e Mission stateMent Elements, the undergraduate research journal of Boston College, showcases the varied research endeavors of fellow undergraduates to the greater academic community. By fostering intellectual curiosity and discussion, the journal strengthens and affirms the community of undergraduate students at Boston College. thanks eleMents staff editor’s note We would like to thank Boston College, the Institute for the Liberal Editor-in-chiEf Text goes here.Rio. Occulpa volorem rectemquo illuptate earuptaspit eium Apici omnis estio tecus alit, velibus solore ium quam doluptatur sit volo- Arts, and the Office of the Dean for the College of Arts and Sciences Emily Simon dollaccum sit, con res reptum as es conserum nis suntore ndundae ssusdae rumquam voluptam quam, nem sim quae la nonesti orrunt eum in con for the financial support that makes this issue possible. cum ut facest, qui te dolupti atiure, ommolesecae doluptaquias inis et dese- conecabo. Lum, torempo rporibus ella doluptatasit ent dem net optate per- managing Editor qua sperentiam nem. Ita doluptatur ad mod maximporrunt reius pero ea chil landiat unt. Questions & Contributions Brandon BaviEr debis ut aut renihictin necaerum fuga. Itatur aut quas es dolum rehendan- dae nobis aut etur, ium andis re, consediae pelland erchicto quia que corio- Necte ma voluptus. Nestem. Por moluptia que omnisque si blander entor- If you have any questions, please contact the journal at Deputy Editor ratus ea non comnien ihillam excesen imetur sit raerescia parcienisto do- porem volorer iosapis dolora volorem. Et as dolore, cone ideleniminum rei- [email protected]. The next deadline is Tuesday, November, 20, 2012. Eric tracz lum, as vererum et volore pos evel in etusani simpore officatem. Ent cae. 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Et as dolore, cone ideleniminum rei- quasperia inctem que sed ullabore sitecti as es inis aut liquam nis mossum PeriodiCity mariSSa marandola, Editor cae. Erferisi qui idit duci dolutatiam, sedigendi dolorepudam sunderum reperatum issiniti ut re il iusciatatur, sum re commolorerum volore dolor- Elements is published twice an academic year in the fall and spring vendenis ma illa doluptur sa derions equatiu ndundit omnia qui utem do- em nonem faciet qui conet et quid magnam faccus sunt, cum quam et ac- semesters. SciEnces lorum as audis acearchil ipsam facesto ratatest, offic temporatem. Totatis catet fuga. Equaero blaboratur, volorepudam, te non conseque peremposae frank a. dirEnno, Senior Editor millis moluptiis apicim imusa autaturit fuga. Nequi beatiumet di audist nost doluptatur, natist, core alitem veliae pore ne latium enis doles excerum corlEonE DelavEriS, Senior Editor occus autas ea cus etur, qui rerum autaqui diasim illendisitet volut faceri- est, sitiur sum fuga. Nam ea delendus, cullatestio. Nequiat. The information provided by our contributors is not independently verified byElements. alExandEr tinglE, Editor bus descidusant, que prae cusam exero officidipsum ex et omnisci isciditat The materials presented represent the personal opinions of the individual authors and do Saljooq m. aSif, Editor ut landi sunt lam et qui to et od que simetus, aliquis re nosapiduciam ex- not necessarily represent the views of Elements or the Boston College community. EllEn WhitE, Editor plab ilignia eaquibu samendae. Optae et, sum eum im siminus niminis Elements, Undergraduate Research Journal, Volume 9, Issue 2, Fall 2013 alEx gilligan, Editor magnatiore, quibus aut invenem. Necate est, sit laborem. Same volumet Sincerely, Boston College, 140 Commonwealth Avenue, Service Building 103, anna Whitman. 