Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Classically Cuban Concert Save The Date: December 8, 2013@ 5:00pm, Cuban Research Institute, Florida International University

Cuban Research Institute Events

This flyer promotes an annual concert held since 1994, featuring musical pieces with Cuban themes by composers from Cuba and elsewhere.

The American Politics Of A Jewish Judea And Samaria, Rebekah Israel

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation poses a set of six questions about one of the Israel Lobby’s particular components, a Potential Christian Jewish coalition (PCJc) within American politics that advocates for Israeli sovereignty over “Judea and Samaria” (“the West Bank”). The study addresses: the profiles of the individuals of the PCJc; its policy positions, the issues that have divided it, and what has prevented, and continues to prevent, the coalition from being absorbed into one or more of the more formally organized components of the Israel Lobby; the resources and methods this coalition has used to attempt to influence U.S. policy on (a) …

Sonic Peace: An Antithesis To Sonic Warfare, Tatiana Maria Schnitman Espindola

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sonic Peace: An Antithesis to Sonic Warfare explores certain frequencies that have been associated with various healing qualities, and seeks to bridge the sounds of antiquity and modernity. The piece draws on numerology and symbolism and adopts a cross-cultural approach in an effort to advance a cohesive universal healing message. The text featured in the composition is original, except for the use of an ancient Japanese Shinto chant.

Accepting The Failure Of Human And State Bodies: Interactions Of Syphilis And Space In "Hamlet" And "The Knight Of The Burning Pestle", Laura E. Radford

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is, first, to explore the presence and meaning of Foucault’s heterotopia within William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”and Beaumont and Fletcher’s “The Knight of the Burning Pestle.” The heterotopia is a privileged space of self-reflection created by individuals or societies in crisis. In each play, the presence of crisis is explained though the metaphor of syphilis; to which individual characters respond by entering the reflective space of the heterotopia in order to countenance and “cure” their afflictions. The second purpose of this thesis is to examine the ways in which the crises acted upon the stage reflect …

The Mcsweeney's Group: Modernist Roots And Contemporary Permutations In Little Magazines, Charles J. Crespo

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project centered on the influential literary magazine Timothy McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern. Using Bruno Latour’s network theory as well as the methods put forth by Robert Scholes and Clifford Wulfman to study modernist little magazines, I analyzed the influence McSweeney’s has on contemporary little magazines. I traced the connections between McSweeney’s and other paradigmatic examples of little magazines—The Believer and n+1—to show how the McSweeney’s aesthetic and business practice creates a model for more recent publications.

My thesis argued that The Believer continues McSweeney’s aesthetic mission. In contrast, n+1 positioned itself against the McSweeney’s aesthetic, which indirectly …

Keep The Doors Open, Lauren C. Rivera

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My purpose in writing this collection of lyric essays is to examine my evolution during one decade, from age 19 to 29. Essential questions have guided me: What stimulated change? What formed my decisions? What predisposed me to my relationship with my partner? Why did I want to have a child? What kind of relationship do I have with my son? How did my relationship with my partner evolve? Why did we decide to leave Miami? Hopefully, I have given the reader a glimpse into my movement from self-centeredness to motherhood, from aloof adolescent to committed partner, from timid daughter …

A Common Man Trapped Inside The Queen’S Body, Alexandra Sofia Palacios

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My thesis proposes a feminist-queer reading of Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene in response to Julian Wolfreys’ “The ‘Endlesse Worke’ of Transgression”.

I examine the challenges to male authority that the low-born poet, Spenser, faced when he presented his manual for the formation of new English subjects to his sovereign queen, Elizabeth I. The Prefatory Letter to Raleigh and passages from the 1590 version of the epic provide evidence to support the view that traditional hierarchical male/female binaries may have been destabilized by the presence of an unmarried queen. My thesis also supplements Wolfreys’ essay with historical information regarding Mary …

Traces Of The Dark Sublime In William Faulkner's "The Bear," Light In August, And Absalom, Absalom!, Manuel Delgadillo

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to explore William Faulkner’s paradoxical modernist aesthetic. While his writings evince primal, earthy, and post-Civil War angst-ridden qualities, Faulkner’s narratives are also found to be hyper-postmodern. Using Jacques Derrida’s theories on the absent-present trace, I will show how certain micromoments in three of Faulkner’s texts showcase the “trace” forming a pathway to the inaccessible and unattainable sublime. I will use “trace” and general theories of the “sublime” as methodological tools to explore Faulkner’s narrative of pastoral loss, the cultural institutionalization of racial differences, as well as structures of mourning/melancholia that lead to the disruption …

The Enchanter's Spell: J.R.R. Tolkien's Mythopoetic Response To Modernism, Adam D. Gorelick

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

J.R.R. Tolkien was not only an author of fantasy but also a philologist who theorized about myth. Theorists have employed various methods of analyzing myth, and this thesis integrates several analyses, including Tolkien’s. I address the roles of doctrine, ritual, cross-cultural patterns, mythic expressions in literature, the literary effect of myth, evolution of language and consciousness, and individual invention over inheritance and diffusion. Beyond Tolkien’s English and Catholic background, I argue for eclectic influence on Tolkien, including resonance with Buddhism.

