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Infectious Agents: Race And Environment In Nineteenth-Century America, Kristen Renee Egan

Dissertations

This dissertation critically examines the relationship between race and nature in nineteenth-century America by analyzing texts that attempt to discover, create, or preserve a pure national identity. Historical events in the nineteenth-century U.S. - such as mass immigration, Native American displacement, industrialization, westward expansion, and the rise of science - frustrated the quest for a unified American identity. While these events seem various, each one exacerbated a nation already bewildered by one central question. What is the traffic between body and space? Nineteenth-century American literature frequently portrays the American environment as an ideal space in need of preservation and at …

Transforming Images: Media, Sexuality And Everyday Life, Monica Leigh Edwards

Dissertations

There are many scholars who are critical of modern representations of GLBTQ folks on television (see for example, Larry Gross 1999, Diane Raymond 2005). While it has been established that queer visibility has grown tremendously since the 1990's (post Ellen's coming out), many scholars, noting the absence for example of on-screen intimacy, argue that this greater visibility is still problematic. Queers are rendered a-sexual best friends to straight girls (Ingraham, 1999), and queer couples live lives modeled after "normal" heterosexuals, serving to maintain a binary of sexuality that privileges heteros (Chambers, 2006). All the while, this scholarship seems to pass …

Communication, Crisis, And Identity: Dialectical Tensions In Family Narratives About Hurricane Katrina, Laura Poole Rogers

Dissertations

In this study victims of Hurricane Katrina ordered their experiences with the crisis into meaningful themes which expressed their values, actions, inactions, occupations, needs and losses, and feelings. In interviews participants explained what happened, when it happened, how they responded, how they thought they should have responded, and how they handled situations surrounding the storm. Narratives about situations after the storm revealed descriptions of their and others' relationships in interactions with representatives of larger social units. The dialectical analysis revealed dialectical tensions that emphasized participants' dynamic and changing relationships and identities. Dialectical analysis of narratives about those relationships revealed dialectical …

"George Bush Doesn't Care About Black People": Hip Hop, Public Discourse And Black Politics In The Early 21st Century, Hazel Bell James Cole

Dissertations

Recently, more scholars are examining hip hop as a powerful cultural, communicative force, yet hip hop's political orientation goes unnoticed. This study highlights the politics found in hip hop culture and in rap music since 2000 by exploring hip hop as a social movement. This study utilizes a critical, cultural approach by applying ideological case study and textual analyses methods. Song lyrics, activist efforts and black politics prove the political orientation of hip hop culture, which revealed that rap music in general is limited by capitalistic, hegemonic restraints juxtaposed to rappers serving as the legitimate voice of the marginalized and …

Estadounidenses And Gringos As Reality And Imagination In Mexican Narrative Of The Late Twentieth Century, Jessica Lynam

Dissertations

The representation of North Americans in contemporary Mexican narrative texts is frequent, complex and worthy of study. The present dissertation makes no pretense of being a comprehensive catalogue of “gringos” in Mexican narrative; it can be better seen as a cross-section of Mexican literature concerning people from the United States published during the final two decades of the twentieth century. My intention is to explore how this Mexican narrative has characterized non-Mexican Americans and contextualize these visions in terms of their cultural and historical origins. In this study I analyze six texts authored by both men and women, border authors …

Evaluation Of Electron Donor Materials Used To Create Subsurface Permeable Reactive Barriers For Enhanced Reductive Dechlorination Of Chlorinated Ethenes, Elizabeth S. Semkiw

Dissertations

Chlorinated ethenes (CEs) are widespread ground water contaminants, apparently due to their extensive migration from numerous contamination source points. In this study, a long-term field investigation and aquifer microcosm experiments were combined to evaluate the effectiveness of electron donor materials used to create and maintain subsurface permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) for the enhanced in-situ biodegradation of CEs. The laboratory component includes the first side-by-side comparison of electron donor materials dairy whey, lactate syrup, and Hydrogen Release Compound® (HRC), in which dechlorination rates, fermentation product distributions, and H₂ production were monitored as measures of substrate efficiency. Field study allowed the …

Islamism, State Control Over Religion And Social Identity: Turkey And Egypt, Alper Y. Dede

Dissertations

In post Cold War politics, as a powerful alternative to the authoritarian "status-quo" regimes of the Muslim World, Islamism has become among the most critical political issues as various Islamist movements increasingly challenge governments for more political reforms, democratization, and greater participation and in the political process.

