Digital Commons Network^™

Apology As A Leadership Behavior: A Meta-Analysis With Implications For Organizational Leaders, Matthew W. Brubaker

Theses and Dissertations

Leaders are frequently called to apologize on behalf of their organizations, in some cases skillfully resolving episodes of failure while meeting the unique, competing needs of diverse stakeholders. However, too often leaders handle apology poorly, exacerbating tense situations and alienating key constituents. This study is an examination of the practice of apology as a leadership behavior in an organizational context. To answer the question, How might the existing literatures on apology be examined, integrated and refocused to apply specifically to leaders operating within an organizational context? the study provides a meta-analysis of the diverse literatures that address the practice of …

Exploring Racial Literacy In Middle Level Teacher Preparation: A Case Study, Deborah H. Mcmurtrie

Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, approximately 82% of teachers are white and middle-class, yet their students are strikingly diverse and becoming more so. The mismatch between teachers’ and students’ racial backgrounds is important because teachers who have limited experience with students of color may misinterpret their students’ unfamiliar behaviors and make stereotyped assumptions from a deficit perspective. It is well documented that U.S. schools systematically marginalize and fail many children of color. Disparities in funding, access, and achievement in education are intimately tied to race. Everyday practices in schools perpetuate inequities, but the actual processes can be hard to see. If …

Telling A Different Narrative: Exploring The Values And Challenges Of Performing Enslaved Community Members’ Stories At U.S. Southern Plantation Museums, Stefanie Kate Benjamin

Theses and Dissertations

Informed by both performance studies and collective memory theory, this study centers around Let Them Be Heard, a theatrical production that breathes life into the narratives of former slaves, performed at three plantation sites in the U.S. South. I seek to understand the lived experience of the performance through the eyes of three key stakeholder groups (plantation museum curators and docents, the director of the Let Them Be Heard production, and the show’s performers), and the impact of the performance on those individuals and on the plantation sites where the performances took place. Ultimately, I am attempting to discern the …

Evaluating Muscle Fiber Architecture, Morgan Ashley Flahive

Theses and Dissertations

Mastication is the first step in the preparation of food for digestion. The masticatory anatomy of several families of Carnivorans (i.e., Family Canidae, Family Mustelidae, Family Hyaenidae, and Family Ursidae of the order Carnivora) will be compared in this study. The goal is to better understand masticatory adaptations through an examination of bite force and muscle fiber architecture in the various groups of carnivores, and to provide a proper protocol in acid dissection of fiber architecture.

Addressing Disparity: One Unique School’S Efforts To Provide Holistic Education In A Low-Income, Black Community, Allison Anne Parsons

Theses and Dissertations

Schools are meant to provide an equal opportunity for achievement to all students. The reality is that school policies and practices, which govern not only child education but also child health, parenting practices, and other social issues, are based on ideologies of the dominant culture creating an environment the perpetuates current social hierarchies. By doing so, this not only limits minority populations’ access to the opportunities associated with education but also access to health, as education and health are strongly and positively linked.

This study used qualitative methods including ethnography to explore how racism was perpetuated through the dominant discourses …

Tropes Of Blood, Body And The Ground Of The Law: Becoming, Being And Beyond Wife On The Early Modern Stage, Emily Faye Murray

Theses and Dissertations

This project focuses on the representation of women on the early modern stage in three exemplary texts: the anonymous domestic tragedy Arden of Faversham, and two city comedies, Thomas Dekker’s The Shoemaker’s Holiday and Dekker and Thomas Middleton’s The Roaring Girl. Whether playing the role of adulterous wife, performing the role socially striving wife, or resisting the role of laboring wife, these female characters were on stage not only for entertainment, but also for examination and scrutiny by an early modern audience. Playwrights used characterizations of women and wives and their relationships to the economy as vehicles through …

Exploring Stakeholders' Perceptions Of The Evaluation Of Early Fieldwork Experience In An Undergraduate Teacher Preparation Program, Amber R. Peacock

Theses and Dissertations

This study is a qualitative meta-evaluation of the early field experience (EFE) program at a small, private, undergraduate teacher preparation program in Virginia focusing on the perceptions of preservice teachers, cooperating teachers and course instructors about the EFE evaluation objectives, evaluation experience, and resulting data usage. The EFE evaluation protocol at the study site is explored using a participatory-oriented evaluation model that solicited the perceptions of stakeholders. Analysis of EFE evaluation documents and semi-structured interviews with the stakeholders were conducted to explore the extent to which (1) official EFE objectives are congruent with the EFE evaluation, (2) the intended evaluation …

