Digital Commons Network^™

The Transnational Semiotics Of “Policing Murals”: How Representations Of Police Power In Murals Conceal And Reveal State Violence, Vivian A. Swayne

Doctoral Dissertations

Murals tell visual stories that legitimize/delegitimize formations of state power, conceal/reveal state violence, and attract collective interface from diverse parties. Scholars, artists, and organizers have studied murals as an aesthetic medium, tools for social movements, affective memorials, and episodes of conflict in the public space, but patterns and distinctions in the local, global, and digital duration of policing murals requires critical analysis. Policing murals refers to (1) murals made by police (and/or their advocates) to reproduce its preferred representations and (2) the censorship and control of unauthorized murals. Murals painted on police departments share semiotics globally, all of which conceal …

Chronic Inequities: Environmental & Structural Racism During Covid-19 And Hurricane Laura Disaster Recovery, Tomeka M. Robinson, Sabrina Singh

Critical Disaster Studies

The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the realities of systemic health inequities within the United States. While the virus has severely impacted the entire country, people of color bear the brunt of this pandemic, from surges of COVID-19 cases in their communities to spikes in unemployment rates. Simultaneously, citizens are dealing with the impacts of natural disasters such as hurricanes along the Gulf Coast. The common denominator concerning these two stressors is that they can be exacerbated by institutional racism. This can be seen in the case of a small city in Southwest Louisiana, namely, Lake Charles, which has become a …

Book Review: The Shaming State: How The U.S. Treats Citizens In Need, Steve Matthewman

Critical Disaster Studies

Salman’s book centers two different constituencies, in two different locations, in the 2010s, who have been impacted by two different disasters. The first group are Iraqi refugees who have been resettled in Wayne County, Michigan. Trying to start again over half a world away, they are trapped in the transit lounge of life, never able to move on, never able to properly belong. They found a state in recession, the automobile industry collapsing, the city of Detroit bankrupt. Their particular county had higher unemployment than the state’s average and a poor median income as well. Economically speaking, ‘Michigan fared worse …

“It’S A Fine Line To Walk:” Rural Identity And Global Citizenship Education Gatekeeping, Dylan Tyler Edmondson

Doctoral Dissertations

Despite growing calls for global education in the United States (NCSS 2016b) and the popularity of global citizenship education (GCE) programs internationally, education for global citizenship has not caught on in the United States (Rapoport, 2020). In this context, teachers wield considerable influence as curricular instructional gatekeepers. They may promote or resist GCE in individual ways in relation to the context in which they teach. Little is currently understood about the curricular gatekeeping practices of rural teachers regarding GCE (Moffa, 2020). Research that does examine rural GCE gatekeeping situates analysis in terms of the rural as a place but not …

English Teachers’ Perceptions Of Media And Identity In A Post-Truth World: An Arts-Based Qualitative Study Using Comic Making As Method, Jared Benjamin Huisingh

Doctoral Dissertations

This study sought to learn from English teachers in Tennessee who worked through the pandemic. This study asked teachers to explain how they teach about media in their English classrooms, and it asked them to show how media affected their identities through art. This study found that though varied approaches exist, their comfort in teaching CML was dependent on personal safety, political influence, and administrative support. Participants showcase the media’s myriad effects in artwork while their stories are depicted in comic form. Implications for teacher practice and research are also discussed.

Screenplay Structure As Argumentative Essay Structure: Can Narrative Knowledge Help Students Write Stronger Academic Essays?, Merrill Eric Augustine Loya

Masters Theses

This qualitative study explores the question of whether screenplay structure knowledge can help students to write stronger argumentative essays, connecting to the notion that defaulting to the standard five-paragraph essay is in many ways too limiting and that it does not adequately promote individual style. The collected data is comprised of short informal writing submissions from twenty-four college freshmen, as well as interviews with fifteen members of that larger group. The students attended a semester of the author’s Composition 101 class at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. In that class, the author taught a unit that led to each student …

Understanding Linguistic Treatment Across Species: A Comparative Study At Zoo Knoxville, Dynestee S. Fields

