Digital Commons Network^™

Overcoming The 5th-Century Bce Epistemological Tragedy: A Productive Reading Of Protagoras Of Abdera, Ryan Alan Blank

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis argues that the most prominent account of Protagoras in contemporary rhetorical scholarship, Edward Schiappa's Protagoras and Logos, loses critical historiographical objectivity in Platonic overdetermination of surviving historical artifacts. In the first chapter, I examine scholarship from the past thirty years to set a baseline for historiographical thought and argue that John Muckelbauer's conception of productive reading offers the best solution to the intellectual and discursive impasse in which contemporary Protagorean rhetorical theory currently resides. The second chapter explains the pitfalls of Platonic overdetermination and the ways in which Plato himself was inextricably situated within an ideological blinder, from …

Incredi-Bull-Ly Inclusive?: Assessing The Climate On A College Campus, Aubrey Lynne Hall

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students have unique experiences on campus such as discrimination, exclusivity, and homo/transphobia. Stated simply, this research project intends to address these issues by 1) identify students' perceptions of gender identity and sexual orientation diversity on campus, 2) identify the experiences of LGBT students during their time at the institution, and 3) acknowledge suggestions from the student body for ways the University being studied is, or may continue to be, inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Through the application of the campus climate framework and modification of existing climate surveys, a student-centered campus climate …

Can Anyone With Low Income Be Food Secure?: Mitigating Food Insecurity Among Low Income Households With Children In The Tampa Bay Area, Edgar Allan Amador

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the US over the last few years, approximately 14.5% of households experience food insecurity at some point throughout the year. While studies on food insecurity in the US have determined that household income and specifically income available to spend on food is of critical importance to food security, it is still unclear why some households with low income are able to maintain food security while others experience food insecurity in a pattern characterized as not constant but recurrent. This dissertation compares households with children at different levels of food security and insecurity using the USDA Core Food Security Module …

The Weekly Challenger, July 3, 2014, The Weekly Challenger, Et Al

Weekly Challenger Newspaper Collection

The July 3, 2014, issue of The Weekly Challenger.

Expanding The Scope And Relevance Of Health Interventions: Moving Beyond Clinical Trials And Behavior Change Models, Khary K. Rigg, Hilary H. Cook, John W. Murphy

Mental Health Law & Policy Faculty Publications

An overemphasis on clinical trials and behavior change models has narrowed the knowledge base that can be used to design interventions. The overarching point is that the process of overanalyzing variables is impeding the process of gaining insight into the everyday experiences that shape how people define health and seek treatment. This claim is especially important to health decision-making and behavior change because subtle interpretations often influence the decisions that people make. This manuscript provides a critique of traditional approaches to developing health interventions, and theoretically justifies what and why changes are warranted. The limited scope of these models is …

Librarians As Wikipedians: From Library History To “Librarianship And Human Rights”, Kathleen De La Peña Mccook

School of Information Faculty Publications

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia built collaboratively using wiki software, is the most visited reference site on the web. Only 270 librarians identify as Wikipedians of 21,431,799 Wikipedians with named accounts. This needs to change. Understanding Wikipedia is essential to teaching information literacy and editing Wikipedia is essential to foster successful information-seeking behavior. Librarians who become skilled Wikipedians will maintain the centrality of librarianship to knowledge management in the 21st century—especially through active participation in crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing is the online participation model that makes use of the collective intelligence of online communities for specific purposes in this case creating and editing …

Her-Storicizing Baldness: Situating Women's Experiences With Baldness From Skin And Hair Disorders, Kasie Holmes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A general goal to my study was to promote an inclusive approach to baldness by sharing and centering women's experiences with baldness from skin and hair conditions, such as autoimmune alopecia areata conditions and monilethrix. Specifically, a main goal of my study was to her-storicize the lived experiences of women who are bald from skin and hair conditions by examining medical and cultural discourses surrounding these conditions, femininity, and female baldness. Additionally, my study considers strategies of accommodation and resistance that bald women perform in a given context, space, or time. For instance, I consider the ways participants manage their …

