Digital Commons Network^™

An Inquiry Into Contextualized Christian Expression In North India, M. J. Gracin

Masters Theses

The riches of India's ancient and diverse culture are proclaimed from the music that communicates the heart of Bharat Mata - Mother India. This sentiment resounds across the vast geographical area of India in songs from Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians and Bollywood composers. The question of how Christians might express their faith in light of societal, historical and religious amalgamations is the topic of discussion for this project. The inquiry will focus on the music culture of North India, specifically as it is expressed in the city of B_____, Uttar Pradesh. A six week field study was conducted in …

Tell Me Who I Am: Representations Of Prostitution And The Construction Of Masculinity In Five Contemporary Asian-American Novels, Deborah Yuki Altgilbers

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

This dissertation examines the ways five contemporary Asian-American authors portray their protagonists' attempts to construct viable masculine subjectivities contravening popularly sanctioned, institutionally dictated possibilities for social iterability. In each novel, depictions of prostitution and the prostitute as tropes illustrate subordinated, often `failed,' masculinities. Critical attention is called for because prostitution and prostitutes feature prominently and illustrate the existing dearth of representational vehicles available to Asian-American authors to discuss disenfranchisement from U.S. mainstream society while not employing, but arguably exploiting, another group of marginalized individuals to fully realize the gravity of their grievances. In each chapter, the ways Asian-American men are …

Thou Met'st With Things Dying, I With Things New Born From King Lear To The Winter's Tale: Tragedies Transformed, Jessica Schnepp

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

This paper looks back at King Lear through the lens of The Winter's Tale, not in the hopes of superimposing an alternate interpretation of King Lear as an individual play but of illuminating Shakespeare's own process of reevaluating and re-imagining his poetic project, his evolving understanding of theological truth, and his place during England's transition from the Medieval to Early Modernism. This paper will analyze the starkly dichotomous criticism of King Lear and, through detailed comparison with the plot, character, imagery and themes of The Winter's Tale, prove not only that a criticism of King Lear is incomplete without The …

Transcendent Outsiders, Alien Gods, And Aspiring Humans: Literary Fantasy And Science Fiction As Contemporary Theological Speculation, Ryan Calvey

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

This dissertation argues that mainstream discourse on theology and morality often fails to explore the value and credibility of different theological approaches and the possibility of moral evolution and that, as a result, we need to pay more attention to arenas which allow for deeper speculation about theology and morality. Following an observation by Margaret Atwood, I argue that one such space within literature is literary science fiction and fantasy. In my first chapter, I argue that, while some science fiction merely echoes the limitations of mainstream debate, the genres can creatively explore theological questions because, like myth and theology, …

The Seven Deadly Sins In La Vida De Lazarillo De Tormes Y De Sus Fortunas Y Adversidades, John Giblin

HIM 1990-2015

To the modern critic, La vida de Lazarillo de Tormes y de sus aventuras y adversidades poses many problems. One cannot arrive at the book's precise meaning because the author remains unknown. If critics were to know who wrote the book, they would identify similarities between the book and the author's life to approximate the book's moral, or its lack of one. Additionally, some commentators view the book as incomplete or unfinished; although the author developed the first three tratados, the final four tratados seem short and incomplete. Does this diminish the book's purpose? Can the readers still fruitfully discover …

Aristotle On Mind, Rachel R. Adams

HIM 1990-2015

The mind as it is found in Aristotle's great work De Anima is a special capacity of the soul. It has both active and passive properties that work together to allow discursive thinking and moral ethical behavior to emerge. This work will look at Aristotle's philosophy of mind, and I will forward a new interpretation of the mind as he understood it: what I call the active and passive mind property dualism. Aristotle's four causes allow for a unique application of a form of dualism that accounts for the ontological status of the mind and the emergence of rational thinking. …

Freedom To Vote In Kenya: Effects Of Perceived Corruption, Levels Of Political Trust, And Fear Of Political Violence And Intimidation, Ana Carinena

