Digital Commons Network^™

A Little About My Father, Peter D. Thomsen, Kathy Thomsen

The Bridge

Peter D. Thomsen (1922 - 2015) was one of eighty-two students at Grand View College (GVC) in 1940. The students came from Danish immigrant communities all over the United States, including Chicago, Illinois; Seattle, Washington; Los Angeles, California; Kimballton, Iowa; Tyler, and Askov, Minnesota; Racine, Wisconsin; and in my father’s case, Marinette, Michigan and Menominee, Wisconsin. He was a first generation American; his parents had immigrated to the United States from Langeland, Denmark shortly before he was born. His experiences in Danish Lutheran church communities around the country reflect many of the changes that came about as Danish Americans integrated …

The Numbers Game: What An Un-Predictive Ability Of Success In First-Year Mathematics Courses And Subgroup Bias Mean To Students At Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Jayme Gonzales Agozie

Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the ability of standardized test scores to predict the performance of students in first-year mathematics courses, and the extent to which these tests displayed differential validity among various subgroups. Using discriminant analysis, it was established that the following percentages of students were correctly classified into passing and not passing groups, using the listed independent variables: a) SAT mathematics scores - 58.6%, b) SAT verbal scores - 50.6%, c) ACT mathematics scores - 54.7%, and d) ACT verbal scores - 56.3%. New predictive models were created using standardized test scores in combination …

Spatial Humanities And Memory Studies: Mapping Edinburgh In The First Age Of The Enlightenment, Murray Pittock, Craig Lamont

Studies in Scottish Literature

Describes the first phase of a digital project mapping social and cultural relationships in early 18th century Edinburgh, Scotland, part of a larger AHRC grant-funded study Allan Ramsay and Edinburgh in the First Age of the Enlightenment; explores interrelations between urban history, digital mapping, and emerging interest in the field of memory studies; and suggests links between the heterogeneous and cosmopolitan nature of housing in early 18th century Edinburgh and the Scottish Enlightenment culture of innovation.

A Review Of Climate Change Induced Effects On Avian Prey Species And Their Consequences For Arctic Fox Populations Of Western Iceland, Mikala Jordan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Island arctic fox populations are considered to carry the future wellbeing of the global population. Iceland has an island population with two arctic fox eco-types: western/coastal and eastern/inland. The western fox population is protected by the Hornstrandir Nature Reserve; no such protection exists for the eastern fox population. Food sources in both regions differ from each other and vary from summer to winter, but reliable and ample winter time food sources are the most critical for fox population’s survival. A literature review on arctic foxes and their prey species in the face of climate change is important for understanding possible …

Wsq: Queer Methods Editor's Note, Cynthia Chris

Publications and Research

This Editor's Note introduces the WSQ issue "Queer Methods," co-edited by Matt Brim and Amin Ghaziani, which asks, how is the work of queer scholarship, in an array of disciplines, done?

The French Revolution In The French-Algerian War (1954-1962): Historical Analogy And The Limits Of French Historical Reason, Timothy Scott Johnson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines the use of the French Revolution as an explanatory device for discussing the French-Algerian War (1954-1962). Anticolonial intellectuals in France invoked the French Revolution to explain their reasons for supporting colonial reform as well as their solidarity with Algerian nationalist aims. Through an examination of intellectuals’ public interventions alongside French and Algerian historical narratives, I examine the ways in which historical alignment signaled political and cultural distance between France and Algeria. Making an independent Algeria analogous to eighteenth-century revolutionary France lent political and conceptual legitimacy to Algerian claims to an independent national identity while also reinforcing the …

Enslaved Labor In The Gang And Task Systems: A Case Study In Comparative Bioarchaeology Of Commingled Remains, William D. Stevens

Theses and Dissertations

This study designs and tests an approach intended to confront one of the major problems faced within biological anthropology, the commingling or mixing of human skeletal remains. The first goal of the study is to implement an approach to sorting mixed human remains in order that they can be made amenable to comparative study. Bioarchaeologists depend on an array of measures, preserved in the human skeleton, to assess the lifestyles and identity of past human groups. As many of these measures are preserved within the morphology of different bones, it is imperative that the association and context of remains are …

The Hebrew-Jewish Disconnection, Jacey Peers

Master’s Theses and Projects

A common language creates a cultural community regardless of geographical boundaries. In the Jewish community this language is Hebrew. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship that American Jews have with the Hebrew language in terms of comprehension, the value they place on Hebrew, and how they position themselves on the Jewish spectrum (religiously and culturally). The research carried out was both qualitative and quantitative, including both a survey and interviews. While the subjective assessments by questionnaire takers indicated that many did not find a deep connection between Hebrew and their religious identity, a closer look provided …

Easter 6 Series C 2016, Phillip L. Brandt

Sunday's Sermon

This PDF comments on the readings for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Series C, and offers up sermon ideas.

