Author: Nooran Khan

Reviewer: The Questioz Editorial Board 

Reviewer's Note: ​This paper presents an interesting economic, psychological and philosophical perspective on “Valueless Economic Theory” through a detailed exploration of Modern Monetary Theory, the psychology of inflation, as well as a discussion of the more abstract concepts of value and morality. Through the use of both quantitative and qualitative evidence as well as a presentation of real world corollaries of the concepts discussed, the author presents a theoretical, yet insightful, conceptualisation of an economy that is “valueless”. Overall, this paper is both interesting and well written.

Author: Mahaa Arasi Saminathan

Reviewer: The Questioz Editorial Board 

Reviewer's Note: This paper examines the role of Reliance as a potential threat of taking over the E-commerce industry in India and become the giant in the industry. The author has conducted in-depth research and analyzed the strategies that companies such as Amazon and Walmart employed to become the leaders of E-commerce in India and compared those strategies to the strategies Reliance uses. The compare and contrast done by the author of the strategies of each company provides the readers with the exact idea of how each company functions in the E-commerce industry. The economic evaluation done in the body of the research paper is extremely interesting for the readers. Overall, the paper provides an insightful representation of the global E-commerce industry.  

 

By THEODORE BAAS, Michigan, the USA

By JIAYI (VIVIAN) LI, Shanghai, China
​Dr. Mary J. Barnett, Georgetown University

​Othello was written between 1603 and 1604; its first recorded performance was in 1604, with Richard Burbage playing Othello (Swindall 11). Undoubtedly, Burbage played Othello in blackface. It was not until over 200 years later, in 1833 that the first black actor played Othello in London. Since then, most actors playing Othello have been black, although scholars like Peter Ackroyd argue that Shakespeare intended him to be a Spanish Moor (Arogundade). Recently some scholars began to argue about the ethnicity of Othello. Some scholars even suggest that Othello should be played by a white actor of blackface, like hundreds of years ago. After all, one of Othello’s main themes is racial discrimination. Othello is a play focusing on the issue of racial discrimination that offers unlimited possibilities for new interpretations. Spectators, critics and directors in different time have tended to think differently about the most proper race to play Othello because as time goes by, more and more people can accept racial diversity in the society.

By RAYMOND XU, San Jose, California, USA
​Stanford Summer Humanities Institute, 2016
Master Thinkers of the 19th Century: Marx, Nietzsche, Freud
Professor: Adrian Daub

By HYUN JOON CHOI, Richmond Hill, Canada
​The ​Stanford Summer Humanities Institute (2016): "Marx, Nietzsche, Freud: The Master Thinkers of the Nineteenth Century."

By JOHANNES LANG, Vienna, Austria
Mentor: Ruth Schabauer (Department of English, Neulandschule Grinzing)

​This work examines the impact of Europeans’ commercial expansion into the Indian Ocean on the local Asian and African economies between 1600 and 1650. By studying this historically important period of time, we can also gain a deeper understanding of modern globalization and of Europe’s continuing political and economic influence today. The different consequences for the various regions bordering the Indian Ocean are compared, contrasted, and evaluated. For my research I use primarily books and articles but also rely on the analysis of economic data. Epic poems from Mughal writers as well as modern studies are included so that the reader may gain thorough insights into the topic. As I try to tell history from an Afro-Asian perspective, I let both 17th century and contemporary voices native to the Indian Ocean have their say.
I conclude in my study that the consequences of trade with the Europeans differed greatly between the heterogeneous regions. The nature of these consequences depended on the socioeconomic structure as well as on the environmental particularities of the regions in question. Some economies profited from the new situation; others suffered from the altered trade system. Interestingly, many effects of 17th century globalization, such as increased competition with countries far away and a heightened reliance on foreign trade, are visible also in today’s process of globalization.   

