Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Shadowlands, Kimberly Riner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Shadowlands is a reflection on loss. By focusing on those who are left behind after a loss, I am able to explore the range of reactions associated with grief. The artwork displayed in Shadowlands is an intuitive response to these experiences. It has been informed by research of cultural norms associated with mourning. By investigating specific ceremonies, rituals and interactions, I construct objects and installations that bridge the line between memory and memorial.

From A Northern Home To A Southern School: Cultural Imperialists Or Just Stubborn Yankees, Janel Janiczek Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the cultural influences on the lives of northern teachers in southern schools. During the 1860s, white, northern, middle-class women traveled to southern homes to begin and maintain schools for the recently freed slaves. Each woman carried with her an independent set of cultural systems that predetermined her perspective for educating the African American students. Furthermore, the northern relief agencies, Freedmen's Bureau agents, southern white citizens, and southern freedmen all had their own opinions for the education of the students. Although much time has elapsed between the 1860s and 2013, the same topics …

Narrating Literary Transnationalism In Zake Smith And Dave Eggers, Nelson Shake

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work argues for a greater reception of transnationalism in literary studies. Though the steady rise of transnationalism has already been studied in many areas of academia, literary studies has only begun to pay attention to it, and scholars appear to remain largely rooted in postcolonial or nationalistic thought. Refusing to read current texts through the lens of transnationalism hinders the literary academy's relevancy since creative writers today are addressing changes to the national structure in their fictive works. This study suggests why a new theoretical construct is needed to understand those texts, and it uses two representative examples: Zadie …

The New Man: Evolving Masculinity In F. Scott Fitzgerald's This Side Of Paradise, "Winter Dreams," And "The Swimmers", Adrian Nicole Coursey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The evolving culture and ethos of American capitalist modernity in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was marked by a nervousness, or neurasthenia. Strongly gendered, it was characterized among men by effeminacy and an anxiety about masculinity. Confronted by the eroding ideals of Victorian American self-reliance and independence, a stout-hearted willingness to labor to establish one's masculinity seemed an increasingly doubtful prospect for men in the new modern age. Under the twin influences of industrial capitalism and a market economy and a fledgling women's movement, affecting, especially, the work place, the American male felt nervous, anxious, and emasculated. In …

Nothing More Delicious: Food As Temptation In Children's Literature, Mary A. Stephens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although many critics and theorists, including Roland Barthes, have discussed food in literature, little attention has been paid to the food-as-temptation story in children’s literature. In Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Neil Gaiman’s Coraline food is used as temptation for child protagonists, a tool to lure them into doing evil deeds or being generally mischievous. Some characters, like Alice, act as the tempters as well as the tempted, while others, like Edmund, wait passively for rescue. Coraline breaks this …

Digital Echoes Of The Igeneration: An Examination Of Digital Media Used In 21st Century Education, Monica Greenway Radcliff

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the use of digital media as three teams of middle grades students create an original film about a topic of their choosing. The impetus of the study is fueled by a personal curiosity to see how students learn when given the freedom and flexibility to research and explore outside of a standards-based environment using digital media. Equally important, I wanted to examine the participatory process; as well as how this process affected the students' views, values, and to what extent, if at all. This study was made possible due to the 2011 JOCO Film Festival. Each of …

The Role Of Social Physique Anxiety, Social Support, And Perceived Benefits And Barrier To Exercise In All-Female Fitness Camp Intervention, Lauren Elizabeth Easton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Only 3.2% of Americans ages 20-59 years meet the minimum recommended volume of exercise suggestions. In addition to the substantial percentage of people who fail to meet exercise requirements, only 15% of American adults engage in exercise on a regular basis, i.e. exercising for twenty minutes at least three times per week to improve health. (Schrop, Pendleton, McCord, Gil, Stockton, McNatt, & Gilchrist, 2006). Although the small proportion of those who reach the suggested physical activity levels is a topic of concern for adults, the CDC reports that physical inactivity levels are even higher for females than those of males. …

Semiotics And Christian Discipleship In Fyodor Dostoevsky’S Crime And Punishment And Dietrich Bonhoeffer’S The Cost Of Discipleship, Jacob Pride

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The literary and philosophical theory of semiotics considers signs and symbols. Pragmatics is the branch of semiotics that explicates the practical effects of a given interpretation according to its context. Through analyzing the pragmatic context of Crime and Punishment, one can begin to uncover the depth of meaning that the novel delivers. In The Limits of Interpretation, Umberto Eco talks about what he calls "intersubjective meaning," which helps a particular interpretation of a text attain "a privilege over any other possible interpretation spelled out without the agreement of the community" (40). The particular intersubjective meaning that needs to …

Earthbound: Celebrating The Natural World Enjoying Good Food And Company, Virginia Russell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Earthbound is a body of utilitarian work created as a tribute to regional plants and animals, to beloved family members, to revered masters of ceramic art, and to the enjoyment of good food and conversation.

