Arts and Humanities Commons^™

A Long Strange Trip Through The Evolution Of Fan Production, Fan-Branding, And Historical Representation In The Grateful Dead Online Archive, Anna Richardson

Masters Theses

This study explores how a digital music archive tells the story and contributes to the public memory of cult bands. Utilizing the Grateful Dead Archive Online (GDAO) as the primary data source, the researcher obtained a population of 26,835 items and categorized them by the production method of fan or band, item type, era, and logo. Content analysis illustrated themes within the archive in relation to the fannish production and activity within the fandom of the Grateful Dead. The span of this specific fandom spreads across five decades and sheds light onto the ways in which the fandom surrounding cult …

Deconstructing Theodicy: A Fresher Reading Of The Book Of Job, Anthony Maynard

Masters Theses

The Book of Job displays well the reality of the human predicament. However, does the Book of Job provide an answer to the problem it so vividly displays: the existence of God and the reality of suffering? This paper is a quest for an answer, which, if correct, is no. The purpose of the book has less to do with an answer for why good people suffer and more to do with exactly what God has done, and continues to do, to rectify suffering, culminating in the Christ event. Stated simply, the Book of Job exists as a harbinger, to …

Christ's Consequentialism In Light Of Abelard And Mill, John Witt

Masters Theses

An exegetical investigation of the ethical teachings of Christ seen throughout the Gospel accounts. Christ's consequentialist teachings are further clarified by investigating the works of Peter Abelard and John Stuart Mill. Brief reviews of modern consequentialists and utilitarians are given, and finally a cumulative formulation of a working Christian utilitarian ethic is formulated.

Unfinished: A Memoir, Bryan Edward Hebeler

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Power Of The Periphery: Aid, Mutuality And Cold War U.S-Ghana Relations, 1957-1966, Moses Allor Awinsong

Masters Theses

This project interrogates how economic self interest motivated periphery states such as Ghana to use foreign policy as a vehicle to attract improved development assistance from superpowers, in this case the United States. While the United States viewed its aid program in Ghana in stringently Cold War terms, Kwame Nkrumah and his advisors were less inclined to get deeply concerned about Cold War ideology. This project shows that Ghanaian agency was manifested in the Cold War through the new state's construction of a foreign policy image that made it a prominent African voice globally. It then examines how that image …

Microaggression In The College Environment: Narratives Of African American Students At A Predominantly White Institution, Courtney Lynette Jones

Masters Theses

The study examined narrative experiences of microaggression from African American college students attending a Predominately White institution (PWI). Participants consisted of a combination of undergraduate and graduate students from a mid-size Midwestern institution of higher education. A qualitative approach was taken through a two-step series, first an email was sent to participants to obtain experiences of microaggression. After, a semi-formal follow-up interview was conducted to collect data for the research. The findings reported all six participants' experienced intentional and unintentional microaggression on various places of the college campus such as, the classroom, campus offices, campus police department, and campus-events. Microaggression …

Historical Representation Of Jackie Robinson Within Primary And Intermediate Level Children's Literature, Amy Minor

Masters Theses

Educators today meet national and state initiatives by spending approximately half their time on non-fiction literature. Starting as early as primary grades students are to analyze multiple texts on the same historical topic. Student's reading levels vary; consequently, trade books can be used to reach each individual child. Due to this, trade book usage has increased. Research indicates trade books can contain possible historical misrepresentations. Few studies have been completed, therefore more research is necessary. My research examined the historical representation of Jackie Robinson within trade books for primary and intermediate grades. After determining events in reading the historical research …

"Novel" Biopolitics: Reading Defoe And Coetzee Through Foucault, Derrida, And Esposito, Ben Cravens

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Deceiving, Fraudulent, And Seductive: The Discourses Of Money In Us Novels Of The Early Republic, Fabian Rempfer

Masters Theses

This thesis focuses on the importance of money and the representations of its various physical manifestations (such as coin, paper money) in American fiction of the 1790s. My project traces the transition from the colonies' financial dependency on Britain to their independency, relating to the monetary union created after the passage of the constitution. I argue that this shift from financial dependency to independency influences books such as Charlotte Temple by Susanna Rowson, Kelroy by Rebecca Rush, Ormond or the Secret Witness and Arthur Mervyn by Charles Brockden Brown. My project highlights, on the one hand, the importance of such …

Relevant And Represented: The Presence Of Special Populations In Trade Books, Jessica Krahnke

