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2006

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Once Proud Princes: Planters And Plantation Culture In Louisiana's Northeast Delta, From The First World War Through The Great Depression, James Matthew Reonas Jan 2006

Once Proud Princes: Planters And Plantation Culture In Louisiana's Northeast Delta, From The First World War Through The Great Depression, James Matthew Reonas

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The Delta country of northeast Louisiana is a richly productive alluvial region stretching south from the Arkansas line to the confluence of the Red and Mississippi Rivers below Natchez. As the source of great cotton fortunes made during antebellum times, it reflected the Old South ideal and, for several decades after the end of the Civil War, remained firmly grounded in this old plantation culture. The economic depression of the 1890s and the coming of the boll weevil in the early 1900s, however, signaled a gradual decline that turned into full-blown dissolution in the years following the First World War. …

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Say It Loud! I'M Black And I'M Proud!: A Study Of Successful Black Female Students Educated In An Urban Middle School, Menthia P. Clark Jan 2006

Say It Loud! I'M Black And I'M Proud!: A Study Of Successful Black Female Students Educated In An Urban Middle School, Menthia P. Clark

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

"Acting White" (Fordham & Ogbu, 1986) is a common term among researchers who study academic achievement and racial identity among minority students which signifies the tension some academically successful minority students experience as they excel in school. Black students who contend with such tension may be teased, alienated, or rejected by their peers who view academic achievement as characteristic of White people. In order to avoid the accusation of "acting White," many Black students underachieve, conceal their academic talents, or make no efforts to pursue academic goals. For Black female high-achieving students, "acting White" is laden with gender-specific strategies of …

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The Perils Of Workplace Recognition: Antecedents And Consequences Of Discomfort Associated With Being The Target Of Threatening Upward Comparison, Stephanie Case Henagan Jan 2006

The Perils Of Workplace Recognition: Antecedents And Consequences Of Discomfort Associated With Being The Target Of Threatening Upward Comparison, Stephanie Case Henagan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explores theoretical links among interpersonal, perceptual, and situational variables and sensitivity about being the target of threatening upward comparisons (STTUC) within a workplace setting. It also investigates affective and behavioral responses outperformers may enact to decrease effects thought to be associated with STTUC. Because of the novelty of investigating STTUC in a field sample, the actual nature of the relationships among STTUC and the focal study variables were examined in multiple ways. Specifically, workplace outperformers’ interpersonal sensitivity, empathic concern, and competitive psychological climate, along with actual threat experienced by the outperformed, were all expected to increase the likelihood …

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Neural Network Approach For Obstacle Avoidance In 3-D Environments For Uavs, Vivek Yadav, Xiaohua Wang, S. N. Balakrishnan Jan 2006

Neural Network Approach For Obstacle Avoidance In 3-D Environments For Uavs, Vivek Yadav, Xiaohua Wang, S. N. Balakrishnan

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this paper a controller design is proposed to get obstacle free trajectories in a three dimensional urban environment for unmanned air vehicles (UAVs). The controller has a two-layer architecture. In the upper layer, vision-inspired Grossberg neural network is proposed to get the shortest distance paths. In the bottom layer, a model predictive control (MPC) based controller is used to obtain dynamically feasible trajectories. Simulation results are presented for to demonstrate the potential of the approach.

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Statistically Steady Measurements Of Rayleigh-Taylor Mixing In A Gas Channel, Malcolm J. Andrews, Arindam Banerjee Jan 2006

Statistically Steady Measurements Of Rayleigh-Taylor Mixing In A Gas Channel, Malcolm J. Andrews, Arindam Banerjee

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A novel gas channel experiment is described to study the development of high Atwood number Rayleigh-Taylor mixing. Two gas streams, one containing air and the other containing a helium-air mixture, flow parallel to each other separated by a thin splitter plate. The streams meet at the end of a splitter plate leading to the formation of an unstable interface and of buoyancy driven mixing. This buoyancy driven mixing experiment allows for long data collection times, has short transients, and is statistically steady. The facility was designed to be capable of large Atwood number studies (At~0.75). We describe initial validation work …

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Neuroadaptive Model Following Controller Design For A Nonaffine Uav Model, Nishant Unnikrishnan, S. N. Balakrishnan Jan 2006

Neuroadaptive Model Following Controller Design For A Nonaffine Uav Model, Nishant Unnikrishnan, S. N. Balakrishnan

