Digital Commons Network^™

Preservice Teachers' Perceptions Of Their Perspective Transformations: A Case Study, Victoria Caruana

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Utilizing a case study approach, this study explored the perspectives of preservice teachers as they relate to working with students with disabilities in inclusive classroom settings. Preservice teachers' perceptions about the extent, if any, their learning experiences during teacher preparation contributed to their perspectives was examined through a sequential exploratory design that employed both quantitative and qualitative data. The findings of this case study of six (6) elementary and secondary preservice teachers indicated that the experiences they had during their final student teaching (internship) were the most meaningful triggers of their perspective transformations. The findings further indicated that four (4) …

Sexually Explicit, Socially Empowered: Sexual Liberation And Feminist Discourse In 1960s Playboy And Cosmopolitan, Lina Salete Chaves

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I provide an analysis of 1960s American popular culture by examining Playboy, "The Playboy Philosophy," Cosmopolitan, and Sex and the Single Girl. These cultural artifacts furthered the feminist movement by challenging gender structures and sexuality. I discuss how these publications focused on the advancement of the individual through careerism, consumerism and sexuality. These publications assisted in challenging and breaking down various aspects of gender and sexual boundaries and assisted in reworking social limitations that kept women from advancing themselves outside of the pre-set gender roles of domesticity. Regardless of the traditional feminist critique of …

Shifting Blackness: How The Arts Revolutionize Black Identity In The Postmodern West, Reginald Eldridge Jr

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The contemporary experiences of racially marginalized people in the West are affected deeply by the hegemonic capitalist Orthodox cultural codes, or episteme, in which blackness operates as the symbol of Chaos. As it relates to people of African descent, these affects are marked by a denial of the black person's full status as an unproblematic subject, by ontological voids arising from the practice of enslavement over the past centuries, and by problems of representation within the West, where examples and points of reference for black identity are always tied up with conflicting interests.

Utilizing Sylvia Wynter's model of the Ceremony …

Painting Parisian Identity: Place And Subjectivity In Fin-De-Siecle Art, Chelsea Anne Watts

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis I provide analysis of several nineteenth-century artworks in order to elucidate the connections between place and identity as expressed in visual representations of Paris. I utilize Bakhtin's idea of the dialogical as a means of identifying multiple subject positions that might be accessed by particular individuals who live in socially constructed spaces specific to fin-de-siècle Paris. I discuss the construction of three performed identities unique to nineteenth-century Paris: the Flâneur, the bohemian, and the primitivist. In each chapter I will parse out the social construction of the spaces where these identities existed and were performed, and link …

A Cross-Cultural Adaptation Of The Irrational Beliefs Inventory From English To Icelandic, Gudmundur Torfi Heimisson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Irrational Beliefs Inventory (IBI) was built to measure self-defeating beliefs as conceptualized in Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy. The IBI has five factors: worrying, rigidity, problem avoidance, need for approval, and emotional irresponsibility. A three-phase cross-cultural study was conducted to translate and adapt the IBI from English to Icelandic, and a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) approach was used for a test of factorial validity and cross-cultural invariance.

In Phase 1, the IBI was translated from English to Icelandic, using a forward-translation and back-translation. Two forward-translators and two back-translators were recruited. In Phase 2, qualitative interview methods were used in both the …

Constructing Alternative Christian Identity: An Ethnography Of Jesus People Usa's Cornerstone Festival, Brian Johnston

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines processes through which alternative Christian identities are constructed, maintained, and performed at the annual Cornerstone Festival in Bushnell, Illinois. Organized and managed by Jesus People USA (JPUSA), an urban commune in Chicago, Illinois, the festival includes non-traditional methods of religious expression including rock music, making camp, play, and community-building. Cornerstone Festival attracts and includes members of the Christian faith who would not otherwise be included in traditionally organized Christian groups and fosters interaction between these less enfranchised members and more traditionally minded and socialized Christian practitioners. JPUSA appropriates the festival format as a method of religious expression …

Assessment Of “Community Stepping Stones,” A Community-Based Youth Art Education Program, Jennifer E. A. Pedraza

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Community Stepping Stones is an art education program whose objective is to

“provide education, mentor children and adolescents, enhance the community

economics, and enrich the quality of life in the community” (Community Steppping

Stones [CSS], 2009a). Community art education programs, particularly for youth, have

become increasingly popular as a way to address and prevent delinquent behavior.

However, art education programs have proven challenging to evaluate and sustain.