Masters Theses

This study provides insight into the presence of special populations in trade books. Special populations are defined as a population that has been assigned a label for the sake of educational interventions; in this case, special populations refer to thirteen categories of disability as well as English Language Learners. Past winners of the Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award were analyzed for the presence of special populations, how special populations were portrayed, and any significant patterns over time regarding the presence of special populations. Results indicated a lack of characters belonging to special populations, characters in a special population most …

Chance, Chaos, And Chloral: Lily Bart Gambles It All In The House Of Mirth, Stacey L. Fitzpatrick

Masters Theses

Much of traditional literary study of Lily Bart’s struggles and social failures depicted in The House of Mirth focuses on her fear of losing her freewill, her reliance on fate or Fortuna, and her dislike of the options set before her. In this paper I will use several important scenes to illustrate that Lily’s penchant for gambling more accurately explains her behavior and rejection of social and cultural expectations. Preferring her freedom and weighing her options of marriage for power or a financially secure lifestyle, Lily considers them as a gambler, balancing her marriage prospects against her love for excitement …

“Such Night Till This I Never Passed” : How The Dreams Of Adam And Eve Lead To The Decision To Fall In Paradise Lost, Robert B. Chapman

Masters Theses

This thesis explores the idea that the Fall in Paradise Lost by John Milton is not a sudden event, but rather Adam and Eve's adherence to temptations that begin long before, specifically in Eve's vision and Adam's thoughts on Eve. This project begins by challenging the ways in which readers of the poem often overlook Eve as they focus solely on Satan or Adam. By looking at Eve's depiction as truly Adam's equal in the poem, this thesis then moves to the idea that temptations are an individual experience that begins first in the mind. Often, readers and scholars explore …

Reading Vice: The Christian Text In Geoffrey Of Monmouth's Historia Regum Brittaniae, Nancy S. Bell

Masters Theses

Geoffrey of Monmouth claimed his purpose for writing Historia regum Britanniae was to record a history of the British kings and their great deeds. On the surface, his book is indeed a chronicle detailing the reigns of several important kings and glossing over many more. However, below the surface, Geoffrey includes layers of Christian text to motivate his audience to avoid vice. To clue his readers into the Christian meaning, Geoffrey makes use of shared beliefs, such as that vices should be avoided, that a king’s behavior affects his people, that disease can be a manifestation of sin, and that …

The Perceptions Of Music Therapy Interns And Internship Supervisors: American Music Therapy Association Professional Competencies, Jordan Rebecca Novak

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate perceptual differences of the AMTA Professional Competencies between music therapy pre-interns and internship supervisors in the Great Lakes Region. The participants (N = 33) were 19 pre-interns and 14 internship supervisors at AMTA Approved internship sites and academic programs. This 32 question survey study utilized a Likert-type 5-point scale that required the participant to rate their perceived need for assistance from little to no need for assistance to very high need for assistance. Results showed that pre-interns and supervisors differ significantly on the subjects of “Leading and accompanying on guitar and piano” …

A Crisis Of Friendship: Calculation And Betrayal In Shakespeare’S The Merchant Of Venice And Othello, The Moor Of Venice, Kristi Rene Sexton

Masters Theses

The idea that friendship is an illusory connection that may only exist in philosophers’ writings was a subject of interest for many of the early modern writers. Writers like Thomas Elyot, Thomas Churchyard, and Michel de Montaigne attempted to uphold idealized traditions of friendship; conversely, Shakespeare, along with writers such as Francis Bacon, presented early modern perceptions of idealized friendship only to confront and challenge the precepts. In The Merchant of Venice and Othello, the Moor of Venice, Shakespeare expresses a sometimes cynical yet realistic approach toward idealized friendship. He exposes the problem of upholding the idealized early modern …

Nightmare In The City Of Dreams: Civic Consciousness And Industrialization In Imperial Vienna, 1848-1881, J. Alexander Killion

Masters Theses

Since the onset of the Industrial Revolution, a distinct trend toward urbanization has continually reshaped history and society, yet the development and evolution of urban spaces has been largely overlooked by scholars until recent decades. This is especially true for the cities of the Habsburg Empire, although Vienna provides a good case study of industrialization’s impact on the urban landscape due to its history of rapid population growth, extensive environmental change, and established administrative structures. Although the logistical challenges associated with urban administration, such as importing adequate food, accessing clean water, and disposing of waste in a prompt manner were …

The Failure Of Westphalia: A Constructivist Examination Of Western And Middle Eastern Relations, Jayson Warren