Earthbound explores the role of flora and fauna found throughout Southeast Georgia. These handmade functional objects celebrate aspects of nature I encounter on a daily basis. Each place setting is crafted to enhance the pleasure of eating and drinking while fostering a connection to the natural world.

I have long held an interest in the human connection to nature, which was fostered by both my …

Cyprianic Ecclesiology: Redefining The Office Of The Christian Bishop, Lauren Hudson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

St. Cyprian was a pivotal figure in the early Church. During his tenure as bishop of Carthage, 248-9 to 258, the Roman emperor Decius ignited the first empire-wide persecution of the Christian Church. The problems that resulted from this persecution were unprecedented. This thesis will analyze the letters and treatises of Cyprian and will illustrate how Cyprian solidified certain powers of the bishop and built upon the existing orthodoxy of the Church. The actions of Cyprian will be viewed as a microhistory. Cyprian is not a fringe character in history; he is a well-known Church father and a saint in …

From Scouts To Soldiers: The Evolution Of Indian Roles In The U.S. Military, 1860-1945, James C. Walker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The eighty-six years from 1860-1945 was a momentous one in American Indian history. During this period, the United States fully settled the western portion of the continent. As time went on, the United States ceased its wars against Indian tribes and began to deal with them as potential parts of American society. Within the military, this can be seen in the gradual change in Indian roles from mostly ad hoc forces of scouts and home guards to regular soldiers whose recruitment was as much a part of the United States’ war plans as that of any other group. The gradual …

Casting Minority Gifted Students: The Pedagogical Impact Of Cinema On The Culture Of Schooling, Deborah F. Burnette

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

African American students are significantly underrepresented in gifted education programs. This dissertation creates a space where gifted education, African American students, media literacy, and teacher perceptions intersect in the field of curriculum studies. Media literacy will be utilized to critique popular films by gifted endorsement teacher-students and myself. Due to the low number of states that require pre-service teachers to study gifted characteristics of children it is left up to gifted teacher endorsement programs to train teachers. By using media literacy to examine films in gifted teacher endorsement programs, I assert that the under-representation of African American students in the …

A Bridge Over Troubled Waters: Testimonies Of Black Women's Experience Of Desegregation In The South, Marketa Bullard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This is an inquiry into school desegregation, Black Women, and spirituality with the focus on three young Black Women who desegregated a small rural high school in the South. Theoretically drawing upon the works of Alice Walker (1983, 1997, 2006), Audre Lorde (2007), Emilie Townes (1995, 1996, 1997), Toni Morrison (1988, 1993, 1998), James Anderson (1988), and William Watkins (1993, 2003, 2001, 2005, 2006), I gather testimonies of key events that help understand desegregation in Queensburg, Alabama, a fictional town that represents many rural Southern towns during the era of school desegregation. Methodologically drawing upon oral history (Brown, 1988; Haley, …

Drugi Potop: The Fall Of The Second Polish Republic, Wesley Kent

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis seeks to examine the factors that resulted in the fall of the Second Polish Republic and track its downward trajectory. Examining the Second Republic, from its creation in 1918 to its loss of recognition in 1945, reveals that its demise began long before German tanks violated Poland’s frontiers on 1 September, 1939. Commencing with the competing ideas of what a Polish state would be and continuing through the political and foreign policy developments of the inter-war years, a pattern begins to emerge -that of the Poles’ search for their place in modern Europe. The lead up to the …

Narrowing The Margin: The Role Of The Black Superhero, Julian S. Strayhorn Ii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Comic books can be understood as a visualization of popular culture in the U.S. For a long time these tales were formed by a white power fantasy, circulating in mainstream culture as over-exaggerated narrations. To give an example of white power fantasy, Dwayne McDuffie, a prolific writer in popular entertainment states:

“…if I write, as I have many times, a story where Daredevil, who doesn’t have powers, gets the drop on Thor, who has unbelievable powers, people go Oh, that was so cool! Daredevil was so clever! If I have Black Panther do the same thing that’s impossible! It’s like, …