Digital Commons Network^™

The Painted Motifs Of Cypriot Ceramic Art: A Study Of Iconography & Identity, Paige Bockman

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The aim of this master’s thesis is to explore the iconography of Chalcolithic (c. 3900-2300 cal. BC) Cyprus using ceramic motifs and identify their potential use in revealing differences between the cultural identity present at archaeological sites, as well as the possible causes of such variation. By exploring the existence and origins of subtle differences between the iconographic repertoires of related sites, the study seeks a better understanding of the movement of both ideas and symbols, and how the meaning of symbols developed within the context of a site.

Currently, Cypriot Chalcolithic sites are believed to be largely homogeneous in …

Addressing The Past, Embracing The Future: An Analysis Of How Historic Inequality Has Created Current Obstacles To Learning English In Brazil And A Proposal For A New Community-Based Approach, Aja C. Bryant

MA TESOL Collection

This paper contextualizes current challenges to English learning in Brazil within the educational history of the country. It explores the ways in which language, both native literacy and foreign, has been used to set apart and advantage the elite class, while educational policy and approaches have served to pacify and control the majority. This history has left psychological, cultural, and economic legacies which inhibit learning today. Nevertheless, modern globalization is placing increasing pressure on Brazilians to achieve fluency in English and other languages. This paper briefly outlines the new and complex intellectual and social skills needed to participate in a …

Teaching While Lesbian And Other Identities: Sexual Diversity, Race, And Institutionalized Practices Through An Autoethnographic Lens, Sondra S. Briggs

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership Dissertations

The implicit acceptance among educators and in institutions of learning that discussions around LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) issues are off limits perpetuates the marginalization of these identities and those who inhabit them. In K-12 schools and college classrooms the prevailing silence sends disturbing messages about the treatment of adults and children when their sexual orientation fails to fit neatly into prescribed binary classifications. As one who has been silent as well as silenced, I understand this dichotomy from a unique perspective. Moreover, my lived membership within diverse cultural and racial groups that have been routinely marginalized through institutionalized practices …

Living In A Transnational World: Identity Negotiation And Formation Among Second-Generation Lebanese Young Adults Living In London Ontario, Wajeha Chams

MA Research Paper

According to the 2011 Canadian Census, immigrants make up 20.6% of the total Canadian population (Statistics Canada, 2014), and a growing body of research is raising questions about immigrants’ experiences, their identities and how transnational lives have shaped and influenced Canadian society and citizenship. Recent research on transnationalism enhances understanding of immigrants’ relationships within both their source and host countries. This research demonstrates that first-generation immigrants tend to maintain their ethnic identities, language and cultural traditions through the active maintenance of transnational ties and activities. However, the lives of their children are less directly tied to the parents’ homeland. As …

Sounding Identity: Soundscapes, Music, And Technoculture In The Chinese Diaspora Of Panama, Corey Michael Blake

Masters Theses

Present in Panama since the 19^th century, the Chinese diaspora in Panama City, Panama represents an empowered community of individuals who identify as both Chinese and Panamanian. These Chinese Panamanian hybrid identities emerge within sonic environments through an engagement with transnational media and digital technologies, notably within retail stores. Specifically, music surfaces as an especially important sonic marker of the Chinese Panamanian hybridity. Within the mall of the Panamanian Chinatown of El Dorado, an interesting mixture of both Chinese and Latin American popular music genres sounds throughout the various stores. This mixture of music genres demonstrates Chinese Panamanian agency …

The Transformation Of Tibetan Identity, Mang Jia

Senior Theses

After the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1951, Tibetan identity began to secularize, shifting from a more traditional religious to a more explicitly political identity. The few studies that focus on the secularization of Tibetan identity, even if only secondarily, claim that it is either a compulsory product imposed by the reinforcement of modernization by the Chinese authority or a voluntary product through younger generations of Tibetans’ internalization, primarily through schooling, of the Chinese colonization ideology. Either way, those scholars of Tibetan studies treat the secularization of Tibetan identity as a form of cultural assimilation or deterioration of Tibetan identity. …

