Digital Commons Network^™

Dead Women And White Men: Why Are Today’S Hit Noir Shows Still Stuck In The Gender/ Race Politics Of The ‘40s And ‘50s?, Zainab Akande

Capstones

Critically acclaimed TV noir programs such as “True Detective,” “House of Cards” and “Hannibal” provide complex narratives with compelling characters, but fail to take full advantage of gender & race diversity.

#Notyourcostume, #Notyourmascot And #Nothappy: New Generation Of Native American Activists Use Social Media To Protest Cultural Misappropriation, Jaclyn Anglis

Capstones

My project profiles Simon Moya-Smith, a Brooklyn-based activist for Native American rights. He, alongside other young Native Americans, protests against the ubiquitous cultural misappropriation of Native American culture by people who are not Native by using social media like Twitter and Instagram to send his message to a broader audience now than Native Americans were ever able to reach before to speak out against misappropriation. This misappropriation includes offenses such as wearing a headdress as a fashion statement, using a Native American based mascot and dressing up like a Native American for Halloween. While activists like Moya-Smith are certainly not …

Opening The Classroom Doors: Stories Of English Teachers' Experiences With Three Eras Of Educational Reform, Kelli Sowerbrower

Middle and Secondary Education Dissertations

This study examined what has largely been overlooked in educational research: What happens to educational reforms in teachers’ classrooms when they shut the door and teach? Few researchers have talked with teachers to understand their experiences with educational reforms. I framed this narrative inquiry in sociocultural theories of culture (Bruner, 1996; Cole, 1996; Smagorinsky, 2001; Vygotsky, 1978) and experience (Dewey, 1938/1997) to provide lenses for understanding the history, setting, activities, and artifacts that informed how veteran teachers taught during different eras of reform. The participants were three English teachers who started teaching shortly before significant moments in educational reform began …

Impact Of Improving Throughput In The Emergency Department, Katherine J. Edrington

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

The purpose of this project was to evaluate the patient experience in the emergency department (ED) and in the inpatient setting while correlating increased throughput and patient outcomes at a suburban Acute Care facility in Ohio. The culture in the organization has lacked accountability and ownership of the patients. The ED admitted length of stay (ALOS) was 358 minutes in the beginning of 2013. For the first time in the organization’s history, the ED ALOS is now typically less than the recommended benchmark of 300 minutes. A report of findings among ED’s surveyed showed the ALOS best practice is 244 …

Tales That Tell All: A Political Analysis Of Folktales Of Iran, Yass Alizadeh

Doctoral Dissertations

This research presents an analytical study of the rewritten folktales of Iran in 20^th century, and investigates the ideological omissions and revisions of oral tales as textual productions in modern Iran. Focusing on the problematic role of folktales as tales about the unreal and the fantastic serving a political purpose, this study traces the creative exercises of Iranian storytellers who apply ideological codes and meanings to popular folk language. The works of Mirzadeh Eshqi (1893-1924), Sadegh Hedayat (1903-1951), Samad Behrangi (1939-1968) and Bijan Mofid (1935-1984) are examples of a larger collection of creative writing in Iran that through the …

Math, Class, And Katrina Aftermath: The Impact Of Experiences Teaching Mathematics To Low-Income Middle School Students On Middle-Income Teachers’ Pedagogical Strategies, Susan J. Ikenberry

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Despite a century of educational reforms, no matter how achievement is measured, learning and opportunity gaps can still be predicted by race and socioeconomic status. Teachers and schools are blamed for functioning to reproduce social inequality. This study investigated teacher agency and transformative potentials. It considered how teachers modified their pedagogical practices when teaching low-income and high-poverty students. In order to capture teacher beliefs and logic, a qualitative approach was used involving in-depth interviews of a small number of participants.