The current debates on Islamism, though useful, often emphasize the issues of security, democracy, or stability. However, they seem to overlook the importance of processes and the mechanisms of Islamism as well as how Islamists' concerns for preserving their Islamic social identity (Muslimness) and government control over religion contribute to their politicization. Thus, …

Bilingual Education, Federalism, And The Political Culture Of American Public Education, 1964-1980, Robert Harold Duke

Dissertations

Five decades of English-only orthodoxy in American public schools came to an end with the passage of the Bilingual Education Act of 1968 (BEA). This research investigates how the convergence of community activism, ethnic pride, and union clout shaped and reshaped bilingual education programming at thelocal level within the broader context of post-WWII American society. By comparing and contrasting the experiences of communities in Texas and Michigan with the newly enacted BEA, this study illuminates the changing political culture of school governance from the high-water mark of Johnson-era liberalism tothe surging tide of Reaganite conservatism. It asserts that the tradition …

Toward A Free Collegiate Press: An Analysis Of Influences That Can Lead To Censorship At College Newspapers, Shaniece Bell Bickham

Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to explore the impact that influences at the individual, organizational and societal levels had on content in college and university student newspapers. Specifically, this research examined the ways that influences at the three levels could lead to censorship of the student press. A quantitative study was conducted through the use of online survey research. Student editors, faculty advisers, and academic affairs administrators of journalism and mass communication programs that are recognized as being accredited by the Accrediting Council for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (ACEJMC) were surveyed to gather information about the structure …

Essays On Intrahousehold Allocation And The Family: Fertility, Child Education, And Nutrition, Alemayehu Azeze Ambel

Dissertations

Understanding the constraints that households face when making decisions on fertility, education, and health is beneficial for effective interventions aimed at enhancing investments in human capital, promoting gender equity, and reducing poverty. This dissertation consists of four essays that analyze the nature, performance, and determinants of fertility, child education, and nutritional status in a developing economy.

The first essay identifies peculiar constraints, including gender preference and income uncertainty that households face when making fertility and schooling choices. The underlying assumption in the theoretical analysis is that in the absence of formal risk and capital markets, households may revert to informal …

Fabricating Freddy Vs. Jason: Understanding A Motion Picture As A Social Encounter Between Fans And Filmmakers, Jason M. Rapelje

Dissertations

The break in the mass communicative chain, which separates producers and receivers from one another in both time and space, impedes researchers from studying motion pictures as social encounters. As with face-to-face encounters, producers and receivers of motion pictures depend upon the use of "rules of relevance" (Goffman, 1961) and "typifactory schemes" (Berger & Luckmann, 1966) for their encounters to take place. I examine the social encounter that takes place between some of the filmmakers and fans of Freddy vs Jason through the use of these concepts, as well as a revision of John B. Thompson's (1990) methodological framework of …

Family Functioning And Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy: A Study Of First Year Malaysian Undergraduate Students, Melati Sumari

Dissertations

The findings of the study show that the relationships between family functioning subscales and career decision-making self-efficacy subscales were between small and moderate. The study also found that each family functioning subscale contributed less than 15% of the variance in career decision-making self-efficacy. The total variance accounted for by the six family functioning subscales was small (32%). Important findings of the analyses of variances include: (a) male students perceived their families as more dysfunctional than female students; (b) Chinese students perceived their families as more dysfunctional than Malay and Indian students; (c) students in science majors perceived their families as …

Effects Of Anxiety Induction On Facial Recognition Skills Within A Sample Of Adult Victims Of Childhood Abuse, Kathryn M. Bell

Dissertations

Although it is well established that interpersonal victimization can lead to affect regulation problems, less is known about the extent to which childhood victimization impairs facial recognition skills. Most studies exploring this relationship have focused on emotion recognition (ER) in physically abused and neglected children. The degree to which these ER problems apply to sexual victimization and extend into adulthood is yet unknown. The current study examined the impact of physical and sexual childhood abuse on adult ER skills under a heightened arousal condition in 104 women with varying childhood victimization experiences. The relationship between childhood victimization and ER skills …

Considering The Rationality Of African Ritual Behavior, Joel Grant Mort

Dissertations

The traditional social scientific method undervalues the role that cognitive processes play in human behavior and instead focuses on posited external causal forces, the most common of which is 'culture.' Normative models of rationality, on the other hand, often do suggest and emphasize cognitive reasoning strategies. What is lacking is a familiarity and understanding of what human beings actually do which is, ironically, something social scientists do know something about. Both assume a sort of rational normative baseline cognitive structure and then try to discover those circumstances in which this structure is compromised by the culture, the environment, learning, and …

Terrorism And College Students: A Generation's Response To September 11, 2001, Robert Mason Wild

Dissertations

The terrorist attacks on the United States of September 11, 2001 marked a significant cultural turning point for Americans. The tragic destruction of the World Trade Towers , the damage to the Pentagon and the loss of thousands of civilian lives brought an end to the optimism and feelings of security and invulnerability that marked the decade of the 1990s. Students who were enrolled in college at the time of the attacks were affected as well. This qualitative study examines the emotions and attitudes of 50 students enrolled a mid-sized, private research institution on September 11, 2001. The study explores …

