Digital Commons Network^™

Quadratic Reciprocity: Proofs And Applications, Awatef Noweafa Almuteri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The law of quadratic reciprocity is an important result in number theory. The purpose of this thesis is to present several proofs as well as applications of the law of quadratic reciprocity. I will present three proofs of the quadratic reciprocity. We begin with a proof that depends on Gauss's lemma and Eisenstein's lemma. We then describe another proof due to Eisentein using the $n$th roots of unity. Then we provide a modern proof published in 1991 by Rousseau. In the second part of the thesis, we present two applications of quadratic reciprocity. These include special cases of Dirichlet's theorem …

Charlotte The Assassin: A Novel, Mary Berman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The novel takes place during the federalist revolt of 1793, during the French Revolution. It involves murder, witches, and female friendships and romantic relationships.

Courtroom Wars: Constitutional Battles Over Conscription In The Civil War North, Nicholas Matthew Mosvick

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In February 1863, Congress considered a bill to create for the first-time conscription at the national level. Democratic politicians vigorously protested that the proposed act was unconstitutional and destroyed the state militias. When Congress passed the Enrollment Act, commonly known as the “Conscription Act,” on March 3, 1863, outcry from Democrats about the unconstitutionality of national conscription immediately followed. In New York and Pennsylvania, Democratic newspaper editors and politicians decreed the act the worst among the Lincoln war measures in threatening to subvert the constitutional republic and to transform the United States into a despotism under the control of an …

Community Resilience: A Meta-Study Of International Development Rhetoric In Emerging Economies, Rachel Ann Haggard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Understood generally, community resilience is the ability of communities to adapt, absorb, mitigate, and recover from shocks and stressors in such a way that facilitates positive future outcomes and reduces overall vulnerability to future shocks and stressors (Adger, 2000; Norris, Stevens, Pfefferbaum, Wyche & Pfefferbaum, 2008; USAID, 2013; Walker et al., 2004). The core of this definition relates to sustainability and the capability of socio-ecological systems and communities to adapt and transform to both day to day fluctuations and stressors as well as major disasters (Milman & Short, 2008; Walker et al., 2004). This meta-study seeks to shed light on …

The Politics Of Place, The Urban-Rural Divide, And Geographic Identities In American Politics, Daniel Fudge

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To test these theories, I conduct a series of empirical tests using survey data from the American National Election Survey (ANES) and an original survey experiment. Chapter two examines how people’s ideological perceptions are moderated by living in a particular area. Using the ANES data, I conduct a regression analysis with an interaction of the respondent’s ideology and the geographic location. Chapter three analyzes how individuals perceive a political candidate based on partisan and geographic information presented to the respondent. Using an original survey experiment, this study seeks to illustrate how individuals across urban and rural America perceive Republican and …

Not All Scholars, But Gentlemen: The Making Of Virginian Manhood At St. Christopher's School, 1911-1969, Katelyn Frazer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Through close study of St. Christopher’s School—an all-boys’ school in Richmond, Virginia—during its first fifty years, this thesis historicizes upper-class white masculinity in Virginia during the first half of the twentieth century. The school’s founder, Churchill Gibson Chamberlayne, linked the Lost Cause myth with other movements in education at the time, especially Muscular Christianity and the country day school movement. By looking at how students and administrators at St. Christopher’s made and remade traditions surrounding notions of masculinity, in addition to more muted manifestations of gender at the school, illuminate the existence of a gender hierarchy even before gender integration. …

What’S Going On? The Disproportionate Discipline Of Upper Elementary Male Students In Little Tiger Elementary School, Amy Katrise Sutton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This action research study investigates the problem of disproportionate male discipline at LTES, specifically through the implementation of the PBIS program. Both quantitative and qualitative data provide a thorough explanation of student misbehaviors and discipline reporting practices at LTES. Through the utilization of teacher surveys, interviews, descriptive statistics, and anecdotal notes, the researcher presents findings which provide hope for improving male student behavior and discipline reporting practices. The study focuses on answering the overarching question, did the action plan result in a 20% decrease of male student discipline referrals within the first year of implementation? To answer this question a …

Of Mules And Mamas: Four Women, Africana Mothering, And Resistance, Ebony Olivia Lumumba

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The black woman’s humanity is unjustly linked to domestic responsibility and, thus, the traditional constraints of mothering. The roles of the mother and the created archetype of the mammy often become marred with the latter role overtaking the former—leaving black children without full benefit and access to their biological maternal parent. With the pervasive threat to black lives present in spaces all over the globe, for women of the African Diaspora, simply deciding to accept the role of a mother to a life that is physically, socially, and economically under siege is revolutionary. Considering this, the act of mothering, especially …

