Digital Commons Network^™

Catherine De’ Médicis: Seeking Strength In Schism?, Melissa E. Cuzzo

Honors College Theses

Throughout history Catherine de’ Médicis has been seen as Machiavellian and deceitful. However, what has been largely ignored is that her style of governance has been based on that of male sovereigns before her. Her goal was to keep the Valois line intact in a time of upheaval. The actions in which the queen mother participated in were an attempt to quell dissent within France and to reinforce the social order of the Ancien Régime. This paper will argue that while Catherine de’ Médicis governmental strategies were not dissimilar to previous years, her authority was undermined by her gender, alien …

The Portrayals Of Trans Athlete Accomplishments In Newspapers, Sierra L. Davidson

Honors College Theses

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between events related to trans athletes and their portrayal in the media. This research project focuses on the accomplishment of one trans athlete, Lia Thomas, winning a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 swimming championship in 2022. Articles from three newspapers of differing biases: The Washington Post, USA Today, and Washington Examiner, and one local newspaper of Thomas’ competing state, Philadelphia Daily News, were used in this analysis. Emerging themes were identified and codes were developed. These recurring themes and codes revealed differences in how newspapers reported on this …

Excavating The Strata Of (Some) Of Archaeology's Problems And Applying Feminist Solutions, Kristin M. Dew

Honors College Theses

Over the past thirty years, feminist scholars in archaeology have gained a foothold in the discipline. Conkey and Spector's “Archaeology and the Study of Gender” (1984) is often credited with being the turning point for the topic of gender in archaeology. Still, there is more ground to gain. I argue for a fully engendered archaeology by understanding that achieving this will be difficult due to the past and current sociopolitics of American archaeology. Historically, mainstream archaeology has viewed feminist epistemologies, like those on which gender archaeology is based, as simply a standpoint, creating a disconnect identifying their importance. Despite these …

Emotion Recognition Skills In College Students: Do Gender, Skin Tone, And College Major Affect Emotion Recognition?, Kaylee M. Mccook

Honors College Theses

Humans constantly express emotions both consciously and unconsciously; these emotions are constantly being perceived by those around us. The ability to understand nonverbal expressions and body language is key for successful social interactions in private and professional life. This research assessed 174 students on their ability to perceive emotions from nonverbal cues in faces and postures. The first hypothesis stated there would be a difference in the ability to perceive nonverbal language based on the gender of the viewer was partially supported. I found that women made fewer mistakes than men when observing sets of facial stimuli. A non-significant difference …

College Students And Beliefs In The American Dream: The Impact Of Race, Class, And Gender, Maggie E. Marlow

Honors College Theses

The concept of the American Dream and its promises of prosperity and social mobility, primarily through hard work, has been prevalent throughout modern U.S. history. However, what defines the American Dream has been arbitrary and varied, and research has shown that attitudes and beliefs surrounding the Dream have changed over time with shifts in the economic and political environments. The research for this thesis uses qualitative methods, specifically thematic analysis, to analyze 16 in-depth, one-on-one interviews to examine how students attending a predominantly white university in the Southeastern United States perceive the American Dream today while factoring in how those …

"Why Do You Keep Alone?:" Isolated Women In The Plays Of Shakespeare, Alexus Litchfield

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The works of William Shakespeare have been well explored, but there is a lack of criticism that examines how the depiction of women is shaped by the genre of the play. Linda Bamber is one of the few critics who have explored this connection between gender and genre. However, while she focuses on the plays’ psychological dynamics, I examine the social dynamics between characters in my study of gender and genre. I suggest that, in both tragedy and comedy, isolation is a strong marker of unhappiness for Shakespeare’s female characters. Examining three tragedies, I find that Lady Macbeth, Goneril, Regan, …

Hiring Decisions: Impacts Of Applicant Gender And Social Media Presence, Alicia Ostrowski

Honors College Theses

Studies show that hiring decisions can be influenced by an applicant’s social media profile (Broughton et al., 2013) as well as their gender (Garcia-Retamero & Lopez-Zafra, 2009). Women, compared to men, are more likely to face hiring discrimination (Garcia-Retamero & Lopez-Zafra, 2009) and many hiring managers tend to look at an applicant’s social media profiles for additional information during the hiring process (Broughton et al., 2013). There is a lack of substantial research on the combination of these two factors. This study examined the effects of gender and social media type on hiring decisions.

