Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Exemplars Of Error In The Works Of Spenser And Sidney, Rene Ferrer

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis was to examine how the Elizabethan poets Edmund Spenser and Sir Philip Sidney explored the idea of emulation within the pages of The Faerie Queene and The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia. Specifically, how both poets employed the unorthodox characters of Malbecco and Amphialus within texts meant to pro vide moral instruction to the reader.

This research will be accomplished by examining the philosophical underpinnings relating to ideas about emulation, conducting a thorough close reading of primary texts, and studying scholarly articles relating to Spenser, Sidney, the English Renaissance, and emulation.

This thesis will endeavor to …

The Sanctuary Of Acceptance: Love And Identity Through The Letters And Poetry Of John Keats, Amanda Caridad Estevez Ms.

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I propose to explain how it is that the life and work of John Keats assists us in answering the question of how we create ourselves through the presence of others. I aim to do this through an analysis of the work that his relationship with Fanny Brawne inspired. In doing so, I hope to prove that romantic love creates a sort of metaphysical sanctuary for us to inhabit as we shift through the various incarnations of our identity throughout our lives. By synthesizing the theories of phenomenology and transgression, I hope to demonstrate how Keats’ rapid …

Proper, Politic, And Fetishized Object: Representations Of Body In The Fiction Of Edgar Allan Poe, Courtney Glass

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis involves a close-reading of how Edgar Allan Poe writes the body and how bodies operate as discursive spaces to explore identity, sexuality, gender, and society and are constructed and deconstructed. Consideration is given to how Poe challenges, destabilizes, and problematizes notions of the body exacerbated by abnormal bodies absenting themselves via death, decay, or prosthetics and the meaning that is gathered around either their conjunction or disjunction.

The introduction gives an overview of relevant Poe criticism and a rationale for this project. Chapter II explores how Poe’s treatment of the body-proper and identity in “How to Write a …

Shipbuilding, Forest Resource Exploitation, And Environmental Change In Cuba In The Early Eighteenth Century, 1700-1763, Jason M. Daniel

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the construction of Spanish naval warships in Havana, Cuba, between the accession of the Bourbon family to Spain’s throne in 1700 and the end of the Seven Years’ War in 1763. The rapid increase in timber consumption after the Royal Havana Company gained the obligation for shipbuilding in 1741 led to significant changes in the social and environmental landscape. This dissertation concludes that Cuba’s maritime industries under royal authorities and the Royal Havana Company were the product of deliberate and centralized Spanish reforms that had demonstrable and measurable consequences on the island.

This period of shipbuilding consumed …

Charles A. Dana, The Civil War Era, And American Republicanism, Eric X. Rivas

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

When Charles A. Dana bought the New York Sun in 1868, he used it to support the presidential candidacy of Ulysses S. Grant and the Republican Party ticket to unify the post-Civil War nation. After a victory for the Civil War general and Republican Party, though, the first fifteen months of the new administration turned the editor against the president and his party. Dana’s Sun criticized Grant and his allies as corrupt, of using the military for political ends, and of growing the size and power of government beyond traditional American practice. Against the backdrop of Reconstruction, Dana also decried …

Music Literacy: A Multicase Study Of Five Choral Directors' Use And Understanding Of Choral Music Literacy In The Choral Classroom, Alicia M. Romero Sardiñas

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this multi-case study was to give experienced choral music educators a voice. It sought to describe, examine, and understand five choral music educators’ perceptions and use of elements within choral music literacy. These elements were specifically sight-reading, text analysis, and composition. Research questions included 1) What are the choral music educators’ perceptions and understandings of choral music literacy? 2) How do these choral music educators design and implement their curriculum? and 3) How can choral music educators balance performance requirements and the elements of choral music literacy, which are invaluable in the creation of independent music making? …

Embrace The Moon, Natalie J. Havlina

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

EMBRACE THE MOON is a collection of six stories that explore how people respond when faced with the impossible. A young woman welcomes a visit from her recently-deceased grandfather in the title story, while the narrator of “A Unicorn in Paris” dismisses the magical creature as a side effect of heartbreak. Like the dark power in Truman Capote’s “Master Misery,” the reality of the ghost and the unicorn remains ambiguous. In other stories, the uncanny is dangerously real, as in Karen Russell’s Vampires in the Lemon Grove. “The Norban Birds of the Count Bartello-Sauvigny” feast on the women they charm …

The Impact Of Socioeconomic Factors On Food Insecurity Among Syrian Refugees In Florida, Racha Sankar

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Syrian refugees settled in the United States may experience food insecurity due to different socioeconomic factors that may include nutrition knowledge, language proficiency, women’s education, and perceived stress. The structure and the type of households may also contribute to food insecurity in this population.

The objective of this study was to measure food security among Syrian refugees residing in Florida. It also aimed to determine the socioeconomic factors that may attribute to food insecurity at household level.