Developing A Curriculum Ministry For Widows In The Local Church, Gail Nanez

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

An examination of widows in the local church reveals a growing percentage of widows in many churches today, signifying a significant ministry need for widows in the church. An abundance of widows sitting in churches, are not only suffering the grief, and loneliness from their loss, some have lost their only income and sometimes feel neglected or a burden to others. As a biblical mandate, it is imperative that the church, pastors, and counselors take heed to the biblical command of ministering to the comfortlessness and insecurity many widows are facing. This will entail revitalization of the care of widows, …

Usc South Campus: A Last Look At Modernism, Lydia M. Brandt, Paul Haynes, Andrew Nester, Robert Wertz, Ana Gibson, Margaret Mcelveen, John Benton, Adam Bradway, Hatara Tyson, Caley Pennington, Carly Simendinger

Faculty Publications

This is a class project from ARTH 542: American Architecture taught at the University of South Carolina by Lydia Mattice Brandt in Spring 2016.

With more Americans attending college than ever before; urban renewal; racial integration; the expansion of coeducation; and the architecture community’s advocacy for holistic relationship between planning, architecture, and landscape architecture, the American college campus developed rapidly and dramatically in the mid twentieth century. Using the University of South Carolina’s Columbia Campus as a case study, this project explores the history of American architecture in the mid-twentieth century.

Multilevel Analysis Of State Variations In Women's Participation In Household Decision-Making In Nigeria, Esther O. Lamidi

Journal of International Women's Studies

Although the past two decades featured burgeoning research on issues affecting women’s lives in Nigeria, the existing studies of women’s status and decision-making autonomy in the country leave important gap in their representations of the high level of sociocultural heterogeneity in the country. Using a nationally representative survey data, the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS, n = 26,306), this study examines variations in women’s decision-making autonomy across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory in Nigeria. A series of multilevel linear regression models revealed that Nigerian women’s levels of participation in household decision-making varied significantly across states …

Book Review: A Jewish Life On Three Continents: The Memoir Of Menachem Mendel Frieden, David B. Levy

Touro University Libraries Publications and Research

The author reviews the book A Jewish Life on Three Continents: The Memoir of Menachem Mendel Frieden.

A Revolution In Favor Of Television: Wcvb-Tv And Robert Gardner's Screening Room, Brian L. Frye

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

In the 1970’s, WCVB-TV in Boston produced many innovative and unusual programs. Among them was Robert Gardner’s Screening Room, one of the most delightfully unlikely programs ever aired on a network television station. Essentially, Screening Room was a talk show about independent filmmaking. Once a week, Gardner invited an independent filmmaker to show and discuss a selection of films or film clips. But Screening Room wasn’t just a showcase for independent film. It also introduced a network television audience to intellectual film critics like Rudolf Arnheim and Stanley Cavell, in a uniquely accessible and entertaining way. In any case, …

Weakening Of The Affricate /T[Voiceless Postalveolar Fricative]/ In The Spanish Of Ciudad Juárez, Luis Alberto Méndez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

A characteristic feature of the Spanish spoken in the Mexican state of Chihuahua is the pronunciation of the standard phoneme [t∫] (ch) as a non-standard allophone /∫/ (sh). The present study analyzes the social and linguistic factors that influence variation in the Mexico-United States border community of Ciudad Juárez. Direct and indirect elicitations techniques were used to gather tokens of /t?/ from a sample of 40 speakers who varied in age, sex, socioeconomic status, education level, and degree of bilingualism. The data was perceptually and acoustically interpreted and then examined using variable rules analysis. On the linguistic side, the results …

A Strategy Of Ministry For Small Korean-American Church Growth: Centered On Tallahassee Korean Community Presbyterian Church, Ju Yang

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Many small Korean-American churches have difficulties. The small number of members causes financial problem and causes member burn out. Also a lot of church members have difficulty which comes from the difference of language and culture in America. The purpose of this thesis project is to provide a strategy to help small Korean-American churches to grow and be more effective. Tallahassee Korean Community Presbyterian Church will be used as a model. Even though this is not an exceptionally successful church, it has potential for growth. First, literature research about church growth, worship, homiletics, leadership, and discipleship will be processed based …

Mass Media: From The Pulpit To The Pew Of Christian Churches, Lisa Colleen Bonds-Brown

Student Theses and Dissertations

As technology becomes more integrated with our daily lives, Christian churches and religious organizations are using media as part of their ministries. In addition to 21st-century technologies such as Twitter and Facebook, ministries also use traditional forms of media to expand their reach and spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This research will explore how churches are using multiple media technologies to spread the Gospel of Christ and communicate with both believers and non-believers in a world consumed by media. The Diffusion of Innovation Theory will guide this research.

Engaging Our Culture Faithfully, Harold Senkbeil

Concordia Journal

If the problem we face is not the secularization of society but the secularization of the church brought about by importing expressive individualism into the church, then we simply cannot face contemporary challenges individually.

Gower And The Peasants’ Revolt, Ian Cornelius

English: Faculty Publications and Other Works

This essay examines the moral and political thought of John Gower's poem on the English Rising of 1381, situating it within three contrastive fields: Gower’s moral project, his Virgilian intertext, and the practices of moral community employed by the rebels of 1381.

