Digital Commons Network^™

Dead Women And White Men: Why Are Today’S Hit Noir Shows Still Stuck In The Gender/ Race Politics Of The ‘40s And ‘50s?, Zainab Akande

Capstones

Critically acclaimed TV noir programs such as “True Detective,” “House of Cards” and “Hannibal” provide complex narratives with compelling characters, but fail to take full advantage of gender & race diversity.

A Life On Pause, Briana Duggan

Capstones

These pieces explore the financial, emotional, and physical toll that women in New York with loved ones in prison must bear in order to maintain a relationship with their loved one. The series follows Heddy Chisholm, a 28-year-old mother of a disabled child who chooses to travel more than 400 miles every other week to visit her fiance, Terrence at a prison near the Canadian border.

Through The Eyes Of The Homeless, Aisha M. Soto

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

When reviewing the entire project from start to completion, I can honestly say, Through the Eyes of the Homeless is a play about ten women and their plight. It illustrates their dealings with everyday issues of hurt, disappointment, abuse, love, and hope. I believe the true impact of this play is the undeniable prayer for help and hope within each monologue. Despite the horrors that are unveiled and released through hidden secrets, the undertone of betterment is truly resonating. My own expectation for this play is simply to strike awareness and understanding in the eyes of the people. It is …

Living On The Moon: Women, Home Making, And The House After World War Ii In Shirley Jackson’S We Have Always Lived In The Castle, Leslie Dennis

Theses and Dissertations

In my thesis, I concentrate on Shirley Jackson, her novel We Have Always Lived in the Castle, and women’s place in post-World War II American society. To start, I introduce Jackson and her role in literary history, the housewife writer in the 1950s and 60s, and magazine culture. Then I move to a historical perspective of the 1950s and propaganda during the atomic war era. I focus my attention on how government literature worked to contain women in the home and control sexuality and gender roles. Following my discussion of domesticity, I concentrate on the history of the Gothic novel …

A Diagram On Birds And Women's Representation In Film, Kelly Mcandrews

Honors Projects

A Diagram on Birds Absract

This feature-length screenplay examines the lives of three women who must redefine success after losing a member of their family. When Regina Shipman, a somewhat lonely newspaper editor, loses her brother, she becomes determined to make life normal again. But Regina's widowed sister-in-law Kate throws a wrench in the plan with her new, wild lifestyle. This leaves Addie, a 13-year-old caught up in the confusion of adolescence, no choice but to move in with the stern, level-headed Regina. A Diagram on Birds draws on third-wave feminist philosophies of home and family, and asks what exactly …

An Examination Of Psychological Variables Influencing Perceptions Of The Self Among A Sample Of Female Exercise Initiates, Lisa Cooke

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The general purpose of this dissertation was to explore the relationship among and within cognitive variables associated with exercise initiation and maintenance in a sample of female exercise initiates.

Manuscript 1 was structured to explore the changes to exercise identity among a population of female exercise initiates (N = 78) grouped into an imagery or control condition. Previous research has found that a strong exercise identity is associated with more frequent exercise (Strachan et al., 2009) and increases over time as a person continues to exercise (Cardinal & Cardinal, 1997). Participants were assessed multiple times (weeks 0, 5, 9, …

Motivational Interviewing Via Co-Active Life Coaching Intervention For Women Seeking A More Physically Active Lifestyle, Andrea M. Goddard

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The purpose of this 12-week pre-post design pilot study was to assess the impact of Motivational Interviewing via Co-Active Life Coaching (MI-via-CALC) on exercise-specific self-efficacy, barrier-specific self-efficacy, self-esteem, and 12-week study duration engagement in physical activity (PA) for 25 women between the ages of 30 and 55 years. Participants were assessed quantitatively using the previously validated McAuley Exercise-Specific Self-Efficacy Scale (EXSE), McAuley Barrier-Specific Self-Efficacy Scale (BARSE), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), and International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-SF) at pre-, mid-, and post-intervention. Four one-way repeated measures ANOVAs were completed for each scale, and statistically significant differences in barrier-specific self-efficacy were detected …

The Case Of Reintegration Of Women Post Incarceration, Deana Raley Noble Phd

Dissertations

Women released from prison or jail face particular obstacles and challenges on reentry to the community, many of which are related to their childhood and to gender roles as women and mothers. This study relates the lived experience of one woman's successful transition to economic and mainstream societal reintegration and family reconnection after release from prison and the insights gained by the researcher. Case study methodology congruent with Miller's Relational-Cultural Theory philosophical framework was utilized in this in-depth, single case design and represents a unique case. The overall purpose of this descriptive and explanatory research was to explore precursors to …

