Digital Commons Network^™

Twentieth-Century Catalogs: The Poetics Of Listing, Enumeration, And Copiousness In Joyce, Schuyler, Mccourt, Pynchon, And Perec, Timothy Krause

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines the occurrence of catalogs and lists in the literary works of several twentieth-century authors, including James Joyce, poet James Schuyler, novelist and cultural historian James McCourt, the postmodern fabulist Thomas Pynchon, and the French experimental prose author Georges Perec. The dissertation seeks to trace how each author makes use of catalogs in his work, how catalogs form a central part of his style and subject matter, and how his use of catalogs can be read against the biographical, historical, and social contexts surrounding his life and work. A theoretical introduction situates my work among theorists of epistemology, …

Aspects Of Adaptation In The Egyptian Singing Film, Margaret Jean Farrell

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation explores aspects of adaptation in the Egyptian singing film in the period from 1932 to 1962. The primary types of adaptation examined are those that are evident in the stories the films told, the ways in which the songs functioned within the stories, and the music for which these films formed the setting. Research was conducted through the viewing of over sixty Egyptian films as well as time spent in Cairo to study Arabic language and music, and to collect primary sources in the form of films, press books, books, and periodicals.

The goal of this study is …

An Investigation Of The Relationship Among Social Support, Motivation, Perceived Competence, And Pursuit Of A Baccalaureate Degree Among Associate Degree Nurse Graduates, Margaret Joyce Reilly

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The Institute of Medicine Reports of the last ten years highlight the increased complexity of health care and the need for new ways for health providers to respond. While other professional programs have adapted to the growing complexity of the healthcare system and implemented increased educational requirements for entry to practice, notably pharmacy and physical therapy, nursing has not, and remains the least educated among health professionals The growing trend towards a two year Associate Degree as the initial nursing education degree is increasing at the same time that patient needs are becoming more complicated and health care is becoming …

The Creeks, Beaches, And Bay Of The Jamaica Bay Estuary: The Importance Of Place In Cultivating Relationships To Nature, Kristen L. Van Hooreweghe

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

It is often assumed that people living in urban areas lack connections to the natural world and are the source of environmental problems. This assumption, however, is an oversimplification of urban life. Employing an eco-ethnography, with participant observations, qualitative interviews, and an environmental history, this study examines New York City's Jamaica Bay estuary and surrounding neighborhoods to understand how residents cultivate their relationships to nature in a dense urban setting. Many residents near Jamaica Bay have developed a strong connection to place that is rooted in their regular, embodied experiences living, working, playing, and praying on the Jamaica Bay estuary. …

Recollecting Turbulence: Catastrophe And Sacrifice In The "History Of My Life" By Henry Darger, Carl Watson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study of "The History of My Life" the 5,086 page autobiographical text by the outsider artist/author Henry Darger, uses non-linear modes of analysis, such as chaos and complexity theory, to explore the meaning of Darger's epic narrative. Beginning with the idea that turbulence, seemingly chaotic, actually comes about as a compensatory restructuring of inadequate or unstable system dynamics, this study goes on to show that, as both influence and effect, turbulence is found at every level of Darger's life and art, both in theme and structure. "My Life" is a prime example: an extended narrative describing a cataclysmic tornado, …

History Of The Performance Practice Of Mozart’S Fantasie And Sonata K. 475/457, Mikako Ogata

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The pieces chosen for the discussion, the Fantasie and Sonata in C minor, K. 475/457, are especially well documented in terms of their sources: in addition to the composing autographs and the first edition, there is the so-called dedication copy, a manuscript written by a copyist that was given to Maria von Trattner, to whom the Sonata was dedicated. The discussion will include a close examination of these three primary sources, several editions published during the late eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries (including that edited by Johann Anton André, who owned the autographs at the time), and representative recorded performances …

Reading Through Prayer: Lectio Divina And "Liturgical Reading" In Some Medieval Texts, Marie Schilling Grogan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Prayer texts found in a variety of medieval genres merit more careful scrutiny from literary critical perspectives. Such attention to the verbal artifacts, prayers, that memorialize an activity of central importance in medieval culture, praying, deepens our understanding not only of the prayers and the works in which they are found, but also of the milieu that produced them. This study seeks to model such a critical turn by reading three particular works "through" the prayers that constitute, punctuate and frame them -- privileging the prayers as the starting points for the investigation of their literary and devotional settings. This …

Politics, Improvisation, And Musicking In Frederic Rzewski's "Which Side Are You On?" From North American Ballads, Andrea A. La Rose

