Digital Commons Network^™

A Quantitative Analysis Of Racial/Ethnic Disparities In Health Care Usage: The Roles Of Perceptions Of Care & Expected Longevity, Jeffrey Alfred Jones

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Countless studies have documented the existence of disparities byrace and ethnicity in the health care system in the United States.However, not many have sought to explicitly quantify the relativeimportance of each of the proposed determining factors. Thisdissertation thus sought to identify the major causes of disparitiesin health care usage by employing an adaptation of theBlinder/Oaxaca decomposition method originally used in theliterature on wage differentials.Specifically, this study sought to investigate the roles that racialdifferences in patients' perceptions of care and expected longevity(as they relate to expected gains) might play in the observeddisparities in usage. Perceptions of care measures (trust andfear/dislike) were …

Front Matter And Table Of Contents (V.75)

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

No abstract provided.

Indigenous Anthropology And The Kava Myth In Manu’A, Unasa Leulu Felise Va’A

Pacific Studies

This article explores how genealogy, indigenous anthropology, positionality, and mythology, shape the understanding of cultural values, beliefs, and practices within Samoan society. Focusing on Samoan myths surrounding the origins of kava, the study demonstrates how genealogy serves as a framework for interpreting mythological narratives and cultural identity. The article draws from the author's participation in ASAO sessions on indigenous anthropology and kava, highlighting the importance of culturally grounded approaches in analyzing indigenous knowledge systems.

Teu Le Va: Toward A Native Anthropology, Melani Anae

Pacific Studies

The Samoan word va tapuia, includes the term “tapu,” within. The term literally refers to the sacred (tapu-ia) relationship (va) between man and all things, animate and inanimate. It implies that in our relationships with all things, living and dead, there exists a sacred essence, a life force beyond human reckoning. The distinction here between what is living and what is dead is premised not so much on whether a “life force,” i.e. a mauli or fatu manava exists in the thing (i.e. whether a “life-breath” of “heart beat” exudes from it), but whether that thing, living …

A Different Weight: Tension And Promise In “Indigenous Anthropology”, Fa‘Anofo Lisaclaire Uperesa

Pacific Studies

This article offers a personal reflection on indigenous anthropology through the lens of the author's upbringing and research experiences in American Samoa. Grounded in the complexities of aiga (kinship) and layered genealogies, the work explores how biographical and cultural ties shape research ethics, methods, and accountability when conducting fieldwork at "home." By drawing on her position as a Native Pacific Islander and scholar, the author highlights the transformative possibilities of indigenous knowledge production and the responsibilities of researching within one’s own community.

Collaboration And Capacity Building In The Classroom: A Decolonizing Teaching Agenda To Create A Cadre Of Indigenous Researchers, Holly M. Barker, Rochelle Tuitagava‘A Fonoti

Pacific Studies

This article explores collaborative anthropology as a response to indigenous critiques of outsider research in Oceania. Drawing from the authors' diverse positionalities and their experience teaching Anthropology, the paper reimagines the classroom as a space for co-learning, capacity building, and indigenous empowerment. By integrating participatory methods and traditional collaborative practices of Samoan and Marshallese communities, the study highlights how educational environments can foster sustainable research models and support a growing network of indigenous scholars.

Vol. 33 No. 2/3 (2010): Pacific Studies Front Matter, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Front Matter for the Vol. 33, No 2/3-Aug/Dec 2010 edition of the Pacific Studies Journal.

Vol. 33 No. 2/3 (2010): Pacific Studies Full Issue, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Pacific Studies is published two times a year by The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies, Brigham Young University Hawai‘i #1979, 55–220 Kulanui Street, Lāʻie, Hawai‘i 96762, but responsibility for opinions expressed in the articles rests with the authors alone. Subscription rate is US $40.00 yearly, payable to The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies. The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies (formerly The Pacific Institute) is an organization funded by Brigham Young University Hawai‘i. The Center assists the University in meeting its cultural and educational goals by undertaking a program of teaching, research, …

Content Fundamentals For A Tv Show Aimed At Indigenous Children Aged 3 To 6: A Literature Review And Discussion Paper, David Norris

Indigenous Education Research

The following literature review was undertaken to establish a foundation for the discussion of potential content (and the issues pertaining to the implementation of that content) for an educational television program aimed at Indigenous children aged 3 to 6. Specifically, the literature was read with an eye to identifying the most effective and relevant learning styles, teaching techniques and subject matters that will successfully engage, support and inform Indigenous children and their families in the transition from home/pre-school to school, and onwards into their early years of schooling.

