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The Constitution Of Queer Identity In The 1972 Apa Panel, "Psychiatry: Friend Or Foe To Homosexuals? A Dialogue", Dustin Vern Edward Schneider

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis offers a rhetorical criticism of two speeches delivered from a 1972 panel at the American Psychiatric Association (APA): Franklin Kameny’s “Gay, Proud and Healthy” and John Fryer’s “I am a Homosexual.” Both speeches seek to challenge heteronormative constructions of homosexuality through the construction of a positive homosexual identity. Kameny’s speech uses an extensive set of metaphors to deconstruct the sickness theory of homosexual, challenge the role psychiatrists should play in society, re-conceptualize sexuality, and empower homosexual identity. Fryer’s speech enacts a constitutive rhetoric through the use of consciousness raising strategies and a collective coming out narrative which creates …

Dual Enrollment As A Factor For Women Transitioning Into Stem Majors In Montana Two-Year Colleges, Penny Jane Jakes

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this non-experimental, descriptive, quantitative study was to describe the impact high school dual enrollment coursework has had on initial enrollment of women with STEM majors in Montana two-year colleges. The study was designed to find whether or not differences existed for access (initial enrollment), persistence (to third semester), and success (associate's degree, certificate, or transfer to a four-year institution within 150% of program length). The literature review highlighted the need for studies to address the issue of few women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) occupations. One goal of dual enrollment in Montana is to ease …

Measuring Visual Literacy Ability In Graduate Level Pre-Service Teachers, Teresa Farrell

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Farrell, Teresa, Ed.D., August 2013 Curriculum and Instruction Measuring Visual Literacy Ability in Graduate Level Pre-service Teachers Chairperson: Dr. Marian J. McKenna The field of visual literacy has been active since its inception in 1969 by John Debes and members of various fields of study such as science, mathematics, psychology, education, and the arts forming the International Visual Literacy Association (IVLA). Recognizing that modern society is increasingly visual by nature, and with the advances in digital technologies, visual literacy is becoming an area of critical importance in education. Although much work has been done within the field to define it …

Expanding, Refining, And Replicating Research On High School Gay-Straight Student Alliances And Sexual Minority Youth, Nicholas Christopher Heck

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Sexual minority youth are at-risk for engaging in negative health behaviors and for experiencing at-school victimization. Specific benefits of attending a high school with a gay-straight student alliance (GSA), including lower risk for suicide, fewer alcohol problems and lower levels of psychological distress, have been reported. Limitations in the previous research studies, especially the use of retrospective designs, small sample sizes, and samples limited to a single geographic region, call into question the generalizability of these benefits. In an effort to overcome the aforementioned limitations, this analysis of data from 316 sexual minority high school students identified individual/family-, community-, and …

Dysfunction, Anna Kirsten Lemnitzer

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

dysfunction examines how we perceive normalcy and in turn, differentiate those who are abnormal through visual metaphors of the interior structures and features of the home. My thesis exhibition explores psychological disorders through installation, painting, drawing, sculpture and performance. The viewer’s interaction with the installation, which references an individual’s domestic and very personal spaces, allows a physical awareness and appreciation of another’s personality and psychological characteristics. This is done in order to create a more in-depth understanding or empathy of abnormal psychology and various mental states, such as intense anxiety or anger, which exist within all of us.

Praesentia Ex Machina: The Millennial Technoculture, Liveness And Theatre, Reid J. Reimers

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This work examines the modern technoculture, its component parts and the changing role of theatre in Anglo-American culture. Our contemporary society is marked by the ubiquity of digital technologies and has become reliant on their commodities. The emerging Millennial Generation has matured with many of these devices and has embraced the modern technoculture. Many changes in daily life brought on by new technologies are obvious, but fundamental shifts remain obscured by the nature of technology itself. These subtle transformations are cumulative and have caused a technological disorientation with broad reaching implications. Liveness, initially defined as that which is unrecorded, has …

Theater As A Medium Of Healing: A Critical Analysis Of Copper Thunderbird By Marie Clements, Anna Dulba-Barnett

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The idea of the healing power of theater reaches back to Aristotle and his concept of catharsis. Greek philosopher states that tragedy “with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish its katharsis of such emotions.” The process of catharsis is interpreted as purification or purging of the audience members’ strong emotions as a response to the dramatic action taking place on stage. Today very few western theater practitioners mention that particular aspect of theater in their artistic manifestoes. Yet in Native American theater narratives of illness and healing are ever present. The need for change, and faith in the …

A Year Of Practice And Performance: Improving Piano Skills To Become A Better Choral Director, Ellen Mckenzie

