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Realism, Truth, And Commitment: An Exposition And Critique Of Michael Devitt's Constitutive Account Of Realism, Samuel Elias Hobbs

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Michael Devitt argues in Realism and Truth that positive semantic issues are not constitutive of realism concerning the mostly impersonal external world. This is motivated by his second maxim which prescribes that the metaphysical (ontological) issue of realism is to be (sharply) distinguished from any (positive) semantic issue. Devitt’s argument is that his view of realism, entitled ‘Realism’, doesn’t entail and isn’t entailed by any doctrine of truth.

This dissertation presents a critique of the argument indicated above and, thereby, Devitt’s second maxim. I present Devitt’s account of Realism and his overview of theories of truth. I next present Devitt’s …

Towards Inclusive Digital Futures Of Cultural Heritage: Insights From A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Unesco Dialogues, Shiqing Huang, Keng Siau, Xiaoting Chen

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Digital technologies are shaping many aspects of cultural heritage, but very little research has examined the implications of digital transformation. Drawing on concepts from Fairclough’s three-dimensional critical discourse analysis, this research examines the discourse using seven online dialogues (available on the UNESCO website) between 18 professionals who have different backgrounds and cultures to identify social practices related to the digital transformation of cultural heritage. We identify four digital transformation discourse types in professional dialogues: documentation, management, interpretation, and interaction. We also identify seven main groups: memory institutions including libraries, archives, and museums (LAMs), governments, international organizations, art and creative supporters, …

Interconnection Among Germanic Peoples In The Roman Late Republican And Early Imperial Eras: From Historical And Archaeological Sources, Krystian Fichat

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This thesis evaluates the cultural interactions between the Germanic peoples and neighboring societies during the Roman Late Republican and Early Imperial Eras. Roman authors traditionally portrayed the Germani as isolated barbarians and through ethnocentric and propagandistic writings, misrepresenting the Germanic people on a large scale. By combining an analysis of historical sources, such as Roman histories and ethnographies, the examination of connection through polytheistic religious practice in Western Europe and in Rome, archaeological evidence of Germanic trade and craft, and the study of settlements common to Celtic and Germanic peoples, this research demonstrates that the Germani were actively participating in …

Burdened By Conviction: The Pressures Within, Dulce M. Perez

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates how religious and political systems, particularly Catholic influences in the Rio Grande Valley, limit and silence women. By employing historical and alternative photographic techniques such as cyanotype, gum bichromate, and photo transfer, I express how these systems control and shape women’s lives. Combined, the materials serve as a metaphor for the oppression and damage which power can inflict. In these works, fabric represents the potential for manipulation of the human mind; the red thread stitched through cloth and paper symbolizes control; and fragmented images are a reference to the collapse of humanity. Throughout this exploration, I reflect …

"That Was Something I Had To Get Used To”: Communication Challenges Of African Graduate Teaching Assistants, Mohammed Hafiz Nabila

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study examined the communication challenges and adaptive strategies of African Graduate Teaching Assistants (AGTAs) in U.S. higher education, focusing on East Tennessee State University. The study aimed to understand how AGTAs navigate linguistic, cultural, and institutional barriers in their teaching roles. Using semi-structured interviews with seven participants, data were analyzed through thematic analysis to identify key patterns and meanings. Findings revealed challenges related to accents, cultural adjustment, and limited institutional preparation. Faculty mentorship played a vital role in shaping AGTAs’ confidence, interpretation of challenges, and professional growth. However, lack of support often led to isolation and self-doubt. The …

Mountain Communities During A Time Of War: A Case Study Of The Hutsul Region In The Carpathian Mountains Of Ukraine, Pavlo Rybaruk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the ethno-ecological technologies employed by the Hutsul people within the highland agrarian economy of the Carpathian Mountains. Over centuries, the Hutsuls have developed ethno-ecological technologies that maintain ecological integrity while supporting community livelihoods.

The study addresses three primary research questions: What are the most important ethno-ecological technologies of the Hutsul highland economy? How might these traditional ethno-ecological practices be applied to economic, agricultural, and tourism development in the Hutsul region? How might these traditional ethno-ecological practices be combined with contemporary approaches to encourage sustainable development in the region?

