I wasn’t living in New York City. I was visiting my brother for the weekend while interning in Massachusetts. Besides visiting his office at Squarespace and going to Chinatown for dinner, I spent some time doing preliminary research for my senior seminar at the Center for Jewish History.

Thankfully, I had spoken with my assigned librarian about my plans to visit the Center for Jewish History before I went, so I wasn’t completely overwhelmed when I stepped inside and was confronted with stacks upon stacks of resources and books relating to everything and anything about Jews and their history.

I began by requesting five books that seemed relevant to my topic. They were brought to me, and I sat in the reading room, going through chapter after chapter, looking for relevant material to my topic. It was difficult– especially because I’m doing new research and a lot of my work is connecting sources rather than interpreting evidence already registered.

I managed to find some really great sources, including an annotated bibliography that proved to be tremendously helpful. But more so, I saw what my future might be if I pursue history and public history as a profession.

It was so much fun, to do research and read and find sources that might maybe work. It was like a scavenger hunt, but more fun and rewarding. I could so easily see myself, living in New York City, doing research and writing books and producing enjoyable history for the masses.

Each step I take in my senior seminar research, I get closer to writing my 25-page thesis paper. But I also grow closer to finding my future career path, and what history means for me and my future.

In HIS-290, we researched public history and how it can be applied in our futures. We learned about possible careers for historians. We celebrated internships and critiqued public history projects. We learned about presentism and how to think with intent about history. While we wrote annotated bibliographies and outlines and typed metadata, there was a base layer to our work that should inform a globally-focused, engaging, and responsible historical education, one that is in line with the curriculum Agnes Scott College promises. The Agnes Scott History Department wants us to be able to write a 25-page senior seminar, but they also want to develop the future historians of the world, and that is evident in the coursework of HIS-290.

Why does the Agnes Scott History faculty want to create a different type of historian? I am positive that these classes exist at other academic institutions, but I assure you, their methodology classes are completely different. They are more like the POL-226 Methodology course: papers, intensive writing and research, and more papers. HIS-290 was not, nor is it ever intended to be, a weed-out course. It is intended to make students fall in love with history, to pursue it as a career path. Perhaps, as a small department, the History faculty doesn’t want to lose any students in an unnecessary weed-out process. But the intent behind the HIS-290 curriculum is much deeper than cultivating class size and graduating majors; the course wants to foster a lifelong love of history and develop responsible and engaging historians. The History faculty cares deeply about the futures that they nurture. Can that be said for other colleges?

Because of HIS-290, I am ready to approach my senior seminar from a new angle, one that takes into account all aspects, identities, and perspectives of the topic. I am ready to work in Historical Interpretation this summer at Old Sturbridge Village and encourage visitors to think deeply about the 1830s farm at which they are watching me churn butter. Furthermore, I am excited about how The Historical Imagination will inform my future, whether as a Historical Interpreter, a Social Media Manager, or as a Novelist, my true dream. To develop engaging and dynamic histories for the enjoyment of the public is a dream of mine, and I know that HIS-290 has prepared me well to achieve these goals.

After deciding to invite pirates and philosophers alike to my salon, I decided it was integral to the evening to discuss the topics of Liberty, Fraternity, and Equality, as well as Democracy, Human Nature, and Authority. While Kant, Locke, and Rousseau discussed their beliefs on the matter, the Pirate guests would offer their input as to best actualize the philosopher’s theories, as Pirates put ideas into action.

Finally, I was tasked with putting my salon online in digital format, so that it was easily accessible to not only those in my class, but to anyone who is interested in Enlightenment history, or Golden Age Piracy. The Agnes Scott College History Department loves digital history and this project correlates with the Summit curriculum and the development of our digital portfolios. Below is my methodology for my project, and a link to view the final website!

Introduction

As a Digital and Visual Literacy tutor, I knew that I had not only the training but the resources to create an engaging and dynamic digital salon. That, coupled with my love of Enlightenment history and my interest in piracy, I threw myself into my research and creation of, what I believe, is my most comprehensive and well-designed website to date.

