Digital Commons Network^™

Divine Economy: George Rapp, The Harmony Society, And Jacksonian Democracy, James Tomney

Masters Theses

Divine Economy: George Rapp, the Harmony Society, and Jacksonian Democracy is a chronological exploration of the sucesses achieved, conflicts encountered, and eventual demise of George Rapp's Harmony Society. During its one-hundred year existence as it awaited the Second Coming of Christ, three successful agricultural and manufacturing towns were created by the Society out of the wilderness. Also explored is the impact Jacksonian Democracy had on George Rapp's Harmony Society during the 1824 to 1847 period, as is the contribution the Society made to American industrialization after George Rapp's death in 1847.

"They Cannot Catch Guerrillas In The Mountains Any More Than A Cow Can Catch Fleas": Guerrilla Warfare In Western Virginia, 1861-1865, Karissa Marken

Masters Theses

The American Civil War unleashed great violence and chaos in the western mountains of Virginia. The guerrilla warfare there between Unionists and secessionists remained bitter throughout the war. No historical study has considered the entirety of pre-war western Virginia during the time it underwent a unique civil war within the context of the national struggle from 1861-1865. This study supports findings from studies of other areas of Appalachia that seek to explain the prevalence of such conflict in the mountains, challenges the myth of a Union Appalachia during the war, offers the backdrop for the political wrangling on both state …

Old Gods In New Clothes: The French Revolutionary Cults And The "Rebirth Of The Golden Age", Jennifer Boyet

Masters Theses

The French Revolution's state cults were possible because of French intellectuals' preference for pre-Christian Greco-Roman civilization, as well as France's history of heterodoxy. The philosophes endorsed ancient Greco-Roman civilization as embodying mankind's ideal and more "natural" state; French revolutionary leaders avidly read these ideas of the Enlightenment philosophers. This Enlightenment Classicalism influenced the designers of the French state religions to mirror Greco-Roman paganism in the new regime's festivals and iconography. The French people's fascination with the Occult further created the cultural and intellectual climate for the creation and acceptance of these new religions of the dechristianized republic. Under this worldview, …

Chopin Mazurkas And Its Influence On Polish Nationalsim, Pablo Cintron

Masters Theses

The innovative character of Chopin Mazurkas is forever linked with Polish culture. This thesis examines how the unmistakable sound of the Mazurka captures the Polish sound more than any other work written by the composer and how it contributes to Polish cultural nationalism during the Polish diaspora of the nineteenth-century.

In this study, the author presents a brief examination on Chopin's traditional interpretation of his mazurkas as well as isolating the characteristics of Polish interpretation that sets the Mazurka performance apart from the non-traditional style. A research case is made when contrasting the current concept of the classical execution of …

Get Schooled: A Visual Social Semiotic Analysis Of Target's Branding Using Instagram, Chelsea Bevins

Masters Theses

With new technology arising, brands must be able to adapt to them. This thesis will break down brand management, using David Aaker's framework, of the Target Corporation to see if they are using modern resource, Instagram effectively. This thesis will also look at how the theory of visual social semiotics, applied to communications, is used to decipher intended meaning. Brand management embodies a company and people are driven by what a brand portrays. People are driven by values, emotions and quality within a brand. People associate products with memories, celebrities, attributes and symbols. Brands are more than just a name. …

But You Are A Man Like My Equal: An Exploration Of The Suffering Of The Righteous At The Hands Of Fellow Community Members, Dan Cooper

Masters Theses

This thesis explores book two of the Psalms and how it displays and reacts to the theme of the suffering of the righteous at the hands of fellow community members. It explores the nationality, tactics, and motivations of the enemies in Psalms 52, 53, 55, 62, 64, 69, 70, and 71. It is shown that the Psalmist is often pitted against other Israelites who are even within his religious circle. These enemies who are closest to the psalmist employ certain tactics and are motivated by specific worldviews. The concluding chapter explores the implications for worship and theology that these findings …

Contextualizing Subjectivity: Speaking (Back To) Colonialism In Jamaica Kincaid’S Annie John, Lucy, And A Small Place, Sierra Holmes

Masters Theses

The narrators of Jamaica Kincaid’s Annie John, Lucy, and A Small Place all struggle to form a coherent sense of self while living within the colonial ideology that objectifies them and denies them identities as speaking subjects. In this thesis, Julia Kristeva’s theories of language and subject formation are used to explain why and how the narrators’ subjectivity is limited by colonial discourse. Particular attention is given to the way in which the narrators’ relationships with their mothers both threaten and necessitate their emergence into Kristeva’s symbolic order of language, and therefore into the colonial discourse community. The thesis also …

An A Priori And A Posteriori Analysis Of Usefulness Of Tem 8 And Toefl, Yuanjun Qi