A comprehensive 228-item questionnaire was administered to N=80 households (n=43 in rural areas, n=37 in urban areas). Families with and without children were …

Augkit: An Augmented Drum Set System Designed For Live Performance, Mario A. Carvajal

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Augkit is an augmented drum set system designed for live performance. Augkit consists of a drum kit, microphone, audio interface, MIDI pad controller with foot switches, set of speakers, and a computer. I designed the processing audio engine in the visual programming language Max. Max processes the audio signal in a variety of ways that include delays, flanger, reverb, and synthesis that depend on the frequency content of the signal. Foot switches and MIDI pads toggle and modify the parameters of Augkit. This approach to playing drum set proves to be very flexible and offers new aesthetic possibilities for live …

Black And White Notes: Segregation, Integration, And Urban Renewal Through Pittsburgh's Locals 60 And 471, Nathan Seeley

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores Pittsburgh’s Locals 60, 471, and 60-471 of the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) from the late nineteenth century to the mid-1960s. Local 60 was founded in 1896 for white musicians and Local 471 in 1908 for black musicians. While other studies of the AFM take a “top-down” approach, this study examines these Locals from the “bottom-up.” In doing so, it re-examines the causal relationship between music/musicians and the social, political, and economic conditions intersecting with them. This dissertation is built upon seventy-two interviews conducted between former Local 471 members in the 1990s, photographs from Teenie Harris Collection …

Digital Collections In The University Classroom: Inspiring Your Faculty With Regional Content, Kelley F. Rowan, Christopher Davis

Works of the FIU Libraries

This presentation explores a model collaboration between the Digital Collections Center of the library and the History Department that has been highly successful in introducing students to researching with digital collections. We consider the use of history department undergraduate and graduate interns in the library and discuss the benefits and challenges to both parties. Dr. Christopher Davis shares the research project that was embedded in his course syllabus, highlighting various relevant digital collections and the results of student research. He also discusses what aspect of the collections he found intriguing and inspired him to create a research project and his …

Manufacturing Sin On The Frontier Of Heresy. Bishops, Franciscans And The Inquisition In Cuba During The Long Sixteenth Century, 1511 - 1611., Leonardo Falcon

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the history of the Inquisition in the Diocese of Santiago de Cuba paying special attention to its leadership amid the series of reformations undertaken by the Spanish empire on both sides of the Atlantic. Through the long sixteenth century (1511 – 1611) bishops, Franciscan friars, and other government officials employed or manipulated the Inquisition in Cuba to satisfy the needs of the Spanish Empire or their personal agendas, respectively. Some clergy rightfully used the inquisitorial practices as mandated to uphold the Christian morality of the colonial society. Others, conveniently, fabricated crimes against members of the community to …

Quiet River, Heavy Waters: Un-Silencing Narratives Of Social-Environmental Inequalities In The Cradle Of Soviet Plutonium, Rosibel Roman

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In December 1948, the Soviet Union’s first plutonium production facility, Mayak Production Association (PO Mayak), began operation in the Southern Urals region of Russia, at the western edges of Siberia, near the restricted city of Chelyabinsk-40, known in the present day as Ozyorsk. Since then, rural communities located downstream from PO Mayak have experienced health, economic, ecological and social impacts of contamination from high-level radioactive wastes released by the facility into the Techa River and its surrounding ecosystem. My research, drawing from archival research conducted in Russia and the United States, as well as secondary sources in English and Russian, …

Commemorative Bodies: (Un)Making Racial Order And Cuban White Supremacy In Little Havana's Heritage District, Corinna Jeanne Moebius

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation unearths memory- and place-making practices, processes and “racializing regimes of representation” in Little Havana’s heritage district, now a major tourism destination in Miami, Florida. It draws on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, interviews, and consultations of various archives that span decades back to the 1960s and trace the origins of the district in plans for a “Latin Quarter.”

My analyses borrow from and combine various bodies of scholarly work to examine and deconstruct the use of always multi-vocal “commemorative bodies” for the production of racial narratives that are embedded in--and give shape to--acts of memorialization and commemoration.

