Digital Commons Network^™

Dracula And Amnesia: Character Identities And Constant Subjectivism Under Ideological State Apparatuses, Anais Rosales

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores how the identities of protagonists and antagonists are constructed in Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Frictional Games’ Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Through analyzing the Gothic genre, racial constructs, and Ideological State Apparatuses, a system that uses social and cultural institutions to control populations of people, this thesis concludes that the protagonists’ identities are more pronounced than that of the antagonists’. The Gothic genre requires protagonists to overcome a supernatural force, so they are already given the limelight in the narrative, the most exposure to a reader. Additionally, both media use racial constructs to pit the protagonists against the …

Colonial Possessions: Producing The Zombie In Erna Brodber's Myal, Joanna Lee Valdes

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Erna Brodber’s 1988 novel Myal reveals the fatal injuries performed on the spirit by the colonizing efforts of others. In the novel, biracial Jamaican protagonist, Ella, experiences a profound devastation when her husband, Selwyn, creates a ‘white’ persona for her in his production Caribbean Nights and Days. In my thesis, I argue that Selwyn’s aggressions upon Ella’s spirit are only a fraction of the many conducted by those around her. Granted, while Selwyn’s play brings Ella’s zombified spirit into fruition with his distortion of her childhood— the Grovetown community, the Brassington’s and Mrs. Burns also aid in the process of …

How Does The Work Of The Negro Youth Study (1937-1941) Fit Into The History Of The Social Sciences?, Randall Haines Kaufman

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Through a historical analysis[1] this dissertation addresses how the work of the Negro[2] Youth Study (NYS) fits into the historical development of sociology during the early Civil Rights Movement (CRM). Secondarily, the dissertation addresses the silence surrounding NYS and its place in Black Sociology.

As the Depression deepened, educators worried about another “lost generation” of young Americans.[3] In response, The American Youth Commission in 1935, followed by the NYS in 1937, sought solutions. In particular, the NYS represents a moment in social sciences, started in the 19^th century, or a moment when social sciences become a …

Racial Constructions And Activism Within Graphic Literature. An Analysis Of Hank Mccoy, The Beast, Juan D. Alfonso

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Through a post-modern lens, I will primarily focus on comics books published by Marvel Comics to demonstrate the myriad of ways in which graphic literature is used as a subversive tool of sociopolitical discourse. I will demonstrate this by deconstructing and redefining the role of myth as a means of transferring ethical practices through societies and the ways in which graphic literature serves this function within the space of a modern and increasingly atheistic society. The thesis first demonstrates how the American Civil Rights Movement was metaphorically translated and depicted to the pages of Marvel’s X-Men comics to expose its …

Ocr For Digital Collections, Rebecca Bakker

Works of the FIU Libraries

This presentation covers the use of optical character recognition software such as Prime OCR, Abbyy FineReader, and the Adobe Acrobat OCR function. Best practices are covered as well as trouble shooting techniques for particularly difficult documents.

Stephen Dedalus' Search For Identity In Catholic Ireland, Cristina L. Cuevas

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of my research was to explore the interplay between religion and art in James Joyce’s novel, A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN. My aim was to trace the development of the protagonist, Stephen Dedalus by analyzing how Catholicsim is an institution that forms him, yet must reject to realize his artistic potential. I researched Joyce’s background to gain an understanding of the exilic experience on the literature. Through the exilic lens, I realized that Catholicism was the predominant influence on Stephen’s need to embark on a self-imposed exile at the end of the novel. …

The Decolonization Of Northwest Community College, Beverly Moore-Garcia

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 1996, the authors of the Canadian Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples concluded Canadian educational policy had been based on the false assumption of the superiority of European worldviews. The report authors recommended the transformation of curriculum and schools to recognize that European knowledge was not universal. Aboriginal researcher Battiste believes the current system of Canadian education causes Aboriginal children to face cognitive imperialism and cognitive assimilation and that this current practice of cultural racism in Canada makes educational institutions a hostile environment for Aboriginal learners. In order to counter this cultural racism, Battiste calls for the decolonization of education. …

A Relationship Between The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test 2.0 Mathematics Scores And Racial And Ethnic Concentrations When Considering Socio-Economic Status, Esol Student Population, Marilys Galindo

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

From the moment children are born, they begin a lifetime journey of learning about themselves and their surroundings. With the establishment of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, it mandates that all children receive a high-quality education in a positive school climate. Regardless of the school the child attends or the neighborhood in which the child lives, proper and quality education and resources must be provided and made available in order for the child to be academically successful.

