Digital Commons Network^™

Dialogical Narrative Amd The Struggle For Vehicle Consciousness In D.H Lawrence's Women In Love, Alyssa Robinson

Theses

No abstract provided.

Using Tasks Effectively To Teach Chinese As A Foreign Language To College Students In The U.S.A., Shengjie Lu

Theses

No abstract provided.

Transformative Reflections, Jose Portas

Theses

These written words represent the internal experiences that have comprised my inner self since my early childhood growing up in Montortal, Spain. In my mind there is an endless battle between the reality of consciousness and the surreality of the subconscious. I am trying to manage the challenges of the past, live in the present, and give the future a new understanding of how to connect and communicate through different genres with an emphasis on painting. The production of my work is meant to change how art is created and viewed today.

The Twelve Animals: An Interactive Guide To The Chinese Zodiac Signs, Yanzi Chen

Theses

The Chinese Zodiac signs are determined by the lunar year in which you were born. The Chinese believe the animal ruling one's birth year has a profound influence on personality, and destiny. Unlike Western astrology, which is based on the months of the year, the Chinese Zodiac,traditionally referred to as the Sheng Xiao, is based on a twelve-year cycle with each year represented by an animal. The twelve animals are: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. The Chinese Zodiac is found in several East Asian countries besides China. My thesis is an exploration …

Effectively Targeting Older Consumers, Jenna Nichols

Theses

Marketing strategies are used to convey product or service information and value offerings to a defined and specific audience. The ways in which these strategies are realized through graphic design may greatly impact the meaning and success of a marketing message on the intended audience. Some forms of messaging may unintentionally have a negative or positive effect on their viewer. It is important to analyze the types of designed messages being communicated to different age groups. This thesis study focuses on single-page, printed promotional advertisements specifically created to market a product or a service to a Senior demographic, people aged …

Resistance To Educational Change From The Perspective Of Teachers In Al Ain Educational Zone In Uae., Wafaa Mohammed Ali El Zaatar.

Theses

The study aimed to investigate the factors for teacher resistance toward the educational change in government schools in the U.A.E. The factors this study investigated are the: psychological, personal, school culture, and organizational factors. The study was guided by one research question and used the descriptive research method. Data for this study were collected through a survey using Likert Scale. It was sent to 414 teachers in public schools in different grade levels. Teachers selected were males and females, from different age group, years of experience and qualifications; and they were UAE national and foreign teachers. Only 255 teachers responded. …

Characteristics Of Leaders Of Change For Principals In Al Ain Schools, The United Arab Emirates, Fatima Murad Ali Khaja Al Mazam

Theses

This study investigates the characteristics and skills of leaders of change that are exhibited by AI Ain Education Zone school principals. The research design is mainly a quantitative survey study. Data were gathered from 434 teachers in AI Ain schools. Means, standard deviations, t test and one-way analysis of variance were used as statistics to analyze the data. The study found out that school principals in AI Ain exhibit the characteristics of leaders of change regarding sharing vision and values, valuing human resources, fostering collaborative relationships, communicating effectively, being proactive, creating and sharing knowledge, and managing resistance to change. The …

A Comparison Of Native And Colonial American Conceptions Of Self: Implications For Competing World-Views, Marjorie R. Cavey

Theses

Native and Colonial Americans had vastly different approaches to the world, and viewed nature and other people in quite dissimilar ways. The concept of self is central to this project because personal values and attitudes toward others are grounded in agency - actions that emerge from the self and define the way that one treats his or her surroundings and everyone or thing in it. The way that one's self is perceived is necessarily communicated within the context of social settings. Situation in a world of other people (and of nature) requires that actions be weighed in accordance with agency. …

Everywhere You Look, Jeffrey Alan Nichols

Theses

Everywhere You Look documents the genesis, production process, performance history, and rewrites of a script informed by a concern for social justice issues in contemporary America. In the quest to generate believable, naturalistic dialogue and behavior informed by important questions of religious conviction, civil liberties, and the viability of violence as a political solution, the script is cast as social realism. After a discussion of the critical context in which the play exists, the lessons and pitfalls of collaboration in the production process are charted. A rewritten script is generated from a process of performance, talk-backs sessions, and committee recommendations. …

