Digital Commons Network^™

Counterfeit Letters And Fictional Trials: Thomas More’S Utopia As Cultural Brand, Andie Silva

Publications and Research

Utilizing marketing theory on iconic brands, this article provides a focused study of surviving English editions of Thomas More's Utopia (1551) and the different ways in which the publication was adapted by its print agents, who eventually turned it into an iconic, English brand-name. By drawing a connection between the popularity and versatility of More’s text and the rapidly developing genre of utopian fiction, this article sheds light on the speed with which the press both reacted to and played a role in creating popular taste.

From Cow Pasture To Cul-De-Sac: The Intersection Of Rural Values, Memory, And Nostalgia Amidst Suburban Development In The American South, Emily F. Ramsey

Theses and Dissertations

How do residents of a once small farming community react to rapid suburbanization? By examining rhetoric on growth, progress, and rurality, this thesis argues a complex landscape forms where longtime residents weave among pragmatism, disaffection, and nostalgia, with efforts to preserve memories of the past for themselves and future generations.

Can Reproductive Trans Bodies Exist?, Chase Strangio

City University of New York Law Review

No abstract provided.

Review: The New Celebrity Scientists. Out Of The Lab And Into The Limelight. Fahy, Declan. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

In the last couple of decades, we have seen the widespread ascendancy of the

phenomenon of celebrity in society. Celebrities as a cultural manifestation are not

necessarily something new. We saw that notion in the twentieth century being

exploited by Hollywood through their “star system” as well as by sports teams

hungry to increase their revenues. Now that phenomenon has expanded into areas

that we would not have imagined decades ago, and one of them is in the field of

science. With the advent of social media and the relaxation of social views

regarding stereotypes, we have seen the rise …

Communication Practices In The Us And Syria, Rebecca S. Merkin, Reem Ramadan

Publications and Research

This study highlights Syrian communication practices using comparative tests with the United States communication as a baseline. Additionally, theoretical findings on individualism and collectivism theory are extended to include findings from Syria. Multivariate Analysis of Covariance was used to test culture’s effect in demographically similar (in age, SES, and education) student convenience samples, with the covariate communication adaptability, on dependent variables: empathy, social confirmation, social composure, friendships, non-verbal immediacy, social self-efficacy, and general self-efficacy. Results indicated that Syrians possess more empathy, social confirmation, and perceived general self-efficacy in comparison to U.S. citizens who have greater social composure, friendships, non-verbal immediacy …

Using The Visual World Paradigm To Study Retrieval Interference In Spoken Language Comprehension, Irina A. Sekerina, Luca Campanelli, Julie A. Van Dyke

Publications and Research

The cue-based retrieval theory (Lewis et al., 2006) predicts that interference from similar distractors should create difficulty for argument integration, however this hypothesis has only been examined in the written modality. The current study uses the Visual World Paradigm (VWP) to assess its feasibility to study retrieval interference arising from distractors present in a visual display during spoken language comprehension. The study aims to extend findings from Van Dyke and McElree (2006), which utilized a dual-task paradigm with written sentences in which they manipulated the relationship between extra-sentential distractors and the semantic retrieval cues from a verb, to the spoken …

A Systematic Review Of Dual-Sensory Impairment In Older Adults, Abby F. Malawer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The elderly population (ages 65 years and older) in the United States is estimated to double between 2000 and 2030 to approximately 72 million people. Among this population, sensory impairment is a chronic disability. The combination of both hearing and vision impairment, referred to as dual-sensory impairment (DSI) is a chronic condition on the rise. The prevalence of DSI ranges from a low of 1.6% to as high as 22.5% depending on the population (Appollonio et al., 1995). Higher prevalence rates tend to emerge in populations receiving rehabilitative and hospital care. DSI impacts independent physical function and verbal communication, along …

(Dis)Entangling Gender Expression And Race In Antigay Discrimination: An Intersectional Approach, Steph M. Anderson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Current psychological definitions and operationalizations of antigay discrimination conceptualize negative treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer (LGBQ) individuals as a response to their same-gender sexual orientations and not other factors. Because an individual’s sexual orientation is always understood through racialized hegemonic gender ideologies, however, attention to gender expression – how one “does” gender – and dynamics of race within antigay encounters is essential. Comprised of two mixed-method studies, this dissertation examines the role of gender expression and race in antigay discriminatory encounters from two perspectives: those who are targets of discrimination (i.e., cisgender and transgender LGBQ individuals) and those …

On The Screen, In The Mind: An Erp Investigation Into The Interaction Between Visuo-Spatial Information And Spatial Language During On-Line Processing, Emily Zane

