Digital Commons Network^™

Latinidad In Summer Reading: A Collaborative Approach To Multicultural Literacy For Latino/A English Learners’ Self-Efficacy In Transitioning To Middle School, Elizabeth Fincher

Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative interpretive case study unites literacy education and the field of second language acquisition with quantitative surveys and questionnaires to explore self-efficacy beliefs and literacy learning during transitional experiences of rising fourth through ninth Latino/a/a English Language Learners (LELLs) in a summer reading program. Community Engaged Scholarship in a co-developed summer program with community partner Centro Hispano de East Tennessee frames this research to offer diverse perspectives in curriculum and instructional improvement efforts towards equitable literacy education. How schools and youth-serving organizations support LELLs’ transitional processes in second language acquisition and literacy is shaped by how well teachers and …

An Archaeological Study Of Pit Cellars And Ethnic Identity In Tennessee, Daniel Whitaker Howard Brock

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines pit cellars in Tennessee. Pit cellars are pits excavated into the ground typically underneath historic structures and are often referred to as subfloor pits, root cellars, or hidey holes. Archaeologists believe these pits were generally used for the storage of food or personal items and can provide valuable household-level information normally not obtained from other features. These pits were usually filled quickly after their use and often contain artifacts which provide data on diet, personal space, kinship, gender, race, ethnicity, class, spiritual beliefs, and the conditions of slavery. Pit cellars were also regularly constructed by their users …

"But That's Where My Books Are!": Adults Who Read Young Adult Literature, Mary Katharine Rowe

Doctoral Dissertations

This narrative instrumental case study seeks to understand why adults (age 30+) read young adult literature (YAL) and how adults engage with the genre. Additionally, this study seeks to interpret how the genre influences adult identities. Though YAL is typically written by adults for adolescents age 12-18 (Cart, 2008; Cole, 2009), the adult readers in this study preferred reading YAL more than other genres of literature. Using both reader response theory and socio-emotional conceptualizations of reading engagement and identity as theoretical and analytical frameworks, the aim of this study is to understand why adult participants preferred this genre, and what, …

Identity Fusion: Reciprocal Activation And Motivational Primacy Of Selves, Amy Kathleen Heger

Doctoral Dissertations

Identity fusion theory suggests that for strong group connections identity-synergy occurs between personal and collective-selves such that activation of one activates the other (Swann & Buhrmester, 2015). The social-categorization framework, in contrast, views the selves as functionally antagonistic such that activation of one entails muting the other (Turner, et al., 1987). The current research investigated these two conflicting theories by testing reciprocal activation of the selves across 3 studies. Identity-synergy should yield a reciprocal (not antagonistic) activation of personal-self when collective-self is active. Concurrently, I tested whether fusion moderated the motivational primacy of the selves—hierarchy with personal-self primary over relational …

An Examination Of Music Majors' Perceived Barriers To Complying With An Exercise Program, Matthew William Seitz

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation focused on a mixed-methods exploration of the barriers and motivation to exercise in a sample of music majors at a large southeastern university. Due to dietary concerns and other obstacles to engaging in regular exercise, musicians are at a greater dietary and cardiovascular risk than the general population. Previous research has revealed music majors, in general, do not identify as exercisers. This comes with its obvious health risks. Self-determination theory and exercise identity literature posits individuals who more strongly identify as exercisers and who are more intrinsically motivated to exercise will workout more often and more consistently than …

Re-Writing English Identity: Medieval Historians Of Anglo-Norman Britain, Teresa Marie Lopez

Doctoral Dissertations

My dissertation uses post-colonial and narrative theories to examine the historiographic tradition of twelfth-century England. This investigation explores the idea of nationhood in pre-modern England and the relationship between history and romance in post-Conquest historical writings. I analyze how Geoffrey of Monmouth, Henry of Huntingdon Geffrei Gaimar, and Laʒamon imagine and narrate the explicit changes to the ruling elite in twelfth-century England, and how this process constructs their idea of “Englishness.”