The Frontispiece (Home Page)

I spent a lot of time working on the frontispiece, or home page, of my digital salon. As the landing page of my subdomain, I wanted to make sure it was eye-catching, informative, and provided suitable navigation for the rest of my website. I wanted to include the quote that formed my thesis, the Yoke of Nonage quote from Immanuel Kant. That, contrasted with the image of Blackbeard directing two men underneath a yoke, provide a direct correlation between the Enlightenment and Piracy that I continue throughout my website.
I first selected my template because it allowed for video as a header. The first piece of media created for my digital salon was the header video, which shows images of the Golden Age of Piracy with an overlay of a waving black sail. All photos, including the pictures in the video, were either from Wikimedia Commons or sources otherwise.

As the reader scrolls through the Frontispiece, the reader comes to a series of text boxes that link to three critical areas of research, the thesis, evidence, and analysis that make up the backbone of the website. The images included in the text boxes are ornamentations from Captain Charles Johnson’s A General History of the Pyrates. As this text formulated much of my research, I wanted to include the beautiful ornamentation that I had come to know and love in my readings.

The reader then comes to a miniature “about” section, preceding the more in-depth separate page with navigational links. These sections allow the reader to quickly learn about the class, as well as the creator of the site. If the reader clicks on the links, they go to my digital portfolio or the Agnes Scott History Department website. These links allow the website to function not only as a research project but as an advertisement for Agnes Scott and myself as a content creator. Throughout the Frontispiece, as the website logo and icon, I have an image of the Jolly Roger, Calico Jack Rackham’s flag and the most enduring symbol of the Golden Age of Piracy.

About the Project (About Page and Scope)

I chose to include a page introducing the history of the salon, as well as the purpose of the digital salon. The project is not typical, and therefore, the average reader might not understand the reasoning behind the project. I further chose to include the methodology essay, albeit differently formatted, on the about page, so it is readily available to my classmates and the reader.

The page that introduces the scope of my project is when the research behind The Enlightened Pirate is introduced. I begin the page with a quote from noted pirate historian, Phillip Gosse. It was impossible to research the entirety of the Enlightenment, the Golden Age of Piracy, or the connections between them. As I explain on the page, I chose to narrow the research scope for the project based on coursework, primary source documents, secondary source research, as well as geographic range. I also included an image of an engraving from the 1772 edition of Encyclopedie, again, via Wikimedia Commons. After defining the scope of research, I was able to write my thesis and begin researching The Enlightened Pirate.

Research (Thesis, Analysis, and Evidence)

My thesis, as presented on the thesis page, went through several revisions. I wanted to create a thesis that adequately stated what I was attempting to argue but also provided sufficient information for someone casually reading the project. I chose to accentuate the thesis page with a quote found in a valuable secondary source, Bandits at Sea: a Pirates Reader, that informed my research but did not directly make it into any analysis. I also chose to include one of the more complete images we have from A General History of the Pyrates, an engraving by Benjamin Cole that depicts Bartholomew Roberts, and his flag.

Next, I have a category of posts that summarize my research, or, what would be my essay, if this was a traditional research essay. I wrote six posts, three about piracy and the enlightenment, and three about enlightenment philosophers, to best examine the evidence and argue my thesis. I chose to outline the philosophy of the Enlightenment philosophes attending my salon, that is, John Locke and the Right of Rebellion, Immanuel Kant and the Yoke of Nonage, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau and The Social Contract. I then chose to synthesize my argument in three short essays; Enlightened Pirate Democracies; Piracy, Human Nature, and Autonomy; and Freedom, Liberty, Equality, and Pirates. Each post contains links to direct evidence, as located further on the website, as well as footnotes.

I also chose to create images for each post, by combining an image of Enlightenment art, or a portrait of an Enlightenment philosopher, with an overlay of a pirate flag, in the same motif and design style of the video header.

Like the categorical organization of my analysis, I chose to organize primary source evidence in one category, with each piece of evidence having its own post. This system allowed for an efficient tagging and categorizing and allowed me to link back to direct evidence with ease. While I did not upload every piece of evidence utilized, I thought that uploading the primary sources that I found showcased my research abilities.