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This project used Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) to explore neurophysiological brain responses to prepositional phrases involving concrete and abstract reference nouns (e.g., "plate" and "moment", respectively) after the presentation of objects with varying spatial features. Prepositional phrases were headed by in or on and were either matching (e.g., "in the plate/moment") or mismatching (e.g., "on the plate/moment"). Conjunction phrase matches and fillers were also presented. Before half of the concrete-phrase items, a photographic depiction of the reference noun was presented. In these photographs, objects were displayed in a way that was either more appropriate for in or for on. Similarly, before …

What The Tides May Bring: Political "Tigueraje" Disposession And Popular Dissent In Samaná, Dominican Republic, Ryan A. Mann-Hamilton

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

My dissertation is a historical and ethnographic project that delves into the conflictive relationship between the development of the Dominican state and the formation of the community of the port city of Samaná. The African diasporic community of Samaná has actively constructed the local space throughout shifting political projects, while sustaining their collective voices against the waves of dispossession crashing on their shores. Using a combination of archival research, participant observation, oral history and ethnography, I document multiple instances of state intervention to understand how the Samaná community has been coerced over time to consent to these processes. I juxtapose …

Understanding School And Interethnic Relations Of Mexican Immigrant Youth In A Post-Industrial Community, Roberto Martinez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

There is a dearth of literature on how immigrant groups understand minority groups in the United States, in particular, African-Americans. Increased technology and more rapid global movement in the 21st Century challenges 20th explanations of assimilation (Chicago School) and necessitates more research focused on how immigrant groups and racialized minorities interact to negotiate new worlds. This ethnographic research was conducted over thirteen months during 2012 and 2013 in a post-industrial neighborhood in the northeast that had been the site of 11 purported anti-bias attacks against Mexican immigrants during the summer of 2010. Research questions focused on: 1) Mexican immigrant youth …

Christ The Queer: Gender And Sexuality In Scorsese's "The Last Temptation Of Christ", Stephen Barnett

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Although great strides have been made since the landmark 1969 Stonewall Riots in liberating queer equal rights, both politically and societally, there are still prevalent belief systems in strong opposition to those human rights of gender and sexuality. Biblical religion, through its various monotheistic faiths and denominations, continues to condemn queer as a sin against God because, they argue, God, (through the text of the Bible written solely by men), defines queer as an abomination. Yet, the Book of Genesis queers human gender and sexuality through its narrative of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Nevertheless, the first …

Utilizing Linguistic Context To Improve Individual And Cohort Identification In Typed Text, Adam Goodkind

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The process of producing written text is complex and constrained by pressures that range from physical to psychological. In a series of three sets of experiments, this thesis demonstrates the effects of linguistic context on the timing patterns of the production of keystrokes. We elucidate the effect of linguistic context at three different levels of granularity: The first set of experiments illustrate how the nontraditional syntax of a single linguistic construct, the multi-word expression, can create significant changes in keystroke production patterns. This set of experiments is followed by a set of experiments that test the hypothesis on the entire …

Nondescript: A Web Tool To Aid Subversion Of Authorship Attribution, Robin Davis

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

A person’s writing style is uniquely quantifiable and can serve reliably as a biometric. A writer who wishes to remain anonymous can use a number of privacy technologies but can still be identified simply by the words they choose to use — how frequently they use common words like “of,” for instance. Nondescript is a web tool designed first to identify the user’s writing style in terms of word frequency from a given writing sample and document, then to suggest how the author can change their document to lessen its probability of being attributed to them. While Nondescript does not …

On The Syntax/Semantics Of Korean Nominal Particles, Han-Byul Chung

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this dissertation, I investigate the structural positions of i/ka-marked DPs and un/nun-marked DPs in the light of Kratzer (1988; 1995) and Diesing (1990; 1992). In Korean, unlike German (and English in part), vP-external subjects and vP-internal subjects are not distinguishable at the surface. However, by adopting Kratzer (1988; 1995) and Diesing (1990; 1992), we are able to distinguish between vP-external DPs and vP-internal DPs in Korean.