A Discourse Analysis Of Beginning English Teachers' Identity Development, Joshua Peter Johnston

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation was a discourse analysis of how beginning English teachers’ talk contributes to the development of their teacher identities. The study drew on the epistemological and ontological assumptions of discursive psychology, and as such it used methods consistent with discursive psychology and conversation analysis. The data for the study were comprised of twenty-one audio-recorded meetings of eight student teachers in a year-long internship and their field supervisor, who was also the researcher. Orienting to the construct of identity as socially negotiated, unstable, and multiple, the study sought to identify specific discursive strategies that beginning English teacher’s employ to negotiate …

Contested Notions Of Irishness: Social Integration And The Multiple Intersections Of Ethno-Racial, Religious, And National Identities In Dublin, Ireland, Neil Conner

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation evaluates the contested notions of identity (e.g. ethno-racial, religious, and national) and the growing tensions between native-born Irish citizens and recently arrived immigrants living in the Republic of Ireland. Examining these political and cultural intersections broadens our geographic understandings by contributing to larger geographic literatures consisting of: the geographies of inclusion and exclusion; collective identity construction; sense of belonging; community – both real and imagined; small-scale human territoriality; (social) integration; religiosity; and, of course, notions of Irishness. Despite the significance of these geographic issues in contemporary society, there exists a considerable lacuna within the discipline of Geography as …

How Technology Interacts With Emerging Adulthood Psychosocial Developmental Tasks: An Examination Of Online Self-Presentation And Cell Phone Usage, Samantha Lynn Gray

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation outlines three distinct, yet interrelated, projects aimed at understanding the role of technology in relation to emerging adulthood developmental tasks: individuation & identity development. The first paper provides a context for understanding the developmental tasks of emerging adulthood, and the role that technology may serve in relation to those developmental tasks. This brief review of the literature on emerging adulthood developmental tasks provides a solid theoretical background and history for the theoretical premises proposed for the respective studies included in this dissertation. The second project is an empirical investigation that seeks to understand how the task of identity …

"Game Time Is My Time. I Get To Define That:" Gender, Identity, And The National Football League's Female Fans, Traci Yates

Doctoral Dissertations

Based on existing literature relatively little is known about the female football fan in America. Previous research has acknowledged that these women exist, often in startling proportions. It has also identified some of the reasons why they attend the game and some of the perceived benefits of their participation as fans (Clark, Apostolopoulou, & Gladden, 2009; Dietz-Uhler, Harrick, End, & Jacquemotte, 2000). Yet we do not know the value they place on their fan identities, nor how they manage to negotiate being both women and fans in a sport environment that both subtly and not-so-subtly continues to reinforce the model …

Examining The Process Of Identification In The Mathematics Classroom And The Role Of Students’ Academic Communities, Richard J. Robinson

Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this research was to provide insight into the identities students develop as they interact in a high school mathematics classroom. A normative divide developed which eventually split the classroom into two distinct academic factions: those who resisted the emerging local definition of what it meant to do mathematics and those who did not resist (i.e. complied or identified). A secondary purpose of this research was to understand the role of students’ academic communities in mathematics identity development. Student narratives helped uncover mathematical spaces outside the classroom that each developed their own unique definition of what it …

Families Of Struggling Readers In The Accountability Era: A Collective Ethnographic Case Study Of Literacy Engagement And Interaction In The Home And School, Sarah Lynn Swauger

Doctoral Dissertations

This collective case study uses ethnographic methods to explore the literacy engagement and school interactions of two families of struggling adolescent readers within the accountability era following the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, a time period where there have been as yet few studies (e.g. Compton-Lilly, 2009) focused on family literacy. Formal and informal interviews with students and their guardians as well as observations and document analysis were the main data sources. Results illuminated the influence of school policies and curricula on students’ families’ interactions and identities (Tajfel & Turner, 1986). The researcher found that families lacking cultural …

