Digital Commons Network^™

What's Race Got To Do With It?: A Historical Inquiry Into The Impact Of Color-Blind Reform On Racial Inequality In America's Public Schools, Lillian Dowdell Drakeford

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation examines the history and impact of color-blind educational reform in the post-Brown era on racial inequality of educational opportunities and outcomes in America's public schools. Through the lens of critical race theory and race critical theory, the dissertation employs a dual analysis. A macro analysis of the evolution and impact of colorblind educational reform on the national level is juxtaposed with a micro, case-study analysis of the history of color-blind educational reform at a historically Black high school. The historical analysis of the relationship between race and education encompasses intellectual and social aspects of education in the U.S. …

Rare's Implementation Strategies Of Environmental Conservation In Indonesia, Alvaro Arvizo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Like most developing nations, Indonesia is at a crucial stage in its modern political and economic history. Opposing forces are constantly at work, a government struggling to make Indonesia a modern nation and the economic demands of a growing population. This presents the country with a multitude of problems. One of several is that nature's resources are exploited for personal economic gain with no regard for the long-term effects. This is a major concern for environmental conservation and non-profit government organizations (NGOs) worldwide. The American NGO Rare is at the forefront of this issue. Its aim is to meet community …

The Acquisition Of Colloquial Speech And Slang In Second Language Learners Of English In El Paso, Texas, Patricia Brannon Bradford

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Colloquial and idiomatic speech seem to be some of the more difficult areas for achieving native-like language competence in the acquisition of a second language (L2), though very few studies have been performed on this topic. Acquiring the colloquial speech of a community is crucial for second language learners who wish to achieve native-like proficiency in the target language. The majority of studies done on this area have focused on the attitude towards the teaching of colloquialisms in a formal classroom setting, or the attitude that native speakers have towards non-native speakers' use of colloquial speech and slang. Typically, L2 …

The Border At War: World War Ii Along The United States-Mexico Border, Winifred Baumer Dowling

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The U.S.-Mexico border, especially the shared border of El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, was in many ways transformed by the effects of World War II. This study examines change or continuity brought about by the war. The border region reflected many similarities to the national reaction to the upheaval of World War II. Yet there were dramatic differences as well. Examples of continuity and change are examined through the lens of border relations, labor and the economy, Mexican Americans, border women, and health on the border.

Wartime relations between El Paso and Juarez reached a zenith of good …

Breaking The Silence: A Health Narratives Approach To Understanding Tuberculosis In El Paso, Texas, Angelica Forero-Quintana

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Tuberculosis is a chronic illness affecting people in El Paso, Texas. TB continues to be a disease of great concern along the US-México border. The TB rates in El Paso for 2008 and 2009 were 5.4 and 8.9 per 100,000 and 13.5 and 13.3 per 100,000 in Ciudad Juárez. The number of new TB cases in 2008 and 2009 for El Paso were 40 and 67 cases and in Ciudad Juárez, they were 311 and 306 cases (Moya, 2010). This study relied on interviews with fifteen people undergoing treatment for TB (and three of their children) using a health narratives …

The Effectiveness Of The University Interscholastic League One-Act Play Competition As An Extracurricular Activity, David Christopher Rout

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In Texas the University Interscholastic League has had a significant impact in Theatre Education through their annual competitive One-Act Play Competition. In educational climates dominated by No Pass-No Play and TAKS Testing some schools may question the effectiveness of the UIL competition as an effective activity. This paper addresses this concern, a measurement of how effective UIL One Act Play is how FERPA is impacting research into UIL events.

Preliminary Archaeological Investigations At The Sierra Diablo Cave Site: Paleoindian And Archaic Occupations In Hudspeth County, Texas, Jose Javier Vasquez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

It is generally rare to find archaeological sites in the Southwest that retain the type of contextual integrity that the Sierra Diablo Cave exhibits. Often times, cave sites such as the one currently studied offer excellent preservation of cultural materials due to the general lack of moisture and isolation from wind and water erosion. The research aimed to determine when the site was occupied as well as the types of activities that were occurring during those occupations. It exhibits an extensive stratigraphic sequence that contains a well pronounced Late Archaic Period assemblage (Strata A and B) and a Late Pleistocene/Early …

Analysis Of Secondary Data On The Causes And Consequences Of Migration In Central American Children, Jacquelin Hawley

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

It is said that immigration is approaching historic levels, and it is believed that one-third of the foreign-born population in the United States is undocumented. By examining the available research on Central American families that migrate to the United States, it seems plausible to argue that one of the main causes for migration is the lack of employment opportunities in their home country. The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between the migration of Central American youth and low employment opportunities. The paper intends to address the following questions. Is lack of employment opportunities a cause for …

