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Honors Theses

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Trade Evolution And Exchange Market Pressures, Bradley Rotter Apr 2013

Trade Evolution And Exchange Market Pressures, Bradley Rotter

Honors Theses

This paper looks at the relationship between trade openness and an exchange rate volatility index called exchange market pressure. The theory behind the paper is that increasing trade flows between nations should reduce economic volatility, as it allows for the correct allocation of goods and services across borders. The results show a negative relationship between an increase in trade openness and volatility as measured by exchange market pressures. The empirical estimate is based on 20 OECD nations from 1992 to 2007. Although, trade shows some impact on volatility, most instability arises from systematic risks that are felt globally.


Curing The Obesity Epidemic : The Government's Obligation To Regulate Food, Victoria Lyon Apr 2013

Curing The Obesity Epidemic : The Government's Obligation To Regulate Food, Victoria Lyon

Honors Theses

The first chapter demonstrates the impact of the obesity epidemic in the United States. The epidemic affects obese individual directly, and burdens all US citizens. The second chapter is an argument as to why the obesity epidemic should be addressed by government intervention. The US regulates risky substances such as consumption of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana, and risky behaviors such as driving. This work explores why food is morally equal to other risky substances. The final chapter explores several food regulation policy options.


Generalization Of Expert Face Processing Takes Time, Karen Duan Apr 2013

Generalization Of Expert Face Processing Takes Time, Karen Duan

Honors Theses

Same race faces are recognized better than other race faces, and this other-race effect (ORE) can be explained by reduced holistic processing of other-race faces. Holistic processing is defined as a tendency to process all parts of a stimulus interactively as a whole. Previous studies found that experience can mediate ORE in holistic processing. The present study investigated whether quality or quantity of experience with the other-race better predicts holistic processing of other-race faces between Caucasian and Asian individuals. Contrary to what we expected, we did not find any correlation between experience with the other-race and the ORE in holistic …


Factors Of Cultural Perception Of Depression: An Analysis Of Students At The University Of Tennessee At Chattanooga, Rachel Brosius Mar 2013

Factors Of Cultural Perception Of Depression: An Analysis Of Students At The University Of Tennessee At Chattanooga, Rachel Brosius

Honors Theses

This study focuses on the perceptions and beliefs of a population of students from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga toward depression and the contributing cultural factors behind its high prevalence. The study is broken into eight sections that contribute to the overall understanding of depression in Tennessee. First, the current literature on depression and stigmata related to mental illness is examined to catalogue the findings ofresearchers with similar interests. Following this the data collection methods I took to gain the data used in this study are explained as well as the demographic elements of the study. Next the data …


Self-Presentation Symbols And Their Effect On Heroic And Villainous Drive, Amelia Knight Jan 2013

Self-Presentation Symbols And Their Effect On Heroic And Villainous Drive, Amelia Knight

Honors Theses

There is a significant body of research reflecting that human beings are drawn to hero stories. This fascination stems from a basic human need for hope and the inspiration to achieve greatness. Most hero stories, especially fictional ones, contain symbolically embedded information, which helps us to mentally represent particular heroes. For example, when asked to visualize Batman and Superman two distinct images come to mind: Batman’s mask and Superman’s cape. In the real world, these symbols are a little more obscure, like a Policeman’s badge or a Fireman’s hat. Symbols are important for the understanding of viewers, but they can …


The American Rifled Musket: Technical Revolution Or Tactical Redundancy?, Alexandre F. Caillot Jan 2013

The American Rifled Musket: Technical Revolution Or Tactical Redundancy?, Alexandre F. Caillot

Honors Theses

The German soldier and military writer Freiherr von Bülow (1755-1816) once said that tactics were “the science of movements which are made in the presence of the enemy, that is, within his view, and within reach of his artillery.” This viewpoint, which he espoused in his seminal text Spirit of the System of Modern War (published in German in 1799), was representative of principles that would hold dominion over much of 19th-century-military thought. However, the 1850s was hardly a time of intellectual stagnation in which innovation lacked amongst the military theorists of Europe. Indeed, it was a period of discovery …


