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A Reinforcement Learning Technique For Enhancing Human Behavior Models In A Context-Based Architecture, David Aihe Jan 2008

A Reinforcement Learning Technique For Enhancing Human Behavior Models In A Context-Based Architecture, David Aihe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A reinforcement-learning technique for enhancing human behavior models in a context-based learning architecture is presented. Prior to the introduction of this technique, human models built and developed in a Context-Based reasoning framework lacked learning capabilities. As such, their performance and quality of behavior was always limited by what the subject matter expert whose knowledge is modeled was able to articulate or demonstrate. Results from experiments performed show that subject matter experts are prone to making errors and at times they lack information on situations that are inherently necessary for the human models to behave appropriately and optimally in those situations. …

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Let Her Be Taken: Sexual Violence In Medieval England, Lindsey Mcnellis Jan 2008

Let Her Be Taken: Sexual Violence In Medieval England, Lindsey Mcnellis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rape and its impact on medieval women, as conceived by society and the law, have yet to receive extensive treatment. By analyzing not only rape cases, but evolving laws and the impact of the Church on views of sexuality and marriage and thus its influence on attitudes towards rape, this study shows that women were much more than victims and society, or the courts, reacted accordingly. Covering the years 1200 to 1250, this thesis examines secular court cases taken from the general eyre records of Yorkshire, Gloucestershire, Lincolnshire, Warwickshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Worcestershire and Staffordshire. Cases taken from the King's Bench …

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A Pure Space To Be Mexican: Ethnic Mexicans And The Mexico-U.S. Soccer Rivalry, 1990-2002, Paola Rodriguez Jan 2008

A Pure Space To Be Mexican: Ethnic Mexicans And The Mexico-U.S. Soccer Rivalry, 1990-2002, Paola Rodriguez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the soccer rivalry between Mexico and the United States that has been evolving since the early 1990s. Neither Mexico nor the United States are soccer powerhouse nations, yet their rivalry is arguably one of the most passionate contests in the world. For the Mexican National team the rivalry has become a struggle to maintain dominance and power in one of the few arenas where Mexico traditionally has had an advantage. The ability of the United States to challenge Mexican hegemony has intensified the rivalry. Although the United States has been able to score some victories inside the …

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Living And Thriving In The Land Of Milk And Honey: Religion And The Success Of Mexican Immigrants To The United States, Jamie Dodge Jan 2008

Living And Thriving In The Land Of Milk And Honey: Religion And The Success Of Mexican Immigrants To The United States, Jamie Dodge

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the role of religion in promoting the success of Mexican immigrants, as measured by typical U.S. standards of success, including income, education, assets (such as homeownership), and health, including access to health insurance, controlling for age, education, gender, and ability to speak English. These measures are analyzed against various indicators of religiosity. The hypothesis driving the research is: religiosity increases an immigrant's success in the United States. This hypothesis was informed by social capital theory, and a distinction is made between bridging and bonding forms of social capital. The results show only a very weak correlation between …

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University Of Central Florida Ir 2007-2008 Fact Book, University Of Central Florida Jan 2008

University Of Central Florida Ir 2007-2008 Fact Book, University Of Central Florida

Historical Fact Book and Enrollment

Historical fact book and enrollment data for the University of Central Florida.

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Leadership Orientations Ofcommunity College Presidents And The Administrators Who Report To Them: A Frame Analysis, Michele Mcardle Jan 2008

Leadership Orientations Ofcommunity College Presidents And The Administrators Who Report To Them: A Frame Analysis, Michele Mcardle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Presidents of Community Colleges and the administrators who reported directly to them were the subjects for this study based on the Four Frame Leadership Theory of Bolman and Deal (1990b). The Leadership Orientation (Self) Survey (LOS) was mailed to 169 community college presidents and administrators in the presidents' direct report teams. The final usable response rate of 69.82% to the survey fell within the acceptable range for education as defined by Boser and Green (1997). In addition, the subjects were asked to write about the most difficult challenge they had faced in their current position and how they handled that …

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The Perception Of Homeless People: Important Factors In Determining Perceptions Of The Homeless As Dangerous, Amy Donley Jan 2008