Mujeres Haciendo Frente Al Desplazamiento Forzado / Women Confronting Forced Displacement, Rocio Clarisa Lemus

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The main question of this research whether or not a relationship exists between gender and forced displacement. More specifically, my interest is to document the experiences that women undergo when they are forced to leave their places of origin due to the Colombian War. The present research looks both to study the current condition of women who live in displaced condition in Bogotá and to contribute to the discussion regarding the concept of ambivalent empowerment. The analysis of the information is enriched by the Intersectionality Theory of Patricia Hill Collins . The research method and design used in this research …

The Literary Fictioning Of John Gregory Bourke's Imperial Nostalgia, Toni K. Mcnair

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Nineteenth-century Army Captain and American ethnographer John Gregory Bourke (b. 1846 - d. 1896) meticulously described and documented a vast amount of information on military life, geography, ecology, and people on both sides of the Mexican-American border, offering observations and opinions of American, Mexican, Mexican-American, Apache, Pueblo, Zuni and Plains Indian cultures. Because of his ethnographic studies of Mexican-Americans along the Rio Grande, cultural studies scholars, José E. Limón and José David Saldí­var have identified John Gregory Bourke as complicit in the U.S. government's imperialist project. Referring to Renato Rosaldo's anthropological theory of imperialist nostalgia, These authors declare Bourke's work …

Tuberculosis And Stigma: Impacts On Health-Seeking Behaviors And Access In Ciudad Juarez, Mexico And El Paso, Texas., Eva Margarita Moya

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This exploratory research is a study of tuberculosis (TB) and health-related stigma which examines the experiences and perspectives on the disease from the vantage point of the Persons Affected by Tuberculosis (PATB). Research on the causes and sustainability of stigma will be useful to guide health and social interventions that reduce its effects. Also of importance is research that focuses on the behavioral and psychological as well as in the social context and dimensions of TB-related stigma. The personal experience of tuberculosis illustrates that an infectious disease entails much more than treatment involving medications, microbes and risk categories. Stigma associated …

What Motivates Young Latina Females Along The U.S. Mexico Border Region To Participate In Team Sports?, Dora A. Pichardo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Physical activity gives women and girls an overall better quantity of life and positive health benefits. Statistics indicate lack of participation in physical activity and exercise by the U.S. general population and among the Latino population in particular. The primary purpose of this study is to explore the variables that motivate young Latinas to play and eventually continue to stay involved in team sports. This is a survey correlational study including young Latina females a U.S.-Mexico border community. Statistical analysis included frequencies, means, and Pearson Product Momentum Correlations. Sixty-nine participants (12 to 15 years old) completed the survey. The response …

Theology Of Blindness In The Hebrew Scriptures, Ray Mcallister

Dissertations

Problem: A number of passages in the Hebrew Scriptures discuss blindness. Scholars have studied them individually, but not with a view to developing a theology of blindness. The purpose of the present dissertation, then, is to analyze theological implications of blindness in the Hebrew Scriptures systematically.

Methodology: This dissertation systematically analyzes blindness in the Hebrew Scriptures against their ancient Near Eastern background. The study looks at cultic implications, causation, social justice, healing, and social and religious meanings of blindness. Both physical and metaphorical aspects of blindness are examined. First, blindness in the ancient Near East is considered, with emphasis on …

A Formal Mentoring Program And Its Relationship To Academic Success And Retention Rates Of First-Time Freshman College Students At Walla Walla University, Sallieann Brown Hoffer

Dissertations

Problem. For almost 160 years, researchers have studied freshman college students because attrition is heaviest during the first year. At Walla Walla University, statistics have shown that approximately 30% of each incoming freshman class will not return their sophomore year. The attrition rates represent an astounding loss of resources for the institution and in many cases a devastating loss of time, money, and self-worth for the students. Across the United States a concerted effort is being made to develop mentoring programs for undergraduate students, creating an environment where they could thrive socially and academically.

