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Theses/Dissertations

2011

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Institution
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Full-Text Articles in American Studies

Investigating The Role Of The Internet In Women And Minority Stem Participation: A Case Study Of Two Florida Engineering Programs, Arland Nguema Ndong Nov 2011

Investigating The Role Of The Internet In Women And Minority Stem Participation: A Case Study Of Two Florida Engineering Programs, Arland Nguema Ndong

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite our awareness of the fascination modern humans have with the Internet, little is known about how and why colleges and universities create and maintain Websites. At the most general level, in this case study, I hypothesize that university Websites serve as communication and marketing tools in attracting students. At the most specific level, I postulate that civil engineering programs with Web pages depicting images of women and minorities would be more successful in recruiting and retaining women and students of color than civil engineering programs with Web pages displaying fewer or no images of women and minorities. The primary …

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Prophylactic, Risk-Reducing Surgery In Unaffected Brca-Positive Women: Quality Of Life, Sexual Functioning And Psychological Well-Being, Sharon Tollin Nov 2011

Prophylactic, Risk-Reducing Surgery In Unaffected Brca-Positive Women: Quality Of Life, Sexual Functioning And Psychological Well-Being, Sharon Tollin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Women with an inherited BRCA mutation are at significantly increased risk for breast and ovarian cancer, often diagnosed at an earlier age than sporadic cancers. Prophylactic surgery, with bilateral mastectomy and/or bilateral prophylactic salpingo-oophorectomy, represents an option for risk reduction. The purpose of this study was to explore quality of life, sexual functioning, menopausal symptoms, psychological well-being and satisfaction with risk management decisions for BRCA-positive women ages 21 to 50 (M = 38.4 years), without a personal history of cancer. A web-based, cross-sectional study design was utilized to compare women opting for any prophylactic surgery (n = 160) with those …

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From Cosmogony To Anthropogony: Inscribing Bodies In Vedic Cosmogony And Samskara Rituals, Christine Boulos Nov 2011

From Cosmogony To Anthropogony: Inscribing Bodies In Vedic Cosmogony And Samskara Rituals, Christine Boulos

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis argues that the inscription of bodies is necessary in order to constitute the cosmos, gender and sex. A study of the Vedic cosmogonic mythologies of the deities Purusha and Prajapati illustrates the ways in which sacrifice, as a form of inscription, constitutes the cosmos by ordering and fashioning the boundaries of the bodies of the deities through differentiation and unification. An analysis of samskaras, or consecratory rites of The Law Code of Manu, show that they operate as regulatory norms in order to constitute sex and gender. But the instability and unnaturalness of the categories of gender and …

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Sorting Through The Junk Box: Dickens's Objects And The Great Exhibition Of 1851, Audrey Raymi Grounds Nov 2011

Sorting Through The Junk Box: Dickens's Objects And The Great Exhibition Of 1851, Audrey Raymi Grounds

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In Bleak House , Dickens satirizes contemporary conditions in London in order to diagnose what he sees as social and industrial ills to prescribe a solution to the "Condition-of-England" question. Beginning with a review of the topicality in the novel, I use Dickens's personal letters, the text of Bleak House , and articles from Household Words to explain his contempt with the Great Exhibition, misguided philanthropy, and sanitary conditions, among others. Ultimately, it is his anathema to the Great Exhibition which drives both Dickens's plot and the issues he explores. Dickens's mockery of England is refracted and emphasized through his …

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What Do Professional Conference Planners Consider The Most Important Elements For Continuing Professional Education Conference Planning?, Virginia B. Phillips Oct 2011

What Do Professional Conference Planners Consider The Most Important Elements For Continuing Professional Education Conference Planning?, Virginia B. Phillips