We Know Where You Belong At: Institutions And Marginalized Bodies In The Literature Of Charles Chesnutt, William Faulkner, And Eudora Welty, Michelle Lynn Ayers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis portfolio explores how three southern authors used fiction to push back against social norms. The literary works of Charles Chesnutt, William Faulkner, and Eudora Welty depict the ways in which marginalized bodies are socially regulated and punished. By using Michel Foucault’s theories about power and knowledge, I explore how each of these works uses surveillance to regulate social behavior and what happens to marginalized bodies that refuse to conform to the norm. In Chesnutt’s novel The Marrow of Tradition, Dr. Miller uses his “medical gaze” to diagnose problems within the black community while also elevating himself above his …

The End Times, Gunnar Ohberg

Honors Theses

The End Times is a collection of apocalyptic short stories set within the same universe. The stories employ elements of magical realism and grit lit. It is the author's hope that each story deal with at least one external societal issue (such as digital discourse and sexual aggression) and one internal psychological issue (such as depression, obsession/compulsion, and survivor's guilt). Each story is told in the first-person in an effort to best demonstrate the various psychologies of its protagonist. In these stories, God has decided to punish humanity for their transgressions. The devices of this God are fantastic: limbs disappear, …

Prowler: Stories, Conor Hultman

Honors Theses

These are a collection of five short stories. Their common feature is the use of the first-person perspective. The intent of these prose experiments was to find the limitations of the first-person narrative, to see how it could be disfigured and reborn. In preparation, I read several books with my advisor that are known for their strong first-person voices. These included: If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home by Tim O’Brien, Always Happy Hour by Mary Miller, The Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker, Birds of America by Lorrie Moore, and The Collected Stories of …

Student Perceptions On Being Assessed By The Actfl Opi Before And After Studying Abroad, Kayla P. Vonburg

Honors Theses

In this study I investigated students’ perceptions of being assessed with the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) before and after studying abroad. This study aimed to determine if students’ study abroad experiences might affect their perceptions of being assessed by means of this exam and, if so, how. The participants were 96 college juniors and seniors who were International Studies majors at the University of Mississippi. Students in this program take a foreign language course every semester, study abroad for at least one semester, and take the ACTFL OPI before graduation. The …

Sustainability In The Sanctuary: An Analysis Of The Relationship Between Christian Churches And The Environment, Katelyn Campbell

Honors Theses

Paper bulletins, weekly customized song sheets, disposable coffee cups—all parts of a regular communal church gathering on Sunday mornings. Where do these products go after the service is over and the pews are empty? Combining the topics of environmental sustainability and organized religion, this thesis explores how local churches view the intersection of environmental sustainability and faith practices in Oxford, Mississippi. Preliminary research has shown that while many global denominations publicly issue statements supporting environmental practices and encouraging sustainable behavior, often these statements are not effective in directly influencing a local church’s behavior as it relates to implementing environmentally sustainable …

The Effect Of Instructional Expenditures On Student Outcomes: Evidence From St. Louis-Area Public School Districts, Noah Antle

Honors Theses

This thesis seeks to contribute to the broader conversation over the relationship between school spending and student outcomes. Using twenty-two public school districts in the St. Louis area, annual data on instructional expenditures and two measures of student outcomes (average composite ACT score and the percentage of high school graduates to enroll at a 2- or 4- year college or university within 180 days of graduation) was collected by request from the Missouri Department of Education and Secondary Education. Regression analysis was conducted with this data to determine whether or not raw changes in instructional expenditures per student or the …

6th-12th Grade Math Teachers And Their Experiences With The Mississippi College- And Career-Readiness Standards, Dorothy Reid

Honors Theses

This thesis identifies and describes 6th-12th grade math teachers and their experiences with the Mississippi College- and Career- Readiness Standards. There are two parts to this thesis: 1) a survey distributed to public school math teachers across the state and 2) the written thesis. In my thesis, I craft teacher narratives from the quantitative and qualitative results of the survey. Listening to the teachers’ narratives provides beneficial insights to the implementation of the MCCRS at the classroom level. Teachers have many different experiences. My thesis offers policy recommendations, based on the teacher narratives, to three levels of education: teachers, schools …

“Nosotras Como Mujeres”: The Environmental Activism Of Indigenous Women Of The Ecuadorian Amazon, Leta Rowan