Wordsworth's Decline: Self-Editing And Editing The Self, Kenneth E. Morrison

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In critical discourse surrounding the poetry of William Wordsworth, it has become generally acceptable to describe the course of the poet’s career by means of a theory of “decline.” In its most common form, this theory argues that Wordsworth’s best poetry was written during one “Great Decade” (1798-1807)—an isolated epoch of prolificacy and genius. His subsequent works, it is argued, neither surpass nor equal his initial efforts; the course of his career after 1808 may be best described in terms of declivity, ebb, and decline.

Due to its ideological complicity with the very texts it engages, and due to its …

Raps Sheet, December 2010, Retirement Association Of Portland State

RAPS Sheet: Monthly Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Faculty Perceptions Of Chinese Graduate Students’ Communication Challenges In The Science And Engineering Disciplines, Jim Hu

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

This paper reports the findings of in-depth interviews with six science and engineering faculty members at a major Canadian university regarding their experiences with and perceptions of Mainland Chinese ESL graduate students’ challenges in using English in the disciplines. Results suggest great cultural and linguistic challenges of the students; however, helpful guidance and interactive feedback-based conferencing could lead to student progress. Nevertheless, the faculty longed for English and technical writing courses for ESL graduate students. The faculty did not perceive plagiarism to be a major issue among Chinese ESL graduate students and adopted an educational approach toward sporadic inappropriate textual …

Multiple Cultures, Multiple Literacies, And Collective Agencies: Chinese And Pakistani Immigrants’ Perceptions Of Family Literacy Support, Zheng Zhang, Nazia Bano

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

Challenging the deficit view of immigrant families’ roles in family literacy support, this study is situated in the multiliteracies theoretical framework, which celebrates marginalized, yet diverse, literacy practices in immigrant families. This study used semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions to map diverse family literacy practices in Chinese and Pakistani families. It explores whether and how available educational institutions have been inclusive of immigrant families’ multiple cultures and multiple literacies. Adopting a bottom-up advocacy approach, this study also invites Chinese and Pakistani families to envision family literacy programs by themselves. It brings to light immigrant families’ potential collective agencies in …

What’S Language Got To Do With It? An Exploration Into The Learning Environment Of Quebec’S Classes D’Accueil, Gabrielle L. Breton-Carbonneau, Ailie Cleghorn

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

This article stems from an on-going qualitative study of the ‘environment’ of Montreal’s elementary level welcome classes for new immigrant students (classes d’accueil), including teachers’ language attitudes and actual language practices in the classroom. Since the official language of instruction in Quebec is French, the classe d’accueil provides a unique setting for exploring many issues: how teachers look upon the linguistic and cultural diversity of their learners; how teachers negotiate their way between potentially opposing tensions-- to integrate newly arrived children into Quebec, and, to reinforce Quebec’s distinct cultural and linguistic status. By drawing on socio-cultural theory of language learning, …

Culture, Globalization, And Stock Price Volatility, Dante M. Pirouz, John L. Graham

Business Publications

The primary purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of culture on stock price volatility. The focal causal chain links dimensions of culture (i.e., linguistic structure and values) to globalization to the volatility of prices in 50 stock markets around the world. Other explanatory variables included in the model are characteristics of individual stock markets (age and market capitalization) and countries (per capita income and population). Partial least square regression is used to estimate the parameters of a comprehensive model using stock price volatility as the dependent variable. Our findings suggest that stock price volatility is influenced by …

Motivation For Vocabulary Learning Of College Students, Qizhen Deng

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research

The purpose of this study is to construct and validate an instrument to measure motivation for vocabulary learning, opening the door to more studies on motivation for vocabulary learning in reading and listening. In the new 34-item questionnaire: Motivation for Vocabulary Learning Questionnaire (MVLQ), eleven subscales were examined within two motivational constructs, namely, self-efficacy and attitude. Participants in this study were 121traditional undergraduate students from a Midwestern research university. Students responded to two self-report questionnaires: the Motivation for Vocabulary Learning Questionnaire (MVLQ), and the Motivation for Reading Questionnaire (MRQ) (Wigfield & Guthrie,1997). The results suggested that MVLQ had good reliability …

Measuring The Impact Of Political Ideology On The Adoption Of English-Only Laws In The United States., Philip C. Aka, Lucinda M. Deason, Augustine Hammond

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract Forthcoming.

