Digital Commons Network^™

Writing/Trauma, Natasha Noel Liebig

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In writing/trauma, I address the association of trauma with knowledge, language, and writing. My discussion first works to establish the relationship between trauma and knowledge. I argue that trauma does not fit into the traditional Enlightenment model of scientific knowledge or the ontological model of what Michele Foucault calls the ‘truth-event.’ Rather, I contend that trauma is unique embodied knowledge, different from that of praxis and normal memory. In general, embodied knowledge is a matter of prenoetic and intentional operations. The body schema and body image maintain a power of plasticity and adjust to new motilities in …

Unraveling The Wild: A Cultural Logic Of Animal Stories In Contemporary Social Life, Damien Contessa

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is about the stories people tell about animals when they don’t do what they are expected to do in contemporary social life. More specifically, it examines three case studies where “wild” animals unexpectedly challenge, transgress, or blur socially defined boundaries in public spaces. Drawing on cultural and interactionist studies of animals and environment, I explore popular animal stories written in news media, social media, and enacted in situ. Each qualitative case study illustrates a moment in time/space where the surprising movements or presence of wild animals causes the cultural categories of wildness/order to breakdown and destabilize. These “surface …

Application Of Spatial And Descriptive Analysis Methods To Determine Relationship Between Hardware Subsidies And The Sanitation Marketplace, Danielle Devuyst

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sanitation marketing is an emerging approach of strengthening the local private sector to implement scalable and sustainable improved sanitation coverage in developing countries, specifically among the poor. It encourages the enhancement of sanitation market supply and demand by developing distribution infrastructure and stimulating consumer interest. Unlike interventions that provide hardware subsidies to initiate sanitation demand, financial support for sanitation marketing is used exclusively for the research and development of the market; this encourages the private sector to become independent and self-sufficient. Qualitative data suggests that while sanitation marketing projects have been successful at implementing replicable and sustainable sanitation coverage, they …

Quantifying The Association Between Active Tuberculosis Incidence And Migrant Farm Worker Populations Among Florida Counties, 2009-2013: An Ecological Study, Ryan Nicolas Ortega

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nearly 20 studies conducted in the last 40 years indicate that tuberculosis (TB) represents a major health concern among migrant farm worker (MFW) populations, but their role in the transmission of TB within the broader community is poorly understood. To this end an ecological study was undertaken which examined 67 Florida counties between years 2009 through 2013. Its aims were as follows: (1) to describe the demographic, geographic, and temporal distribution of the incidence of active TB, (2) to examine the effect of agriculturally relevant seasonal periods on the incidence of active TB, and (3) to quantify the strength and …

A Tourist Performance: Redefining The Tourist Attraction, Brandy Lee Kinkade

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this paper is to examine the intersection of tourism and memoirs in the United States specifically how specific travel memoirs function as tourist attractions. This investigation employs performer-centered analysis as a method of inquiry in order to gain insight on tourist experience as well as concepts of travel, imagination and embodiment. The paper also employs MacCannell’s Semiotics of Attraction as a framework to illustrate the presence of the following categories: tourist, sight, and marker. The presence and the relationships established between these categories establish Into Thin Air and Almost Somewhere: Twenty-eight Days on the John Muir Trail …

Financial Literacy Continuing Professional Education Cognitive Needs Assessment For Florida Small Business Owners, Pearl Dahmen Para

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to assess the financial literacy continuing profession education cognitive needs of Florida small business owners through exploring their profile. To determine the financial literacy profile, an instrument containing 18 tested knowledge and 5 self-assessed knowledge questions was created. Using a panel of experts, the instrument was developed from previously tested financial literacy questions from several sources.