The goal of my thesis was to explore how Community Stepping Stones

implemented and evaluated a community-based youth arts education program

compared to other, similar programs and how the organization could make the …

Contextualizing Obesity Among Latino Farmworkers: A Critical Analysis Of Structural And Cultural Processes Affecting Farmworker Health And Nutrition In Central Florida, Melissa H. Johnson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Migrant and seasonal farmworkers play a critical role in the U.S. economy, producing food for the American public, while their suffering is often rendered invisible by their existence on the margins of society. The low wages associated with farm labor combined with the largely undocumented status of this population severely limits access to food, housing, and health care, resulting in poor health outcomes. Through the use of a critical anthropological approach, this research examines the social, cultural, political, and economic context of obesity among Latino migrant and seasonal farmworkers in Central Florida. Ethnographic research methods were used to explore perceptions …

Visualizando La Conciencia Mestiza: The Relation Of Gloria Anzaldúa’S Mestiza Consciousness To Mexican American Performance And Poster Art, Maria Cristina Serrano

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores Gloria Anzaldúa’s notion of

mestiza consciousness and its

relation to Mexican American performance and poster art. It examines how the traditional

conceptions of

mestizo identity were redefined by Anzaldúa’s Borderlands/La Frontera

in an attempt to eradicate oppression through a change of consciousness. Anzaldua’s

conceptions are then applied to Guillermo Gomez-Peña’s performance art discussing the

intricacies and complexities of his performances as examples of

mestiza consciousness.

This thesis finally analyzes various Mexican American posters in relation to both

Anzaldúa and Gomez-Peña’s art works. It demonstrates that the similarities in the artist’s

treatment of hybridity illustrate a progressive change …

Design And Fabrication Of A Membrane Integrated Microfluidic Cell Culture Device Suitable For High-Resolution Imaging, Alla A. Epshteyn

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Malaria remains a serious concern for people living and traveling to warm climates in Africa, Asia, and some parts of America. Understanding the mechanism of the malaria parasite in the liver phase could lead to important discoveries for preventative and treatment therapeutics before the disease develops into the blood stage. While in vitro liver cell culture models have been explored, a device that mimics the liver cell architecture with the capability of high-resolution imaging has never been created. In this research, a cell culture microfluidic device was designed and fabricated with a membrane integrated design to mimic the architecture of …

From Night To Dawn: The Cultural Criticism Of George A. Romero, Christopher Paul Wagenheim

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Analyzing George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968) and Dawn of the Dead (1978) in relation to the early works of Marshal McLuhan, Erich Fromm, and Herbert Marcuse reveals an ideological parallel that can be explicated using Antonio Gramsci's theory of cultural hegemony. While McLuhan, Marcuse, and Fromm observe, in order to critique, social manifestations of power in a consumerist system, Romero presents a model of hegemony in his films that he exposes to extreme stress thereby allowing viewers to observe such manifestations of power for themselves. These analyses are significant because although Marcuse, McLuhan, Fromm, and Romero …

Molecular Detection Of The Toxic Marine Diatom Pseudo-Nitzschia Multiseries, Jennifer A. Delaney

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The marine diatom genus Pseudo-nitzschia includes species that produce domoic acid, a neurotoxin responsible for illness and mortality in both humans and marine wildlife. Because of the expertise and time required for the microscopic discrimination of species, molecular methods that monitor environmental concentrations of Pseudo-nitzschia provide a rapid alternative for the early detection of blooms and prediction of toxin accumulation. We have developed a nucleic acid sequence-based amplification with internal control RNA (IC-NASBA) assay and a quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) assay for the detection of the toxic species P. multiseries targeting the ribulose- 1,5-biphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase small subunit (rbcS) gene. …

Artemisia Gentileschi : The Heart Of A Woman And The Soul Of A Caesar, Deborah Anderson Silvers

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Artemisia Gentileschi’s

Susanna and the Elder’s trilogy consisting of her 1610,

1622 and 1649 paintings is a self referential series based on the artist’s own feelings of

betrayal by the men in her life. These works are comprised of her first canvas showing

youthful fear, and a very importantly timed work in mid-career symbolizing commercial

success. In these, she relates the Apocryphal tale of Susanna and the Elders to events that

are happening to Gentileschi at each stage of her life and career, aging the figures of

Susanna and the Elders along with the appropriate time in her own life. …

Late Holocene Climate Variability From Northern Gulf Of Mexico Sediments: Merging Inorganic And Molecular Organic Geochemical Proxies, Julie N. Richey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Accurate reconstruction of natural climate variability over the past millennium is critical for predicting responses to future climate change. In order to improve on current understanding of climate variability in the sub-tropical North Atlantic region over the past millennium, a rigorous study of Gulf of Mexico (GOM) sea surface temperature (SST) variability was conducted using both inorganic (foraminiferal Mg/Ca) and molecular organic (TEX86) geochemical proxies. In addition to generating multiple high-resolution climate records, the uncertainties of the SST proxies are rigorously assessed.

