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Figures Of Virtue: Margaret Fell And Aemilia Lanyer's Use Of Decorum As Ethical Good Judgment In The Construction Of Female Discursive Authority, Kirsten Marie Osmani

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding how the Renaissance rhetorical curriculum taught style as behavior makes it possible to unite the study of women writers' identities with formal criticism. Nancy L. Christiansen shows that early modern humanists built on the Isocratean tradition of teaching rhetoric as an ethical practice because they adopted and developed lists of rhetorical figures so extensive as to encompass all human discourse, thought, and behavior. For them, knowing, selecting, and applying these various forms was the ethical practice of good judgment, also called decorum. This type of decorum plays an important role in the rhetorical function of two key texts by …

Deepening Partisan-Identity Polarization In The Us: A Content Analysis Of Major Party Platforms, 1980-2016, Nicholas Alan Mullins

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines Democratic and Republican party platforms over the 1980-2016 period in a content analysis to test claims of partisanship increasing on identity lines in American politics. As a key issue facing democracies in recent years, polarization has coincided with challenges for democratic governance. Cases of ‘pernicious’ polarization that extend partisan rifts into social life, and especially those that feature an ‘existential’ or ‘formative rift' dynamic as in the US case, may be prone to intractable partisan conflict and politics amenable to democratic erosion. The tensions may also create space for democracy enhancements. The findings of the content analysis …

Inclusive Math And Science Spaces Through Professional Development: A Qualitative Study Focusing On Educator Views Of Multilingual Learners And Educator Identity, Helen Dick Brandon

Theses and Dissertations

This action research qualitative study focused on the role that targeted professional development has on shifting the ways in which middle school math and science educators view their culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students; in addition, this study focused on the role that professional development plays on shifting teacher identity. Through this study, four middle level math and science educators took part in a four month professional development opportunity that included interviews, questionnaires, video lessons, and focus groups. Through this experience, the educators shifted their views of CLD students to be more asset-based. When looking at the shifts in their …

"It's Like Being Pulled In Two Directions": Experiences Of Transgender Latter-Day Saints, Morgan Monet

Theses and Dissertations

This study qualitatively examined the experiences of transgender individuals who also identify as active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (N=10). Researchers took an interpretive phenomenological approach to elicit factors which allow trans Mormon folks to hold their apparently conflicting religious and gender identities simultaneously (and the consequences of doing so). Overall, we aimed to answer the broad question, “what is it like to be transgender and Mormon?” Following a process of semi-structured interviews, transcription, and coding, the broad categories which seemed to connect many elements of the trans/Mormon experience were 1) a sense of being …

Fractured Selves, Gearoid Dolan

Theses and Dissertations

Fractured Selves is a self-portrait that examines the histories and points of conflation and diversion of my four public personas. In the style of a Zoom meeting, they chat with a host against animated backgrounds. Interactivity creates non-linear consuming of the content and user directed navigation through four timelines

To The Studio, In The Studio, Home, Miquel R. Veldkamp

Theses and Dissertations

A curated series of poems and mini essays that reflect on personal life, politics, art history, folklore, science, identity and race. It addresses the questions that inform my work, and echoes its ethos of play, exploration, curiosity, vulnerability.

Life And Love In Young Adult Literature: A Critical Analysis Of Fragments, Lissette Monrroy

Theses and Dissertations

Fragments will be a series of short stories based on events that have occurred in my life and how they impacted me and my family. They will tell the stories passed down to me, beginning with my grandparents, their lives in Mexico, and their journey to the United States. It will go on to tell stories of my parents’ struggles with raising kids in a society that tries to suppress our Mexican culture, how other family members have struggled with their own families and identities, and how my life has been influenced by these stories.

Significance and Scope of Fragments …

There’S More Than Meets The I(Dentity): A Multidimensional View Of Identity Threat, Christina B. Hymer

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation provides a multiple identity perspective to how people experience challenges towards their identities ("identity threats"). While research on identity threat has normally focused on identity threat in relation to a single identity, my dissertation challenges this assumption by examining how connections between multiple identities (e.g., professional, spouse) affect how people experience identity threats. I provide a review of identity threat research, after which I establish an intrapersonal identity network view of identity threat that considers how the centralization of a threatened identity, as well as the density of one’s identity network in terms of enhancing and conflicting relationships, …

Politics Of Belonging: Identity, Integration, And Spatial Practices Of Algerian Immigrants And Their Descendants In Paris, France, Elizabeth Nelson

Theses and Dissertations

Using a geographic framework, this dissertation explores how Algerian immigrants and their descendants perform identity and negotiate belonging in French society. Bringing together critical theorizations of race, identity, space, and place, this work investigates what it means to be a racialized minority in a postcolonial context and to learn and experience the boundaries of ‘Frenchness.’ It is based on the narratives of Algerian immigrants who have migrated to Paris, France, and their French-born children. The empirical evidence of the case studies highlights the myriad ways in which Algerian immigrants and their descendants encounter and structure their interactions with French society, …

Lost In Translation: South Asian Muslim Women's Interpretation Of Religious Gender Role Expectations, Women's Agency, And Women's Identity, Tamanna Tasmin

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates South Asian Muslim women’s interpretation of religious scripture and the women’s agency to influence the contemporary patriarchal religious culture. Previous research indicates that the religious customs of the region follow traditional orthodox Islamic scripture that promotes patriarchal practices, yielding barriers for women in the family, education, and professional sectors. Based on an understanding of the religious education system, the history of traditional orthodox Islamic practice, and traditional gender role expectations of the region, I use structuration theory to understand South Asian Muslim women’s identity negotiation and the agency they perceive regarding their ability to influence the society. …

The Integration And Securitization Of Muslim Migrants In Europe, Yasmeen Nawwar

Theses and Dissertations

In its efforts to integrate newly entering migrants into their societies, Europe has established integration policies that negatively impact these migrants, especially those from racialized backgrounds. The policies mask an agenda of securitization against outsiders who are falsely considered to be a danger to national security and national identity. Since the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in the United States, many Western countries, including European countries, began to build a culture of fear against Muslims. Europe began to increasingly associate migrants with problems such as trafficking, radicalization, and terrorism. As a result, Europe began to treat migration as …

In Film, I Too Sing, America: Exploring The Lived Experiences Of Black Male Filmmakers, Charles Opong

Theses and Dissertations

This study is about the lived experiences of Black male filmmakers’ global identity, and representation. This study is pertinent as Black males are often portrayed as stereotypical characters when they are much more meaningful people to society. Black male creators’ stories are being told but not by them and not from the perspective of how they want to be seen while contextualizing the humanity of Black male film creators. This study explored two research questions: What are the lived experiences of being a Black male creator in the film industry? And to what extent do Black males feel their identity …

Functional Limitations And Well-Being Throughout The Adult Lifespan: The Moderating Role Of Sleep, Claire M. Williams

Theses and Dissertations

Functional limitations represent individuals’ difficulty with completing essential activities of daily living, such as sitting, stooping, and walking. Though functional limitations have been linked to lower well-being outcomes, less is known about potential protective factors for well-being in the experience of functional limitations. The present study used archival data from the MIDUS Refresher study to evaluate how sleep and salient aspects of identity may alter the association between the experience of functional limitations and well-being. In particular, this study had two central aims: to examine the associations between functional limitations, life satisfaction, and affect and detect how aspects of identity …