Unfree And Equal: Challenging G.A. Cohen On The Compatibility Between Freedom Of Occupational Choice And Equality, Richard Lee Lauer

Theses

In his book, Rescuing Justice and Equality, G.A. Cohen defends the claim that in a just society it is possible to have Pareto efficiency, equality and freedom of occupational choice. Cohen does this in an attempt to refute the arguments of philosophers that have seen these concepts as at odds with each other. Cohen initially formulates the relationship between these three concepts as a trilemma. If we accept any two, then we must reject the third. Cohen’s conclusion is that no such trilemma exists, since in a just society equality, Pareto efficiency and freedom of occupational choice harmonize. To motivate …

Pressured Into Deception: Using General Strain Theory As A Framework For Testing The Validity Of Self-Reported Drug Use, Theron Keith Jackson

Theses

Determining the accuracy of self-reported drug use is important for criminal justice professionals so that they are better able to provide proper treatment referrals to those in the criminal justice system who may need substance abuse help (Rosay et al., 2007). However, self-reports, especially those of drug users, are not always accurate (Harrison, 1997). Drug use is a highly sensitive topic and disclosure of such behavior could lead to negative repercussions for the individual within the criminal justice system as well as lead to further stigmatization of the individual outside the system (Golub et al., 2002; Harrell, 1997). The current …

Talking Back And Getting Smart: Action Research In A Primarily African American First Year Composition Class Learning The Skills For Research, Natasha Denise Moore

Theses

This action research is a study of teacher, student, race, and pedagogy as an answer to the challenge posed to me from Lisa Delpit, Gary Howard and bell hooks. They believe that there should be more studies that look at what really goes on in multicultural classrooms in order to get a better understanding of how race and student engagement intersects with pedagogy. Like them, I am very concerned about these intersections, specifically in the composition classroom and specifically for the task of looking at how race and student engagement affect students' ability to actively interact with text. This action …

Higher Education Faculty’S Attitudes Toward White Privilege, Rebecca Ann Burns

Theses

This study was completed between the months of March 2011 and April 2011, and focused on White privilege attitudes among both part- and full-time faculty members in a College of Education at a metropolitan university in the Midwestern United States. Specifically, it answered the following question: What is the relationship between the participants’ demographic characteristics and their White privilege attitudes? Eighty-four White, Caucasian, or European American faculty members were selected for this study, and a total of 17 faculty members participated in the study. Two survey instruments were administered. The first was a demographic survey that obtained information, which included: …

"An Insanity Defense Should Be Available To Psychopaths", Christian Francis Richeson

Theses

Current law allows certain criminal defendants -- not including psychopaths -- an insanity defense. Both Utilitarian and Retributivist rationales can be cited for the defense. This essay argues that affording a defense like the insanity defense to criminal psychopaths is justified on much the same rationales. Integral to the psychopathy syndrome is a set of neurocognitive deficits that render psychopaths significantly less deterrable than non-psychopaths: first, psychopaths' relative inability to recognize when a behavior pattern that once netted benefits now nets costs, and to change their behavior accordingly; second, their relative inability to form the mental associations between an aversive …

Galileo's Philosophy Of Science, Jason Eugene Gavin

Theses

The work of Galileo Galilei has, perhaps more than any other singular historical example, been used to support a huge variety of positions within philosophy of science. This simple fact immediately yields two questions: “what is it about the case of Galileo that lends itself to be so easily reinterpreted to fit such a wide variety of interpretations”, and “what can we say with certainty about Galileo’s philosophy of science?” In this essay, I show that many interpretations of Galileo’s thought suffer from very specific problems and fallacies. These in turn allow a distorted view of Galileo’s work to be …

Illuminating Anti-Luminosity, Tudor Alexandru Seserman

Theses

In this essay I argue that the anti-luminosity argument Timothy Williamson presents in Knowledge and Action runs into problems in trying to establish its conclusion. Anti-luminosity is the position that we sometimes do not know our current mental states, for example I can feel cold and not know that I do. Williamson’s argument initially seems plausible; however, it relies on an inadequately supported premise. Williamson needs to assume that the process by which we come to know our current inner states is fallible, but in doing so begs the question. Without assuming a fallible inner sense, the anti- luminosity argument …