The research explores the devastating impact of the Russian …

Exploring The Role Of Christian Religiosity In The Acceptance Or Rejection Of Ai Chatbot Use Among Faculty At Church Of Christ Universities, Amos Gutierrez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Higher education institutions are navigating the benefits and challenges of generative AI chatbot use and preparing faculty and students to engage with these tools ethically and responsibly. The problem is that there are many challenges and barriers to using these technologies in higher education, and Christian higher education institutions must also address context-specific considerations regarding mission and vision rooted in biblical faith and practice. The purpose of this quantitative, nonexperimental, cross-sectional study using confirmatory factor analysis and multiple regression through structural equation modeling was to examine faculty perceptions of AI chatbots and how Christian religiosity moderates acceptance. An online survey …

Writing The Script: Shaping Korean National Identity, Media Imperialism And The Revolution Of K-Dramas, Isai J. Martinez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This thesis explores the role of South Korean television dramas (K-dramas) as cultural artifacts that the Korean creators have created and become agents, which in turn has constructed and projected globally the modern South Korean national identity. Positioned at the crossroads of cultural imperialism, nationalism, resistance and appropriation, K-dramas have become extremely critical to reshaping South Korea’s place in the global media landscape. Through the lens of the Hallyu (The Korean Wave), this study analyzes how K-drama’s navigate an ambiguous cultural space which simultaneously resists Western media dominance while appropriating global forms including platform-based distribution, tailoring original content to …

Harnessing Irrationality, Jennifer E. Smith

All Theses

My thesis work considers the presence of objectifying gazes in representations of women in Western visual media and pop culture. I reference film, television, short form content shared on social media, and pornography to identify and repurpose tools of objectification in my large scale drawings and animated GIFs. I compare the objectifying tropes present in contemporary entertainment media and pop culture to those present in the Western art historical tradition of the reclining female nude, mythology and folklore, and pornography. Using these comparisons, I discuss objectification in terms of passive and active, consumption and appetite, and idealization and devaluation. I …

School Discipline Bylaws In Egypt: An Analysis Of The Framing Of Children’S Rights In Education (2014–2024), Noha Ekram Hassan

All Dissertations

This study investigates how Egypt’s School Discipline Bylaws (SDB), issued between 2014 and 2024, construct the language of discipline, children’s rights, and school governance. Using a Corpus-Assisted Critical Discourse Analysis (CADA) combined with interpretive Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), the research identifies child-rights terminology within the five Bylaw versions, examines its relationship to the principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and traces how these linguistic patterns change over time. The analysis also explores the discursive framing of discipline, sanctions, and agency, alongside a rubric-based evaluation of the SDB’s alignment with CRC principles of protection, participation, and …

Book Bans And Border Texans: Testimonios From The Middle, Laura Calvillo Neill

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative study explores how Chicana and Mexican American teachers and librarians along the Texas-Mexico border describe their experiences navigating books bans and curriculum restrictions. Through a Chicana feminist epistemological lens, the research centers the testimonios of four educators who reflect on their lived experiences navigating censorship, representation, and professional identity in politically charged educational spaces.

Using a testimonio-based methodology, participants shared personal narratives that illuminated how state politics and local interpretations of "appropriate" texts shape classroom and library decisions. Thematic analysis of these testimonios revealed four interconnected findings: 1. Teacher identity under pressure, 2. Censorship and control in the …

“War Is God” And “Unguessed Kinships”: Blood Meridian And Cormac Mccarthy’S “Border Tetralogy”, Seth Reeves

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis applies the metaphysics of philosopher Gilles Deleuze to Cormac McCarthy’s novel Blood Meridian, arguing that the novel initiates a thread of immanent subjectivity that unfolds throughout the Border Trilogy that follows it. Against a hierarchical metaphysics of transcendence, specifically an inverted Platonic Idealism, Blood Meridian dramatizes an immanent world of “optical democracy,” a prose style that levels the human and nonhuman and eludes subject and object categories. The kid’s autonomy from Judge Holden’s violent domination marks the truncated beginning of a Deleuzian subjectivity of becoming-other and immanent kinship. This incomplete gesture continues in the Border Trilogy, where …

