Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Scripting The Docufiction: Combining The Narrative And Documentary Modes In A Social Issue Film, Joseph V. Brown

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis combines creative and academic efforts in an examination of the "hybrid" film. The question asked: in what ways can fiction be combined with non-fiction to engage with issues of social importance, is answered in analysis, and through practice. Traditional analysis is focused on films that blur the line between the documentary and the narrative-- the "hybrid film" or "docufiction." Analysis through practice is presented in an original feature length script that moves back and forth between the documentary and fiction film. This feature length script-- entitled Rigged, develops a fictional story while examining the issue of …

Critiquing The Soul Of White Supremacy And The Spiritualities Of Whiteness: Narrative And Everyday Praxis, Dean J. Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation argues that whiteness and the oppressive structures it creates are maintained, managed, and justified by the religio-cultural tools of white Christians in greater Fort Wayne, IN. This dissertation studies the relationship among the repertoires of white Christians, racism, and white privilege by analyzing the life narratives of selfidentified white Christians. I have divided this work into two parts. Part one, comprising Chapters One and Two, outlines the frameworks, theories, and methods I use to analyze the life narratives of the white Christians that I interviewed. In Chapter One I focus on how my research builds on and contributes …

Composing Music In Constrained Search Environments, Jeffrey Keene

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Composing music with computers in constrained search environments adds complexities and problems not present in the traditional problem domain of generative music. The traditional and well researched mechanisms of Markov chains, genetic algorithms and data driven rule based systems do not directly map to a problem domain in which pitch choice and rhythm choice are likely to be highly limited.

We therefore explore several possible solutions to generating rhythms in extremely constrained environments with the goal of generating music that adheres to user specified constraints and is aesthetically pleasing.

Walking On The Red Brick Path: A Portrait Of African-American Women's Experiences With The Built Environment Of A Predominantly White Institution, Stephanie L. Krusemark

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

“Space, like language, is socially constructed; and like the syntax of language, the spatial arrangements of our buildings and communities reflect and reinforce the nature of gender, race, and class relations in society” (Weisman, 1992, p. 2). While institutions of higher education have granted physical access to African-American women over the last 150 years, their presence on American campuses has not been readily reflected in the physical design of the walls within which they learn. In examining the historical foundations of institutions of higher education, we cannot deny institutions consciously embed their values and basic assumptions within their physical manifestation …

Filmmaker, Lawyer, Indian Chief: The Negotiation Of Identity In An Indigenous Film Festival, William Lempert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since colonial contact, indigenous peoples have been predominantly represented by community outsiders. As a result, native peoples have rarely had a primary, or even collaborative role, in the production of these representations. However, in the last two decades, there has been an unprecedented proliferation of indigenous created films and the festivals that feature them. The Denver Indigenous Arts and Film Festival is an annual festival that exclusively showcases films made by and with indigenous peoples. The festival’s 2009 theme of “Telling Our Stories” emphasized cultural control of representation and the transmission of traditional knowledge.

In this thesis, I show that …

Hermeneutics Of The Crossroads, Jacqueline S. Farritor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The main question posed in my thesis is whether or not the crossroads is a paradigm that might open the event of reading and interpretation. I believe this profound place of possibility is a valid intellectual model for innovative and uninhabited modes of understanding. The hermeneutics of the crossroads is an imaginative approach that keeps us open to the transformative power of literature transpiring when we bring to the text our working scholarly knowledge, but also allow ourselves to receive what it has to offer us.

Using the crossroads theory of surrendering and receiving, I have interpreted Gayl Jones's novel, …

Gender, Empowerment And Coffee In Mexico And Central America: A Policy Analysis, Lisa M. Fry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Coffee is an important commodity for Central American countries. Like other agricultural production, coffee production in the region is undergoing a “feminization” in which women become the primary producers. However, female agricultural producers face constraints that their male counterparts do not. This study analyzes policies to determine if they promote or continue the inhibition of empowerment of female coffee producers. The results of the study indicate that policies relating to Central American coffee production are promoting women’s empowerment, but implementation remains weak. Policy recommendations are included.