By LUCAS DAVIS, Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Mentor: Corralu Buddenbohm (Paper advisor); Ms. Mary O’Rourke, Lausanne Collegiate School

By ALEX CHUNG, New York, USA
​The Stanford Summer Humanities Institute, 2015
Course: Revolutions
Professor: Dan Edelstein
​Graduate TA: Dylan J. Montanari

I. Introduction
As Karl Marx wrote in the Communist Manifesto, “A spectre is haunting Europe —the spectre of communism.”[1] For the Civil Rights Activists during the 1950s and 1960s in America, a similar specter was haunting the United States - communism. The Civil Rights Leaders turned to communist ideology for inspiration. Leading figures and organizations involved in the Civil Rights Movement such as Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Black Panther Party found profound relationships between Marx’s theories of alienation and revolution and the state of racial inequity in the United States. Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Black Panther Party each applied Marx’s theories in their speeches and in support of their views. Their application of Marx's theories, however, was done in a selectively self-serving manner and in very “broad-strokes” as necessary in order to fit the doctrine to the practicalities of their plight, rather than literally. In addition, when considering the socioeconomic climate within which the Civil Rights Movement was occurring, the Civil Rights activists used the readily apparent demarcation of classes in their fight for racial equality.[2] First, they understood that race inequality was connected to class inequality. Second, they used the ideals of Marxism. Given the Cold War efforts to contain Communism, this ideology was feared by the general public and the American Government as a threat to the social order in the United States.[3]

By CATHY YANG, Pennsylvania, the USA
​The Stanford Summer Humanities Institute, 2015
​Course: Revolutions
​Professor: Dan Edelstein
​Graduate Teaching Assistant: Dylan J. Montanari

​Art is said to be the signature of civilizations. Throughout history, artists have served as both chroniclers and commentators of important events. During the 19th century, with the emergence of radical political revolutions across Europe, Romanticism became the dominant artistic style for depicting revolutionary events. An examination of two prominent Romantic paintings reveal that Eugene Delacroix’s Massacre at Chios (fig. 1) and Francisco Goya’s Third of May 1808 (fig. 2), though seemingly alike in subject matter and style, are in fact radically different perceptions of similar events.

By RAPHAEL MORALLO, Manila, Philippines

Introduction
​As a highly valued literary work of William Shakespeare, Hamlet has been a focus of many literary analyses that reveal the underlying messages that the text has that may shed light on the creative genius behind the writer, the significance of such pieces of literature in the age that they were written, and its effect on potential readers today. One possible link between the modern age and the Shakespearean classic is how the portrayal of psychologically troubled individuals in the story represents and foreshadows how the obsession over consumerist ideas leads to mental instability. This is shown through the various psychological aspects of the characters that, in turn, contribute to character and plot development as well as the central theme of the play. At the same time, these aspects may be linked to similar conditions that may be seen in today’s consumerist-driven society since the circumstances that affect both the play and modern society may have close similarities. Displaying how consumerism may be found within the internal and external conflict points of the characters creates a comparison that allows Hamlet to continue its recognition as an exemplary piece of English literature.

By MICHAEL CHENG, USA
​Finalist, 2016 MIT INSPIRE Competition in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (History Category)

By CHELSEA SHU, USA
​Stanford Summer Humanities Institute, 2015
Course: Revolutions
​Professor Dan Edelstein
​Graduate TA: Sarah Grandin

From clips of the red sun to full-length feature films about the perilous class struggles, films are known for their involvement in many revolutions. They were viewed as vessels of propaganda in the eyes of the revolutionary leaders and sources of education to the common people. Despite the fact that films hold a substantial importance in almost every modern revolution, it was most significant in the Cuban Revolution and the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Not only did the industry manipulate the minds of the  people in favor of the revolution, but it also underwent major changes itself throughout the process. Although the film industry played a major role in both the Cuban Revolution and the Chinese Cultural Revolution, it inaugurated more of an impact, both socially and politically, in the Chinese Cultural Revolution than it did in the Cuban Revolution.
​

By ELISABETH SIELGEL, California, USA
​Stanford Summer Humanities Institute, 2015
Professor Dan Edelstein
​Graduate Teaching Assistant: Dylan J. Montanari