The Portrayal Of Immigrants In Children's And Young Adults' American Trade Books During Two Peak United States Immigration Eras (1880-1930 And 1980-2010s), Rina Roula Bousalis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Although immigrants are an integral part of the nation's founding and history, it is unclear how they have been historically portrayed in children's and young adults' American trade books, especially at the turn of the 20th century. This study offers a critical and comparative analysis focusing on the historical evolution, depiction of immigrants, and authors' perspectives of selected trade books written during two peak United States immigration eras (1880-1930 and 1980-2010s).

Utilizing a discourse analysis approach, this study examined how first-generation immigrants were portrayed in selected trade books and how various themes and representations may have affected students and …

Routledge Companion To Intelligence Studies. Edited By Robert Dover, Michael S. Goodman And Claudia Hillebrand. New York, Ny: Routledge, 2014. Isbn 978-0-415-50752-3. Figures. Tables. References, Index. Sources Cited. Pp. Xvii, 363., Mark J. Roberts

Journal of Strategic Security

No abstract provided.

Novel Models And Efficient Algorithms For Network-Based Optimization In Biomedical Applications, Seyed Javad Sajjadi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

We introduce and study a novel graph optimization problem to search for multiple cliques with the maximum overall weight, to which we denote as the Maximum Weighted Multiple Clique Problem (MWMCP). This problem arises in research involving network-based data mining, specifically, in bioinformatics where complex diseases, such as various types of cancer and diabetes, are conjectured to be triggered and influenced by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. To integrate potential effects from interplays among underlying candidate factors, we propose a new network-based framework to identify effective biomarkers by searching for "groups" of synergistic risk factors with high predictive …

More To Love: Obesity Histories And Romantic Relationships In The Transition To Adulthood, Hilary Morgan Dotson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Previous research suggests that obesity can be stigmatizing in interpersonal relationships, including romantic relationships. Timing of obesity and weight stability are also especially important. The negative effects of obesity on interpersonal relationships appear most salient in women and Whites, while men and racial/ethnic minorities appear to experience fewer negative consequences from obesity in their relationships, suggesting that an intersectional lens is necessary in studies on the long-term effects of obesity on interpersonal relationships. In this dissertation, I employ an intersectional lens to understand how histories of obesity, gender, and racial/ethnic identity work together to influence three aspects of romantic relationships …

Inter-Organizational Social Network Information Systems: Diagnosing And Design, Matthew T. Mullarkey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While IS research into on-line Inter-Personal (IP) Social Networks (SN) is highly visible, there has been surprisingly little focus on the use of on-line social networks for Inter-Organizational (IO) communications, interactions, and goal achievement. We explore the issues and challenges facing organizations in their design and use of inter-organizational social network information systems (IO SNIS). Artifact design principles are drawn from a new and insightful model that contrasts the advantages of existing innovative inter-personal (IP) SNIS artifacts with Social Network Theory on differences between IP and IO Social Networks. This research extends the existing streams of IS social networking research …

Paradise Always Already Lost: Myth, Memory, And Matter In English Literature, Elizabeth Stuart Angello

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation follows a collection of agentive objects around and through the networks of humans and nonhumans in four disparate works of English literature: the Anglo-Saxon poem The Dream of the Rood, William Shakespeare's narrative poem The Rape of Lucrece, Thomas Hardy's novel The Woodlanders, and Philip Pullman's trilogy His Dark Materials. Applying the emergent discourses of object-oriented analyses, I posit the need for a critique that considers literary objects not as textual versions of real-world objects but as constructs of human imagination. What happens when we treat nonhuman or inanimate objects in literature as full …