Masters Theses

The present study is dedicated to investigating the construct validity of two largescale English language tests, Test for English Majors - Band 8 (TEM 8) and Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). In a priori validity research, a qualitative analysis of relevant test specifications and the blueprint of TEM 8 and TOEFL shows that TOEFL has a stronger construct validity evidence than TEM 8. There is overlap in construct definition between TEM 8 and TOEFL. In a posteriori validity research, the quantitative analysis of test scores obtained from 48 college junior English majors shows that both TEM 8 …

Re-Inscribing History, Yoonkyung Kim

Masters Theses

Most images and informational data from historical records and databases remain unseen because there is a massive over-saturation of visual material. This material has not been thoroughly investigated or understood. Historical archives offer opportunities to discover stories that reposition history in more intimate terms. I explore what remains unseen by revealing new routes that these "facts" can take.

Exploring the boundaries between the public and the personal, I visit archival documents, public databases, and historical collections. Fascinated by their stories' multifaceted nature, I critically examine these primary sources that nourish generations of new histories.

My intention is to redefine our …

Procedural Pleasures: An Algorithmic Manifesto, Jerel Eugene Johnson

Masters Theses

This thesis engages with algorithms through five interlocked arguments: 1) algorithms are an operating condition of our current era; 2) algorithms are the engine of scripted systems; 3) designers create verbal, visual, and scripted systems; 4) there is procedural pleasure in the creation and execution of systems; 5) algorithmic acts are political acts.

The algorithm in its various forms is the subject and verb of this thesis investigation. Therefore, the projects in this thesis pivot on both strict and loose definitions of the algorithm. Projects move from narrowly-scoped, tightly controlled algorithms to open, search-based algorithms. Furthermore, I set out to …

In And About: Investigating Graphic Design In And About The Digital Landscape, Brienne Jones

Masters Theses

Book 1 : Projects as texts, pgs. 1 - 54 -- Book 2 : Projects as images, pgs. 55 - 128 -- Book 3 : Projects as links, pgs. 129 - 148

The web continuously increases our capacity to access to high fidelity representations of the real world. The forms of these representations are manifold: from high resolution photographic imagery to interactive panoramas that simulate walks; from static-yet-infinitely- customizable-maps to geolocational mobile apps; from blog posts and news articles to cinematic, multimedia narratives. These tools often position themselves as proxies by which one may experience a location or an event. …

Reconsider Everything, Hyunjin Kim

Masters Theses

This thesis is composed of three overarching chapters that exploit conventions as a tool to reexamine our social and cultural habits. Observing commonalities in our everyday experiences, this body of work explores subjectivity of rules of convention, questioning assumptions and common values.

In the first chapter, "Formal Conventions," I observe formal qualities and definitions of existing objects and explore alternative meanings and the performance of form. In the second chapter, Limits of Vision," I look at imperceptible subject matter to explore limitations of default modes of human perception. In "Boundaries of Techniques," I search for possibilities of expanding graphic design …

Readily Available, Ali Shamas Qadeer

Masters Theses

Today, there is a massive framework in place to share and build ideas and information, and yet the status of the public domain is being eroded legally and ideologically. In the digital age, we are constantly creating datasets, leaving physical and ideological trails of whatever captures our attention and experience. However, massive, disorganized archives are prone to becoming unnavigable storehouses of information—or worse—privately traded commodities. In opposition to the idea of our lives as privately stored and sold as imaginary capital stands The Commons — the vast network of our collective cultural memory that is readily available to the public—at …

Events Of Assembly: Exploring The Terms Of Co-Production, Chloe Lee

Masters Theses

Graphic designers, by nature, create sets of rules or conditions to establish relationships between disparate parts. The product graphic designers produce is thus an assembly of materials organized by these rules. In the context of our increasingly networked culture, there is an opportunity for graphic designers to reconsider how we orchestrate relationships. Rather than establishing conditions to make discrete objects as singular designers, this thesis proposes methods for generating new content and new form in collaboration with others.

Through rule-based design and trans-disciplinary collaboration, this body of work explores the terms of co-production. Using site-specific events, I assemble small networks …

Social Media In Sports: A Phenomenological Study Of Athletes And Online Communication, Garrett Bireline

Masters Theses

This study investigates the intersection where the shared experience of sports meets the shared experience of social media. Empirically quantitative literature and data regarding social media has been well-documented from the perspective of understanding macro-level trends (Duggan & Brenner, 2012; Lenhart, et al., 2010). However, few to no studies have sought to learn the views, feelings, and experiences of unique populations from the micro, individual level. This method of research threatens to silence the voice of the individuals of select populations, and offers no hope of their ever being heard. Specifically, this study seeks to understand how collegiate athletes at …

Understanding Blogging And Copyright Infringement Within A Pinterest Generation, Ashley Mcalpin