Tolkien views mythopoeia, literary mythmaking, in terms of sub-creation, human invention in the image of God as creator. Key mythopoetic …

Italianità On Tour: From The Mediterranean To Southeast Florida, 1896-1939, Antonietta Di Pietro

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Italianità on Tour is a cultural history of Italian consciousness in Italy and Southeast Florida from 1896 to 1939. This dissertation examines literary works, folktales, folksongs, artworks, buildings and urban planning as imprints and cultural constructions of Italianità on both sides of the Atlantic, with a special emphasis on the transformations experienced on that journey. The real and/or imagined geo-cultural similarities between the Mediterranean and the Caribbean encouraged pioneers in Southeast Florida to conjure in their new setting an idea of Italianità, regardless of the presence of Italians in the area. Therefore, assessing Italianità, constitutes an important feature …

Hermetic Text And Subtext: Paranormal Phenomena In The Works Of Alejandro Tapia Y Rivera And Benito Pérez Galdós, Agnes Ruiz-López

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research seeks to establish a connection between the Hermetic tradition and the paranormal phenomena found in the works of Alejandro Tapia y Rivera --- “Un alma en pena” (1862), Póstumo el transmigrado (1872) and Póstumo el envirginado (1882) --- and Benito Pérez Galdós´s La sombra (1870) and “Celín” (1871). By establishing a Hegelian influence in their works, we uncover the possible origin of these paranormal events.

German Idealism, so widespread during the first half of the 19^th century, seems to have given both authors access to new currents of thought, allowing them to explore the union of art …

Lucumí (Yoruba) Culture In Cuba: A Reevaluation (1830s -1940s), Miguel Ramos

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The status, roles, and interactions of three dominant African ethnic groups and their descendants in Cuba significantly influenced the island’s cubanidad (national identity): the Lucumís (Yoruba), the Congos (Bantú speakers from Central West Africa), and the Carabalís (from the region of Calabar). These three groups, enslaved on the island, coexisted, each group confronting obstacles that threatened their way of life and cultural identities. Through covert resistance, cultural appropriation, and accommodation, all three, but especially the Lucumís, laid deep roots in the nineteenth century that came to fruition in the twentieth.

During the early 1900s, Cuba confronted numerous pressures, internal and …

Materials And Techniques In D’Improvviso Da Immobile S’Illumina, For Bass Clarinet, Two Orchestras, Piano And Percussion, Federico Bonacossa

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

D’improvviso da immobile s’illumina is a concerto for bass clarinet, two orchestras, piano, and percussion, that I composed during my graduate studies at Florida International University in Miami. The work is approximately 16 minutes long and is scored for 30 independent instrumental parts in addition to the bass clarinet soloist. Although the piece does not incorporate electronics, electronic music was a major influence in its creation, and the computer was used extensively as a compositional tool. In addition, the writings of Henry Cowell and the music of Sofia Gubaidulina influenced the concerto in a number of ways. While writing this …

Catholic Student Movements In Latin America: Cuba And Brazil, 1920s To 1960s, Joseph Holbrook

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the ideological development of the Catholic University Student (JUC) movements in Cuba and Brazil during the Cold War and their organizational predecessors and intellectual influences in interwar Europe. Transnational Catholicism prioritized the attempt to influence youth and in particular, university students, within the context of Catholic nations within Atlantic civilization in the middle of the twentieth century. This dissertation argues that the Catholic university movements achieved a relatively high level of social and political influence in a number of countries in Latin America and that the experience of the Catholic student activists led them to experience ideological …

Cardenio, Department Of Theatre, Florida International University

Department of Theatre Production Programs

September 27-October 6, 2013. Herbert and Nicole Wertheim Performing Arts Center, Black Box Theatre. Written by Stephen Greenblatt and Charles Mee. Directed by Michael Yawney. Scenic Design by Florencia Anciewicz. Costume Design by Ileana Mateo. Lighting Design by Liza Perez.

