Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Local Residents' Experience Of The Coal Ash Spill In Kingston, Tennessee: A Phenomenological Study, Amy Lynn Mathis

Doctoral Dissertations

On December 22, 2008, near Kingston, Tennessee, a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) retention pond holding approximately 1.7 million cubic yards of coal fly ash failed, spilling the ash into the nearby Emory River and inundating farms and homes in the Swan Pond community. As a result more than 100 people were permanently displaced from their homes and the clean-up effort is ongoing.

The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of living near Kingston, Tennessee, in the aftermath of the spill. Using existential phenomenology as the guiding research methodology, I interviewed 9 participants from the area and asked …

“It Was Fight Or Flight...And Flight Was Not An Option”: An Existential Phenomenological Investigation Of Military Service Members’ Experience Of Hand-To-Hand Combat, Peter Richard Jensen

Doctoral Dissertations

Hand-to-hand combat is one of the more psychologically challenging performance environments for those in the military (Grossman, 1995). Even with the technological advances of modern warfare military leaders still believe hand-to-hand combat is an important and relevant challenge for service members (Blanton, 2007; Clark, 2009; Collins, 2007; Wojdakowski, 2007; Wood & Micaelson, 2000). Despite its importance, the hand-to-hand combat experience has, to date, attracted very little research attention. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore military service members’ experiences of hand-to-hand combat. To accomplish this objective, phenomenological interviews were conducted with 17 male military service members. Each participant …