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Discussions of the role of politics in Frederic Rzewski's music generally stop at surface elements: the title of the work, the use of a particular song, and guesses as to what left-leaning audience the piece is directed at. Similarly, discussion of the role of improvisation in Rzewski's work begins and ends simply at the mention of its existence. Using transcription and analysis of improvisations from recordings of "Which Side Are You On?" from North American Ballads combined with ideas about modeling from Christian Asplund, musicking from Christopher Small, dialogue from David Bohm, and Rzewski's own writings about music, I demonstrate …

Strategic Citizenship: Dual Marginalization And Organized Transnational Political Mobilization Among Ecuadorian And Dominican Migrants, Howard Caro-Lopez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

What factors define transnational political participation and citizenship for contemporary migrants? This dissertation focused on how and why migrant activists from Ecuador and the Dominican Republic pursued political engagement, how their home country governments influenced migrants‘ political activities, and how migrant organizations shaped their transnational activities. The study found that transnational political participation among these two populations was driven by a dual marginalization narrative, where migrants draw from their personal experiences to conclude that they are marginalized in both the U.S. and in their countries of origin based on their status as migrants. Ecuadorian and Dominican political organization leaders use …

(Re)Forming Italians: Children's Literature In Italy, 1929-1939, Marisa Giorgi

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

My dissertation argues for the centrality of children's literature under Fascism as a tool to bring about the ultimate goal of forming the "new" Italian. This project examines the relationship between children's literature, the creation of culture and the transmission of ideology in Fascist Italy. I chose the period 1929-1939 because this decade encompasses the years the regime actively sought consolidation of power and consensus, as well as the years of the fascistization of Italian schools. These novels are conduits of fascist ideology veiled as adventure stories, historical novels, bildungsroman or romantic fiction for children and young adults and deserve …

Effects Of Video-Based Peer Modeling On The Question Asking, Reading Motivation And Text Comprehension Of Struggling Adolescent Readers, Kallen E. Tsikalas

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Struggling adolescent readers are distinct from others in two important ways: (1) They are adolescents; and (2) they have a history of struggle with reading.

Good pedagogy prescribes that effective programs "meet students where they are." For middle-school students, this means meeting them in adolescence. Adolescents are more concerned with social norms and more susceptible to peer influence than younger children. Additionally, the fact that these youth are still struggling after years of reading instruction suggests that their motivation to persist at reading is likely to have suffered. To fully support and engage such adolescents, reading programs must leverage social …

Geometric Graph Theory And Wireless Sensor Networks, Deniz Sarioz

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this work, we apply geometric and combinatorial methods to explore a variety of problems motivated by wireless sensor networks. Imagine sensors capable of communicating along straight lines except through obstacles like buildings or barriers, such that the communication network topology of the sensors is their visibility graph. Using a standard distributed algorithm, the sensors can build common knowledge of their network topology.

We first study the following inverse visibility problem: What positions of sensors and obstacles define the computed visibility graph, with fewest obstacles? This is the problem of finding a minimum obstacle representation of a graph. This minimum …

Optomechanics Of Cavity Driven Nanoparticles, Joel T. Rubin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The subject of this thesis is the opto-mechanical interaction of a spherical high-Q microresonator and a subwavelength particle, which, at optical wavelengths, corresponds to a size on the order of nanometers. After a review of the basic theory of spherical resonators and multi-sphere scattering, the full self-consistent electromagnetic field of the coupled resonator-particle system is derived. The particle-induced frequency shift and broadening is calculated by examining the poles of the scattering coefficients of the resonator. The force exerted on the particle by the field is determined via the Maxwell stress tensor, and is found to be in general non-conservative. From …

Yayoi Kusama: Biography And Cultural Confrontation, 1945–1969, Midori Yamamura

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Yayoi Kusama (b.1929) was among the first Japanese artists to rise to international prominence after World War II. She emerged when wartime modern nation-state formations and national identity in the former Axis Alliance countries quickly lost ground to U.S.-led Allied control, enforcing a U.S.-centered model of democracy and capitalism. As a result, the art world became increasingly internationalized. This interdisciplinary study is the first attempt to comparatively examine postwar artistic developments in Japan, the United States, and Europe, through a focus on Kusama. I consider Kusama not so much in terms that seek to aggrandize the uniqueness of the individual, …

Grunt Work For The Avant-Garde, Andrea A. La Rose

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

grunt work for the avant-garde is an original, four-movement composition for solo trombone, clarinet, violin, cello, and accordion.