The Salon

While the Salon page precedes my scope and research on the toolbar, as it was the most in-depth page, I decided to leave it to last in my methodological essay. On this page, I showcase the guests of the salon; with the guests being three Enlightenment philosophers and six pirates. For each guest, I show a portrait, and give a brief biography, alongside essential arguments or accomplishments. For the Philosophers, I link to the posts that further outline their arguments.

I chose Kant, Rousseau, and Locke as guests for my salon because of the similarities in their arguments about autonomy, the human condition, and social contract theory. While each offers a different argument, and in Locke’s case, one that precedes the other two by a century, all of the philosophers chosen created a cohesive base argument for my research.

In regards to pirate guests, I chose the most famous, most successful, and most notorious. This was difficult, and I had to leave out many notable pirates (Edward England, Emmanuel Wynn, Henry Every, Mary Read) to create a concise guest list. I also chose pirates based on the availability of primary and secondary sources on their lives. For instance, while Mary Read may have been more ruthless than Anne Bonny, I chose to showcase Anne Bonny because there were more resources about her life and her actions.

Beneath the guests of the salon, I included one of the most famous images of the salon era, Madame Geoffrin’s Salon, painted by Anicet Charles Gabriel Lemonnier in 1812, again with the imagery of the pirate flag. The text is what would have been my conclusion if this were a traditional research essay. It summarizes the topics discussed at the salon and leaves the reader thought-provoked and interested in learning more.

Biography and Links

The bibliography is separated into primary and secondary sources, just as they would be in a research essay. To keep the dynamics of the rest of the website, I decided to consolidate the bibliography into a file-like widget, which allows the reader to view the full citation of a work, only if they wish. I think this allows the page to be less cluttered, and it also is pretty impressive, if I do say so myself.

Finally, I included a link to my digital portfolio and the Agnes Scott College website, to continue to promote my work and the college.

I really enjoyed creating my digital salon, and I am incredibly proud of my work. I hope you enjoy looking at it and learning more about the Enlightened Pirate!

View The Enlightened Pirate here!

Pathways: A One-Act

Pathways is a one-act play that follows the lives of a recent high school graduate, James, and his girlfriend, Sarah, as they navigate the murky waters of future after high school. At the crux of their relationship, James cannot pay for college and is planning to enter the army instead, while Sarah is both financially and academically able to stay home and attend school. When James joins the army and prepares for his departure, the audience sees Sarah become desperate to make him stay. She proposes losing her virginity to James, and he disagrees, and their relationship dissolves into an argument just days before he leaves. This play explores the notions of virginity in adolescent sexuality, as well as toxic masculinity within teenager’s lives, and enters into a new genre of playwriting rarely explored, a juncture of theatre and adolescence.

A directed reading utilizes a cast and direction to bring a play to life without traditionally staging it. By staging a reading of Pathways, the Spring Annual Research Conference allows important sociological and psychological phenomenon to take the stage in a non-traditional presentation of experience, research, and craft. Pathways utilizes the traditional one-act format and linear narrative alongside a small cast and engaging dialogue in presenting common yet under-discussed themes of adolescence. Pathways is a finalist in the One-Act category of the 47th Annual Agnes Scott Writers’ Festival Writing Contest and is Zoe Katz’s first play.

The Enlightened Pirate

The Enlightened Pirate is a digital research project conducted in History 309: The Enlightenment in Europe. The Enlightened Pirate examines the Golden Age of Piracy (1700-1750) as an actualization of Enlightenment ideals. My research examines primary sources such as accounts, Captain’s accords, and historical texts as evidentiary support to the claim that men and women of the 16th century became pirates as an expression of enlightenment ideals. Supplemented by secondary sources such as Villains of All Nations: Atlantic Pirates in the Golden Age by Marcus Rediker, The Enlightened Pirate crafts a thorough argument that combines the excitement of the Golden Age of Piracy with the revolutionary ideals of the great Enlightenment thinkers such as Kant, Rousseau, and Locke.

The Enlightened Pirate is a web-based research project, rejecting the conventions of typical research essays. Utilizing a sub-domain of the Summit Digital Portfolio dedicated to the topic, The Enlightened Pirate uses multimedia, primary sources, quotes, and text to create an accessible and entertaining format to present the argument the findings that pirates in the Golden Age of Piracy were more than petty thieves or criminals, but had legitimate intentions to create a new society as defined by Enlightenment ideals. The presentation at the Spring Annual Research Conference would combine the website with a powerpoint to discuss methods of research, arguments, and application of findings as well as the tools utilized to create the digital research project.  