World On Fire: The Hunger Games And The Rhetoric Of Revolution, Rachel Olivares

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the decade between 2010 and 2020, more people participated in mass protests than at any other point in human history. From the Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street and Hong Kong’s “umbrella movement,” street demonstrations exploded on a global scale. This period of global unrest coincided with another explosion: the dystopian young adult series The Hunger Games surged in popularity, quickly becoming a cultural phenomenon. Following the release of the book series and its subsequent film adaptations, The Hunger Games became a global symbol of grassroots resistance as social and political movements adopted the language and symbols of its …

Losing Control: Evaluative Access And The Limits Of Attributability In Angela Smith’S Theory Of Moral Responsibility, Henry Kissam

Honors Theses

The unwilling addict agent archetype–who wholeheartedly resolves to abstain from taking a drug but takes it regardless–is important to moral responsibility theorists for many reasons, but two in particular stand head-and-shoulders above the rest. The first is the frequency with which the archetype must be reckoned with through our everyday practices of moral assessment. It is not an idle thought experiment, pushing nothing but the theoretical limits of a particular theory. It is a near-ubiquitous presence in real, practical moral assessment. The second reason is a consequence of the first. Because we deal with the archetype frequently, we morally assess …

Colaboración, Discurso Y Técnicas: La Resistencia Simbólica En El Sueño De La Sultana (Isabel Herguera, 2023), Nerea Cuenca-Orellana

GDI. Revista de investigación de Género, Diseño e Innovación

La película El sueño de la sultana (Isabel Herguera, 2023) reinterpreta el cuento utópico homónimo de Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1905) realizando una exploración visual que combina animación, archivo y testimonio. El presente trabajo propone un análisis de la obra desde cuatro puntos clave e interrelacionados: la autoría colaborativa y femenina, los discursos visuales, los lenguajes y técnicas, y las formas de resistencia simbólica con el objetivo principal de establecerla como un caso práctico de diseño feminista contemporáneo.

En primer lugar, se examina el proceso de creación de la película como práctica colaborativa transnacional, donde la animación se convierte en un …

Scoring Accuracy And Differential Rater Functioning Of Large Language Models (Llms) In Evaluating Short Student Essays Under Different Conditions: A Simulation Study, Majed Mahmoud Ajoudeh

University of Tabuk Journal for Humanities and Social Sciences

This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy and differential rater functioning (DRF) of LLMs in scoring short essays, based on synthetically generated data of 270 essays with varying quality. The LLMs scored the essays under three prompting conditions: without a rubric, with a brief rubric, and with a detailed rubric. Human benchmark ratings were also generated in comparison with the automated scores. The results showed that using detailed rubric improved accuracy and consistency with human raters. Regression analysis further revealed differential rater functioning: the LLMs were more likely to award higher scores to longer essays, favored indirect writing styles, and …

Decolonizing The Whitexican: Reclaiming Identity Through Nahuatl And Mesoamerican Motifs, Laia Ivanna Vite Cano

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the intersection of art, linguistics, and ideography through the lens of personal and cultural heritage rooted in the Huasteca region of Central Mexico. Drawing inspiration from familial connections to the pueblos of Huazalingo and Huejutla in Hidalgo, Mexico, the research examines the cultural complexities of bicultural and binational experiences. It is grounded in the theoretical framework of Nepantla, a concept introduced by Gloria Anzaldúa to describe the unseen space of the border life as one of existing between worlds, identities, and cultures. Included and essential to this work is the Coyolxauhqui Imperative, which informs the process of …

“Are There Any British Soldiers In Tobruk?” National Identity During The Siege Of Tobruk, May To November 1941, Stewart Golightly Weight

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Throughout this thesis, I examine what it meant to be British during the 1941 Siege of Tobruk. This is important as it reveals previous assumptions about the Second World War’s British Army, including its religious practices and regional distinctions, were more diverse and influential than previously assumed. To do this, I analyze previously overlooked sources concerning religion, morality, and regional identities to demonstrate that Second World War Britishness was not monolithic.

