Digital Commons Network^™

Pocket Monsters And Pirate Treasure: Fantasy And Social Platforms In The 21st Century, Jacob Waalk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

POCKET MONSTERS AND PIRATE TREASURE: FANTASY AND SOCIAL PLATFORMS IN THE 21ST CENTURY is an anthropology project examining media, fantasy, ideology, and social groups in order to build a better foundation for the ways in which economic and social changes influence social networking, popular media, and values by using the anime-manga subculture as an example. The thesis draws from three major theorists: Thomas LaMarre, Anne Allison, and Ian Condry as well as major anthropological theorists such as Pierre Bourdieu. As an ethnography, the project was split into two sections: one consisting of interviews with eight anime-manga subculture participants drawn primarily …

How Does The Audit Report's Structure Affect Nonprofessional Investors' Attention To Its Content?, Brian Matthew Goodson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study experimentally examines whether and how two potential changes to the audit report’s structure affect the extent to which nonprofessional investors attend to the report’s content when evaluating a potential investment, and whether the potential effects differ across levels of investor sophistication. Specifically, I examine the impact of descriptive paragraph headings and the relative location of the opinion paragraph on judgments of financial statement reliability and investment decisions. Results indicate that when the audit report includes descriptive paragraph headings, less sophisticated investors perceive the report to be more readable, which, in turn, leads them to attribute higher levels of …

The Effectiveness Of Teaching Methods In Traditional Amish Schoolhouses In Lawrence County, Tn, Ann Marie Paley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Amish community at Ethridge in Lawrence County, Tennessee is one of a handful in Tennessee, and, with a population of 1,500 and more than ten church districts, is the largest in the South and one of the top 20 in the nation. This particular Amish community was colonized when three families led by Dan Yoder, Joe Yoder, and Joseph Gingerich moved to the area from Ohio in the mid-1940s due to problems with the establishment of their own schools. Swartzentruber Amish are a subgroup within Old Order Amish society and occupy a distinct place on the conservative end of …

An Evaluation Of Geophysical Methods In The Detection Of Toddler-Sized Burials During The First Six Months Of Burials, Paul Sullivan Martin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Geophysical survey has become a major tool in the search for clandestine graves associated with missing person cases. However, relatively little research has been done to evaluate the efficacy of different instruments. Ground-penetrating Radar (GPR), magnetometry, resistivity, conductivity, and susceptibility survey data were collected over the first six months of interment at approximately 30-day intervals for two research plots: an open grassy area and a wooded area. Each area contained five pig burials representing toddler-size (less than 50 pounds) remains and two areas of disturbance or false burials to serve as control graves. The resultant imagery was evaluated in terms …

Development And Validation Of An Instrument To Measure Moral Distress Among Counselors Working With Children And Adolescents, Ian Scott Turnage-Butterbaugh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Falender and Shafranske (2004) stated it is “essential for clinicians to develop and understanding of all the influences, from conscious beliefs and culturally embedded values to unresolved conflicts at the margin of awareness, that contribute to clinical practice” (p. 81). The purpose of this study was to meet this professional imperative by developing an instrument designed to assess moral distress among counselors working with children and/or adolescents. Using open-ended surveys and semi-structured interviews, detailed descriptions of participants’ experiences of moral distress were obtained in order to gain an initial understanding of the ways in which the phenomeonon is experienced in …

Organic Angels: Innocence, Conversion, And Consumption In The Antebellum American Novel, Laura Jean Schrock

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Midcentury American novelists variously reworked the traditional conversion narrative to reflect a marked cultural shift in attitude towards human "nature," newly conceived as innocent and inclined to salvation. This liberalized aesthetic of conversion takes shape through the trope of the "organic angel," a developmental female figure whose journey from childhood innocence to saintly womanhood merges the processes of sexual maturation and Protestant conversion. Because she purifies self-interested desire by redirecting it towards spiritual ends, the organic angel provides a symbolic reconciliation of the young nation's budding imperial capitalism with its millennial expectations. While traditional emphasis on a maternal ethos at …