The Forgotten Activists Of Georgia: The Black Women Of Savannah, Emily Zanieski

Honors College Theses

Historians of the Civil Rights Movement in Georgia have primarily focused on how the national movement unfolded in the city of Atlanta. More recent scholarship has highlighted the role Martin Luther King Jr. played in Albany; however, many of these analyses focus on figures within the larger movement rather than focusing on local, grassroots organizers. Additionally, their primary focus tends to be on the role of Black men, leaving behind the voices of Black women who led alongside them. Through a Long Civil Rights Movement (LCRM) approach, I argue that Black women in Savannah, Georgia played an instrumental role in …

The Perception Of Motherhood Through The Smiles And The Spit-Up, Sydney M. Forsythe

Honors College Theses

This research examines how motherhood is viewed by women, particularly mothers, in the southeast of the United States today. The treatment of women compared to men in women's studies has been a popular topic, but there is less research on mothers. This qualitative study is designed to hear personal stories from mothers and potential mothers, both employed and unemployed, describing how they feel mothers are perceived in the southeast of the United States. Facing the overwhelming literature that describes motherhood as associated with numerous negative impacts on women’s lives, this study explores the weight of joy or the paucity of …

Does God Condone Assault? How Religious Commitment Impacts Trauma Following Sexual Abuse, Madison Snider

Honors College Theses

Sexual assault has been defined as crimes that include attacks or attempted attacks generally involving unwanted sexual contact between victim and offender. After experiencing assault, survivors look for support and belief often turning to their religious communities. It has been found through prior research that the confession of assault has been received on an inconsistent reaction basis. Prior research has also found that religion is often used as a protective shield for perpetrators to hide behind and a roadblock for survivors. Prior research has also primarily focused on investigating reactions to assault in religious communities for either male female victims …

Images Of Ancient Egypt And The Gender Politics Of The Faerie Queene, Genavieve Alt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My thesis argues that Edmund Spenser uses radically different representations of Ancient Egypt to explore complex ideas about gender roles in the Faerie Queene. Book III emphasizes the negative view of Egypt perpetuated through the Book of Exodus and Greek understanding of the mythological king Busiris. Book V emphasizes the positive view of Egypt through the many benevolent myths surrounding the goddess Isis. Spenser uses images of good and evil Egypt to discuss the abolition of normative gender roles.

The introductory section will introduce the mythology surrounding Isis followed by a discussion of the literature referenced throughout. The first …

Attitude Formation And Malleability In Response To Visual Cues And Counterattitudinal Information, Tyler W. Mueller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this research is to investigate how individuals form attitudes based on the appearance of another person and how malleable those attitudes are when the individual is presented with new information about the other person. The predicted effect from this study was that participants would form attitudes about another person's agreeableness based on visual information and that when presented counterattitudinal information would be more likely to change attitudes than information that matches their initial attitude. It was also expected that negative first impressions would be harder to change. METHOD: Participants (N = 109) were presented one …

Who Deserves To Be In Stem? How Threat And Confirmation Of The Gender Hierarchy Impact Helping Behavior Towards Prospective Stem Majors, Samantha A. Gnall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Current events that either threaten or confirm the current gender hierarchy may impact people differently. This can depend upon one’s group membership and their attitudes towards a fair and just society. When people are asked to help others while facing uncertainty of the hierarchy, they may choose to help or lash out in an effort to re-establish the hierarchy or dismantle the hierarchy. STEM faculty were presented with information that either did not threaten the gender hierarchy (i.e., maintaining gender inequality) or that threatened the current gender hierarchy (i.e., reaching gender equality). Participants were then given an opportunity to offer …

The Rose Who Grew From Concrete: A Black Female Administrator's Perspective Of The Public School Experience For Black Girls Who Attend A Predominantly White Middle School In Southeast Georgia, Latashia S. Thomas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the educational experiences of Black girls who attended a predominantly White school in Southeast Georgia from the perspective of a Black female administrator. Using Critical Race Theory (e.g. Bell, 1987, 1992, 1995; Delgado & Stefancic, 2001; Solorzano & Yosso, 2001) and Black Feminist Thought (e.g. Hill Collins, 2000; hooks, 1984/2000) as theoretical frameworks and memoir (Angelou, 1969/2009; Hurston, 1996) and fiction (Bell, 1992; Morrison, 1970/1993) as methodology, I explore ways in which Black girls are oppressed when they attend majority White public schools.

