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Afterword: Disciplinarity And The Future Of Creative Writing Studies, Joseph M. Moxley

English Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

How Folk Classification Interacts With Ethnoecological Knowledge: A Case Study From Chiapas, Mexico, Aaron M. Lampman

Journal of Ecological Anthropology

Folk taxonomies play a role in expanding or contracting the larger domain of ethnoecological knowledge that influences when and how cultural groups use living things. This paper demonstrates that ethnomycological classification is limited by utilitarian concerns and examines how Tzeltal Maya ethnoecological knowledge, although detailed and sophisticated, is heavily influenced by the structure of the folk classification system. Data were collected through 12 months of semi-structured and structured interviews, including freelists (n=100), mushroom collection with collaborators (n=5), open-ended interviewing (n=50), structured responses to photos (n=30), structured responses to mushroom specimens (n=15), and sentence frame substitutions (n=20). These interviews were focused …

Envisioning A Quantitative Studies Center: A Liberal Arts Perspective, Gizem Karaali, Philip I. Choi, Sara Owsley Sood, Eric B. Grosfils

Numeracy

Several academic institutions are searching for ways to help students develop their quantitative reasoning abilities and become more adept at higher-level tasks that involve quantitative skills. In this note we study the particular way Pomona College has framed this issue within its own context and what it plans to do about it. To this end we describe our efforts as members of a campus-wide committee that was assigned the duty of investigating the feasibility of founding a quantitative studies center on our campus. These efforts involved analysis of data collected through a faculty questionnaire, discipline-specific input obtained from each departmental …

Latent Newspaper Functions During The Impact Phase Of Hurricane Katrina, Christina A. Brown

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Media is used by audiences for more than its simple role as information provider. Audiences have been found to use news providers output in a multitude of ways. It has been found that some audience members have used such output as a way to gain social capital that aids in the generation of feelings of social cohesion with their community. This has been found to be especially true during the impact phase of a natural disaster, such as a hurricane (Perez-Lugo, 2004). Unfortunately what news providers specifically articulate that might have this latent use by audiences has not been studied …

Communication, Consumption And Manipulation: The Body As Language In The Films Of Jan Švankmajer, Amanda Marie Dowd

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis I will analyze and discuss the work of renowned director Jan Švankmajer. Specifically, I will examine how director Jan Švankmajer’s representation of the body creates a metaphorical language. In addition, I will address what meaning can be gathered from, or made apparent through the commentary of the body’s language and discuss the significance of the socio-political implications. Prior to my discussion of Švankmajer’s work I will give a concise socio-political history of the Czech Republic from 1968-1994; this discussion will provide a framework for the subsequent analyses. In order to provide support for my argument, I will …

Running Toward The Apocalypse: John Updike’S New America, Bob Batchelor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation explores two critical points in understanding John Updike's recent career. First, I examine him from a perspective outside the heavily-studied Rabbit tetralogy. Focusing on Updike's novel Terrorist, I attempt to counter the misperception that he offers little beyond the chronicling of middle-class, suburban America. Instead, this work digs for a deeper understanding of Updike.

Next, I consider Updike's role as an artist, professional writer, and celebrity to draw out a sense of the writer's life in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Using him as a case study enables the analysis to include his changing role as a …

Living With Sugar: Socioeconomic Status And Cultural Beliefs About Type 2 Diabetes Among Afro-Caribbean Women, Chrystal A.S Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the U.S., individuals of Afro-Caribbean and Latino descent are two to three times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than non-Hispanic whites. Caribbean and Latin America migrants, particularly minority women bear a disproportionate burden of type 2 diabetes and its risk factors. The purpose of this research is to investigate if Afro-Caribbean women share a cultural belief model about type 2 diabetes and how this belief model, along with structural barriers to health care, influence disease risk and management.