The Relationship Of Team Goal Orientation With Team Processes And Outcomes, Cari Rottman

Theses

As teams are highly prevalent in organizations, it is beneficial to examine inputs that facilitate effective team processes and outcomes. This research examined the relationship between goal orientation and important team processes (communication, interpersonal conflict, task conflict, and social loafing) and how these processes, in turn, impacted team performance and satisfaction. The moderating role of task interdependence was also examined. Information was gathered from 270 individuals (83 teams) who were enrolled in graduate and undergraduate courses that required a team project. Results indicated that team learning goal orientation was positively related to increased communication and decreased task conflict, interpersonal conflict, …

Alien Attributions And The Possibility Of Missing The Mark: A Critique Of Velleman's Account Of Autonomy And The Constitutive Aim Of Action, Matthew Todd Flummer

Theses

David Velleman has argued that action has a constitutive aim. This constitutive aim is analogous to the constitutive aim of belief. The constitutive aim of belief, he argues, is to track the truth or arrive at the truth. This aim sets the standard of correctness for a belief. A belief is correct if and only if it is true. So reasons for belief are considerations that point toward truth either by guaranteeing truth or significantly raising the probability of the truth. Any belief that fails to track the truth misses the mark set by the constitutive aim of belief. Like …

Shakespeare Wrote No Characters, Alexander Patrick Detmering

Theses

The purpose of my research was to answer a simple question: “What can be said about Hamlet's character?” When analyzing any Shakespearean play, it is commonplace to begin (and end) with the characters that inhabit it. But is this sort of analysis appropriate for Renaissance plays? Freud's famous interpretation of Hamlet operates in this fashion, determining the meaning of the play through the vehicle of Hamlet's character—specifically, the psychology of Hamlet's character. Such a reading assumes, however, the interiority of character: that fictional characters have mental landscapes, complete with pasts that lead to the present as related in the events …

The Relationship Between Self-Reported Strength Of Parasocial Interaction And Perception Of World Stability, Rachel Provenzano

Theses

This study investigates parasocial relationships, uncertainty, and need for orientation. Respondents' strength of parasocial relationship was gathered using an adapted version of Auter and Palmgreen's (2000) Audience-Persona Interaction Scale. Respondents' perception of world stability was comprised of level of uncertainty and need for orientation, both measured using a scale created for the present study. Results showed a positive correlation between respondents' strength of parasocial relationship and level of uncertainty and a significant difference between respondents with high and low levels of parasocial interaction and need for orientation. However, no significant differences were found to exist between respondents with high and …

Exploring The Relationship Between Personality And Work Values With Emerging Adults, Jennifer Katz

Theses

This study used archival data and analyzed the work values and personality traits of 20 high school juniors and seniors and 25 undergraduates with disabilities. 40 undergraduate students without disabilities were also included in this study. These measures were collected to explore the extensiveness of overlap between personality measurements and work values in emerging adults who are in the transition process and those who have recently transitioned to post-secondary education. A secondary purpose was to see if similar relationships exist between personality and work values in individuals with disabilities as in those without disabilities. Pearson correlations indicate there were significant …

A Search For Self, Kristine Greenizen

Theses

My thesis objective is to explore the development of one's self image and sense of identity in the absence of the traditional familial role models. Some of what I expect to address is the loss of my mother in my teens and the subsequent impact on my personal development, as well as my father's disapproval and disparagement of all but my academic successes prior to his first stroke, in my early teens. The work will consist of portrait paintings and drawings of myself and family members, plus figurative paintings and prints based on myself and live models. What I hope …

Representation And Recruitment: A Three-Part Analysis Of The Police Hiring Process Within New York State, Michelle Comeau

Theses

This thesis consists of three separate analyses, each of which examines the representation of women, African Americans, and Latinos in the police organization in some form. The initial study compares department representation to that of the community in regards to race or ethnicity and gender. This is followed by the second study, which looks at the hiring process of one department within a mid-sized city (Rochester, NY) in detail, noting attrition by majority/minority status at each hurdle applicants' face. The study portion of this thesis concludes by utilizing data from the second study to create a model of attrition for …

Restorative Justice In Schools: An Examination Of Peace Circles Within Monroe High School, Christian Isaac