Prenatal Choline Supplementation And Mk-801 Toxicity: Protecting Memory And Preventing Neurodegeneration, Chelsea Nickerson Jan 2013

Prenatal Choline Supplementation And Mk-801 Toxicity: Protecting Memory And Preventing Neurodegeneration, Chelsea Nickerson

Honors Theses

Choline is essential to the development and function of the central nervous system. Supplemental choline is neuroprotective against a variety of insults, including neurotoxins like dizocilpine (MK-801). MK-801 is an NMDA receptor antagonist that is frequently used in rodent models of psychological disorders. At low doses, it causes cognitive impairments, and at higher doses it induces motor deficits, anhedonia, and neuronal degeneration. The primary goals of the present study were to investigate whether prenatal choline supplementation protects against the cognitive impairments, motor deficits, and neuropathologies that are precipitated by MK-801 administration in adulthood. Adult male Sprague Dawley rats were fed …


Through The Eyes Of Urban Students: Educational Inequality And Socioeconomic Disparities In Santiago, Chile, Hillary Sapanski Jan 2013

Through The Eyes Of Urban Students: Educational Inequality And Socioeconomic Disparities In Santiago, Chile, Hillary Sapanski

Honors Theses

This project explores student perceptions of educational inequality in Santiago, Chile. Educational inequality in Santiago is statistically well documented; this study is novel in that it gives voice to the students. Despite a major emerging middle class, across all classes there is an overwhelming awareness of inequality. The results in this study are two-fold: not only do the diverse student experiences illustrate the stark divisions in the Chilean education system and society, but their experiences also demonstrate the development of a critical consciousness empowering students to act. Although there are limitations, student contributions to the ongoing conversation about inequality and …


Notes On The Politics Of The Auteur: Stanley Kubrick, Wes Anderson, And The Spectator, Michael Perreault Jan 2013

Notes On The Politics Of The Auteur: Stanley Kubrick, Wes Anderson, And The Spectator, Michael Perreault

Honors Theses

What is an author, and what does it matter? Questions about authority in the cinema have been the subject of debate since the late 1940s, when Alexandre Astruc posited the notion of the camera-stylo in France. A slightly reductive understanding of the term “auteur”—a term that Cahiers du Cinéma would later adopt—states that, with the shadow of the World War II era of censorship still looming in the 1950s, the many individual voices of the cinema needed to be both heard and promoted. Namely, the director should be regarded as (and should consider his or her primary objective to …


Scripture And Fiction: An Aesthetic Approach To The Little Pilgrim, Brian Russo Jan 2013

Scripture And Fiction: An Aesthetic Approach To The Little Pilgrim, Brian Russo

Honors Theses

The Little Pilgrim is written by Korean author Ko Un and was translated into English by Brother Anthony of Taizé. This text, a fictional rendering of the Gandavyuha Sutra, is an instant classic of contemporary Buddhist literature. The Gandavyuha Sutra comprises one-third of the fifteen hundred page Avatamsaka (Flower Garland) Sutra. The Avatamsaka has been described as the epitome of Buddhist thought, Buddhist sentiment, and Buddhist experience and is popular with all schools of Mahayana Buddhism, in particular, The Pure Land and Zen. The Avatamsaka Sutra is the longest sutra of the Buddhist canon and one of the oldest, dating …


The Aesthetic Of Failure: Authenticity, Effort, And Imperfection In American Contemporary Dance, Delaney Mcdonough Jan 2013

The Aesthetic Of Failure: Authenticity, Effort, And Imperfection In American Contemporary Dance, Delaney Mcdonough

Honors Theses

This research examines a slice of American contemporary dance artists and their audiences. American postmodern choreographers such as David Dorfman, Heidi Henderson, Sara Hook, and Paul Matteson use what I am calling the aesthetic of failure as a method to punctuate their work, momentarily blur clarity, steer the viewer’s gaze, make space for live choice making, and in some cases draw laughter. Almost any emotion can be associated with failure: anger, grief, hilarity, absurdity, etc. The underpinning of failure in live performance is the medium of the craft, human bodies. Consider the phrase “humanly possible:” jump as high as humanly …