There are 3 major research questions addressed: (1) What was the magnitude of GOM SST variability during the …

Visionary Of Control: The Efficiency, Expertise, And Exclusion Of Alexander James Inglis, Heidi Tilney Kramer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alexander James Inglis was the key contributor to changes enacted in education during the Progressive era. He instituted an administrative and curricular hierarchy in order to create social organization during a chaotic time in American history, thus advancing professionalism in teaching and systematizing a future workforce - teaching previously had no standards, and throngs of immigrants overwhelmed the school system. While necessary at the time, this system of centralization, homogenization, and sorting continues to result in exclusion in secondary education and middle schools. Categorization is Inglis' hallmark in his work in education, following Frederick W. Taylor's managerial practices, and he …

From Real To Reel: Performances Of Influential Literacies In The Creative Collaborative Processes And Products Of Digital Video Composition, Deborah Kozdras

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this study, I used a lens of performance theory to examine the creative collaborative processes of middle school students who composed digital videos. More specifically, I investigated the multiliteracies involved in a filmmaking camp and how students performed those literacies in ways that influenced the composition processes and the resulting texts. In order to study collaborative composition processes, I used ethnographic methods. In order to analyze data, I employed a mixed methodology of constant comparative analysis and dramaturgical analysis of interactions in three main informant groups in order to understand how students used multiple literacies to influence the composition …

Closet Space: Investigating Gay Identity Through Advertising In Gay Media, Jonathan A. Hanna

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this research was to examine advertising in gay media publications, namely, The Advocate, in order to assess how advertising corresponds with gay identity formation. This study differed from previous inquiries in that the application of hegemony theory formed the basis of the project and was used as a tool to explicate the preponderance of certain images in gay media advertising and what they signify for gay men. Likewise, a phenomenological method of analysis was applied to the advertisements in order to render them more accessible as aesthetic and literary mediums. Classifying the advertisements according to their notional …

Life In The Florida Everglades: Bioarchaeology Of The Miami One Site, Cristina Echazabal

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The bioarchaeology of prehistoric south Florida has been an area of archaeological interest for the last century because of the interplay between ancient populations and the unique environment of the Everglades. The purpose of this study is to analyze the pathology, demography and mortuary practice of the ancient Southeast Florida aboriginal population at Miami One to assess the similarity of Miami One to other south Florida populations during the prehistoric period. The Miami One site (8DA11) is one of many related sites located along the shore of the Miami River. It was continuously occupied from the Late Archaic (ca.1000 B.C.) …

The Sunshine State's Golden Fruit: Florida And The Orange, 1930-1960, Scott D. Hussey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Neither indigenous nor exclusive to Florida, the orange has nevertheless become an international symbol for the state. This connection between product and place appears in cultural materials regarding Florida. In fact and fiction the orange has operated as metaphor and synecdoche for an Edenic Florida. This thesis analyzes how the orange came to represent a "natural" Florida through the conflation of the commercial product with the state's history by way of political and marketing puffery. A litany of citrus advertisements, tourist ephemera, and historical associations regarding the state acknowledged and expanded the connections between the orange, improved health, and Florida. …

Imagined Realities, Defying Subjects: Voice, Sexuality And Subversion In African Women's Writing, Sarah Namulondo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The privileging of man in African societies has involved an erasure of identities and subjectivities of many women, holding them to an assumption of female inferiority. To counter the injustice, African women writers have engaged in rhetorical and performative strategies designed to reconstitute the cultural erasure as they try to claim status as individuals. But in the process, various cultural expectations such as their maternal roles act as constant bottlenecks to return them back to their prescribed roles as subordinate beings. This dissertation, “Imagined Realities, Defying Subjects: Voice, Sexuality and Subversion in African Women’s Writing” explores the methodologies of cultural …

Latent Newspaper Functions During The Impact Phase Of Hurricane Katrina, Christina A. Brown

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Media is used by audiences for more than its simple role as information provider. Audiences have been found to use news providers output in a multitude of ways. It has been found that some audience members have used such output as a way to gain social capital that aids in the generation of feelings of social cohesion with their community. This has been found to be especially true during the impact phase of a natural disaster, such as a hurricane (Perez-Lugo, 2004). Unfortunately what news providers specifically articulate that might have this latent use by audiences has not been studied …

Communication, Consumption And Manipulation: The Body As Language In The Films Of Jan Švankmajer, Amanda Marie Dowd

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis I will analyze and discuss the work of renowned director Jan Švankmajer. Specifically, I will examine how director Jan Švankmajer’s representation of the body creates a metaphorical language. In addition, I will address what meaning can be gathered from, or made apparent through the commentary of the body’s language and discuss the significance of the socio-political implications. Prior to my discussion of Švankmajer’s work I will give a concise socio-political history of the Czech Republic from 1968-1994; this discussion will provide a framework for the subsequent analyses. In order to provide support for my argument, I will …

Running Toward The Apocalypse: John Updike’S New America, Bob Batchelor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation explores two critical points in understanding John Updike's recent career. First, I examine him from a perspective outside the heavily-studied Rabbit tetralogy. Focusing on Updike's novel Terrorist, I attempt to counter the misperception that he offers little beyond the chronicling of middle-class, suburban America. Instead, this work digs for a deeper understanding of Updike.

