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Eco-Interoception: What Plants, Fungi And Protista Have Taught My Body, Sara Riley Dotterer

Art Theses and Dissertations

To me, ecology is the relational, full-body awareness that I am made up of and deeply connected to everything around me; and for better or worse, this is reciprocal. I form ecotones, an ecological transitional zone between two ecosystems, with the world around me. I use this ecotonal lens to blur binaries and dissolve boundaries between me and the world “outside my body.” During my Masters of Fine Arts at Southern Methodist University, I have continuously explored and represented the lives of various more-than-human species outside of my body, including plants, fungi and protista through an ecotonal lens. Although these …

An Exploration Of The Social And Economic Factors That Influence The Mental Health Of Lgbtq College Students, Alexandria Mh Fossum

Senior Theses

LGBTQ individuals face a much higher prevalence of psychiatric disorders and mental health issues than their heterosexual, cisgender counterparts. The added academic pressures of college introduce a unique set of challenges that LGBTQ students face. This thesis includes a review of academic literature and data examining the intersections between social isolation, institutional discrimination, and financial insecurity and the effects they have on the mental health outcomes of LGBTQ college students. The paper is accompanied by a documentary consisting of a set of interviews of LGBTQ college students, giving a more personal insight into the multitude of factors that affect their …

The Theological Structure For Forming Christian Vocational Spirituality: A Practical Method For The Whole Of The Christian Life, Yong Sub Sim

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

The Christian church works for reconciliation between God and his creatures through Jesus Christ. For this, the church calls people and helps them hear, understand, recognize and receive the Spirit of God through Jesus. This dissertation explains this process as walking with, working with and following Jesus.

This dissertation builds a theological structure for forming “Christian vocational spirituality” as the whole of the Christian life reconciled with the Spirit of God through Jesus Christ. This theological structure guides the process through which a human being becomes a true Christian being, and a Christian being becomes a true human being reconciled …

Exploring The Relationship Between Ego Development And Mental Health, Heather R. Bonnett

ETD Archive

The goal of this study was to examine the relationship between ego identity in adults (ego development), symptoms of psychological distress, and self-esteem. Ego identity was operationalized using Loevinger’s (1976) stage theory of ego development, further modified by Cook-Greuter (1994; 2010). The test used to measure ego development was the Sentence Completion Test Integral (SCTi). Symptoms of mental disorders or psychological distress were measured using Derogatis’ (1994) Symptom Checklist 90 Revised (SCL-90-Revised). Self-esteem was measured using the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale (RSES). It has been thought there would be noticeable differences in the relationship between ego development and the types …

Who Do You Think You Are?: Recovering The Self In The Working Class Escape Narrative, Christine M. Maksimowicz

Doctoral Dissertations

This project considers how socioeconomic impoverishment and society's failure to recognize working class women as valued subjects impinge upon a mother's ability to afford recognition to her daughter's selfhood. Situated within the larger North American literary tradition of fiction animated by flight in search of freedom, the texts here explored constitutes a subgenre that I term the “working class escape narrative.” Combining close readings of fiction by Toni Morrison, Alice Munro, and Sigrid Nunez with sociological research and psychoanalytic theory, I explore a relationship between mother and daughter characterized not by mirroring and bonding but rather the absence of intimacy …

Middlemarch: Eliot's Spencerian Sociological Study Of Provincial Life, Kellie Marie Mckinney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Through the novel Middlemarch, George Eliot fulfills the intention of her subtitle and uses sociological theories to conduct A Study of Provincial Life. Eliot's letters, journals, and various essays provide evidence of sociologist Herbert Spencer's influence on her own writings. Spencer's specific opinions and contributions not only strengthen the sociological message of Eliot's novel, but a handful of his ideals shape the narrative voice of her novel. Variations of Spencer's theories are seen in Eliot's "authorial narrator's" comments and observations of the Middlemarch couples. With her narrator, Eliot applies Spencer's theories on "belief" and on the correlation of …

Interpreting, Stephanie Jo Kent

Doctoral Dissertations

What do community interpreting for the Deaf in western societies, conference interpreting for the European Parliament, and language brokering in international management have in common? Academic research and professional training have historically emphasized the linguistic and cognitive challenges of interpreting, neglecting or ignoring the social aspects that structure communication. All forms of interpreting are inherently social; they involve relationships among at least three people and two languages. The contexts explored here, American Sign Language/English interpreting and spoken language interpreting within the European Parliament, show that simultaneous interpreting involves attitudes, norms and values about intercultural communication that overemphasize information and discount …

Nostalgic Identities: A Study In The Interactive Process Of Mexican/ Mexican American Users In Facebook, Daniel Dominguez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Online social networking is a growing phenomenon. All over the globe people engage in disembodied interactions with one another taking for granted a compression of time and space. Most social analysis of online settings has been studied from a symbolic interactionist perspective in which the concept of multiple/pluralized identity helps explain how users identify themselves in disembodied contexts.

This paper intends to discover how the Mexican / Mexican American identity is presented, managed and produced by users in the Social Networking Site Facebook using the concept of nostalgia in how identity is presented in a disembodied context.

Beyond The Black Horizon, Aaron Bruce

Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview

Although U.S. colleges and universities continue to discuss creative ways to increase the number of African American collegians participating in study abroad, this research is limited when revealing the unique perspectives of African American collegians who have studied abroad. Traditionally an emphasis on program success has been placed on the quantity of study abroad participants rather than the quality of African American student support and engagement; the personal reflections through the lens of African American race and identity are often overlooked. A series of culturally responsive, guided interviews were conducted with African American collegians from a variety of institutions across …

Sociological And Psychological Predispositions To Serial Murder, Katie Marie Krueger

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

This paper looks specifically at the true definition of a serial killer, attempting to clarify the misleading depiction that has come from the media influence. Twenty-one people, including infamous murderers such as Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer, as well as more obscure killers, such as Carl Panzram, were studied in depth. Data was gathered from a variety of published sources on each convicted serial killer focusing on his/her life prior to the beginning of the killing spree. Unlike previous research on the topic, this investigation looked at a larger sample of serial killers, as well as a more complete set …

Reaction To Social Pressure From Adults Versus Peers Among Mexican, Mexican-American, And Anglo-American Rural Children, Ana Maria C. Donini

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project was to investigate whether there was a significant difference in the adherence to conventional morality and the reaction to social pressure from adults versus peers among Mexican, Mexican-American, and Anglo-American children. The instrument used was the Moral Dilemmas Test (MDT) developed by Bronfenbrenner, Devereux, Suci, and Rodgers, which measures the reported readiness of children to engage in morally disapproved behavior and their reaction to social pressure exerted by adults and peers. The subjects were asked to respond to a series of conflict situations under three experimental conditions of confidentiality, scrutiny by parents, and scrutiny by …