Masters Theses

Copyright infringement within a Pinterest generation is growing at an alarming rate. This study sought to explain the phenomenon of stealing on Pinterest through a study of social interaction and perception thereof. The author found that the overall concept of interaction was widely misunderstood, along with the current copyright laws, leading to a broken sense of ethicality among the Pinterest generation. Through this study the impact of peer interaction, in compliance with the standards of Bandura's Social Learning theory (1977), was reviewed and found applicable to the Pinterest generation today. This study proved it relevant to further research the ethical …

Coming Home To Friends: Third Culture Kids' Relational Development Through The Lens Of Social Penetration Theory, Nathan Jurgensen

Masters Theses

When American third culture kids (AmTCKs) return `home' to college, they experience reentry culture shock, face identity challenging questions, are often adjusting to larger schools than they are used to, and must adapt to new types of relationships with typical American collegians (TACs). Friendships are a part of the social support system that the literature suggests is vital to TCK reentry with positive outcomes. This study proposes several reasons why studying American TCK relationship development processes from the theoretical perspective of social penetration is useful: (1) theoretically, it promotes TCK scholarship; (2) as communication research, it extends the discipline into …

An Examination Of The Role Relationship Marketing Plays In The B2b Model Between Chinese Manufacturers And American Distributors, Ran An

Masters Theses

Relationship marketing has been a heated topic in the communication paradigm. The primary relationship is the one between a supplier or provider of goods or services and buyers and users of those goods or services. In order to facilitate it, other stakeholders in the network of relationships may have to be involved. This thesis examined the relationship between Chinese manufacturers and American distributors by a pilot qualitative study. Social exchange theory was used as a scope to analyze the relationship. Nine participants from both sides answered computer-mediated interview questions. Business ethics and worldviews are important factors that businessmen look for …

Lost In 'Trans'media: Where The Intersection Between Media Convergence And Missions Is Found, Tabethia Cosner

Masters Theses

Throughout history there has been a constant need among humans to create an avenue by which we share a connection of commonalities and differences. This desired avenue may be reflected through the exchanging of language with another which is commonly known as, communication. During this time there have been a wide variety of technological advancements invented for the purpose of connection. A newly emerging media term called transmedia authored by Henry Jenkins, was analyzed within this study. Transmedia is a method that communicates different portions of a fictional story each across different media. This thesis was conducted for the purpose …

A Professorial Nation: The Pedagogical Gardens Of William Crimsworth, Jane Eyre, And Lucy Snowe, Elise Green

Masters Theses

Charlotte Brontë was not an intentional pedagogue, but nevertheless, her works reflect the dynamics of an educational ideology that depends on the natural environment. In Brontë's works, including The Professor, Jane Eyre, and Villette, safe learning environments are most commonly found in gardens, providing spaces--literally and metaphorically--dedicated to individual growth. These spaces are not isolated, however, as they are located in bustling towns such as Villette and schoolyards like those of Jane Eyre. Likewise, the individual does not grow in isolation; rather, development is a process that is fostered by an individual's interaction with his or her environment. In essence, …

Canadian Patriotism And The Timbit: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Tim Horton's Inc.'S Canadian Connection Through The Application Of Semiotics, Shelanne Jennings

Masters Theses

This study examines the content of Tim Horton's television advertisements from 1980 to 2014 from a communication perspective. Using Peirce's semiotic theory, this study examines the significations of Canadian culture as they appear within each advertisement for the purpose of establishing the time and extent to which Canadian culture was used over the course of Tim Horton's advertising history. This study finds that Tim Horton's advertisements did not purposefully use Canadian significations during the 1980s to create a connection between their brand and Canadian patriotism. However, after discovering Canadians' natural affinity to the Tim Horton's brand through focus group research …

Towards An Integrated Personhood Through Suffering: The Disparate Ideologies Of Freud, Maritain, And Aquinas And The Power Of Analogy In Graham Greene's The Power And The Glory, Dana Sarchet

Masters Theses

Freud, Maritain, and Aquinas have greatly influenced the literature of Graham Greene, and Greene's The Power and the Glory is no exception. As both Freud and Greene attest to the irrevocable influence of childhood on adulthood, we must read Luis, the primary child character in The Power and the Glory, in light of the characters who impact his transition into his adult life. But these characters reflect yet another thread in Greene's perspective of personhood; studying Catholicism at least four years before writing Catholic fiction, Greene was also greatly influenced by the theological thought of Aquinas and Maritain, and this …

Saving Jazz: Applied Ethnomusicology And America's Classical Music, Christopher Long