Love and Marriage in the Italian Renaissance: An Analysis

In the Italian Renaissance, there was a gendered view of love within marriage not explored before. Previously, in the middle ages, notions of love were thought of as ridiculous: marriage was a survival tactic, a means of reproduction and producing stability in unstable times. However, there is a change in that thinking, as evident in primary sources written by both men and women. Within the context of marriage, women saw love as a mutual agreement of passion and equity as evidenced in Laura Cereta’s letters to her husband in The Collected Letters of a Renaissance Feminist while men viewed love within marriage as a familial, educational, honor-bound duty, void of romantic love, as evidenced in Alberti’s The Family in Renaissance Florence: Book III.

In the Italian Renaissance, women viewed love within the context of marriage as an agreement of romance and equity, as evidenced by Laura Cereta’s letters to her husband. Cereta saw marriage as an equal partnership. She loved her husband, Pietro Serina, and expected Serina to love her back. This romance is exemplified in letter 21, as Cereta’s language is flirtatious, encouraging her husband to return from his business. In the letter, Cereta playfully apologizes for neglecting to write Serina, but states that “[her] innocence alone will be the tinder for your forgiveness of me.” By referencing her innocence in such a flirtatious manner, it is clear that to Cereta, their sexual relationship is one of pleasure, to both herself and Serina. In this period, the concept of women’s sexuality was sinful and immoral, forbidden outside of consummated marriages. For women, sex was for reproduction. By flirting with her husband, and requesting that he come home, insinuating sex for her pleasure as well as his, Cereta demonstrates a love for her husband, one of passion and romance.

In letter 25, Cereta addresses Pietro Stella, a nickname for her husband, in dreamlike prose. While the second paragraph of the letter attests to Serina’s violent nature towards Cereta’s letters and writing, the first paragraph is intimate and romantic. Cereta’s nickname for her husband indicates that she views him as the center of her universe or her stars. By writing in the middle of the night, Cereta allows herself to be vulnerable and tender. While it seems that Cereta and Serina wrote letters to each other constantly, with Serina even berating Cereta for not responding to him fast enough, no other letters we see are written in the middle of the night, and certainly not in the middle of a dream. Cereta clearly loved her husband and loved him so much that she would sacrifice her intelligent, braggadocious vocabulary as seen in letter 21, to write to Serina with “blemishes” in her writing. Even in later letters, such as letter 31, when Cereta apologizes for her unimpressive writing, the letters were long, well thought-out, and full of beautiful, intelligent prose. They were not short, sweet letters written to a husband far away. That is romance.

In addition to Cereta’s romantic view of love, she also believed that her love should create equity within her marriage. This is evident in two letters to Serina, letters 23 and 24. In letter 23 Cereta offers to finance the rebuilding of Serina’s business after fire destroys it. As the translator states, “[Cereta] sees her role as both her husband’s financial and moral supporter.” In response to accusations from Serina that she does not love him, Cereta effusively states her loyalty to him, using her confidence and virtue as evidence to the fact. Furthermore, she states that she “[doesn’t want to] buy [Serina] at any price,” and that “[Cereta] is not a person who lays more stock in words than duty.” Cereta demands equity in return for her unrelenting love for her husband. In other marriages, women may express a lesser type of love, one of inequity, because they have no confidence in themselves, their love, or their virtue. On the contrary, Cereta loves her husband because of her confidence and virtue, and this allows her to support him morally, and eventually, financially, as she presumingly pays for repairs to his business.