"Tales" Of Text And Culture: Tropes Of Imperialism, Women's Roles, Technologies Of Representation, And Collaborative Meaning-Making In Rita Golden Gelman's Tales Of A Female Nomad, Female Nomad And Friends, And Personal Website, Michelle Lynne Van Wert Kosalka

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines contemporary travel writing specifically created for a popular reading culture, Rita Golden Gelman's Tales of a Female Nomad, Female Nomad and Friends, and personal website. The project is concerned with how culture is continuously represented and shaped through the dialogic interaction between writer and reader, and the subsequent liminal spaces which emerge in moments of meaning-making. Chapter 1 is a close reading of how Gelman's works reinforce and, in some cases, resist, tropes of imperialism. Chapter 2 examines patriarchal gender roles in Gelman's works and the ways in which recent advances in feminist psychiatry and psychology can …

The Nutrient Intake Of Homeless Women Of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Emily D. Popma-Metsaars

Masters Theses

Background Homeless individuals comprise about 1% of the American population with 1/3 of this particular population being women. And despite the potential for hunger, the homeless population has a similar prevalence of overweight/obese as other Americans. The Heartside neighborhood of Grand Rapids is a very low-income area of the city, inhabited by the poor and homeless. The Food Access in Michigan Project is studying the relationship between food insecurity and food environments in Michigan.

Objectives The purpose of this study was to determine the characteristics of the diet of homeless women in Heartside. This study examined the level of food …

Stereotype Threat, Self-Affirmation, And Women's Statistics Performance, Blanca Tapia

Master's Theses

Stereotype threat (fear of confirming a negative group stereotype that in turn can inhibit academic performance) has been implicated in the gender gap observed in the field of mathematics. Even though stereotype threat depresses women's performance, there has been much research reporting various interventions that ameliorate its negative effects. The current study investigated stereotype threat specifically in statistics--an unexplored area in the research literature --and the alleviating effects of self-affirmation. Participants in three conditions (control, stereotype threat, stereotype threat + affirmation) completed a statistics test. In both stereotype threat conditions participants were given a verbal prime to induce stereotype threat, …

Leisure Defined By Free Choice: Ugandan Women's Perceptions Of Leisure, Emilie Adams

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the meaning of leisure among women in the developing East African nation of Uganda. In this study, I evaluated the leisure experiences of 38 Ugandan women of various backgrounds and socioeconomic statuses through semi-structured interviews. I analyzed the data using the constant comparative method. Themes for the meaning of leisure include fortifying leisure, enjoyment, and rest and relaxation. Results point to free choice as the core variable. Finally, I discuss the implications and suggestions for future research.

An Examination Of How Feminist Perspectives And Generational Differences Lnfluence The Leadership Practices Of Women Administrators In Higher Education, Marlene Kowalski-Braun

Dissertations

This study explored how feminist perspectives and generational differences influence the leadership practice of women administrators in higher education, specifically, how they lead and create institutional change. It examined the experiences of seven women who identified as feminists, who were part of Generation X, and who were at the mid-level, aspiring to senior-level, or in senior-level positions.

Phenomenology was the qualitative methodology used in this study to uncover how these women made meaning of their feminist and generational identities. The approach was grounded in feminist methodology and utilized feminist standpoint theory to legitimize women as “knowers.” It drew on a …

Lynn Hershman Leeson's Roberta Breitmore And The Art Of Becoming A Woman, Maayan Glaser-Koren

Master's Theses

Throughout the emergence of second-wave feminism in the 1970s, social and political activism inspired female artists to create powerful artworks that critiqued institutional discrimination and supported women's reproductive rights and workplace equality. Feminist artists raised the public's awareness of women's issues by making women the subject of their artwork. In California especially, these creators turned to performance art, often taking their creations to the streets.

