women’s role in political reform and the growing popularity of urban renewal initiatives, the most notable of which involved the eradication of Washington’s shameful alleys. In order to determine the degree to which Ellen Wilson can be considered an essential character in facilitating larger and more complex female and alley reform movements, it is crucial to examine the three strands of historical discourse in which the First Lady’s legacy plays a part: the biographical literature of Mrs. Wilson and other First Ladies, literature about female reform in the Progressive Era, and literature concerning alley reform in Washington. The purpose of this paper is to incorporate each of these strands into one historical conversation about Ellen Wilson’s participation in reform and to expand upon the tensions surrounding the extent of her impact.
By Bridget Bagileo
Romans in the second century A.D. commissioned sarcophagi with relief decoration that had two purposes: to hold the body of the deceased and to offer a form of relief to the deceased’s remaining loved ones. These funerary messages made use of mythological representations for very specific purposes. Because ancients were so familiar with mythological stories, they were easily recognized and interpreted when viewed. Although many of the same characters and stories are repeatedly used in ancient art, their functions varied depending on time, context, and geographic location. Therefore, these stories took on a new meaning when commissioned by Roman aristocratic families in the second century in Italy; this funerary iconography was intended to be read as a text without words. In this paper, the mythological narratives found on sarcophagi are read to demonstrate how specifc visual details of myths were intended to be interpreted as consolatory. Parallels are made to Roman consolatory texts regarding their function and how they offered comfort to those who had experienced tragedy.
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