Method. In this study, an ex-post-facto …

"Surely It Deserves A Name:" Homosexual Discourse Among Ellis, Carpenter, And Symonds, Jonathan E. Coleman

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

This thesis argues that British scholars Havelock Ellis, John Addington Symonds, and Edward Carpenter viewed themselves as somewhat rebellious, attempting to reconstruct norms of sexuality, particularly those concerning homosexuality. To do so, they invoked the well‐established constructions of class, gender, and sex. Nevertheless, in spite of their attempts problematize these constructions, they simultaneously worked within and reinforced them. Ellis, Carpenter and Symonds desired to change widelyheld perceptions of homosexuality and while doing so, alter notions of class, gender, and sex. These scholars asserted that homosexual relationships could exist across the divides of the class‐system, helping to engender a greater cross‐class …

M.L.S. Or Abc? : A Christian Critique Of Professionalism, Garrett Trott

The Christian Librarian

A dichotomy has developed between professionals and non-professionals. Either you are or you are not. This article argues that this dichotomy is not biblical and offers an alternative that rests on firm theological soil: vocationalism. When librarianship can be viewed as a vocation, its impact shifts form the individual here and now to the kingdom of God, which impacts both the individual and the community; both the here and the there; and both the already and the not yet.

Testing Lesniaski’S Revised Brief Test, M. Sara Lowe, Sean M. Stone

Library Staff Publications and Research

In 2004, Lesniaski revised White’s Brief Test methodology for smaller academic libraries that lack sufficient subject specialist librarians to perform the brief tests as originally proposed byWhite. As a part of regular collection development, Cowles Library implemented Lesniaski’s Brief Tests on the print monograph collection. While primarily a review of Lesniaski’s methodology, this article also discusses how the Brief Tests were used for improved collection evaluation and maintenance.

Women's Labor Force Participation In Spain: An Analysis From Dictatorship To Democracy, Kristi Philips

Honors Program Theses

In Spain, women’s labor force participation has drastically shifted in the decades since Francisco Franco’s dictatorship collapsed. Changes in government policy and evolving social attitudes have affected the treatment of women and their access to economic opportunities. Using The World Bank and OECD labor force statistics for Spain, this study compares Spain’s historical data with that of France, Germany and Portugal. My results suggest that the dictatorship inhibited women’s labor force participation in Spain in contrast to nearby countries over the same period.

Psychological Care For Persons Of Diverse Religions: A Collaborative Continuum, Glen Milstein, Anne Marie Yali

Publications and Research

The purpose of this paper is to describe to psychologists and other clinicians a continuum of mental health care for persons of diverse religions. The continuum delineates boundaries between clinical care provided by mental health professionals and religious care provided by clergy, as well as describes pathways of collaboration across these boundaries. A prevention science based model of Clergy Outreach and Professional Engagement (COPE) is offered to guide this collaboration. The model describes a continuum that moves from the care already present in religious communities, through professional clinical care provided in response to dysfunction and returns persons to their own …

Resisting Mccarthyism: To Sign Or Not To Sign California's Loyalty Oath [Review Essay], Glen Gendzel

Faculty Publications, History

No abstract provided.

In The Margins: Thresholds Of Text And Identity In U.S.-Mexico Border Literature, Allison E. Fagan

Dissertations

My project links discussions of U.S.-Mexico border literature's emphasis on marginalized identity with the growing textual studies interest in the marginal, often-invisible processes which aid the production and shape the reception of books. The dissertation not only calls attention to textual instability, or the places where the differing and even opposing intentions of authors, publishers, and editors often become strikingly clear, but also focuses on the political, racial, ethnic, and social instabilities inherent in publishing the work of borderlands writers. It advocates and advances a sustained attentiveness to the conditions under which border literature can and does get produced. Authors …

Storied Memories: Memory As Resistance In Contemporary Women's Literature, Sarah Katherine Foust Vinson

Dissertations

This dissertation examines the power for resistance contained within narratives of personal memory. By applying current psychological concepts of autobiographical memory theory to eight contemporary women's novels, Carole Maso's The Art Lover; Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale; Dorothy Allison's Bastard Out of Carolina; Edwidge Danticat's Breath, Eyes, Memory; Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible; Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things; Gloria Naylor's The Women of Brewster Place; and Toni Morrison's Paradise, I argue that it is in literature that we can examine both the workings of memory and the ways that authors use concepts of memory in their works to …

Doubting Thomas: A Study Of Thomas Hobbes's Post-Restoration Dialogues, Adam George Yoksas

Dissertations

This study explores the possibility that Thomas Hobbes's post-Restoration writings have a teaching that is somewhat different than the teaching contained in his scientific treatises. Specifically, Hobbes seems to express doubt in his dialogues that his science as outlined in Leviathan and elsewhere is a realistic solution to the problems of the commonwealth. His knowledge of the English Civil War and the peace that followed may have been instrumental in reorienting Hobbes towards a more pragmatic and realistic philosophy that recognized the limits of science to create stability in the political arena. The Hobbes of the dialogues seems to focus …

Development And Validation Of The Workplace Intergenerational Atmosphere Scale, Scott P. King

