Digital Commons Network^™

Measuring Effectiveness Of A Culture Change Through A Financial Model Perspective, Robert Lo

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to quantify and measure the success of a culture transformation. Using the Organization Cultural Assessment Instrument (OCAI) to determine the current and desired culture state, 272 employees responded to the survey. An executive focus group provided in-depth understanding of the culture and worked to align the culture to the mission and strategy as they drove the change process throughout the organization to the preferred culture state. The study showed that bringing cultural awareness to an organization is important, and that organization design is a key component to successful organizations. The Human Capital Return on …

Modification Of The "Gold Standard"? Leadership Selection From An Attachment Lens: A Critical Analysis., Rebecca Pearlstein

Theses and Dissertations

The demands of corporate America are placing increased pressures on supervisors and executives to create and manage optimal organizational cultures. Relational capabilities and emotional intelligence have come to the fore as an essential component of effective and successful business leadership. When leaders are unable to create positive relationships with their working teams and navigate the day-to-day stressors of the workplace, the costs can be significant. In addition to losses in productivity, absenteeism, stress, burnout, and demoralization all take a heavy toll. From the perspective of attachment theory, the ability to connect with others, cope with stress, and engage in productive …

Millennial Women In Leadership: A New Generation Of Women Still Facing Gender Inequalities In Business Leadership, Laurie Addison-Lavelle

Theses and Dissertations

For women of all ages, but specifically, for millennial-age women heading into the workforce, or already within it, equality is of critical importance for them to have successful careers and to move into leadership roles (Flood, 2015). Millennial-age women are entering the workforce in almost equal numbers to men. However, women remain highly underrepresented at leadership levels, and gender inequality is still a significant issue (Ely, Ibarra, & Kolb, 2011; Kelan, 2012; Twenge, 2010). The greater number of women in the workforce does not correlate with a shift in women in leadership roles. It is argued that the underrepresentation of …

Concussion Knowledge And Attitudes: The Impact Of Hegemonic Masculinity, Allyssa Jean Schlosser

Theses and Dissertations

Concussions are a significant public health issue, however, there is a lack of knowledge about concussions and a minimization of their severity in society. Prior research has identified various social stigmas, particularly in the world of contact sports, as deterrents for men reporting concussions. This study expands on the reasons why men do not report concussions by exploring the relationship between adherence to hegemonic masculinity and the knowledge and attitudes men have about concussions. College men (N =126) responded to survey questions related to concussion knowledge, concussion attitudes, adherence to toughness, and adherence to restrictive emotionality. Regression analyses were performed …

Ecocomposition As Writing Curriculum: An Ecological Approach For Writing Program Administrators And Composition Instructors, Erin Renee Lord Kunz

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation forwards an argument for an ecologically-based composition and rhetoric curriculum that also emphasizes the best practices established by the Council of Writing Program Administration, particularly the writing process. I concentrate on how a writing program administrator can utilize ecological literacy to navigate her own experience in a new place and also how themes of ecological literacy can be applied to the writing program itself. Based on personal experiences as well as literature that establishes the need for best practices in composition and rhetoric curriculum, I argue that ecological composition, or ecocomposition, can assist in implementing an ecological writing …

The Impact Of Cultural Encounters On The Cultural Competence Of Baccalaureate Nursing Students, Amy J. Witt

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: By the year 2050 it is expected more than fifty percent of the American population will be of non-European descent (United States Census Bureau, 2011). Racial and ethnic minorities in the United States (U.S.) have more limited access to health care and a poorer quality of health care received, regardless of insurance coverage. Nursing education must provide a means for acquiring cultural competence by nursing students to help combat the growing health disparities. While many different methodologies can be found in nursing curricula, the cultural encounter during the nursing program may prove to be a promising means of acquiring …

Holistic Products: Designing With Time, Gifts, And Ritual, Jeremy P. Zietz

Theses and Dissertations

The notion of “you are what you buy” is an updated adage from “you are what you eat”. It makes a connection between our everyday objects and their effect on our lived experience. Looking at our relationships with our things as a type of contract, we must be intentional to shape these object contracts for our own good and health. Instead of our society’s design talents being put toward a consumerist agenda, designers must direct research and development which addresses the effects of our products holistically.