The Perception Of Homeless People: Important Factors In Determining Perceptions Of The Homeless As Dangerous, Amy Donley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study uses two quantitative and two qualitative data sources to determine if homeless people are viewed as dangerous and if they are what factors contribute to this perception. Areas examined are respondent's characteristics, media affects and the perceived rights of homeless people to urban space. Actual levels of perpetration among the homeless are examined to allow for comparisons between perception and reality to be made. Findings showed that race plays a major role in the perception of homeless peo-ple among whites, while gender is more influential among blacks. There was no rela-tionship between media and perceptions. A negative relationship …

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The Academic Achievement Of African-American Students In Orange County Public High Schools, Athena Adams Jan 2008

The Academic Achievement Of African-American Students In Orange County Public High Schools, Athena Adams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study was conducted to determine the disparity between the academic achievement of African American students and the academic achievement of white American students in the state of Florida, and more specifically, in five high schools in Orange County Public Schools. The term "African American" included all students who self-identified as that race upon enrollment into an Orange County public school. The study included male and female African American students from different socio-economic levels. The term "differences in academic achievement" is most commonly referred to as "achievement gap." Additionally, this study sought to determine the relationship, if any, in the …

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Exploring The Relationship Between Patients' Health Locus Of Control And Perception Of Physician's Support, Maria F. Ricci Twitchell Jan 2008

Exploring The Relationship Between Patients' Health Locus Of Control And Perception Of Physician's Support, Maria F. Ricci Twitchell

HIM 1990-2015

This study explored the relationship between patients' Health Locus of Control and their perceptions about the nature of their physician-patient relationship. The Locus of Control Scale and the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale were implemented to measure the degree of personal control individuals attribute to their health. The Health Care Climate Questionnaire was used to measure the perceived physician support. The predicted result of the study was that patients who exhibit a higher degree of internal health locus of control would report better relationships with their physicians. This hypothesis was confirmed; there was a positive relationship between Internal health …

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Improving Dimension Reduction Via Contour-Projection, Hansheng Wang, Liqiang Ni, Chih-Ling Tsai Jan 2008

Improving Dimension Reduction Via Contour-Projection, Hansheng Wang, Liqiang Ni, Chih-Ling Tsai

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Most sufficient dimension reduction methods hinge on the existence of finite moments of the predictor vector, a characteristic which is not necessarily warranted for every elliptically contoured distribution as commonly encountered in practice. Hence, we propose a contour-projection approach, which projects the elliptically distributed predictor vector onto a unit contour, which shares the same shape as the predictor density contour. As a result, the projected vector has finite moments of any order. Furthermore, contour-projection yields a hybrid predictor vector, which encompasses both the direction and length of the original predictor vector. Therefore, it naturally leads to a substantial improvement on …

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Men Who Have Sex With Men And Recruit Bareback Sex Partners On The Internet: Implications For Sti And Hiv Prevention And Client Education, Christopher W. Blackwell Jan 2008

Men Who Have Sex With Men And Recruit Bareback Sex Partners On The Internet: Implications For Sti And Hiv Prevention And Client Education, Christopher W. Blackwell

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Men who have sex with men (MSM) frequently use Internet-based Web sites to recruit sex partners. Although many MSM users of such sites advocate for safe sex practices in their personal profiles, some users actively recruit sexual partners who wish to participate in anal sexual intercourse without the use of condoms, also known as "bareback" sex. Participating in this sexual practice places both sexual partners at higher risk of HIV transmission. In addition, data indicate this behavior is associated with other high-risk activities such as drug use and communication of other sexually transmitted infections. This article summarizes the literature assessing …

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The Gendered Altar: Wiccan Concepts Of Gender And Ritual Objects, Jesse Sloan Jan 2008

The Gendered Altar: Wiccan Concepts Of Gender And Ritual Objects, Jesse Sloan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many ethnographic accounts within the annals of anthropological literature describe the religious beliefs and magical rituals of peoples throughout the world. Fewer scholars have focused on the relatively young Neo-Pagan religious movement. "Neo-Pagan," explains Helen Berger in Voices from the Pagan Census (2003), "is an umbrella term covering sects of a new religious movement, the largest and most important form of which is…Wicca" (Berger et al. 2003: 1). This thesis examines the relationship between practice and ideology by analyzing the material culture of Wiccan altars as used by Wiccans in Central Florida, USA. Particular attention is paid to beliefs …

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Collaborative Dispute Resolution In Superfund Enforcement:Does The Resolution Approach Vary By Community-Level Sociodemographic, Mary Collins Jan 2008

