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Aesthetics In The Ecotheology Of Sallie Mcfague: A Critique And A Proposal For A Theological Aesthetics Of Nature, Mary-Paula Cancienne

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the ecological theology of Sallie McFague, who, as part of her work, employs the use of aesthetics. This study recognizes her contribution and then seeks to build upon it.
In aim of this goal, a limited history of aesthetics in the Western tradition is surveyed and attention is given to three significant contemporary scholars in the field of aesthetics and nature/environment (Emily Brady, Allen Carlson, and Arnold Berleant). While this work intended to propose the rudiments of a Theological Aesthetics of Nature, we find that nature and culture are so intertwined that what is initially called …

Principal Perspectives Toward Parental Involvement In Pennsylvania Public High Schools, Hollis Batista

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Historically, school systems have used their personnel, curricular, and fiscal resources to improve student performance. Faculty members in nearly every school have participated on committees focused on preparing school improvement plans to address the needs of their specific student populations. Nearly all have included a parent involvement component. The quality of design and implementation of annual school improvement plans has varied both across and within schools. The component that is more often "hoped for" than actualized has been parent involvement (Blank & Kershaw, 2001; Epstein, 2004). Rarely has the involvement of the community extended beyond fiscal support or the involvement …

The Transformation Of Kant's Transcendental Idealism: Fichte's Wissenschaftslehre, Kenneth Angwe Agede

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines Fichte's original philosophical system, or the Wissenschaftslehre, against the background of Kant's transcendental idealism. Although his system is formulated within the context of the reconstruction of Kant's transcendental idealism, Fichte claims to posses the sole correct interpretation of Kant's view. He further asserts that he understands Kant better than Kant understands himself. This dissertation maintains that the issue of Fichte's relationship to Kant is a controversial one. It argues that Fichte's philosophical system is identical with and yet different from Kant's position. To the extent that Fichte rejects a representationalist solution to the problem of knowledge, this …

A Study Of The Effects Of Parental Involvement On The Success Of Students On A High-Stakes Examination, Jill Ashbaugh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The United States federal government, through the No Child Left Behind Act, is holding schools accountable for students' proficiency on academic standards. However, standards-based curriculum and instruction, along with school-based support and remediation programs, are not enough to help 100 percent of students to reach proficiency. It is imperative that schools work with parents and communities to maximize each child's potential. Children of involved parents tend to exhibit higher educational goals and perform at academically higher rates than those of parents who do not get involved in their education.

The PSSA Parent Partnership is a program that involves parents, teachers, …

Perceptions Of Marital Satisfaction Among Coptic Orthodox Christian Egyptian-American Husbands And Wives, Monir Fuad Nazir Atta-Alla

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

According to Christianity, marriage was founded by God the Creator as a sacred relationship between a man, a husband, and a woman,a wife.Marriage in the Coptic Orthodox Church is a sacrament.Coptic Orthodox Christians are allowed to marry one spouse. Coptic Orthodox Christian husbands and wives have the right to divorce only in the case of evidenced adultery or apostasy. This qualitative study is the first of its kind to consider marital satisfaction among Coptic Orthodox Christian Egyptian-Americans.

The study analyzed the relevant constructed meanings that emerged from all interviews and clustered them into five main themes in an attempt to …

An Examination Of Racial Differences In Anxiety Disorder Symptom Structure And Trajectories Among Pre-Adolescent Female Youth, Cynthia Altman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although the experience of anxiety among children and adolescents is well documented in the literature, relatively little empirical study has focused on this topic. Existing research is essentially void of studies into gender-specific aspects of anxiety development and maintenance or race-based differences in anxiety symptomatology. The current study sought to fill this gap by examining racial differences in anxiety disorder symptom structure and trajectories among pre-adolescent female youth. Symptom structure was examined among a sample of 570 girls (252 European American, 318 African American) who completed the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) at nine years of age …

Ekphrastic Medieval Visions: A New Discussion In Ekphrasis And Interarts Theory, Claire Barbetti

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

"Ekphrastic Medieval Visions: A New Discussion in Ekphrasis and Interarts Theory" argues that the dream-vision and mystical-vision texts of the high and late Middle Ages are ekphrastic works. With their inclusion within the purview of criticism and theories of ekphrasis, new formal qualities of the ekphrastic mode come to the surface such as its dynamism and polytemporality, its reliance on the processes of memory, and diffuseness of narrative consciousness, rather than Murray Krieger's "still moment" model that presupposes a sovereign subjectivity, an attempt to have the sign signify itself, or the paragone model espoused by W. J. T. Mitchell and …

Culture Care Beliefs, Meanings And Practices Related To Health And Well-Being Of South Sudanese "Lost Boy And Lost Girl" Refugees, Margaret Bowles