Various concepts have emerged in my creative practice which demand a deeper research and …

Deserts Will Bloom: Atomic Agriculture And The Promise Of Radioactive Redemption, Chris Fite

Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the rhetorical and visual strategies used in marketing atomic agriculture to the American public from the 1940s to the 1960s. The term “atomic agriculture” refers to various agricultural research programs that used radioactive materials, particularly radioisotope tracing and mutation breeding. In print and on screen, atomic boosters from government and industry offered the promise of a better world made possible by applying atomic energy to agriculture. I argue that the proponents of atomic agriculture combined futurism and nostalgia to create a techno-pastoral vision. They hearkened back to the nineteenth century while simultaneously imagining a bright postwar future. …

Development And Application Of Foraminiferal Carbonate System Proxies To Quantify Ocean Acidification In The California Current, Emily B. Osborne

Theses and Dissertations

The oceanic uptake of anthropogenic carbon has mitigated climate change, but has also resulted in a global average 0.1 decline in surface ocean pH over 20th century known as ocean acidification. The parallel reduction in carbonate ion concentration ([CO32-]) and the saturation state of seawater (Ω) has caused many major calcium carbonate-secreting organisms such as planktonic foraminifera to exhibit impaired calcification. We develop proxy calibrations and down core records that use calcification and geochemical characteristics of planktonic foraminifera as proxies for the marine carbonate system. This study focuses specifically on the surface ocean chemistry of the California Current Ecosystem (CCE), …

The Identification Of The Direct And Indirect Pathways Through Which Leptin Facilitates Synaptic Plasticity In The Hippocampus, Catherine Van Doorn

Theses and Dissertations

Leptin, a peptide synthesized by adipocytes in the periphery, has been shown to play significant roles in feeding and energy expenditure mediated by the hypothalamus. Growing evidence supports the role of leptin in influencing synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus in that leptin dose-dependently enhances LTP, alters morphology and neurogenesis, facilitates spatial learning and memory, as well as memory retention. Models of leptin deficiency and resistance have further supported the importance of leptin in synaptic plasticity by exhibiting deficits in electrophysiological, morphological and behavioral tests that are improved after leptin restoration. The effects of leptin when applied directly into the hippocampus …

Neutering Neoliberalism: Masculinities And Gore Capitalism In Rubem Fonseca’S Crime Novels, David William Hancock

Theses and Dissertations

This study presents close readings of Rubem Fonseca’s Agosto (1990), A grande arte (1983), Bufo & Spallanzani (1985), and O seminarista (2009), to suggest they condemn Neoliberalism’s role in creating a global culture of violence, as they problematize its rhetoric of domination and uncover its heteropatriarchal, consumerist ideology, disguised as fact or ‘common-sense.’ The four chapters are divided according to the different theoretical concepts that accompany the four principal texts’ common critique of Neoliberal masculinity, as it functions to uphold the interdependent hierarchies of race, class and gender. Fonseca’s texts also imply the reader's’ complicity in a global culture of …

The Implementation And Emulation Of Cult Movie Marketing, Rebekah W. Mckendry

Theses and Dissertations

Cult media is often an area of media studies that is difficult to define. Cult media branches through numerous time periods, genres, and fandom patterns. Cult trends are also constantly evolving over time, changing from word-of-mouth and point-of-sale advertising to social networks and Internet culture. But have the rudimentary basics of how media cults develop and spread their message changed along with the progressing marketing presentation? This dissertation explores the definition of media cults, their history, and marketing styles over time, ultimately exploring the tools utilized to market cult media and examine how these tools are now synthetically applied to …

The Future Of Arabic Music: No Sound Without Silence, Nesma Magdy Khodier Vcuq

Theses and Dissertations

For centuries, Arabic music has been intrinsically linked to Arab culture and by extension bonded to the environmental landscape of the region, reflecting their emotions, moods, and behaviors. Numerous technological advancements in the latter half of the twentieth century, have greatly affected the rich legacy of Arabic music, significantly impacting the natural progression of traditional Arabic musical genres, scales, and instrumentation.