Collaborative Dispute Resolution In Superfund Enforcement:Does The Resolution Approach Vary By Community-Level Sociodemographic, Mary Collins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research examines environmental dispute resolution as applied to Superfund site cleanup and how the use of collaborative dispute resolution approaches, in particular Alternative Dispute Resolution and Community Involvement, are related to a community's socioeconomic and demographic profile. It examines the sociodemographic characteristics of residents living in census tracts containing Superfund sites in relation to the type of dispute resolution technique used. I hypothesize that collaborative dispute resolution techniques, as opposed to traditional settlement and/or litigation, are less likely to occur in Superfund communities with high poverty levels and high minority populations than in those with low poverty levels and …

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The Cost Of Being Me: Assessing The Consequences Of Compliance With Perceived Pressure To Assimilate In Work Roles, Tangela Phillips Jan 2008

The Cost Of Being Me: Assessing The Consequences Of Compliance With Perceived Pressure To Assimilate In Work Roles, Tangela Phillips

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Acculturation refers to the process of change and adaptation that occurs between members of cultural groups, especially when one or more minority groups merge with the majority (Berry, 1980). In order to effectively manage diversity, organizational leaders are beginning to realize the importance of understanding the dynamics associated with cross cultural interactions in the workplace. This dissertation focuses on the acculturation mode of assimilation relative to the experiences of 101 African Americans employed in faculty and staff positions in colleges and universities located in the Southeastern United States. Specifically, the moderating role of ethnic identity on the relation between perceived …

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Case Studies Of Reading Performance Of Male Students And The Single-Sex Classroom, Eric Basilo Jan 2008

Case Studies Of Reading Performance Of Male Students And The Single-Sex Classroom, Eric Basilo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Data from standardized test scores shows boys are falling further behind in literacy each year. Thanks to countless hours of research, we can pinpoint some of the causes for this decline. The major challenge educators face is how to keep boys interested in reading while placed in classrooms not necessarily designed to meet their needs. One option being explored is the use of single-sex classrooms. For over 160 years in the United States, public school single-sex classrooms have existed. The thought is that by separating boys and girls for academic classes, certain distractions will be eliminated, the environment can be …

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The Relationship Between School Culture And Third-Grade Fcat Reading Proficiency In Seminole County Public Elementary Schools, Kelley Novak Jan 2008

The Relationship Between School Culture And Third-Grade Fcat Reading Proficiency In Seminole County Public Elementary Schools, Kelley Novak

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to determine the relationship between school culture and student achievement. Elementary school teachers (N=574) from 27 schools in suburban Seminole County, Florida completed the School Culture Triage Survey to generate a school culture score. The participating schools were ranked and placed in categories representing the top 33% (N=9), middle 33% (N=9), and bottom 33% (N=9) of the population based on their culture score. School culture data were analyzed and correlated with third grade student achievement data, as measured by the 2007 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) Reading to determine if there were any relationships between (a) school …

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Effects Of Discussion And Writing On Student Understanding Of Mathematics Concepts, Joseph Roicki Jan 2008

Effects Of Discussion And Writing On Student Understanding Of Mathematics Concepts, Joseph Roicki

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For this action research project, I wanted to examine my practice of teaching mathematics. Specifically, I encouraged students to improve their communication skills during my math class through daily discussion and writing tasks. After establishing a class set of sociomathematical norms, the students solved problems provided by the Every Day Counts: Calendar Math program and used verbal and written formats to describe their problem solving methods and reasons. My study showed the effects of using discussion and writing to help students develop their conceptual understanding of mathematical ideas. Focus was placed on the quality of daily discussions and written tasks …

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Evaluation Of The Antecedents Of Cultural Competence, Mary Harper Jan 2008

Evaluation Of The Antecedents Of Cultural Competence, Mary Harper

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: The threefold purpose of this research is to identify the essential antecedents of cultural competence as identified by international nurse researchers, to compare the content of the extant cultural competence instruments to these antecedents and to potentially identify gaps in their conceptualization. A secondary aim of this research is to initiate validation of Harper's model of ethical multiculturalism. Conceptual Basis: The model of ethical multiculturalism depicts the attributes of ethical multiculturalism as the fulcrum of a balance between two ethical philosophies of fundamentalism and relativism. The attributes of moral reasoning, beneficence/nonmaleficence, respect for persons and communities, and cultural competence …

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The Influence Of Cultural Diversity On Initial Decisions To Trust In Newly Forming Teams: A Policy Capturing Approach, Heather Priest Walker Jan 2008