Midwest Mission: Developing A Church Planting Prospectus For The City Of Indianapolis, Joseph Allen Lightner

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) of Indianapolis, Indiana has a total population of 1,823,479 residents. (stats.indiana.edu) The North American Mission Board reports that "only one out of every five `Indy' residents" attends a church. (namb.net) In order to reverse this trend, new churches need to be started. This thesis will provide a biblical church-planting prospectus that takes into account the culture of the Indianapolis MSA area, specifically Hamilton County. This thesis will introduce the reader to the research and development required in order to write a church-planting prospectus.

Music Therapists Behind Locked Doors: The Role Of Trauma Exposure And Current Music Therapy Practices In Correctional And Forensic Psychiatry, Deanna K. Bush

Masters Theses

The purpose of this descriptive study was to explore the role trauma exposure has on the possible development of symptoms of Vicarious Traumatization (VT) in the lives of Board Certified Music Therapists employed in correctional and forensic settings. Research was conducted through completion of an electronic survey. Additionally, the researcher sought to identify current music therapy practices as well as differences between practicing in forensic settings and correctional settings. The participants involved in this study were Board Certified Music Therapists who work in forensic and correctional settings. Survey invitations were electronically sent to 133 prospective participants as listed on either …

Beyond Stereotypes: American Jews And Sports, Ari F. Sclar

The Jewish Role in American Life: An Annual Review

In the decades after the Civil War, sports slowly gained a prominent position within American culture. This development provided Jews with opportunities to participate in one of the few American cultures not closed off to them. Jewish athleticism challenged anti-Semitic depictions of Jews supposed physical inferiority while helping to construct a modern American Jewish identity. An Americanization narrative emerged that connected Jewish athleticism with full acceptance and integration into American society. This acceptance was not without struggle, but Jews succeeded and participated in the American sporting culture as athletes, coaches, owners, and fans.

The diversity of topics in this volume …

The Density Distribution Of The Population Of Najaf Governorate For The Period (1997 - 2010) And The Factors Affecting It, Rana Abdel Hassan

Uruk Journal of Human Sciences

Demographic studies are of paramount importance in all social and economic research. Population geography is a branch of human geography that studies the complex relationships between humans and their environment. Population is the central focus of many disciplines, both in the humanities and the applied sciences. Geographical studies of population address three main aspects: population growth, population distribution, and population structure. As the population continues to grow, interest in demographic studies has increased, as people are considered the true wealth of a nation. Without them, the earth would not yield its bounty, civilization would not flourish, and progress would cease. …

Sustainable Church Planting: A Missional Approach, Brandon Hempel

Doctor of Ministry

In my experience with church planting today, there is a concern for its sustainability due to financial constraints, leadership burnout, and results. The purpose of this dissertation is to discuss the problems therein with traditional church planting and to also lay the foundations for a more sustainable church planting option through the vehicle of missional community. My intentions are for my local Wesleyan conference to benefit from this work as it has been constructed through the culmination of my research and study as well as my own practical ministry experiences as a church planting pastor. While church planting is not …

[Special Issue On Sea Demographics] Editor's Introduction, Wayne E. Wright

Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement

Introduction to special isssue on Southeast Asian American Demographics

Making It In Maine: Stories Of Jewish Life In Small-Town America, David M. Freidenreich

Faculty Scholarship

There are countless stories of Jewish life in Maine, stretching back 200 years. These are stories worth telling not only for their enjoyment value but also because we can learn a great deal from them. They reflect the challenges that confronted members of an immigrant community as they sought to become true Mainers, as well as the challenges this ethnic group now faces as a result of its successful integration. The experiences of Jews in Maine, moreover, encapsulate in many ways the experiences of small-town Jews throughout New England and the United States. Their stories offer glimpses into the changing …

Gi Jive: Us Soldiers' Writings And Post-World War Ii America, Amanda Lee Stevens

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This work is a comprehensive study of American soldiers‘ writings during World War II as they related to personal and national postwar aims. The paper uses military and domestic publications along with a selection of memoirs and diaries published during and immediately after the war to create an overview of soldiers' ideological and material desires of postwar America.

Live From New York, It's The Translation Of Cultural Humor!, Megan Hosack

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Translating comedic material into another language presents challenges both in accurately representing specific words and idioms and in conveying social conventions and national temperament. As American television programs gain international popularity, there is a developing need for understanding these issues of translation.

Several American comedy television programs have gained popularity in Spain in recent years. Shows including The Big Bang Theory and The Simpsons have been translated into Spanish and dubbed by Spanish voice actors to air on television stations in Spain (Grandio). "Big Bang," the Spanish version of The Big Bang Theory has been on the air in Spain …

Troubled, Solomohn Nallshi Ennis-Klyczek

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Regulating Urban Belonging: China's Hukou System As Intra-National Bordering Process, Leif Johnson

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

In China's urban metropoles, the hukou system of household registration regulates one of the largest movements of people in human history. While rural-urban migrations are reshaping societies worldwide, the migrants who make up a great portion of urban China's low-wage labor force and burgeoning population face unique legal and social challenges. Although the trajectories of their migration do not cross international boundaries, most are legally prevented from ever gaining the within China's hukou system of household registration. The functions of this system parallel those of national citizenship policies, and are difficult to explain through standard conceptions of sovereignty and national …