The research used the context of the dislocation of students from high-poverty Orleans Parish schools in the year following Hurricane …

Preserving Han-Ok: Reimaging The Korean Traditional House For Today Using 3d Design, Haiden Park

Theses

The purpose of this thesis project was to preserve the traditional elements of Han-Ok in the modern architecture in Korea. I have integrated traditional Korean design elements into modern architecture. I also solved the problems that the Han-Ok currently faces. This topic is important because a lot of the traditional culture has been disappearing within the current Korean society. Of all the aspects of Korean traditional culture, the Han-Ok, the Korean traditional house itself, is very important. A lot of Korea's culture is represented in the Han-Ok, but people think this type of architecture is unnecessary and uncomfortable, and because …

Exploring Cultural Identity: Learning Culture Through Effective Interactive Design, Augie Park

Theses

Culture defines groups of individuals by language, religion, art, or tools. In today's ever growing sector of computers, smart phones, and tablets, mobile technology is used as a means to discover a sense of individuality through wireless devices and essentially the Internet. This is a case study on how to design a better educational app designed to teach culture through visual exploration and user testing. This thesis also explores how design affects behavior through usability. Through an analysis of interdisciplinary subjects, Exploring Cultural Identity aims to provide a visual prototype to teach culture, specifically focusing on Korean art. The goal …

The (Un) Desirability Of Happiness: Pathogen Threats Predict Differences In The Value Of Happiness, Sharon Li Hua Koh

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

People in some parts of the world find positive emotions more desirable than others. What accounts for this variability? We predicted that happiness would be valued less under conditions where the behaviors that happiness promotes would be less beneficial. We analyzed international survey data and United Nations voting records and found that happiness was valued relatively less in environments that had been historically pathogen-rich. Using a series of experimental studies, we showed that people who were experimentally primed by the threat of pathogens judged happiness in others less favorably and found happiness less appropriate. Our findings contribute to research on …

Virtual Escapes And Intercultural Explorations: How Members Of Interpals Are Using Their Online Community As A Window To The World, Ryan Scott Bartlett

Theses and Dissertations

This study utilized in-depth, one-on-one interviews to examine the experiences, attitudes, and opinions, with regard to their use of the Internet for online intercultural communication (OIC), of a culturally diverse sample of 17 members of the global online social community, Interpals. The purpose of this study was threefold: first, the study sought to determine how OIC is shaping the intercultural perceptions of English-speaking Interpals members; second, the study sought to determine how OIC shapes and/or reinforces the cultural identities of English-speaking Interpals members; and finally, the study set out to examine the various ways that English-speaking Interpals members are using …

Reflections Of Oppression, Fatemeh Semiari

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This thesis is an investigation into the lives of women living in Iran. I develop a critical framework for understanding it. It is now my understanding that women suffer greatly from the restrictions they are subjected to. I discuss what some of these restrictions are, and how these pressures create turmoil and confusion within some women. The artwork created for my thesis project is a reflection upon the relationship between social proscription and a woman’s desire to express her individuality publicly. The women I portray in my thesis project exhibit a range of emotions such as anger, depression, despair, defeat, …

Eagles Circle The Drum, Mark Shaw

Theses

Mark Shaw’s Eagles Circle the Drum: A Novel My thesis, for the Master of Fine Arts program at the University of Missouri—St. Louis, is a Native American Literary Novel. When Jimmy Moses—a member of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Nation—dies, his mother chooses to have a Christian funeral instead of an American Indian burial ceremony. The reservation community becomes upset, particularly Johnny Bear Moses, her son and Jimmy’s older brother. The novel shifts between various points of view, including Reylene Fisherman, the mother; Johnny Bear; and his daughter, Akasha. These three major characters represent a different opinion of creed and …

Social Forms And Culture Within Miller Park, Andrew R. Griffin

Theses and Dissertations

SOCIAL FORMS AND CULTURE WITHIN MILLER PARK

Andrew Griffin

109 Pages December 2014

This research explores the physical design and usage of Miller Park in Bloomington, IL for evidence of a cultural lineage to Frederick Law Olmsted and for indications that Miller Park functions as a third place locale as envisioned by Ray Oldenburg. The research also attempts to identify key cultural characteristics of the park, document park use, and assess Miller Park's cultural significance within the local community.

Observation sessions within the park and targeted intercept interviews provide first hand data about park usage and physical design elements. Key …

Differences In Cultural Perception In Websites, Andrew Allen

Open Access Theses

The goal of this research was to determine what elements of websites are tied to the value of individualism and collectivism when viewed by two different national cultures. The research determined whether two participant groups (United States or Chinese) looked at the same or different website elements when experiencing the website. The Website Experience Analysis protocol was used to create a questionnaire that the students filled out as they experienced the website, allowing the researcher to determine what elements of the website they were experiencing when focusing on a particular cultural or organization-public relation value. This research found that culture …

The Culture Of Generativity: Exploring The Manifestation Of Generativity In The Manifestation Of Generativity In The Mexican/Mexican-American Population, Mara J. Bach