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

To understand attitudes about voting in Kenya, this study examines Kenyan voters’ feelings of freedom to vote according to their own will and without pressure. More specifically it seeks to determine the extent to which these feelings are affected by 1) perception of corruption, 2) levels of trust in the government, 3) fear of political violence and intimidation, and 4) ethnic identity. Rational choice theory and an insideroutsider perspective are applied to examine the issue from a theoretical framework. Previous research conducted in relation to voting behavior and perception of corruption, trust in government, and ethnicity, among other things, are …

Transcript: The Brain Sciences In The Courtroom

Mercer Law Review

Morning Session featuring Oliver Goodenough and Richard Elliott, Moderated by Morris Hoffman; Abigail Baird and Theodore Blumoff, Moderated by Linda Hensel; Neal Feigenson and Francis Shen, Moderated by Stephen Morse

Afternoon Session featuring Julie Seaman, Edward J. Imwinkelried; Susan Bandes and Amanda Pustilnik, Moderated by Sarah Gerwig-Moore; Kathryn Kase and Emily Paavola, Moderated by Tim Floyd; Stephen Morse and Morris Hoffman, Moderated by Gary J. Simson

Serendipitous Timing: The Coincidental Emergence Of The New Brain Science And The Advent Of An Epistemological Approach To Determining The Admissibility Of Expert Testimony, Edward J. Imwinkelried

Mercer Law Review

This is an exciting time for students of the human brain. Worldwide there has never been such intense interest in and extensive research into the brain. Techniques for studying the brain are proliferating. By way of example, one group of scientists is employing electroencephalography (EEG) as a tool to investigate the brain's operations. Some of these researchers have utilized EEG to identify brain damage; others, including Dr. Lawrence Farwell of Brain Fingerprinting Laboratories, are endeavoring to adapt EEG technology to the detection of deception. Another group of scientists has focused its research on BOLD fMRI (Blood Oxygen Level Dependent functional …

The Aputu: An Examination And Analysis Of A War Club-Form Distinctive To The Guianas, Donald Arp Jr.

Department of Anthropology: Theses and Student Research

This work examines a type of war club unique to South America and to the area of the three Guianas. The so-called block war club of the Guianas, often noted in the memoirs of explorers and soldiers in the New World, has received little academic attention. Mining firsthand accounts and what little academic attention has been focused on the clubs, this paper examines a set of clubs from the Heye Foundation Collection now housed in the National Museum of the American Indian. This thesis seeks to classify the block type club as the flared quadrilateral club, which is a more …

Discrimination Of Arabs And Muslims In Simulated Hiring Decisions The Role Of Multiple Categorization, Perceived Job Fit, And Social Dominance, Lindsay Dhanani

HIM 1990-2015

Discrimination in hiring contexts has received a lot of attention from researchers in Industrial Organizational Psychology. However, discrimination against Arabs and Muslims in hiring contexts has been overlooked in the literature. The current study explores discrimination targeting Arabs and Muslims in the workplace. The theory of multiple categorization (Crisp & Hewstone, 1999) was applied to Arabs and Muslims in order to determine the relative effect of national origin and religious affiliation. Perceived job fit (Heilman, 1983) was also examined using an airport security position and a shipping and receiving clerk position. Participants rated mock resumes on several measures of hireability …

Making Modernity: Ideological Pluralism And Political Process In Zinacantán, Kristen Adler

Anthropology ETDs

This dissertation examines political process and ideology in the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico, focusing on the Tsotsil-speaking community of Zinacantán. The complex interplay between constructions of tradition and modernity clearly indicates that Zinacantán is not the isolated, "closed corporate community" often portrayed in the anthropological literature. Rather, complexities that emerge from local narratives suggest profound ideological pluralism, e.g., liberal individualism alongside hierarchical complementarity. Through a focus on narrative and event, this work challenges received notions of tradition and modernity and demonstrates the diverse ways in which Zinacantecos are traditionalizing the modern and modernizing the traditional through reflexive communicative means. Although …