How Does Executive Function Skills Instruction Impact Student Executive Function Levels And Academic Achievement On Comcore State Standards Assessments?, Donna Akers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Executive function skills are vitally important to student success in school and later in life. Executive function skills can and are improved with specific skills instruction. The literature reveals a correlation between executive function and academic achievement. So, the theory proposed is that raising executive function levels will raise achievement levels. The role of executive function in student achievement in the ComCore State Standards was studied with a fourth grade class. It was conducted over a nine-week period, and used an experimental and control group. Both groups were given an executive function pretest and academic achievement (ComCore) pretest. During the …

Speaking In Wild Tongues: The Borderlands Of Eudora Welty And Alice Walker, Sara Gabler Thomas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In Borderlands/La Frontera Gloria Anzaldúa describes her experience undergoing a dental procedure as a battle between her wild tongue and the dentist. Beginning with a discussion of Anzaldúa’s concept of the wild tongue, this project asks how writers across the US South depict unruly tongues and infelicitous speech. Methodologically, this thesis inverts the comreading model in literary studies of reading Third World writers through First World theorists. Instead, beginning with Anzaldúa, I propose to reverse this process and assert a new reading methodology of reading First World writers through Third World theorists. The trope of the wild tongue will mobilize …

African American Vernacular English (Aave) In The Classroom: The Attitudes And Ideologies Of Urban Educators Toward Aave, Melanie Hines Knapp

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study of embracing African American Vernacular English (AAVE) in the classroom is often misunderstood. AAVE is an informal dialect spoken by many African Americans in the United States. Considering this dialect is spoken by many African American students, teachers have struggled with the appropriateness and legitimacy of its usage in the classroom for years. In order for teachers to help students maintain the richness and character of AAVE, yet allow students to learn and incorporate Standrd English conventions, they must embrace culturally relevant instruction.

Culturally relevant instruction (CRI) is an instructional approach that involves using students’ cultural and linguistic …

Mississippi Asl Project, James Corey Blount

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

American Sign Language (ASL) is a manual language used by many deaf people in the United States and Canada. For much of its existence, ASL was believed to be a system of rudimentary gestures and signs based on the English language. However, studies that analyzed the linguistic properties of this signed ‘mode’ (Stokoe, 1960) legitimized that it was a language independent of spoken language, with its own system of principles and elements to construct meaningful utterances. Like any language, ASL is influenced by the social demographics of its users. Social demographics such as ethnicity, geographic location, age, gender, and socioeconomic …

Communication Sciences And Disorders (Csd) Graduate Students' Preparedness To Work With Individuals Who Are Bilingual, Elizabeth M. Harbaugh

Honors Theses

This study addresses the overall competence of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) graduate students working with individuals who are bilingual. It examined the different CSD graduate programs in the United States and identified key variables that lead to students' preparedness. The author surveyed 238 individuals, consisting of first and second year graduate students and individuals working in their clinical fellowship from 30 different graduate programs. The data were collected from both Mississippi and the total population and were compared as an example of possible future research pertaining to SLP preparedness needed when working with individuals who are bilingual. The results …

Al-Arabiyyah, Le Français, And The Soul Of Algeria: The Language Tango Between Arabic And French In Algerian Education Policy And Defining Post-Colonial Algerian National Identity, Amir Aziz

Honors Theses

In Algeria, Arabic and French are the two most commonly spoken languages, sharing a contentious relationship with one another in relation to national identity. The centrality of French and its continued importance in Algerian society are due to the legacy of French colonialism, discussed in Section 1.1. The centrality of Arabic and its prominence is attributed to the spread of Islam and Arabo-Islamic culture, discussed in Section 1.2. The core of my research inquiry thus focuses exclusively on Arabic and French, due to their high visibility in Algerian society. The Berber language is the third most commonly spoken language, spoken …

Catalunya No Es Espanya?: Examining Catalan Nationalism, Shiloh Jaggers Jones

Honors Theses

Catalonia is one of a few European separatist movements that have real significance in the European political sphere. Separatism is new to Catalonia, however Catalan nationalism is not. Through the analysis of primary and secondary sources, this thesis explains that the reason the Catalan nationalist movement is so strong and demands the attention it is receiving in the Spanish national and international communities is the long-standing political, economic, and cultural foundations that have been building even before Catalonia was formed. Likewise, these foundations combined with the triggering events of the recession of the late 2000s and the Spanish constitutional court …

