Digital Commons Network^™

Captive To The American Woods: Sarah Wakefield And Cultural Mediation, Sophia Betsworth Hunt

Masters Theses

The life and narrative of Sarah Wakefield, an Anglo migrant who spent six weeks as a captive of the Santee Dakotas during the US-Dakota Conflict, show one woman's experience navigating the changing racial dynamics of the nineteenth-century Minnesota frontier. Using recent conceptualizations of “the frontier” as either a middle ground or woods, this thesis reconsiders Wakefield as a prisoner, not of Indians or her own conscience but of her region‟s ossifying racial divisions. Wakefield's initial attempts at intercultural communication, which included feeding starving Dakotas who knocked on her door, were consistent with Anglo notions about womanhood and Indian-white relations. But …

The Impact Of Culture And National Origin On Educational Aspiration, Personal Responsibility, And Self-Efficacy: A Comparative Analysis Of Views By African Americans And African Caribbeans, Donna M. Dopwell

Masters Theses

The United States is a country of many cultures and peoples. The different cultures need to be understood in order to best support the success of all individuals in the country. One group that has been present, but has only recently received attention as a valid culture, is African Americans. Further complicating the black identity in the country is the presence of immigrants of African descent. While there is existing research on the subjects of race relations, cultural identities, and perceptions regarding opportunities for success, much of this research is qualitative and some of the research uses a deficit approach …

Hauntings In The Church: Counterfeit Christianity Through The Fin De Siècle Gothic Novel, Melissa Ann West

Masters Theses

The lengthy Victorian period, extending from 1832 until 1901, was a time of cultural turmoil. New scientific discoveries were being made daily, and Christianity was forced to deal with issues of Darwinism, occultism, and growing disbelief in God. By the start of the fin de siècle, God was an impartial deity sitting on His almighty throne, and man was nothing more than a highly evolved animal. The church, both Catholic and Anglican, did not exist to lead man toward salvation, but existed because of a dated adherence to cultural tradition.

No one genre captured the religious upheavals of the age …

"Life Wants Padding": Food, Eating, And Bodies In George Eliot's Novels, Tess Rebecca Stockslager

Masters Theses

This thesis uses six of the novels of George Eliot (those that take place entirely in rural England), works from the field of psychology, the concepts of realism and sympathy, and a metaphor of liquidity from Thomas Carlyle to explore several ways that body fat shapes identity and mediates relationships with others. Boundaries are the guiding concept: the chapters move from a demonstration of how boundaries between the self and others are created (padding), through a discussion of how sympathy can enable those boundaries to be broken (stuffing), to two case studies of characters whose boundaries of selfhood are in …

Codes Of Conduct: Didacticism In The Works Of Maria Edgeworth, Megan Lockard

Masters Theses

To encounter the novels of Maria Edgeworth is to encounter an author who is not always politically correct. She did not write as a feminist to better the world for women. She did not write in the name of equality between nations or classes. She did not write to promote racial tolerance. In fact, based on her treatment of these issues within her novels, Edgeworth could arguably be accused of anti-feminism, imperialism, and racism. Instead, what this late eighteenth-century, early nineteenth-century writer centered her novels around was a rigid set of moral guidelines. Maria Edgeworth used the novel genre as …

An Apologetic To The Neo-Pagans As Represented By Dr. Gus Dizerega, William Tennison Smitherman Ii

Masters Theses

The current trend of multi-religious observance can be traced to various root sources. In particular, the advocacy of Christianity and another religious tradition is particularly strong within Neo-Pagan circles. Through historical investigation, as well as response to the writings of Dr. Gus DiZerega, a prominent Neo-Pagan proponent, these connection will be made. It will be posited that the core of modern neo-pagan belief and perhaps that of modern Celtic Christianity are found in similar traditions. This study, while not exhaustive is a beginning to a fruitful conversation between Christians and Neo-Pagans. It also provides a bridge to see that there …