Conjoined Lucuma Fruit Vessels: Evolution & Context In Nasca Art, Carley Elder

Theses and Dissertations

The function of a ceramic vessel is often evaluated in relation to its form. Vessels with complex forms can be challenging to analyze from this perspective and require a different approach. One such example is an overlooked yet long-lived specialized vessel type in the form of conjoined lúcuma fruits found throughout the ancient Andes. The main object of this study is a Nasca version of this vessel type in the Virginia Museum of Fine Art. This study explores the relationship between form and iconography, rather than function. It examines how Nasca potters adopted the conjoined lúcuma form vessel and adapted …

The Integration History Of Kuwaiti Television From 1957-1990: An Audience-Generated Oral Narrative On The Arrival And Integration Of The Device In The City, Ahmad Hamada

Theses and Dissertations

This study attempts to compose an account of television history in Kuwait, one that focuses on its integration into society and is told from the audience's perspective and experience. This study represents a cultural alternative to the overwhelmingly national, institutional, and biographical focus that accompanies television history works in Kuwait and the Arab world.

The narrative is gathered and generated through the individual oral stories of 25 Kuwaitis over the age of 50, who generally represent the six geographical districts of Kuwait. Through their oral stories, the narrators examine the different areas in which television has integrated itself into society …

Regarding The Porosity Of Borders, Lee M. Piechocki

Theses and Dissertations

An analysis of the surface of my paintings through Jean Baudrillard’s notion of seduction and the cool mechanism of the airbrush. I further investigate my work through the metaphor of the black mirror also known as a Claude Mirror and the connections between my work, Claude Lorrain’s landscape painting and divination through the use of reflective surfaces known as catopotromancy. Considering the notion of assemblage as outlined by Gilles Deleuze and Bruno Latour’s Action Network Theory I attempt to navigate the part/whole relationships found in painting, and in society.

One Script, Two Perspectives: Generation Me And The Staging Of Really Really, Kirstin R. Hensley

Theses and Dissertations

Really, Really, by Paul Downs Colaizzo, is loosely based on the 2006 Duke University sexual assault scandal resulting from what proved to be a false accusation of rape made against three members of the men’s lacrosse team. After individually reading the play, Jorge Burmudez and I both arrived at differing opinions of who was the true victim, in turn inspiring this thesis, which is an exploration of two separate productions of the play demonstrating contrasting perspectives/outlooks regarding sex crimes within sports organizations in the university setting. It will describe our process from conceptualization to a post-mortem talking about particular …

The Majlis Metamorphosis: Virtues Of Local Traditional Environmental Design In A Contemporary Context, Shaikha Almahmoud

Theses and Dissertations

In the Arabian Gulf countries, the majlis is a central part of the house. The most public space within it, the majlis represents the household’s occupants to society and its social and economic status. As the house reflects culture and civilization, so the family is understood as a micro-level society of individuals raised in its institutions. Hence, the house is a manifestation of family structure, religious beliefs, and individual needs and desires, reflecting the family’s economic, cultural, and social backgrounds and aspirations. The majlis offers a unique space in Arab societies, articulating cultural and social factors that directly impact identity …

Understanding The Impact Of Leadership And Organizational Culture On Nonprofit Employees’ Commitment And Turnover Intention, Nancy A. Toscano

Theses and Dissertations

Child and family nonprofit organizations are essential for the implementation of United States public policy in their role as service providers. Human service nonprofit organizations held approximately 20,000 government contracts, totaling more than $100 billion in 2009 (Boris, deLeon, Roeger, & Nikolva, 2010). Almost 33,000 human service nonprofit organizations contract with the government to deliver services (Boris, et al., 2010). The services provided by these organizations are critical to the lives of vulnerable American citizens. These organizations depend on committed employees to serve this group, carry out the mission, and reach organizational goals. Employees are nonprofit organizations’ greatest resource, investment, …

The Impact Of Acculturation On Perceptions Of Elder Abuse And Help-Seeking Behaviors Among Elderly Polynesians, Myra Halaevalu Te’O Aukusitino

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was conducted to determine whether or not acculturation affects the process of help-seeking patterns and behaviors for Polynesian victims of elder abuse. The researcher utilized a quantitative correlation design to employ structured survey measures to collect statistical data to determine the impact of acculturation on perception of elder abuse and help-seeking behaviors among elderly Polynesians. Acculturation was measured using the Polynesian Self-Identify Acculturation Scale and the 13 case scenarios developed by Moon and Williams. The study looked at the extent to which elderly Polynesians perceived that the scenarios depicted abusive situations, and to what extent they indicated …

Identifying Data Exchange Congestion Through Real-Time Monitoring Of Beowulf Cluster Infiniband Networks, Michael James Aguilar

Theses and Dissertations

The ability to gather data from many types of new information sources has grown quickly using new technologies. The ability to store and retrieve large quantities of data from these new sources has created a need for computing platforms that are able to process the data for information. High Performance Computing Cluster systems have been developed to fulfill a role required for fast processing of large amounts of data for many difficult types of computing applications.