The Influence Of Cultural Diversity On Initial Decisions To Trust In Newly Forming Teams: A Policy Capturing Approach, Heather Priest Walker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the impact of diversity on the decision to trust at team formation when no history or prior relationship exists. The study consisted of two phases: 1) a selection phase and 2) a policy capturing phase. The first phase consisted of demographics, propensity to trust, and prejudice scales that were used to select participants for phase 2. The second phase consisted of a full factorial design, policy capturing study which consisted of 64 scenarios which varied the level (i.e., high and low) of 6 variables: cultural diversity, attribution, perceptions of risk, trustworthiness, third party information, and role clarity. …

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Determinants Of Turkish Police Officers' Perception Of Integrity: Impact Of Organizational Culture, Bahadir Kucukuysal Jan 2008

Determinants Of Turkish Police Officers' Perception Of Integrity: Impact Of Organizational Culture, Bahadir Kucukuysal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to examine the influence of police organizational culture on officers' perception of integrity in the Turkish National Police (TNP). Adopting an organizational rather than an individualistic perspective, this study focused on police organizational culture to investigate the causes of integrity problems in the TNP. While focusing on police organizational culture, this study also aimed to determine to what extent officers' perceptions of integrity are influenced by personal and occupational attributes such as age, gender, rank, income, educational level, years of employment, and assignment type. The research was conducted in Turkey's two largest cities, Istanbul …

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Understanding The Role Of Social Capital In Expertise Coordination In Information Systems Development (Isd) Teams, Shih-Chieh Hsu Jan 2008

Understanding The Role Of Social Capital In Expertise Coordination In Information Systems Development (Isd) Teams, Shih-Chieh Hsu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Information system development (ISD) project is a knowledge-intensive teamwork process which requires members to coordinate their expertise to generate the final outcome. Breakdown or coordination and insufficient knowledge integration have been reported as critical factors which lead to ISD project failure. Most existing coordination literature focus on the effect of administrative coordination mechanisms toward project performance which hints that more efforts are needed to understand expertise coordination and explore ways to improve it. Addressing the above issues, two studies in this dissertation attempt to understand expertise coordination within the IS development team based on social capital perspective. The first study, …

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Memories And Milestones: The Brighton Seminole Tribe Of Florida And The Digitization Of Culture, April Van Camps Jan 2008

Memories And Milestones: The Brighton Seminole Tribe Of Florida And The Digitization Of Culture, April Van Camps

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation project discusses individual photographs of the Brighton Seminole Tribe of Florida from the early 1900s to the current period, each organized by way of their institutional significance, not their place in chronological history. Following Jean Mohr and John Berger's model in Another Way of Telling, I create a narrative for the pictures with a discussion of historical information, current data from interviews, Tribal members' stories, and my own personal story as it is tethered to the tribe. The research addresses the following questions: Can photography offer a technological means to communicate culture in a vital, organic way? Can …

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Evolution Of Political Cleavages And Entry Of The Far-Right In Government Coalitions In Italy And Poland, Maxim Chernyshev Jan 2008

Evolution Of Political Cleavages And Entry Of The Far-Right In Government Coalitions In Italy And Poland, Maxim Chernyshev

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project focuses on a comparative analysis of governing coalitions between conservative and far-right parties in recent years in Italy (1994) and Poland (2005). The aim is to show how the inclusion of the radical right in government coalitions in these countries reflects recent changes in Western and Eastern European party systems through the reformulation of the old and formation of new party cleavages. The focus in the recent literature on personality clashes of party leaders over the distribution of ministry portfolios does not explain the nature of the disagreement between these leaders about key issues of national politics. I …

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Technological Disasters: An Investigation Of The Conservation Of Resources Theory On Depression, Brian Gentry Jan 2008

Technological Disasters: An Investigation Of The Conservation Of Resources Theory On Depression, Brian Gentry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Researchers studying the affects of resource loss following a technological disaster have exclusively investigated the acute period directly after the event occurred. This study applied Hobfoll's (1988, 1989) Conservation of Resources model in order to examine the long term effects of resource loss on depression in Cordova, Alaska a decade after the Exxon Valdez Oil spill. Results suggest that resource loss was a more prominent predictor for depression than demographics, involvement in the on-going litigation, or commercial fishing jobs. The research concludes that certain aspects of resource loss are critical in the development of depression after a technological disaster, and …

