Digital Commons Network^™

Coming Out : Sexual Orientation Disclosure To Siblings, Rachel M. Gottesman

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This qualitative study explores LGBTQ individuals' experiences navigating sexual orientation disclosure to their sibling(s). The purpose of the study was to examine the role siblings play in sexual orientation disclosure, how and why LGBTQ identified individuals 'come out' to their sibling(s), and provide a glimpse into their experiences of this disclosure. Eleven individuals, ages 25–32 who identified as Lesbian, Gay, Bi–sexual, Transgender or Queer were interviewed via open–ended, semi–structured interviews. LGBTQ participants were asked to speak about their sibling(s) relationship prior to and following their sexual orientation disclosure and the trajectory of their sexual orientation awareness through the process of …

Experiences Of Discrimination Among Arab Americans And Muslim Americans Post-9/11 Attacks, Lenna Jawdat

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This study explored the experiences of discrimination among Arab Americans and Muslim Americans in the United States following the attacks of September 11, 2001. Although previous research has documented discrimination among these groups, many of these are quantitative studies that fail to capture their qualitative experiences. Twenty-eight Arab American and Muslim American adults completed a mixed methods survey which asked respondents how the events of 9/11 impacted their sense of safety and security. Additionally, they were asked to explore their experiences of discrimination since 9/11 and to speak about their experiences of media bias. The findings indicate that many Arab …

Bloodsport And The Michael Vick Dogfighting Case: A Critical Cultural Analysis, Wil Massey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

After law enforcement officials in Virginia found evidence of a dogfighting operation, the owner, National Football League star Michael Vick, became one of the most vilified figures in America for supporting a bloodsport that inflicts debilitating bodily harm on dogs. This thesis examines that case in light of the long human history of breeding fighting dogs for war and competitive entertainment. A content analysis was performed on a sample of news reports and opinion pieces that were published in three media outlets. Reactions to the Vick case illuminated strong popular opposition to dogfighting. Findings explore how strong anti-dogfighting views appeared …

Support For Higher Education: Perceptions Of Selected University Administrators And Legislators In Tennessee, Deidre Lee Yowell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative study examined the perceptions of selected university administrators and legislators concerning levels of support for Tennessee public higher education. The purpose of the study was to gain a greater understanding among the various constituents as to the needs and restraints facing higher education funding. The population targeted for this study was comprised of 132 members of the Tennessee General Assembly, the Executive Director of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC), the Chancellor of the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR), the President of the University of Tennessee System, and 36 Chief Administrators at 9 state-supported universities. The principal investigator …

Examining Eurozone Divergence, Charles Noble

Economics Theses

This paper provides a brief history of European integration followed by an examination of the Eurozone financial crisis and the economic divergence among particular economies (Germany compared with Greece, Portugal, Spain, and Ireland) it induced. Afterwards a list of structural and policy reforms meant to achieve economic convergence is provided. The paper concludes that in order for the Eurozone to achieve economic convergence, it would be best if Greece and Portugal exited the monetary union. The smaller, more homogeneous union could then more readily achieve economic convergence to function, both politically and economically, as a sustainable monetary union.

"The River Duddon" And William Wordsworth's Evolving Poetics Of Collection, Shannon Melee Stimpson

Theses and Dissertations

Despite its impact in generating a more positive reception toward Wordsworth's work among his contemporaries, The River Duddon volume has received comparatively little critical attention in recent scholarship. On some level, this is unsurprising given the relative unpopularity of Wordsworth's later work among modern readers, but I believe that the relative shortage of critical scholarship on The River Duddon is due, at least in part, to a symptomatic failure to read the volume in its entirety. This essay takes up the challenge of following Wordsworth's directive to read The River Duddon volume as a unified whole. While I cannot account …

Ecumenism: Catholicism And The Elca: The Possibility Of Ecumenism Between The Catholic Church And The Evangelical Lutheran Church Of America, Trevor De Rosch

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

Despite the common knowledge of differences between the various Christian denominations of the world, many people are unaware of how these differences have impacted the ecumenical talks to unite, or at least improve communications between, different Christian denominations. These issues came to light in a personal way when my father, a Catholic, began studying to become a deacon while my mother remains an Evangelical Lutheran. An analysis of the denominations, including their teachings, leaders, and congregations, shows an easily recognizable similarity, but also a stark contrast in many teachings, including those related to the Eucharist, as well as leadership duties …