In letter 24, Cereta claims that her husband has spent too much time mourning his brother, and he has not spent enough time or energy on their relationship and, in turn, their love. This letter proves Cereta’s expectation of equity in her marriage. As she states, “[Serina] has a greater duty towards [Cereta] than you do towards the dead.” She expects Serina to perform his duty to her even in the aftermath of his brother’s death, as she is alive and not dead. To Cereta, their marriage and their love is more important than any familial relationship. As she further states, “[…] a man and his wife must so mutually love one another that they will not turn aside from that love at any time.” Cereta’s emphasis on mutual love further evidences her demand for equity within her marriage. Finally, and perhaps most evidently, Cereta summarizes her entire view of love within her marriage within one final sentence to her husband. Cereta writes, two weeks before Serina’s death, “[…] we are now, and we always will be, two souls belonging to a single being.” There is nothing more romantic, more passionate, or more equal, than two souls merging as one. Not in the Catholic faith, where traditional marriage vows still place ownership over wife by man. Not in conventional marriages during the Renaissance. Cereta’s view of love is a unique perspective on the way women view their husbands, their lives, and their marriages.

However, according to Alberti’s The Family in Renaissance Florence, love within marriage was a familial, educational, honor-bound duty, devoid of the romantic love seen in Cereta’s letters to Pietro Serina. This is evident in Book III, as Giannozzo and Lionardo converse about Giannozzo’s family and, within that family, his wife. Within Giannozzo’s marriage, he assumes the role of patriarch and teacher to his wife. He must teach her how to manage a household, how to raise a family, and, in essence, how to be a wife. It is unlikely that Giannozzo’s marriage was devoid of romantic love. However, Giannozzo’s love for his wife was less sexy and more fatherly. Not only did Giannozzo have full authority over his wife’s education of the management of the household, where records, books, and valuables were kept, but also full authority over their relationship as husband and wife. As Giannozzo states, “I made it a rule never to speak with her of anything but household matters or questions of conduct, or of the children.” He further states that he did this as to “make it impossible for her to enter into discussions with me concerning my more important and private affairs.” This view of Giannozzo’s wife was didactic and pedantic, and certainly not the sweet, passionate writing of Cereta.

Furthermore, it seems as if Giannozzo actively objects to the romantic and passionate love of Cereta’s marriage. Giannozzo states that he would prefer modesty, chastity, and discipline from his wife. It seems as though Giannozzo does not care if his wife loves him, but only that she respects him, and does not bring embarrassment to the family and the family’s affairs. It is hard to find specific evidence to prove Giannozzo’s feelings of honor, duty, and patriarchal love towards his wife, not for lack of resource, but for the sheer amount of it. From pages 80-99 of  The Family in Renaissance Florence, Giannozzo goes on and on about his duty to educate his wife on how to be a proper woman, a proper mother, and proper head of the household. At many points, he embarrasses his wife and treats her like a father scolding a daughter. He compares the education he has given her to the education in obedience she received from her parents in adolescence. Additionally, it is clear that this idea of love within marriage is the status quo during the Renaissance, as Lionardo continuously agrees with Giannozzo and compliments his achievements on educating his wife. Alberti’s writing couldn’t be further from the intimacy of Cereta’s letters, proving just how different a man’s view of love was from a woman.

However, the question must be asked: which view of love existed within marriage? It is hard to stipulate fact from the two texts examined. Both are innately personal stories, and both are biased by the writer’s point of view. Was Cereta’s view of love and marriage clouded by the fact that she was young and infatuated with her husband? Or was Alberti’s view of love in marriage conflated with children and status as head of the household?

By looking at two of Lorenzo Lotto’s paintings, Portrait of a Married Couple and Marsilio Cassotti and His Bride, Faustina. there is evidence of both the man’s view of love within marriage: the familial, educational, honor-bound duty; and the woman’s view of love within marriage: the passionate equity. The familial, educational, honor-bound duty can be seen in Portrait of a Married Couple. The man holds his marriage certificate in front of his wife, as evidence of his duty towards her. Additionally, there is a squirrel on the table, which represents the man’s duty to provide for his wife. Furthermore, the wife’s hand rests on the husband’s arm, perhaps showing her reliance on him.

Contrastingly, Marsilio Cassotti and His Bride, Faustina, demonstrates the passion and equity that permeated the woman’s view of love within marriage. The couple are seated evenly, bound by a yoke by Cupid. As Cereta wrote in her letters to her husband, “[…] we are now, and we always will be, two souls belonging to a single being.” This idea of love is also evidenced by the ring being placed on the left ring finger, a tradition that started in the Italian Renaissance. This tradition states that the left ring finger connects directly to the heart by an artery– a romantic notion perhaps shared by Ceretea.