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper proposes a new model-following adaptive control design technique for nonlinear systems that are nonaffine in control. The adaptive controller uses online neural networks that guarantee tracking in the presence of unmodeled dynamics and/or parameter uncertainties present in the system model through an online control adaptation procedure. The controller design is carried out in two steps: (i) synthesis of a set of neural networks which capture the unmodeled (neglected) dynamics or model uncertainties due to parametric variations and (ii) synthesis of a controller that drives the state of the actual plant to that of a reference model. This method …

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Police Interrogation Of Juveniles: An Empirical Study Of Policy And Practice, Barry C. Feld Jan 2006

Police Interrogation Of Juveniles: An Empirical Study Of Policy And Practice, Barry C. Feld

Articles

The Supreme Court does not require any special procedural safeguards when police interrogate youths and use the adult standard--“knowing, intelligent, and voluntary under the totality of the circumstances”--to gauge the validity of juveniles' waivers of Miranda rights. Developmental psychologists have studied adolescents' capacity to exercise Miranda rights, questioned whether juveniles possess the cognitive ability and adjudicative competence necessary to exercise legal rights, and contended that immaturity and vulnerability make juveniles uniquely susceptible to police interrogation tactics. In the four decades since the Court decided Miranda, we have almost no empirical research about what actually occurs when police interview criminal suspects, …

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Institutional Review Boards, Regulatory Incentives, And Some Modest Proposals For Reform, Dale Carpenter Jan 2006

Institutional Review Boards, Regulatory Incentives, And Some Modest Proposals For Reform, Dale Carpenter

Articles

It is time to rethink the role of Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) in approving social science research. While most law professors conduct their research in an almost unregulated environment - pouring through cases, statutes, and each other's articles, all without the kind of human interaction subject to IRB regulation - their colleagues elsewhere in the university have been coping for decades with an increasingly intrusive bureaucracy that sometimes undermines basic academic values. Three things seem very clear. First, there are a lot of IRBs - at least 4,000 - and their numbers are growing. Second, they have recently "increased their …

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Purposes And Functions Of Sentencing, Michael Tonry Jan 2006

Purposes And Functions Of Sentencing, Michael Tonry

Articles

No abstract provided.

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Choice, Equal Protection, And Metropolitan Integration: The Hope Of The Minneapolis Desegregation Settlement, Myron Orfield Jan 2006

Choice, Equal Protection, And Metropolitan Integration: The Hope Of The Minneapolis Desegregation Settlement, Myron Orfield

Articles

No abstract provided.

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International Customary Law And Articulation Theories: An Economic Analysis, Francesco Parisi, Vincy Fon Jan 2006

International Customary Law And Articulation Theories: An Economic Analysis, Francesco Parisi, Vincy Fon

Articles

No abstract provided.

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The Need For Mead: Rejecting Tax Exceptionalism In Judicial Deference, Kristin Hickman Jan 2006

The Need For Mead: Rejecting Tax Exceptionalism In Judicial Deference, Kristin Hickman

Articles

This Article takes the controversial position that Treasury regulations are entitled to judicial deference under the Chevron doctrine, as clarified by the Supreme Court in the more recent Mead case, whether those regulations are promulgated pursuant to specific authority delegated in a substantive provision of the Internal Revenue Code or in the exercise of general authority granted in Code Section 7805(a). The Article attributes the unwillingness to concede Chevron's applicability to tax exceptionalism, the erroneous perception of many scholars that tax is different from other areas of the law, which in the context of this Article translates into the idea …

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Domestic Violence Matters: The Case For Appointed Counsel In Protective Order Proceedings, Beverly Balos Jan 2006

Domestic Violence Matters: The Case For Appointed Counsel In Protective Order Proceedings, Beverly Balos

Articles

A conventional reading of United States Supreme Court rulings on the right to counsel in civil cases would conclude that petitioners in protective order proceedings would have no right to appointed counsel. This article challenges this view and shows how Supreme Court jurisprudence, in fact, supports the conclusion that due process requires victims of domestic violence to have the benefit of appointed counsel.

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The Absolute Prohibition Of Torture And Ill-Treatment, David Weissbrodt Jan 2006

The Absolute Prohibition Of Torture And Ill-Treatment, David Weissbrodt

Articles

The President, the Secretary of State, and other U.S. government officials have repeatedly assured the world that the United States does not engage in "torture." Whenever they try to issue such statements, the critical listener must ask such questions as "What do they mean by torture?" Have they so narrowly defined "torture" as to ask the listener to overlook the mounting evidence of extremely brutal treatment which U.S. personnel have perpetrated against detainees in Afghanistan, Guantanamo, Iraq, and other secret detention facilities? Many detainees held by the U.S. have been subjected to illtreatment that would, under international definitions and jurisprudence, …