Masters Theses

This thesis is not intended to be a dogmatic or pedantic endorsement of any one religion, ethic, or culture. To the contrary, it is the intent of the author to examine a number of competing ideas, philosophies, and belief systems in order to extrapolate their geopolitical implications and to pursue them to their logical (albeit sometimes inevitable) conclusions. Too often, any number of presuppositions at work within a given situation go overlooked and subsequently skew geopolitical analysis and resulting policy decisions. This thesis seeks to transcend mere opinion or speculation and achieve instead a framework of Constructivism for pragmatic comprehension …

Current Perceptions Of Music Therapists On The Benefits And Liabilities Of State Licensure, Dianne Sawyer

Masters Theses

This qualitative study investigated a state task force perceptions of music therapists who served on the task force to become licensed. Participants included six licensed music therapists, all of which were female. Through Naturalistic Inquiry, participants provided information about the perceived benefits and liabilities for music therapists, accessibility to clients, funding sources, and other healthcare professionals causing harm. Collected data was analyzed to determine common themes, perceived benefits and drawbacks of licensure, and the push for more regulations based on music therapists’: years of experience, level of education and advanced trainings. The overall perception from the licensed music therapists, is …

The Use Of Personality Type To Improve Team Collaboration Within Design Studios, Beth Rolston Jarl

Masters Theses

This study surveyed third year interior design students on satisfaction levels after participating in a 7-week team project where the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) personality assessment was used to help inform team formation. The literature review explored all aspects of team collaboration, the difference between group work, team work and collaborative work, common barriers found in team work, team development processes, successful team building strategies, and the design studio collaborative project in regards to student perceptions of learning. The portion of this study explored and measured in-depth is how students perceived their collaborative team experience using the MBTI to inform …

Carmen(Es) Y Lola. El Continuo Generacional De La Educación De La Mujer Desde La Novela Y El Monólogo Teatral De Cinco Horas Con Mario Hasta La Película Función De Noche, Elisabet Pallàs

Masters Theses

Taking as a point of reference the voice and figure of Carmen Sotillo, the present study analyzes Miguel Delibes’ Cinco horas con Mario (1966), the theatrical adaptation with the same name directed by Josefina Molina, and the film Función de noche (1981), directed also by Molina. The study addresses, on the one hand, the analysis of the mentioned works, establishing a cause-consequence relationship between Carmen’s speech and the educational paradigms of the Francoist regime in regard to women. On the other hand, the study is interested, from a general perspective, in the ideological state apparatuses and the mechanisms destined to …

Genuineness And Love: A Study Of Feng Menglong's Collection Of Mountain Songs (Shan'ge 山歌), Yujia Ye

Masters Theses

Shan’ge 山歌 is a collection of popular songs in Wu dialect by the late Ming scholar Feng Menglong 冯梦龙 (1574-1646). Due to a lack of detailed literary analysis of the songs, and a lack of appreciation of these songs from the perspective of rhetorical aesthetics, I aim to provide a close reading of the siqing (私情) songs in Shan’ge. With the intention to offer a fresh perspective into the depiction of emotions and sentimental feelings, as well as the various ways of presenting the people’s perception of love and sexual desire in these songs, I endeavor to both enrich …

Re-Envisioning A Discipline: Martin Wickramasinghe’S Contribution To Comparative Literature, Chamila Somirathna

Masters Theses

This thesis, “Re-visioning a Discipline: Martin Wickramasinghe’s Contribution to Comparative Literature,” explores the comparative approach of Martin Wickramasinghe, the pioneering twentieth-century Sri Lankan novelist, literary-cultural critic, and journalist. Wickramasinghe drew on Sinhala folk and classical, Pali, Sanskrit, and Western literary traditions, especially those of England, and Russia. His comparative approach had two main principles: First, literary concepts do not belong to any literary culture on the basis of their origin. Second, any concept that exists in a given literary culture can be “remoulded” and incorporated by another culture. The rejection of the notion of origin-based ownership of literary concepts and …

A Study On The Mutual Replacements Of Three Des In Chinese Blogs, Hui Sha

Masters Theses

Three des, as structural particles in Chinese, are phonologically the same, but written differently. Through analyzing the written forms of these three homophonous particles, the research has come to some valuable conclusions that cannot be obtained by only observing the speaking language of Chinese. This paper studies the relationships among three “des” (de1 as “的”; de2 as “地”; de3 as “得”), which function as structural particles in the written language of Chinese, by examining their mutual replacements in blogs. The research regards every living language as a Complex Adaptive System (CAS) with continuing changes. So this study’s perspective not only …