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many adults attend and rely on continuing professional education (CPE) throughout their careers, and CPE is big business for associations. One way associations deliver CPE is through educational conferences. While adult education theories and frameworks offer developmental and operational guidance and advice, there is little practice data to understand what meeting planning professionals actually do as they implement adult education conferences in practice. The purpose of this study was to identify the elements that practicing meeting planning professionals in associations utilize in CPE conference planning and which elements are considered the most important. This study accessed a senior group of …

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Cuban Medical Internationalism: A Case For International Solidarity In Foreign Policy Decision Making, Eric James Fiske Oct 2011

Cuban Medical Internationalism: A Case For International Solidarity In Foreign Policy Decision Making, Eric James Fiske

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Since the beginning of the Revolutionary government in Cuba, a comprehensive foreign policy involving medical personal and equipment has been implemented worldwide. Known as medical internationalism, thousands of doctors have been sent to developed and less developed nations in the spirit of solidarity and humanitarian aid. Even more, thousands of students have been given free medical education in Cuba at its world renowned university, the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM). Often, no monetary or direct political gain is made by Cuba and the doctors simply receive their normal government salary. While the success of Cuba's medical internationalism is well …

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The Maghreb Maquiladora: Gender, Labor, And Socio-Economic Power In A Tunisian Export Processing Zone, Claire Therese Oueslati-Porter Oct 2011

The Maghreb Maquiladora: Gender, Labor, And Socio-Economic Power In A Tunisian Export Processing Zone, Claire Therese Oueslati-Porter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study is about Tunisian women's work and lives in the present era of economic neoliberalism. The focus is women in the city of Bizerte, Tunisia, both those who work in Bizerte's export processing zone (EPZ), as well as those who work outside it. This study is a qualitative examination of formal and informal employment, set inside and outside of women's traditional political and economic domain, the home. Through ethnography of women's work and lives, this study's purpose is to contribute evidence against conflating women's "empowerment" with incorporation into global production. However, this study also lends itself to considerations of …

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Shaping Topographies Of Home: A Political Ecology Of Migration, Carylanna Kathryn Taylor Oct 2011

Shaping Topographies Of Home: A Political Ecology Of Migration, Carylanna Kathryn Taylor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Even from afar, transnational migrants influence how their households and communities of origin use natural resources. This study depicts the circulation of people, funds, and ideas within transnational families that extend from a Honduran village to the United States. Developing a "political ecology of migration" approach, I show how these circulations can reshape resource use practices and the socio-economic and bio-physical topographies of emigrants' former homes. The project advances anthropological thought by linking rich literatures on political ecology and transnationalism through a multi-method ethnography of transnational families. The study is also relevant to emigrants, community members, and practitioners interested in …

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Dengue Fever In Tegucigalpa, Honduras: Use Of The Explanatory Model In A Sample Of Urban Neighborhoods To Contextualize And Define Dengue Fever Among Community Participants, Jose Enrique Hasemann Oct 2011

Dengue Fever In Tegucigalpa, Honduras: Use Of The Explanatory Model In A Sample Of Urban Neighborhoods To Contextualize And Define Dengue Fever Among Community Participants, Jose Enrique Hasemann

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This project elucidated the explanatory model of dengue fever held by members of urban communities in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The study was conducted over a four-month period from May-August of 2011, and it was divided into two stages. The first stage of the project consisted of volunteer participation with dengue fever surveillance brigades in the three communities with the highest incidence of dengue fever during the beginning of 2011. This initial stage employed participant observation as its research method. The second stage was conducted in a different community within Tegucigalpa. The primary research methods employed during the second stage of the …

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Prospects For Political Reform In China, Jody Lee Tomlin Oct 2011

Prospects For Political Reform In China, Jody Lee Tomlin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study is intended to analyze levels of institutional confidence in China. The purpose is to measure the relationship between changing political and cultural values with modernization and levels of institutional criticism. To analyze institutional criticism modernization and political culture theories are used. Using these theories together offers explanatory power as to what political and cultural values may change and why changes in confidence in governance may occur. These theories include socioeconomic, traditional, and political values to measure institutional confidence in 1990 and 2007. The examination of traditional versus modernization values imply that individuals possessing these opposing values display different …