Wiki Vandalysis. Wikipedia Vandalism Analysis, Manoj Harpalani

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Wikipedia describes itself as"The free encyclopedia that anyone canedit". Along with the helpful volunteers who contribute by improving the articles, a great number of malicious users abuse the open nature of Wikipedia by vandalizing articles. Wikipedia editors fight vandalism both manually and with automated bots that use regular expressions and other simple rules to recognize malicious edits[Carter]. Researchers have also proposed Machine Learning algorithms for vandalism detection[Smets et al. | 2008; Potthast et al. | 2008a], but these algorithms are still in their infancy and have much room for improvement. This paper presents an approach to fighting vandalism using natural …

A Metrical Analysis And Rebarring Of Paul Creston's Sonata For Alto Saxophone And Piano, Op. 19, Christopher Kyle Sweitzer

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, Student Creative Work, and Performances

The Sonata For Alto Saxophone and Piano Op. 19 is one of the most popular pieces in the saxophone literature, commonly played by professional saxophonists during their training. It features exciting rhythmic devices like irregular and mixed meter, the notation of which is the main focus of this paper. Although Creston often used irregular and mixed meter in his compositions, he rarely specifically notated them, choosing instead to use accents, beams, slurs, and other phenomenal cues at the musical surface to create the effect of these metric plans. Time signatures often remained constant throughout entire movements. Creston believed this would …

Innovation And Tradition In Lisan Wang’S Piano Suite Other Hill, Rongjie Xu

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, Student Creative Work, and Performances

Lisan Wang is one of the most celebrated musical figures in China. His five-movement piano suite Other Hill (1980) is the composer’s response to the “New Wave”, a compositional trend generated in China after the 1977 Cultural Revolution. Gaining fame as a piano composition for showing the application of multiculturalism and syncretism to music, Other Hill is regarded as a prime example of cross-cultural piano composition in China. Wang challenges Chinese traditional piano composition with different artistic media—philosophy, calligraphy, poems, and various folk elements in Other Hill. This document proposes an interdisciplinary study of Lisan Wang’s musical fusion of …

Mésica Criolla: Cultural Practices And National Issues In Modern Peru. The Case Of Lima (1920-1960), Luis Martin G¢Mez

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

My thesis is a historical analysis of a group of musical forms called m£sica criolla in twentieth-century Peru. I analyze the historical relocation of these musical forms as symbols of Peruvianness during the period 1920 to 1960. I argue that the idea of the existence of a national music called m£sica criolla emerged as a product of the urban modernization that had been transforming the landscape of the city of Lima since the second half of the nineteenth century. Faced with this transformation, early twentieth-century Lime¤o intellectuals asserted that Lime¤os displayed distinctive artistic attitudes in their daily lives. For them, …

Messianic Light : Utopian Discourse In The Work Of Theodor W. Adorno, Luce Irigaray And Giorgio Agamben., Heather Anne Thiessen 1956-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

What is the idea that "utopia" names? How can discourse represent that idea? Setting aside temporarily deeper problems with the idea of representation, and focusing on how a complex philosophical discourse might approach the problem of conveying or representing a large, only fairly precise, and important idea is the question of this dissertation. It ultimately answers that question obliquely, by focusing on the way the utopian discourse present in the work of three late 20th century philosophers, Theodor W. Adorno, Luce Irigaray, and Giorgio Agamben, addresses a subject position that can be named a "subject of possibility." How this subject …

Postwar Sierra Leone : Are Programs Of Reconstruction Addressing The Causes Of War?, Lovetta Anita Thompson 1985-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This multilayered study is an appraisal of some of the ongoing post-conflict reconstruction efforts in Sierra Leone in light of the causes of the conflict, which lasted from 1991-2002. It begins by providing a critical examination of the historical antecedents leading up to the war. The problems of colonialism which brought together different nationalities under one political umbrella by force of arm, along with other motley of issues such as corrupt leadership and inter-ethnic violence led to the outbreak of war in 1991. Although different studies have discussed these factors, very few, if any, have tried to make a connection …