Women Hold Up Half The Internet: Examining The Political Identities Of Chinese Women Bloggers, Taylor Brack

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Perspectives On English Language Instruction Techniques: Lessons From Latin American Bilingual Programs, Kendal P. Herring

Honors Theses

This paper reviews current research about programs available for English language learning (ELL) students in the United States. It discusses what programs are best for language acquisition according to research and how to most effectively teach English to ELL students, specifically Spanish-speaking students. It tells the importance of implementing effective English instruction techniques due to the growing number of Spanish-speaking students in the United States. The paper analyzes information gathered from interviews with educators who have experience at bilingual schools in Latin America. Bilingual schools in Latin America provide English education in an environment consistent with evidence-based methods of language …

Death, Maintenance And Revitalization Of The Quechua Language In Peru: A Case Study With A Focus On San Pedro De Cajas, Madeline Fumi

Honors Theses

I would like to express my gratitude to several individuals who continuously supported me throughout the process of my thesis research and writing. I am very grateful to my advisor, Dr. Maria Fionda, whose constructive criticism helped challenge and develop my critical thinking and writing skills. A special thanks goes to my second reader, Dr. William Schenck, and my third reader, Dr. Felice Coles, who gave me useful feedback regarding how to incorporate my qualitative findings in my thesis to support my main arguments. I would also like to thank Maria Teresa Alvarado for her help with numerous Spanish translations …

Mitigation Of Preventable Medical Errors Via The Use Of Human Resources And Human Factors, Callender Creel

Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to discuss historical and current rates of preventable medical errors (PMEs), their causes, and methods used to reduce them. I will also provide recommendations that I believe can help reduce the number of injuries and deaths that result from them. Data and information used in this thesis were drawn from a variety of sources. While the large majority was sourced from articles in academic journals, government health reports, Federal Flight Administration documents, phone interviews, and personal experiences in the medical field also provided invaluable information. To summarize, there are two major types of preventable …

Opera Education In The Upper Elementary Music Classroom, Carmen Louise Taylor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Adults are increasingly becoming uninvolved with the arts and it is therefore important to cultivate a new audience, beginning with a well-rounded musical education for elementary-age children. Opera can easily be implemented as a part of a well-rounded musical education and can be taught in conjunction with multiple subjects. Anecdotal evidence suggests that children are exposed to negative stereotypes about opera without receiving proper education on the subject and are thus more likely to not be interested in opera as they grow older. A short survey was sent to fourth and fifth grade music teachers around the state of Mississippi …

The Influence Of Interventions On Reading Comprehension In A Second And Foreign Language, Anna Velezheva

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Reading comprehension is one of the crucial skills for the students enrolled or planning to enroll in language learning courses at North American universities. In order to be able to read academic texts, the students need to develop strong comprehension skills. The present study plays an important role in the field of second/foreign language (L2/FL) acquisition due to its attempt to investigate those classroom practices that can foster reading comprehension among international students learning English as a second language and American students learning German as a foreign language. The present study analyzes the influence of two interventions on reading comprehension …

The Comedy Of Frenchness: Exploring Social Issues In Mainstream French Cinema, Samantha Lund

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Standardized Articulation Test Performance Of African American Preschoolers In Mississippi, Emily Ortega

Honors Theses

In the past, standardized articulation tests administered by speech-language pathologists (SLPs) have had tendencies to be biased against speakers of a dialect with characteristics that differ from Mainstream American English (MAE). Using these MAE norm referenced tests can cause several problems, including over diagnosing African American (AA) children with impaired speech and language. The purpose of this study is to document the performance of four-year-old African American English (AAE) speakers for their use of age appropriate phonemes regardless of dialect, and whether the presence of AAE affects participants' scores on the following articulation tests: the Arizona Articulation Proficiency Scale-Third Edition …

A Comparison Of The Deaf Community And Hard-Of-Hearing Individuals On Their Knowledge And Opinions Of Cochlear Implants, Marian R. Bryant

