Winners from the class of 2023
Evan Bates, “Everything is Curated: Effective Control of ‘Degenerate’ Art in Nazi German”
Bates examines the theme of his First-Year Seminar – Speaking Truth to Power – by examining the dual Nazi exhibitions, “Degenerate Art” and “Great German Art Exhibition,” that took place in 1937. Bates argues that while the modernist pieces in the so-called Degenerate Art exhibit pose a critique of human perfection, the Nazi curator Adolf Ziegler “was able to strip the art of its potential power and convince the people of its degeneracy.” Bates cleverly identifies how Ziegler’s curation appropriates the voice that speaks truth to power while discrediting the artworks and manipulating the critical consciousness of the audience.
Erik Smith, “Nonhuman Killers: Just War and How Military Robotics Delegitimize Authority”
Taking up a timely topic, Smith considers the ethical implications of the military use of drones and robots. He argues that it is unethical to use such technology when one warring party is “incapable of fielding equivalent technology.” His analysis of ethics carefully considers the jus ad bellum (the ethics of the war decision) and the jus in bello (the ethics of combat operations) principles. Analyzing the use of technology in combat operations, Smith concludes that the use of drones and robots in asymmetric war “is entirely unjustifiable.”