INQUIRY

New York University • College of Arts and Science
with larger questions of literary influence, the dialectic of
fiction and reality and the Cinquecento’s apparent engagement
with questions of gender and identity.
Philanthropy: A Staple Piece of British Culture in the
Nineteenth Century
Isabelle Foss, History
Sponsor: Professor Guy Ortolano, History
Philanthropy is much lauded for its connection to
high morality and benevolent spirit as are those involved
within it. However, a deep analysis of its development
during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901) sheds
light on the institutionalization of this enterprise and on
wider reaching changes in the rapidly evolving society
of nineteenth-century Britain. The Industrial Revolution,
which dominated this period, brought not only modernization
but also a whole host of social problems: vast
impoverishment, overcrowding, disease and poor working
conditions, especially in the heavily concentrated industrial
urban centers. Mass welfare provision arose in response to
this situation in the form of philanthropy in a pre-Welfare
State Britain. The cases of four major philanthropists, Lord
Shaftesbury, George Peabody, Angela Burdett-Coutts and
Louisa Twining, each represent key figures that developed
popular philanthropy into an institution and a staple piece
of British culture. This study’s significance arises from its
ability to illuminate broader trends in British society as
well as on welfare aid, which in this period interestingly
was overall inefficient and inadequate when faced with
the depth of the crisis.
Garudas and Nagas: An Eastern Approach to the
Monstrous
Ashley Frenkel, Art History
Sponsor: Professor Kathryn Ann Smith, Art History
Monsters are cathartic: they allow people to project
their unsavory desires onto an acceptable outlet. They
lie on the periphery of the conventional and are some of
the most enduring examples of the power of the human
imagination. This project focuses on western theories of
the monstrous in relation to two Southeast Asian creatures,
garudas and nagas, man-eagle hybrids and serpent spirits
respectively. Garudas and nagas derive from the beliefs
of indigenous religions in southern Asia, but Hinduism
and Buddhism appropriated these figures as a way for
people to reconcile contrasting belief systems. The author
analyzes iconographic evolutions from India, the birthplace
of Buddhism, to other eastern countries such as Tibet and
Thailand. Gandhara in Pakistan, a cultural crossroads of
eastern and western ideas, offers art influenced by both
traditions. It is argued that despite garudas’ and nagas’
similarities to western monsters, neither can be classified
as “monstrous.” The lingering negative connotations of
this western-born concept are neither evident in nor applicable
to the artworks and myths related to these creatures.
This research is significant because it takes a western idea
within a western dominated field and examines the idea
through a lens that shows the intersectionality of seemingly
disparate cultures.
Manuscript Collecting as Statecraft in the Courts of
King Charles V of France and Jean, Duke of Berry,
1364–1416
Nora Gorman, Art History
Sponsor: Professor Carol Krinsky, Art History
Jean, Duke of Berry (1340–1416) is recognized as a
patron whose novel tastes changed the course of art history,
but he was also a shrewd political manipulator. He brokered
key settlements with England during the Hundred Years’
War and, along with his brothers, acted as regent on behalf
of his incapacitated nephew, King Charles VI of France.
This paper argues that Jean’s collecting—especially of
illuminated manuscripts—was part of an established
tradition, one in which the acquisition of objects was a
sophisticated and purposeful expression of royal authority.
Jean’s late brother, Charles V, had used library-building—
a practice appropriated from royal women—to reify the
Valois dynasty’s legitimacy. Moreover, Jean employed
the tradition of collecting in unprecedented ways in order
to expand his power and articulate his individual identity.
Comparative analysis of royal inventories and the iconography
of Jean’s most significant manuscripts reveals
parallels between his collecting and political campaigns
as well as stylistic similarities between his acquisitions
and commissions. This paper takes an interdisciplinary
approach to the study of illuminated manuscripts, engages
with the growing body of knowledge on the history of
collecting and investigates gaps between Anglophone and
French scholarship.
Opening Hearts and Aligning Minds: Counterinsurgency
in Algeria and Iraq
Marian (Nate) Grau, History
Sponsor: Professor Valerie Deacon, History
This paper compares the methods with which the
United States and France attempted to defeat the insurgencies
against which they were pitted in Iraq and Algeria
respectively. French military thought in the late-colonial
period revolved around successfully winning “small wars”
against indigenous uprisings attempting to overthrow
France’s imperial authority after the Second World War,
and many French analyses were instrumental in shaping
how American military thinkers understood their own
situation in Iraq. Yet, for all the attention that was paid
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