Six meanings emerged from this inquiry: (1) Writing my memoir has allowed me to …

The Role Of Gender In Workplace Exhaustion: Female Perceptions Of Stress In The Technology Workplace, Madison C. Wills

Honors College Theses

As the role of the information technology professional expands, an increasing amount of technology employees are experiencing workplace exhaustion. Adding to that stress, women face other obstacles as minorities in the field. This project identifies characteristics of how gender influences perceived stress and exhaustion in the technology workplace. Through the use of statistics and spreadsheets, this study analyzes survey data regarding information technology professional job perceptions. Expanding upon previous research on this data set, this study adds the element of gender. It was discovered that men were more likely to experience stressors such as role conflict, role ambiguity, and a …

Does Sharing Information With Friends And Family Cause Men To Adhere More Strongly To Masculine Norms?, Clint E. Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

It is clear that social influence can elicit conformity to norms (e.g., Asch, 1956). It remains unclear, however, how various relationships elicit differential conformity to masculine norms in particular. In this pre-registered experiment, I tested the hypothesis that when men are asked to reveal their responses on the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory (CMNI; Mahalik et al., 2003), men conform more when sharing that identifiable information with others who know them (i.e., “public” conformity), namely friends and family, as compared to sharing that information anonymously with a random stranger (i.e., the anonymous “private” condition). My convenience sample consisted of participants …

Are Chronic Inflammatory Diseases Associated With Trauma Exposure And Gender? An Empirical Analysis Of Self-Reported Trauma And Health Histories Of Men And Women, Meghan Lacienski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A growing body of research indicates an association between trauma, inflammation, and chronic inflammatory disease; however, the mechanisms of this relationship are not fully understood, and the salience of potential risk factors, such as cumulative effects of trauma, trauma type, and gender, remain unclear. Trauma is associated with poor mental and physical health, such as PTSD, depression, and chronic inflammatory conditions, and this association may be stronger when certain risk factors are considered (Brody, Pratt, & Hughes, 2018; Groer, Kane, Williams, & Duffy, 2014; Husky, Mazure, & Kovess-Masfety, 2018; Kilpatrick et al., 2013). For example, sexual trauma and multiple traumatic …

An Examination Of Optimism Between Gender, Race, And School Classification Of Millennial Students – An Exploratory Study, Abigail C. Johnson

Honors College Theses

Optimism is defined as an individual’s approach to the expectation that good things will happen in the future and bad things are a rarity. Along with the general definition of what optimism is, many researchers have found that optimism depends on culturally embedded values and beliefs (Singh & Shukla, 2014; Lee & Mason, 2013). In addition, the relationship between optimism and positive health outcomes and well-being is well established (Coll, J.E. & Draves, P. R., 2008; Bastianello, M. R., Pacico, J. C., & Hutz, C. S., 2014). Although this is the case, little research has been found examining the differences …

Deconstructing Abject Complacency Of Ascribed Gender, Kyle M. Hooten

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My life has been dedicated to the relentless pursuit of masculinity throughout my transition from female to male. While originally focusing on the physical transition, my attention is now focused on the social aspects of transition. For me, this involved coming out, managing legal name/gender change paperwork, and understanding a newfound, cultural privilege. This is where I draw inspiration to create my work. My process and techniques are informed by Drag Kings and Queens as well as contemporary culture and art. After performing as a Drag King for a year I developed a sense of gender that differed from what …

An Examination Of Goal Orientation Between Genders – An Exploratory Study, Amanda M. Boyd

Honors College Theses

Goal orientation is defined as the perceptual-cognitive frameworks that determine how an individual approaches, interprets, and responds to achievement situations (Janssen & Van Yperen, 2004). Goal orientation refers to the reasons an individual engages in an activity and the goals he or she sets to define success (D’Lima et al., 2014). Research has shown that there are gender differences when examining goal orientation. However, little research has been found that has examined this within the millennial generation. The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine the differences between male and female millennial college students on goal orientation. The …

Surviving At The Top: A Critical Case Study Of Female Administrators In Higher Education, Renanda Wood Dear

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Women encounter significant barriers as it relates to their gender and leadership traits. The strong patriarchal system has made it more difficult for women to advance in higher education. Research has previously examined a number of factors, including characteristics, institutional influences, and practice efforts to increase the representation of women in leadership in higher education. However, exploring the persistence of gender inequality at the highest ranks of executive leadership is essential to understanding the underrepresentation of women in executive leadership positions in higher education (Bonebright, Cottledge & Lonnquist, 2012; White, 2012). Even though women have been a part of higher …

The Influence Of Emotion On Memory For A Crime, Taylor Langley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Researchers have reported errors in recall or recognition of witnessed events, accounting for the most common cause of false convictions of innocent people. Tiwari (2010) indicated that 25% of suspects who were identified in a line-up were actually innocent. Jurors are strongly influenced by eyewitness testimony and this can lead to false convictions. The validity of eyewitness identification is critical in cases in which it is used as evidence. In the current study we examined specific emotion states by inducing fear, surprise, and neutral moods. We hypothesized that participants in the Fear group would be least susceptible to the effects …

