Digital Commons Network^™

Framing Corporate Social Responsibility On The Websites Of Fortune 10 Green Giants, Kriti Ashok

Master's Theses

This thesis reports a framing study of corporate social responsibility on the Internet. The study explores how Fortune 10 Green Giants frame corporate social responsibility on their websites. The Green Giants are Honda, Continental, Suncor, Tesco, Alcan, PG&E, S.C. Johnson, Goldman Sachs, Swiss Re, and Hewlett-Packard. According to Fortune magazine, these 10 companies have gone beyond what the law requires to operate in an environmentally responsible way. The study is focused on the textual content of these 10 corporation websites. The study involves identification of frames, determination of the most used and the least used frames, and identification of patterns …

Outcomes Of Dialogic Communication Training On A City Government Management Team, Minna Johanna Holopainen

Master's Theses

Managing diversity in today's organizational environments can challenge many organizations. This action research study addresses that challenge by investigating the outcomes of dialogic communication training on a city government management team experiencing organizational diversity. The study consisted of four phases: (1) individual interviews for needs assessment, (2) focus group meeting for training design, (3) dialogic communication training, and (4) individual interviews for assessment of the outcomes. The results of this study indicate that dialogic communication and the development of dialogic style of leadership through dialogic communication training provide a valuable and practical approach for work teams. Specifically, management team members' …

Employment Decisions As A Function Of An Applicant's Accent, Lam Thanh Nguyen

Master's Theses

Using data collected from 167 college students, the present study examined the effects of an applicant's accent (Standard American English vs. Spanish) on employment-related decisions (i.e., job suitability, likelihood of promotion, and decision to hire) and perceived applicant characteristics (i.e., competence and likability). Results showed that Spanish-accented applicants were rated less suitable for an entry-level software engineering job, were perceived as having a lower chance of being promoted to a managerial position, and were hired less frequently compared to the Standard American English-accented applicant. Additionally, the Spanish-accented applicant was rated less competent but just as likable as the Standard American …

Kinna-Uganda: A Review Of Uganda's National Cinema, Kristin Alexandra Rasmussen

Master's Theses

Kinna-Uganda (K-U) is a form of cinema that has emerged in Uganda following decades of the totalitarian political regime of Idi Amin, which in turn followed almost a century of colonial rule. The concept of national cinema is evaluated in this thesis as a tool for analysis of K-U. The national cinema concept is compared with four other models -- regional, continental, Pan-African, and transnational -- that can also be used to analyze and deconstruct films and the academic space within which they reside. This study examines Uganda's pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial times and their impact on the production of …

Yom Yhwh As A Biblical-Theological Theme, Robert Czarnitzki

Master's Theses

Problem. Although it has been shown in recent studies on the topic that the "Day of YHWH" is to be understood not only as a collocation or concept, but as a motif-complex (a theme), the single theological motifs comprising the motif-complex have seemingly never been outlined in a systematic text-oriented study. -- Method. This thesis investigates which main theological motifs comprise the motif-complex of the "Day of YHWH" by means of a text-oriented study of the final text as existent today. It shall be asked whether the "Day of YHWH" is a true biblical-theological theme, that is, whether it is …

Impact Of Short-Term Study Abroad On Mba Students, Jessica Oldford

Master's Theses

Short-term study abroad programs are quickly becoming the new norm for study abroad within higher education. Results from the Institute of International Education's opendoors 2009 research show that short-term programs were the most popular during the 2007-08 academic year with 56% of students participating in this type of exchange. Many graduate programs of U.S. institutions are now expanding international program offerings to include short-term options to accommodate their students, particularly graduate-level students. Graduate-level students often times have other responsibilities such as full-time employment, young families, etc. which prevent them from participating in full-term study abroad programs. As such, these students …

Comprehensive U.S. Higher Education Internationalization: Exploring Study Abroad As An Indicator, Candace Brzoska Matta

Master's Theses

Increasing undergraduate study abroad participation is a popular response embraced by both higher education institutions and the U.S. government to internationalize college campuses and to meet the demands of globalization. Yet the nature of the internationalization phenomenon in higher education is much more complex in spite of its ambiguous definition and lackluster theoretical indicators. The purpose of this study was to examine whether one indicator of internationalization, that of study abroad, had any predictive bearing on an institutions' level of comprehensive internationalization. Six institutions were examined--three that consistently held a high study abroad participation percentage or SAPP, and three that …

