Digital Commons Network^™

Income Inequality In U.S. Metropolitan Areas: Which Areas Have The Greatest Inequality And Why?, C. Peterson Compton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, much focus has been placed on the high and growing level of income inequality in the United States. This composition begins to fill a void in the existing literature by examining specific urban areas that have particularly high levels of inequality and the characteristics that factor into inequality. In this paper, I construct a qualitative model for a particularly unequal metropolitan area. I then apply the model to a set of U.S. metros that are among the most unequal in the country and share a particular set of characteristics consistent with the model.

Abbot Suger's Silent Soliloquy Of Public Aesthetics In The Medieval Saint Denis Abbey, Sandra Jean Ceas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abbot Suger transformed the twelfth-century medieval Saint Denis abbey from a didactic Romanesque prayer hall to a spiritually illuminating pre-Gothic worship center. The extant culture, although primarily illiterate, was poised on the threshold of Scholasticism, the rational pursuit of "reason," which challenged the Christian doctrine of "faith." Abbot Suger, fully aware of the secular threat, was suitably positioned to be a significant instrument for saving souls from the diversion of their trust in God toward a reliance on logical thinking. Suger undertook a major art restoration campaign for the Saint Denis abbey to create an environment of public aesthetics that …

Foreign Savings, Financialization And Minsky: How External Capital Flows Pave The Way For Financial Instability In The Face Of Increasing Risk, Marcus C. Fresques

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Minsky's Financial Instability Hypothesis has not come without its fair share of criticism. Much ado about Minsky's endogenous business cycle theory stems from a model where boom-time profit opportunities indelibly encourage firms to finance investment by leveraging their fixed capital assets against their internal liquidity. Opposition to Minsky often points to two distinct circumstances that might discourage the external finance of investment: a rise in effective demand and increasing risk. A rise in effective demand can increase the retained earnings of a firm providing more capital to internally finance investment and investment financed from retained earning is less risky than …

A Meta-Analytic Review Of Cooperative Learning Practices In Higher Education: A Human Communication Perspective, William Patrick Huddy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The phrase cooperative learning refers to a pedagogical learning and teaching technique in use in schools from kindergarten through higher education. The technique involves the structuring of an active classroom environment with students working in groups to discover, solve, and at its basic, provide a framework for dialogue and conversation. Cooperative learning is grounded in the development of a theory of social interdependence (Morton Deutsch) which states that individuals, working in groups, can in most cases provide for greater productivity and ideas than individuals working alone. The development of cooperative learning was greatly expanded in the late 1960’s and early …

Affective-Domain Occurrences Reported By Undergraduate Non-Music-Major Students In A Keyboard-Centered Course Incorporating The Nine National Standards For Music Education And A Methodology Based On Constructivist Principles: Patterns That Might Suggest Hypotheses About Cause-And-Effect Relationships, Gergana S. Argirova

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this study, data about occurrences in the affective domain of non-music-major subjects taking a keyboard-centered course that incorporates the nine National Standards for music education along with a methodology based on constructivist principles were collected. The problem of this study was to identify any patterns in those data that might suggest hypotheses about cause-and-effect relationships that might be tested later in quantitative studies with experimental design.

The instruction consisted of a keyboard-centered music education curriculum that encompassed the U.S. nine National Standards for music education along with a teaching methodology based on constructivist principles. This study was conducted in …

Bottom-Up Methodologies In Emerging Models, Thomas S. Cahoon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The post-modern turn in the millennial generation has prompted a response toward religious and organizational authorities, whose organizations do not keep with the changing demand of post-modern individuals. The shift in preferences is marked by a movement from top-down hierarchical models, toward a de-centralized, bottom-up style demonstrated in recent movements. This paper examines the shift of doctrine and praxis within the American evangelical church and a simultaneous development of new methodologies in social justice organizations in these response movements.

"A Shade Too Unreserved": Destabilizing Sexuality And Gender Constructs Of The New Negro Identity In Harlem Renaissance Literature, Renee E. Chase

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Much of the Harlem Renaissance artistic movement was directly intertwined with the New Negro social movement of the time. Race leaders spoke to and influenced artistic trends, while artists often engaged with the New Negro race issues and social debates through their works. Wallace Thurman, Nella Larsen, and Zora Neale Hurston used their own fictional works to explore the New Negro construct being promoted. In examining the constructed nature of this New Negro identity, these artists strove to destabilize the social "norms" upon which the identity was based. As they thematically and stylistically explored such social constructs through their fiction, …