Dissertations

This dissertation details the development and validation of the Workplace Intergenerational Atmosphere (WIA) scale over two studies. Given the growing number of older adults in the American workforce and the possibility of four generations working side by side, the WIA scale was designed to measure attitudes and perceptions about workers of different ages in the workplace. In Study 1, using a sample of workers from a non-profit organization, 23 initial items were reduced to 18, including five subscales: Intergenerational Contact, Workplace Intergenerational Retention, Positive Affect, Workplace Generational Inclusiveness, and Lack of Stereotypes. The relationships between WIA scores and mentoring, perceptions …

The Complexities Of Attachment, Peer Rejection And Gender Within A Middle School Dynamic - A Glimpse At Early Adolescents And Their Significant Relationships, Barbara Ann Mestling

Dissertations

This was a mixed method two phase explanatory study of attachment, peer rejection and gender in a non-clinical middle school population. The purpose of the study was to illustrate the relationship between these variables with the assumption that there would be differences in attachment style between rejected and non-rejected students and further differences by gender. The Behavioral Systems Questionnaire (BSQ) and the Children's Self-Experience Questionnaire-Self-Report (CSEQ-SR) were utilized to determine interview subjects. A Parent Demographic Form provided background, life experience and social functioning information. There were challenges in the use of both instruments for this study's purposes. Although there were …

The Practice And Meaning Of Communitarian Spirituality In The Focolare Movement, Nori Henk

Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to explore how individuals come to embrace the FM spirituality as radical, making the spiritually meaningful and plausible for social change through a communitarian lifestyle that affects their everyday life. Within the sociological tradition of studying religion and social movements, this study addresses how religiously-motivated, "non-elite" individuals can be collectively recruited and mobilized into life-long agents of change. My study is based on seventy-five interviews and fieldwork at three sites in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.

In the dissertation, I addressed the following research questions: 1. If a member is defined as one …

In The Driver's Seat: Living And Working As A Trucker, Cassandra Lively

Dissertations

This project examines the work and personal lives of truck drivers. Using data from fieldwork at a Midwestern trucking company, along with interviews with 38 drivers, dispatchers, company management and spouses and partners of drivers, I explore the questions: Thirty years out from deregulation, how are drivers' lives affected by the economic state of the industry? How do drivers and unions interact with public policy and company regulations that shape their on-the-job autonomy and their own and others' safety on the road? What are the dynamics of the industry around race, gender and sexuality? How does working in a high-stress, …

Using Matching Methods From Both Fisher's Experimental Design And Rubin's Causal Model To Compare Between Two Medical Facilities With Extremely Skewed Number Of Subjects, Gideon D. Bahn

Dissertations

The present study deals with the problem of comparison between a two medical facilities' with extremely skewed sample sizes from non-experimental study. The data came from a study of rehabilitation interventions with patients diagnosed with cardiac and pulmonary issues who received treatment either in inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs) or in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). Due to inclusion and exclusion criteria, however, the study had failed to recruit sufficient number of participants between two comparison groups: 319 from IRFs and 27 from SNFs. As a result, the main hypothesis of the study was not tested due to the disparity of the …

“Messin’ With Drugs…You Could Lose Your Life”: The Effect Of Victimization On Routine Activities And Risk Management, J. Michael Vecchio

Criminal Justice & Criminology: Faculty Publications & Other Works

Decades of research have helped to identify that victims and offenders are not opposing parts of the crime equation (Esbensen & Huizinga, 1991), but often are intertwined as part of a homogeneous population (Lauritsen & Laub, 2007). Those with the greatest likelihood of experiencing personal or property victimization are those who report offending or substance using behaviors (Gottfredson, 1984; Jensen & Brownfield, 1986; Sampson & Lauritsen, 1990). This increased victimization risk is commonly related to the amount of time spent in situations with greater proximity to motivated offenders and a lack of supervision (Cohen & Felson, 1979; Hindelang, Gottfredson, & …

I Am Black And Beautiful: An Examiniaton Of The Black Coptic Church As The Manifestation Of Liberation Theology, Leonard Mckinnis

Dissertations

What does the Black Coptic Church have to offer the study of Black theology? This is the essential question this dissertation seeks to examine through a descriptive and constructive analysis. I submit the doctrinal formulation of black liberation theology is locatable within the Black Coptic Church, which was founded, and still boasts its largest membership in Chicago. This is the tradition that has informed my own faith background and has played a tremendous role in my earlier theological convictions. In fact, I was attracted to this tradition as a young child because it seemed to offer its adherents a sense …