From Mind To Machine : Parity Affects In The Attentional Set-Shifting Task In Animal And Machine Models, Katie Coren Freeman Jan 2013

From Mind To Machine : Parity Affects In The Attentional Set-Shifting Task In Animal And Machine Models, Katie Coren Freeman

Honors Theses

As a dual behavioral and computational neuroscience research project, this study first tested reproductive effects on attention, learning, and decision making using the Attentional Set-Shifting Task (AS-ST) and then a Machine Learning model was constructed to simulate perceptual judgments and decision making through reinforced learning. In the behavioral task, response times and errors from 5 primiparous (one-time mothers) and 4 nulliparous (never pregnant) Sprague-Dawley rats were recorded during four increasingly complex attention modulation and paired associative learning tasks. The Machine Learning model reconstructed each task's decision problems through representation of internal and external conditions, valuation, action, and outcome evaluation to …


A Comparative Analysis Of The Trickster Figure In Africa, The Caribbean, And North America, Douglas Odom Jan 2013

A Comparative Analysis Of The Trickster Figure In Africa, The Caribbean, And North America, Douglas Odom

Honors Theses

Nearly every society or ethnic group on the planet possesses a literary culture uniquely tied to the customs of that group. Additionally, each of these literary cultures has a folk tale tradition, which encompasses parables, songs, praise poetry, didactic stories, and many other characteristics of oral literature. One of the more engaging sub genres of the folk tale is the trickster tale. This thesis specifically focuses on three distinct trickster figures: Ajapa, a tortoise popular in Yoruba culture in Nigeria; Ananse, a spider whose exploits attempt to undermine the social order of the Akan ethnic group and has also been …


The Differential Effects Of Mandatory And Voluntary Auditor Rotation On Investors' Expectations Of Financial Reporting Aggressiveness And Willingness To Invest, Kelsey Maynord Jan 2013

The Differential Effects Of Mandatory And Voluntary Auditor Rotation On Investors' Expectations Of Financial Reporting Aggressiveness And Willingness To Invest, Kelsey Maynord

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


The Effect Of The Economic Crisis Of 2008 On The Basque And Catalan Nationalist Movements In Spain, Anastasia Artiom Varenita Jan 2013

The Effect Of The Economic Crisis Of 2008 On The Basque And Catalan Nationalist Movements In Spain, Anastasia Artiom Varenita

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


Shifting Local Ecologies: Biocultural Interactions And Ecuadorian Public Health, Sabrina Bradford Jan 2013

Shifting Local Ecologies: Biocultural Interactions And Ecuadorian Public Health, Sabrina Bradford

Honors Theses

Though biology is considered universal, this thesis argues against the assumption of the universal applications of biomedicine in favor of a biocultural approach, emphasizing shifting local ecologies in an increasingly globalized world. This research investigated Ecuadorian health within an ecological context in coordination with an international public health internship that was completed through the Universidad San Francisco de Quito and the Ecuadorian Ministerio de Salud Pública. Throughout this thesis, examples are provided demonstrating that globalization, though appearing as a homogenous process on the international level, creates heterogeneous effects on the local scale. To explain the mechanisms and implications of these …


Attitudes Towards Homosexuality In China, Mallory Elaine Lee Jan 2013

Attitudes Towards Homosexuality In China, Mallory Elaine Lee

Honors Theses

Since Mao Zedong’s rise to power in China, homosexuality is has been a relatively under-studied topic. In order to identify factors that influence both self-identification of homosexuality and attitudes towards homosexuality, both qualitative and quantitative analysis was utilized. While the data analysis found that the variables were not significant in relation to one another, it is obvious that various factors may influence both a person’s willingness to come out as homosexual and the attitudes of Chinese people towards homosexual. While these conclusions are not definitive, this thesis opens the door for further research into attitudes towards homosexuality and self-identification of …


Language Revitalization And Maintenance Of Indigenous Languages In Chile, Blake Everett Pruett Jan 2013