Theses

Literature suggests that restorative justice programs can have improved outcomes when examining recidivism rates and satisfaction levels of both victim and offender in many instances compared to traditional approaches. Partners in Restorative Initiatives implemented peace circles and community conferencing, both restorative justice programs, within James Monroe High School in Rochester, NY. The practice of peace circles within Monroe High School was explored in comparison to theory and current national and international uses of peace circles. This paper discussed the restorative justice approach of using peace circles within James Monroe High School in Rochester, NY and how it affected perceptions of …

Factors That Stimulate And Motivate Entrepreneurs To Start Enterprises In The Growth-Oriented, Knowledge-Based Industry Sector: A Kerry Case Study, George Nash

Theses

This study focuses on the stimulation and development of growth-oriented entrepreneurs in Co. Kerry, with particular emphasis on the knowledge-based sector. The knowledge-based sector has been identified as a key area for development by the enterprise support agencies. The rationale for the study arose from the knowledge that a certain enterprise boom had taken place in Kerry in recent years and this had resulted in the creation of a new culture of entrepreneurial development in the county.

The research aims to profile Kerry‟s growthoriented knowledge-based entrepreneurs and to identify the factors that stimulated them to initiate and develop business ventures …

Behind The Plow, Steve Leetch

Theses

Over time the farmers barn has expanded to manage larger equipment, so too, glass art has expanded to manage a widening definition. My thesis is a comparison of values in the history of glass art and the architecture of where I grew up in northern Midwest America. The barn, like glass, has come to impact me beyond utilitarian use. They are both sources of inspiration that serve as creative sources. The barn is a symbol of the American frontier, much like glass has become a symbol of my frontier.

A Simple Question: Does Friedrich Nietzsche Have A Political Philosophy?, Jordan Tyler Brodzinski

Theses

The purpose of this paper is to assess whether Friedrich Nietzsche has a political philosophy. Specifically, I will be concerned with whether Nietzsche would endorse a particular form of government. First, I will draw a distinction between a weak and strong interpretation of the question: “Does Nietzsche have a political philosophy?” This paper will focus on the weak interpretation; that is, “Does Nietzsche endorse a particular form of government?” From this, I will present a textually based argument that the answer is ‘No’, in regards to the question “Does Nietzsche endorse a particular form of government?” After drawing a distinction …

Mourning, Melancholia, And The Possibility Of Transformation: Comparing Julia Kristeva's Black Sun And Judith Butler's The Psychic Life Of Power, Kristina Marie Darling

Theses

In this paper I compare Julia Kristeva's Black Sun and Judith Butler's The Psychic Life of Power, focusing on their treatment of melancholia. The two works prove similar as they appropriate this Freudian concept for feminist ends, suggesting that the mourning, loss, and personal renewal associated with melancholia afford unique opportunities for self-discovery. With that said, the two philosophers present fundamentally different assessments of melancholia as it relates to cultural discourses. Throughout Black Sun, Kristeva suggests that the process of articulating personal loss—whether through psychoanalysis, art, or literature—allows the individual to re-imagine his or her perceived identity. Kristeva envisions this …

User Experience With Cybercollaboration Technologies, Jessica Smagner

Theses

This study focused on evaluating the usability of technologies for cybercollaboration via determining if traditional usability testing methods capable of evaluating virtual team collaboration among professionals and scientists of different disciplines. Exploration of this research was conducted via online survey administered to 72 participants from varied professional and scientific disciplines. This study explored several themes related to computer mediated collaboration, collaboration in science in general, usability of collaboration technologies, and usability testing. Past research was divided on whether software tools or processes are more important to team success. This research suggests that both together are important. Further, usability of cybercollaboration …

Small Gatherings, Sean O'Connell

Theses

My proposed avenue of study involves a focused investigation of ornament on functional pottery. More specifically how the use of embellishment enhances utility and assists in the creation of a context for communal experiences: gatherings of a colloquial, informal, or casual nature. More specifically, this body of work explores the archetypal forms of tableware and how they manifest under the auspice of `small gatherings'. In addition to the apparent characteristics of `use' and `appearance' there are also numerous possibilities that may intersect with the ideas of utility and decoration. The content of this work is embedded in historical modes and …