This thesis serves as an introduction to generative methods of music production, specifically music generated through gestures. Through generative music, and its unique ability to map gestures to different musical parameters, music can be produced using computer algorithms.

The …

Friendship Is Manly: The Brony Fandom And The Challenge Of Masculinity, Samuel Miller

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the cultural phenomenon of Bronies, adult, mostly male, fans of the show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. When large numbers of grown men like a show designed for little girls, how do they contend with the challenges presented by the culturally accepted norms of masculinity? Do these fans disclose their love of ponies to others, if at all? An online mixed methods survey conducted in 2014 looks at how Bronies interact with the show, other fans, and non fans. While some Bronies are cautious about disclosing their fondness for ponies due to potential harassment, there is …

Beyond Ideals: Proslavery Reforms On A Nineteenth-Century Cotton Plantation, Kevin R. Fogle

Theses and Dissertations

The last four decades of the antebellum period witnessed the rise of a proslavery plantation reform movement aimed at preserving slavery in the face of increasing abolitionist pressure. Reformers promoted the image of ideal enslaved households operating as part of efficient modern plantations ruled by reason, benevolent management techniques, and scientific agriculture. Where implemented, reforms resulted in numerous changes to plantation life both around the home and in the fields. Slaves who bore the brunt of these changes struggled to resist plantation reforms or grudgingly accepted them depending on the impact upon established daily routines and any potential benefits bondsmen …

Redneckaissance: Honey Boo Boo, Tumblr, And The Stereotype Of Poor White Trash, Ashley F. Miller

Theses and Dissertations

Tumblr is an understudied social media site with a young, progressive, and queer user base of content creators. This study examines Tumblr posts about Here Comes Honey Boo Boo to understand the nature of Tumblr and the way a convergent culture that includes non-viewers negotiates a television show dependent on stereotypes. Discourses around authenticity, LGBTQ issues, and body acceptance resist the negative white trash connotations of the show, but this resistance is embedded in stereotypes around race, class, gender, sexuality, and geography. The result is a continuum in which users negotiate what the show means in how they use that …

The Development Of A Model For Vascular Calcification And The Effects Of Magnesium Supplementation On In Vitro Calcification, Joshua Nathaniel Grant

Theses and Dissertations

Cardiovascular disease is most deadly medical condition in the United States. Medial vascular calcification is a disease that often precedes other more serious cardiovascular diseases that have high mortality. In order to research new therapies for the treatment of medial vascular calcification, an in vitro cell culture model must be developed that mimics the process in vivo. This disease is shown to be an active, cell-mediated process where the vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in the arteries are differentiating into osteoblast-like cells and depositing hydroxyapatite mineral in the artery walls. By administering inorganic phosphate to cell culture medium, an osteogenic …

Identification Of Purpurogallin In Brewed Beverages And Effect Of Roasting On Antioxidant Activity And Phenolic Compounds In Coffees, Yu-Chen Liao

Theses and Dissertations

Coffee contains many antioxidants including purpurogallin, which is a hydrophobic phenolic antioxidant that is difficult to measure with reported methods. A method combining solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry was developed to detect and quantify purpurogallin in brewed beverages, including coffee. For beverage preparation, water extraction was adopted for improved correlation with moka pot brewing. Purpurogallin was detected in all commercial coffee samples, and its content in ground coffees ranged from 455-630 ng/g dry weight. Purpurogallin was only detected in two English breakfast tea samples (335-360 ng/g dry weight) and was not detected in any cocoa sample. Antioxidant activity, total …