Language Revitalization And Maintenance Of Indigenous Languages In Chile, Blake Everett Pruett

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


The Prospect Of Reform In North Korea: Will China Play A Role?, Emily Victoria Bennett Jan 2013

The Prospect Of Reform In North Korea: Will China Play A Role?, Emily Victoria Bennett

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


An Analysis Of The Internal And External Motivations Of Hispanic Employees And The Corresponding Management Techniques, Taylor Alexander Cook Jan 2013

An Analysis Of The Internal And External Motivations Of Hispanic Employees And The Corresponding Management Techniques, Taylor Alexander Cook

Honors Theses

The study was to discover the proper management techniques of Hispanic employees in relation to their internal and external motivations. Through initial research on the subject based on previous work in the field, information was compiled in order to produce research on Hispanics’ values from their home countries and compare them to how these values have changed during their time in the United States, how the U.S. environment supports or impedes their motivations, how U.S. managers have attempted to actively tap into these motivations, and what techniques U.S. managers should utilize to better lead their Hispanic employees. A survey of …


The Marketing And Branding Of The Church In America, Joshua David Gregory Jan 2013

The Marketing And Branding Of The Church In America, Joshua David Gregory

Honors Theses

The objective of my thesis is to examine the church and its efforts to market to the consumer-centric society that is America. In the United States, churches have evolved and changed in many ways since our ancestors came to America. In what we call the “Bible Belt,” the area from Texas to Florida, there is a church on nearly every comer. The question becomes “Is variation a necessity?” One might say that all religions offer the same transaction in that they exchange the meaning of life for some investment by the believer (Twitchell, 2004). My intention is to focus specifically …


Is Legal Pragmatism Normative?, Garrett Lane Roberts Jan 2013

Is Legal Pragmatism Normative?, Garrett Lane Roberts

Honors Theses

Through the centuries people have been asking pivotal questions regarding law and legality. What is law? How should we interpret it? Who gets to decide? In what follows I will explore these questions in hope of gaining a greater understanding of the American legal system. Specifically, I will argue that legal pragmatism is in fact a normative theory that provides a good method of adjudication. This work will require that I investigate the jurisprudence of Oliver W. Holmes Jr. and modem legal pragmatism. Also, I will highlight some theories of legal realism and natural law theory.


Players: Gender And Sexuality In The Universe Of Don Delillo, Alexandria Nicole Tidwell Jan 2013

Players: Gender And Sexuality In The Universe Of Don Delillo, Alexandria Nicole Tidwell

Honors Theses

This project considers Don DeLillo’s body of work (specifically the texts Cosmopolis, Players, White Noise and Libra) in terms of gender and sexuality, two areas often overlooked by the current body of scholarship on the writer. My analysis is informed by contemporary queer theory — that is to say, an assumption of the constructed nature of gender and sexual difference runs through the work. I begin by defining two intertextual systems at work within (My first chapter deals with the capitalist system of Cosmopolis and Players, a closed network serving to mirror and critique modernist assumptions; and my second chapter …


Memphis Carnival Traditions: Maintaining Identity In A Changing Society, Katherine Hitt Kenwright Jan 2013

Memphis Carnival Traditions: Maintaining Identity In A Changing Society, Katherine Hitt Kenwright

Honors Theses

The Memphis Cotton Carnival began in 1931 as a way to use the main product of Memphis—cotton—to bring the city out of the Great Depression. Through various incarnations, Carnival has endured and today stands as one of the longest-standing traditions in the city. Its founders envisioned a meeting of the minds of the city's industry leaders accompanied by a series of events as a celebration for Memphis residents, as well as a way to increase tourism in the city. Cotton Carnival and Cotton Maker's jubilee, a celebration started in 1935 for the African American community in Memphis, have changed and …


