Economists have long recognized the importance of human capital in economic growth. In this series of papers, I study how various institutions of human capital formation affected economic development in a variety of contexts prior to 1900. These include both formal institutions of human capital formation such as universities and informal…

This dissertation aims to illuminate divergent ideologies of literacy and personhood in the United States and England, utilizing literary and non-literary texts from the nineteenth century to shed light on the historical constraints and conventions shaping our current moment. My version of the nineteenth century is a long one, since I look at…

In the U.S. and England racial/ethnic minority student success in STEM graduate disciplines is important to HEI administrators and those policy makers concerned with ensuring viable and healthy economies and communities. U.S. Government studies show that the African and Hispanic Americans earn only about 3% and 2% of all STEM graduate degrees,…

This study examines the depictions of the Flemish in Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales", Langland's "Piers Plowman", several historical chronicles including The Brut continuations, poetic works such as "The Libelle of Englysh Polycye", additional short poems dealing directly with events of the Hundred Years' War, and…