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High Stakes Play: Early Childhood Special Educators' Perspectives Of Play In Pre-Kindergarten Classrooms, Joanne Scandling Manwaring Oct 2011

High Stakes Play: Early Childhood Special Educators' Perspectives Of Play In Pre-Kindergarten Classrooms, Joanne Scandling Manwaring

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined Early Childhood Special Educators' perceptions of play as a developmentally appropriate practice in special education prekindergarten classrooms in one southeastern school district. Through purposeful sampling, eight prekindergarten special educators were identified because they held multiple teaching certifications and some held National Board certification. The participants had many years of experience in pre-kindergarten special education, and were professional development trainers, teacher mentors and or leaders in the prekindergarten special education community. These eight accomplished pre-kindergarten special education teachers were interviewed using an informal, semi-structured format about their beliefs concerning play, how they implement it in their classrooms as …

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Accuracy Of Educator Nominations In Identifying Students With Elevated Levels Of Anxiety And Depression, Jennifer Cunningham Oct 2011

Accuracy Of Educator Nominations In Identifying Students With Elevated Levels Of Anxiety And Depression, Jennifer Cunningham

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Internalizing disorders, specifically depression and anxiety, affect up to 18% and 33% of youth, respectively (Costello, Egger, & Angold, 2005b). Schools have become a major provider of mental health services to children, primarily in attempts to overcome barriers to receiving community services (Farmer, Burns, Philip, Angold, & Costello, 2003). As such, it is important that schools have effective mechanisms in place to accurately identify students who may be in need of such services. The current study examined the accuracy of one such method, educator nominations (including from both teachers and school-based mental health professionals) in identifying students who self-report elevated …

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The Role Of Male Partners In Childbirth Decision Making: A Qualitative Exploration With First-Time Parenting Couples, Sharon Dejoy Oct 2011

The Role Of Male Partners In Childbirth Decision Making: A Qualitative Exploration With First-Time Parenting Couples, Sharon Dejoy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fathers' attendance at childbirth is almost universal in the United States, but few researchers have addressed the role that males play in childbirth decision making. The number of technological interventions available to birthing women is increasing, as is the utilization of those interventions. The degree to which women choose or agree to these interventions plays a major role in individual and societal health outcomes. Therefore, health care policy makers and educators must find ways to help childbearing couples navigate the complex maze of decisions related to childbirth. However, policies and programs to increase shared decision making may not function as …

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Social Landscapes Of Transegalitarian Societies: An Analysis Of The Chipped Stone Artifact Assemblage From The Crystal River Site (8ci1), Citrus County, Florida, Richard William Estabrook Oct 2011

Social Landscapes Of Transegalitarian Societies: An Analysis Of The Chipped Stone Artifact Assemblage From The Crystal River Site (8ci1), Citrus County, Florida, Richard William Estabrook

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The research undertaken in this dissertation was designed to explore how the institutionalized social inequalities in prehistoric Woodland society are reflected in the differences in the procurement, in the life history, and the final discard locations of the flaked chert stone tools from the Crystal River site (8CI1). The Woodland period (1000 BC to AD 1000) was a time of both stability and change in Native American society. Many of the core institutions such as subsistence, hunting and ceramic technology, and residence remained relatively constant while religious and political institutions underwent dramatic changes. This study focuses on how these social …

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Quasi 3-Dimensional Electrical Resistivity Mapping Of Air-Filled Karst Conduits And Policy Implications, Charles W. Mccrackin Oct 2011