Masters Theses

Zoos are unique locations that often bring the natural world into urban settings for the purposes of conducting research, engaging in conservation initiatives, and educating and entertaining the public (Miranda et al., 2023, p. 290). However, the version of nature that zoos construct can be imperfect in that zoos may obscure the reality of their environments and create discrepancies in their treatment of different species. Engaging with environmental communication scholarship that explores how humans consider the voices of nonhuman animals and align animal representations with human interests, I use an ecolinguistic framework to inquire into how nonhuman animals are treated …

Sex And Self-Optimization: Stancetaking In Postfeminist Media, Stella Clymer

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Speaking Volumes: No. 1, Spring 2024, University Of Tennessee Libraries

Speaking Volumes

No abstract provided.

Co-Creating The Pitch: An Exploration Of The Role Of Traditions On Co-Creation In European Soccer, Eric Hungenberg, Mark Slavich, Ricardo Cayolla

Journal of Applied Sport Management

As the sport of soccer continues to grow throughout the world – and particularly into North America – the current study assessed the causal effect fans’ sensory traditions have on co-creation. Data were collected by intercepting Portugese and Spanish soccer attendees outside of the stadium prior to the match’s start. A total of 282 useable surveys were retrieved from fans during the 2022-23 seasons. Path modeling results indicate that traditions relating to aesthetics, sound, and beverage provided the greatest means to co-create experiences for attendees. The study’s results align with previous research within retail and sport exhibiting the positive impact …

A Narrative Inquiry On Chinese International Doctoral Students’ Perspectives On Developing Critical Thinking In The U.S., Shuaipu Jiang

Doctoral Dissertations

Guided by transformative learning theory and Perry's scheme of intellectual and ethical development, this dissertation study examines Chinese international doctoral students' critical thinking development process in the US. The two research questions that guided this study are: (1) How do Chinese international doctoral students understand and conceptualize critical thinking? and (2) How have Chinese international doctoral students developed critical thinking during their doctoral studies in the U.S.? Narrative method design is applied to the study, which interviews eight participants. Using narrative thematic analysis of data, four key themes emerged from the study: a) awareness of critical thinking in Western versus …

Jaepl - Volume 28, Wendy Ryden

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Full Issue of The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning Volume 28.

Contributors To Jaepl, Vol. 28, Wendy Ryden

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

List of contributors and biographies for JAEPL, Volume 28.

Rethinking Science Communication: The Need For Dialogic, Transdisciplinary Collaboration, Julia Kiernan

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Rethinking Science Communication: The Need for Dialogic, Transdisciplinary Collaboration

Getting Beyond “Craap”: Scientific Literacy In Fyw And Wad, Erica Duran, Lauren M. Springer

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

While first-year writing (FYW) programs often bear the responsibility for teaching students to write across the disciplines (Downs and Wardle), too often students restrict the concepts learned in FYW to the humanities, or even worse, a single class. Moreover, students frequently complete research assignments in FYW which restrict them to scholarly or peer-reviewed sources, hindering their ability to learn how to assess popular sources. This can be especially problematic with scholarly STEM sources, which are laden with unfamiliar technical terms. Although the writing and research skills learned in FYW are often intended to be interdisciplinary, FYW faculty have opportunities to …

Establishing And Optimization Of Tissue Culture Work With Erigeron Canadensis, Robert Petursson

Masters Theses

Glyphosate resistance among weed species has been an increasing problem in crop production over the past two decades. Glyphosate resistant Erigeron canadensis (horseweed) has been found on multiple continents and 20 U.S. states. It appears that the resistance is of non-target type, with mechanisms of action that have yet to be elucidated at the gene level. For the first portion of the study, I focused on reproducing the original indirect organogenesis protocol but discovered biotype variability can influence regeneration success. An improved indirect organogenesis method was then developed using the previously published methods that could be used across biotypes. A …

A Character And A Fame To Model Their Own: Statesmanship, Masculinity, And Honor In Northern Political Culture, 1852-1874, Rachel Elise Wiedman

