Quetzalcoatl is the journal for Humanities research at NCSSM-Morganton.  Named after the Mesoamerican god of Wisdom, Crafts and Learning, the god Quetzalcoatl is often depicted as a plumed serpent.  The name also honors the local Guatemalan community in Morganton, many of whom are both culturally and linguistically Maya.  The majority of the articles in Quetzalcoatl resulted from investigation and writing done in the Morganton Research in Humanities program, but it also publishes student work from the full range of Humanities classes and experiences on our campus including American Studies and senior Humanities electives.

Quetzalcoatl is published annually in the Spring Semester and edited by a team of students who were in the Research in Humanities class.  If you are interested in working on the Quetzalcoatl editorial board you can either elect to do it as a Senior Leadership Campus Service position that you apply for in the Spring of your Junior year or you can join the Quetzalcoatl Forum in the Spring of your Senior year after having taken RHUM.

2025-2026 Editorial Board

Addison Garner

Avika Gera

Riley Hoffmeier

Pippa Hollingsworth

Hadley Lord

Evie Salam

Sahara Wiggins

Faculty Advisor:  Dr. Marcelo Aranda (marcelo.aranda@ncssm.edu)

•  Vol. 4 Paper Submission Deadline - February 9th, 2027

Quetzalcoatl Vol. 3- Spring 2026

Table of Contents

Letter from the Editors

Culture, Media, and Art

Changing the Narrative on Fairytales Through a Historical Analysis of Fairytales Across Africa, Europe, and Japan, from a Neurological and Psychological Perspective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 

Evie Salam 

Art in the 19th Century and Reflections of an Artist's Mental State. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 

Julia Lee 

Beads and Feathers: Hippies and Their Usage of Native American Culture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Zan Jamieson

Rewriting Morality: The Study Of Buddhist And Utilitarian Ethical Frameworks Through The Good Place . . . . . . .  60

Avika Gera

Literary and Linguistic Studies

Womanism in Sula. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78

Pippa Hollingsworth

El catolicismo en Pedro Páramo y sus comparaciones con la historia de México . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85

Pippa Hollingsworth

Atlantique Analytical Essay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 

Juliet Wang 

Breaking the Silence: Written Resistance Viewed Through Contemporary Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93

Maxwell Vaughan  

Indigenous Languages under Occupation: Crimean Tatar as a Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 

Ainsley Vorhis

Politics, Diplomacy and Law

Leadership Among Uncertainty: Navigating the “Fog of War” in Post World War II China . . . . . . . .109 

Sahara Wiggins

Diplomacy through Dance - Martha Graham and Cold War. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132 

Riley Hoffmeier

Anglo-American Diplomacy Early Republic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 

Ishant Jawali

The Architect of America: Hamilton’s Influence on a Nation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Arti Phoncharoensri

The Acceptance of Skeptical Evidence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .158

Ritika Mora 

Science, Medicine, Environmental and Technology Studies

Justifying Enslavement: The Science of Race in Pre-Civil War America. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Michael Zhang

Gynecology and Women's Health in the Antebellum Era . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .172

Alexandra Hexemer

Implications of Self-Experimentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .181

Nicole Taylor

Flood Protection: North Carolina & the Netherlands. Lessons From Both Sides. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .188

Riley Hoffmeier

Women and Gender Studies

A Foucauldian Analysis Of The Portrayal Of Consent Across Frühlings Erwachen And Spring Awakening  . . .231

Hadley Lord 

Female Leadership Styles Across Western North Carolina: Analyzing the Effect of Femininity, Region, and Religion in Perpetuating Gendered Stereotypes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .249

Addison Garner

Women’s Identity in Jain Literature and Diaspora. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .267

Manya Bharal

Clothing, Crossdressing, and Conformity: Gender Norms and Deviation During the Civil War. . . .286

Lydia Essig 

Socio-Economic Roots of Salem Witch Trials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .300

Lillian Anderson 

Afterword to Quetzalcoatl Vol. III