Amish Childbearing Beliefs And Practices And The Implications For Nurse-Midwives As Servant-Leader Care Providers, Victoria L. Wickwire

Dissertations

Problem. The knowledge, beliefs, and practices associated with childbearing among Amish women from their perspective are not widely known. The available research on Amish childbearing health practices does indicate that these women are at high risk for problems during the childbearing period. This indication, coupled with both a general mistrust of outsiders and the Amish separateness from society at large, creates opportunities for misunderstandings. These misunderstandings in turn have created challenges for care providers outside the Amish culture who are seeking research-based knowledge about what constitutes culturally congruent childbearing care from the Amish woman's perspective. It is unknown how …

Navigating Cultures And Epistemologies In Science And Technology Education, Kathleen Theresa Kurzk

Dissertations

This investigation focuses on the nexus of science and culture in the lives of marginalized youth in the United States and South Africa. The epistemologies and contextual realities of cross-cultural learner cohorts and their understandings of scientific phenomena are examined. The researcher was a participant observer within the context of the Science, Technology & Culture: Empowering Learners (STC) program, an after-school and school-based collaboration focused upon integrating science, technology and culture. Electronic communication provided a vehicle for dialogue between youth in St. Louis, Missouri, USA and a South African Township. Study findings include documentation of the marginalizing effects of poverty …

Essential Features Of Cultural Proficiency In American International Schools In Latin America: A Delphi Study, Rebecca Mcbride Bustamante Edd

Dissertations

American international schools in Latin America can play a vital role in preparing future leaders to effectively interact with people of diverse cultures. These schools provide ideal settings for exploring how policies, programs, and practices that reflect diverse perspectives and encourage intercultural learning might enhance global leadership development. Multidisciplinary reviews of the literature reveal a dearth of studies examining culture and leadership development in American international schools in Latin America. The model of cultural proficiency provides a comprehensive framework for exploring how these schools might proactively and effectively respond to diversity in a cross-cultural environment and develop globally competent leaders. …

High School Principals' Values And Their Symbolic And Cultural Leadership Approaches To Character Education In China, T.C. Kao Edd

Dissertations

Relatively little is known about the symbolic and cultural leadership practices and approaches used to imbed character education in high schools in China. In addition, there is a lack of published studies and reports investigating the revival between character and moral education in the Chinese school system. Without additional information, it is impossible to understand and develop effective leadership approaches that will shape and mold school cultures to effectively support both character and moral education. The literature reviewed in this study revealed little information about if, and in what form, there is a return to moral education focusing on traditional …

Culture And Motivation In Online Learning Environments, Frances A. Clem Edd

Dissertations

In the past, instructional design of online learning has largely ignored culture in the creation of online learning environments. Because research in the interaction of culture and online learning is very sparse, an exploratory, blended study was conducted to assess whether there is evidence that one measurable aspect of learners’ culture interacts with the online learning environment in ways that can be observed and identified, and whether this interaction impacts learners’ motivation and behavior in those environments. “Culture” is a complex concept consisting of many interrelated behaviors and values. For this reason, the study focused on one single aspect of …

Developmental Processes Critical To The Formation Of Servant Leaders In China, Thomas William Horn

Dissertations

Problem. This study concerns three matters: the leader formation process in general, servant leadership formation in particular, and the application to crossing cultures, with China as the primary context. The central problem of this study revolves around leader formation . What events, experiences, people and other formative processes contributed as critical to the formation of exemplary Christian leaders in China?

Method. The design of this research was a narrative, qualitative study that explored the central phenomenon of leader formation. The researcher was the instrument to collect data through in-depth interviews. This study purposefully selected three exemplary Christian Chinese leaders. The …

Remembering The Mendiola March: Understanding The Role Of Experience And Accounts In The Construction Of History, Megan C. Mullins

Dissertations

This research project investigates the relationship between personal experiences of events and public descriptions of events. Specifically, the researcher develops a case study around a 1987 march and demonstration for land reform in the Philippines. Specifically, this research includes a discourse analysis of published, public accounts as they appeared in a national newspaper and the personal interviewee accounts of the event as remembered by U.S. participants and witnesses. Interviewees were involved in social and political work on hunger and other social justice issues as coordinated with ecumenical groups. The theoretical contributions of symbolic interaction, cultural theory and discursive practices of …

Patriarch Nikon's Image In Russian History And Culture, Kevin Kain

Dissertations

This dissertation investigates representations of Nikon, Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia (1652-1666). I contend that Nikon's resonance in Russian national life remains largely unrecognized because traditional histories--based entirely on written sources and limited to Nikon's tenure as Patriarch--fail to reveal his broader significance in Russian artistic, political and religious culture by omitting analysis of art and material culture. This dissertation advances the study of Patriarch Nikon by assessing his image in Russian history and culture from the mid-seventeenth century forward. I demonstrate that contrary to his overwhelmingly negative image in standard histories, the Patriarch held a central place in …