Where Have All The Utopias Gone? Ritual, Solidarity, And Longevity In A Multifaith Commune In New Mexico, Linda Prueitt Hansen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Utopian experiments creating new forms of community have dotted the globe throughout human history. Despite grandiose visions, a majority of communal experiments have faded quickly into oblivion. A wealth of scholarship has focused on reasons why communes typically fail. My research of an ecumenical commune in northern New Mexico examines what has facilitated its perpetuation for over 42 years. I participated in this community for different periods of time for over three years. With the assistance of a resident oral historian, I was able to expand my study into a diachronic view that spanned decades. I conclude that there are …

Mercy Mercy Me (The Media Ecology): Technology, Agency, And "Cleavage" Of The Musical Text, Arthur J. Bamford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores changes that occurred in popular music during the 1960s and early 1970s through case studies involving three significant albums released in 1971 and 1972: Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, Sly and the Family Stone's There's a Riot Goin' On, and Stevie Wonder's Talking Book. These albums deserve attention particularly because, as this thesis argues, existing research on the cultural significance of popular music has focused largely on the periods before or after the 1970s and research on music-making technologies has focused largely on white artists or groups from the late 1960s. Addressing this blind …

Reading And Responsibility: The Grammar Of The Inexpressible And The Poiesis Of Religious Belief, Philip G. Banning

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Reading religious literature is generally considered to be either an "outsider's" practice useful for the determination of a culture's or individual reader's beliefs, whether of the past or present, or an "insider's" practice necessary for guidance in morality and "right" action. Both of these practices mean the text is construed as the motivation or cause of other beliefs and actions, and that the purpose or value of such texts is nothing more than identifying and promulgating certain beliefs. Understanding texts and reading in this way does not allow us to conceive of the text as a work of art and …

Women's Participation In Transitional Justice Mechanisms: Comparing Transitional Processes In Timor Leste And Sierra Leone, Holly L. Guthrey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Women tend to suffer a disproportionate amount of sexual and reproductive violence during periods of conflict, though they generally participate at a lower rate than men in transitional justice processes. Because participation is discussed in procedural justice literature as being crucial to securing feelings of justice and dignity within victims of violence, the lack of women’s participation in transitional process indicates that justice outcomes could suffer without equitable participation of women. In light of this issue, this study uses a comparative case study analysis method to investigate women’s involvement in the transitional justice processes in Timor Leste and Sierra Leone …

Seeing The Buddha In The Book Of Job Through Maimonides's Theory Of Providence And Eliade's Theory Of Hierophany, Hoi Shan Chong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study is an unusual reading of the book of Job with a focus on the intellectual transformation of Job. The reading is stimulated by Maimonides' theory of divine providence and facilitated by Eliade's theory of hierophany. The sequence of reading follows a reorganized order and is divided into three parts: the speeches of Job and his friends, the Lord's speech, and the comparison of Job before and after the Lord's speech. The study ends with a suggestion that the experience of Job's intellectual transformation corresponds to the experience of the Buddha's enlightenment. The reading ignores the enigmatic issues …

Through The Eyes Of A Child: The Archaeology Of Wwii Japanese American Internment At Amache, April Kamp-Whittaker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Children’s lives in the World War II Japanese American Internment Camp, Amache are investigated using a combination of archaeology, oral history, and archival research. As part of internees’ efforts to create a more hospitable environment both children and adults extensively modified the physical landscape. The importance of landscape and place in Japanese culture and for the internee community is examined using the development of gardens around the elementary school as a case study. Internees also developed a rich social landscape that allowed for the socialization of children within Amache. The socialization of children at Amache was being influenced by the …

Effects Of Peer & Familial Ethnic Socialization On Processes Of Ethnic Identity Development In Mexican-Descent Adolescents, Christine M. Reinhard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current cross-sectional study had two goals: present the Peer Ethnic Socialization Measure, (PESM) to assess peer contributions to the process of ethnic socialization (the promotion of pride, cultural knowledge and cultural traditions), and explore how family and peer (in-group and out-group peers) ethnic socialization uniquely contributes to the process of ethnic identity development in Mexican descent adolescents (N=111, M age = 14.5 years, SD = 1.2 years). The PESM is a modified version of the Umaña-Taylor Familial Ethnic Socialization Scale (2001). Results indicated that the PESM is a reliable scale, but that it will benefit from refinement and additional …

Primacy Of Conscience: A Pastoral Theological Construction Of Agency For Catholic Moral Decision-Making, Donald Augustine Rickard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A significant pastoral problem for some Catholics flows from the dissonance they experience when attempting to integrate certain Church teachings with the leading of their conscience as they make moral decisions. All Catholics do not accept every established moral answer or position provided by the Church and integrating those differences between the Church teaching and one's conscience can be difficult--a difficulty affecting parishioner, priest, and Church. This problem is, in part, rooted in and reinforced by the fact that there are two theological strands in the Church's tradition regarding morality. One strand suggests that the moral response is to obey …

Male-To-Female Transsexual Individuals' Experience Of Clinical Relationships: A Phenomological Study, Karen M. Scarpella