Next, I consider Updike's role as an artist, professional writer, and celebrity to draw out a sense of the writer's life in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Using him as a case study enables the analysis to include his changing role as a …

Living With Sugar: Socioeconomic Status And Cultural Beliefs About Type 2 Diabetes Among Afro-Caribbean Women, Chrystal A.S Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the U.S., individuals of Afro-Caribbean and Latino descent are two to three times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than non-Hispanic whites. Caribbean and Latin America migrants, particularly minority women bear a disproportionate burden of type 2 diabetes and its risk factors. The purpose of this research is to investigate if Afro-Caribbean women share a cultural belief model about type 2 diabetes and how this belief model, along with structural barriers to health care, influence disease risk and management.

A sample of 40 women, primarily Jamaican and Trinidadian, 35 to 90 years of age previously diagnosed with type …

Establishing Creative Writing Studies As An Academic Discipline, Dianne J. Donnelly

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The discipline of creative writing is charged "as the most untheorized, and in that respect, anachronistic area in the entire constellation of English studies (Haake What Our Speech Disrupts 49). We need only look at its historical precedents to understand these intimations. It is a discipline which is unaware of the histories that informs its practice. It relies on the tradition of the workshop model as its signature pedagogy, and it is part of a fractured community signaled by its long history of subordination to literary studies, its lack of status and sustaining lore, and its own resistance to reform. …

Altman…Now, More Than Ever: Social Conflict In The Films Of Robert Altman, Walker Hicken

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There is much scholarship to suggest that the idea of America is an idea of a meritocracy. Generally, the ideal construction of American meritocracy involves people working hard and being able to accomplish whatever they set their minds to. Filmmaker Robert Altman constructs a very different America. In Altman's eyes, success is achieved through promotion, either self-promotion or promotion by others. An individual's status, whether it be within a peer group or on a national level, is far more important that the actual work that that person has done. This thesis will also examine how Altman presents this promotion as …

Southern Rock Music As A Cultural Form, Brandon P. Keith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Southern rock bands of the 1970s were a cultural formation that displayed racially and politically progressive views in the post-civil rights South through the cultural form of southern rock music. Southern rock bands, such as The Allman Brothers Band, and Lynyrd Skynyrd, responded to the political and social changes in the South brought forth by the civil rights movement by reconciling pride for southern heritage with progressive racial views through their music. The southern rock era was essentially between the years of 1969, when The Allman Brothers Band released their first album, until 1977, whe n a tragic airplane crash …

Constructing A New Nationalism From Below: The Dalit Movement, Politics And Transnational Networking, Lisa A. Daily

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research examines one potential route for sub-national social movements to alter preexisting contemporary nationalisms- the transnational social movement network. When social movements "go global" they move beyond the nation where they are typically excluded from the national project and instead, become members of an alternative and inclusive transnational project. What social movements do at this level is not under examination here, but rather how they go about returning to their respective nations and challenging the hegemonic national project. Does the transnational site impact the success of sub-national social movements? Is a movement more likely to achieve its goals and …

City Level Development New Key To Successful Development, Gina Herron

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Development is one of the most debated issues in political science today. There has never been a clear consensus reached on what is one successful path to developmental success for nations to follow. Organizations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and already developed nations have long touted a policy based on rapid privatization, which has been often referred to as shock therapy.

During this current period of globalization it has never been more important for underdeveloped nations to successfully move towards development, in order for those nations to not be left behind in an ever increasing …

"Which Way To The Honky-Tonk?" An Analysis Of The Bakersfield And Nashville Sounds, Matthew Arnold

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this thesis is to analyze the development of the Nashville and Bakersfield sounds in the 1950s and 1960s through the lens of space. I will examine the role class plays in country music by examining the places in which it developed. Beginning with a historical perspective of the music, I will show that a middle-class outlook controlled labeling of the music. While the early country music industry professed to "discover" the sounds of rural America, this sound was only allowed to be expressed if it conformed to corporate interests.

With the advent of the honky-tonk bar, the …