Risky Businesses: A Micro-Level Spatiotemporal Analysis Of Crime, Place, & Business Establishment Type, Christopher R. Herrmann

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Continuing advances in the fields of environmental criminology and geographical information sciences are facilitating place-based research. One of the current trends in environmental criminology is the focus on micro-level `places' including street segments, property lots, and specific kinds of buildings and facilities in understanding crime patterns and the opportunity structure that permits crime. Despite important findings on the concentration of crime in urban areas, there continues to be substantial gaps in our knowledge about micro-level spatiotemporal patterns of crime. These gaps in micro-level environmental criminology research have primarily been a result of the lack of access to data, availability of …

Social Disorganization And The Public Level Of Crime Control: A Spatial Analysis Of Ecological Predictors Of Homicide Rates In Bogota, Colombia, Gipsy Escobar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Research in the social disorganization tradition has found community disadvantage to be one of the strongest and most consistent macro-level predictors of homicides in urban areas in the United States (Pratt & Cullen 2005). This dissertation empirically tests the applicability of ecological theories of crime to the spatial distribution of homicides in Bogota, Colombia, while proposing alternative measures of social disorganization that are analogous to those used in the American literature but that are more reflective of both social realities and data availability in Colombia. The study used data from several sources including official homicide figures from the National Institute …

Aperture Array Photonic Metamaterials: Theoretical Approaches, Numerical Techniques And A Novel Application, Eli Lansey

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Optical or photonic metamaterials that operate in the infrared and visible frequency regimes show tremendous promise for solving problems in renewable energy, infrared imaging, and telecommunications. However, many of the theoretical and simulation techniques used at lower frequencies are not applicable to this higher-frequency regime. Furthermore, technological and financial limitations of photonic metamaterial fabrication increases the importance of reliable theoretical models and computational techniques for predicting the optical response of photonic metamaterials.

This thesis focuses on aperture array metamaterials. That is, a rectangular, circular, or other shaped cavity or hole embedded in, or penetrating through a metal film. The research …

The Museum Of Modern Art's "What Is Modern?" Series, 1938-1969, Jennifer Tobias

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Between 1938 and 1969, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) poses the question of What Is Modern? (WIM) in a series of books, traveling exhibitions, and a symposium. This dissertation argues for the WIM project as a sustained if minimally effective effort to influence popular American perceptions of modern art, architecture, and design, at the same time embodying tensions inherent to the museum and its notions of that modernism.

MoMA is an unquestionable influence on modern art history. WIM is a significant component of this influence, yet scholarship on the series is minimal. Hiding in plain sight, the series offers …

The Work Of The Urban Commons: Limited-Equity Cooperatives In Washington, D.C., Amanda Huron

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This research theorizes the work of the urban commons through close examination of a group of ten limited-equity housing cooperatives in Washington, D.C. Limited-equity co-ops, or LECs, are a noncommodified resource that is collectively owned and maintained by their members. I argue that LECs are a manifestation of the commons, and that they represent a specific form of the commons - the urban commons. In this research, I ask: how does the urban commons - as manifested in this case by limited-equity housing cooperatives - function? The commons, as I theorize it, is a space that both provides a basis …

Reducibility, Degree Spectra, And Lowness In Algebraic Structures, Rebecca M. Steiner

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation addresses questions in computable structure theory, which is a branch of mathematical logic hybridizing computability theory and the study of familiar mathematical structures. We focus on algebraic structures, which are standard topics of discussion among model theorists. The structures examined here are fields, graphs, trees under a predecessor function, and Boolean algebras.

For a computable field F, the splitting set S_F of F is the set of polynomials in F[X] which factor over F, and the root set R_F of F is the set of polynomials in F[X] which have a root in F …

Exploring Change In Local Criminal Justice Systems: An Examination Of The Implementation Of The Justice Reinvestment At The Local Level Model In Three U.S. Counties, Suzanne Rebecca Neusteter

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Tough on crime policies in the U.S. began to emerge in the 1970s and steeply escalated through the 1980s and 1990s, prompting massive growth of correctional populations and criminal justice costs. Although many of these policy and legislative reforms were enacted at the federal and state levels, they have trickled down and greatly affected localities across the country. The recent economic downturn has exerted additional pressures on local governments. These factors have prompted the development of a number of planned change strategies designed to curb the escalating growth and related costs in criminal justice systems. One such approach, Justice Reinvestment …

Strengths And Weaknesses Of The U.S.-Based Refugee Resettlement Program: A Survey Of International Rescue Committee Employee Perceptions, Jennifer Mincin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is among nine agencies in the United States that resettles refugees. There are two core national resettlement programs: the State Department's Reception and Placement (R&P and the Health and Human Services' (HHS) Matching Grant (MG). These two programs largely have been designed to accomplish refugee self-sufficiency by way of early employment programming and services. Resettlement agencies, such as the IRC, are now beginning to initiate other program areas aside from early employment such as health and wellness, children and youth, and other concepts of financial literacy and economic empowerment.