Honors Theses

Across Latin America, indigenous organizations have mobilized against environmental destruction inflicted upon their communities. Environmental destruction brought about by climate change and extractive industries has been especially devastating in the Western Amazon- the most biologically diverse region of the Amazon and home to a diversity of indigenous populations. The efforts of indigenous organizations in the Western Amazon, notably the Ecuadorian Amazon, have been successful in affecting progressive environmental policies as a means to protect their natural environments and standards of living. Indigenous women specifically have played a significant role in addressing the climate injustices affecting their communities and have employed …

Generational Expressions Of Basque Nationalism, Mollie Bradford

Honors Theses

This work studies the difference in the expressions of Basque nationalism between the Basque youth and the older generations of the Basque population in the Basque Country of Spain, or Euskadi. I hypothesized that the Basque youth would express nationalism banally, or in everyday activities, while the older generations would be intentional and active in their expressions, due to the older generations’ experiences with the Franco regime and ETA, the Basque terrorist group. I researched using articles from a Basque newspaper, Euskal Irrati Telebista. I chose key words and searched through articles written in 2017. I also conducted a survey …

Dismantling The “Deep State”: The Evolution Of Legitimacy In The American Intelligence Community, Sydney Carol Stanard

Honors Theses

SYDNEY CAROL STANARD: Dismantling the “Deep State”: The Evolution of Legitimacy in the American Intelligence Community (Under the direction of Dr. John Winkle)

This thesis explores the nature of legitimacy and how it applies to the American intelligence community. The laws and regulations that allow the intelligence community to be a legitimate actor within the American democracy have changed over the years, and there have been periods where these safeguards have failed. I will examine how and why these legitimacy crises, were rectified in the past and how current legitimacy questions are affecting the intelligence community. My research is based …

Increasing Instructional Leadership: An Applied Research Study On The Effects Of Developing Principals As Instructional Leaders In The Magnolia County School District, Leigh Anne Newton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This applied research study seeks to improve principal capacity as instructional leaders. The need for principals to increase their instructional leadership capacity became evident with the ever-changing requirements of state accountability and student achievement. Using four elements in this study, cohort-based professional development for principals, principal PLCs, data meetings, and consultant and district administrator campus visits, the program sought to develop and grow principal leadership. Surveys, focus groups, and interviews were used in the study. The findings reveal improvement in instructional leadership capacity in the district and can provide educators with information, including an action plan, to implement instructional leadership …

Apply Now!: Utilizing Application Date To Predict College Enrollment, Jennifer Leigh Phillips

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Using Perna’s (2006) college choice model as the conceptual framework, the researcher utilized two data analyses to complete this study. First, multiple regressions were performed on three groups of variables: entrance examination, core high school gpa, and cumulative high school gpa; gender, ethnicity, and residency; and first-generation status and Mississippi congressional district. Second, a chi square test was completed to discover how likely it is that a student’s application date is related to the acceptance rate (likelihood of acceptance) and yield rate (likelihood of matriculating) of the University of Mississippi freshman class.

Story Reading As A Method For Cognate Vocabulary Learning In Preschool Children, Patricia Thomasio Quinelato

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative experimental study aims to investigate the learning outcomes of foreign-language cognate vocabulary in preschool children with the use of story reading; more specifically, how the frequency of appearance of the words in children's stories affect the learning outcomes of foreign-language cognate vocabulary and how the children's retention of highly similar cognates compares to that of partial cognates. Stories are believed to be an authentic and credible source of knowledge; they make information more memorable and promote active meaning making (Rossiter, 2002). The procedure includes six sessions with the children for each story: 1. a vocabulary pre-test before each …

Daily Metacognitive Questioning Sheets: Implementing Metacognitive Strategies In The Secondary Classroom, Shawna Sue Hill-Robinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the possible impact that incorporating daily metacognitive questioning in a mathematics classroom could have on student achievement. The study integrated metacognition into the classroom through the daily use of metacognitive questioning sheets that were answered by students who participated in the research study. The study also explored patterns that emerged from the students’ individual responses on the metacognitive sheets using qualitative coding and analyses. Two classes of heterogeneously grouped high school dual-credit college algebra students were taught the same curriculum by the same teacher and given the same summative assessments during the study. One class received the …

X-Ray Crystal Structure Of Au36(Sph-Pch3)24 Nanomolecules, Vigneshraja Ganeshraj

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Au36(SR)24 is one of the most comNanomolecules (NM) in gold NM field and crystal structures of Au36(SR)24 with different thiolate protecting ligand such as tert-butylbenzene thiol, thiophenol and cyclopentane thiol have been reported. It has been predicted that aromatic thiol protected Au36(SR)24 NM have same core structures like the other reported Au36(SR)24 NMs. Due to the steric and electronic conjugation effects the staples on the gold core exhibit minor changes in the bond length without affecting the gold core. By varying the Gold:Thiol ratio the NM size can be controlled. Herein, we report the synthesis, isolation and characterization of two …