Resisting The Resistance: The Emancipation Of Students From The Hidden Curriculum Of Commodified Resistant Narratives In Young Adult Dystopian Film Through Open Pedagogical Space And Culture-Jamming, Robert B. Bauer

Theses and Dissertations

Young Adult Dystopian Film exercises an influence over young people of which they are not aware. As part of a structure of domination these films teach students to participate in their own oppression by the capitalist system. The film industry maintains a hidden curriculum like that utilized in school classrooms to conceal the oppression from the masses. One particularly effective means is the portrayal of resistance against oppression in the narratives of the YA Dystopian Film. Young people are drawn to that narrative and end up supporting the structure of domination financially and ideologically. Modes of resistance to this oppression …

A New American Fiction: Personal Essays, Observances, And Interviews, Daniel M. Mendoza

Theses and Dissertations

This work consists of essays on the author’s personal development as a writer. It also contains reflections on the state of contemporary American and Mexican-American fiction. The author seeks to illustrate the relevance of certain writers affiliated with working-class fiction, a genre of contemporary American fiction that blends social, political, and aesthetic values into their novels and short stories.

Included in this work are also a number of conversations with writers of working-class fiction. In these conversations the author engages other writers in dialogue that further illuminates the author’s development of his creative identity as a cultural and literary writer.

A Longitudinal Examination Of The Effects Of Acculturation And Mental Health Problems On Immigrant Father Involvement: A Cross-Cultural Study, Keitaro Yoshida

Theses and Dissertations

The present study examined how acculturation, mental health problems, and parenting stress are associated with two dimensions of father involvement longitudinally for Latino and Chinese immigrant fathers using a nationally representative sample of young children and their resident fathers from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B). After controlling for a variety of individual and demographic characteristics and previous levels of father involvement, results from multiple group structural equation modeling revealed that immigrant fathers' English proficiency is negatively associated with care-taking involvement at 2 years, but positively associated with care-taking involvement at 4 years. Interestingly, mothers' English proficiency is also …

Review Of Aviation Research: A Content Analysis Of Articles Published In The Collegiate Aviation Review, 2007–2012, Safak Aktemur

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to conduct a content analysis of the methodological quality of articles published in the Collegiate Aviation Review (CAR)” a refereed journal of the University Aviation Alliance (UAA)”to determine if actual practices of aviation researchers were consistent with commonly recommended research methods and procedures. The accessible population consisted of the 76 articles published in CAR between 2007 and 2012 (Volumes 25“30). The sample consisted of N = 69 articles and excluded literature reviews, meta-analyses, studies that described the development or validation of an instrument, philosophical inquiries, position papers, or historical studies. The analysis focused on …

Fan The Flames Of Discontent: Contemporary Labor Literature And Social Movements, Ericka Rae Wills

Theses and Dissertations

Fan the Flames of Discontent: Contemporary Labor Literature and Social Movements balances a literary approach to textual analysis with socially grounded reflections on diverse worker organizations. Chapters analyze Leslie Marmon Silko's Almanac of the Dead, Helena Maria Viramontes's Under the Feet of Jesus, and Thomas Pynchon's Against the Day alongside worker-writers' texts and testimonies, such as Fran Leeper Buss and María Elena Lucas's Forged under the Sun / Forjada bajo el sol and The Heat: Steelworker Lives and Legends, a collection of United Steelworkers' Institute for Career Development writings. In each of five chapters, this dissertation respectively discusses how literature …

Exploring Lds Missionary Blogs: How Culture Manifests In Self-Narratives Of Foreign Missionaries, Karina Marie Gathu

Theses and Dissertations

Missionaries serving in foreign countries provide a unique perspective on culture that they chronicle on public blogs. A content analysis of these blogs showed that missionaries use their own cultural and religious frame to make observations, some good and some bad, about cultural habits and beliefs foreign to their own. Through the medium of blogging, we see how missionaries use self-narratives to understand and make sense out of differences in culture and beliefs that ultimately impact how they identify themselves.