Data were collected from clients of the West Central Region of the Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of South Florida. The online survey completed by participants included demographic questions to provide data to profile small …

“Even Five Years Ago This Would Have Been Impossible:” Health Care Providers’ Perspectives On Trans* Health Care, Richard S. Henry

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Trans* studies and issues have recently increased in coverage by the media and popular press. With recent changes in the DSM-5 (APA, 2000; APA 2013) and insurance law (HHS, 2014), trans* healthcare has been under increasing scrutiny. While a small number of studies (Bradford, Reisener, Honnold, & Xavier, 2013; Grant et al., 2011; Rounds, McGrath, & Walsh, 2013; Tanner et al., 2014) have documented discrimination and lack of cultural competencies from the perspective of trans* patients, little research exists that examines the training, support, and decision-making processes of medical professionals who treat trans* patients (Snelgrove et al., 2012, p. 2). …

Concerns Of Water Scarcity And Water Quality Among Two Andean Communities In Peru, Kelsey Anne Anderson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis sought to explore the perceptions and experiences of Andean women regarding water quality, water scarcity, and health among two communities in Carhuaz province of Ancash, Peru. Household surveys (n=25), semi-structured interviews (n=10), unstructured interviews (n=2), and participant observation were conducted with local women to investigate their concerns and perceptions of water and health. An additional two unstructured interviews were conducted with a local water authority and doctor in order gain another perspective on the issues of water security and health.

The pressure of a changing climate and of a problematic water governance system in Andean Peru create an …

Investigating Alternative Subsistence Strategies Among The Homeless Near Tampa, Florida, Matthew Peter Rooney

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Modern homelessness is one of the most pressing social and political problems of our time. Several hundred thousand people experience homelessness in the United States each year, and the U.S. Department of Housing, which attempts to count those people, has admitted that their statistics are conservative estimates at best. A recent archaeological study (Zimmerman et al 2010) examining material culture associated with homeless communities in Indianapolis has suggested that those who are considered chronically homeless have generally abandoned wage labor and are instead pursuing urban foraging as a subsistence strategy. In order to better understand the structures of homeless communities, …

Preparation, Change, Retirement, And Future Challenge: The Leadership Experience Of Former Florida College System Presidents, Kevin O'Farrell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A leadership emergency is developing in higher education. According the American Association for Community Colleges, by 2022, 75% of current community college presidents intend to retire, and within five years an additional 15% will exit the presidency. As these individuals leave their leadership role, the higher education environment they leave behind will change. Understanding this impending leadership crisis, the purpose of this qualitative interview study was to describe and understand the leadership experience of former Florida College System institution presidents, their perspective and reflection on the institution of the presidency and its evolution, and their thoughts regarding the pertinent challenges …

Incongruous Conceptions: Owen Jones’S Plans, Elevations, Sections And Details Of The Alhambra And British Views Of Spain, Andrea Marie Johnson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes Plans, Elevations, Sections, and Details of the Alhambra (1836-1842) by British Architect Owen Jones in relation to British conceptions of Spain in the nineteenth century. Although modern scholars often view Jones’s work as an accurate visual account of the Alhambra, I argue that his work is not only interested in accuracy, but it is also a re-presentation of the fourteen-century monument based on Jones’s ideologies and creative faculties. Instead of viewing the Alhambra through a culturally sensitive, historical lens, Jones treated it as an Imaginary Geography, as Edward Said called it, through which he could promote his …

Modeling Food Security, Energy, And Climate And Cultural Impacts Of A Process: The Case Study Of Shea Butter In Sub-Saharan Africa, Colleen Claire Naughton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Millions of people in the world, particularly women and people in sub-Saharan Africa, suffer from hunger and poverty. Three of the major 2015-2030 United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to eliminate hunger through food security and sustainable agriculture, eradicate poverty, and achieve gender equality through women’s empowerment. Shea trees and their associated fruit and butter can play a major role in each of these three SDGs for women and their families throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Shea trees are located over a wide expanse stretching more than 5,000 kilometers across over eighteen countries in sub-Saharan Africa. These trees produce fruit that …