More Real Than Real : An Anthropological And Phenomenological Exploration Of Imagistic Sacred Space In The Contemporary Elegy And Fine Art Photograph., Amy Liann Tudor 1968-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The creation of liminal spaces has been used for centuries cross-culturally to create sacred or taboo meanings in rituals, people, places, or objects. Liminality is constructed by the overlapping of cultural categories and "ruptures" an object or event's connotations, imbuing it with new and often transcendent or spiritually charged meaning. The photograph is an example of liminal space, since it freezes even the living in a state of corpse-like stasis. With the invention of this new medium, as well as its application to memorializing the dead, previous forms of commemorating death such as the eulogy and the poetic elegy were …

English Language Learners In Focus : Predictors Of English Proficiency And Academic Achievement., Yuliya Ardasheva

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Academic achievement of English language learners (ELLs), the fastest growing population in the U.S. schools, deserves greater attention. This non-experimental study investigated the unique contributions-above and beyond other individual difference and school characteristics-of language learning strategies (LLS) to student academic outcomes in a second language (L2). The sample comprised 1,057 ELLs (651 elementary, 275 middle, and 131 high school) attending 38 schools in one urban school district. Descriptive analysis results indicated that ELLs used a large array ofLLS; yet, except for metacognitive strategies, most LLS were reportedly used only at a medium level of frequency. The results also indicated a …

A Manifestation Of All Life : Intersections Of Virtue Ethics, Philosophy Of Emotion, And Philosophy Of Literature., Derek Lee Penwell 1965-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation offers a brief survey of the rise of reason and the tum to the self at the expense of emotion in Western thought. This marginalization of emotion has had deleterious effects on two areas: the cultivation of virtue and the intersubjectivity necessary to sustain human flourishing. Using current research in neuropsychology the dissertation argues that reason and emotion form a dynamic partnership in the process of attaining reliable knowledge. Moreover, the dissertation argues that the emotional experience necessary for the cultivation of virtue, as well as the ability to attend to the emotional lives of others in the …

The Content And Critical Metaphor Analysis Of Illustrated Print Advertisements In China., Chun Jiang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation takes Chinese advertisements as the research subjects to see in what way a quantifiable large number of advertisements with its metaphorical nature and instrumental mission can reflect social cultural change, in specifics, ideology and identity change of China in the last thirty years by combining four methods of research: content analysis, Critical Discourse Analysis, Conceptual Metaphor Analysis and Pictorial Metaphor Analysis. The dissertation goes through the sign or ad interpretation process of linguistic, semiotic and critical analysis of 300 sample illustrated print advertisements collected from popular and award-winning illustrated print advertisements in Chinese media in the three periods …

Cultivating Our Mosaic : Understanding The Language Choices Of Canadian Immigrant Students., Julia E. Kiernan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the competing views of multilingualism that shape U.S. and Canadian post-secondary literacy education. Drawing on education, English studies, globalization theory, applied linguistics, translation studies, multiculturalism, and second-language studies, this project engages in a study of multilingual students from writing courses at a Canadian university. The analysis focuses on the relationships between Canadian multilingualism and current U.S. scholarship surrounding English monolingualism in terms of eradicationism, language segregation, and language interaction. The findings challenge previous research and popular opinion, as well as Canadian government policy, all of which tend to designate Canadian classrooms and society as definitively accepting of …

Seeking A Spiritual Home For Women : A Comparative Study Of Chen Ran's And Amy Tan's Fictions., Jing He 1979-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With increasing cross-cultural infiltrations and accelerated interflows among people of all nationalities in this globalized world, the focus of comparative literature has experienced a shift from traditional Eurocentric cannons to a broader space incorporating literary works from marginalized cultures in its exploration of both particularities and commonalities. This dissertation aims to address the loss and reconstruction of women's self-identities as reflected in the fictions of contemporary Chinese woman writer Chen Ran and Chinese American woman writer Amy Tan. Drawing ideas from identity theories and postmodern feminist theories, the author compares the major motifs, rhetorical devices and writing strategies of the …

Review Of Needed By Nobody: Homelessness And Humanness In Post-Socialist Russia. Tova Hojdestrand. Reviewed By Sviatlana Smashnaya., Sviatlana Smashnaya

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Tova Hojdestrand, Needed by Nobody: Homelessness and Humanness in Post-Socialist Russia. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2009. $59.95 hardcover, $22.95 paperback.