Redefining, Crafting, And Re/Presenting Contemporary Ethnicities: Honduran National Identity, 1994–2006, Cordelia A. Frewen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since the last quarter of the twentieth century, Fourth World populations, including those in Honduras, have been steadily gaining partial recognition of cultural rights; yet often official discourses of national identity continue to subsume cultural traditions of indigenous and Afro-descendant communities. Honduras's heterogeneous ethnic pluralism has historically been combined to promote a more cohesive national identity of a homogenized, mayanized, indo-Hispanic mestizaje. Exclusion and mis- or under-representation of indigenous groups is reinforced by popular imagination, particularly in the cultural heritage and tourism sectors. Firmly situated within regional Latin American and global trends, over the past two decades, official discourse on …

The Financial Crisis Documentary, William L. Gardner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project was a documentary film focused on exploring the 2008 financial crisis in the United States. The documentary incorporates interviews with former Senators, Congressmen and local business leaders in an effort to better understand the causes and effects of the crisis.

The Impact Of Shared Musical Identity, Shared Family Identity, And Accommodation On Satisfaction In Parent/Young Adult Relationships, Ryan C. Hancock

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the potential influence of shared musical identities of young adult children and their parents in relation to communicative and relational aspects of family, in order to determine whether musical tastes of individuals impact family relationships. In this research study, 196 college students reported on their perceptions of shared musical identity with their parents, shared family identity, parental accommodative communication behaviors, and family satisfaction. Results indicated that shared musical identity positively predicted perceptions of shared family identity, parental accommodative behaviors, including general accommodation, overaccommodation, topic management, and family satisfaction. Furthermore, shared musical identity and shared family identity positively …

The Theoretical Symbolism Of Eruvin: A Model Of Dual-Identity And Sacred Space, Liza Stoltz Hanson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Eruvin are an innovative solution to the logistical “problem” of carrying on the weekly Sabbath. Boundaries that symbolically extend the walls of private homes into the public sphere, eruvin allow Orthodox Jews to carry objects outside of their homes on the Sabbath, a seemingly simple act that would otherwise be prohibited. Constructed according to intricate Rabbinic specifications, eruvin use existing architectural elements such as walls, train tracks, roadways and telephone wires, as well as natural features like rivers to create a continuous boundary. This paper will examine the theoretical significance of creating such a space. My argument maintains that beyond …

Fostering And Foreclosing Student Learning Potential: Portraits Of Performativity, Emotion, And Relationality In The Classroom, Jeanne Marie Jacobs

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation endeavors to build a much-needed bridge between the fields of communication and education. Using critical pedagogy and critical communication pedagogy as theoretical frameworks, this project advances an understanding of classroom communication as constitutive of power relations, and teachers and students as agents who can work together to foster learning potential and social justice. I look to interdisciplinary scholarship on affect to craft a nuanced conceptual framework of the connection between communication and emotion, and how they create learning opportunities for some students and construct barriers to learning for others. Through ethnographic fieldwork at an urban magnet school, I …

Just A Mutt: A Narrative Ethnography Of The Denver Dog Park Master Plan Process, Stephen M. Griffin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This ethnographic study explores the phenomenon of citizen participation in the decision-making process of their local government. The researcher explored this topic by observing the Dog Park Master Plan process conducted by the Parks and Recreation Department of the City and County of Denver from June 2009 through April 2011.

The researcher attended and observed seven meetings of a citizens committee convened by the Denver Parks and Recreation Department to act as a mini-public to test the elements of the Dog Park Master Plan before presenting the Plan to the public, and the three public meetings held to allow the …

Alchemical Transformation And The Grief-Threshold In H.D.'S Helen In Egypt, Eliza C. Bennett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In H.D's lyric epic, Helen in Egypt, Helen of Troy experiences a phenomenological transformation in the brazier of the heart, which burns both on the beach of her new home in Egypt and in the depths of her psychic life. I have envisioned a process by which Helen psychologically enters into the brazier's flames to begin an alchemical process, so that she might see the beauty of the earth emerge and understand the rhythmic significance of the heart's perception. I call the brazier's (or the heart's) place of alchemical transformation the grief-threshold, which balances Helen on the edge …

Reconciling Eros And Agape: The English Catholic Artistic Response To Reforms, Nicole M. Coonradt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the English Catholic artistic response to reforms--reforms being both internal and external to the Catholic Church--as part of the Catholic Reformation. "Response," for the purposes of this project, may be defined in terms of an "answer" in an ongoing dialogue about the Catholic position and may be seen as both conciliatory and apologetic in nature. Understanding this response is useful when we consider the role of rhetoric and poetry in society and the attendant contemporary theories thereof, in their historical context, especially the duty of the poet. The recent "revisionist" history is central to understanding art contextually. …