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Piano skills are extremely important to a choral teacher’s success, and I always considered my piano playing as a weak point in my teaching. The intent of my project was to dedicate a year of intensive practicing and performing as an accompanist in order to improve my piano technique, gain a wider repertoire of music to use in teaching private lessons and choir, and gain confidence in my abilities as an accompanist. Through one hundred and three hours of documented practice time, eight performance experiences in a variety of settings, and eighteen pieces prepared and performed, my playing has improved …

An Analysis Of Retention Factors In Undergraduate Degree Programs In Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics, Mike H. Johnson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This mixed-methodological study explored the factors that predict a student's likelihood to complete an undergraduate program in a STEM discipline at one campus reliant upon that mission. Offered in response to a national imperative for the U.S. to compete globally, researchers contend educators must better prepare a STEM foundation and inspire STEM careers. This study employed a quantitative and qualitative approach to (a) identify key indicators of success for students entering a STEM discipline, (b) determine that living in the residence hall had an impact on success, and (c) identify quantifiable drop-out rationale for students who did not complete their …

Quantifying Glacier-Derived Summer Runoff In Northwest Montana, Adam Michael Clark

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Glacier National Park, located in northwest Montana contains the second largest concentration of glaciers in the U.S. Rocky Mountains. However, total glacier-covered area has shrunk by almost 30% over the past 50 years. This has important implications for local glacier-fed streams, especially during the typically hot and dry summer month of August. This study is the first attempt to quantify the volume of glacier meltwater entering local streams. We simulate glacier-melt generation during the summers of 2009 and 2010 using a modified temperature-index model that includes solar radiation as input. The model was calibrated with data from weather stations installed …

Down Low Under The Big Sky, Amee Marie Schwitters

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Often synonymous with the rural environment is a sense of a heteronormativity and pervasive homophobia. Despite stories of gay men fleeing rural, conservative areas for larger, more accepting cities, not all men have chosen to leave. Some have chosen to quietly maintain their identity, modifying their sexual schemata in response to the desire to stay within the rural cultural environment. It is known that homophobia and stigmatization of same-sex sexual acts regulate a person's ability to be open about their sexual encounters, but exactly how they influence the daily lives of down low men who have sex with men (MSM) …

Emotional Availability And Touch Among Deaf And Hearing Mother-Infant Dyads, Grace Silvia

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Much attention has been paid in past literature to deaf children's development, especially in regard to how they compare to their hearing peers over time. Most deaf children (approximately 90%) are born to hearing parents. In these cases, the child's hearing impairment can be difficult to accommodate due to the parents' lack of familiarity with ways of interacting without heavy reliance on the auditory modality. Using Deaf parents as a model for comparison, previous research has found that frequent use of touch for purposes of gaining attention is an important strategy when interacting with a deaf child.

The purpose of …

Gender, Justice, And Jim Crow: North Carolina Judge Elreta Alexander And The Long Civil Rights Era, Virginia Lyndsay Summey

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Elreta Melton Alexander (1919 – 1998) was a pioneering African-American attorney from Greensboro, North Carolina. Coming of age during the Jim Crow period of the South, she was the daughter of a Baptist minister and a teacher and grew up comfortably as a part of the black middle class. The descendant of two white grandparents, her bi-racialism formed her early awareness of colorism within the African-American community. Alexander received her Bachelor of Arts from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University before going on to become the first African-American woman to graduate from Columbia Law School in 1945. In 1947, she …

Relationship Of Self-Concept, Depression, Academic Estimation, And Online Social Networking In Adolescents, Jaime Rebekah Long

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The present study investigated the relationship between academic self-concept, academic outcome confidence, and academic estimation in depressed and non-depressed adolescents, with a focus on gender differences. The study also included exploratory questions on online social networking (OSN) usage. Participants (N = 66) were 9th and 10th grade students from one high school, with 40 females and 26 males. Academic self-confidence and outcome confidence were measured with the Student Self-Concept Scale (SSCS) and depressive symptoms were measured with the Center for Epidemiological Studies’ Depression Scale for Children (CES-DC). Standardized test scores and grade point average (GPA) for each student were collected …

Prevalence And Correlates Of Smoking Status Among Depressed Individuals In Veterans Affairs Primary Care, Anayansi Lombardero

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Smoking is the primary and most preventable cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States, with smoking rates being particularly high among Veterans who experience high rates of mental health and substance use disorders. This study investigates the prevalence of smoking among depressed patients in Veterans Affairs primary care. Correlates of smoking status were examined in order to improve understanding of the relations among smoking status, psychosocial characteristics, physical and mental health problems, suicide risk, mental health stigma and substance misuse, and to find predictive factors of smoking abstinence and cessation over time. Study findings have potential to inform …