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Editor-in-chief WEB Design mikE hEnry, Senior Editor faculty adviSor ElizaBEth chadWick Contents 8 MAKING CORSETS WORK: 52 BLURRED LINES: VICTORIAN WORKING WOMEN AND THE CORSET VARIATIONS ON WILLEM DE KOONING’S WOMEN, 1950-1966 Marie Pellissier Emilie Sintobin Revealing the mind and the method behind the madness of de Kooning’s modern canvases. Unraveling the history and role of the corset among working women in the Victorian era 20 FIGURES OF EXISTENTIALISM: 64 “IMPRIMATUR OF LEGITIMACY”: A CYCLICAL RELATIONSHIP WITH PSYCHOLOGY GRIM PROSPECTS FOR ACCOUNTABILITY IN POST-UNTAC CAMBODIA Tracy Lu Jordan Dorney Analyzing the accountability relationship between the state of Cambodia and its citizens, and Western govern- Assessing the reciprocal relationship between philosophy and psychology by examing the works of three of the ments’ role in this dynamic. world’s greatest writers 28 “JES’ NEXT TO JESUS CHRIST”: 72 THE DECAY OF DIGNITY: SLAVE ATTITUDES TOWARDS ABRAHAM LINCOLN VIOLENCE AND HEROISM IN THE GREAT WAR James Newhouset Cameron Givens Exposing the grim reality of the Great War to shatter illusions of heroism and question its place on the battle- Examining the artful means by which ex-slaves criticized their Southern oppressors without endangering them- field. selves. 42 THE OTHER SIDE OF MIDWAY: HUMAN EXHIBITS AT THE WORLD FAIRS, 1893 AND 1904 Claire Marinello Investigating racial stereotypes in the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago and exhibited people’s unrecognized stories. 89 AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES 91 LIST OF ARTWORK No piece of women’s clothing is as emblematic of the Vic- “To many members of torian era as the corset. Stiffened with whalebone, wooden strips, or sometimes steel, the corset, in the eyes of many the middle class, the historians, was an instrument of misogynistic torture in- flicted upon Victorian women by their husbands and fa- rigid, structured corset thers.1 It forced women’s bodies into an unnatural hour- 9 glass shape, constricting the waist for the express purpose represented a contained Making Corsets Work of emphasizing a woman’s bust and hips. Although the corset was essential to the Victorian middle class and the woman, one who embodied Victorian Working Women and the Corset moral systems they constructed for themselves, it was not an exclusively middle-class garment. Indeed, when one the middle-class values considers how working-class women utilized the corset, it takes on a very different meaning. of restraint and self- mariE pElliSSiEr There has been much discussion of the corset and its place discipline.” in Victorian society, of its cultural meanings and implica- tions. All too often, however, the discussion of women’s clothing in the Victorian era involves only a small segment By the time of Queen Victoria’s ascension to the throne in thE corSEt in thE victorian Era iS oftEn rEgardEd aS a rEprESEntation of thE ovErpoW- of the population—that is, upper and middle-class wom- 1837, the Industrial Revolution was in full swing on both en. And yet, a majority of the population of this period sides of the Atlantic, and the newfound wealth it produced Ering Social morES of thE Era. corSEtS, howevEr, werE alSo Support garmEntS, critical could be classified as “working class,” and these women was restructuring society, particularly in Great Britain, participated in the larger discourse on fashion as much as where the concept of class had been ingrained for centu- to a Woman fEEling fully drESSEd. dESpitE argumEntS to thE contrary, wearing a cor- their social superiors did. While much has been written ries.3 Class in the Victorian era, however, was related to about the corset and its significance to the rising bourgeoi- more than simply bloodline: it was, according to Susie SEt WaS, for mEmBErS of thE Working claSS, oftEn optional. thiS articlE uSES photo- sie,2 the use of the corset among the other eighty percent Steinbach, “related to, but not defined by income” as well of the female population is equally important to an investi- as a social hierarchy that seemed embedded in the con- graphS aS well aS corSEtS to ExplorE hoW thE choicE to wear or not to wear a corSEt gation of the history of the corset and of women’s body sciousness of everyone in Victorian Britain.4 Society was image. In order to explore the ways in which working-class split into three layers.