Masters Theses

The advent of the 1850s ushered in a period great change in the United States. Finding themselves in a moment of transition punctuated with a political changing of the guard, Americans were prompted to consider what kinds of political leadership they valued in the midst of sectional conflict and crisis. By the 1870s, the ideals northerners held looked very different than those touted only two decades before. Using the eulogies of Daniel Webster, Stephen A. Douglas, and Charles Sumner, this thesis explores how changing ideals of masculinity drove the transformation of northern political culture and in particular its values regarding …

Interrogating Households In Anticipation Of Disasters: The Feminization Of Preparedness, Chika Watanabe, Celie Hanson

Critical Disaster Studies

It is now a maxim among scholars and policy-makers alike that disaster preparedness needs to involve community-based approaches in order to be effective. These include preparedness strategies in the household. But how do disaster preparedness policies and public discourses define “the household” in the first place? In this article, we explore how particular gendered notions of the household are reproduced in disaster preparedness policies and activities in Japan and the UK. Drawing on historical and cross-cultural analyses, we suggest that household preparedness efforts place the burden of labor on people coded as women—a phenomenon we call “the feminization of preparedness.” …

Graduate Council Minutes - November 2, 2023, Graduate Council

Graduate Council Minutes

No abstract provided.

Infusing Anarchist Pedagogy Into Counselor Education, Andrew Wood

Teaching and Supervision in Counseling

Anarchist pedagogy has existed for well over 100 years, but little has been written on the subject within the counseling profession and the counselor education literature specifically. Anarchist pedagogy offers a direct relationship between education and social justice praxis that many counseling programs espouse, and thus the consideration of an explicitly political pedagogy may benefit the counselor education profession. This manuscript aims to provide a brief overview of anarchist pedagogy, how it fits into the work of counselor education, and how counselor educators can utilize anarchist pedagogy. Limitations for the infusion of anarchist pedagogy into counselor education and future areas …

Graduate Curriculum Committee Report - October 19, 2023, Graduate Council

Curriculum Committee Reports

No abstract provided.

Concluding Athletic Careers: Post-Athletic Transitions In The Atlantic Coast Conference, Eric Sabin, Sarah Stokowski, Chris Corr, Brennan K. Berg, Michael Hutchinson

Journal of Applied Sport Management

Due to the pervasiveness of athletic role engulfment and a salient athletic identity, collegiate athletes often experience difficulties upon conclusion of their competitive athletic career. Such engulfment and fixed athletic identity are detrimental to an athlete’s post-athletic transition. Given the role of athletic department institutional members (e.g., administrators, coaches, staff) in the formative development of collegiate athletes’ lives, athletic departments occupy an integral position to assist athletes in their post-athletic transition. To examine the practices currently implemented among National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletic departments relative to holistic athlete development, semi-structured interviews were conducted with institutional members at nine ( …

Pledging Engagement: Motivations And Intentions For College Sport Attendance Among Greek-Letter Organizations, Stacey A. Forsythe, Alison Fridley, Chris Corr, Sarah Stokowski, Nnamdi Ezike

Journal of Applied Sport Management

While ticket sales and revenue have remained relatively constant in collegiate athletics over the past decade, attendance has steadily declined. Given the range of entertainment options available, student attendance at collegiate athletic events has, specifically, declined. While athletic administrators are often revenue oriented, decreasing attendance has effects that span campus communities and cultures. As Greek-letter organizations are nearly ubiquitous within the higher education setting, fraternity and sorority members serve a unique opportunity area for engagement with fan attendance initiatives and future alumni giving. Accordingly, this study examined the motivations for attending collegiate athletic events as a member of a Greek-letter …

A Feminist Ethnography Of Care In The Infant/Toddler Classroom, Chesley Anne Sorrells

Doctoral Dissertations

In the neoliberal context of the Global North, early care and education (ECE) is a conceptually dichotomized and stratified field, with ‘care’ widely considered to be separate from - and lesser than - ‘education.’ Feminist perspectives challenge this dichotomization by reconceptualizing care as foundational to education, centering the historically feminized ideals of emotion, relationality, and interdependence. This three-part qualitative dissertation presents the findings of an 8-month feminist ethnography of care practices in one infant/toddler classroom. Participant observation and semi-structured teacher interviews were used to explore the following research questions: 1) What are teachers’ lived experiences of care in this early …