Messages Of Nationalism In Mexican And U.S. Textbooks: Implications For The National Identity Of Transnational Students, Danielle Lane Jerdee

Master's Theses

This study uses qualitative content analysis to compare fifth grade social studies textbooks in Mexico and the United States to provide insight on how messages of national identity change as students migrate between school systems. The following research questions will guide the analysis: Given that one of the roles of textbooks is to form a national consciousness through mythmaking, how do messages of national identity conveyed in Mexican and U.S. textbooks conflict? How are the topics of immigration and citizenship presented in each nation's textbooks? In what ways do differences in the accounts of history between Mexico and the United …

Embracing Compulsory Education: The Case Of Singapore, Chaitut Roungchai

Master's Theses

Singapore is a late adopter of compulsory education (CE). Six years of schooling for all children became compulsory in Singapore in 2003 (Ministry of Education, 2009). Surrounding Southeast Asian countries passed compulsory education legislation in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Countries such as the Philippines adopted compulsory education in 1899, and Thailand in 1921. However, Malaysia, similar to Singapore, adopted CE legislation in the early-twenty-first century. In order to explain Singapore's adoption of CE legislation, we must look further into each country's reasons for implementing it.

Singapore reported in 2000 that its dropout rate was 0.4 percent at the primary …

Short-Term Study Abroad Programs And The Development Of Intercultural Sensitivity, Barbara Elizabeth Zarnick

Master's Theses

This study focuses on the growing popularity of short-term study abroad programs and aims to determine the impact of such programs on producing intercultural sensitivity. A pre and post-departure survey were administered to undergraduate and graduate students to analyze students' perceptions of their own intercultural sensitivity prior to a short-term study abroad experience and after. This study uses the Intercultural Sensitivity Index developed by Christa Lee Olson and Kent R. Kroger in 2001 to assess the students' levels of intercultural sensitivity. The study reveals that this particular short-term experience had minimal impact on participants' levels of intercultural sensitivity, but illustrates …

Law And Its Order, Daniele Manni

Master's Theses

Daniele Manni

Loyola University Chicago

LAW AND ITS ORDER: THE PRIORITY OF ETHICS OVER LEGISLATION

IN PLATO'S LAWS.

Despite the fact that the Laws are almost twenty four hundred years old, their reserve of philosophically and politically interesting points is still copious and relevant for the contemporary reader. The present work is an initial attempt to analyze the nature of law as treated in the Laws and to highlight especially the reliance of the legislative sphere on the ethical sphere.

In spite of the many, and often painfully detailed, laws posited by the Athenian in the course of books VIII-XII, …

Reorientation Through Interruption: On The Relation Of Immanuel Kant's Modes Of Egoism To His Critical Philosophy, Giancarlo Tarantino

Master's Theses

The relationship between Immanuel Kant's anthropology, and his Critical philosophy has proven to be a notoriously difficult problem, both for specifically Kantian scholarship as well as for philosophy in general. This thesis attempts to investigate this relationship by showing the importance of Kant's modes of egoism at work in his three Critiques. In doing so this thesis will highlight the phenomena of interruption, and orientation as playing crucial interpretive roles for parsing out the aforementioned relationship. I will try to show that anthropology and Critique mutually interrupt, and re-orient one another's specific contributions to the major themes of Kant's thinking.

Predictors Of Mental Health Outcomes Among Foster Care Children Receiving Community-Based Services, Alison Merri Dunleavy

Master's Theses

Historically, children served in the foster care system experience less favorable mental health outcomes compared to those in the general population (Anctil, McCubbin, & Pecora, 2006; Burns et al., 2004; Garland et al., 2001; Zima, Bussing, Yang, & Berlin, 2000). As a result, the child welfare system has been described as a "de facto public behavioral health care system" (Lyons & Rogers, 2004), prompting state child welfare agencies to seek to put systems and policies in place to serve the needs of these youth, such as Illinios' statewide community-based program, System of Care (SOC), designed to provide multi-modal services to …