Nanoparticle Interaction At Cellular And Subcellular Levels As Analyzed By Electron Microscopy For Biomedical Application, Thikra Mustafa

Theses and Dissertations

Nanotechnology is a multidisciplinary field of science. The merger of nanotechnology and biotechnology has led to the introduction of a new field of science called bionanotechnology. Bionanotechnology employs extremely small, engineered materials to perform tasks within biological systems. This new technology has benefits in many different sectors, including cancer fighting, disease detection, and medical imaging. The application of nanotechnology in biology and medicine offers exciting new possibilities. A nanoparticle (NP) --an extremely small, two- or three -dimensional object having a size ranging from 1-100nm--is the type of nanomaterial utilized in bionanotechnology applications. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) …

Reconceptualizing Markets: Hip- Hop Artists, Marketing, Distribution, And Consumers, Ronald Pikes

Theses and Dissertations

Sociologists have made many contributions to the current understanding of markets. In spite of these contributions, individuals and market practices in sociology are generally overlooked, but both are important because individuals and their practices give markets their form. By overlooking market practices, sociologists disregard two of the most important forces within markets, distribution and marketing. These oversights significantly reduce our ability to understand how modern economic markets operate. Thus, the focus of this study is centered on market actions of independent hip-hop music artists and consumers of hip-hop music especially in regards to music distribution technology. Data was collected via …

The Relationship Between Motivating Language And Servant Leadership, Sandra Gutierrez

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to contribute to servant leadership’s empirical research. Specifically, this study aims to provide empirical validation of the relationship between servant leadership and selected organizational outcomes, such as employee performance, employee turnover, job satisfaction, and absenteeism. Additionally, it is of interest to investigate how leader oral communication affects these relationships. Communication plays an important role in servant leadership. Since it is not clear what kind of relationship exist between servant leadership and motivating language, four competing models were tested in this study to find the best fit and demonstrate what kind of role communication plays …

The Language And Cross-Cultural Perceptions Of Deception, Brent Logan Laing

Theses and Dissertations

While much research has shown that some linguistic features can indicate a person is lying, this line of research has led to conflicting results. Furthermore, very little research has been done to verify that these supposed linguistic features of deception are universal. In addition, few studies have researched the cross-cultural perceptions of deception, which knowledge could greatly improve the detection of deception across cultures. The current study addresses these gaps in the literature by analyzing and comparing truthful and deceptive discourse of eight native English-speaking Americans and eight non-native English-speaking Ghanaians. The discourse was elicited in one-on-one interviews where each …

A Unit On The Family And Traditions: For Middle School Spanish Classes, Rebecca A. Proper

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis project for a Master of Arts in Spanish Pedagogy consists of a four-week, ten-lesson unit on culture in the family. This unit is designed for a middle school Spanish I class and is intended to supplement Chapter 5 in the Realidades textbook in the cultural aspect of learning a foreign language. The intention is to engage students to consider cultural perspectives, or the “why” cultures do what they do. The lesson plans from the unit are based on backward design and are structured around essential questions including, “What constitutes an ideal family?” An emphasis is placed on cultural …

Scott Fitzgerald’S The Great Gatsby: Critical Reception And Visual Interpretation, Ahmed Maklad

Theses and Dissertations

The thesis explores how the literary status of Fitzgerald’s novel published in 1925 evolved from being dismissed to becoming a canonical work of American Literature after the death of its author. The role of criticism and adaptations and how they intertwined to popularize the novel among the academic elite and the general public is examined. Four critical studies in different decades of recent history are analyzed to show the different approaches to the novel as well as its relation to the American Dream. The thesis suggests that the four critical studies discussed reflect viewpoints impacted by the cultural and socio-economic …