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This phenomenological study was designed to gain insight into male-to-female transsexual clients' experience of clinical relationships. Transsexual clients who enter into a clinical relationship have an experience that is unique due to their transsexual status in society. Their circumstances warrant attention in research due to the following factors: 1) the nature of being transsexual 2) the gate-keeping requirements necessary for transition 3) their experience in society as a vulnerable and oppressed population, and, 4) the importance of understanding the transsexual individuals' experience of clinical relationships from the perspective of transsexual clients themselves. Twelve transsexual women were interviewed using semi-structured format …

"In My Heart I Had A Feeling Of Doing It": A Case Study Of The Lost Boys Of Sudan And Christianity, Kathryn Snyder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While members of the southern Sudanese Dinka tribe converted to Christianity in large numbers in the early 1990s, the Lost Boys, a largely Dinka group of young men who were separated from their families during the Sudanese civil war in the late 1980s, had a distinct conversion experience in refugees camps. Using first-person interviews and participant observation with a group of Lost Boys resettled in Denver, and historical and ethnographic data, this research seeks to explain why the Lost Boys converted to Christianity and the role that it played in their identity in refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya, and …

Distinguishing A Western Women's College: A History Of The Curriculum At Colorado Women's College, 1909–1967, Jennifer Ann Thompson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Colorado Women's College (CWC), a private, Baptist college for women in Denver, Colorado, first welcomed students to its campus in 1909, making it one of only a handful of women's colleges in the American West, where coeducation predominated. This dissertation describes and interprets the curriculum offered at CWC in the period from 1909 to 1967. The analysis of the curriculum is divided into six eras, marked by moments of curricular change, including the College's transitions from four-year college to junior college, and back. This project distinguishes CWC as an understudied institution by placing it within the literature on the history …

The Road Less Taken: A Qualitative Inquiry Of Christian Homeschooling In Taiwan, Wei-Chen Tung

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study is to examine how Christian homeschooling works in Taiwan by investigating the intentions, implementation, challenges and implications of homeschooling practice. With regard to homeschooling as an increasingly popular educational option in Taiwan, particularly among Christian families, the following research questions are used to guide this study: (1) What are the reasons and goals of Christian parents in Taiwan to choose homeschooling for their children? (2)What does their homeschooling look like in practice? (3) What do the Christian homeschoolers perceive to be the advantages and challenges of homeschooling in Taiwan? (4) What are the implications …

William Shakespeare And Chinua Achebe: A Study Of Character And The Supernatural, Kenneth N. Usongo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines how Shakespeare and Achebe use supernatural devices such as prophecies, dreams, beliefs, divinations and others to create complex characters. Even though these features are indicative of the preponderance of the belief in the supernatural by some people of the Elizabethan, Jacobean and traditional Igbo societies, Shakespeare and Achebe primarily use the supernatural to represent the states of mind of their protagonists.

Through an essentially New Historicist approach to the study of character and the supernatural in the tragedies and novels of Shakespeare and Achebe respectively, I argue that both writers, besides using supernatural features to explore the …

A Kachina By Any Other Name: Linguistically Contextualizing Native American Collections, Rachel Elizabeth Maxson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Museums collect and care for material culture, and, increasingly, intangible culture. This relatively new term for the folklore, music, dance, traditional practices, and language belonging to a group of people is gaining importance in international heritage management discourse. As one aspect of intangible cultural heritage, language is more relevant in museums than one might realize. Incorporating native languages into museum collections provides context and acts as appropriate museology, preserving indigenous descriptions of objects. Hopi katsina tihu are outstanding examples of objects that museums can re-contextualize with native terminology. Their deep connection to Hopi belief and ritual as well as their …

Parents As Change Agents In Their Schools And Communities: The Founding Of Families For Early Autism Treatment (Feat), Bethany Kristin Mickahail

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A qualitative research highlights how parent driven "communities of support" create lasting change in schools and communities, through the unique blend of the two methodologies, oral history and educational criticism and connoisseurship.