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Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics Simulations Of Methylaluminoxane (Mao) Synthesis By Hydrolysis Of Trimethylaluminum, Lacramioara Negureanu Jan 2006

Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics Simulations Of Methylaluminoxane (Mao) Synthesis By Hydrolysis Of Trimethylaluminum, Lacramioara Negureanu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

MAO is the co-catalyst in the metallocene catalytic systems, which are widely used in single site olefin polymerization due to their high stereoselectivity. To date, the precise structure of MAO, the particular compound or compounds catalytically active in MAO, have eluded researchers. MAO, a white amorphous powder, is not a good sample for a direct spectroscopic characterization, and its NMR spectra are broad and almost featureless. Many structural models have been proposed but none are generally accepted. In the first part of this work the MAO formation mechanism was addressed. Molecular dynamics simulations at MP2 configuration interaction theory level have …

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Ultra-Violet Lithography Of Thick Photoresist For The Applications In Biomems And Micro Optics, Ren Yang Jan 2006

Ultra-Violet Lithography Of Thick Photoresist For The Applications In Biomems And Micro Optics, Ren Yang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

UV lithography of thick photoresist is widely used in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and micro-optoelectromechanical systems (MOEMS). SU-8 is a typical negative tone thick photoresist for micro systems, and can be used for both structural material and pattern transfer. This dissertation presents an effort to comprehensively study these important subjects. The first part, and the most fundamental part of this dissertation concentrated on the numerical analysis and experimental study of the wavelength dependent absorbance of SU-8 and the diffraction effects on the sidewall profiles of the microstructures made using UV lithography of SU-8. This study has laid the foundation for all …

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The Effects Of Perceptions On Consumer Acceptance Of Genetically Modified (Gm) Foods, Jae-Hwan Han Jan 2006

The Effects Of Perceptions On Consumer Acceptance Of Genetically Modified (Gm) Foods, Jae-Hwan Han

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigates the effects of risk/benefit beliefs on consumer purchase intentions for genetically modified (GM) foods. A random, national, mail survey is conducted. Three main problems are addressed in the study. The first problem addressed is to analyze the relationship between consumers risk/ benefit beliefs regarding GM foods, and their willingness to buy GM crop and meat products. The second problem deals with linkages between a consumer’s risk/benefit beliefs about GM foods and willingness to pay (WTP) for GM foods with a benefit disclosure. The third problem addressed is to test a causal relationship between knowledge and trust toward …

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Consumer Expectation Formation In Health Care Services: A Psycho-Social Model, Kenneth Randall Russ Jan 2006

Consumer Expectation Formation In Health Care Services: A Psycho-Social Model, Kenneth Randall Russ

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A psycho-social model of consumer expectation formation in a health care services context was developed and tested. A field study involving obstetrical patients (n=171) at a large women’s specialty hospital in the southeast was conducted. Initial support for the structural model which posits that consumer expectations in health care services are multidimensional involving role, process, outcome, and service quality was found. Furthermore, the research identified that the uncertainty of a health service encounter may cause certain consumer segments to choose coping strategies and expectation processes based on their locus of control orientation from along a continuum ranging from “approach-active” to …

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Development Of Analytical Techniques For The Analysis Of Submicron Particles And Protein Aggregates, Yohannes H. Rezenom Jan 2006

Development Of Analytical Techniques For The Analysis Of Submicron Particles And Protein Aggregates, Yohannes H. Rezenom

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The goal of the research presented in this dissertation is to develop analytical techniques for the analysis of heterogeneous mixtures of submicron particles and protein aggregates. In Chapter 2, a simple and reproducible technique for constructing perfectly aligned gaps in fused-silica capillaries has been developed for postcolumn reagent addition with capillary electrophoresis (CE) to take advantage of laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) detection. This technique uses laser ablation with a Nd:YAG laser to create gaps of 14.0 ¡Ó 2.2 ƒÝm. These structures have been used for reagent addition for postcolumn derivatization with LIF detection and have been tested for the separation of …

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Gamete And Cell Technologies For Use In Biological Resource Banking, Liesl Nel-Themaat Jan 2006

Gamete And Cell Technologies For Use In Biological Resource Banking, Liesl Nel-Themaat

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Biological resource banking is becoming important for endangered species conservation. A series of experiments were conducted to address issues concerning collection and utilization of biomaterials from Gulf Coast Native (GCN) sheep (model species) (Ovis aries) and Eland antelope (Taurotragus oryx). In the first experiment, two ejaculates were collected 10 minutes apart from each of five rams three times a week for three weeks to maximize output and minimize handling time. Semen volume, concentration and total number of spermatozoa were significantly greater in first ejaculates, whereas pre-cooled, cooled and post-thaw motility, as well as sperm survival, were greater in second ejaculates. …