Population Dynamics And Vulnerability Reduction: The Role Of Non-Profit Organizations Following The 2011 Earthquake In Christchurch, New Zealand, Nicole Suzanne Hutton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the adoption of neo-liberal policies and the decline in social welfare, non-profit organizations have been increasingly integrated into public service provision. Such changes raise questions regarding formal policies and access for marginalized populations, no more so than in disaster settings as formal disaster management of sexual health services are still vague. This study identifies the role of non-profit organizations in providing public health and social services through the lens of sexual health commitments following the September 2010 Darfield Earthquake and subsequent major aftershock during February 2011 in Christchurch, New Zealand. The primary goals of this study were three fold, …

An Investigation Of The Effects Of Chemical And Physical Weathering On Submerged Karst Surfaces, Bryan Charles Booth

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Reports an investigation of the effects of chemical and physical weathering on submerged karst surfaces that pairs laboratory studies with computer modeling studies. The first study attempts to quantify the production of carbonate fines; soluble sediments produced by the incomplete dissolution of karst minerals during chemical weathering. Results show carbonate fine production in relation to dissolutional action; Chalk: 42.8%; Coquina: 2.6%; Dolomite: 3.1%; Gray Limestone: 4.8%; Ocala Limestone: 3.1%; Shell Limestone: 6.1%; Travertine: 8.6%. Due to the use of hydrochloric acid as opposed to carbonic acid these results may not be fully valid for application to natural speleogenic processes. The …

Gatekeepers For Gifted Social Studies: Case Studies Of Middle School Teachers, Teresa Michelle Bergstrom

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This is a multiple case study of the ways middle grades social studies teachers, as curricular-instructional gatekeepers, may make decisions to provide their gifted students with purposeful differentiated instruction. More specifically, this study explores what teachers believe they should do to instruct gifted students, in what ways teachers prepare and adapt curriculum and instruction for gifted students, and how instruction for gifted learners can take place in a middle school social studies classroom. Through semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and supportive visual evidence, six middle grades (6-8) social studies teachers disclosed in what ways they differentiate their middle grades social studies …

The Common Core State Standards: Its Reported Effects On The Instructional Decision Making Of Middle School Social Studies Teachers, Tracy Tilotta

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for social studies are based on critical thinking and literacy skills. These new mandates are expected to lead to curricular and instructional changes within social studies classes. This qualitative study explored how the CCSS might have impacted the curricular and instructional decision-making of middle school social studies teachers and ultimately how the CCSS might affect a teacher’s gatekeeping role. As the CCSS initiative is fairly new, there is little research on the instructional practices being used to support the needs of teachers implementing these new standards in their classrooms as well as the processes, …

A Theoretical And Methodological Framework To Analyze Long Distance Pleasure Travel, Vijayaraghavan Sivaraman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The United States (US) witnessed remarkable growth in annual long distance travel over the past few decades. Over half of the long distance travel in the US is made for pleasure, including visiting friends and relatives (VFR) and leisure activities. This trend could continue with increased use of information and communication technologies for socialization, and enhanced mobility being achieved using fuel-efficient (electric/hybrid) and technology enhanced vehicles. Despite these developments, and recent interest to implement alternate mass transit options to serve this market, not much exists on the measurement, analysis and modeling of long distance pleasure travel in the U.S.

Statewide …

Content Abuse And Privacy Concerns In Online Social Networks, Md Imrul Kayes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Online Social Networks (OSNs) have seen an exponential growth over the last decade, with Facebook having more than 1.49 billion monthly active users and Twitter having 135,000 new users signing up every day as of 2015. Users are sharing 70 million photos per day on the Instagram photo-sharing network. Yahoo Answers question-answering community has more than 1 billion posted answers. The meteoric rise in popularity has made OSNs important social platforms for computer-mediated communications and embedded themselves into society’s daily life, with direct consequences to the offline world and activities. OSNs are built on a foundation of trust, where users …

Population Genetics And Epigenetics Of Two Salt Marsh Plant Species Along An Environmental Gradient, Christy M. Foust