Intimacy Uncertainty And Identity In Gay Male Couples Dealing With A Serodiscordant Hiv Status, Scott Allen Eldredge

Doctoral Dissertations

When individuals are diagnosed with a chronic illness, their lives instantly change. Daily routines are interrupted and attendance to the symptoms and side effects of illness and medication becomes a daily chore. However, the patient is not the only one that feels the disruptive effects of illness and the partner of the chronically ill patient must also contend with the daily effects of an illness that they themselves do not have. In the case of HIV, the infectious nature of the disease, along with the stigma associated with the disease, serve to be additional sources of stress in an already-stressful …

Self, Society, And Environment In The 21st Century: The Development And Assessment Of An Ecological Identity Scale, Tobin N. Walton

Doctoral Dissertations

Through a mixed-methods approach, this dissertation develops and assesses a multi-item scale measure of ecological identity (EI). Although recent decades have seen increased attention devoted to research on identity in relation to nature and the bio-physical environment, a valid and reliable scale capable of encompassing the complexities of this construct has yet to be developed. This dissertation uses an integral approach to build upon and extend recent attempts to develop measures of similar constructs. Key facets of multiple theories and perspectives on identity are integrated into a unified framework capable of multi-level identity analysis. A rigorous statistical approach that combines …

"Every Day, We Have The Opportunity To Make A Difference": Ncaa Division I Female Head Coaches' Experiences Of Care, Susannah Kaye Knust

Doctoral Dissertations

According to sport psychology literature, care is an important part of the coach-athlete relationship (e.g., Jowett & Poczwardowski, 2007; LaVoi, 2004; Poczwardowski, 1997; Wylleman, 2000). However, a systematic study of “exemplar” caring coaches is lacking. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to interview 12 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I head female coaches of female teams who were identified by others as “exemplar” carers. A semi-structured interview guide was developed using a modified version of Gilligan and colleagues’ (1989) Listening Guide. An adaptation of Hatch’s (2002) political analysis was used to identify major themes found in the transcribed …

Composing, Remembering, And Performing Identity At Charles Towne Landing, 1966 Through 1971: Rhetorical Identification As Defensive And Antagonistic Strategies, Deidre Anne Evans Garriott

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation contributes to the growing body of research in rhetorical studies of identity theory. In this dissertation, I look at alternative texts that seek to construct and forward communal identities. In particular, this dissertation investigates Charles Towne Landing, a historical state park in Charleston, South Carolina, to study the ways historical sites of public memory are sites of rhetorical identification.

The State of South Carolina’s legislature authorized a body called the South Carolina Tricentennial Commission to plan and execute a celebration of South Carolina’s three-hundredth anniversary, which would take place in 1970. The commission planned and built three parks …

Interstitial Copresence: Experiencing Self With And Within Everyday Forms Of Electronically Mediated Communication, Steven J. Seiler

Doctoral Dissertations

Cell phones and the Internet have become cornerstones in the daily lives of most Americans. Researchers have rigorously studied numerous dimensions of electronically mediated communication (EMC). Yet, very little research has explored the context and consequences of negotiating multiple forms of EMC within everyday life. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of everyday forms of electronically mediated communication (EvEMC) – cell phone talk, text messages, instant messages, and email – on self-work, particularly within personal relationships. Results of OLS regression analyses of survey data collected from 617 college students and qualitative data analysis of three subsequent …

"Rapping About Authenticity": Exploring The Differences In Perceptions Of "Authenticity" In Rap Music By Consumers.", James L. Wright

Doctoral Dissertations

Historically, social scientists have not only marginalized rap music as a viable unit of scholarly analysis, but failed at attempts to understand the thoughts and actions of rap music consumers. This study analyzes the connection between rap music’s (and the artists’) authenticity and how those perceptions of authenticity affect music consumers’ decision making process, thus providing a possible explanation as to why music fans purchase rap music. The goal of this research was to see if the reasons rap music fans provide explaining the rationale behind their purchases match the images and perceptions presumably held by the general public about …