While it is important to explore the understandings of love in the context of marriage in relation to gender within the Italian Renaissance, the question posed in this essay will never be truly answered, simply due to the masculine culture that permeated the time period, and the lack of primary sources written by women. It is entirely possible that Cereta’s writings are an outlier, and women thought of love and marriage in a similar way to men. It is also possible that some men, maybe even Cereta’s husband, Pietro Serina, saw their wives as equals, and loved them passionately and immensely. However, due to the lack of letters from Serina, and due to the toxic masculinity of the time period, the question will never be answered. That is why it is important to look at paintings, like the two Lotto paintings referenced in this essay. They provide a non-biased glimpse into the complex world of love and marriage in the Italian Renaissance, one that is not always easily derived by reading and questioning texts.

Bibliography

Alberti, Leon Battista, and Renée Neu Watkins. 1994. The Family in Renaissance Florence. Prospect Heights, Ill: Waveland Press.

Cereta, Laura, and Diana Maury Robin. 1997. Collected Letters of a Renaissance feminist. Chicago, Ill: University of Chicago Press.

Lotto, Lorenzo. Portrait of a Married Couple. 1523-1524

Lotto, Lorenzo. Marsilio Cassotti and His Bride, Faustina. 1523.

On Mother’s Day, I boarded a Delta Airbus at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and flew across the Atlantic for the very first time.

It was around 4 in the afternoon when I left, and 8 am when I arrived the next morning in Charles de Gaulle. It was my first time entering a time zone more than one hour ahead or behind Eastern Standard Time, and I was disoriented and exhausted, even though I slept fairly well on the plane.

Still, it was my first time in Europe, and even though I was only in France for a two-hour layover, I was eager to spend my time wisely. I practiced my French, ordered a massive cafe latte and a pain au chocolat.  Then, our group, about 20 in total, boarded an AirFrance flight to Warsaw. I spent the flight looking out over the countryside of Europe, staring at the beautiful, rolling fields. I was surprised by how much Europe looked like a flight over North Carolina or Georgia. 

Then, I fell asleep.

When I arrived, I was in Warsaw, the capital of Poland. The first thought I had was: wow, Polish makes no sense phonetically or grammatically. Then, I thought– holy cow, I’m in Poland. I had this thought frequently throughout the trip.

We didn’t go through customs as we were leaving the airport, which annoyed me because, now, I don’t have a stamp from Poland in my Passport.

We arrived at our hotel, the Campanile Warsaw, which was only a short tram ride away from the heart of downtown Warsaw. I washed up, and then promptly fell asleep again. Apparently, I am not good with Jetlag. This would have been nice to know before I traveled to Europe. After napping, our group went to dinner at a local restaurant.

After napping, our group went to dinner at a local restaurant. I am nearly 100% Polish. I was not aware of how apparent my Polish heritage was in my life until I sat down for dinner that first evening in Warsaw. For our appetizer, we were served a simple Chicken Noodle Soup. I took one sip and was blown away by the familiar taste on my tongue. This soup was identical to the Chicken Noodle Soup my mother makes for me when I’m sick– the same spices, the same broth, the same noodles. I felt at home and homesick at the same time.

I don’t remember much about that first dinner, except for watching Polish folk dancing and listening to Polish folk music. I was overwhelmed with how much I was reminded of my family’s traditions, especially my late grandfather, who passed away this past October. He taught me how to Polka. That night, I had tears in my eyes, thinking of him. His mother immigrated from Poland, and he never had the chance to go back.

Later that evening, I set out with two other girls in my group to find Sim cards, and we ended up at the massive Galeria Mokotów. This mall is a massive four story shopping center full of luxury brands like Lacoste, United Colors of Benetton, Adidas, Chanel, and more. I was in awe, as I had never been in a mall that nice, not even the Lennox mall in Buckhead.

I was in awe of the beauty of Warsaw. It reminded me of Pittsburgh or another industrial city that’s been given new life by its passionate citizens. Warsaw has risen from the ashes, literally, but that’s a story for another day.