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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Written In Black, White, And Red: An Exploration Of Civilizer Theology In American History, Jeremy Mcginniss Nov 2019

Written In Black, White, And Red: An Exploration Of Civilizer Theology In American History, Jeremy Mcginniss

Master's Theses

This paper proposes an extended definition and discusses examples of civilizer theology within the perceptions and practices of white Protestant American Christianity faith traditions. Civilizer theology is defined as a self-referential, self-fulfilling framework actively shaping the expectations, behaviors and practices of societal norms driving cultural practices. Examples are selected as guided by three significant and interdependent dispositions characterizing civilizer theology: cultural decay/moral decline, authority, and violence. This paper hypothesizes theological interpretation, application and exegesis, mediated by the three dispositions, are deliberately applied to support socio-economic, cultural and political ends with the goal of maintaining power structures benefiting a particular group.


Acting Black: An Analysis Of Blackness And Criminality In Film, Blake Edwards Aug 2019

Acting Black: An Analysis Of Blackness And Criminality In Film, Blake Edwards

Master's Theses

This thesis will attempt to answer how films deal with blackness and crime, specifically when intersecting with the concepts of exploitation, appropriation, whiteness and the criminality of the black body. While not entirely the root of the negative perceptions of African-Americans in the United States, the manner in which African-Americans are portrayed in motion picture media influences how their presence is seen in society. This thesis will examine specific films that include elements dealing with the listed factors and what effects they may or may not have.


Perceptions On The Effectiveness Of Diversity And Inclusion Hiring: Are We Really Getting Ahead? [2019], Deidre D. Pierson Aug 2019

Perceptions On The Effectiveness Of Diversity And Inclusion Hiring: Are We Really Getting Ahead? [2019], Deidre D. Pierson

Master's Theses

Diversity and inclusion hiring in NCAA Division III athletic departments has seen some improvement over the last two decades, but questions remain on whether we are really getting ahead. There continues to be a lack of diversity, particularly in private Northeast institutions. The purpose of this study was to determine the perceived effectiveness of hiring practices and initiatives utilized by athletics departments. The study utilized tenants of critical theory which supported the in-depth questioning and centering of the lived experiences of participants. This study used semi-structured interviews of nine Division III female head coaches of women’s sports to examine their …


New England Slave Trader: The Case Of Charles Tyng, Paul J. Michaels Jun 2019

New England Slave Trader: The Case Of Charles Tyng, Paul J. Michaels

Master's Theses

Charles Tyng has been heralded as an American hero after the posthumous publication of his memoir, Before the Wind: The Memoir of an American Sea Captain, 1808-1833, in 1999. Recent research involving British Treasury report books from the nineteenth century suggest otherwise – that Tyng actively promoted and was engaged in the illicit trade of African captives. A Boston Brahmin, Tyng applied the lessons of his time at sea with Perkins & Company, the opium trading firm, to his occupation as an agent of notorious slave trading firms in Havana. This paper uses as evidence records of the captures …


“Flowing Along The Wall”: Anarcha-Feminist Bioethics And Resistance In Octavia E. Butler’S Dawn 2019., Theresa Mendez May 2019

“Flowing Along The Wall”: Anarcha-Feminist Bioethics And Resistance In Octavia E. Butler’S Dawn 2019., Theresa Mendez

Master's Theses

Science fiction (sf) texts conversant with the temporal play between past, present, and future push readers to imagine the extremes of human and environmental existence, interaction, and potential. Simultaneously, despite the sf genre’s tendency to traffic in extremes, these texts provoke readers to consider the ways in which these imagined worlds are grounded in history as well as in the contemporary social moment. As Donna Haraway has argued, “the boundary between science fiction and social reality is an optical illusion” (306). This illusory boundary must continue to be traversed in order to consider how sf literatures, particularly those which imagine …


Posthuman And Alien Breeding: The Implications Of Cybersex In Octavia Butler’S Dawn 2019., Elizabeth Rutkowski May 2019

Posthuman And Alien Breeding: The Implications Of Cybersex In Octavia Butler’S Dawn 2019., Elizabeth Rutkowski

Master's Theses

Speculative science fiction affords new ways for authors to represent social problems of the modern day in an apocalyptic manner. Authors such as Octavia Butler use science fiction to analyze social injustices revolving around race, gender, and sexuality. Throughout her novel Dawn, Butler uses the posthuman to represent minority groups in the late twentieth century. The posthuman represents those who have moved from humanity towards a new opportunity that is mixed with the potential for struggle. 1 As demonstrated through Butler’s work posthumanism blurs the lines between binaries such as male / female, straight / gay, and consensual / nonconsensual …