A sample of 40 women, primarily Jamaican and Trinidadian, 35 to 90 years of age previously diagnosed with type …

Warm Ideas And Chilling Consequences, Arthur P. Bochner

Communication Faculty Publications

In the process of writing my academic memoirs spanning a period of more than thirty-five years, I discovered how crucial the work of Gregory Bateson had been to my life as a teacher, a scholar, and a relational partner. In this paper I celebrate Bateson's charming and incisive ideas about how communication works, his deep reservations about the worship of quantification, and his astute analysis of what is at stake when we make epistemological errors in everyday life. Reviewing a turning point in my academic life—a conference held in 1979, I reaffirm the importance of warm ideas and provide a …

Establishing Creative Writing Studies As An Academic Discipline, Dianne J. Donnelly

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The discipline of creative writing is charged "as the most untheorized, and in that respect, anachronistic area in the entire constellation of English studies (Haake What Our Speech Disrupts 49). We need only look at its historical precedents to understand these intimations. It is a discipline which is unaware of the histories that informs its practice. It relies on the tradition of the workshop model as its signature pedagogy, and it is part of a fractured community signaled by its long history of subordination to literary studies, its lack of status and sustaining lore, and its own resistance to reform. …

Altman…Now, More Than Ever: Social Conflict In The Films Of Robert Altman, Walker Hicken

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There is much scholarship to suggest that the idea of America is an idea of a meritocracy. Generally, the ideal construction of American meritocracy involves people working hard and being able to accomplish whatever they set their minds to. Filmmaker Robert Altman constructs a very different America. In Altman's eyes, success is achieved through promotion, either self-promotion or promotion by others. An individual's status, whether it be within a peer group or on a national level, is far more important that the actual work that that person has done. This thesis will also examine how Altman presents this promotion as …

Southern Rock Music As A Cultural Form, Brandon P. Keith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Southern rock bands of the 1970s were a cultural formation that displayed racially and politically progressive views in the post-civil rights South through the cultural form of southern rock music. Southern rock bands, such as The Allman Brothers Band, and Lynyrd Skynyrd, responded to the political and social changes in the South brought forth by the civil rights movement by reconciling pride for southern heritage with progressive racial views through their music. The southern rock era was essentially between the years of 1969, when The Allman Brothers Band released their first album, until 1977, whe n a tragic airplane crash …

Constructing A New Nationalism From Below: The Dalit Movement, Politics And Transnational Networking, Lisa A. Daily

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research examines one potential route for sub-national social movements to alter preexisting contemporary nationalisms- the transnational social movement network. When social movements "go global" they move beyond the nation where they are typically excluded from the national project and instead, become members of an alternative and inclusive transnational project. What social movements do at this level is not under examination here, but rather how they go about returning to their respective nations and challenging the hegemonic national project. Does the transnational site impact the success of sub-national social movements? Is a movement more likely to achieve its goals and …

City Level Development New Key To Successful Development, Gina Herron

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Development is one of the most debated issues in political science today. There has never been a clear consensus reached on what is one successful path to developmental success for nations to follow. Organizations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and already developed nations have long touted a policy based on rapid privatization, which has been often referred to as shock therapy.

During this current period of globalization it has never been more important for underdeveloped nations to successfully move towards development, in order for those nations to not be left behind in an ever increasing …

"Which Way To The Honky-Tonk?" An Analysis Of The Bakersfield And Nashville Sounds, Matthew Arnold

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this thesis is to analyze the development of the Nashville and Bakersfield sounds in the 1950s and 1960s through the lens of space. I will examine the role class plays in country music by examining the places in which it developed. Beginning with a historical perspective of the music, I will show that a middle-class outlook controlled labeling of the music. While the early country music industry professed to "discover" the sounds of rural America, this sound was only allowed to be expressed if it conformed to corporate interests.

With the advent of the honky-tonk bar, the …

Fantasies Of Metal And Wires: Battling Corporate Hegemony And The Achievement Of Posthuman Masculinity In Recent Superhero Cinema, Joseph J. Cook

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

During the summer of 2008 many movies were released with superhero protagonists. Combining textual readings and theoretical accounts to provide a phenomenological analysis of the representation of the counter-hegemonic struggle against corporate control and the achievement of posthuman masculinity in these recent superhero films, this thesis compares and contrasts specific visual and thematic elements that consistently appear in four of these films: The Dark Knight, Wanted, Iron Man, and Speed Racer. Providing intertextual exploration of the cultural status of specific cinematic superheroes, this project explores possible relationships between culture, society, and cinema, treating popular superhero cinema …

The Development Of Nationalism In The Indian Case, Sriram Madhusoodanan

Grace Allen Scholars Theses

Narratives, particularly historical narratives, frame our identities: they tell the story of our origins and provide us with direction to guide future action. Considering the numerous movements they have fostered in past 200 years, few identities have been as powerful a motor for social change or emerged as loudly on the world stage as national identities. In this context, India presents a unique case. In attempting to classify it, India could be labeled a multi‐nation state, due to the immense diversity of linguistic, cultural and ethnic groups that reside within it, each with its own particular historical narrative and myths …