Care In The Workplace:The Employer’S Role In The Alleviation Of The Eldercare Problem, Joseph Michael Duda

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Center for Disease Control has referred to the group of people, aged 18-35, who have an elderly dependent they care for (by which I mean physical, emotional, or mental assistance necessary for the elderly dependent’s continued living) and are entering the workforce as the “sandwich” generation. These people are at the age where they may be simultaneously raising a child and taking care of an elderly family member. It has been estimated that, as of 2006, 17% of the U.S. workforce belong to the sandwich generation. In addition to the sandwich generation, there are 44 million people in the …

Increasing Teacher Retention: An Applied Research Study On The Effects Of Mentoring And Culture In The Abc County School District, Jimmy Holland Weeks

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This applied research study sought to improve the retention rate of beginning teachers through a teacher mentoring program. The need for the teacher retention rate to improve became evident as student achievement fell, new teacher training costs increased, and fewer new teachers entered the teaching profession. Using four elements in this study, mentoring, job-embedded coaching, individual growth plan, and culture development, the program sought to better support new teachers during the first few years of their careers. Surveys, evaluations, collaboration logs, and professional growth plans were used in the study. The findings revealed improvement in the teacher retention rate in …

Road Trippin': Twentieth-Century American Road Narratives From On The Road To The Road, Scott M. Obernesser

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

"Road Trippin:’ Twentieth-Century American Road Narratives and Petrocultures from On The Road to The Road" examines late-twentieth century U.S. road narratives in an effort to trace the development of American petrocultures geographically and culturally in the decades after World War II. The highway stories that gain popularity throughout the era trace not simply how Americans utilize oil, but how the postwar American oil ethos in literature, film, and music acts upon and shapes human interiority and vice versa. Roads and highways frame my critique because they are at once networks of commerce transportation and producers of a unique, romantic …

Virtually There: A Phenomenological Study Of Secondary Students And Their Engagement With Virtual Reality Field Trips, Melissa Sonta Thomas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study seeks to inform solution to the lack of student exposure to frequent, culturally enriching field trips in school. To address the concern of limited learning through school field trips, this phenomenological study seeks to explore the lived experiences of virtual reality field trips for secondary students. The study seeks to examine how students respond emotionally, physically, and cognitively to the use of virtual reality within the classroom. Data analysis consists of observing, interviewing, and assessing students as they engage in and complete a virtual reality field trip. The three research domains are transcribed and analyzed to better understand …

Validating Military Culture: The Factor Analysis Of A Military-Related Adaptation Of Acculturation, Mathew A. Tkachuck

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The concept of acculturation has a long history, and measures of the construct attempt to assess the degree to which attitudes and behaviors reflect the interaction between different cultures. Berry’s acculturation framework (1997) is arguably the most empirically-supported and well-known model of acculturation. Berry’s model posits that an individual may have difficulty appropriately adapting to a culture different than his or her own depending on how much they are oriented to either culture. Moreover, Searle and Ward (1990) hypothesized that an individual’s acculturation orientation, in addition to how different the dominant and non-dominant cultures are from one another, impacts psychological …

Rambling Blues: Mapping Contemporary North American Blues Literature, Josh-Wade Ferguson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

“Rambling Blues: Mapping Contemporary North American Blues Literature” revises the methodological assumptions that have underwritten our understanding of blues literature and the politics of race and region that surround it. Where previous commentators have defined blues literature primarily through its formal and thematic connections with blues music and with the sociohistorical contours of black southern life more generally this dissertation expands the boundaries of how we conceive blues literature by examining Langston Hughes’ poems “The Weary Blues” (1925) and “Po Boy Blues” (1926) August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (1984) Jesmyn Ward’s Salvage the Bones (2011) James Hannaham’s Delicious Foods …

Decolonial Resistance In Latinx Writings From Peru To The United States: A Portfolio, Isabel Norwood

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This collection begins with the premise that colonial relationships manifest in ways beyond exploitation of one nation by another. It relies on the decolonial theory of Walter D. Mignolo in its assumption that imbalances of power in the realms of race gender sexuality and class are fundamentally colonial. With this more expansive understanding of coloniality in mind I examine resistance to colonial exploitation in a range of texts from across the Americas. The first essay in this collection explores the role of the guinea pig in Andean food culture arguing that the continued consumption of guinea pig represents a form …