Dale Yoder in his article, 'Current Definitions of Revolution' claims that revolution must involve “abrupt, violent social change” with a shift in sovereignty from one place to another. He wrote, “It is the change in the attitudes of the citizenry toward the underlying basis of the institutions or customs which have come to stand in the way of a tolerable life-experience” (441). As evidenced in comparisons drawn between the American Revolution and the Algerian Revolution from 1954 to 1962, decolonization, as it happens, involves many of the elements also integral to a revolution, making the two terms almost inseparable in their synonymy.​

By RAUL GARCIA, ESTEBAN MANTICA and VALERIA ZUÑIGA
​Managua, Nicaragua 

Abstract
           
​              This research studies the paramilitary groups mentioned in Frank McCourt’s book “Angela’s Ashes”. It draws mainly upon second hand sources and historic documentation, including books and songs, to explain the rise and fall of the three main paramilitary groups: the Red Branch Knights, the Fenian Men, and the Irish Republican Army. Most prior research focuses on the common purpose of these groups - a free Ireland.

By SARTHAK GARELLA, London, United Kingdom​

​Stresemann was a politician of the Weimar republic after Ebert. When Stresemann came into power, Germany was still under the influence of the effects of the treaty of Versailles. Germany was in economic peril, owing 6600 million pounds to the victors of the First World War, militarily crippled as the armed forces were reduced to only 100,000 men and no battleships, no armored vehicles and no aircraft or submarines as well as no troops in the Rhineland. The war guilt clause, article 231, also left Germany hating the allies and the treaty of Versailles as they thought it was unfair. Stresemann entered Germany when it was in a state of peril, however, one could argue that his successes outweighed his limitations and he was very significant in the recovery of Germany after 1923 until his death in 1929.

By, TYLER HELMS, Shelby, North Carolina, USA
Stanford Summer Humanities Institute, 2015
​Course: Revolutions
Professor Dan Edelstein
​Graduate Teaching Assistant: Sarah Grandin

​In the case of all oppression and civil rights violations, there comes a point of explosion, a point where the people refuse to be suppressed and decide to make their voices heard. This is the case for the Stonewall Riots and The Boston Tea Party. While they are distinctly different social and political events, they are held together by three parallels: a similar trajectory of events, suppressed people who wanted their voices heard, and long lasting political influence. Both events followed the path of oppression, explosion, suppression, and long standing impact.

Abstract:
​
In this paper, I will attempt to explore the following question: If we accept the premise that master historical narratives are shaped by “great people”, how can we truly know about the past? Are there enough sources to know the truth? By looking at contemporary Macedonian history (since 1991) and its master narrative (post-Yugoslav, sovereign), particularly focusing on one key stake holder, namely former president Kiro Gligorov, I plan to examine the Gligorov biography using available sources: web sources, Kiro Gligorov’s memoir Macedonia is all we have,  TV and newspaper sources. In this text, Kiro Gligorov’s biography is represented using available, revealed resources.

By NAIMA K. GUPTA, New Delhi, India
Stanford Summer Humanities Institute, 2015
​Course: Revolutions
Professor Dan Edelstein
​Graduate Teaching Assistant: Sarah Grandin

 By CHUYI YE, Guangzhou, China
Stanford Summer Humanities Institute, 2015
​Course: Revolutions
​Professor Dan Edelstein
​Graduate Teaching Assistant: Sarah Grandin

​​This paper is an examination of several specific artworks with background information of their corresponding revolution. It begins with a brief introduction of French art history and Russian art history in the time of revolutions and segues into interpretation and analysis of specific artworks. The paper ends with a concrete comparison between propaganda art and artists during the two revolutions and an evaluation of their effects in a broader scope.

By SAUMYA MALHOTRA, Gurgaon, India

James Madison, in Federalist No. 51 (The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments), discussed the need to limit the powers of the government through a federal system and proposed a system of 'checks and balances' to achieve said objective, apart from providing a justification for the existence of government itself.