According to Kratzer and Diesing, syntactic position of a DP has affect in the interpretation of the DP itself, as well as the interpretation of the sentence …

Bilingual Latino Middle Schoolers On Languaging And Racialization In The Us, Sarah Hesson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation explores bilingual Latino middle schoolers’ articulated understandings of their language practices as well as the links between language practices and processes of racialization and discrimination in the US. The research was conducted in the context of an after-school program whose explicit aim was to not only document students’ experiences, but to use those experiences as a basis for generating individual and collective critical understandings among participants. The findings of this case study center on the ways youth understand processes of racialization, translanguaging, and translation in the context of an English-dominant society, and how these understandings are connected to …

Fragmentation And Multiplicity In Cuban-American Identity: In Cuba I Was A German Shepherd By Ana Menéndez And Memory Mambo By Achy Obejas, Daimys E. Garcia

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Maria Lugones offers a new way of perceiving the world, which makes visible that fragmentation is not a valuable and transgressive understanding of identity, as Western philosophy and some political theory suggests. What Lugones believes in, as a strategy of resistance to the dominant gaze, is multiplicity – mestizaje. Using Lugones’s framework, this thesis will look at the different aspects of Cuban-American characters in In Cuba I was a German Shepherd by Ana Menéndez and Memory Mambo by Achy Obejas. Each novel offers insight into how characters develop and understand themselves (and others) when they use language that shows that …

An Examination Of Black Male Success In High School Mathematics, David Walters Jr.

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

For a national sample of Black male students, what is the relative impact of instructional technology on 10th and 12th grade math scores? This dissertation employs two waves of the Education Longitudinal Study (2002 & 2004) and multivariate statistical techniques to explore the relative importance of instructional technology (implementation by teachers and training for teachers), student perception of math ability, teacher and school effects, as well as socioeconomic status on high school math scores for this unique population.

Bourdieu’s cultural and social capital, Coleman’s cultural capital and social action, Martin’s equity-based math education, and Gutierrez’s socio-political mathematics will serve as …

Breaking Cover: Confronting Crisis And Displacement In Timbuktu, Mali, Andrew Hernann

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In Spring 2012, a loose alliance of ethnic Tuareg nationalist and Jihadi-Salafist militant groups occupied Mali’s northern regions, forcibly displacing nearly 300,000 residents and ultimately imposing their harsh interpretation of shari’a among those who remained. Later, in January 2013, as these groups began marching towards southern Mali, the French army suddenly intervened, “liberating” urban centers in the North as the militants fled into the Sahara Desert and across the Algerian border. My research examines this period of occupation, displacement and intervention, which most Malians have come to term “the crisis.” Specifically, I analyze the cultural and religious frameworks through which …

Kongo To Kings County, Marcus Alan Watson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation aims to provide evidence to support the hypothesis that the artifact assemblage found in 1998 under the garret room floor in the attic of the Lott Farmstead is an extension of Kongo-descended cultural practices. This connection is shown by the presence of several artifacts that taken together, invoke a Kongo Cosmogram called the diKenga, alongside artifacts arranged in what is believed to be a Kongo N’Kisi, or spiritual container, that also originates in Kongo ideology. The ceramic found in the kitchen house with an incised X indicates a reverence to this diKenga symbol. Similar symbols have been found …

Effects Of Two Prereading Activities On Comprehending Science Text: Reading Abridged Text And Learning Vocabulary Words, Audrey J. Fowler

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The present study examined the effects of two prereading activities designed to improve fifth-grade students’ vocabulary learning and comprehension of science textbook content containing those words. Ninety-three fifth grade students participated in this study. The prereading activities consisted of students reading an abridged version of the text or receiving instruction on vocabulary words drawn from the text before reading the full text once. Students receiving these treatments were compared to a control condition in which students reread the full text passage twice but did not receive any prereading treatment. Students were grouped by reading ability levels into above average, average, …

The Reliability And Validity Of The Scan And Scan-C For Use With Children With Auditory Processing Disorders: A Systematic Review, Chana S. Stern

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Central Auditory Processing Disorder is a complex issue that affects many school-age children who require these processing skills to succeed in school. Prevalence has been found as high as 7% in this population making it a growing issue that must be addressed. Evaluating this population is exceedingly difficult due to the challenging nature of the pediatric population which requires a testing measure that will accomplish this task accurately and efficiently. The purpose of this paper is to systematically analyze the existing literature on the SCAN-C in order to investigate its’ reliability and validity in diagnosing Central Auditory Processing Disorders. This …

Examination Of The Impact Of Students' Skill Levels On The Effectiveness Of Evidence-Based Interventions For Improving Mathematics Fluency, Erica Fanning

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In recent years, many schools have attempted to address the academic difficulties of students with the use of response to intervention (RTI). RTI is a framework for matching instructional interventions with students’ academic skills in order to inform high-quality, evidence-based instruction. Numerous interventions, which have been derived from the acquisition and fluency stages of the instructional hierarchy, have been found to be effective. The present study employed a single-case multiple baseline across subjects design with an embedded alternating treatments design to examine the impact of students’ instructional level on the effectiveness of various interventions (fluency, peer tutoring, and combined, which …