In The (Radical) Pursuit Of Self-Care: Feminist Participatory Action Research With Victim Advocates, Robyn L. Homer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite victim advocates' missions of helping survivors of abuse, advocacy work takes a toll on workers. Advocates perform a multitude of tasks in their jobs including care work, emotional labor, and empowerment counseling which may subject them to consequences such as burnout, compassion fatigue, and compassion satisfaction. As such, this thesis details the work I conducted with the Butterfly Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault agency shelter advocates. The purpose of my thesis was to (1) document and review advocates' self-identified work-related needs and to (2) co-construct an educational intervention with the advocates using feminist participatory action research that would help …

The Use And Effectiveness Of Online Social Media In Volunteer Organizations, Amy J. Connolly

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Volunteer organizations face two challenges not found in non-volunteer organizations: recruiting and retaining volunteers. While social media use is increasing amongst individuals, its use and effectiveness for volunteer recruitment and retention by volunteer organizations is unknown. The dissertation reports the results of three studies to investigate this important question. Using a mixed-methods approach, it addressed the dual nature of social media and its effectiveness by including volunteer organizations and social media users.

This dissertation found that although volunteer organizations are not using social media effectively, they could virtualize requirements of the recruitment process by focusing on relatable events instead of …

Negotiating Muslim Womanhood: The Adaptation Strategies Of International Students At Two American Public Colleges, Amber Michelle Gregory

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

From a Western perspective, North Americans and Western Europeans perceive Muslim women as being oppressed (Andrea 2009; Lutz 1997, 96; Ozyurt 2013). Led by this assumption, some view studying abroad as an international student as an experience that allows Muslim women the opportunity to "escape" this supposed oppression and to know "freedom" in the U.S. However, Muslim women's experiences are more dynamic and complex than this dualism suggests. In this thesis, I explore adaptation strategies of Muslim women international students, and how gender, race, and religion affect their experiences while abroad. Furthermore, I explore the women's use of emotion management …

"Is That What You Dream About? Being A Monster?": Bella Swan And The Construction Of The Monstrous-Feminine In The Twilight Saga, Amanda Jayne Firestone

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This dissertation argues that Bella Swan is a representation of Barbara Creed's monstrous-feminine which serves to reinforce ideologies that insist women are abject, inherently dangerous to men, and threatening to a patriarchal status quo. Through close-textual analysis of The Twilight Saga, I demonstrate how the monstrous-feminine frames the hysterical teenage body, hypersexuality, and eternal motherhood as simultaneously unacceptable and unavoidable. These negative women's stereotypes continue to persist in dominant popular culture, and this doublebind is overcome only by the impossible perfection of vampirism. The monstrous-feminine invites constructions of teenage bodies as unstable and unreliable, women's sexuality as dangerous and …

In Search Of The Artist: The Influences Of Commercial Interest On An Art School - A Narrative Analysis, Michael Leonard Sette

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The current study will investigate how identities and roles of the artist converge with competing identities and roles fostered at the institutional level within an art college as revealed through the marketing literature that they produce to attract students and business partnerships. The sociological focus for this proposal is the tension between art as a creative expressive endeavor and art as a commodity that has entered into social transactions unintended by the original expression of the artist. The researcher documents and describes (via narrative analysis) how an art school negotiates competing relationships between the pressures to teach and promote art …

2014-2015 A&S Signed Budget Bill, Abdool Aziz

Legislative Branch Publications

No abstract provided.

Commencement Convocation Program, Sarasota - Manatee Campus, May 5, 2014, University Of South Florida

USF Graduation and Convocation Programs

Golden Bull Service & Outstanding Leadership Award - Kaleigh Lundy; Outstanding Graduate - Christopher Lee Davis; Outstanding Professor - Ernest Scott; Paul Serls Webecke Award - Ryan Harris Stulman

Commencement Convocation Program, St. Petersburg Campus, May 4, 2014, University Of South Florida

USF Graduation and Convocation Programs

King O'Neal Scholars - Christine Bruzek and Katherine Audrey van Dommelen; Outstanding Graduate - Erik Richardson

Commencement Convocation Program, Usf, Graduate, May 3, 2014, University Of South Florida

USF Graduation and Convocation Programs

Presidential Management Fellowship - Terrill Curtis; Fulbright U.S. Student Program - Trina Halfhide and Lauren Shumate