Quasi 3-Dimensional Electrical Resistivity Mapping Of Air-Filled Karst Conduits And Policy Implications, Charles W. Mccrackin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study assesses the capability and practical applications of quasi 3-Dimensional (3D) electrical resistivity surveying (ER) for mapping air-filled karst conduits. Vadose zone caves within the Brooksville Ridge of West Central Florida are relatively similar in architecture, with N-S elongation, and do not consist of an interconnected network of conduits. A high resolution quasi-3D ER survey was performed over two mapped cave systems on the Brooksville Ridge. The resultant survey verified the general effectiveness of quasi-3D ER in locating the two known near-surface cave features. Several other locations in the survey show similar or stronger resistivity anomalies trending in a …

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Gendered Crimes, Gendered Fans: Intersections Of Gender, Sexuality, And Fandom In The Contemporary American Crime Drama, Melanie Cattrell Aug 2011

Gendered Crimes, Gendered Fans: Intersections Of Gender, Sexuality, And Fandom In The Contemporary American Crime Drama, Melanie Cattrell

American Studies ETDs

This dissertation analyzes the changing representations of gender and sexuality in American network crime dramas over the last thirty years. It also examines the growing Internet fan communities that have developed to discuss these shows. Specifically, it provides a feminist and queer textual analysis of a variety of television crime dramas, comparing 1980's crime dramas such as Cagney & Lacey and Hunter to contemporary programs Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Bones. This textual analysis is followed with an analysis of the contemporary shows' surrounding fan communities. Thus, this work charts the relationship between television studies, audience studies, fan …

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Expressions Of Another Center: Borderlands Visual Theory & The Art Of Luis Jimenez, Eric Castillo Aug 2011

Expressions Of Another Center: Borderlands Visual Theory & The Art Of Luis Jimenez, Eric Castillo

American Studies ETDs

An artist who constantly challenged various social and political boundaries, Jimenez and his art contribute to a growing discourse about U.S. sculpture and 21st century American art. By combining various methodologies such as formal analysis, visual analysis, and critical biography, I will underscore the significance of Luis Jimenez's art in 21st century American art. Jimenez's art functions autobiographically particular moment in his life affected his art in many ways. His time in Mexico City, New York, and Rome are a few pivotal moments that shifted the focus of his art and encouraged him to return to the Southwest where his …

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Everybody Talkin' 'Bout A Spoonful: The Blues, From America To England And Back, Edward Giza Aug 2011

Everybody Talkin' 'Bout A Spoonful: The Blues, From America To England And Back, Edward Giza

MALS Final Projects, 1995-2019

Though the blues are typically considered one of the few uniquely American musical styles, a group of British performers in the 1960s championed the blues to mainstream audiences on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. This essay explores the journey of the blues from the Mississippi Delta to Chicago and then across the Atlantic to England. It examines the various changes the genre underwent throughout this journey as well as aspects of the blues that remained static. Utilizing the song "Spoonful " as a common thread between these locations, this essay details how changes in popular opinion , advancements in …

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Land, Gender, And The Politics Of Identity Formation: Uncovering Hispana/Mexicana Voices In The Southwest, Karen R. Roybal Aug 2011

Land, Gender, And The Politics Of Identity Formation: Uncovering Hispana/Mexicana Voices In The Southwest, Karen R. Roybal

American Studies ETDs

The southwestern United States has an exceptional history that makes the region a prime focus for study concentrating on culture, tradition, language and land. As an area closely tied to the concept of conquest, the Southwest has had its share of issues related to colonization, imperialism, Manifest Destiny, and cultural erasure. This study focuses on the Southwest as a region that is closely linked to the land as it relates to the formation of identities of its people. Mexican Americans in the Southwest have historically experienced struggle, particularly after 1848 and the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, when …

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Assembling The Poor People's Campaign (1968) Queer Activism And Economic Justice, Christina Juhasz-Wood Aug 2011

Assembling The Poor People's Campaign (1968) Queer Activism And Economic Justice, Christina Juhasz-Wood