Posthumanist Rhetorical Agency, Matt Dunn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The postmodern criticism of humanist agency initiated by Dilip Gaonkar nearly twenty years ago set in motion a discipline wide discussion concerning the conceptualization rhetorical agency. Rhetorical agency is difficult but vital to conceptualize because the term bears directly on the discipline's theorizing about the speaker or rhetor, the effect of the speaker or rhetor's rhetoric on an audience, and the extent to which the speaker or rhetor's agency is constrained by ideology and discourse. What emerged from this discussion about agency did distance the discipline from the humanist conceptualization of rhetorical agency that persisted at the time Gaonkar published …

Kicking The Can, Peter Ellis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Kicking the Can is a video documentary that explores the financial crisis of 2008 and the socio-political factors that led to the collapse. The documentary was produced over the course of a year and a half, and contains interviews with economists, politicians, academics, and U.S. citizens. Kicking the Can ultimately reveals that the financial crisis is a complex issue that can be analyzed and interpreted from a variety of political and social perspectives. This paper documents the making of the film, the production involved, and the process of working with collaborators and other crewmates.

A Critique Of The Neoclassical And A Revision Of The Keynesian Theories Of Employment, Yang Liu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The neoclassical theory of employment fails to apply to modern capitalism since it claims that unemployment is necessary all voluntary. Its problems are pointed out by Keynes. But, if we look at Keynes’s system, we find that an essential explanation about why modern capitalism suffers from weak demand is not provided. To answer this question an alternative consumption theory is needed. Levine’s consumption theory well explains the condition of under-consumption. Furthermore, a deep problem of capitalism reveals itself: the production format and the distribution pattern of capitalism result in a huge income discrepancy between the working-class and the capitalist-class and …

Thank You, Dear: Examining The Association Between Gratitude And Relationship Well-Being, Erica Pearse Ragan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study replicated and extended existing research on gratitude by examining the ways in which gratitude is related to both individual and relationship well-being. A total of 387 participants completed the pre assessment and were randomized into the study, with 251 participants completing the full study (i.e., pre, post, and follow-up assessments). Participants were randomly assigned to list relationship-focused gratitudes, amusing events, or general events that happened during their day for 14 days. The differential impact of the three interventions on both individual and relationship variables was investigated. The relationship-focused and general events conditions experienced decreased negative affect from …

Feasting On Four Wheels, Mariel Patricia Rodriguez-Mcgill

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The documentary film Feasting On Four Wheels explores the new wave of "gourmet" food trucks on the streets of Denver, Colorado. What started as a bigger movement across the country made its way to the Mile High city in 2010 and snowballed to the food-loving community portrayed during the summer of 2011. Interviews with food truck owners, a food truck fabricator and a blogger for DenverStreetFood.com, explore the nature of the movement and how its existence creates a feel of community and culture within the city. The evolution of street food history and the influence of new technology are also …

Kicking The Can: Understanding The Financial Crisis Of 2008, John Arthur Rutter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

This thesis explores the processes of producing and directing a documentary film about the 2008 financial crisis. The paper follows the development of the team project as individual group members researched the crisis in literature and in film, and then discusses the filmmaking process required to direct such a film.

Health Insurance Exchanges: A Panacea Or A Band-Aid?, Luisa Sanchez De Tagle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 2010, the 111th Congress passed the first national health care reform in the United States, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). This landmark legislation is intended to "fix" a health care system renowned for decreasing access and escalating costs. This paper examines one of the principal reforms in the ACA, the state health insurance exchanges. The author finds theoretical and empirical evidence to support the exchanges' potential (in conjunction with other relevant ACA reforms) to increase access, decrease insurers' excess profits and shift health care costs away from those least able to afford them. The exchanges fall …

Feminine Realism In Cornhill Magazine: Anne Thackeray Ritchie And Frances Parthenope Verney, Alexandra Virginia Scamahorn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the literature published by two lesser known women writers in Cornhill Magazine during the 1860s: Anne Thackeray Ritchie and Frances Parthenope Verney. By using the magazine as a context for their fiction, I examine the ways in which these writers both reflect Cornhill's brand of realism, which privileged masculine ideology, and diverge from it, inserting a feminine perspective. Because the magazine's representation of the multiple facets of its society is varied and complex, my thesis examines a particular aspect of societal representation: one that depicts mid-nineteenth-century society in transition from traditional to progressive values. Caught between …