The purpose of this ex post facto study was to investigate the relationship between the FCAT 2.0 mathematics scores of …

"To Hold The World In Contempt": The British Empire, War, And The Irish And Indian Nationalist Press, 1899-1914, Susan A. Rosenkranz

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The era between the close of the nineteenth century and the onset of the First World War witnessed a marked increase in radical agitation among Indian and Irish nationalists. The most outspoken political leaders of the day founded a series of widely circulated newspapers in India and Ireland, placing these editors in the enviable position of both reporting and creating the news. Nationalist journalists were in the vanguard of those pressing vocally for an independent India and Ireland, and together constituted an increasingly problematic contingent for the British Empire. The advanced-nationalist press in Ireland and the nationalist press in India …

The Lone Palm, Joe Clifford

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

THE LONE PALM is a noir novel set in a timeless Bay Area city. At nineteen, Colin Spector is a hot-shot crooner at the Lone Palm, a nightclub owned by the Christos' crime family, headed by Cephalus "the Old Man" Christos and his ne'er-do-well son, Gabriel. When Colin falls for Gabriel's girl, a stripper named Zoe, Gabriel orders the singer's vocal cords cut and has him framed for a crime he didn't commit. After seven years in prison, Colin is manipulated into working for his former tormenter. Gabriel is now estranged from his father, who has branched into the world …

An Examination Of Bernard Connor's The History Of Poland (1698) And Its Depiction Of The Political, Religious, And Cultural History Of The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, John Paul Bardunias

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Connor was an Irish-born member of seventeenth-century English medical society who made an impact on medicine through his use of anatomy. This forward-thinking scientist also worked as a court physician for the Polish king John III Sobieski (1629- 1696) and published a history of that country.

This thesis will examine Bernard Connor's 1698 publication The History of Poland to show that the Commonwealth was considered a vision of a progressive European parliamentary government that could serve as a model for a struggling English parliamentary government, thus supporting Larry Wolff and Maria Todorova's vision of the later eighteenth-century creation of …

Cubanía And Caridad : A Comparative Analysis Of Cuban Marianism, Alma Derojas

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The primary purpose of the thesis was to compare the present cultural and political significance of La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre for Cubans on the island and in exile, focusing on the Virgin's role as a symbol of national identity. The secondary purpose was to explore the historical evolution of the Virgin's myth through an analysis of documents and scholarly literature. In addition to participant observation, interviews of 50 Cubans were conducted at La Caridad's shrines in Cuba and Miami. These interviews reveal that the Virgin's symbol continues to meet the religious, economic, political, and social needs of …

Lower Manhattan And The East River: An Investigation Into The Renewal Of The Lower East Side Waterfront, Todd A. Edge

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With the mid-20th Century construction of an elevated highway along Manhattan’s East River, the declining neighborhood of the Lower East Side was removed from its waterfront. As cities begin to re-examine their edges, I feel it is appropriate to address the issues of the Lower East Side community and its former riverfront. Utilizing the recent developments in Manhattan, London, and Chicago as a basis for determining how metropolitan areas are attempting to reconnect with their shores, a set of questions were developed, analyzed, and then applied to the Lower East Side. With the analysis of these questions providing the groundwork …

Defending The Double Monastery: Aldhelm Of Malmesbury's De Virginitate And Seventh-Century England, Thomas Cramer

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The double monasteries of seventh-century England have long been a problematic institution for historical interpretation. The purpose of this project is an attempt to place these institutions in relation to the ecclesiastical controversies of seventh-century England. Archbishop Theodore, who wished to reform the Anglo-Saxon church, challenged the role of the double monasteries. The attack on the double monasteries was instituted along gendered lines by evoking religious traditions that called into question the legitimacy of cooperation between monastic men and women. However, this position was not universally accepted. Aldhelm of Malmesbury’s De Virginitate provides a theological defense for the double monastery …

Reaganomics And Its Effects On Pricing And Participation In The Regular Paying Sector Of The National School Lunch Program In Dade County Public High Schools, Robert H. Bosselman

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Problem: This research proposes to examine the effects of Reaganomics on pricing and participation in the regular paying sector of the National School Lunch Program in Dade County Public High Schools.

Subproblems: The first subproblem is to examine the effects of Reaganomics on pricing in the regular paying sector of the National School Lunch Program in Dade County Public High Schools.

The second subproblem is to examine the effects of Reaganomics on participation in the regular paying sector of the National School Lunch Program in Dade County Public High Schools.

Hypotheses: The first hypothesis is that Reaganomics has resulted in …