American Studies ETDs

This thesis attempts to bring the Poor People's Campaign (PPC) of 1968 into contemporary discussions about queer scholarship and activism. The PPC assembled a diverse racial and ethnic constituency in an unprecedented way to produce a massive, national political campaign to end poverty. This complex assemblage was largely indecipherable to the press and many historians, which has contributed to the view that the campaign was a failure, particularly in relation to the civil rights movement . I describe how the mainstream gay rights movement appropriates the civil rights movement as normative to seek forms of national inclusion. I argue that …

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Los Tres Grandes - Herman Gallegos, Ernesto Galarza, Julian Samora: Rooted In Community, Guided By Friendship, Cultivating Leadership., Carmen Samora Aug 2011

Los Tres Grandes - Herman Gallegos, Ernesto Galarza, Julian Samora: Rooted In Community, Guided By Friendship, Cultivating Leadership., Carmen Samora

American Studies ETDs

Los Tres Grandes, Ernesto Galarza, Herman Gallegos, and Julian Samora, fused intellectual constructs and grassroots strategies to reverse the societal dynamics they understood had marginalized Mexican Americans at both governmental and social levels. In 1968, the three scholar/activists launched the Southwest Council of La Raza (SWCLR), which four years later became the National Council of La Raza. My dissertation explores the relationship of these three men, a nexus of history and personality that launched what became the largest civil rights organization for Latinos in the United States. At a time when foundations earmarked minority support primarily for African Americans, Los …

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Cashing In On Indian Casinos: The Impacts Of "Off-Reservation" Casinos On Sovereignty, The Gaming Industry, Surrounding Communities, Reservations, And Tribal Identities, Adam Bubb Aug 2011

Cashing In On Indian Casinos: The Impacts Of "Off-Reservation" Casinos On Sovereignty, The Gaming Industry, Surrounding Communities, Reservations, And Tribal Identities, Adam Bubb

American Studies ETDs

This study examines the impacts of four tribes, the Forest County Potawatomi, Sault Ste Marie Chippewa, Mashantucket Pequot, and Florida Seminole, and their alternative methods to acquire and participate in off-reservation gaming. The case studies provide geographical and situational examples on how the changing tribal gaming market is reshaping and redefining the boundaries of sovereignty on and off of tribal lands and non-tribal lands. Each case study provides a detailed history of the tribe and their gaming experiences. Through the use of a cultural site analysis, each tribe's on and off-reservation gaming facilities were examined to measure the economic and …

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Imagining The Saints: Representations Of Mormonism In American Culture, Jeremy R. Ricketts Aug 2011

Imagining The Saints: Representations Of Mormonism In American Culture, Jeremy R. Ricketts

American Studies ETDs

The purpose of this dissertation is to address how representations of Mormons in American culture reveal not only key aspects of the history of Mormonism in America but also tell us a great deal about American life and thought since the founding of the religion in 1830 to the present day (2011). Representations are powerful vehicles for creating, shaping, reflecting, and naturalizing society's understanding of religious institutions and revealing cultural concerns and anxieties, and the methodology of this dissertation thus focuses on interdisciplinary analytical critiques of diverse texts to better elucidate the complicated but deeply intertwined history of the Mormon …

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The Holistic Complementary Structure Of Western Bio-Medicine And Traditional Healing And Achieving Complete Health, Candace Gail Oubre Aug 2011

The Holistic Complementary Structure Of Western Bio-Medicine And Traditional Healing And Achieving Complete Health, Candace Gail Oubre

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Achieving complete health requires a deep understanding of complementary cultural competency sensitivity between physician and patient. This may include but is not limited to access to preventative health care resources, access to health educational resources and access to cultural healing resources, for example, shamans, Ayurvedic physicians, and herbal healers. Advocates of cultural competency emphasize great importance on knowledge of the patients' cultural background; however, the transcendence of this knowledge can be explained further through complementary cultural competency sensitivity. This is when the cultures of the physician and patient complement each other in terms of understanding what is in the patients' …

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Dark Consciousness: Theory Of Mind And Henry James’S The Golden Bowl, Adam Maillet Aug 2011

Dark Consciousness: Theory Of Mind And Henry James’S The Golden Bowl, Adam Maillet

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Using the psychological concepts of Theory of Mind and embodied cognition, the author explores and questions the traditional readings of Henry James's novel, The Golden Bowl, and its protagonist, Maggie Verver. Although the majority of critics view her as a positive character, James takes great effort to subvert her thoughts and mislead the reader. Despite lacking a modern technical vocabulary, James remains acutely aware of how human cognitive structures both process a text and function within a social setting.