Beowulf Clusters use many separate compute nodes to create a tightly coupled parallel HPCC system. The ability for a Beowulf Cluster HPCC system to …

Missionary Education And The Problem Of Language: The International Missionary Council In Colonial Senegal, 1917-1935, Deborah Leah Lowder

Theses and Dissertations

Between the World Wars, as France refined its colonial structure and control over

Senegal, allowing international missionary networks to develop their own concepts of the

mission civilisatrice. Utilizing the concepts of tutelage and moral education, missionaries

in the International Missionary Council (IMC) defined their role in the French empire as

imperative to the development of African peoples. As self-proclaimed thwarters of the

degradation of the French secular state in Senegal, the IMC used concepts of tutelage and

moral education within the debates surrounding education defined the place of

missionaries within French colonialism in interwar Senegal. Through letters,

publications, and negotiations …

Avatar, Cyborg, Icevorg: Simulacra’S Scion, Guido E. Alvarez

Theses and Dissertations

I propose a theoretical framework that describes how avatars incorporate media as an inherent part of their nature and find a hosting body in cyborgs to navigate and spawn in media. I propose the birth of a new scion that combines avatar, medium and cyborg into a conceptual being that I call “ICEVORG.”

The ICEVORG expands beyond representation into the actual physical world by means of media transgression—more specifically, by the use of the Strange Loop also known as Metalepsis ICEVORG find an effective soil to thrive and interrogate our ideas of reality by means of iteration, expansion, fragmentation and …

A Perception Of Change, A Change Of Perception, Christopher D. White

Theses and Dissertations

Change is a constant reminder that permanence is the ultimate illusion. It is through the creation of hyper-realistic, ceramic sculpture that I explore the relationship between nature, humans, and the phenomenon of impermanence. I seek to expose the beauty that often results from decay while, at the same time, making my viewer question their own perception of the world around them. The juxtaposition of natural and man-made features in combination with the skewing of scale, proportion, and material, creates an altered perspective – forcing the viewer to look closer. By combining both human and natural elements within my work I …

Bibimbap: Identity Construction In Korean Third Culture Kids During Higher Education, Megan I. Beard

Theses and Dissertations

Amidst increasing interconnectedness and transmigration of the 21st century, a number of families are leaving South Korea for business, work, or education; their children are raised as Third Culture Kids (TCKs)—children who accompany their parents abroad. This study used the lens of cultural globalization to examine how Korean TCKs used their life experiences to inform their identity construction, especially during higher education. Participants were Korean students and recent alumni from universities in Korea, the United States, and abroad who had spent at least three childhood years living outside Korea with their families. Data were collected through a series of unstructured …

Independence At Large: Contemporary China's Alternative Music Scenes And The Cultural Practices Of Post-Socialist Urban Youth, Shan Huang

Theses and Dissertations

Using contemporary Beijing’s alternative music scenes as a focal point, this ethnographic research seeks to enrich the understanding of China’s post-socialist urban youth by examining their cultural practices. First, this thesis offers an analytical account of the popularizing embrace of “independent cultures,” which is defined as a collection of experienceable objects and activities in musical, filmic, theatric, and other cultural forms that are well recognized yet believed by advocates as having aesthetic and participatory features that are different from those produced in the popular culture industry. While the vogue for independent cultures is substantially conditioned by the socioeconomic attributes of …

Innovation Among Georgian Journalism Educators: A Network Analysis Perspective, Ana Keshelashvili

Theses and Dissertations

Rapid developments in technology in recent years have disrupted the media’s traditional role as a main informer for citizens. The changes have challenged journalism educators worldwide, pushing them to innovate and experiment. One purpose of this dissertation is to examine adoption of innovations by journalism educators in Georgia, a small post-Soviet country with partly free media and lack of professional outlets, that has been and still is a beneficiary of Western aid for media development. Employing innovation diffusion theory and the network analysis perspective, this dissertation uses a census of journalism educators and journalism program leaders in Georgia to understand …

Going Up The Country: A Comparison Of Elite Ceramic Consumption Patterns In Charleston And The Carolina Frontier, Rebecca E. Shepherd

Theses and Dissertations

The 18th century colonial world is characterized by a dramatic increase in the consumption of goods identified as the “consumer revolution.” During this period fashionable material culture and the social performances associated with their use became universally recognized symbols of group membership. This thesis uses archaeological evidence to explore variation in the degree of participation in the consumer revolution between urban and rural settings in late eighteenth-century South Carolina. The data used for this research will be taken from excavated ceramic assemblages of two domestic archaeological sites, both of which were homes owned consecutively by the wealthy Brewton and Motte …