Glengarry Glen Ross, Alternative Theatre Festival 2013, Department Of Theatre, Florida International University

Department of Theatre Production Programs

August 8-10, 2013. Herbert and Nicole Wertheim Performing Arts Center, Black Box Theatre. Alternative Theatre Festival 2013. Written by David Mamet. Directed by Wayne E. Robinson, Jr. Costume Design by Marina Pareja. Lighting Design by Amanda Sparhawk. Set Reconstruction by Robert Duncan and Amanda Sparhawk. A special reprise of "Glengarry Glen Ross with the original cast from 2002. Gustavo David Ortiz, Ricky Waugh, Ivan Lopez, Danny Suarez, Meshaun Arnold, Joe Llorens, Ramon Vuenes and Daniel Gutierrez.

Local Media Representations Of The Colombian Women’S Peace Movement La Ruta Pacífica De Las Mujeres, Elizabeth Anna Kersjes

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to analyze how the media in Colombia covers the events and campaigns of the pacifist women’s movement La Ruta Pacífica de las Mujeres. The movement was formed in 1996 to draw attention to violence against women and to call for a negotiated end to Colombia’s internal armed conflict through peaceful demonstrations. The study uses a series of semi-structured interviews with members of the movement and a content analysis of major print media stories about the movement to analyze press coverage and forms of representation. The analysis finds that large, powerful media outlets based …

Post-Revolutionary Post-Modernism: Central American Detective Fiction By The Turn Of The 21st Century, Gael Guzman-Medrano

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Contemporary Central American fiction has become a vital project of revision of the tragic events and the social conditions in the recent history of the countries from which they emerge. The literary projects of Sergio Ramirez (Nicaragua), Dante Liano (Guatemala), Horacio Castellanos Moya (El Salvador), and Ramon Fonseca Mora (Panama), are representative of the latest trends in Central American narrative. These trends conform to a new literary paradigm that consists of an amalgam of styles and discourses, which combine the testimonial, the historical, and the political with the mystery and suspense of noir thrillers. Contemporary Central American noir narrative depicts …

The Buddhist Coleridge: Creating Space For The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner Within Buddhist Romantic Studies, Katie Pacheco

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The popularization of academic spaces that combine Buddhist philosophy with the literature of the Romantic period – a discipline I refer to as Buddhist Romantic Studies – have exposed the lack of scholarly attention Samuel Taylor Coleridge and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner have received within such studies. Validating Coleridge’s right to exist within Buddhist Romantic spheres, my thesis argues that Coleridge was cognizant of Buddhism through historical and textual encounters. To create a space for The Rime within Buddhist Romantic Studies, my thesis provides an interpretation of the poem that centers on the concept of prajna, or wisdom, …

Women-Led Community Development Organizations (Cdos) In Miami-Dade County: A Model Of Community Development Efforts Impacting The Economic Security Of Women, Jan Lindsay Solomon

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent studies on the economic status of women in Miami-Dade County (MDC) reveal an alarming rate of economic insecurity and significant obstacles for women to achieve economic security. Consistent barriers to women’s economic security affect not only the health and wellbeing of women and their families, but also economic prospects for the community. A key study reveals in Miami-Dade County, “Thirty-nine percent of single female-headed families with at least one child are living at or below the federal poverty level” and “over half of working women do not earn adequate income to cover their basic necessities” (Brion 2009, 1). Moreover, …

Alternative Theatre Festival 2013, Department Of Theatre, Florida International University

Department of Theatre Production Programs

June 20-August 10, 2013. Herbert and Nicole Wertheim Performing Arts Center, Black Box Theatre. Alumni Showcase.

The Joycean Sublime, Anthony Moreno

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of my thesis is to analyze notions of the sublime in James Joyce’s Ulysses and how the sublime is evoked and presented in Joyce’s work. The present work will examine concepts of the sublime from the Classical and Medieval period, through the Enlightenment, and into the Romantic era to develop my own definition. Placing the sublime in a historical perspective allows me to discover how the sublime is at work through Joyce’s creative use of complex narrative approaches. The beauty of aesthetic perfection was achieved by employing all of Joyce’s artistic faculties. My thesis investigates how Ulysses’ experimental …

Atlantic Threads: Singer In Spain And Mexico, 1860-1940, Paula A. De La Cruz-Fernández

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the role of Singer in the modernization of sewing practices in Spain and Mexico from 1860 to 1940. Singer marketing was founded on gendered views of women’s work and gendered perceptions of the home. These connected with sewing practices in Spain and Mexico, where home sewing remained economically and culturally important throughout the 1940s. "Atlantic Threads" is the first study of the US-owned multinational in the Hispanic World. I demonstrate that sewing practices, and especially practices related to home sewing that have been considered part of the private sphere and therefore not an important historical matter, contributed …

Operation Pedro Pan In Fiu Library Collections, Rita M. Cauce

Works of the FIU Libraries

This presentation was part of the FIU Libraries’ panel presentation, “FIU and the Cuban Diaspora: Collecting the Cuba of our Memory”.