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Phenotypic plasticity is the ability of a given genotype to exhibit different phenotypes in response to environmental variables, which can impact population level processes. Plasticity of ecologically-relevant traits is important to an organism’s environmental response; however, the underlying mechanisms of plasticity are largely unknown. Ecological epigenetics may offer mechanisms (e.g. DNA methylation) underlying phenotypic plasticity. Epigenetics can be defined as the underlying molecular mechanisms that allow one genotype to exhibit different phenotypes. Differential DNA methylation is one epigenetic mechanism that has been correlated with a number of ecologically-relevant traits; including, differential herbivory in Viola cazorlensis, spinescence in Ilex aquifolium …

Development Of Truck Route Choice Data Using Truck Gps, Mohammadreza Kamali

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over the past few decades, the value and weight of freight shipments have grown steadily in both developed and developing countries. A recent statistic in the U.S. reveals that weight of shipments increased from 18,879 to 19,662 million tons between 2007 and 2012 (1). It is also expected that this amount will increase to 28,520 million tons by 2040 (1). It is worth mentioning that 67 percent of shipments are shipped by truck mode in 2012. The monetary value of freight is expected to escalate even faster than weight. This value is estimated to rise from US$ 882 per ton …

A Study On The Integration Of Multivariate Metocean, Ocean Circulation, And Trajectory Modeling Data With Static Geographic Information Systems For Better Marine Resources Management And Protection During Coastal Oil Spill Response – A Case Study And Gap Analysis On Northeastern Gulf Of Mexico Tidal Inlets, Richard Ray Knudsen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 requires the development of Regional and Area Contingency Plans. For more than 20 years, the State of Florida, under both the Department of Environmental Protection and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, has worked closely with the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to develop these plans for coastal and marine oil spill response. Current plans, developed with local, state and federal stakeholder input, use geographic information systems (GIS) data such as location and extent of sensitive ecological, wildlife, and human-use features (termed Environmental Sensitivity Index data), pre-defined protection priorities, …

The Evaluation Of Tablets To Increase Compliance And Decrease Problem Behaviors In Children Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Hongchau Vo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to replicate the effects of the study by Neely et al. (2013) and also determine if the tablet served as a reinforcer for three participants with escape maintained behaviors. A multiple baseline with an alternating treatment design was utilized in the first phase in which academic work was completed on either traditional materials or the tablet. The following phases for each participant were dependent on the prior phase, with a final choice phase. All participants showed lower levels of problem behaviors and higher levels of compliance when tablets were introduced contingent upon completing work. …

Is Nubia Plate Rigid? A Geodetic Study Of The Relative Motion Of Different Cratonic Areas Within Africa., Mary Wambui Njoroge

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Nubia plate is normally considered to be a rigid plate and as such used in the realization of terrestrial reference frame. Gondwana breakup plate reconstruction, the Cameroon volcanic line, seismicity, and the morphology of the Okavango rift zone (ORZ) suggest the presence of internal deformation within the Nubia plate. To test this hypothesis, six different reference frames were developed from the velocity field of three individual regions (West, Central and South), and of different combinations of them (West+Central, South+Central, and Nubia as a whole). The residual velocities with respect to these references frame help us understand the presence of …

Land-Use & Water Quality In The Headwaters Of The Alafia River Watershed, Jaime Alison Swindasz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this study is to investigate land-use changes and water quality trends within the headwaters of the Alafia River watershed. Water quality data were obtained from the Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County (EPCHC). Eleven water quality parameters selected for analysis included: temperature (˚C), dissolved oxygen (DO), percent saturation of DO, conductivity, pH, total phosphorous (TP), total nitrogen (TN), ammonium, chlorophyll-a (uncorrected), fecal coliforms, and enterococci. ArcMap® & SWFWMD data were used to map EPCHC sampling stations, calculate contributing watershed size, and determine land-use changes over the course of the sampling period; 17 stations were chosen for this …