Gestures As Mimetic Forms Of Identity In Post-Secondary Italian As A Foreign Language Classrooms: A Sociocultural Perspective, Ilaria Nardotto Peltier

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study investigates the use of mimetic gestures of identity by foreign language teachers of Italian and their students in college classes as a form of meaning-making. All four of the teachers were found to use a variety of Italian gestures as a regular aspect of their teaching and presentation of self. Students and teachers also were found to mirror each other’s gestures. None of the teachers had been video-recorded before the study and all were surprised to see the degree to which they appeared to be Italian, although at the same time all believed this to be an important …

The Social Costs Of Industrial Growth In The Sub-Arctic Regions Of "Canada", Caylee T. Cody

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Colonialism in the land that is now called “Canada” is rooted in the ongoing dispossession of Indigenous people’s way of existing and interacting with the world. The present study identifies that the social costs of industrial growth are part of an ongoing process of colonialism which continues to annex Indigenous lands to feed the capitalist economy and reify the power of the state. Through a comparative analysis of literature written about the Attawapiskat First Nation and the Innu Nation, the study reveals that the financial rewards of industrial growth are few, while the cultural, human, and environmental costs are many. …

Institutionalizing Colonial Identity: A Case Study On The Indian Partition, Jamie Bodine

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In 1947, the British colony of India was declared independent and emerged as two separate states, Pakistan and India. To examine this event, I ask what material cause(s) made possible the institutional separation between these two new states. To approach this question, I will review the process of political identity formation from the upheaval of 1857 to the 1947 partition. In so doing, I argue that the system of categorizing those who were under British colonial rule manufactured a particular set of political identities on the Indian subcontinent.

Walls Have Ears But They Also Speak –A Comparative Study Of Two Playgrounds, Anna Hirson-Sagalyn

Senior Projects Spring 2015

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Arts of Bard College.

Egocentric Conversion Social Networks: Context, Process And Identity In Explaining Conversion To And Reversion From Islam In The United States, Sakin Erin

Theses and Dissertations--Sociology

This dissertation investigates conversion to Islam in the United States analyzing egocentric networks of 30 converts to Islam and that of 30 people in the control group. By comparing Michigan, where there is a large Muslim community, to Kentucky, where there is smaller community, it demonstrates that conversion occurs through weak Muslim ties in the former, while it occurs through strong ties in the latter. Conversion is a life changing event with lasting consequences on both the structure and composition of people’s egocentric social network. The egocentric social network data from prior-to-conversion and post-conversion indicate that conversion influences change in …

What Happens Now?: Identity And Commitment Among Lesbian Women With The Passing Of Same-Sex Marriage Laws In Minnesota, Kendra Michaela Klump

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Marriage equality has become a hotly debated topic within public and political discourse within recent years. The personal choices we make based on our sexuality and intimate relationship have been taken out of the private arena and spotlighted as issues of institutional ideology, morality, and equality. Throughout this, the impact felt within LGBTQ communities based on this discourse has been largely overlooked. This study explores the immediate impact newfound marriage equality may have on individuals and couples identifying as members of a diverse sexuality group. Using semi-structured interviews, sixteen respondents self-identifying as lesbians provided narratives exploring the possible impact legalization …

Community Identity, Rebecca F. Aronhalt

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Community Identity: Abstract

El propósito de esta investigación fue identificar la identidad de la comunidad latina alrededor del vecindario de ¨North Hill¨ en Akron, Ohio, según los ciudadanos latinos que viven allí. Tiene valor describir esta comunidad porque es un componente de la comunidad entero de Akron que es menos visible. Entendiendo cómo ellos se ven a si mismos me ayudó, como estudiante de español en la Universidad de Akron, a entender mejor la tela compleja de la ciudad. Para conseguir esta información, hice entrevistas en español con seis adultos latinos que viven en North Hill. Utilicé un método narrativo …