The Effects Of Social Media On Fashion Consumption, Sydney Mccarthy Jan 2013

The Effects Of Social Media On Fashion Consumption, Sydney Mccarthy

Honors Theses

The fashion industry, like most business in general, has been heavily impacted in recent years by the introduction of online social media. Social media has changed the way in which people not only communicate, but also how firms advertise and reach their consumer. The purpose of this research was to explore the ways social media impacts fashion consumption, specifically among the female, college-age demographic. Secondary research was used in the initial stages of the process to gather information prior to conducting primary research. Both qualitative and quantitative research was then conducted. The primary method for collecting qualitative data was personal …


Shame On You: How Media Affects The Formation Of Negative Body Image In Adolescent Women, Brittany Lee Cosenza Jan 2013

Shame On You: How Media Affects The Formation Of Negative Body Image In Adolescent Women, Brittany Lee Cosenza

Honors Theses

The culturally accepted body ideal is grov^dng increasingly thinner. Youns women seem to be particularly susceptible to an internalization of this ideal throuah media exposure. This susceptibility led me to explore the relationship between media exposure and negative body image. After examining a plethora of literature on the subject, I discovered that body dissatisfaction seems to have become the societal norm for adolescent girls. Images of women in the media have become a source of comparison that often results in a discrepancy betv^^een actual physical body t>T?e and the idealized body type. Objectification theory^ explains how media may lead …


An Exploratory Study Of Automated Tools To Support Scrum-Based Project Management In Agile Software Development Teams, Nirmal Dharmaratne Jan 2013

An Exploratory Study Of Automated Tools To Support Scrum-Based Project Management In Agile Software Development Teams, Nirmal Dharmaratne

Honors Theses

The growing use of Agile Methodologies for project management has led many organizations to utilize agile-based project management tools. This thesis explores areas for improvement in project management tools for software development teams using the Scrum methodology. A qualitative research method was used to gain insight on the users' satisfaction and possible new utilities to create that would complement the OnTime Scrum project management tool. This paper further describes the methods and experiences encountered in the designing and implementation of a Work Breakdown Structure website tool that was selected as a utility to support project management.


Gender, Sexuality, And Music Education, Jordan Wesley Tippitt Jan 2013

Gender, Sexuality, And Music Education, Jordan Wesley Tippitt

Honors Theses

Abstract: This thesis was written to study how inequalities of gender and sexuality reveal themselves in music education. I wanted to study gender and sexuality as a social construct to better understand how these groups have an effect on the music education experience. I found that music education is lagging behind most other academic subjects in understanding gender/sexuality; furthermore, the discipline does not seem to be heading in the right direction. I found it tremendously difficult to find any queer theory literature based around music education. After my research I concluded that in its current state, music education is not …


Thematic Transformation In The Operas Of Francis Poulenc: Gender, Spiritual, And Psychological, Elizabeth Brooks Bruening Jan 2013

Thematic Transformation In The Operas Of Francis Poulenc: Gender, Spiritual, And Psychological, Elizabeth Brooks Bruening

Honors Theses

Although Francis Poulenc is perhaps best known for his one hundred and fifty contributions to the genre of French art song, melodie, this study focuses on his mere three operatic compositions. This work illustrates and analyzes the theme of transformation within each of Francis Poulenc’s three operatic compositions: gender transformation of Les Mamelles des Tiresias (1944), spiritual transformation of Dialogues des Carmelites (1953), and psychological transformation of La Voix humaine (1959). Research was conducted through viewing each production and studying its musical score and libretto. Published works ranging from scholarly articles to Poulenc’s personal journal were consulted in order to …


The Art Of Peking Opera: Chinese And European Operatic Traditions: Commonalities And Divergences, Portia Nicole Davis Jan 2013

The Art Of Peking Opera: Chinese And European Operatic Traditions: Commonalities And Divergences, Portia Nicole Davis

Honors Theses

Peking opera is an art form that combines music, singing, dancing, acting, and acrobatics. The skill necessary for performance is shown through the vigorous training required of the actors that portray characters on stage. A study of Peking opera’s history allows a better understanding of the developments and changes that have occurred to make Peking opera what it is today. Peking opera’s costuming and makeup, stylized movements, and stage presence set it apart from other Chinese art forms and operas that one could see around the world today. One major development of Peking opera occurred during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76). …