Commencement Convocation Program, Usf, Baccalaureates, May 2, 2014, University Of South Florida

USF Graduation and Convocation Programs

President's Fellow Medallion - Stuart Silverman; Outstanding Graduate - Dazaun Soleyn; King O'Neal Scholars - Katherine Allen, Nicholas Arnal, Adrienne Barrett, Donna Barth, Lisa Bejos, William Bentley, Anesta Boice, Charles Bonfield, Nicholas Gunther, Kristen Hanenian, Avery Johnson, Andrew Krajewski, Stefanie Kwit, Shaina Maldonado, Jolene Neuman, Theresa Novak, Colleen Pascalli, Madison Wahler, and Stephanie Wilson

Agenda And Minutes, University Of South Florida St. Petersburg General Education Committee Meeting, May 2, 2014, University Of South Florida St. Petersburg. Faculty Senate. General Education Committee

USF St. Petersburg General Education Committee Meetings

Agenda and minutes from the May 2, 2014, meeting of the General Education Committee of the University of South Florida St. Petersburg's Faculty Senate.

Annual Report, General Education Committee, 2013-2014, University Of South Florida St. Petersburg. General Education Committee

USF St. Petersburg General Education Committee Reports

The 2013-2014 academic year annual report from the General Education Committee, a committee under the University of South Florida St. Petersburg's Faculty Senate.

Caribbean Traditions In Modern Choreographies: Articulation And Construction Of Black Diaspora Identity In L'Ag'ya By Katherine Dunham, Viktoria Tafferner-Gulyas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The interdisciplinary field of Dance Studies as a separate arena focusing on the social, political, cultural, and aesthetic aspects of human movement and dance emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Dance criticism integrated Dance Studies into the academy as critics addressed the social and cultural significance of dance. In particular, Jane Desmond created an integrated approach engaging dance history and cultural studies; in the framework of her findings, dance is read as a primary social text. She emphasizes that movement style is an important mode of distinction between social groups, serving as a marker for the production of …

"They're Our Bosses": Representations Of Clients, Guardians, And Providers In Caregivers' Narratives, Dina Vdovichenko

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine how various characters are portrayed within the self-narratives of women who are employed to care for adults with disabilities. This research looks at how these women's personal narratives construct characters-their clients (the individuals they provide services for), clients' guardians, and how these women portray themselves as caregivers. Interviews were conducted with eight women who provide paid care services to physically and/or cognitively impaired adults who receive services through the Florida Developmental Disabilities Home and Community Based Services Waiver Program. This program endorses specific expectations about the nature and purpose of caregiving. According …

An Analysis Of State Building: The Relationship Between Pashtun 'Para-State' Institutions And Political Instability In Afghanistan, Rebecca Young Greven

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study arose from the desire to research the effectiveness of state building policies in Afghanistan. In order to address this topic, I review state building literature and find that state building literature focuses largely on the processes of democratization instead of institution building. In the second part of this dissertation I conduct a comparative case study of Afghanistan during the Soviet and Taliban eras to study the relationship between Pashtun `para-state' institutions (PSI's) and levels of political instability. I hypothesize that Pashtun PSI's compete with central state institutions for popular support thus increasing political instability and reducing state institutional …

Growing Children: The Relationship Between Food Insecurity And Child Growth And Development., Ernesto Ruiz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examined the relationship between food security status and cultural congruence and indicators of child growth and development in a rural mountain town in Costa Rica. Results show that children from food secure households are significantly shorter and shorter-legged than their food insecure counterparts. It is theorized that these findings correspond to low quality diets associated with increasing commodification of food systems in rural Costa Rica. Identity-based mechanisms are discussed as potential factors contributing to the increasing commodification of life through the encroachment of the global market economy.

The Weekly Challenger, April 24, 2014, The Weekly Challenger, Et Al

Weekly Challenger Newspaper Collection

The April 24, 2014, issue of The Weekly Challenger.