Realness And Hoodness: Authenticity In Hip Hop As Discussed By Adolescent Fans, Ginger L. Jacobson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Various forms of media penetrate our lives daily. Hip hop music has gained universal appeal and widespread success that permeates barriers of race, class, gender, age, and nationality. It is important for social service workers, parents, educators and other adults who interact with youth to understand the roles hip hop music and culture can play in the identities of those who are listening. In this study I conducted 12 open-ended interviews with adolescent hip hop fans about their music. The research presented in this thesis suggests that adolescent hip hop fans are making interpretations from the media and applying them …

The Participation Of Ngos In Healthcare: The Case Of Pediatric Cancer Treatment In Argentina, Cecilia Vindrola Padros

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The deterioration of the Argentine public health system has lead to an increase in non-governmental involvement in the provision of health services. The emerging relationship between these sectors is filled with tensions, contradictions, and negotiations, reflecting the historical trajectory of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the transformations of the public health system. These problems are specifically evident in programs that focus on pediatric oncology treatment due to the fact that ideas about childhood, chronic disease, and mortality construct an unusual collaborative framework between governmental and non-governmental healthcare professionals. Pediatric cancer contradicts traditional notions of childhood; it points out the ambivalences associated …

Swift: Peculiar Supporter Of Female Writers, Robert N. Gamache

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) is not traditionally known for valuing the company of women. While contemporary critics tend to be more forgiving and defer to the prevailing values of the eighteenth century, they generally do not dwell on the positive influence that Swift had on female writers of his day. This thesis will work towards remedying that omission by analyzing the writing of three prominent female contemporaries of Swift: Delariviere Manley, Mary Barber and Laetitia Pilkington. While varying in writing ability, each of the three women in this thesis had a personal relationship with Swift, was invited to join his "inner …

The Mashup As Resistance? A Critique Of Marxist Framing In The Digital Age, Adam Rugg

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis critiques contemporary scholarly approaches to the modern musical mashup that rely on outdated and over-generalized Marxist frameworks. These frameworks stem from an Adornian view of the culture industries that places consumers and producers in distinct and opposing roles. The mashup is therefore seen as little more than a subversive weapon for a resistant consumer class in its fight against the hegemonic structure of the mass media. A case study of the prominent mashup artist Girl Talk is presented to illustrate how the mashup can actually function as a celebratory form and how modern technological advances have destabilized traditional …

Cultural Response To Totalitarianism In Select Movies Produced In Czechoslovakia, Hungary And Poland Between 1956 And 1989, Kazimierz Robak

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines resistance against totalitarian propaganda in select movies produced in regions subjected to Soviet-imposed totalitarian system. From 1939 to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Central-Eastern Europe has experienced two of the most devastating and genocidal political systems in the history of the humankind. Nazism was destroyed with the end of WWII, and met widespread condemnation. Sovietism, commonly known as Communism, survived WWII and the Soviet totalitarian empire rose to the position of the world's second superpower. Effective and organized Soviet propaganda generated a new convincing image of Sovietism as a harmless, friendly and progressive system. …

At What Cost? : Spanish Neutrality In The First World War, Carolyn S. Lowry

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While historians have gone to great efforts in studying the belligerent powers during the First World War, very little attention has been paid to such neutral powers as Spain. Several European nations declared neutrality in 1914, but many strayed from this course in favor of active belligerence. Spain, however, remained neutral for the war's duration; thus, this thesis examines and explores the nature of Spanish neutrality during the First World War. Spain's decision to adhere to a neutral policy required serious consideration as it had to weigh the consequences and advantages of intervention; however, military and economic weakness, as well …

Agriculture And Tampa Bay News: How Do Local News Media Frame Agribusiness?, Alex R. Ritzheimer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose for this thesis was to explore a dynamic between the news media, their subjects, and their audience. I investigate whether everyday news media frame the information they deliver in such a way as to potentially direct the audience on how to respond to news stories. The setting for this research question is in the Tampa Bay area of Florida and the subject matter deals specifically with agriculture, its practitioners, how they do business, and how the local news media report about it. The issue will be explored from an applied anthropological perspective, basing conclusions on field research and …

Si Cycle In The Cariaco Basin, Venezuela: Seasonal Variability In Silicate Availability And The Si:C:N Composition Of Sinking Particles, Robert C. Thunell, Claudia Benitez-Nelson, Frank E. Muller-Karger, Laura Lorenzoni, Mary Scranton, Ramon Varela, Yrene Astor, Kent A. Fanning