Chatgpt In Teaching English As A Foreign Language: Teacher And Learner Perspectives, Sameiha Alhussain N Khawaji

University of Tabuk Journal for Humanities and Social Sciences

This study investigates ChatGPT as a supplementary tool in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) education through surveys of 150 teachers and 350 learners in Asia, Europe and Latin America. Results show that ChatGPT improves language proficiency by providing personalized feedback, conversational fluency (72% of users reported improvement), writing scores by 22% and vocabulary through contextualized practice. Teachers found it useful for lesson planning and administrative tasks. However, challenges such as plagiarism risks (15% of cases), occasional inaccuracies and cultural insensitivities especially in idiomatic and formal language use require ethical guidelines and human oversight. For example, Asian participants noted mismatches …

Abu Hayyan Al-Andalusi's (D.745ah) Methodological Rules In Grammar Lessons, The Term (Correct) In His Book Al-Tadheel Wa Al-Takmeel As A Model, An Analytical Study, Mohammad Abdullah Al-Mazzah

University of Tabuk Journal for Humanities and Social Sciences

This research aims to identify the methodology adopted by Abu Hayyan al-Andalusi in his book "Al-Tadhiyal wa al-Takmil" for correction, through a descriptive and analytical study that traces the mechanisms of correction and weighting in his treatment of grammatical issues, and the extent of his adherence to the methodological controls he set for himself. The research begins with an introduction explaining the importance of the research, its problems and objectives, and previous studies, followed by a preface on the importance of judgmental terms in Arabic grammar. The first section focuses on defining the concepts of "correct" and 'weighting' in grammatical …

A Message Related To The Interpretation Of Verse 21 Of Surat Al-Jathiya, By The Linguistic Scholar And Commentator Shihab Al-Din Ahmad Ibn Umar Al-Khafaji (D. 1069 Ah) - Study And Investigation-, Nawaf Bin Ghadir Bin Nuwayran Al-Tumi Al-Shammari

University of Tabuk Journal for Humanities and Social Sciences

In this research, I studied one of the letters of the scholar Shihab al-Din al-Khafaji (1069 AH), related to the interpretation of verse 21 of Surat al-Jathiya. In it, he - may God have mercy on him - took care to explain the readings and ways of parsing in the verse upon which the meaning depends, and he conveyed the statements of scholars on that, and he was concerned with highlighting the rhetorical aspect of the verse. In my study, I followed the scientific method followed in investigation, and I came out with a number of results, the most important …

Landfast Legalities And Institutional Erosion: Assembling Alaska Coastal Governance At The Melting Edge Of The Anthropocene, Nicholas J. Parlato

Interdisciplinary Studies

Anthropocene discourses raise questions about the political agency of nonhuman nature and the error of human exceptionalism, blurring distinctions between the subjects and objects of environmental governance. In the Arctic, the environment’s capacity to determine how and what kind of activities can take place has long existed in tension with the legal and political systems imposed by colonial powers. How can governance and decision-making for destabilized socionatural communities be reconceived from a more-than-human perspective? Through the lenses of assemblage thinking, posthumanism, and Indigenous law, this dissertation interrogates conventional approaches to understanding and governing the Arctic and, focusing on the history …

When Nonbinary Becomes Binary: Exploring Transnormativity Experiences Of Gender Diverse Individuals, Yusuf Barburoğlu

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Transnormativity is a within-group framework that positions trans and nonbinary (TNB) individuals in a hierarchy of legitimacy based on adherence to binary gender norms (Johnson, 2016). Nonbinary individuals, who comprise 38% of U.S. transgender adults, face unique challenges, including systemic invalidation, misgendering, and erasure both within and outside LGBTQIA+ communities (James et al., 2024; Matsuno et al., 2024). These experiences intersect with internalized stigma and rejection expectations, contributing to mental health disparities (Budge et al., 2014; Lefevor et al., 2019). This study explores how nonbinary individuals navigate, resist, and embody transnormative pressures, using Sarah Ahmed’s Queer Phenomenology and Interpretative Phenomenological …

Desmadre, Xiomarra Milann Gonzalez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

