Digital Commons Network^™

Another World Entire: The Posthumanism Of Cormac Mccarthy, Margaret Henson Pless

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cormac McCarthy's novels are thought experiments in what it might mean to write posthuman works of fiction. In a close reading of three of his novels, Child of God, The Crossing, and The Road , this project reveals how McCarthy's stories paradoxically unravel the dangerous human desire to make of our world a story. His characters, Lester Ballard, Billy Parham, and the boy, become posthuman as they live increasingly outside of narrative. Their existences extend beyond the page, in a radical intimacy with the world, evident in the haunting and elusive presences, and absences, of wolves, hawks, trout, and even …

Language As Microaggression: The New Lexicon Of American Racism, Juan Thurmond

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There are countless occasions where marginalized groups bear witness to language-based discriminatory practices. Language, as defined here, is a species of symbolism. After reviewing the sociological literature, the term "microaggressions" appears to best describe the phenomena in its everyday occurrences. Microaggressions are "the brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, and environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial, gender, sexual-orientation, and religious slights and insults to the target person or group" (Sue, Capodilupo, et al., 2007; Sue, 2010). Sue classifies microaggressions into three forms: microassaults, microinsults, microinvalidations. The purpose of the project was tri-fold. By …

Developing Social Networks And Language Learning: Japanese Esl Students In A Study Abroad Context, Michiyo Fujimoto

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study investigates the relationship between the English language proficiency of Japanese students in a short term study abroad (SA) context and the structure of their social networks. Their personal social networks were investigated through individual interviews. Analyzing their investment in English along with examining their construction of social networks, the purpose of this study is to investigate if there are any relationships between their type of social network and their English proficiency. The data was collected through individual interviews. Their oral English proficiency was evaluated by the Speaking Proficiency English Assessment Kit (SPEAK) developed by the Educational Testing …

A Generic Qualitative Study Of The Experiences Of International Students Participating In The Cultural Connections Program At The University Of Mississippi, Nadezda Nikolaevna Kholomeydik

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to explore the experiences of international students participating in the Cultural Connections Program at The University of Mississippi. A generic qualitative design was utilized using purposeful criterion sampling. The data was collected from two focus group interviews with 11 participants in focus group 1 and 10 participants in focus group 2. Using a generic qualitative approach, eight initial themes were identified after focus group 1 and eight clarifying questions were developed based on these themes. During focus group 2, these clarifying questions were utilized to further explore the eight initial themes in more depth …

Masculinity In Comparative Black Literatures, Latoya Renee Jefferson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project examines the ways in which Black men in Africa and throughout the African Diaspora define themselves as gendered beings in their fiction and drama beginning with Richard Wright's publication of Native Son in 1940 to Mariama Ba's So Long a Letter published 1980. Black men created a transnational dialectic concerning their masculinity which involved the creation and criticism of several types of masculinity. In Chapters 1 and 2, I discuss the theoretical and the historical framework for this project. In Chapter 3, I discuss the first type of Black masculinity which was based in opposition to Euro-American stereotypes …

Between God And Man: Community's Place In Virtue, Practical Reason, And Transcendent Good, Jordan Herz Davis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Talbot Brewer's Retrieval of Ethics and Robert Adams's Finite and Infinite Goods present distinct theories in ethics and metaethics. Brewer begins with the fundamental ethical perspective of the practical deliberator who experiences his practical deliberations as a continuous, unified, and constantly revised activity which begins with inchoate intimations of goodness and proceeds better or worse to understand and pursue the goodness which pervades his evaluative outlook. From this Brewer aims to account for how we achieve excellence in practical deliberation and arrive at a more tenable and self-consistent evaluative outlook which informs our ethical deliberations. Alternately, Adams begins in the …

Problems With Truth: Scope, Mixing, And Truth Pluralism, Christopher Dyer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this paper, I will be taking up the debate between monistic and pluralistic inflationary theories of truth. Truth monism claims that there is one explanatory story which accounts for the truth of all and only true propositions. There seem to be, however, certain domains of discourse wherein monistic theories fail. If monistic theories cannot provide an explanation for how all true propositions are true, then they would not be adequate theories of truth. Truth pluralism is motivated to avoid the scope problem. The pluralist sees that there are as many truth properties as there are domains of discourse. A …

The Underrepresentation Of English Learners In Mississippi's Intellectually Gifted Education Program: A Framework For Change, Vicki Patterson-Davidson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

School districts have been struggling with the challenges of educating English learners for decades, long before the enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Yet, considering the abundance of research on English learners, relatively few studies have examined specific methods or efforts of districts and schools to identify English learners for participation in an intellectually gifted education program. The purpose of this study was to determine if particular gifted education programming, or programming criteria, impacts this student population's identification for participation in Mississippi's intellectually gifted education program. Specifically, this study aimed to investigate the district- and school-level …