Brown Study An Original Musical Recording, Alan Clark

HIM 1990-2015

For a year and a spring semester, I have been in the works of a school music project. I set out to make a record of ten self-penned songs. Along the length of the project, I would discover musicians and recording artists. I notated my songs on a staff and recorded demos to assist players of drums, electric bass, French horn, and violin. I play guitar, percussion, synthesized instruments, and do all of the singing on Brown Study, the record's title. The technology used to create the songs include a Tascam 2488 (home digital recording device), computers, printers, cell phones …

He Honored Death, Too: The Subterranean Life Of Jack Kerouac, Christopher Wayne

History Theses

Regarded as the founder of the Beat Generation, Jack Kerouac is upheld as a symbol of post-war freedom and opportunity in America, a precursor of the cultural shift of the 1960s. This paper is an exploration of the lesser known traits of Kerouac: qualities that are in conflict with the persona that is most closely associated with the author. The thesis begins with an examination of Kerouac’s childhood in Lowell, Massachusetts, and his exposure to those traits he adopted in adulthood, and chronicles events in his life that display his subversive character. The main argument of the thesis is that …

Fragmented Histories: 1798 And The Irish National Tale, Colleen Booker Halverson

Theses and Dissertations

The 1798 rebellion radically transformed the social and political landscape of Ireland, but it would also have a dramatic impact on Anglo-Irish authors writing in its grim aftermath. Numerous critics have characterized the early Irish novel as "unstable" and suggest that the interruptions, the inverted, overlapping narratives, and the heteroglossia that pervade these novels are a by-product of these authors' tumultuous times. These Anglo-Irish novels may appear as "unstable" texts, but their "instability," I would argue, is a strategic maneuver, a critique of the idea of "stability" itself as it is presented through the "civilizing," modernizing mission of imperialism. When …

An Anaylsis Of Patient-Physician Discourse: Comparing Physician Diagnostic Scripts To Patient Social Script Expectations, Denis Grimes

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines how participants interpret physicians' diagnostic discourse and physician interruptions during the patient's disclosure of problems and concerns. Using medical diagnostic scripts written for upper respiratory infections, participants' reactions to physician attentiveness and physician interruptions were measured. When physicians interrupt patients during the patient's disclosure of problems and concerns, interruptions violate patient's social script expectations and negatively affect patient satisfaction. Physicians' demonstrations of attentiveness and explanations of the purposes for the interruptions do not compensate for interruption's effects, and satisfaction with physician behavior is reduced.

Perceptions And Realities Of The Irish Republican Army During The Second World War, L.B. Wilson Iii

Master's Theses

This thesis investigates the British and German perception of the IRA and claims that the organization represented an insurmountable obstacle to the progress of both German intelligence and British counter-intelligence. The IRA was also the primary contributor to the political troubles oflrish neutrality during World War II. It examines the perceived threat of the IRA in the minds of the Irish Prime Minister Eamon de Valera and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and those ministers' respective governments. The thesis looks at official debates in the British Parliament and the Irish Dail as well as interwar newspapers and official records. Additionally, …

The Forensic Burke: A For(U)Mative Member Of The Parlor, Courtney James Wright

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

In this study, I detail the forensics education of Kenneth Burke, a leading rhetorical theorist and critic of the twentieth century. After investigating this previously unexamined area, I argue that Burke’s competitive forensics experiences pivotally informed his rhetorical schema. Theoretically guided by Burke’s pivotal term the forensic, I begin by mapping the contours of Burke’s educational biography. Next, I analyze and reconstruct Burke’s forensics education by focusing on the forensic organizations of Peabody High School, Burke’s literary society experiences at Ohio State University and Columbia University, and the literary activities of Greenwich Village. Finally, I proffer connections between forensics …

A Modest Proposal: A Chamber Opera In One Act, Kevin Morse

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

A Modest Proposal is a chamber opera in one act adapted from the 1729 satirical essay of the same name by Jonathan Swift. The opera’s narrative was developed in close partnership with Toronto-based Governor-General’s Literary Award-nominated playwright Lisa Codrington, whom I commissioned to write the libretto. Set in an unnamed city in the present day, the work explores themes of economic disparity, social class, political power and process, parents and children, love, anger, and revenge. I integrate musical quotations from (or references to) folk lullabies and the works of Mahler, Debussy, and Schoenberg to support and enhance the richness and …

Girls "In Trouble": A History Of Female Adolescent Sexuality In The Midwest, 1946-1964, Charissa Keup

Dissertations (1934 -)