This thesis focuses on Lynn Hershman Leeson's performance, Roberta Breitmore (1974-1978), and examines how, through the steps of the performance, the piece's fictitious title character became a living resident of San Francisco. It will explore …

Barriers To Women In Economic Development, Rachel Ann Rawlings

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The focus of my research is on Ghana, because I completed a microfinance internship there. The methodology of this research is a combination of direct observation, interviews, and secondary research. Women in Ghana are limited from obtaining greater economic power by formal and informal barriers. Formal barriers are systematic exclusions from resources that prevent women from pursuing greater levels of power, specifically lack of access to capital and unstable political institutions. Informal barriers are perceived by individuals or societies but are not evidenced in the societal structure. Informal barriers that hinder women from progress include community restraints regarding the role …

It's A Woman's World: Feminist Themes From Pride And Prejudice To The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Amber Naz Haydar

Masters Theses

The overall objective of It’s a woman’s world: Feminist themes from Pride and Prejudice to The Lizzie Bennet Diaries is to examine the feminist themes present in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and their representation in Bernie Su and Hank Green’s recent web series adaptation of Austen’s novel, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. There is first discussion of the critical conversation regarding Austen’s position as a feminist, as well as background on The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Analysis of the feminist themes present in novel and, subsequently, adaptation, follows, and the project concludes with a discussion of some of the …

Womanhood: A Mini-Series, Maggie E. Solomon

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Down From The Mountain And Into The Mill: Literacy Sponsorship And Southern Appalachian Women In The New South, Emma M. Howes

Doctoral Dissertations

This project uses a materialist feminist lens to examine corporate-sponsored literacy campaigns in “model” cotton mills in North and South Carolina between 1880 and 1920. Building on work in literacy studies by Shirley Brice Heath and Elspeth Stuckey, as well as scholarship on literacy sponsorship by Deborah Brandt and Kim Donehower, my study contextualizes literacy sponsorship in mill villages of the New South as part of “welfare work” programs implemented to introduce rural white workers to industrial labor and town life. Using original archival research in conversation with primary and secondary resources, I follow the (re)construction of deficit in relation …

Project Space(S) In The Design Professions: An Intersectional Feminist Study Of The Women's School Of Planning And Architecture (1974-1981), Elizabeth Cahn

Doctoral Dissertations

The Women’s School of Planning and Architecture (WSPA) was an ambitious, explicitly feminist educational program created by seven women planners and architects who used the school to introduce ideas and practices of the 1970s women’s movement into design and planning education in the United States. Between 1974 and 1981, WSPA organized five intensive, short-term residential educational sessions and a conference, each in a different geographical location in the United States, after which the organization ceased formal programming and the organizers moved on to other activities. The founders and participants involved in WSPA collectively imagined and created a feminist space for …

The Role Of Sleep Timing On Diet Quality And Physical Activity Among College-Aged Women Participating In The University Of Massachusetts Vitamin D Status Study, Deniz Azarmanesh

Masters Theses

Overweight and obesity are risk factors for various chronic diseases. Sleep has been associated with overweight and obesity. One potential mechanism by which sleep may lead to overweight and obesity is through positive energy balance (i.e. energy intake exceeding expenditure). There are few studies examining the impact of sleep timing (onset and wake time) on diet and exercise. In a cross sectional study, we examined associations between sleep timing and diet quality, and in separate models, between sleep timing and meeting the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans among the participants of the UMass Vitamin D Status Study. A total …

Identifying Program Needs Of Women Detainees In A Jail Environment, Jeanna Michele Rodda

Theses and Dissertations

Since the 1980s, the population of incarcerated women has been steadily increasing. Approximately 200,000 women are incarcerated in prisons and jails in the United States (Clarke, Phipps, Tong, Rose, and Gold, 2010). There is an increasing level of comorbidity among the population of incarcerated women, with the majority requiring mental health, physical health, substance abuse and pregnancy services at the time of their incarceration or soon afterwards. Incarcerated women face a number of challenges; they are cut off from their primary support system and their children. Their physical health deteriorates, they lack appropriate coping skills, and often experience withdrawal symptoms. …

Queen Of The Underworld: The Biography Of Sophie Lyons (1848-1924), Barbara M. Gray

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Sophie Lyons was a nineteenth-century American pickpocket, blackmailer, con-woman, and bank robber. She was raised in New York City's underworld, by Jewish immigrant parents who were criminals that trained their children to pick pockets and shoplift. "Pretty Sophie" possessed a rare combination of skill at thievery, intellect, guts and beauty and became the woman Herbert Ashbury described in Gangs of New York as, "the most notorious confidence woman America has ever produced." Newspapers around the world chronicled Sophie's exploits for more than sixty years, because her life read like a novel. Her mentor was another forgotten woman who held a …

Precarious Wife: Narratives Of Marital Instability In Medieval And Early Modern Literature, Emily G. Sherwood

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Precarious Wife intervenes in the propagation of the binary--of privilege and marginalization--inherent in discussions of the institutional identity of wife in the medieval and early modern periods by exposing the vulnerability and malleability of the category often ignored or minimized in discussions of pre-modern women. Drawing on Judith Butler's work on vulnerability, this dissertation questions the normative trajectory of daughter, wife, widow for medieval and early modern women that excludes people with alternate narratives or identities. While men's subjectivity spanned multiple identities based on their class, rank, career, religious practices, community, and networks of kinship, women were almost exclusively defined …