This staff self-sufficiency study surveyed IRC …

Criminal, Antisocial, And Temporal Patterns In The Histories Of Serial And Non-Serial Sexual Murderers, Victoria Blair Mesa

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Despite its having been the subject of clinical and scholarly inquiry for more than two centuries, empirical research regarding the phenomenon of sexually-motivated homicide remains limited. In particular, relatively few prior studies have focused on perpetrators' criminal and antisocial backgrounds, and these often examine only the data found in official arrest and conviction records, which frequently provide incomplete accounts of offenders' histories. Even fewer researchers have investigated whether temporal patterns exist in the offense histories of sexual murderers. The current study included data on 46 serial and 93 non-serial perpetrators of sexually-motivated homicide, obtained from a large archive. Data collection …

The Prison Fix: Race, Work, And Economic Development In Elmira, New York, Andrea R. Morrell

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Based on more than a year of ethnographic and archival research in Elmira, New York and, to a lesser extent, New York City, this dissertation analyzes the social, economic, and political processes through which Elmira, New York was transformed by the construction of the Southport Correctional Facility in 1988 as a project of economic development during a period of massive expansion of the New York State prison system. It focuses on the unfolding of the project of mass incarceration and its impact on the lives of Elmira's citizens and workers, as well as the men incarcerated in Elmira's prisons and …

The Metaphysics Of Improvisation, Tobyn C. Demarco

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In "The Metaphysics of Improvisation," I criticize wrongheaded metaphysical views of, and theories about, improvisation, and put forward a cogent metaphysical theory of improvisation, which includes action theory, an analysis of the relevant genetic and aesthetic properties, and ontology (work-hood).

The dissertation has two Parts. Part I is a survey of the history of many improvisational practices, and of the concept of improvisation. Here I delineate, sketch, and sort out the often vague boundaries between improvising and non-improvising within many art forms and genres, including music, dance, theatre, motion pictures, painting, and literature. In addition, I discuss the concept of …

Essays In Health Economics, Leigh Ann Leung

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Health is defined as an individual's mental or physical condition and being healthy means to be free from illness or injury. Health is relevant to both the supply and demand sides of the national economy. On the demand side, consumers derive satisfaction from being healthy. Consumers purchase goods and services to improve their health but also engage in activities that impair health such as smoking or drinking too much. On the supply side, firms produce health care goods and services to meet the market demand for health care derived from consumers' demand for better health. In addition, health augments labor …

Social Aspects Of Developing And Sustaining Voluntarily Reduced Consumption Activity In New York City, Kirsten B. Firminger

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines the social aspects of voluntarily reduced consumption activity using the principles of cultural historical activity theory. Voluntarily buying less is viewed as ongoing interactive social process that is initiated and sustained as individuals engage with their surroundings. Data was collected from 320 online survey respondents living in the New York City Metro area, followed by a purposeful sampling of 24 participants for in-person, follow up interviews. Interviews revealed the social contextual influences on initiating voluntarily reduced consumption activity. For example, family experiences, personal life changes, and historical events played a role in individuals' choice to voluntarily buy …

The Syntax Of Non-Verbal Causation: The Causative Apomorphy Of 'From' In Greek And Germanic Languages, Alexandra Ioannidou

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This is a study of the meaning and syntax of non-(lexical)verbal causation. Macroscopically, it examines the preposition 'from' as attested in contexts like "X is/comes from Y". Syntactic diagnostics are applied to formally distinguish the causative from the spatial interpretations of `from'-PPs in Greek, English, Dutch, and German. The syntactic landscape of causative 'from' will turn out to be very minimal with 'from' directly selecting the Cause-DP, in contradistinction to its spatial counterpart, where 'from' always selects for another PP layer. More microscopically then I focus on the causative interpretations only, which are particularly revealing because (i) they give an …

Population Dynamics And Occupancy Patterns Of Eastern Screech Owls (Megascops Asio) In New York City Parks And Adjacent Suburbs, Christopher M. Nagy

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Eastern screech owls (Megascops asio) are one of the few raptor species that permanently reside in New York City (NYC). To better inform management of this charismatic species in urban parks, I sought to determine the present status and future viability of existing screech owl populations in NYC and identify potential landscape characteristics that affect park occupancy by screech owls. Using captive, non-releasable owls and isolated free-living owls, I developed a method of identifying individual screech owls via vocalization analysis. Using call-broadcast surveys and subsequent recording of owl responses, I gathered capture-recapture histories of urban owls in three …