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Use Of Polyhydroxyalkanoates For Denitrification In Recirculating Aquaculture Systems, Maria Teresa Gutierrez-Wing Jan 2006

Use Of Polyhydroxyalkanoates For Denitrification In Recirculating Aquaculture Systems, Maria Teresa Gutierrez-Wing

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Increasing demand of aquacultural products is driving the industry toward more intensive culture practices. Aquacultural operations are constrained by limitations on the availability high quality waters and regulatory pressures on the discharges. Recirculating systems can address these issues by reducing the amount of water required in the operation. Closed systems are especially suited where biosecurity is important. In closed systems, nitrate accumulates, limiting the time the water can be reused. In marine inland systems, water reuse reduces the cost of salt for make up water. To increase the water reuse time, some form of nitrate removal process must be incorporated …

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Jack Kerouac's Spontaneous Prose: A Performance Genealogy Of The Fiction, Justin Thomas Trudeau Jan 2006

Jack Kerouac's Spontaneous Prose: A Performance Genealogy Of The Fiction, Justin Thomas Trudeau

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study analyzes Jack Kerouac’s writing method of spontaneous prose and articulates how the method can be understood as performative writing. Kerouac’s “Essentials of Spontaneous Prose,” On the Road, Visions of Cody, and Doctor Sax are explored to evaluate both the successes and failures of the author’s attempts to break literary boundaries and create a new writing method based upon spontaneous tenets. These three novels, which were written in succession from 1950 to 1953 when Kerouac was in his most productive period, represent both the emergence and dissent of the author’s use of performative writing. To explicate the cultural genesis …

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Voix, Mémoire Et Écriture: Transmission De La Mémoire Et Identité Culturelle Dans L'Oeuvre De Fadhma Et Taos Amrouche, Nathalie Malti Jan 2006

Voix, Mémoire Et Écriture: Transmission De La Mémoire Et Identité Culturelle Dans L'Oeuvre De Fadhma Et Taos Amrouche, Nathalie Malti

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This project examines the question of memory and cross-cultural identities in the context of diasporic cultures, focusing in particular on the works of two Algerian women: Fadhma Amrouche and her daughter Taos Amrouche. Both occupy a unique position in Maghrebian literature. Precursors of women’s writing in Algeria, their works reflect the experience of exile and displacement, and the shift from orality to the written word, from artistic creation to preservation of cultural patrimony, from identity crisis to a quest of one’s own cultural identity. Women writers at this time were marginalized and Fadhma’s and Taos’ marginalization appear as threefold. Firstly, …

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Quantifying Changes In Fish Habitat Use In Coastal Waters Of Louisiana, Usa: A Hydroacoustic Approach, Kevin Mershon Boswell Jan 2006

Quantifying Changes In Fish Habitat Use In Coastal Waters Of Louisiana, Usa: A Hydroacoustic Approach, Kevin Mershon Boswell

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The development of reliable tools for identifying essential fish habitat (EFH) has proven problematic. Knowledge of the distribution and biomass of fishes over discrete habitat types is a prerequisite for effective use of EFH in the management of important commercial and recreational fish species. Resolution of the influence of habitat type and environmental factors on the distribution of fishes is confounded by limitations of traditional sampling gears. To date, hydroacoustic technology has been widely accepted as a tool for surveying fishery resources; however few studies have implemented acoustics in ultra shallow (<2 m) coastal waters. Efforts should be made to utilize hydroacoustics for quantifying changes in fish distributions within estuarine environments given the benefits provided through acoustic technology (e.g. ease of deployment, reduced sampling effort, and non-invasive sampling attributes). A technique was developed for acoustically sensing fishes in the shallow, turbid waters of Barataria Bay, Louisiana. A robust and lightweight remotely-controlled transducer platform was designed for deploying acoustic gear. Sources of scattering within the bay were identified through a series of exclosure net experiments designed to quantify potential effects of plankton and suspended solids on acoustic scattering. Analysis filters were developed to reduce the effects of bubble-induced noise, often observed during periods when wind speeds were greater than 4.5 m s-1. Side-aspect acoustic target strength-length and target …

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A Computational Framework For The Structural Change Analysis Of 3d Volumes Of Microscopic Specimens, Madhusudhanan Balasubramanian Jan 2006

A Computational Framework For The Structural Change Analysis Of 3d Volumes Of Microscopic Specimens, Madhusudhanan Balasubramanian