Masters Theses

In his 2009 article, Can Jazz Be Saved?, Wall Street Journal columnist Terry Teachout asserted that the American audience for jazz music performances was both shrinking and aging. Saving Jazz: Applied Ethnomusicology and America's Classical Music explores this jazz audience problem and finds that over the last thirty years the overall American audience for live jazz performances has not shrunk as has been widely reported, but is essentially unchanged in size. During that same period, though, there is no question that the median age of the audience has changed dramatically. Data collected by the National Endowment for the Arts and …

Hippie Caulfield: The Catcher In The Rye's Influence On 1960s American Counterculture, Richard Neffinger

Masters Theses

This study covers the influence of The Catcher in the Rye on the 1960s youth counterculture in America. Drawing heavily from postmodern and new historicist theory, The Catcher in the Rye has developed a unique connection with the American public, most notably youth culture. This study examines why youth are so attracted to the character of Holden Caulfield and what implications their connection has meant and will mean for future generations of young Americans.

No Fracking Way! A Study On The Spatial Patterns Of And Changes In Perception And Distance From A Michigan Horizontal Hydraulic Fracturing Site, Shannon Mcewen

Masters Theses

The research investigates whether Michigan residents' perception of risk from an oil and natural gas (ONG) well site that employs the use of horizontal hydraulic fracturing (fracking) changes with distance. The research goal is to determine if residents that live farther from a fracking site perceive it to be more dangerous than those who live closer. Secondary research goals include determining if increasing distance from a fracking site cause residents to overestimate their proximity to a fracking site and if gender and education levels have an effect on residents' perception levels. Data were collected from residents in three counties in …

(Re)Claiming Spaces Through Story: An Examination Of The Liberatory Potential Of Autobiographical Narrative In Adult L2 Literacy Development, Jessica Elizabeth Peters

Masters Theses

Adult ESL learners at the community education level are frequently undereducated (Lasater and Elliott, 2000, 2005), and fifty percent of limited-English proficient (LEP) adults report having nine or fewer years of formal schooling (NCIIP, 2012). They may be preliterate or only marginally literate even in their L1, which has significant negative implications both for language acquisition and for employment and educational opportunities. Further, many of these adult students also experience feelings of low self-worth with respect to their ability to succeed in any academic setting, let alone a foreign one, which poses a serious barrier to their ability to transition …

Victorian Domesticity And The Perpetuation Of Childhood: An Examination Of Gender Roles And The Family Unit In J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan, Abigail Nusbaum

Masters Theses

This work examines JM Barrie's Peter Pan in light of its cultural context. It works to show how the Victorian ideology of the separate spheres narrowed the scope of roles for men and women within the home, which ultimately led to an obsession with childhood that manifested itself strongly in the works of the children of the Victorians, the Edwardians. A study of the Victorian society in which Barrie grew up and first imagined Peter Pan, accompanied by a close reading of the text, reveals Barrie using the various characters' interactions with the title character as cultural artifacts that illuminate …

Simulation Of An Intake Manifold Pre-Heater For Cold Diesel Engine Startup, Patrick K. Kreun

Masters Theses

Ensuring consistent, reliable diesel engine startups in cold temperatures is of utmost importance in a number of applications. Under extreme temperatures, the use of glow plugs is complemented by intake manifold heaters. In these, the energy released from combustion increases the intake air temperature before the air enters the main combustion chamber. Since the process also alters the stoichiometry of the fuel-air mixture at the intake ports, the preheater operation must be optimized in order to guarantee successful and reliable in-cylinder combustion during engine startups. This paper describes the development of an intake manifold model incorporating an air pre-heater for …

Credit Card System In Ghana: An Investigation Of Why Credit Cardsare Not Widely Used In Ghana And How Widespread Use May Be Implemented, Emmanuel Andoh

Masters Theses

Credit card systems offer economic advantages to many families and individuals across the globe. In economically developed countries and most emerging ones, the credit card system helps individuals, businesses, and even government agencies, speed up business transactions and access to short term loans. However in developing countries such as Ghana this is not the case. The result is that many people find it very difficult to buy goods and services without having cash at hand. Moreover a vast majority of people have to carry bags of money to travel across cities, towns and villages in the country to trade and …

Forbidden Fe Ii Emission Line Fluxes From The Weigelt Knots Of Eta Carinae, S. Towers

Masters Theses

Eta Carinae is an unparalleled object crossing many divisions of astrophysics. It has multiple, complicated and dynamic processes leading to absorption and emission spectra across all wavelengths from radio to hard x-ray. The spectra differ spatially across Eta Carinae's extended envelope and are changing rapidly over time.

The Weigelt Knots of Eta Carinae's ejecta emit spectra of numerous forbidden iron species lines, rare on Earth, but prevalent in the unique conditions surrounding this star. The Weigelt Knots' unique conditions occur almost nowhere else, making Eta Carinae, useful not only for understanding massive stars similar to it, but for understanding the …