This dissertation attempts to show how Americans reacted to adolescent female sexuality, looking specifically at unwed school-age pregnancy in the post-World War Two decades. It documents the origins of the transition of the conversation about unwed teens from caring for them in maternity homes and boarding houses to discussing their problems on television shows and in popular magazines. Teenage sexual delinquency and pregnancy have always raised innumerable questions about American culture and values. Because they challenged the traditional concept of motherhood, they offer a lens through which to study American sexuality and reveal that an alternate 1950s existed beyond the …

The History Of Animal Welfare Law And The Future Of Animal Rights, Marie Blosh

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Animals were included within the protection of the law in the early nineteenth century. Why have there been so few advances since then? Discussion about this question tends to focus on the moral and legal status of animals. That is undoubtedly an important issue, but it stems from a tradition that looks for the singular trait that distinguishes humans from all other animals. This thesis uses an historical approach to explore the tension between the humane impulse to alleviate animal suffering and the sense of human superiority that permits animal exploitation. The conclusion is that animal rights theory could build …

Narrative Tactics: Windigo Stories And Indigenous Youth Suicide, Gerald P. Mckinley

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation examines cross-genre and cross-cultural discourse between contemporary Indigenous windigo narratives and medical narratives involving the topic of Indigenous youth suicide. The Indigenous narratives include forms that are Western in their origin, the novel, comic book and film, but contain traditional Indigenous narrative patterns, actors and themes. I draw these narratives from fictions produced by Indigenous public intellectuals. The medical narratives represent a cross-section of fields but focus mainly on Coroners’ reports, social determinants of health research and suicide research based in psychology. The goal of my research is to examine how and where these forms of discourse come …

Carnival, Convents, And The Cult Of St. Rocque: Cultural Subterfuge In The Work Of Alice Dunbar-Nelson, Sibongile B. Lynch

English Theses

In the work of Alice Dunbar-Nelson the city and culture of 19^th century New Orleans figures prominently, and is a major character affecting the lives of her protagonists. While race, class, and gender are among the focuses of many scholars the eccentricity and cultural history of the most exotic American city, and its impact on Dunbar-Nelson’s writing is unmistakable. This essay will discuss how the diverse cultural environment of New Orleans in the 19^th century allowed Alice Dunbar Nelson to create narratives which allowed her short stories to speak to the shifting identities of women and the social …

The Mediating Role Of Coping On The Relationship Between Attachment Style And Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among Suicidal African American Women, Wendy Heath-Gainer

Counseling and Psychological Services Dissertations

The literature on clinical interventions for suicide prevention indicates that low-income, suicidal African American females are an historically underserved population. Contributing to this lack of service are the intersecting influences of race, ethnicity, culture, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status and related oppressions (APA, 2007). In suicidal African American females, a higher level of reported symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder has been found in suicide attempters as compared to nonattempters (Kaslow et al., 2000), and PTSD has been shown to be associated with heightened risk of an ensuing suicide attempt (Wilcox, Storr, & Breslau, 2009). One factor affecting manifestation of PTSD …

Through The Looking Glass: Another Reading Of Willa Cather's The Professor's House, Rebecca H. Bonacchi

English Theses

This project examines Cather’s experimentation with conflicting voices of narrative authority in the presentation of four central female characters in The Professor’s House, using St. Peter and an entity termed the implied narrator as lenses through which we view other characters. The project is broken down into four chapters, each dealing one addressing the central issues involving that specific female character.

All Things Shining: A Narrative And Stylistic Analysis Of Terrence Malick's Films, C. Clinton Stivers

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation fills a gap in the scholarship on the films of Terrence Malick by providing a historically based and grounded auteur study that provides a comprehensive examination of his formal and thematic concerns in Badlands (1973), Days of Heaven (1978), The Thin Red Line (1998), The New World (2005), and with a coda on The Tree of Life (2011).

This auteur study draws on critical approaches to formalism, Hollywood genres, American cultural myths, and the philosophy of Martin Heidegger. Each chapter that addresses a specific film opens by historically situating Malick and that film within an industrial and production …

Paper Towns: Sense Of Place In Industrial, Small-Town New England, 1869-1927, David William Deacon

History - Dissertations

After the Civil War, new technologies and business structures transformed the American economy and society. One area that has received much attention in the antebellum period but much less after the Civil War, is small town New England. In the late 1860s, the introduction of wood pulp paper technology transformed formerly small market and manufacturing communities into centers of heavy industry. This dissertation is a study of this transformation. It focuses on three communities: Bellows Falls, Vermont, Franklin, New Hampshire, and Turners Falls, Massachusetts.