Modulating The Semantic System: The Role Of Bilateral Anterior Temporal Lobes In Confrontation Naming- A Combined Tdcs And Eye-Tracking Study, Sameer Ashaie

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Confrontation naming is a complex process that involves multiple stages and can be initiated through multiple modalities. Models of confrontation naming have implicated areas such as the anterior temporal lobe (ATL) and temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) for the semantic stage of naming. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) was used to modulate neural excitability in the bilateral ATLs and the TPJs to understand brain-behavior relationships involved in the semantic stage of confrontation naming. Effects of tDCS are often very small or non-existent when measured by reaction times and accuracy. Therefore the present study used more sensitive eye-tracking measures (first fixation duration and …

Event Parsing In Narrative: Trials And Tribulations Of Archaic English Fairy Tales, Rebecca Lovering

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

While event extraction and automatic summarization have taken great strides in the realm of news stories, fictional narratives like fairy tales have not been so fortunate. A number of challenges arise from the literary elements present in fairy tales that are not found in more straightforward corpora of natural language, such as archaic expressions and sentence structures. To aid in summarization of fictional texts, I created an class - a template for a digital object, in this case a semantic and story event - that captures elements predicted to help classify events as important for inclusion. I wrote a processor …

Infixer: A Method For Segmenting Non-Concatenative Morphology In Tagalog, Steven R. Butler

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this paper, I present a method for coercing a widely-used morphological segmentation algorithm, Morfessor (Creutz and Lagus 2005), into accurately segmenting non-concatenative morphological patterns. The non-concatenative patterns targeted—infixation and partial-reduplication—present problems for many segmentation algorithms, and tools that can successfully identify and segment those patterns can improve a number of downstream natural language processing tasks, including keyword search and machine translation.

Included with this project is an implementation of the segmentation method described in the form of a Python library called Infixer. This approach involves a preprocessing step that re- structures non-concatenative patterns into concatenative ones using regular expressions, …

Crossing Boundaries: The Transnational Third Space Of Contemporary Chinese-Francophone Writers, Paula S. Delbonis-Platt

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Over the past two decades, a group of Chinese writers who pen their works in French, their adopted language, have garnered prizes in France and received international acclaim. The transnational voices of these writers have drawn attention to Chinese history, literature, and human-rights issues, as well as to their own diverse intersections with French culture. The four Francophone-Chinese writers studied—François Cheng (b. 1929), Gao Xingjian (b. 1940), Dai Sijie (b. 1954), and Shan Sa (b. 1972)—constitute themselves as subjects at least partially through their Chinese birth and French citizenship or residency and through the production of literary works that range …

Darwinian Debunking Reconsidered, Amanda J. Favia

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

What can evolutionary theory tell us about morality? From descriptive claims that explain morality as an evolved trait to normative (or prescriptive) claims that rely on evolution to describe how humans ought to behave, philosophers have debated whether or not evolutionary theory can or should inform moral theory. Most recently, the debate about evolutionary ethics has shifted to metaethics. In this case, philosophers have sought after evolutionary explanations in the hopes of resolving long-standing debates between moral realists and moral antirealists.

These metaethical debates have centered on what are called Darwinian debunking arguments. Proponents of the Darwinian debunking argument, …

Social Isolation, Social And Emotional Loneliness, And Self-Reported Hearing Difficulties In Older Adults With Hearing Loss, Yuliya Borik

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Hearing loss is known to affect communicative ability and has been associated with poor health-related outcomes such as impaired cognition, increased risk for falls, and psychotic manifestations. Social isolation and loneliness are also widely recognized to negatively impact mental and physical health. The purpose of this systematic review is to review literature that explores a relationship between hearing loss with and/or without self-reported hearing difficulties and social isolation and social and emotional loneliness in older adults with hearing loss ranging from mild to profound. The goal is to determine whether there is a direct relationship between subjective and/or objective hearing …

Language-Mixing In Discourse In Bilingual Individuals With Non-Fluent Aphasia, Avanthi Paplikar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Language-mixing (LM) as defined by Chengappa (2009, p. 417) is an “intra-sentential phenomenon referred to as the mixing of various linguistic units (morphemes, words, modifiers, phrases, etc.), primarily from two participating grammatical systems”. LM is influenced by grammatical, environmental, and social constraints (e.g., Milroy & Wei, 1995; Bhat & Chengappa, 2005). Researchers have suggested that LM in patients with aphasia is a communicative strategy used to achieve successful exchanges between speakers; the effectiveness of this mixing, however, had yet to be demonstrated quantitatively.

In the current study we investigated whether LM is present in bilingual speakers with aphasia, and if …