Awake: A Young Adult Novel In Verse, Minerva Vasquez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This project is a manuscript for a YA novel written in verse and represents the type of YA literature I hope to publish after graduating. Awake chronicles the story of Alejandra de Luna, a high school student from the Rio Grande Valley who must come to terms with an abusive home situation, while at the same time struggling to find her place and her voice as an artist, writer, daughter, and young Latina. To complicate her world more, she begins to dream of Tenochtitlan, the former capital of the Aztec Empire. She experiences Aztec culture as one of patriarchy and …

Inter-Ethnic Tolerance And Cross-Cultural Communication: Its Relationship And Importance In A Multicultural Society, W.Y. Mei Tien, M.K. David

Research Publications (2011 to 2015)

Malaysia is a multi-cultural country, as a result of colonialism and economical geography. Such diversity makes tolerance a requirement for survival. Without tolerance, there can be a lot of tension or even conflict as a result of miscommunication in the society. Literature has demonstrated that effective inter-cultural communication is critical to the establishment of favourable inter-group relations (Gudykunst, 1986; Hall, 1976). This study aims to identify the importance and relationship of inter-ethnic tolerance and inter-cultural communication in multi-cultural Malaysia. A total of 310 undergraduates were involved in this study and the results indicated there is a positive correlation between inter-ethnic …

Open Access, African Scholarly Publishing, And Cultural Rights: An Exploratory Usage And Accessibility Study, Natalia T. Bowdoin

Faculty Publications

The Open Access (OA) Movement has been praised by proponents as a way to reverse the unsustainability of traditional scholarly publishing economic models and to aid in the equalization of the flow of information between industrialized and less industrialized nations. The OA Movement is thus also seen as a means of helping achieve both Articles 19 and 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which jointly articulate the basic human rights to seek, receive and impart information, to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts, and to share in scientific advancement. Historically however, …

A Formative Experiment To Increase English Language Learners' Awareness And Use Of Metacognitive Strategies Through Reciprocal Teaching: Pushing Toward An End To Silence In The Classroom, Jane Casey

All Dissertations

During the course of 13 weeks, a reciprocal teaching (Palincsar & Brown, 1984) intervention was introduced into two fifth grade inclusive, social studies classrooms to increase English language learners' (ELLs) awareness and use of metacognitive strategies. A formative experiment (Reinking & Bradley, 2008) was selected as the methodology, and both qualitative and quantitative data were collected to determine student-participants' progress toward the goal. Results of the data analysis guided the study, and the intervention was adapted to ensure students' moved steadily toward attainment of the established, pedagogical goal. The researcher and teacher-participants worked in a collaborative fashion to make adaptations …

Broadcast Regulation And The Irrelevant Logic Of Strict Scrutiny, R. George Wright

Journal of Legislation

No abstract provided.

Undergraduate And Graduate Course Descriptions, 2011 Summer, Wright State University

Course Descriptions

Wright State University undergraduate and graduate course descriptions from Summer 2011 .

Journaling As Greif Support For Parents Who Have Experiences A Stillbirth, Michelle K. Millam

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Interpretation Of Online Identity On Facebook And Social Networking Sites, Margaret D. Denninger

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

This study explored the interpretation of identity as it relates to the construction of self-identity on Facebook. Academic scholarship of online identity development on Facebook and other Social Networking Sites (SNS) revealed recent research that juxtaposed online identity makeup within communication and psychological frameworks. The expansion of Facebook and its design elements drew academic analyses that questioned the authenticity and fluidity of online identities. In this meta-analysis, three studies were discussed in depth, approximately 50 studies on Facebook identity construction were reviewed, and professional critiques on the Facebook effect were included. Research questions query: the prospect of true identity online; …

Potential Benefits From Interacting With Nature: A Look At Outdoor Education For Children, Katie Webster