Dissertations (1934 -)

Generativity is a developmental stage in adulthood where an individual makes a conscious decision to leave their mark on the world with the intent to make the world a better place for future generations. Research has shown that engaging in generativite acts benefits both the person engaging in such practices as well as the recipient, and thus generativity is positively correlated with reported wellbeing. It has also been shown that adults engaging in such practices are psychologically healthier and ease into old age with less resistance than their non-generative counterparts. Generativity is a strengths-based approach. It is shaped by one's …

New Portlandia: Rock N' Roll, Authenticity And The Politics Of Place In Portland, Oregon, Jeffrey Ross London

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This work is concerned with the situation of indie musicians and their relationship to the urban imaginary of the city of Portland, Oregon. Central to this inquiry is the interplay between music makers and the evolving cultural economy of the city. There are several key issues that arise in Portland for participants in the indie music scene, in the new, high-rent lifestyle city. The regional Northwest ecology of indie rock music and the collective memory of the underground has been brought into the mainstream as an advertisement for the city, an identity for its new residents and for cultural tourism. …

Implementing The Hmong Culture Into Classrooms, Chee Vang

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The purpose of this capstone was to raise awareness of the importance of implementing the Hmong culture into classrooms, especially due to many Hmong students’ lack of academic performance in schools. Hmong students have suffered tremendously in school due to language barriers and culture shock. The research involved interviewing a sample of Fresno County teachers and students. Fresno has the largest population of Hmong people in California. The results suggest that creating a diverse and comfortable environment for Hmong students requires incorporating their culture into classrooms by using icebreakers or teaching a whole unit about the Hmong people. This will …

Material Embodiments, Queer Visualities: Presenting Disability In American Public History, Andrew B. Marcum

American Studies ETDs

This dissertation examines the presentation of disability at three of the most popular sites for the consumption of public history in the United States including the U.S. Capitol, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, and the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. I de-construct the cultural and historical narratives and discourses of disability circulating at these sites and offer a visual culture analysis of the images, artifacts, and statuary found at each of them. My study is informed principally by the theories and methods of queer disability studies, visual culture studies, and cultural studies critiques of neoliberalism. I consider how …

Interpreting, Stephanie Jo Kent

Doctoral Dissertations

What do community interpreting for the Deaf in western societies, conference interpreting for the European Parliament, and language brokering in international management have in common? Academic research and professional training have historically emphasized the linguistic and cognitive challenges of interpreting, neglecting or ignoring the social aspects that structure communication. All forms of interpreting are inherently social; they involve relationships among at least three people and two languages. The contexts explored here, American Sign Language/English interpreting and spoken language interpreting within the European Parliament, show that simultaneous interpreting involves attitudes, norms and values about intercultural communication that overemphasize information and discount …

Differences In The Extent Of Use Of Culture In The Classroom Between Indigenous And Non-Indigenous Teachers And The Relationship To Student Reported Academic Achievement In Reading And Math, Nicole M. Butt

Theses and Dissertations

With the historical lack of academic achievement of American Indian/ Alaskan Native (AI/AN) students in public schooling, Indigenous communities have expressed the need to emphasize Indigenous culture in the education of AI/AN students. This study investigated if the relationship between the use of Indigenous culture and academic achievement can be validated through the use of the National Indian Education Survey database. This study examined (1) if there is a difference in the extent of AI/AN culture used in the classroom between Indigenous teachers and non-Indigenous teachers, (2) if there is a relationship between the student reported academic achievement of AI/AN …

Hablo Español, You Know? Language And Identity In The Puerto Rican Diaspora, Rachel Ann Denton

Masters Theses

This thesis explores the relationship between language, personal identity, and culture among members of the Puerto Rican diaspora. Puerto Rico represents a unique situation socially and politically because of its colonial relationship with the United States. This relationship has facilitated a continuous circular migration to and from the mainland U.S. over the last century. As of 2012, the diasporic community now represents a greater population than those who remain on the island. While nationalistic debates in Puerto Rico have traditionally excluded this group (collectively dubbed “neoricans” or “nuyoricans”), their recent contributions to literature and Puerto Rican cultural theory, as well …

Measuring Health Literacy Among Somali Men Over The Age Of 45 - A Pilot Study, Vasty Klutse