Identité Et Langue Française Chez Azouz Begag Et Chahdortt Djavann, Nehal Abuelata

Master's Theses

This thesis addresses the problematics of identity construction through the acquisition of the French language for immigrants living in France. More specifically, it examines the impact French language acquisition has had and still has on the identity of children of Maghrebian descent and, more generally, its influence on the identity of non-francophone immigrants who arrived in France as adults by examining the novels of two francophone authors: Azouz Begag and Chahdortt Djavann. Whereas the former is a French writer of Algerian descent, a "Beur," the latter is an Iranian-born writer who emigrated to France as an adult. In addition, this …

A Phonetic, Phonological, And Morphosyntactic Analysis Of The Mara Language, Michelle Arden

Master's Theses

This thesis presents a linguistic analysis of the Mara language, a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in northwest Myanmar and in neighboring districts of India. Data has been gathered through interviews with a native speaker. The analysis includes a full phonetic segment inventory of the dialect and a phonological analysis of contrastive sounds and contextual variants. Sound files embedded in the document illustrate the phonetic system. Mara's distinctive phonetic features include the loss of word-final consonants, a set of voiceless sonorants, pre- and post- aspirated nasals, and lowered and unlowered vowel pairs. The morphosyntax of Mara pronominal words demonstrates a split-ergative case …

Who Am I?: The Reflexivity Of Self-Identity Through Tourism, Matthew Lee Milde

Master's Theses

This study has set forth to close gaps, explore innovative methods, and create a better understanding of "Who am I?", in tourism research. Few studies in tourism research focus on how experiences gained from traveling shape self-identity through personal biographies. Building on the work of seminal authors on self-identity, personal narrative, and tourism, this study explores the reflexivity of self-identity as represented in travel narratives. The lived experiences offered through narrative condition spontaneous instances of self-discovery allowing for the (re)creation of new self-identities.

Participants were selected through a snowball sample; in-depth interviews were held with fifteen (15) adults born and …

A Longitudinal Study Of The Outcomes From Participation In Wilderness Adventure Education Programs, Jason Phillip Cummings

Master's Theses

The results from this study suggest that participants of wilderness adventure education programs offered by Outward Bound and the National Outdoor Leadership School felt challenged by many of the experiences from their programs. Interactions with their group helped in dealing with the challenges presented by the experience. The development of hard skills gave participants a confidence in their abilities to survive and feel safe in these wilderness environments, which allowed them to relax and enjoy the experience, develop new perspectives, become motivated and inspired, and develop a sense of independence. Participants developed a sense of growth and maturity from their …

Changing Portrayals Of Captain James Cook In Hawaiian Education, Christopher Aaron Straub

Master's Theses

This paper covers the portrayals of Captain James Cook within Hawaiian education. It begins by providing a backdrop to early European portrayals of Captain Cook and then proceeds to investigate how these portrayals changed as they were incorporated into Hawaiian textbooks. The paper then continues to illustrate the changes made in Cook’s portrayal within Hawaiian textbooks and how these changes coincide with the prevailing interests of the eras in which the authors wrote them.

A System For Natural Language Unmarked Clausal Transformations In Text-To-Text Applications, Daniel Miller

Master's Theses

A system is proposed which separates clauses from complex sentences into simpler stand-alone sentences. This is useful as an initial step on raw text, where the resulting processed text may be fed into text-to-text applications such as Automatic Summarization, Question Answering, and Machine Translation, where complex sentences are difficult to process. Grammatical natural language transformations provide a possible method to simplify complex sentences to enhance the results of text-to-text applications. Using shallow parsing, this system improves the performance of existing systems to identify and separate marked and unmarked embedded clauses in complex sentence structure resulting in syntactically simplified source for …

Ethnic Identity And Sense Of School Belongingness: Behaviors And Beliefs Of Immigrant Hispanic Students And Parents, Francisco B. Ortiz

Master's Theses

For many decades, the number of minority students, particularly Hispanics, dropping out from school has been noticeable to say the least (Rumberger, 1995). These students have in the past and continue in the present to struggle with the educational system, and it is certain, but not clear, that various factors contribute to Hispanics’ poor academic performance and not being able to graduate from High School (Rumbaut & Cornelius, 1995). Some of these factors are organized in three groups: School-Related; Parental-Related; and Student-Related. Thus, this study is an attempt to understand how immigrant students and parents are currently responding to the …