Developmental Mathematics In Two-Year Community Colleges And Student Success, Brenda Catherine Frame

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Poor success rates of developmental mathematics courses at community colleges have currently received nationwide attention. Efforts to remedy the situation include complete course redesigns and intervention strategies. A recent intervention strategy in use is the implementation of success courses that are aimed at changing the learning perspectives of developmental students. The purpose of this mixed-method comparative study was to closely examine this strategy as it relates specifically to students studying developmental mathematics at the lowest level at one community college. Students taking the lowest level developmental mathematics course at the participating community college were designated into one of two groups: …

Diagnosis Threat In A Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Population, Haley Gail Trontel

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The present study examined the effect of diagnosis threat on neuropsychological test performance. Forty-nine participants with a history of mTBI were randomly assigned to either a Diagnosis Threat group or a Control group. The Diagnosis Threat group was told that they were selected to participate based on their history of head injury and that they might expect to perform more poorly on testing. Participants in the Control group were told to perform to the best of their ability. It was hypothesized that individuals who had a history of mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) made salient prior to testing (Diagnosis Threat …

Are Perceptions Reality? A Look At Subjective Well-Being In East Timor, Emily Klungtvedt

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Subjective well-being has been of growing interest over the past several years for multiple reasons. One reason is that this model gives an idea of the importance of the determinants (education, employment, etc.) of individual life satisfaction. But the question arises, does the relative importance of each explanatory variable in the subjective well-being model match the relative importance of individual’s perceptions of the most important factors to increase overall life satisfaction? For example, if the model suggests that employment status is the most important factor for improving subjective well-being do people perceive this to be true as well? This study …

Assessing The Role Of Shame And Honor During The Alta Conflict, Michael T. Bremmer

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

For nearly a century the Sami peoples of Norway were subject to colonial policies of assimilation and integration. According to historians of the Sami, colonial processes stigmatized Sami individuals and the Sami culture, producing feelings of shame. The concept of shame, for both individuals and groups, centers on experiencing fear, pain, and/or uneasiness, and requires a judging audience. Honor is about individuals transcending self-interest and the need for individuals and groups to acquire self-esteem for that purpose; it also requires a judging audience. Concepts of shame and honor played an important role during the Alta conflict; a watershed moment in …

An Effectiveness Evaluation Of Motivational Interviewing As An Addition To An Internet-Based Health Promotion Program For Vocational Rehabilitation Consumers, Casey Nicole Ruggiero

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

People with disabilities (PWD) frequently experience preventable and/or manageable secondary health conditions such as weight problems, depression, and chronic pain (Jones & Bell, 2003; Seekins, Clay, & Ravesloot, 1994). Importantly, high rates of secondary conditions are correlated with low employment rates in Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) consumers (Ipsen, Seekins, & Ravesloot, 2010; Ipsen, Seekins, & Arnold, 2011). Thus, one pathway to improving employment outcomes in rehabilitation programs may involve enhancing health through the reduction of limiting secondary conditions (Ipsen, 2006; Ipsen et al., 2010). This pilot study tested whether the addition of telephone-based Motivational Interviewing (HPE+MI) to Health Plans for Employment …

An Exploratory Study On Social Learning Theory, Social Bond Theory, Experiences With Police And Demographic Effects On College Student Attitudes Toward Police, Tyson Allen Mclean

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Research on public attitudes toward police is principally conducted through survey methods focused on analyzing the effects of experiences with police, satisfaction with police services and respondent demographics. Most research collects data from the general public, which overall reports high levels of satisfaction with the police. However, few studies focus on the college student population and fewer integrate theoretical frameworks to explore this complex issue. This research incorporates tenets from social learning and social control theories as a conceptual framework from which the analysis is built. It also explores the role that personal and vicarious contact and demographic influences play …

Another Day, Another Donut: Political Economy, Agency, And Food In A Montanan Homeless Shelter, Jacqueline Devereaux Semmens

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Despite widespread undernutrition among the homeless, there has been little anthropological research on the experience of food insecurity in this population. Between 20 and 40 percent of the homeless population is undernourished and one third regularly miss meals (Gelberg 1995). This thesis addresses the significant problem of food insecurity in the homeless from a political economic perspective, analyzing how larger social structures influence the individual person. Fifteen residents at a shelter in Missoula, MT were interviewed about their dietary practices and experience of social service programs. The macro-social level influences the diet of the individual in two important ways: first, …

Capitalism, Contraception And Chemicals: A Medical Anthropological Analysis Of The Premature Sexual Development Epidemic In Puerto Rican Females, Holly Lynn Horan