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this ethnonursing study was to describe, analyze and interpret the culture care beliefs, meanings and practices related to health and well-being of South Sudanese "Lost Boy and Lost Girls" following resettlement in the United States. Leininger's theory of culture care diversity and universality and the ethnonursing method provided the organizing framework for studying the domain of inquiry. Interviews were conducted with nineteen general informants and ten key informants, all who lived in the Midwest United States. Extensive analysis of digitally recorded interviews together with the researcher's participant observations and field notes revealed nine data categories and five …

Why People Fail To Use Condoms For Std And Hiv Prevention, David T. Brunner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The world is almost 30 years into the AIDS pandemic. People know how to prevent HIV by using abstinence, monogamy and condom use. Despite this awareness, people still put themselves at risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. Why? This thesis catalogues the various reasons why people fail to use condoms during sexual intercourse. The qualitative information represents specific selections from anonymous personal interviews with over 1500 individuals combined with other available data and information from other HIV field workers and organizations. The findings show four major categories of influences effecting an individual's decision to engage in unprotected sexual …

The Reader Of Milton's "Higher Argument" In Paradise Lost, Patricia A. Callahan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Milton has a literary place within the Christian understanding of grace, entangles his reader into Paradise Lost, and embeds a "higher Argument" of an economics of salvation of grace within the text which thus forms a transcendent reader who responds by a choice for the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of mammon. Paradise Lost as a tertiary stage in epic development maintains a grand style, but modern critics have problems with Milton's God. Autobiographical elements in The Reason of Church-Government indicate Milton's sense of a divine calling in poetry, but Professors Grierson and Tillyard disagree regarding Milton's prophetic powers …

Anointing As The Iconic Interruption Of The Loving God, Ellen Cavanaugh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick has traditionally been conceived within pre-modern conceptual categories and the supporting structure or worldview of Aristotelian metaphysics. Postmodern sacramental theology suggests a reflexive reformulation, one that no longer sees the world as the transparent horizon of experiences within which the divine can be pointed out, but rather that the incompleteness and contingency of being human offers hidden glimpses of the divine. This reformulation expresses the sacrament of anointing as an experience of iconic interruption of the loving God within the context of the suffering, vulnerability, and dying of a member of the Christian …

Classification Tree Models For Predicting Cancer Status, Pu Chen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Early detection of cancers might improve the clinical outcomes. Multiple biomarkers with a novel LabMAP technology were used as the laboratory method to develop the diagnostic assay for ovarian, breast, endometrial, and lung cancer. To evaluate the accuracy of early stage detection, logistic regression (with forward selection) and classification tree models were applied as statistical methods. Furthermore, complexity parameters and the number of bootstrap samples were varied to assess the effect on sensitivity and specificity. The receiver operating characteristic curves reflected high sensitivities and specificities.

Justification And Good Works: A Study Of The Joint Declaration On The Doctrine Of Justification, Justin Chay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The doctrine of justification tells how the saving grace of God in Christ can be actualized in the believers. Because of the very importance of this doctrine, disputes broke out between Augustine and Pelagius, later in the medieval period, and most importantly during the Reformation period - which led to mutual condemnations and the division of the Western church. The church still does not have a unified voice in interpreting the doctrine despite recent ecumenical dialogues, which culminated in the Lutheran-Roman Catholic Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification in 1999.

Fitzgerald In The Late 1910s: War And Women, Richard M. Clark

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation analyzes historical and cultural factors that influenced F. Scott Fitzgerald's portrayal of women in three of his early works. In "Sentiment—and the Use of Rouge, " This Side of Paradise, and "Head and Shoulders, " women act as usurpers and destroyers, infiltrating male territory and taking on traditionally male roles. Fitzgerald reacts to changes in the status of women that had been occurring since the late 1800s. But the late 1910s, when the author composed these works, witnessed a hastening of women's progress and an intensification of the male anxiety resulting from these changes. Repercussions of the war …

Using The Activity Vector Analysis To Determine Teacher Dispositions For Charter School Teachers In Urban High Schools, Linda M. Clautti

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined responses to the Activity Vector Analysis by both teachers and students in two urban charter high schools. The premise of this research was that the five dispositions of assertiveness, sociability, calmness, conformity, and conscious restraint were needed to be successful particularly in teaching urban students in charter high schools. Dispositions are "The values, commitments, and professional ethics that influence behaviors toward students, families, colleagues, and communities and affect student learning, motivation and development as well as the educator's own professional growth" (National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education [NCATE], 2000).