Honors Theses

This thesis examined the opinions and knowledge of Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals on cochlear implants. Previous research presented showed the controversial opinions on what was known about cochlear implants as a result of speculation in the Deaf community. This thesis consisted of surveying Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals in order to have a better understanding of what is known about cochlear implants and the opinions that concur due to incorrect or correct knowledge. Thirteen subjects, including eight Deaf and seven hard-of-hearing individuals, completed the assessment. The results indicated that uncertainty about cochlear implants still remains; therefore, it is necessary to educate …

Apartheid In France: Galvanization Of Political Concern For The Role Of Ethnic Identities In French Society, Francesca Talley Diggs

Honors Theses

The French state's colorblind policy prescription is the base of a contentious, current debate over whether or not the government should acknowledge ethnic and racial components of its citizens and collect such data from minority groups. An increasingly colorful population presents new questions to the framework of French identity, legally blind to ethnicity, and tests the durability of the French model. Has the role of ethnic identity in France become a legitimate political concern under President Hollande's administration despite legislation that outlaws ethnic data collection? Is the illegality of ethnic statistics detrimental to combatting discrimination and social fragmentation in France? …

Modernizing The Marianne: The French Feminist Movement And Its Effects On Gender Equality, Hallie Grace Haines

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Preservice Teachers’ “Revelations And Connections”: Fostering Deep Conversations While Reading Multicultural Literature, Annmarie Alberton Gunn, Susan V. Bennett, Cynthia B. Leung

Journal of Contemporary Research in Education

We investigated strategies that a literacy teacher educator used to develop preservice teachers’ culturally responsive pedagogy. This study focused on (a) implementation of literature circles, (b) preservice teachers’ (n= 29) reading and analysis of multicultural children’s literature, (c) preservice teachers’ reader response reflective journals (RRRJ), and (d) reading comprehension strategies. We analyzed interviews with the professor and RRRJ (87 responses) as well as the course syllabus, reader response guidelines, and course evaluations to understand the lived experiences of the participants. We found preservice teachers recognize the benefits of literature circles and the utilization of RRRJ to develop an understanding of …

A Comparison Of Ell And Non-Ell Students’ And Guardians’ Perceptions Of Student Led Conferences, Charlotte Orso, Bryan Morgan

Journal of Contemporary Research in Education

The purpose of the study was to determine if the ELL and non-ELL students’ and guardians’ perceptions of student-led conferences were similar. The sample included 97 consenting guardians and 90 students from five fifth grade classrooms. The student and guardian participants were given parallel surveys to ascertain their perceptions of student-led conferences. The survey data were analyzed with the two one-sided significance test (TOST) technique to determine statistical significance. Additionally, 90% confidence intervals were constructed and analyzed to verify the results. Six of the nine student survey questions resulted in statistically equivalent perceptions between the ELL and non-ELL participants. Four …

November 11, 2014, The Daily Mississippian

Daily Mississippian (all digitized issues)

No abstract provided.

Indiana Professor To Discuss Growing Influence Of African Languages, Michael Newsom

University of Mississippi News

Linguist Antonia Schleicher to present 54th Christopher Longest Lecture

Indigenous Politics, Sumak Kawsay, And Community Tourism: A Case Study From Amazonian Ecuador, Christopher Jarrett

Southern Anthropologist

This essay explores the relationship between visions of the ideal society that emerge from social movements and local, small-scale socio-economic and cultural projects that might contribute to achieving these ideals. It discusses the concept of sumak kawsay, a term meaning “living well” in the Kichwa language, which has been used in Ecuador to refer to a holistic concept of well-being involving economic, environmental, and social factors. Sumak kawsay originally emerged in the discourse of Ecuador’s indigenous movements, and the country has incorporated the concept, along with its Spanish-language version of buen vivir, into its most recent constitution in 2008. Buen …

Roma And Czechs: Mindful Of Difference, Matthew Richard

Southern Anthropologist

This essay applies theory and method developed over the past two decades by a number of cognitively- and psychologically-oriented social scientists to explore antipathy between Czechs and Roma in the present-day Czech Republic. It investigates how Czech understandings of personhood and otherness are variously organized, acquired, and practiced. Although ethnic hatred continues to be a problem in the Czech Republic, recent findings in psychological anthropology advise against assuming that it is reproduced wholesale from one generation to the next—nor even one instant to the next. The main source of data is the narratives of twenty-five young Czechs, who recall their …