0300–0430, Jesus M. Sierra

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Night, a time everyone experiences and few contemplate. It is a time of darkness both figuratively and literally. Darkness of the soul and of the mind, when some rest and others are restless. We live in an age of endless day where the night is nothing more than a time to be blinded by electronic light. With this in mind the question becomes how was our night seen in the past? Also, how was the night and the darkness represented throughout time? To answer these questions I researched the topic of night and made a film entitled 0300 - 0430. …

If There's No "Fat Lady," When Is The Opera Over? An Exploration Of Changing Physical Image Standards In Present-Day Opera, Emily L. Stephenson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Though present-day American society generally assumes opera is one of the few remaining entertainment fields where talent matters more than physical appearance, as the 2004 firing of Deborah Voigt demonstrates, present-day opera singers are increasingly being held to stricter image standards. In 2004, Covent Garden dismissed Voigt from their production of Ariadne auf Naxos, in which Voigt was supposed to reprise her critically acclaimed interpretation of the title role. According to Voigt, Covent Garden's casting director Peter Katona felt that she was too large to fit into the black dress the new production required of the character. Voigt's removal …

Performed And Perceived Masculinity In Father-Son Relationships From The Perspective Of Sons: A Thematic Narrative Analysis, Daniel Steven Strasser

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study qualitatively explored father-son relationships and the perceptions and performances of masculinity within that relationship from the perspective of sons. Through the utilization of symbolic interactionism and narrative as theoretical and conceptual frameworks narratives were collected as a means to make sense of participants' experiences and interactions with their fathers throughout their lives. Through a multi-phase analysis and utilizing Riessman's (2008) thematic narrative analysis as an ideological and practical basis, RQ1, which asked what themes underlie sons' narratives surrounding the performance and perceptions of masculinity within their father-son relationships, yielded the following three themes: (1) traditional masculinity …

Cognitive Reappraisal Ability As A Protective Factor: Resilience To Stress Across Time And Context, Allison S. Troy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Emotion regulation is crucially involved in individuals' psychological health. For example, the frequent use of cognitive reappraisal, or changing the way one thinks about an emotional event, is positively associated with psychological health. Recent cross-sectional findings have shown that the ability to use cognitive reappraisal (cognitive reappraisal ability; CRA) is associated with lower depression in the context of high stress. However, two important questions about CRA remain unexamined: 1) Does CRA predict long-term adjustment to stress? 2) Do the protective effects of CRA depend upon the type of stress encountered? To examine these questions, a community sample of men and …

Hijas Rebeldes: Chicana Spirituality And The Re(Claiming) Of The Indigenous, Daisy Vargas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Though the Chicano nationalist movement of the 1960s and 1970s helped Chicanas/os embrace an indigenous identity traced back to the Aztecs of Mexico, it nevertheless proved alienating to Chicanas. In response to patriarchal structures of control within the Chicano movement and Western culture, Chicanas developed a mestiza consciousness. The grounding of this new epistemic tradition in ancient indigenous practices creates a Chicana spirituality and a method for identifying with the cosmology and goddess mythology of the Aztecs. Though critics of Chicana spirituality question the authenticity of Chicana claims to indigenous traditions, Chicanas employ their spirituality as tool to transform them …

Implicating Bitzer's Rhetorical Situation In Comparative And Non-Violent Rhetoric: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Three Ecofeminist Movements From East To West, Shahreen Mat Nayan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the study of social movement rhetoric, scholars often focus on movements based in Western nations, foregoing study of social change in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and other parts of the world. Similarly, the focus on non-violent rhetoric has also been lacking, despite its use by great leaders such as Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King. This dissertation contributes to the study of social change in a globalized world, by taking a comparative approach to non-violent rhetoric in three diverse case studies. As sub-areas, both comparative rhetoric and non-violent rhetoric require further deliberation due to the numerous debates concerning …

When Talking Helps: A Quantitative Study Of Privacy And Resilience After Bereavement, Carrie Lynn West

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Using the theoretical framework of Communication Privacy Management, this study sought to determine how trait resilience, state hopefulness, distress disclosure, use of social networks, and boundary turbulence relate to bereaved spouses' life satisfaction. Bereaved spouses (N=149) completed questionnaires at Camp Widow, a weekend-long conference for bereaved spouses held in San Diego, from August 12-14, 2011. Participants were single, engaged or remarried. The average age of the participants is 46.24 years. The average age at time of bereavement reported was 43.71 years. The amount of time that had passed since the death of their spouse was 2.83 years, and the average …