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The Social Construction Of Claims-Making: Bahamian Anglers Vs. Non-Resident Sports-Fishermen, Sara Neuenschwander Jan 2008

The Social Construction Of Claims-Making: Bahamian Anglers Vs. Non-Resident Sports-Fishermen, Sara Neuenschwander

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

On January 1, 2007, the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources in the Department of Marine Resources of the Bahamas promulgated significant revisions to their sports-fishing regulations. While the new laws were designed to benefit the Bahamian fisheries, they caused a vociferous uproar among non-resident anglers who frequent the islands of the Bahamas to sports-fish. Of particular concern are the new regulations that limit the maximum weight and number of fish which non-resident anglers may keep on their boat. My research examines the claims-making activities made by American anglers on four different sports-fishermen/cruising forums. The analysis focuses on the motifs, …

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We Are Not Responsible For Our Addictions, But We Are Responsible For Our Recovery": A Qualitative Exploratory Study Of The Li, Rachel Rayburn Jan 2008

We Are Not Responsible For Our Addictions, But We Are Responsible For Our Recovery": A Qualitative Exploratory Study Of The Li, Rachel Rayburn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This is an exploratory, qualitative study of homeless, recovering alcoholics and the problems they encounter maintaining sobriety. Using semi-structured interviews, I analyze the experiences of ten men in their forties, who are in a recovery program designed for homeless men. I ask them how they stay sober without a place to live. Three kinds of problems are inferred from their narrative histories. First, the men have difficulty identifying as alcoholics. They have trouble fully integrating into the AA program. Second, the men struggle to form relationships with others, especially with a sponsor. Third, the process of "working the steps" is …

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The Impact Of Religiosity On Sexual Victimization Experiences And Reporting Behaviors Among College Students, Nicole Bauer Jan 2008

The Impact Of Religiosity On Sexual Victimization Experiences And Reporting Behaviors Among College Students, Nicole Bauer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the relationship between religiosity of female college students and sexual victimization experiences. These experiences include the reporting behaviors that take place subsequent to an act of sexual victimization. The study utilized secondary data gathered from the forth wave of a longitudinal study funded by the National Institute of Justice between 1990 and 1995. The study used multidimensional levels of religiosity to analyze and to assess its impact on the sexual victimization experiences. Findings ascertained that certain behavioral measures of religiosity were consistently found to be a protective factor against sexual victimization. On the other hand, subjective measures …

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Brothers & Sisters: A New Impetus For Social Construction And Its Impact On Traditional Cultivation Analysis, Scott Elmore Jan 2008

Brothers & Sisters: A New Impetus For Social Construction And Its Impact On Traditional Cultivation Analysis, Scott Elmore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Scholars recognize television's ability to influence culture. According to Gerbner, television creates socially constructed realities through the cultivation of its viewers. Television is designed to satisfy the diverse needs of large audiences. The mainstream messages conveyed via television have power to alter perceptions and change culture. Gerbner's theory was constructed from the analysis of crime dramas with single plot lines. Using the ABC television program Brothers & Sisters, this thesis explores the theoretical implications dramas with multiple plot lines have on traditional notions of cultivation theory. Through a content analysis and focus groups, evidence was acquired to suggest that cultivation …

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Integrating Key Elements In An E-Learning Curriculum For An Optimum Educational And Interactive User Experience, Heather Stearns Jan 2008

Integrating Key Elements In An E-Learning Curriculum For An Optimum Educational And Interactive User Experience, Heather Stearns

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study determines the particular components that are considered the best practices to use when implementing an e-Learning curriculum. Technical communicators and instructional designers have numerous development options to choose from. However, practices that work in academe do not always integrate well in a corporate setting, and what works for one corporation may not work for another. There is no singular methodology for developers to apply that enables e-Learning to fit every organization's needs. Research shows that to ensure a successful online learning implementation, a sound project management team must be in place at the beginning of the project planning. …

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Constructing African American Histories In Central Florida, Katherine Parry Jan 2008

Constructing African American Histories In Central Florida, Katherine Parry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

From the time of their occurrence up to the present, people have constructed and revised narratives about violent racial events in Florida. In the case of the racial violence in Ocoee and the lynching of July Perry, multiple accounts coexisted until one particular group in the 1990's contested earlier conservative white Southern narratives with new public memories containing African American perspectives of the events, demanding racial justice and memorialization of the events. A struggle over the power to construct this narrative resulted in compromises between the two sets of memories. While some goals were attained, the landscape of memorization remains …

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