"Firing The Pigskin Real Right": Media Representations Of Simpson And Romo., Lindsey M. Eliopulos

Master's Theses

The purpose of the study was to examine the media's representations of sport-celebrity couple singer-actress, Jessica Simpson and Dallas Cowboys Quarterback, Tony Romo. One hundred magazine and 100 newspaper articles published between December 17, 200, that coincided with the first publicized notion of the "Jessica Simpson jinx" and April 15, 2009, were qualitatively analyzed. The investigation revealed the prevailing dominant ideologies of patriarchal structures, traditional gender roles, hegemonic masculinity and deviance, while underscoring the mass media's ubiquitous characteristics. The literature emphasized the mass media's representation of the celebrity and the media's habitual employment of gossip and rumor linguistics to frame …

Relations Between Language And Executive Function In Spanish-Speaking Children., Ana Luz Portillo

Master's Theses

The literature on the development of executive function (EF) has been largely limited to studies of middle-class English-speaking children. This study extended executive function research to a primarily low socioeconomic status (SES) sample of Spanish-speaking preschool children living in the United States. The purpose of this study was to examine a variety of language measures (vocabulary, grammar, and comprehensive language) in relation to a variety of executive function measures (working memory, inhibitory control, and attention-shifting). Results revealed that Spanish speakers performed on some, but not all, EF measures comparably to higher SES English-speaking peers, in concurrence with previously reported findings. …

"I'M Korean, Living In The United States", Youngmin Seo

Master's Theses

This study explores the acculturation process of generation 1.5 Korean immigrants in the United States with special attention to their construction of ethnic identity as it influences their adjustment to the new culture. The researcher defines generation 1.5 Korean as those who were born in Korea and immigrated to the United States between age 5 and 16. For the purpose of this study, the researcher conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews on the participants' immigration experiences, focusing on how they have developed their ethnic identities over time. Twenty Korean immigrants were recruited and interviewed in the area of San Jose, California.

Negotiating Multicultural Identities Within The Classroom., Teresa Lee Teng

Master's Theses

This thesis explores cultural identity negotiation among American born Chinese (ABC) college students. Specifically analyzing their communication patterns within the classroom, the author illuminates how ABC students negotiate their multicultural identities through emergent dialectical tensions and patterns of praxis.

Twenty-One Countries, Millions Of Native Speakers, And One Semester To Teach It All: Linguistic Variation In Entry Level College Textbooks For Spanish, Nicole Joanne Gilmore

Master's Theses

There is a great deal of linguistic variety in the Spanish that is spoken throughout the world. Differences such as the use of vosotros, voseo, and seseo, are steadily employed in some areas, while other people groups express themselves in a totally different manner. Because such a wide range of linguistic nuances exist, textbook authors are faced with the difficult task of choosing which elements to include and which to exclude from their writings. In this study, I have examined 17 different beginning level textbooks for college students of Spanish with a particular focus on the teaching of the following …

Children's Use Of The Shape Bias In The Presence Of Different Instructions, Object Types, And Emotion Cues, Vanessa Raschke

Master's Theses

This study explored the prevalence of the shape bias in children when faced with multiple perceptual cues. Three-to six-year-olds were shown three-dimensional objects and two-dimensional representations of these objects, half of which had emotional faces depicted on them. Of interest was whether attention to emotion would alter children's bias towards the shape of the object and how dimensionality and instruction type would affect the children's choices. The older children were equally likely to use emotion matches as shape matches, but this was not the case for the younger children, who were almost exclusively focused on shape. The non-lexical instructions induced …

Praxis : Dialogue, Reflection, And Action Toward A More Empowering Pedagogy, Genvieve Nicole Dorsey

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Mutable Bodies And Wills : The Implications Of Humoral Discourse In Literature, Heather Stanger

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Forms And Functions Of Englishisms In Japanese Women's Fashion Magazines, Yumie Sase

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Micro-Hydropower Projects In Nepal, Shradha Upadhayay

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.