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Out Of True, Andrew David Bryan Aug 2011

Out Of True, Andrew David Bryan

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In this paper, I will detail the process that went into the making of my thesis film, Out of True. The areas I will cover include Writing, Directing, Production Design, Cinematography, Editing, Sound, as well as Technology and Workflow. Special emphasis will be given to Directing and the new directing style I experimented with in an effort to create not only believable but engaging performances. I will then assess the success of this experiment through the use of audience questionnaires.

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Urban Consumption In Late 19th-Century Dorchester, Jennifer Poulsen Aug 2011

Urban Consumption In Late 19th-Century Dorchester, Jennifer Poulsen

Anthropology, Historical Archaeology Masters Theses Collection

This thesis examines the bottles recovered from an 1895 fill deposit at the Blake House site in Dorchester, MA, to determine what inconspicuous consumption reveals about the anonymous consumers of Dorchester in the late 19th century. The assemblage is composed of 1,892 pieces of bottle glass, representing food, alcohol, medicine, and household products, 73 with original paper labels. The analysis presented here demonstrates the consumers were from several households and included men, women and children from immigrant populations. Despite evidence for intensive recycling of bottles, indicating that these individuals were under economic stress, they had some amount of discretionary money …

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Perception Of Social Presence In Asynchronous And Synchronous Online Discussion From The Perspective Of Native And Non-Native Speaker, Abdullah A. Alruhaimi Aug 2011

Perception Of Social Presence In Asynchronous And Synchronous Online Discussion From The Perspective Of Native And Non-Native Speaker, Abdullah A. Alruhaimi

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The technology innovation of telecommunication gave confidence to educational institutions to substitute some of their courses from traditional courses into virtual ones. This switch in education inspired globalization. The learners use either synchronous or asynchronous communication tools to interact with each other. Most previous studies in this field show that social presence is correlated with learner achievement satisfaction and interaction. So the researcher measured the level of social presence for both groups of learners, native and non-native speakers, across both types of online communication, synchronous and asynchronous communication. The researcher conducted a 2x2 split-plot ANOVA design with repeated measure for …

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Burmese Muslim Refugee Women: Stories Of Civil War, Refugee Camps And New Americans, Karen Hunt Lambert Aug 2011

Burmese Muslim Refugee Women: Stories Of Civil War, Refugee Camps And New Americans, Karen Hunt Lambert

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis includes the narratives of three Burmese Muslim refugee mothers who made their homes in Logan, Utah, within three years of locating in the United States. Each woman’s life is written about in a different style of writing – journalism, ethnography and creative nonfiction –and is then followed by analysis looking at each piece in terms of representation

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Going Solo With Roald Dahl: Life Rewritten Through Memory, Jeannine Huenemann Aug 2011

Going Solo With Roald Dahl: Life Rewritten Through Memory, Jeannine Huenemann

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Roald Dahl does not easily fit into a category as a writer, contributing fiction and nonfiction to both children and adult audiences. Faced with this ambiguity, the literary community has mostly ignored his contributions since he is mainly viewed as a children‘s author. Late in life, Dahl created two autobiographies, Boy: Tales of Childhood (1984), and Going Solo (1986), as venues for sharing his many embellished, personal stories. This thesis focuses on Going Solo, the second of these two books which explores Dahl‘s three-year departure from England, including his enlistment in the Royal Air Force during World War II. …

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