In recent years, schools and communities are unusually impacted by an escalating wave in the diagnosis and treatment of persons with Autism. In 2010, the Center for Disease Control's Report stated 1 in 110 U.S. children are diagnosed with Autism. Yet long before this official report, parents and professionals affected by Autism and other disabilities were busy during the last half of the 20th century, seeking out ways …

Gifted Voices: A Study Of High School Students' Proficiency In Persuasive Writing And Their Perceptions Of Personal Agency, Susan Carol Anderson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Development of the talents and abilities of gifted children is not ordinarily provided by regular public school programs. Their need for accelerated, complex, and challenging curriculum and processes is often overlooked by educators focused on helping underperforming students to reach grade-level standards. Gifted high school students who are proficient in persuasive writing are able to clearly state a claim, support that claim with evidence and backing, recognize and rebut counterclaims, and draw a conclusion leading to action. If gifted students are proficient at writing persuasively, perhaps they are also able to advocate for learning experiences that are challenging, complex, and …

Ruling With Rules: Electoral Institutions And Authoritarian Resilience In The Middle East, Andrew Barwig

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

What explains the resilience of authoritarian regimes in the face of regular competitive elections that ostensibly should promote democratic transitions? This dissertation examines both why and how parliamentary elections in Jordan and Morocco have served to reinforce these two Arab monarchies. In doing so, it develops a framework in which the degree of cohesion among incumbent and opposition elites shape electoral system design and, in turn, particular electoral rules structure mass political attitudes and elite configurations. The main argument is that lower electoral thresholds generate unique electoral environments in which patronage politics thrive and opposition-based politics falter, thus producing a …

An Exploratory Comparative Study Of Students' Thinking In Arts Classrooms, Delane Ingalls Vanada

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To be successfully intelligent in the 21st century, students must be able to think well in at least three ways: creatively, critically, and practically, with complexity and wisdom. The purpose of this research was to explore the differences in middle school students' quality of thinking in arts classrooms that are designed to be learner centered to a greater or lesser degree. Classroom environments which foster balanced intelligence in analytical, creative, and practical ways toward depth of understanding were the focus of this study. A better understanding of the impact of learner-centered environments on students' perceptions of their learning and understanding …

A Pastoral Theology Of Congregational Care And Leadership: Nurturing Emergence, Carol P. Jeunnette

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As with all bodies, congregational bodies experience challenges to their health, well-being, and ability to function as they desire. Problems in faith communities range from severe, intractable conflict to lethargy and decline, with far-ranging effects. The practice of offering pastoral care to individuals experiencing difficulties is rooted deeply in the Judeo-Christian tradition. There is, however, no explicit tradition of pastoral care for corporate congregational bodies experiencing difficulties. This dissertation draws on Bowen Family Systems Theory and its application by Edwin Friedman to congregations and leadership, in conjunction with aspects of process theology, to develop a pastoral theology of congregational care …

Divination In 1 Samuel 28 And Beyond: An African Study In The Politics Of Translation, J.Kabamba Kiboko

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the language of divination in the HB, particularly in 1 Samuel 28:3-27--the oft-called "Witch of Endor" passage. My thesis is that much of the vocabulary of divination in this passage and beyond has been mistranslated in authorized English and other translations used in Africa and in scholarly writings. I argue that the woman of Endor is not a witch, which is a label that has a long negative social history and has often led to violence against those so labeled. The woman of Endor is, rather, a diviner, much like other ancient Near Eastern and modern African …

Burdens Of Disclosure: A Pastoral Theology Of Confidentiality, Virginia R. Morgan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Receiving confidential disclosures can create burdens for pastoral care providers. This dissertation presents a study of pastoral confidentiality and the burdens associated with receiving confidential disclosures based on interviews with thirteen pastoral providers, a review of historical, legal and pastoral care literature. A thematic analysis of interviews identified three types of burdens associated with receiving confidential disclosures: 1) professional burdens associated with clarifying norms and standards for pastoral confidentiality in light of collegial, denominational and congregational norms; 2) ethical burdens created when the ethical value of pastoral confidentiality comes into conflict with another significant ethical value; and 3) structural burdens …

Dancing Power: Examining Identity Through Native American Powwow, Kresta-Leigh Opperman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study considers how inter-tribal Indian identity formed though historic circumstances and how it is negotiated and maintained by contemporary Native Americans. Specifically, it considers identity formation and negotiation through the inter-tribal dance event, powwow. Further, it considers how and if men and women participate in this identity formation and negotiation differently. Finally, it considers how this identity is useful for urban Indian populations living outside of tribal lands and who, in some cases, have little involvement in more traditional, or tribal, settings.

A Location Aware P2p Voice Communication Protocol For Networked Virtual Environments, Gabor Papp

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Multiparty voice communication, where multiple people can communicate in a group, is an important component of networked virtual environments (NVEs), especially in many types of online games. While most research has been conducted on one-to-one communication, we focus on group communication. In this dissertation, we present the first measurement study on the characteristics of multiparty voice communications and develop a model of the talking and silence periods observed during multiparty communication. Over a total of 5 months, we measured over 11,000 sessions on an active multi-party voice communication server to quantify the characteristics of communication generated by game players, including …