Digital Commons Network^™

Anger Et Cetera: Understanding The Emotions In Ethics, Damien Dupont

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation argues in part that because the ethical theory of sentimentalism is based on the mistaken belief that emotions are non-cognitive, sentimentalism cannot account for the fact of the influence of cognition in morality and moral action. Therefore sentimentalism is of little use in ethics.

This work is done by going back to examine Western thinking on the emotions from its dawn in Homer's writing through to contemporary philosophy and neurophysiology on the emotions. Following the development of the way emotions were thought of and how they related to ethics allows the identification of an intellectual forked path brought …

"Reconnecting To Resilience" A Historical Study Of Slave Narratives With Implications For Social Work Practice With African American Youth From High Risk Environments, Barbara E. Milton Ii

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The often times high risk environment of African American youth negatively impacts their psychological well being, their family relations and community connections. Many African American youth today are experiencing the vestiges of historical trauma that took root in America in the 17th Century when the first Africans came to America. As a result of generational transmission of historical trauma, many youths today are disproportionately underachieving in education, disproportionately poor, disproportionately monitored by police and incarcerated and disproportionately disrespected by the society at large. In order to reduce the disparity of contemporary problems effecting African American youth, social scientists need to …

Making Up The Difference: Ecuadorian Women Engaged In Direct Selling, Erynn Masi Casanova

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

As economic globalization progresses, employment is becoming more flexible and informalized in many parts of the world. In some developing countries, direct sales (selling branded products from person to person) is an increasingly attractive type of work, especially for women. Direct sales organizations benefit from cultural norms and structural forces that steer women away from full-time jobs in the formal economy, and also from the material conditions that lead to women's need to earn an income. This study examines the work experiences and social worlds of women affiliated with Ecuador's most successful direct sales company, Yanbal, with a focus on …

Breach Of Trust: Customary/Commercial Documents And Practices Of Private Law In An Egyptian Port, Christine Hegel

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is an ethnography of private law in contemporary Port Said, Egypt. Based on extensive fieldwork in 2005 and 2007, it considers how Port Saidians come to possess economic and social entitlements vis-à-vis one another and how concomitant obligations get construed and actualized. As an analysis of quotidian practices of private law and surety, this dissertation is intended to contribute to broader scholarly debates about legal subjectivity and legal consciousness, and to reconsider the intersections between law, custom and morality.

The analysis of contemporary transactional and surety practices is rooted in a discussion of both Egyptian legal reform and …

Prejudice As An Emotional Response To Threat: An Evolutionary Approach, Joshi D. Priyanka

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The evolutionary theory of intergroup relations suggests that human beings have an inherent tendency to categorize their world in terms of ingroup members and outgroup members (Kurzban & Neuberg, 2005). This distinction between ingroup and outgroup members is based on a cost-benefit analysis with ingroup members consisting of individuals who are beneficial to the individual and outgroup members consisting of individuals who might pose threats to the individual and their ingroup. Emotional systems have evolved to respond to these threats in the environment (Cottrell & Neuberg, 2005). In this study, 317 Caucasian Americans completed measures of threat perceptions and emotional …

"Zum Einsatz Des Leben Fuer Deutschland": Girls' Popular Fiction During The Third Reich, Kathryn L. Payne

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Recent research in the field of Cultural Studies has shown that popular fiction, more than any other genre, provides a way for readers to regulate and structure their lives. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the popular fiction which girls living in Nazi Germany read in an attempt to see how current events and policies are reflected in the novels in an effort to acclimatize girls to life under National Socialism and gain their complete support of the Third Reich. Popular fiction was expected to portray a mirror of life for young readers under National Socialism, with …

Creating Collaborative Partnerships To Support Teacher Growth: Mapping The Partnership Process, Lynda Kennedy

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The urban setting has tremendous resources for the support of teaching and learning social studies and history but many teachers do not know how to make use of them. Collaborations centered on teacher professional development between cultural institutions such as museums, historical societies, historic houses, libraries, etc., universities and k-12 schools can create wider communities of practice that can support the professional growth of history and social studies teachers from their pre-service education throughout their careers.

This qualitative case study - grounded in the social/historical context of teacher education and a century of history/social studies pedagogy both in school and …