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Glaucoma, commonly observed with an elevation in the intraocular pressure level (IOP), is one of the leading causes of blindness. The lamina cribrosa is a mesh-like structure that provides axonal support for the optic nerves leaving the eye. The changes in the laminar structure under IOP elevations may result in the deaths of retinal ganglion cells, leading to vision degradation and loss. We have developed a comprehensive computational framework that can assist the study of structural changes in microscopic structures such as lamina cribrosa. The optical sectioning property of a confocal microscope facilitates imaging thick microscopic specimen at various depths …

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The Other Side Of The Tracks: Railroads, Race, And The Performance Of Unity In Nineteenth-Century American Entertainment, Elissa Sartwell Jan 2006

The Other Side Of The Tracks: Railroads, Race, And The Performance Of Unity In Nineteenth-Century American Entertainment, Elissa Sartwell

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Nineteenth-century Americans took great pride in the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869. This pride was not solely grounded in the knowledge that a grand, technological feat had been accomplished. When placed in its historical context, the celebration surrounding the completion of the railroad suggests a clear and visible statement of unity following a bitter and divisive civil war. The transcontinental railroad of 1869 undeniably unified the States. But any railroad simultaneously unites and divides, for while the tracks serve to link distant locations, they also produce a literal and metaphorical division in the communities through which they …

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Cultivar, Juice Extraction, Ultra Violet Irradiation And Storage Influence The Stilbene Content Of Muscadine Grapes (Vitis Rotundifolia Michx.), Mark Rene' Leblanc Jan 2006

Cultivar, Juice Extraction, Ultra Violet Irradiation And Storage Influence The Stilbene Content Of Muscadine Grapes (Vitis Rotundifolia Michx.), Mark Rene' Leblanc

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Stilbene concentration was analyzed in juice and tissue of muscadine grape (Vitis rotundifolia Michx.) and bunch grape (Vitis labrusca L.) from fresh fruit, after processing and after postharvest treatments. Five filter types were evaluated for percent resveratrol recovery when filtering standard and spiked juice samples in preparation for HPLC analysis. Only two (polycarbonate and Anopore) of the five filter types had more than 90 percent recovery. Polycarbonate was chosen for sample preparation since it was more durable during handling. Eight muscadine grape cultivars and three bunch grape cultivars were evaluated. Skin tissue had approximately 100 times higher stilbene concentration than …

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Synthesis, Characterization And Properties Of Cooper(Ii) Beta-Diketonate Macrocycles, Sylvester Burton Jan 2006

Synthesis, Characterization And Properties Of Cooper(Ii) Beta-Diketonate Macrocycles, Sylvester Burton

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation deals with the synthesis and properties of multidentate β-diketone ligands and their transition-metal complexes. (1) We prepared two bis(β-diketones), C1BAH2 and p-XBAH2 (see sketch below), determined their crystal structures, and studied their reactions with copper(II). We envisioned that they would form macrocyclic complexes with 3-6 metal atoms. In both cases, although the initial products are soluble, as expected for the desired molecular products, we were unable to isolate well-behaved molecular solids. In the case of C1BAH2, this may be because the cyclic product requires an unusual combination of conformations of …

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Interior Revolutions: Doing Domesticity, Advocating Feminism In Contemporary American Fiction, Kalene Westmoreland Jan 2006

Interior Revolutions: Doing Domesticity, Advocating Feminism In Contemporary American Fiction, Kalene Westmoreland

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Domesticity has endured as a facet of everyday life in the late twentieth century and beyond, despite cultural acceptance of feminist beliefs and ideals which encourage women’s movement away from the private sphere of the home. A tumultuous and remarkable cultural transformation has marked the four decades since the publication of Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique, a key text of early second-wave feminism. Equality and choice seem viable and attainable, yet many women today feel overwhelmed by responsibilities and the pressure to live up to the idealization of motherhood. Domesticity can be used as a tool of oppression, against which …

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Understanding An Indigenous Curriculum In Louisiana Through Listening To Houma Oral Histories, Nicholas Anthony Ng-A-Fook Jan 2006

Understanding An Indigenous Curriculum In Louisiana Through Listening To Houma Oral Histories, Nicholas Anthony Ng-A-Fook

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Indigenous communities have inhabited Louisiana since time immemorial. However, the national project of teaching the rise of the West as a heroic story remains the curricular centerpiece in elementary and high school history classes in North America. As a curriculum theorist, and former science and history teacher, I am concerned with the ways in which my teachings of colonialism’s cultural, historical, and national narratives suppress and silence the stories of the colonized. Therefore, the purpose of this paper (based on a four-year qualitative study) is to share oral histories of the United Houma Nation in order to illustrate their daily …

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