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

An Investigation of Etiologies: The Biosocial Exploration of Premature Sexual Development in Puerto Rico Objective: The purpose of this study was to argue for an anthropological approach in the investigation of the world’s highest recorded prevalence of precocious puberty and premature thelarche that occurred in Puerto Rico in the late 1970s. After 30 years of biomedical research, definite etiologies of this epidemic remain unknown; prompting for a more dynamic, biosocial approach in studying this pediatric health phenomenon. Methods: This research began with a literature review of mixed-methods data. Literature sources were segmented by qualitative and quantitative methods. Each source was …

College Dating Couples' Use Of Conflict Management During A Prisoner's Dilemma Task: An Exploratory Study, Kristen E. Waldemayer

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Dating violence that occurs in young college-aged couples is unique when compared to other types of violence. Aggression occurring in these couples is often bidirectional, highly impacted by situational stressors, and perpetrated by both males and females at relatively equal rates. Most importantly, dating aggression occurs within a developmental context when individuals are attempting to balance autonomy and intimacy within their relationships. However, little is known about conflict management within dating couples or if conflict management processes differ substantially for aggressive and non-aggressive dating couples. Although there has been extensive research in marital processes in conflict, only recently have researchers …

Communication Apprehension And Perceived Responsiveness, Elise Alexandra Fanney

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this study was to construct a training program designed specifically for college students struggling with Communication Apprehension in the public speaking context. Research has consistently found that perceived responsiveness acts as one form of social support, and social support has been found to decrease stress (Maisel, Gable, & Strachman, 2008). Given the fact that anxiety is stressful, the purpose of the study was to explore the relationship between perceived responsiveness of an audience and CA. Using data from an earlier pilot study measuring for correlation between CA and perceived responsiveness in one‟s close relational partner, and using …

Influence Of Positive Expectancies And Adaptive Goal Investment On Relationship Abuse, Geniel H. Armstrong

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics 21.5% of women and 3.6% of men were identified as victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) between 2001 and 2005 (Catalano, 2007). However, it is likely that these are underestimated rates due to un-reported incidents of IPV. A national survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and prevention found that 35.6% of women and 28.5% of men reported having experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner at some time in their life (Black, Basile, Breiding, Smith, Walters et al., 2011). Several attempts have been made to address the problem …

Measuring Trauma: A Pilot Application For Children And Adolescents, Molly Kathleen Mcdonald

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The current definition of a ‘traumatic event’ in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition—Text Revision (DSM—IV TR; APA, 2000) may be too narrow to describe the myriad of difficult experiences that many youth undergo. Furthermore, youth may develop a distinct pattern of symptoms in relation to complex trauma, that is, when multiple stressful experiences occur or when an experience occurs chronically. It is argued that these children are likely to develop the proposed “developmental trauma disorder” (DTD; van der Kolk, 2005). The present study examined a new measure of childhood trauma exposure through a two-fold process. …

Off Risking: Offender Risk Assessment And The Correctional Assessment And Intervention System, Eden Heeder

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In 2010 the State of Montana Department of Corrections (DOC) licensed the Correctional Assessment and Intervention System (CAIS) to address the high rate of recidivism among Co-occurring and Native American offenders. Montana DOC reported a significantly lower rate of revocation among the offenders assessed by the CAIS. Quantitative and Qualitative analyses were conducted to determine what aspects of the program facilitated the lower rates of revocation. Results of this analysis determined that several factors acting in concert contributed to the lower rates of revocation with the most meaningful contribution being that of rapport built between the probation officer and offender.

The Effect Of Photocycle On Self-Control In Betta Splendens, Kathryn Gwen Lamp

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The present study examined the effect of varying light cycles on self-control in Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens). The subjects included 16 male Betta splendens, and instrumental choice trials were run. A subject began each trial in the start box and, when a guillotine divider door was lifted, entered one side of a divided terminus. The checkerboard side of the choice door represented either the smaller, more immediate choice (SS) or the larger, more delayed choice (LL). When the subject had entered one side of the goal box, the guillotine divider door was lowered and the subject was given food …

The Effect Of Spillover Onto Ionotropic Glutamate Receptors At The Schaffer-Ca1 Synapse In Hippocampal Slice, Katie Marie Hoffman

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain and is crucial for processes such as learning and memory. Due its importance as a signaling molecule, the extracellular glutamate concentration is tightly regulated, largely by the excitatory amino-acid transporters (EAATs). In these studies, we investigated the role of EAAT1-3 in synaptic transmission at the Schaffer-CA1 synapse in acute hippocampal brain slices. My results demonstrated that transport block by L-TBA resulted in glutamate spillover and activation of NMDARs. Further investigation showed that L-TBA-mediated activation of NMDARs was facilitated by the Mg2+ unblock of the receptor. Furthermore our data indicate that NMDAR …