Islam And Democracy: An Empirical Examiniation Of Muslims' Political Culture, Moataz Bellah Mohamed Abdel Fattah

Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the following empirical puzzle: do the attitudes of ordinary educated Muslims stand as an obstacle toward the adoption of democracy? This research question calls for empirical/behavioral methodological tools that bring into focus contemporary Muslims' attitudes rather than ancient jurists' contributions. In other words, the dissertation shifts attention from ancient Islamic texts to contemporary Muslims' mindsets through written and web-bases surveys in 32 Muslim societies.

At the aggregate level, Muslim societies perplex with two types of sub-cultures: the culture of "dictator, but..." and the culture of "democracy-as-a-must." The former is the sub-couture of two groups of Muslims: …

A Study Of The Relationship Between Transformational Leadership And Organizational Culture, Mildred Patricia Howard

Dissertations

The research study examines teachers' perspectives on leadership and Organizational Culture in elementary schools within the state of Michigan. Teachers respond to more than 90 survey questions from the Leadership Practices Inventory and the Instructional Climate Inventory.

The purpose of the study is to determine the relationship that exists between Transformational Leadership and Organizational Culture. The study also considers school size as an interval variable. Statistical tests used to determine possible relationships include F-Tests, T-Test and Canonical Correlations.

Findings suggest that additional studies may be warranted based on particular subscales of Transformational Leadership and also size as it relates to …

The Creation And Development Of An Afrocentric Christian College: Imani Kuumba College And Graduate School, Juanita M. Browne Edd

Dissertations

The study examines Imani Kuumba College, (IKC), an Afrocentric Christian College. Since previous research does not examine any higher institution that provides a type of learning that focuses totally on the study of the Afrocentric world, this historical case study describes a unique educational institution that proposes to teach from a focus designed to raise self-esteem for African-Americans and racial understanding for other groups by studying the African-American experience, historically, spiritually and culturally. The study begins with an introduction that outlines the environmental and societal issues that motivated the creation of this innovative institution and its unique program. After discussion …

Leaders' Influence On School Reculturing: A Case Study Of An International School, Brian C. Matthews Edd

Dissertations

Organizational theorists and even practitioners are beginning to use the construct of organizational culture to analyze and characterize the complexities and challenges of organizational life. The construct has been used to metaphorize, frame, interpret, and understand various aspects of organizational life, including leadership and the change process. The literature indicates that leaders can influence an organization by attending to its cultural dimensions. Much of this literature, however, is theoretical and speculative, and the empirical work has focused, for the most part, on business. The overarching purpose of this qualitative study was to enrich understanding of the culture construct and its …

Male And Female He Created Them: Ælfric’S Lives Of Saints And Patristic Theories Of Gender, Rhonda L. Mcdaniel

Dissertations

My dissertation researches the writings of the four Latin Doctors, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory the Great, in order to challenge the scholarly stereotype of misogyny and anxiety about women in the writings of these influential figures and, more importantly, to build the cultural foundation upon which to base an interpretation of Ælfric’s portrayals of male and female saints in the Lives of Saints.

Accordingly, in the first chapter I focus on the writings of the Latin Doctors concerning the practice of virginity and on their explications of the Trinity and the Creation and Fall of humankind. I then trace …

W. E. B. Du Bois's “Talented Tenth”: A Pioneering Conception Of Transformational Leadership, Ella F. Sloan Edd

Dissertations

In 1903, W. E. B. Du Bois presented a radical leadership proposal for the transformation of African American life in the United States. His theoretical concept of the “Talented Tenth” emphasized the education and training in leadership of ten percent of the African-American population. This selective group would transform the larger, uneducated segment of the population and lead them to higher levels of social acceptance and independence. This study is a historical investigation into the educational ideas of W. E. B. Du Bois's “Talented Tenth.” It describes the historical factors that led to and influenced Du Bois's development of the …

How Does It Mean? Literary Theory As Metacognitive Reading Strategy In The High School English Classroom, Lisa J. Schade

Dissertations

In the last two decades, serious scholarly attention has been paid both to theories of teaching reading and to theories of literary interpretation. These potentially related fields have been treated as separate, focused either on teaching reading in the elementary grades or on teaching interpretation to advanced college literature students. Until very recently the relevance of either reading theory or literary theory to middle school or high school pedagogy has remained unexamined. My research, as a reflective practitioner, addresses this important gap. I focus on the teaching of literary theory in the high school English classroom as a strategy to …