Marine Science Faculty Publications

A 9‐year time series of water column and sediment trap measurements was used to examine silicon cycling within the anoxic Cariaco Basin. The dynamic hydrographic regime within Cariaco Basin results in strong seasonal changes in nutrient availability and the Si:C:N of sinking particles. Upwelling in early winter injects silicic acid (Si(OH)₄⁼ ) and nitrate (NO₃⁻) rich waters into the photic zone which stimulates primary production and results in opal fluxes in excess of 4 mmol Si m⁻² d⁻¹. However, even during upwelling, surface waters tend to be depleted (<1 μM) in …

Scripting The Unscripted: Gender And Sexual Orientation In Strategy-Genre Reality Television, L Elizabeth Zollner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Since 2000, there has been an explosion of "reality," or unscripted, television shows in a variety of formats. The series in which new societies are created in isolation appeared almost immediately to be influenced by certain identity constructs, particularly gender and sexual orientation. Audiences came to these shows with definite expectations already in place. I intend in this study to determine why this is so and what those expectations are.

Survivor, the germinal presentation of this genre, has as its motto "Outwit, Outplay, Outlast." However, as the show has developed through many iterations, the ability to literally survive in …

Culture Learning In Spanish Companion Book Websites: An Analysis Of Tasks, Angela Cresswell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Internet with its World Wide Web feature opened up a whole new frontier for language-culture learning that foreign language textbook authors have integrated into their programs. Designing tasks that progress beyond promoting learners' passive consumerism and reiteration of facts remains a goal and a challenge. Thus, three research questions characterized this study that sought to examine the on-line tasks associated with six current Spanish textbook programs. The design focused on an analysis of these tasks in light of prevailing culture learning concepts and other pedagogical paradigms posited by reputable foreign language educators to determine if they filled the gap …

Dividing Up Intelligence Education, Robert Clark, Ph.D

Journal of Strategic Security

At this year's annual conference of the International Association for Intelligence Education (IAFIE) in Monterey, CA, the keynote speaker posed the question, "How much do you need intelligence education outside the beltway?" Which led to a second question discussed during the conference: "What should such education look like?" In short, what should we be teaching in universities? What should we leave to the intelligence community as training? And what could be done in either or both settings? The first question of any educational effort is:What are we preparing students for?

The Social Context Of Stress And Social Support Among Immigrant Latinas Diagnosed With Breast Cancer, Dinorah Martinez Tyson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Social support plays a crucial role in both the physical and mental adjustment to the diagnosis of breast cancer and its treatment. However, the mediating effects of social support are embedded within the larger, social and cultural contexts in which support given and received. Due to language, culture and economic issues, immigrants may find themselves without the social support and networks that had previously enabled them to cope with illness and disease. This research grounds our understanding of social support and breast cancer within that larger context that includes the social environment and the experience of health disparities.

Ethnographic methods …

Cultural Factors And Concepts Of Pollution: Colorectal Cancer And Health Behaviors Among Ashkenazi Jewish Women, Karen Besterman-Dahan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence in Ashkenazi Jews has been found to be highest of any ethnic group in the world (Feldman, 2001). It is currently unclear how culture and religion influence health behaviors of U.S. Ashkenazi Jews, as well as what other socio-cultural factors influence AJ women's attitudes towards CRC risk and screening practices. This study aimed at exploring and describing the cultural and religious influences on health behaviors and beliefs related to CRC in Ashkenazi Jewish women. Research participants included seven key informants (rabbis) and forty-two Ashkenazi Jewish women ages 50 and up. Methods included in-depth, qualitative interviews …

The Social Context Of Cervical Cancer Knowledge And Prevention Among Haitian Immigrant Women, Janelle Marie Menard

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cervical cancer is the primary cause of cancer deaths among Haitian women; however, the social context of cervical cancer among Haitian immigrant women has not been systematically examined. The ways in which women assign meaning to this disease, understand its causality and situate it within the broader context of gynecological health are poorly understood. Further, Haitian immigrant women's perceptions of disease risk, including knowledge and understanding about Human Papillomavirus (HPV), the primary etiologic factor in cervical cancer, have not been explored. Few studies have assessed health behaviors, including culturally mediated feminine hygiene practices, among Haitian immigrant women, which may negatively …