The researcher wanted, first, to see what …

"Falling To A Devilish Exercise": Magic And Spectacle On The Renaissance Stage, Shayne Confer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The enormous amount of research on the subject of early modern magic indicates clearly that magical thought occupied a significant place in contemporary mental patterns. Its existence was widespread enough to cause popular prejudice against its most esoteric forms combined with tacit acceptance of "folk" magic, the kind employed by local men and women for the benefit of their neighbors. The early playwrights who dramatized the magus were thus fairly constricted in how the magus could appear without unduly scandalizing the popular audience. Robert Greene, Anthony Munday, and Christopher Marlowe all drew upon characters from popular chapbook romances and dramatized …

The Use Of Relational, Social, And Overt Aggression In Overtly-Aggressive And Non-Overtly-Aggressive Females, Leigh Ann Comstock

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this study, the researcher sought to examine whether differences existed in the use of relational, social, and overt aggression among previously-identified-overtly-aggressive and non-overtly-aggressive female adolescents. Specifically, explored were the relationships among types of aggression (overtly-aggressive and non-overtly-aggressive), age level (middle or high school), and cultural background/ethnicity (Caucasian or non-Caucasian), and the self-reported use of relational aggression, social aggression, and overt aggression. Results revealed that Caucasian, non-overtly-aggressive middle and high school girls use relational aggression more often than Caucasian, overtly-aggressive middle and high school girls, respectively. Similarly, Caucasian, non-overtly-aggressive middle school girls use social aggression more often than Caucasian, overtly-aggressive …

A Case Study Of The State University, Extension, And The College Of Agriculture As They Explore And Implement A Metro Research And Outreach Initiative, Deno Deciantis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The national Cooperative Extension and Land Grant University Systems have been struggling with their future direction due to the question of relevance related to urban and metropolitan citizens for a great number of years. This system is quite traditional in that it follows the customary rural, production agriculture focus with an overwhelming percentage of its resources aimed at those efforts. At the State University, like most other traditional land grant institutions, there has been an inner systemic struggle regarding programming to urban areas. This institution was able to establish a metro initiative in one of the state's major cities. Its …

An Evaluation Of The Global Institute For Leadership Development - Gild 2008 As A Provider Of Custom Executive Education, Don Digirolamo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine how participants perceived the effectiveness of their experience in the 2008 Global Institute for Leadership Development – GILD as a provider of custom executive education. GILD is an intensive one-week institute sponsored by Linkage, Inc. GILD has been presented as an accelerated growth experience designed to differentiate superior leaders from average leaders. During its twelve-year history, the Global Institute for Leadership Development (GILD) has not yet been comprehensively evaluated.

GILD 2008 was held from October 12 – 17 in Palm Desert, California. Two hundred eighty nine people from around the world participated …

Discerning Redeeming Communities: Rita Nakashima Brock And Elizabeth A. Johnson In Dialogue, Alison Downie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rita Nakashima Brock's Journeys by Heart: A Christology of Erotic Power and Elizabeth A. Johnson's Friends of God and Prophets: A Feminist Theological Reading of the Communion of Saints offer resources for reflecting upon what redemptive community is, how it functions, and how women, in particular, experience redemption.

With deep roots in Trinitarian creation theology and a strong trunk of feminist theological anthropology, the branches of Christian feminist reconstructionist theology produce rich soteriological fruits. Without rootedness in creation theology, theological anthropology is anthropocentric, not sufficiently holistic or ecologically aware. Similarly, without development of a feminist theological anthropology, soteriology inevitably reflects …

The Lived Experiences Of Evangelical Christian Men Who Self-Identify As Sexual Addicts, Kailla Edger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Issues of sexual addiction have swept the evangelical movement, and ongoing concerns in the evangelical community are evidenced by its self-help literature, men's movements, and sex manuals. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the lived experiences of evangelical Christian men who self-identify as sexual addicts. This qualitative method was existential-phenomenological and focused on the lived experiences of this population. Individual interviews and follow-up individual interviews of six self-identified evangelical male sexual addicts were analyzed. The results of the study indicated that the male evangelical self-identified sexual addict lives through compartmentalized worlds: the religious or spiritual world, the committed …

Selective Lesion Of Cholinergic Neurons Of The Septal-Hippocampal Tract: Memory And Learning, Nicholas Fitz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

It is hypothesized that the loss of cholinergic function in the medial septum (MS), observed early in many forms of dementia, contributes to memory losses characterized in these diseases. The studies of this dissertation examined whether the selective loss of cholinergic neurons in the MS impairs acquisition of a delayed matching-to-position (DMP) spatial memory task. The results suggest a significant contribution of MS cholinergic neurons in acquisition of the DMP task. Specifically, 192 IgG-saporin SAP lesioned rats acquired the task at a slower rate and required more days to reach criterion. The results also suggest that male rats typically adopt …

A Unity Of Contraries: Dorothy Day And The 'No-Alibi' Rhetoric Of Defiance And Devotion, Catherine Carr Fitzwilliams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This offering considers what I term the embedded narrative of Dorothy Day (1897-1980) as a Rhetoric of Defiance and Devotion and it is illustrated by selected metaphors associated with Martin Buber and M. M. Bakhtin. Concepts of conscience, community and the complexities associated with being authentically human are engaged within an interpretive journey of a life lived in response to the flashpoints of the last century.