A Game Of Hazard, Per Chance: Reading Dice Games And Predestined Action In Troilus And Criseyde And Troilus And Cressida, Emma O. Corbin

Masters Theses

This thesis examines the references to the dice game Hazard in Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde and the Folio version of Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida as means to expand the understanding of Troilus’s ability to act as an agent of change within his predetermined story. Utilizing Johan Huizinga’s Homo Ludens as the foundation for game and play, this work focuses on Hazard as a game of chance present in both works. As a dice game that relies entirely on chance, Hazard is a game and a place of moral and religious anxiety as demonstrated through a survey of dice-based divination and …

Commemorative Palimpsests In Post-Authoritarian Argentina: The Case Of Esma, Emily R. Nelsen

Vernacular: New Connections in Language, Literature, & Culture

The authoritarian military regime in Argentina (1976-1983) left lasting impacts on the country’s social, political, and economic way of life. Characterized by thousands of violations of human rights, this period in history is still felt in Argentine society as activists and families search for truth. Simultaneously, other actors prefer to deny responsibility and argue for the need to move on, thus renouncing the legacy of state terror. ESMA, a notorious former clandestine torture center in Buenos Aires, became a site of memory on March 24, 2004, a date that also came to symbolize the anniversary of the coup d’état. Using …

Book Review: Under The Weather: Reimagining Mobility In The Climate Crisis., Raymond Murphy

Critical Disaster Studies

Under the Weather: Reimagining Mobility in the Climate Crisis is an insightful, important book that reports on a fine-grained investigation Sodero made of the consequences and response to the disasters resulting from Hurricane Juan in Nova Scotia in 2003 and Hurricane Igor in Newfoundland in 2010, with comparisons to Hurricane Sandy in New York, Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, the 1998 ice storm in northeastern North America and the Icelandic ash cloud. One original feature is the focus on mobility, how indispensable it is in modern societies, how it is disrupted by extreme weather, and …

"I March To The Beat Of My Own Drum": A Critical Discourse Analysis On Mediated Construction Of Aaron Rodgers' Covid-19 Vaccination Disclosure, Patrick Crowe

Doctoral Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought suffering throughout society and disruption throughout the sports world. In the U.S., there have been politically polarized debates about the best course of action for handling the pandemic, including vaccinations and the appropriateness of other restrictive measures. Amidst the 2021 National Football League (NFL) season, in which the league imposed differing levels of restrictions based on a player’s vaccination status, former MVP and Super Bowl champion Aaron Rodgers tested positive for COVID-19. After his positive test, Rodgers, who had previously claimed he was “immunized” from COVID-19, revealed that his immunization protocol consisted of “alternate” drugs …

Transforming Harm: The Crises Of Opioids, Conjunctural Politics, And Struggles For Care In Southern Appalachia, Kyra A. Martinez

Doctoral Dissertations

The impact of the current opioid crisis on Southern Appalachia has catalyzed shifts towards public health-based harm reduction in the United States (US) regime of criminalized drug prohibition. Engaging a vital issue of debate—whether or not these shifts are significantly altering the "war on drugs"—my dissertation uses a conjunctural perspective to examine how the state is mobilizing harm reduction to violently reconfigure and resolve the structural contradictions condensed within the opioid crisis under a pretense of care. By locating present struggles over harm reduction in Southern Appalachia within longer movements, moments, and histories of mutual aid organizing, I identify key …

“Vom Verstehen Rede Ich Vorsichtshalber Nicht”: Discourses Of Memory And German-Jewish Literature In Selected Literary Award Speeches By Barbara Honigmann, Achim Schmid

Masters Theses

The literary prize speeches of German-Jewish author Barbara Honigmann make up only a small part of her mainly narrative oeuvre, yet they are relevant to her writing. On the one hand, they provide insights into the difficulties of being a German-Jewish author in the twenty-first century, on the other hand, they are also politically significant. In them, Honigmann recalls the crimes of the National Socialists against the Jewish population during the Third Reich, as well as the suffering under the socialist dictatorship of the German Democratic Republic.

Analyzing three of her speeches that were delivered between 2001 and 2015 in …