This study examines four broad areas: the historical background of the towns, and townspeople's awareness of …

From Confederate Expatriates To New South Neo-Filibusters: Major Edward A. Burke And The Americas, Michael Powers

All Theses

The traditional historiography of the American South presents the New South creed as a vision emphasizing national reconciliation based upon the advancement of Southern commerce and industry. In addition, scholars broadly define New South spokesmen as men who came to maturity after the Civil War and did not involve themselves in state or national politics. An examination of Major Edward Austin Burke, however, reveals that at least one pivotal New South booster was a Confederate veteran and leading political figure; it also suggests the presence of an international component inherent in the New South paradigm of the 1880s. It is …

From The Golden Gate To The Green Mountains: A Hapa Educational Autobiography And Meta-Critical Reflection, Noelle Brassey

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

As a former UC Berkeley undergraduate and a University of Vermont graduate student, this is an educational autobiography of a self-identified Hapa, or mixed-race Asian American, through the lens of race and identity. Exploring what it means to be “white” and “privileged,” and realizing that these concepts--like identity--are fluid, this thesis adopts a dual methodology that includes personal narrative, as well as a meta-critical reflection. This thesis focuses on three memoirs: Bone Black and Wounds of Passion by bell hooks, and Hunger of Memory by Richard Rodriguez, each of which explore themes of reclaiming voice and reconstructing identity with regards …

Not Just Another Paper Cut: An Exploratory Analysis Of The Silent Epidemic Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (Nssi) And Efforts To Control Self-Injury Among School-Based Adolescents, Eloisa Sanchez

Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a behavioral health problem within the broader risk category of self-directed violence and closely associated with borderline personality disorder (BPD) (American Psychiatric, 2012). There are several types of NSSI behaviors such as cutting; which are used as a coping mechanism by individuals to relieve distress. These methods of coping are private and silent and according to experts in the field, this is a fast growing behavioral problem among adolescents. Researchers Muehlenkamp, Walsh, & McDade (2010) approximate the life time rates of at least one NSSI act among adolescents in high school to be 23%. The primary …

Inspiratory Breathing Exercises For Vocal Tremor: A Preliminary Study, Jessica Tayseer Hilo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Essential voice tremor (EVT) is a voice disorder that results from dyscoordination within the laryngeal musculature, which negatively impacts the symmetrical motion of the vocal folds. Several investigators have shown that individuals with EVT experience difficulty speaking and a reduced quality of life (QOL; Cohen, Dupont, & Courey, 2006; Verdonck-de Leeuw & Mahieu, 2004). While traditional voice therapy has been ineffective in lessening the severity of vocal tremor, a current approach (Barkmeier- Kraemer, Lato, & Wiley, 2011) designed to lessen the perception of vocal tremor has resulted in reported patient satisfaction with little actual change in voice quality. The present …

Subversion Through Inversion: Kent Monkman's "The Triumph Of Mischief", Monique Belitz

Art & Art History ETDs

Monkmans acrylic painting The Triumph of Mischief is the central subject of this investigation which includes its relationship to other paintings and objects in the installation The Triumph of Mischief. By applying Mieke Bal's narratology theory, the principles of carnivals as proposed by Mikhail Bahktin, the four dichotomies underlying Western movies, Monkman's appropriation of older art work, his use of various binary opposites and his inclusion of iconographic details from various art history epochs are explained. Investigating the painting from a postcolonial and postmodern theoretical angle demonstrates that several iconic images from Western art history are decolonized by mocking and …

Interracial, Yet Intrafaith: Does A Common Religion Predict Higher Relationship Quality In Interracial Romantic Relationships?, Danielle Fenn

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to analyze the association between relationship quality and religious discrepancy of interracial couples who are either married or cohabiting. Two variables of religious discrepancy (religious affiliation discrepancy and religiosity discrepancy) were studied. The sample included three groups of interracial couples: Hispanic-white, Asian-white, and Black-white. The data were analyzed using a structural equation model and regression estimates of the three groups were compared. Results showed a significant relationship in only three of the 12 relationships between the two variables of religious discrepancy and relationship quality. Significant negative relationships were found between religious denomination discrepancy and …

How The West Was Settled: Teacher's Guide, Leah Sloan

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

"Endemic Uncertainties" : Teachers' Professional Lives In The High-Stakes Reform Movement, Harris Sockel

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Explores the effects that principles of certainty have on teachers' professional lives and their attitudes toward their work.