Applying Voronoi Tessellations As A Non-Orthogonal Grid Methodology To Inform Public-Private Mix Efforts In Nigeria: An Examination Of The Distribution Of Private Healthcare Providers In Six States And The Covariates Underlying Their Utilization, Trinadh Dontamsetti

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

TB care and prevention is led by the public sector, but many TB symptomatics first seek care in the private sector, highlighting the importance of engaging these facilities. This report examines basic TB epidemiology (such as the gap in case finding that could be addressed in part via private sector activities), health-seeking behaviors (HSB) and diagnostic delays, the size of the private sector, activities of professional societies, and financing. It examines the potential utility of integrating Voronoi tessellations as a GIS-based method for informing and improving Public-Private Mix (PPM) efforts throughout six states in Nigeria. Further, it explores a potential …

Getting Ahead: Socio-Economic Mobility, Perceptions Of Opportunity For Socio-Economic Mobility, And Attitudes Towards Public Assistance In The United States, Alissa Klein

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this research I first examine how Americans’ perceptions of what it takes to get ahead are influenced by their income and then compare those perceptions to measured levels of intergenerational socio-economic mobility. By better understanding these relationships I hope to gain insight into the paths people see to upward mobility, how this varies by income, and to what extent this belief is reflected in past mobility measurements. Additionally, I compare perceptions of what it takes to get ahead with responses regarding attitudes towards public assistance. The results of such a comparison could have important implications for public policy.

The …

Saharan Air Layer Dust Loading: Effects On Convective Strength In Tropical Cloud Clusters, Randall J. Hergert

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Numerous factors play a role in the development and maintenance of North Atlantic tropical cyclones as they originate and cross the Main Development Region. These factors include sea-surface temperatures (SSTs), relative humidity, vertical wind shear, etc. One key player in many of these factors is the Saharan Air Layer (SAL) which has been a source for study for nearly five decades.

The interplay between dust loading within the SAL and the development of African Easterly Waves (AEWs) has been repeatedly noted in many of the studies in this field. The cumulative indirect effect of the dust on AEWs however remains …

The Role Of Community Participation In Water Production And Management: Lessons From Sustainable Aid In Africa International Sponsored Water Schemes In Kisumu, Kenya, Erick Oniango Ananga

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Few studies have attempted to determine the tenability of Community Participation (CP) theory is explicating Water Production and Management dynamics in Urban Informal Settlements. Consequently, several gaps exist in knowledge of the value of this important theory for efforts to improve water service delivery in such settlements. The main purpose of this study is to contribute to efforts addressed to filling these gaps. Four water schemes established by Sustainable Aid in Africa International in partnership with different communities in the informal neighborhoods of Kisumu Kenya are used as empirical referent. The study is guided by the following three Research Questions; …

Evaluation Of Soil As A Risk Indicator For Human Leptospirosis In Coastal, Rural Ecuador, Chad Allen Weddell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Leptospirosis, a zoonotic disease caused by pathogenic spirochete bacteria (family Leptospiraceae, genus Leptospira), is endemic in developing tropical regions of the world. It occurs in epidemics and is endemic in Ecuador where environmental conditions are ideal for maintenance. The role of soil as a long term reservoir has been previously been documented. Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) technology was used in our study to further explore the role of soil as an environmental reservoir and its potential use as a static risk indicator for disease. Red, Green, Blue (RGB) spectral band data from known leptospire …

Domestic Spaces In Transition: Modern Representations Of Dwelling In The Texts Of Elizabeth Bowen, Shannon Tivnan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In much of the writing of twentieth century Anglo-Irish author Elizabeth Bowen, houses, and in particular family homes, often reflect the psychological and social status of their inhabitants. They can be understood as the structural embodiments of the vast cultural and economic network taking shape as the forces of urbanization and industrialization changed the landscape. Yet, even as these domestic spaces represent the predominant social relations characterizing the first half of the twentieth century, the family homes also can play a key role in character development and gender identity, defining the lives of those who inhabit them, by perpetuating these …