Songs Of Ishq, Freedom And Rebellion: Selected Kafis Of Bulleh Shah In Translation, Zainab Sattar

Masters Theses

Abdullah Shah (1680-1757) was the birth name of the boy who would later become one of the most eminent Sufi poets of South Asia, and the master of Sufi lyrics in Punjabi—Bulleh Shah. Living during times of strife and major conflict between the Sikhs and the crumbling Mughal Empire, Bulleh Shah wrote poetry with an underlying humanist and tolerant philosophy that challenged the turmoil of his times. Blind to the bounds of religion and caste in an increasingly divided India, Bullah’s spiritual philosophy and his message of equality found voice in his kafis—a genre of poetry indigenous to the …

In Theory, There's Hope: Queer Co-(M)Motions Of Science And Subjectivity, Cordelia Sand

Masters Theses

Given the state of the planet at present —specifically, the linked global ecological and economic crises that conjure dark imaginings and nihilistic actualities of increasing resource depletion, poisonings, and wide-scale sufferings and extinctions—I ask What might we hope now? What points of intervention offer possibility for transformation? At best, the response can only be partial. The approach this thesis takes initiates from specific pre-discursive assumptions. The first understands current conditions as having been produced, and continuing to be so, through practices that enact and sustain neoliberal relations. Secondly, these practices are expressive of a subjectivity tied to a Cartesian worldview, …

Japanese Pronoun Adventure: A Japanese Language Learner's Exploration Of His Japanese Gender Pronoun, Takumi Nakano

Masters Theses

In Japanese, there are various kinds of first-person pronouns, and some of them express the referent’s gender identity. Gender-neutral pronouns are made in English- speaking world day by day, but there is not any common first-person pronoun which indicates the gender identity that positions the referent’s gender somewhere between masculine and feminine. The present paper conducted a life story research on the “Japanese life” of an advanced learner of Japanese at a university in the United States who has been exploring his gender identity by coining and using a new Japanese first- person pronoun 㛪 ore, which indicates “in the …

Reimagining And Rewriting The Guantánamo Bay Detainee Library: Translation, Ideology, And Power, Muira N. Mccammon

Masters Theses

The main argument of this thesis is that the rewriters of the story of the Guantánamo Bay Detainee Library, namely journalists and filmmakers, engage differently with primary source material about the detention facility; what they omit and include in their narratives varies and depends largely on their pre-established ideologies. In the field of translation studies, this thesis contributes a new case study; it considers the problematic interplay between law, libraries, and multilingual information access in detention facilities. My research also demonstrates the challenges of examining a library that belongs to a highly controversial military system. In the first chapter I …

The Phonological System Of A Xin'an Idiolect, Shuiying Lu

Masters Theses

My idiolect, a Xin’an idiolect, belongs to the Wuxi dialect, which is the northern Wu dialect. It carries most of the characteristics of the Wuxi dialect, such as the tripartite division of the manner of articulation of initial stop consonants. However, with the special geographic position, on the bounty of Wuxi dialect from the northwest area to southeast area and connected with Suzhou city, my idiolect shows its unique features, such as the condition of the retroflex. This study analyzes the phonological system of the idiolect and discusses the features. Since the dialect of the suburban area of the Wuxi …

The Ladies And The Women, Caroline V. Jauch

Masters Theses

- ABSTRACT -

THE LADIES AND THE WOMEN

An Exploration into Faulkner’s Rhetoric of Female Hood

Caroline V. Jauch, B.A in French and English languages and literatures, Université de Genève, Switzerland

With his novels, Faulkner takes us on a journey to the South. He invites us into his character’s surroundings, homes, landscape, smells and especially into their hearts and minds. His portrayals of the white and black people that populate the South, his acute sense of observation regarding their external and internal dialogue, as well as his unique narrative style, all contribute to making him into a reliable witness of …

Vielleicht Hier, Um Zu Sagen: Bildung And Elegy In The Duineser Elegien, Du Côté De Chez Swann, And Misérable Miracle, Emily Heilker

Masters Theses

In the wake of the industrialization, urbanization, and global conflicts of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Europe was forced to call into question its Enlightenment faith. In particular, Bildung—as the cultural education of the individual that emerged out of the Enlightenment—lost its footing amidst experience’s new texture of trauma. This thesis will examine Rilke’s Duineser Elegien, Proust’s Du côté de chez Swann, and Michaux’s Misérable miracle as each work pertains to and reconceives of the intertwining of Bildung and elegy, as a literary form both underpinned by and unconvinced of Bildung. For them, I will …