Antecedents Of Regular Exercise Among Women Who Do And Do Not Achieve Weight Loss Over Six Months, Heather Vartanian

Dissertations (1934 -)

In the United States, 35.5% of adult women are classified as obese, defined as a body mass index (BMI) of > 30 kg/m2. The health risks associated with obesity can be mitigated through losing even 5-10% of initial body weight. Evidence shows that reductions in caloric intake alone without increases in caloric expenditure leads to a decline in resting metabolic rate, thereby impeding attainment or maintenance of weight loss. The purpose of this cross-sectional, mixed-methods study was to explore the antecedents of regular exercise among women with obesity who did and did not achieve weight loss over six months. The antecedents …

Older Woman Workers: Met And Unmet Needs For Health And Wellbeing In The Workplace, Gillian Gorfine

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Older women workers report experiencing occupational injustices however the literature focuses on barriers faced rather than understanding the needs-based strategies empowering women as they age at work. This study engaged women aged 55 and older in a participatory action research project defining and examining strategies for older women workers’ health and wellbeing. In Phase 1, a key informant advisory group (N = 4) defined the problem and guided the design of an open answer survey conducted with 72 older women in work. Three categories emerged informing the fundamental, instrumental, and contextual needs of older women workers. Meeting fundamental needs may …

Showing The Unsayable: Trauma And Juxtaposition In Persepolis And A Child's Life And Other Stories, Lauranne Poharec

Foreign Languages & Literatures ETDs

This thesis focuses on two comic books by women that interweave personal trauma with the trauma of historical events: Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, which explores coming of age against the background of memory of the Iranian Revolution, and A Childs Life and Other Stories by Phoebe Gloeckner, which explores parent-child incest and coming of age in the wake of the American sexual revolution. It argues that Satrapi and Gloeckner, two women comic artists, push the limits of the comics medium and of memoir by using juxtaposition — of alternative illustration styles, of what is seen and what is not seen, …

Skin Cancer Risk Perception And Sunscreen Use In Adolescent Female Soccer Athletes, Cheryl L. Butera Phd, Msn, Aprn, Fnp-Bc, Np-C, Phn

Dissertations

Over 3.5 million cases of skin cancer are diagnosed annually in the United States. In adolescent females ages 15-19, melanoma is the second most common form of cancer. The greatest risk factor for skin cancer is ultraviolet rays from the sun. Research has shown that sunscreen use is protective of all skin cancers, especially melanoma. The purpose of this study was to obtain perceptions about risk of skin cancer and sunscreen use among 13- to 18-year-old adolescent female club soccer athletes as a basis for effective interventions to improve sunscreen use in this population. The Health Belief Model was employed …

Heard Or Dreamed About, Priya Nadkarni

Masters Theses

ABSTRACT

HEARD OR DREAMED ABOUT

MAY 2014

PRIYA NADKARNI, B.F.A. RUTGERS UNIVERSITY

M.F.A. UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

Directed by: Professor Shona Macdonald

Coffee And Tea Consumption And The Risk Of Lung Cancer In A Population Of Postmenopausal Women, Abigail Santos

Masters Theses

Lung cancer has been the leading cause of cancer death in women for
the past three decades. Although smoking is the most important risk
factor for lung cancer, not all lung cancer deaths in American women
are attributed to smoking and the role of dietary exposures remain
unclear.In particular, the effect of coffee consumption and tea
consumption on lung cancer risk remains inconclusive. Therefore we
assessed these associations prospectively in 83,777 women between the
ages of 50-79 who did not have a previous history of cancer. Daily
coffee and tea consumption (cups/d) were assessed via a baseline
questionnaire while the …

Exploring The Validity Of Established Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual Stage Models Of Sexual Identity Development: A Grounded Theory Study Of Women And Ethnic Minority Men., Omar Ali Shabaaz Troutman

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop a foundational understanding of how women and ethnic minority men come to espouse a lesbian, gay, or bisexual identity in an effort to develop a coherent theory. While stage models of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender identity currently exist, their validity with the female and ethnic minority male populations was called into question. A grounded theory approach was used with participants from the southeastern United States who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual. Three main patterns emerged: Recognition and Progression of Identity Endorsement; Barriers to Identity Endorsement; and Rejection of Categorical Labels. …