By examining the …

The Border-Seas Of A New British Empire: Security And The British Atlantic Islands In The Age Of The American Revolution, Ross M. Nedervelt

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

“The Border-seas of a New British Empire” explores the relationship between the rebellious thirteen colonies and the British Atlantic Islands of Bermuda and the Bahamas, and how the “on the ground” impact of the American Revolution explains not only why they did not join the rebellion—despite initial sympathy for the cause—but illustrates also the long-term political, cultural, commercial, and military transformation wrought by the war and its aftermath. To understand the British Atlantic islanders’ allegiances during the American Revolution and the impact of the islands’ loss on the United States, this dissertation employs Atlantic, borderlands and border-seas, and security interpretive …

The Notions Of The "Closet" And The "Secret" In Oscar Wilde's, The Picture Of Dorian Gray, Jessica Maria Oliveira

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis will discuss the notions of the “closet” and “secret” within Oscar Wilde’s, The Picture of Dorian Gray, as well as offer a clear and precise definition of queer theory to assist in elucidating many of the concepts being discussed. Close reading techniques will be utilized to further uncover the metaphoric, symbolic, and otherwise figurative importance of certain aspects of The Picture of Dorian Gray and supporting texts. Through Judith Butler’s conceptualization of sex and gender, as well as Jacques Derrida’s interpretation of the “secret”, this paper will explicate the intricacies of Wilde’s work and unveil queered aspects …

Masculinidad Y Nación: Modelos Alternativos De Masculinidad En Las Obras De Juan Goytisolo Y Mario Vargas Llosa, Jose M. Morcillo Gomez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the construction of national discourse from a gender perspective and examines how the concepts of nation and masculinity intersect each other in the works of Spanish writer Juan Goytisolo (1931-2017) and Peruvian Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa (1936). This study sheds light on how fiction and real life events are interconnected in some of the novels and autobiographical works of both authors. The works analysed include: Señas de identidad (1966), Reivindicación del conde don Julián (1970), Juan sin tierra (1975), Coto vedado (1985), and Carajicomedia (2000) by Goytisolo, as well as La ciudad y los perros …

Memoria, Identidad Y Literatura Del Yo: Narrativas De La Segunda Generación De Escritores Exiliados Por La Guerra Civil Española, Juan Antonio Godoy

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The victory of the dictator Francisco Franco, after the Spanish Civil War (1936- 1939), resulted in the political repression of thousands of citizens who had been loyal to the Republican government, and the exile of more than 200,000 civilians. The studies of Spanish Civil war exile literature have paid more attention to the first generation of exiled writers. However, the purpose of this dissertation is to study the construction of the self in the autobiographical and auto-fictional works written by the second generation. These authors -- born between 1920 and 1938-- left Spain as children and reached adulthood in different …

No Man's Land: Critical Disability And Exile In Modernist Literature, Danny Fernandez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis works to synthesize literary theory into an examination of socio- cultural and political factors of post-World War I Europe, as they appear in Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises and Djuna Barnes’ Nightwood, that led to nationalist movements in the 1930s and the current day. These concepts are divided into three sections with the first being an introduction to the formation of signifiers among the modernist writers. The second involves a differentiation of disability from gender in the expatriate community. The third an investigation of disability among the veteran expatriates. The modernist novel, whilst assisting in the creation …

Identity Formation And The Stranger In William Shakespeare's Othello And The Merchant Of Venice, Rodney Castillo

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to probe the question of the stranger as engaged by William Shakespeare in the plays Othello and The Merchant of Venice. It will introduce predominant views held during Tudor England towards foreigners and other marginalized groups, to ascertain the forces that influenced Shakespeare’s works, and to provide a historical frame of reference. Further, the thesis will engage with issues of identity formation through postcolonial theories of cultural hybridity and hospitality as expressed by critical theorists Stuart Hall, Homi K. Bhabha, and Jacques Derrida. While racism and anti-Semitism are the most common readings of these …

Transnational Sex-Positive Play Parties: The Sexual Politics Of Care For Community-Making At A Kinky Salon, Christina Bazzaroni

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To date, feminist geographers and geographers of sexualities have yet to fully interrogate post sexual revolution society. In this dissertation I examine the politics of sex-positive play parties, through the case study of Kinky Salon (KS) – a global organization that claims to catalyze a contemporary sex culture revolution. This project expands on previous feminist geography and geographies of sexualities scholarship centering queer, kinky sex, demonstrating that non-normative sexual practices are informed by and contribute to sexual revolution legacies. I extend feminist geographies’ theorizing of affect and emotion to show how sexual intimacies are care-work, with the emotional power to …

Negotiating With Patriarchy: Women, Sexuality, And Power In Yoruba Sacred Oral Genres., Ajoke Adebisi

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study argues that Yoruba oral genres offer women models “of “and “for” ways of enduring resistance from patriarchy. In the myths, proverbs and praise poems, women challenge marginalization in ways incomparable to what prevails in other world religions. By engaging Yoruba oral genres, this study offers insights into how the Yoruba reflect on sharing of power among the male and the female. The study also highlights how Yoruba oral genres speak to the power imbalance in male /female relationships and sheds light on the prescriptions oral genres offer women for negotiating these imbalances.