Immersion Within Call, Jaime Ann Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to explore the idea of immersion and what constitutes immersion in Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL). CALL has increasingly become important in the field of SLA (Second Language Acquisition) and continues to grow in usage each year. As a graduate instructor of a basic level French course, my research focused on the immersion factor of CALL programs. This research was designed to obtain and analyze first year French students opinions of a CD-ROM CALL program by asking the following questions: (1) Did the participants feel immersed in the French language using the CD-ROM? …

Oil Wells And Well-Oiled Guns: The Resource Curse And Government-Directed Violence During The Arab Spring Uprisings, Vihara Anjalee Dharmaratne

Honors Theses

This thesis analyzes whether there is a positive correlation between the levels of government-directed violence and oil wealth, against the backdrop of the Arab Spring. Have governments of the Middle East and North African (MENA) states that possess more oil wealth used more violence on their protesting citizens than governments of states that have little or no oil wealth? Does the so-called “resource curse” apply to the outcomes of the Arab Spring? This thesis attempted to answer these questions by (1) studying the levels of government-directed violence in the Arab Spring uprisings and (2) examining the oil wealth and oil …

S㭠Se Puede... ¿Leer?: Assessing The Success Of The Cuban And Nicaraguan Literacy Initiatives, Camille Lyn Lesseig

Honors Theses

This research examines the literacy programs conducted in 1961 Cuba and 1980 Nicaragua. Given the similarities in the structure and implementation of the plan as well as the congruencies in rhetoric promoting the plans, this thesis explores the various internal and external variables that affected each country’s program to better understand the widely different results. To research these countries’ programs, I examined both primary and secondary source material related to each country, their educational programs specifically, as well as information about US foreign policy relationships with the countries during this time. Although both programs were initially successful in reducing illiteracy …

Ethnic Tourism’S Effect On Bai Ethnic Minority’S Identity In Dali, China, Tabitha Bandi

Honors Theses

This thesis focuses on the Bai minority group in the town of Dali, in China's Yunnan Province and examines the effect of ethnic tourism upon the identity ofthe Bai people. Through an analysis of governmental policies, both on the national and provincial level, economic policies, and different sources of Bai identity, such as travel magazines and articles, I have come to find that the Chinese state and Han Chinese have played a decisive role in the shaping and defining of Bai identity. Through the promotion of tourism and state policies, the Bai people have created a stronger sense ofidentity.

TABITHA …

Cultivating A Rainbow Median Through The Study Of Sexuality In Second Language Acquisition: Identity Construction Of Lesbian Women Native To The Southern Region Of The United States, Elizabeth Walker Graves

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite diverging theories concerning the dissimilarities between male and female speakers, there is a general consensus that there is relevance in the relationship between gender and language, especially when considering the sociolinguistic effects of gender in second language acquisition and for the L2 learner. While there is a wealth of publications dedicated to examining the relationship between gendered roles and language, the idea of superseding the study of gender roles with a more comprehensive and considered study of gender identities has not been as forthcoming until very recently. Furthermore, there is little significant research into the relationship between gender identity …

An Analysis Of Down Syndrome Children And The Importance Of Their Cognitive And Communicative Development, Maria Elisa Campana

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper will look at the issues of cognitive and communication development in children with Down Syndrome. With recent advances in neuroscience, educators need to understand brain development in order to utilize methods in dealing with education problems that occur with this population. Therefore this paper will look at the Down Syndrome child in both a physiological and educational context, to better understand appropriate methods of intervention. Moreover, brain development and learning involves not only genetic content specific to each individual, but also the many paths laid out by the family, environment, social and educational needs. As they move through …

The Applicability Of Video Self-Modeling For Adults With Developmental And Intellectual Disabilities, Lauren Elizabeth Cox

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Video Self-Modeling (VSM) has shown to be an effective intervention in modifying maladaptive behaviors in children, particularly those with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities (ID/DD). Although the effectiveness of VSM with children with ID/DD has been well established in the extant literature, considerably fewer studies have addressed the applicability of VSM with adults of the same population. Thus, the goal of the current study was to examine the utility of VSM with three adults with ID/DD, specifically targeting table manners as the behavior of interest for the intervention. Two aspects of table manners were measured utilizing a multiple baseline design: food …

Functional Morphology Of The Sphyrnid Shark Cephalofoil: An Assessment Of The Hydrodynamic Lift Hypothesis Using Computational Fluid Dynamics, Matthew K. Gaylord

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The hammerhead sharks (Family: Sphyrnidae) are all characterized by a conspicuous lateral expansion and dorsoventral flattening of the head forming a structure known as a cephalofoil, however, there is substantial morphological variation within the clade. Many theories have been proposed regarding the functional aspects of this structure. One of these is that it may produce beneficial dynamic lift as the shark swims (in similar fashion to the cambered wings found on many modern-day aircraft). As sharks do not possess a swim bladder, part of their energy intake is expended on simply maintaining vertical station in the water column. If indeed …