Guns, Gender, Geography: Exploring Reasons For Gun Ownership, Lauren N. Kadet

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was aimed to depict patterns of gun ownership in the United States and to outline the reasons for gun ownership and the influential variables associated with people’s reasons for owning handguns and long guns. This study used data derived from the 2004 National Firearm Survey to examine how respondents’ geographic region of residency, gender, race, age, rural location and education level influenced the likelihood of, and reasons for owning a firearm. The findings from this study suggest that being a male, living in the south and participants’ age was significant in determining the likelihood of participants owning a …

Gender Stability And Change: The Differential Characterization Of Men And Women In Popular Country Music From 1944 Through 2012, Clayton Cory Lowe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research is a longitudinal study of differential depictions of men and women in top country music from 1944 through 2012. The study attempts to understand the gender system as theorized by Ridgeway using the analytic heuristics of cognitive sociologists and the methods of ethnographic content analysts. Findings include the various axes upon which women and men are differentially characterized over time including men and women's behaviors within romantic relationships, involvement in deviance and crime, work and the use of economic capital, their bodies, and differences in cultural capital such as education.

Anger In The Courtroom: The Effects Of Attorney Gender And Emotion On Juror Perceptions, Christian B. May

Honors College Theses

This study sought to examine the effects of gender stereotypes of emotional expression on jurors’ perceptions of an attorney’s competence. Participants watched a video of a closing statement of a male or female attorney expressing either anger or neutral emotions and were asked to give a verdict and rate the attorney’s competence. Participants rated an angry male attorney highest in competence and an angry female attorney lowest in competence. Results also showed that participants who viewed a male attorney were more likely to attribute the attorney’s emotions to the situation compared to participants who viewed a female attorney. The implications …

From A Northern Home To A Southern School: Cultural Imperialists Or Just Stubborn Yankees, Janel Janiczek Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the cultural influences on the lives of northern teachers in southern schools. During the 1860s, white, northern, middle-class women traveled to southern homes to begin and maintain schools for the recently freed slaves. Each woman carried with her an independent set of cultural systems that predetermined her perspective for educating the African American students. Furthermore, the northern relief agencies, Freedmen's Bureau agents, southern white citizens, and southern freedmen all had their own opinions for the education of the students. Although much time has elapsed between the 1860s and 2013, the same topics …

Alcohol-Cues Relate To Self-Perceptions Of Aggression, Natalie Christine Hooks

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol consumption is linked to increases in aggression. Recently, alcohol-related cues alone have been shown to increase aggressive thoughts and behaviors. Furthermore, aggression is displayed differently by men and women; men are more physically aggressive, whereas women are more relationally aggressive. The current study further explored this influence of alcohol-related cues on physical and relational aggression. Furthermore, the study explored the influence of participant gender on type of aggression expressed. In this study, 126 undergraduates were primed with alcohol-related (e.g., Miller Lite) or non-alcohol related commercials (e.g., Diet Coke). Additionally, participants completed a competitive noise-blast task (physical aggression measure of …

Leveling The Playing Field: Curriculum Studies And Fast Pitch Softball, Melinda M. Roberts

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Women in sport challenge our cultural assumptions about gender and sexuality. Athletics has been viewed as a male domain, with its emphasis on strength, agility, competition, intellect, and aggression. To play sports, women are pressured to maintain and emphasize their femininity without appearing overly aggressive or possessing masculine traits associated with sport, particularly in the team sport of softball. This research examines the expectations a patriarchal society places on young women who play sports competitively and how such expectations with regards to femininity in both behavior and appearance influence a young female athlete's identity formation. Through the lenses of gender …

Institutional Factors Contributing To The Under-Representation Of African American Women In Higher Education: Perceptions Of Women In Leadership Positions, Kimberly Ann Robinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

he purpose of this basic qualitative study was to examine the lived experiences of African American women who have obtained senior leadership positions in Predominantly White Higher Education Institutions. Data were collected through open-ended, phenomenological-oriented interviews with 12 African American women holding senior level positions in both academic and student affairs in the north and southeast parts of the United States. This study focused on the perceived institutional barriers that have contributed to the under-representation of African American women in higher education senior administration and strategies that were used to overcome perceived barriers. Critical Race Theory was used as a …

"What Shall We Use To Fill The Empty Spaces?": Displacement In Frank Norris's Mcteague, Jennifer Bugna Lambeth

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Author's abstract: McTeague, Frank Norris's Naturalistc text written in 1899, depicts the corruption of a California couple due to influences outside of their control. In positioning Trina McTeague as a woman unable to identify with either of the two major feminine ideologies of the day, the Angel in the House and the New Woman, this paper examines her identity as conflicted because of this lack of autonomy. Her failure to identify herself leads to a mental break that is reflected in the domestic spaces she inhabits. The places she lives each become smaller and dirtier reflecting her diminished mental capacity. …