2025 Acknowledgements

This year’s issue of Past and Present continues to reflect – though perhaps imperfectly – the diversity of disciplines represented in the department, containing papers from History, Political Science, and Intelligence Analysis in nearly equal numbers. This issue again showcases the editors’ creative vision as well as their editing acumen, and I continue to take great pride in the student editors and all the departmental students whose work contributed to it. As always, this year’s Past and Present highlights the stellar scholarship produced by our students, in a publication unique at York College. I am indebted to all of my departmental faculty colleagues who have mentored students in the research projects that were submitted for consideration, whether or not the papers ultimately were accepted for publication; faculty devotion to nurturing students at every step of the research process has direct bearing on the quality of the final projects. I am also grateful to all of our department’s students for providing their scholarship, which serves as a foundation for the journal. For the first time since I assumed the advisory role of Past and Present, I have been blessed to work with two outstanding student editors for the entire school year, which has led to a consistency of vision for the journal for the duration of its preparation. As has always been true in the past, these students have been an absolute pleasure to work with, and I deeply appreciate their unceasing hard work, devotion, and care with which they approached this endeavor. After difficult deliberations, the editors have selected seven exceptional manuscripts that reflect the broad research interests and high quality of scholarship of our department’s students, and have spent many hours reading and preparing the manuscripts for publication. Their concept for this year’s cover design, which they describe in their explanation, expresses a theme of hope as an antidote to balance the somewhat unsettling topics reflected in the various manuscripts. I know they join me in expressing sincere joy at unveiling the latest issue of Past and Present. 

-Ilana Krug, Past and Present faculty advisor

The Past and Present Journal is published annually by the Department of History and Political Science at York College of Pennsylvania.

Department of History and Political Science Faculty:

Copying by Angela Staples and Jacky Liquori, York College Print and Mail Services

Binding services performed by Wolf Printing, York, PA