Selection Criteria For Identifying Gifted And Talented Minority Students In Grades One Through Five In Central Mississippi, Tracey Bell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to (a) evaluate and discuss strengths and weaknesses in the current system of identifying gifted students and (b) investigate the effectiveness of using the Naglieri Nonverbal Abilities Test to identify underrepresented and gifted minority students in grades one through five in Central Mississippi. The study consisted of 12 students who were screened using the traditional method of testing and 53 students who were screened using the alternative method of testing. This study attempted to explore strengths and weaknesses in the current system's minority gifted identification process. The alternate screening process did not demonstrate the …

Through The Eyes Of The Elder: Perceptions And Expectations Of Health Care, Micaela Marie Delashmit

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe elders' perceptions and expectations of healthcare. Qualitative in nature, this study was conducted in the methodology explicated by van Manen: hermeneuitc phenomenology. Data was collected in the form of personal interviews. Demographic data was collected to provide context for the study. Three essential themes, the future, time, and trust, and 10 subthemes emerged from analysis and further reflection upon the interviews of the participants. The them of the future included: concern for the future care of elders, financial concern, possible decline in the number or quality of healthcare providers, and …

Faulkner In Japan: A “Second Occupation”, Robin P. Helton

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

On The Fringes Of Peripheries: A Comparison Of The Working-Class Representations Of Larry Brown And Irvine Welsh, Christopher Paul Patterson

Honors Theses

In this thesis, I compare the fiction of Mississippi author Larry Brown and Scottish author Irvine Welsh, specifically in how they represent their respective regions’ working classes. The project concerns the genre of working-class fiction in both the American South and Scotland, as well as the general fields of Southern and Scottish contemporary fiction. The groundwork for this thesis began when I read Welsh’s Trainspotting while studying at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland during the spring of 2011.1 wanted to explore why Welsh’s working-class representations felt so similar to the Southern fiction I read at the University of Mississippi, …

“What Strange Creatures Brothers Are!: An Exploration Of Sibling And Pseudo-Sibling Relationships In Jane Austen’S Novels, Sarah Danielle Thornton

Honors Theses

In this thesis, I compare true sibling relationships with pseudo-sibling relationships in Jane Austen’s novels. I detail why siblings who become friends are generally more successful than friends who attempt to become siblings. With real siblings such as the Bennet sisters, the Dashwood sisters, and Fanny and William Price, there is already a familial obligation that allows them to transform their relationship into something deeper and more meaningful. In the cases of pseudo-siblings such as Catherine Morland and Isabella Thorpe, Emma Woodhouse and Harriet Smith, Fanny Price and Edmund Bertram, and Emma Woodhouse and Mr. Knightley, the transformation from friends …

Addressing The Health Needs Of Rural Native Veterans: Assessment And Recommendations, Tim D. Noe, Carol E. Kaufman, Elizabeth A. Brooks, Nancy K. Daily, Byron D. Bair, Jay H. Shore

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Native Veterans comprise unique populations within the VeteransAdministration (VA) system of care and represent a proud tradition of military service. Limited healthcare data available on rural Native veterans indicate significant disparities in access to care and health status compared with other populations. This article provides an assessment of current challenges, barriers, and issues related to addressing the healthcare needs of rural Native veterans and offers recommendations to improve healthcare for this special population. To meet the needs of rural Native veterans it will be important to: conduct needs assessments to gather important health data about rural Native veterans; develop a …

The Economic And Cultural Impacts Of Veterans On Rural America: The Case Of Iowa, Dan Krier, C. Richard Stockner, Paul Lasley

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Rural America has long been a crucial supplier of recruits and civilian personnel to the U.S. military. Rural America is also an essential source of cultural and political support for military activity. After their tours of duty have ended, many veterans return to rural communities where they continue to carry the values of their military experiences and extend military traditions into rural culture. Far away from the Pentagon and other corridors of military power live millions of geographically-dispersed rural veterans whose Veterans Administration benefits (cash payments, loans, medical care) and retirement pensions flow into, and become a crucial economic support …

Digital Technology Allows Clearer Observation Of Unpublished Faulkner Poetry, Edwin B. Smith

University of Mississippi News

No abstract provided.

November 10, 2011, The Daily Mississippian

Daily Mississippian (all digitized issues)

No abstract provided.

October 31, 2011, The Daily Mississippian

Daily Mississippian (all digitized issues)

No abstract provided.

October 19, 2011, The Daily Mississippian

Daily Mississippian (all digitized issues)

No abstract provided.

October 3, 2011, The Daily Mississippian

Daily Mississippian (all digitized issues)

No abstract provided.

September 29, 2011, The Daily Mississippian

Daily Mississippian (all digitized issues)

No abstract provided.

September 20, 2011, The Daily Mississippian

Daily Mississippian (all digitized issues)

No abstract provided.