Enlisting hermeneutics as a guide, Day's petite narrative is situated against a broader narrative of eight decades of economic, social, political, cultural and (for her) philosophical and spiritual changes. Her various and varying labels …

Public School Board Governance Practices In Western Pennsylvania And Ayp Scores; Is There A Relationship?, Kyle William Foust

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated what, if any, relationship exists between school board governance practices and student achievement as demonstrated by a school district's Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) scores in both math and reading for 2007-2008 school year. To measure the effectiveness of governance practices, a survey created by Thomas Holland and adapted by Richard Smoley (1999), which empirically assesses the performance of school boards, was administered to members of the following types of public school boards: urban, suburban, rural, and charter. Smoley's survey measures six dimensions of effectiveness: Decision Making, Functioning as a Group, Exercising Authority, Connecting to the Community, Working …

Examining Novice Teacher Development Through The Clinical Supervision Process: A Participatory Action Research, Chad Daloia

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The first clinical supervision experience can significantly impact a novice teacher's overall success during the early years of their teaching career (Robinson, 1998). It is a very stressful, challenging time, and for many, it is the first time he/she is asked to take on multiple roles aside from direct instruction and professional responsibilities (Sykes, 1996). As districts work to better align policies and induction programs with the changing needs of novice teachers, they must face the fact that they serve powerful roles as teacher educators, mentors, and retainers. It is important for administrators to self-assess how districts are meeting or …

Rage From Within The Machine: Protest Music, Social Justice, And Educational Reform, A Collective Case Study, John A. Giancola Jr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

School reform initiatives in the United States have been occurring since the launching of Sputnik by the U.S.S.R. in 1957. These efforts have largely been internal, within school reforms, with little consideration given to external variables such as poverty that affect student achievement. Given the pervasive link between poverty and student achievement, the author argues for an expanded leadership lens which includes social justice. In an effort to learn more about social justice, three socially conscious activist musicians/groups were studied in a qualitative collective case study. The formative influences of the artists were analyzed. The activist activity of the bands …

A Case Study On The Barbara L. Jackson Scholars Mentoring Program And Its Role In The Doctoral Preparation Of Jackson Scholars For The Professoriate In Educational Administration At Predominately White Institutions, Cosette M. Grant

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a qualitative research inquiry that used single-case study methodology to investigate the role of the Barbara L. Jackson Scholars Program in the doctoral preparation of Jackson Scholars for the Professoriate in educational administration at predominately White institutions (PWIs). Drawing from literature on effective mentoring practices for doctoral students in higher educational settings, the experiences of the Jackson Scholars in the Jackson Scholars Mentoring Program (Jackson Scholars Program) are viewed. Two primary lenses - Jacobi's, (1991) seminal work framed around three commonly used mentoring components in higher education (psychosocial support, role modeling and professional development) and Tillman's (2001) …

Neuropsychological Deficits In Adolescents With Psychopathic Characteristics: Callous And Unemotional Symptoms, Tara Greene

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The most consistent neuropsychology literature in psychopathy is dysfunction in selective attention (Blair et al., 2006; Hiatt et al., 2004; Kosson, 1998; LaPierre et al., 1995; Pham et al., 2003; Roussy & Toupin, 2002; Sellbom & Verona 2007; Vitale et al., 2007). The following areas have been profiled in the literature, but have shown mixed results: sustained attention (Gorstein, 1982; Kosson, 1998; Pham et al., 2003), shifting attention (Gorstein, 1982; Kosson, 1998), verbal ability (Mayer et al., 2006; Raine et al., 1990), planning and cognitive shifting (Mahmut et al., 2008; Pham et al., 2003; Roussey & Toupin, 2000; Sreenivasan et …

Graduate Recital, Saxophone, Colette Hall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This M.M. Thesis demonstrates the breadth of literature for the saxophone by including works from the Romantic, 20th Century, and Contemporary Periods. This thesis also features pieces that utilize the saxophone as a solo and chamber music instrument, and showcases a piece by female composer Libby Larsen.

Principles For Developing Inculturated Theology In The Diverse African Context: Steps Beyond Traditional Heritages, Jane Catherine Hagaba

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation critically examines the foundational significance of Christ for contextual theologies in the African Catholic Church. It begins with a presentation of Benezet Bujo's approach and contextual methodology. As a critical study, this dissertation is premised on the principle that the object of Christianity is the transformation of peoples and their societies. Therefore, the study examines the ways in which African societies founded on an immutable principle of blood kinship can open to the Christian faith and to the globalizing world today. The dissertation grapples with this issue to unravel the weaknesses and limitations of African theologies of inculturation. …