A Phenomenological Study Of Student Engagement In United States History Classrooms, Emily Louvette Manigault

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to explore the relationship between student engagement and the perception of academic achievement (learning) by teachers and students in an urban high school social studies course. Over the past several years, educational leaders and researchers have tried to find a cause for a number of issues in public education, including low academic achievement, increasing student drop-out rates and the decline of positive perceptions of schools in general. As a result, there has been increasing research done on the level of engagement that students experience during their schooling. Much of the research has focused …

Science Fairs Before Sputnik: Adolescent Scientific Culture In Contemporary America, Sarah Michel Scripps

Theses and Dissertations

"Science Fairs before Sputnik: Adolescent Scientific Culture in Contemporary America" traces the formation and evolution of science fairs in America, focusing on the ways in which adolescents established communities of practice by engaging in these competitions. Over the course of the twentieth century, generations of American children conducted their first experiments by crafting science fair projects. The dissertation evaluates this understudied phenomenon against the backdrop of American fascinations and fears of science and evolving notions of adolescence. It argues that science fairs were central to shaping an adolescent scientific culture in the United States during the early to mid twentieth …

Southern Language, Ideology, And Identity In A High School Sorority, Sara Lide

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the language practices of high school sorority members in a mid-sized city in the U.S. South. Specifically, it describes how economically privileged, white, female youth in the Young Ladies’ Society of Midway (YLSM) used Southern language to position themselves and others in relation to widely and locally circulating ideologies of language, region, gender, and class. Drawing on sociolinguistic and linguistic anthropological methods, this study addresses the issues of how Southern language practices and language ideologies relate and how indexical meanings and social identities emerge through linguistic interaction. As a study that examines the language of a group …

Soundscape Evaluation On Mississippi State University Campus, Yalcin Yildirim

Theses and Dissertations

The term soundscape, used for the first time at the end of 1970s, refers to the sum of the sounds that can be heard and perceived by people in a specific environment. The concept of soundscape has recently received attention in planning and design disciplines. Recent studies on soundscape have shown that the acoustic environment plays an important role for the comfort of site users. Hence, this research investigates how objective measurement of soundscape might be different from subjective perceptions of users in the Mississippi State University Campus as a public open space due to demographic and climatic variations. The …

Intensification As A Survival Strategy For Early Settlers On The Tombigbee National Forest, Jessica L. Gisler

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the relationship between success and access to children, slaves, and kin as labor sources during the period of 1833 to 1865 in northeast Mississippi. The theoretical concepts of agricultural intensification and relative intensity were used to measure variability among the households. Artifacts from seven archaeological sites were used to establish mean dates. These sites were tied to their original occupants through historic records. A historic document search revealed the number of slaves and children each family had, and whether they had kin living nearby. Agricultural census records showed the productivity of each farm during the study period. …

Generality Of The Terminal Investment Hypothesis: Effects Of Extrinsic Mortality And Resource Availability On Age-Related Reproductive Investment, Allystair Jones

Theses and Dissertations

A central question in life history theory is, what combination of traits and behaviors will lead to the highest reproductive success throughout a lifetime. The trade-off between current and future reproduction is central to the lifetime reproductive success of an organism. If there is a cost to reproduction, then allocation of energy to current reproduction will come at a cost to future reproduction. We expect young individuals to favor future reproduction over current reproduction and that balance shifts to current reproduction as they age (i.e. terminal investment hypothesis). However, how this transition from an emphasis on future reproduction to emphasis …

Leisure Defined By Free Choice: Ugandan Women's Perceptions Of Leisure, Emilie Adams

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the meaning of leisure among women in the developing East African nation of Uganda. In this study, I evaluated the leisure experiences of 38 Ugandan women of various backgrounds and socioeconomic statuses through semi-structured interviews. I analyzed the data using the constant comparative method. Themes for the meaning of leisure include fortifying leisure, enjoyment, and rest and relaxation. Results point to free choice as the core variable. Finally, I discuss the implications and suggestions for future research.

Comparative Analysis Of Ceramics From Three Great Houses And One Small House Site In Southeast Utah, Rachel Marie Harris

Theses and Dissertations

Ceramics from three Utah great houses, Bluff, Cottonwood Falls, and Edge of the Cedars, were analyzed and compared with ceramics from Three Kiva Pueblo, which is not a great house site but was occupied contemporarily. Data on jar and bowl rim diameters were considered to understand great house feasting dynamics. Cooking jars with large rim diameters were more common at Three Kiva than they were at the great houses. This suggests that Three Kiva residents prepared large batches of food more frequently than great house residents. Distributions of Mancos Black-on-white bowl diameters were very similar at great houses and Three …