Ninth Conference on Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, “Dispersed Peoples: The Cuban and Other Diasporas”, Cuban Research Institute, Florida International University, May 23-25, 2013.

Igrooving: A Generative Music Mobile Application For Runners, Daniel J. Lepervanche

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

iGrooving is a generative music mobile application specifically designed for runners. The application’s foundation is a step-counter that is programmed using the iPhone’s built-in accelerometer. The runner’s steps generate the tempo of the performance by mapping each step to trigger a kick-drum sound file. Additionally, different sound files are triggered at specific step counts to generate the musical performance, allowing the runner a level of compositional autonomy. The sonic elements are chosen to promote a meditative aspect of running. iGrooving is conceived as a biofeedback-stimulated musical instrument and an environment for creating generative music processes with everyday technologies, inspiring us …

"To Hold The World In Contempt": The British Empire, War, And The Irish And Indian Nationalist Press, 1899-1914, Susan A. Rosenkranz

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The era between the close of the nineteenth century and the onset of the First World War witnessed a marked increase in radical agitation among Indian and Irish nationalists. The most outspoken political leaders of the day founded a series of widely circulated newspapers in India and Ireland, placing these editors in the enviable position of both reporting and creating the news. Nationalist journalists were in the vanguard of those pressing vocally for an independent India and Ireland, and together constituted an increasingly problematic contingent for the British Empire. The advanced-nationalist press in Ireland and the nationalist press in India …

Using Procedural Audio To Control An Algorithmic Composition That Is Controlled By A Computer Game, Brian Del Toro

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project is to create a game audio engine based on procedural audio. I designed an audio engine in the visual programming language Max/MSP that I call High Score. High Score receives data from a game that I designed in the game development program Unity3D. The data that it receives controls an algorithmic composition that serves as the musical score of the game as well as several processes that synthesize various sound effects in the game. This approach to game audio proves to be very flexible and offers new aesthetic possibilities for game music and sound …

Teachers’ Experiences In And Perceptions Of Their12th-Grade British Literature Classrooms, Keisha Simone Mcintyre-Mccullough

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences and perceptions of 12th-grade literature teachers about curriculum, Post-Colonial literature, and students. Theories posed by Piaget (1995), Vygotsky (1995), and Rosenblatt (1995) formed the framework for this micro-ethnographic study. Seven teachers from public and private schools in South Florida participated in this two-phase study; three teachers in Phase I and four in Phase II. All participants completed individual semi-structured interviews and demographic surveys. In addition, four of the teachers were observed teaching.

The analysis yielded three themes and two sub-themes: (a) knowledge concerned teachers’ knowledge of British literature content and …

Barcelona: Espacio Literario, Espacio Urbano En La Novela Catalana Femenina Del Siglo Xx, Elisabeth Llaveria-Powell

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation analyses, through a rhetorical framework and a literary approach, texts written in Catalan and Castilian by four Catalan female writers (Dolors Monserdà, Maria Aurèlia Capmany, Esther Tusquets, Monserrat Roig ), whose works cover from 1900 to the 1980. Utilizing this urban feminine literature, it discusses the historical-geographical vision about the changes in Catalan society during the twentieth century with its consequences for the urban space, especially the space occupied by women. It is also established that Barcelona’s recovery and literary vindication by women has been done through the written text, as literary affirmation and as a matter of …

Spiritual Violence: Queer People And The Sacrament Of Communion, Sabrina Diz

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis addresses spiritual violence done to queer people in the sacrament of Communion, or Eucharist, in both Protestant and Roman Catholic churches in the U.S. Rooted in the sexual dimorphic interpretation of Genesis, theologians engendered Christianity with sexism and patriarchy, both of which have since developed into intricate intersections of oppressions. Religious abuse is founded on the tradition of exclusionary practices and is validated through narrow interpretations of Scripture that work to reassert the authority of the experiences of the dominant culture. The resultant culture of oppression manifests itself in ritualized spiritual violence. Queer people are deemed “unworthy” to …