The Historical Evolution Of The A.M.E. Church: Social Intervention To Advance Blacks Socio-Economic Position, Jasmin N. Graham

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Though it is well documented that the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AMEC) has been greatly involved in Black’s educational attainments; there is limited documentation on the connection between the educational efforts of the AMEC and its effect on the financial stability of Blacks. The objective of the study is to evaluate the AMEC’s tendency to intervene on behalf of its community. Tracing the different socio-economic initiatives of the AMEC through the lenses of education from the late 18^th century to the present has revealed the various meanings of the term freedom and how the church has adapted to acquire …

Confirmation Bias: Misinformation In Society, Refutation As A Pedagogical Solution, And The Turn Of The Screw, Crystal Veber

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the societal implications of confirmation bias through the analysis of the characters and criticism of Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw, and the application of modern psychological and pedagogical studies to demonstrate a similar misunderstanding of truth in society. The aim of this study is to provide an approach to teach students that the plausibility of a belief based on selective evidence is insufficient justification for validation. Such flawed logic insidiously erodes one’s trust in objective truths, instead promoting subjective truths that are misinformed by media forms like fake news, biased claims, and unfiltered online content. …

Illustrating Jain Ethics In Medieval Didactic Literature: Virtue, Karma And Female Agency In The Lilavatisara, Carol Rodriguez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents an analysis of virtue as it is illustrated in Jinaratna-Suri’s Līlāvatīsāra (Epitome of Queen Līlāvatī). By the deliberate use of simple yet remarkably clear and straightforward language, this text is able to prescribe the methods necessary for acting virtuously while solidifying spiritual archetypes that operate in a social context.

In this project, I argue that Virtue and the Western definition of goodness, work as parallel yet independent ideas. Intrinsic moral behavior as a sign of spiritual advancement can take on different natures depending on the underlying motivation of the characters. Thus, as far as it is …

Leaving A Little Heaven Behind With Coltrane, Or: The Performance Is The Archive, Ismael Santos

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines what an Audience-Centered Archive could look like, and the advantages of opening up the spaces of archival scholarship in connection with studies focused on Jazz. This thesis will explore how inherently self-limiting are traditional structures of the Archive, with the contradictory nature of Jazz Archives brought to the forefront: to archive a music like Jazz necessarily entails losing what makes it so special, losing the improvisational facet of Jazz. This thesis draws from sound studies and performance studies, along with a focus on the recording technologies that entail differences in interpretation and American history. This focus of …

Making History: The Sephardi Jewish Orphans Of Sao-Tome And The African -American Appropriation Of Their Story, Arinze D. Amanfo

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study seeks to explore the little known story of the Sephardi Jewish Orphans of São Tomé. Not much is known about the children who were taken from Portugal to the western coasts of Africa. The story of these 600 Sephardic Jewish children is unique and enigmatic. However, it has been subjected to an unusual interpretation. Notably, many African-Americans have appropriated this portion of Sephardi Jewish history. For some, they have traced their Jewish ancestry to this historical event, and clearly self-identify as Jews based on this narrative. Why do they do this? The theory of Afrocentricity and collective memory …

Uprooting And Rerooting Religious Identities: Understanding The Experience Of Self-Identified Christian Millennial Migrants From South America In Miami, Ernesto M. Fiocchetto

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study aims to understand the social configuration of religious identities of South American millennial migrants who self-identify as Christian in Miami-Dade County. The work entails an extensive description of the context of the study subjects, deep theoretical insight on religion and identity, and a qualitative approach. The narratives of the South American millennial migrants’ process of religious identity configuration and the relationships they establish with religious institutions emerged from in-depth interviews and focus group sessions. The analysis of such narratives grounded middle-range theory that makes sense of the study subjects and can potentially shed light on other experiences in …

The Impact Of Microaggressions And Minority Stress On The Psychological Well-Being Of Emerging Adult Sexual Minorities Of Color, Michelle G. Thompson

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Microaggressions impact psychological well-being (PWB) among sexual minorities and people of color (POC). Research to date has explored this relationship among White sexual minorities and POC independently, and not among sexual minorities of color (SMPOC). SMPOC may be at an even greater risk for low PWB due to compounded microaggressions. Emerging adults are also at risk for low PWB, but little is known about PWB among SMPOC emerging adults. The current study examined microaggressions and PWB among emerging adult SMPOC; it also examined outness and PWB among adult sexual minorities. It was hypothesized that: a) SMPOC would report greater microaggressions …

National Sovereignty And The Mexicanization Of The Compañía Minera De Cananea, 1971 To 1989, Doyle Lawrence Perdue

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation argues that the Mexicanization of the Compañía Minera de Cananea in 1971 represented the strongest assertion of national sovereignty over Mexican mineral resources after more than 400 years of foreign control. In contrast to the nationalization of oil in 1938, however, this emerged as a conservative and moderate effort. The U.S.-based Anaconda Copper Company retained 49% of the company's ownership after selling 51% of the company to a combination of public and private interests in Mexico. This strategy represented the triumph of conservative forces, whose legitimacy rested on popular appeals to the Mexican Revolution, except transforming it into …