Master of Science in Nursing Theses

Somali immigrants to the United States are at a particularly increased risk of lower health literacy due to barriers such as language, lower education levels, culture and decreased access to health care resources. Low health literacy puts individuals and communities at risk for poor health outcomes and health disparities. However, as far as is known, there is limited information addressing the health literacy levels and its effects on Somali men. There are no available studies on the health literacy levels in this population. The purpose of this study is to identify Somali men over the age of 45 and measure …

Incentives And Firm Behaviors, Thu Hien Thi Nguyen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My research interests focus on the economic behavior, choices, and actions of organizations as well as individuals given their incentives, and analyze the consequences of such decisions to the financial health of firms and the macro economy. A firm is incentivized by the value investors place on its operations; while employees, particularly the management team, is incentivized by the private benefits the firm gives them. Understanding the impact of such incentives will help alleviate the classic agency costs in modern organizations.

Stock illiquidity raises the cost of share ownership to outside investors. The sizable adverse price impact of trading increases …

We Are Aquin: The Creation Of Community And Personal Identity In The Freeport Catholic Schools, Sherry Ann Cluver

Theses and Dissertations

Aquin Central Catholic High School, a tiny institution in the rural, Midwestern town of Freeport, Illinois, is a case study unlike the schools from Chicago, Boston, and other large cities highlighted in previous scholarship. Freeport's patterns of schooling in the 1970s and 1980s were largely unaffected by race or "white flight," and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockford afforded to its schools a greater than usual degree of local control. Yet, Aquin (founded in 1923) followed the trends of Catholic schools with regard to the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), assimilation of previously immigrant Catholic families into middle class American social …

Factors Related To High School Dropout Rates Among Native Hawaiian And Other Pacific Islander Youths In Salt Lake And Utah Counties In Utah, Afa K. Palu

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers across the globe have studied high school dropouts for decades and have identified various factors related to high school dropout rates. These factors have been found to be related to dropout rates among specific ethnic groups, including White, Asian, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Hispanic or Latino Origin high school students. However, the factors related to dropout rates among Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander high school students in the U.S. mainland have not been studied. This study was completed to better understand the factors related to dropout rates among Native Hawaiian or Other …

Parts Of A Whole, Hsiang-Lu Meng

Theses

This exhibition is comprised of two complementary bodies of works. Each body of work explores the concept of a societal structure where culture and rules erode individuality. The community is ultimately conditioned to behave according to the conventions dictated by the environment.

"Parts of a Whole" is a performative installation which explores my fascination with the relationship between the individual and the collective. It is constructed with fabric, with custom-made buttons and passport photos attached and lighting device. Each button contains a face, and therefore represents the individual. Passport images are used to illustrate the extent of unification.

In the …

The Arena And Stadium Experience: The Individual, The Venue And The Culture Industry, Anthony Paul Sparacino

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This paper explores arenas and stadia, specifically Madison Square Garden and Citi Field in New York City, through the prism of Theodor Adorno's conception of the culture industry, the notion that cultural artifacts are consciously created in order to reify the values of the existing social system, especially those of elites. Rather than focusing solely on media culture, this essay proposes that understandings of mass culture can be enhanced by focusing on the context of the consumption of mass-cultural artifacts, namely the development of a conception of place within the mind of the consumer, who has an active role in …

Toys Don't Have A Gender: Gender Play And Aggression In A Small Co-Operative Play Based Preschool, Bryn Peterson

Honors Theses

In this thesis I explore the relationship between gender and free-play in a small, cooperative preschool in Niskayuna, New York. While psychologists and sociologists have studied gender in young children, I found that children had been largely overlooked in the field of anthropology. While some anthropologists have historically believed that children do not fully understand their culture and cannot be reliable informants, I believe that there is much we can learn by understanding children's games - which often reflect our culture. Through observing children's free play I was able to analyze gender conforming/nonconforming play, aggression, and the themes of the …

The Power Of Plur: Edmc As A Reflection Of A New Generation, Nichole Lorenz

Communication Studies

With such a broad amount of musical expression and cultural appeal, EDM has quickly become a captivating phenomenon in the United States in recent years. There is a significant trend going on with EDM culture and what it represents for youth today. For this reason, I want to dig further into the growing phenomenon of EDMC (Electronic Dance Music Culture) in the United States. I want to better understand what is going on beneath the surface façade of costumes and drug use. Why does this culture appeal to so many young people? In addition, I seek to find out whether …

Learn By Traveling Through Aiesec: The Importance Of Studying And Experiencing Intercultural Communication, Haley Gross

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.