My project functions as a collection of poems that each hold stories that tie them into the theme of their assigned subsection and into the greater narrative that each subsection creates, resulting in the takeaway from the overall manuscript. From the first word of the introductory poem, to the final line of the concluding, the poems take you on a journey from a feminine existence that is struggling at the helm of external, oppressive forces leading into a self-reckoning and embracing their own internal power within the systematic chaos and uncertainty that plagues them through the underlying notes of each …

Autoethnography, Poetic Performance Narratives, And Pláticas As Dialogues Of Radical Love, Miryam Espinosa-Dulanto

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

This piece examines Autoethnography, Poetic Performance Narratives, and Pláticas as decolonial methodologies that challenge the coloniality of knowledge and center voices historically excluded from academic discourse. These approaches honor traditions rooted in community, solidarity, and radical love, presenting lived realities without oversimplification while inviting readers to inhabit contradictions and imagine ethical possibilities for equity. Grounded in Latin American and Chicana/Latina/Indígena feminist scholarship, this work situates these practices within a legacy of decolonial epistemologies that resist dominant Western paradigms and affirm lived experience as a site of theory-making. Through this lens, the piece seeks to: (1) bear witness to shared experiences, …

Review Of All In All (More Or Less): Rhetorical Considerations In Literature, Thought, And Experience By Walter Jost, Sean Meehan

Turning Toward Being: The Journal of Ontological Inquiry in Education

Review of All in All (More or Less): Rhetorical Considerations in Literature, Thought, and Experience by Walter Jost

Music Post-Westernism: From Tonal And Post-Tonal Hegemony To Multipolar Decolonization, Mark Jericho Y. Pacia

Social Transformations Journal of the Global South

Post-Westernism is a transformation in which the West is no longer the hegemonic center but rather projects a new era of music. This research proposes Post-Westernism as the fundamental shift after the post-tonal (contemporary) era in art (classical) music. While the post-tonal era emerged from the rebellion toward tonality, Post-Westernism calls for critiquing the Western nature of both tonality and post-tonality. Through this, Post Westernism investigates the current musical hegemony and proposes a multipolar system via the decolonization and transculturation of music and scholarship. It answers the question: How will composers innovate when innovation is institutionalized and the avant-garde is …

Fermentative Processes Of The Agricultural Food System In The Upper Rio Negro: Ethnographic Notes On Feminine Knowledge, Intention, And Agency In The Production Of Fermented Beverages, Lorena França

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

This article examines the fermentative processes at the core of the agricultural food system of the Upper Rio Negro, northwestern Amazon, highlighting women’s technical and social agency in the production of fermented beverages such as caxiri. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted among Baniwa and Tukano families between 2018 and 2019, the study explores how fermentation constitutes not merely a biochemical transformation of matter but a sociotechnical language through which women express intention, alliance, and distinction. The paper analyzes in detail two cases of caxiri preparation, showing how women’s manipulation of manioc, tubers, saliva, and utensils configures embodied knowledge transmitted …

Creation To Covenant: The Chronicler's Use Of Genesis Narratives In Shaping Israel's Post-Exilic Identity, Dalton J. Harmon

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis examines the Chronicler’s (the unknown author to whom biblical scholars have attributed the composition of: the Book of Chronicles, the Book of Ezra, and the Book of Nehemiah to) use of Genesis narratives—namely the Covenant of Works—in the formation of the social, political, and religious identity of post-exilic Israel. By using a covenant-theological and intertextual approach with special attention to the Septuagint, this study demonstrates that the Chronicler does not merely retell Israel’s history but deliberately reinterprets it according to theology established in creation. The analysis begins with Genesis 1–3, where Adam’s federal headship and the blessing–curse logic …

State Narrative Dominance In Terrorism Reporting: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Kompas Coverage, Putri Khairunnisa

Journal of Terrorism Studies

This study examines Kompas.com’s news construction of the bombing at the Makassar Cathedral Church on 28 March 2021 by integrating Entman’s Media Framing theory with Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis. Using all news reports published between 28 March and 5 April 2021, the study finds that Kompas frames the event through security-oriented diction, agent–action structures that foreground state authorities as the primary actors, and high-modality statements that minimize uncertainty during the early crisis phase. Intertextual references to previous terrorism cases accelerate the labeling of the perpetrators as part of the JAD network. At the level of discursive practice, reliance on official …