Psychology and Child Development

With the increase of a fast paced lifestyle and more technology centered activities, children are spending an increased amount of time indoors.  A decreased interaction with the natural environment is alarming to many researchers, including Richard Louv who has defined this lack of interaction as Nature Deficit Disorder, a disorder that may result in a diminished use of the senses, increased amount of attention difficulties and higher rates of physical and emotional illness.  By engaging with nature, children will have the potential of concentrating and performing better within the classroom, to be more creative, are more cognitively and intellectually developed …

Derrida And The Future(S) Of Phenomenology, Neal Deroo

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

This paper seeks to examine the significance of Derrida’s work for an understanding of the basic tenets of phenomenology. Specifically, via an analysis of his understanding of the subject’s relation to the future, we will see that Derrida enhances the phenomenological understanding of temporality and intentionality, thereby moving the project of phenomenology forward in a unique way. This, in turn, suggests that future phenomenological research will have to account for an essential (rather than merely a secondary) role for both linguistic mediation and cultural and political factors within the phenomenological subject itself.

University Of Central Florida Undergraduate Catalog, 2011 - 2012, University Of Central Florida

UCF Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Composition At Play: Blurring Binaries To Engage First Year Writing Students, Jessica Santini

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

"The Way Of The World Is To Bloom And Flower And Die": The Palindrome Of Knowing In Cormac Mccarthy's The Road, Joseph Clark

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Meaning has been the topic of much commentary on Cormac McCarthy’s work. Critics posit an array of conclusions about meaning in his corpus, ranging from its impossibility to its excess. Much work concludes that if meaning exists, it is generated from an interplay between the natural world that McCarthy describes in his work and the characters who interact with it. With The Road, McCarthy offers his clearest presentation of meaning as it pertains to human knowing. In this presentation, McCarthy explores knowing through a beginning-in-ending, or palindromatic scheme; he arrives at the origins of knowing by reaching its terminus mirror. …

General Piecewise Growth Mixture Model: Word Recognition Development For Different Learners In Different Phases, Amery D. Wu, Bruno D. Zumbo, Linda S. Siegel

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

The General Piecewise Growth Mixture Model (GPGMM), without losing generality to other fields of study, can answer six crucial research questions regarding children’s word recognition development. Using child word recognition data as an example, this study demonstrates the flexibility and versatility of the GPGMM in investigating growth trajectories that are potentially phasic and heterogeneous. The strengths and limitations of the GPGMM and lessons learned from this hands-on experience are discussed.

The Potential Role Of Listening Modes In Auditory Interfaces For Location-Based Services, John Mcgee, Charlie Cullen

Conference papers

The auditory modality offers several advantages as a means of communication for the purposes of location-based services (LBS), including fast response time [1], low processing and storage overheads [2], and hands/eyes-free mobility. However, with more and more sound-producing technology being used in day-to-day life, the battle for our acoustic attention has led to a steady rise in acoustic noise levels [3]. In an already noisy environment, it is tempting for the sound designer to simply use more volume as a means of gaining the listener’s attention but this creates a vicious circle of noise whereby every sound designer is merely …

Care Of The Self And The Will To Freedom: Michel Foucault, Critique And Ethics, Stephanie M. Batters

Senior Honors Projects

Care of the Self and the Will to Freedom

Stephanie Batters

Faculty Sponsor:  Stephen Barber, English

What do subjectivity, power and ethics have in common?  For French philosopher Michel Foucault, each of these concepts inherently resides within the others.  His works, spanning from the mid-1950s to his death in 1984, offer a profound theoretical approach to the complex questions that obtain between the individual and society.  Foucault’s works present careful and intricate theories about the relationships of the past with the present, the individual with society, and power with truth.  Many of his writings explore how the individual is made …

Psychosocial Needs Of Refugees From Burma: A Social Work Perspective, Audrey Tyszka

Social Welfare

The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the need for increased awareness regarding the psychosocial needs of refugees from Burma and the services they may require. Due to the current influx in resettlement of Burmese refugees, a greater focus needs to be placed on effective social work with culturally diverse groups. Refugees from Burma have experienced an immense amount of trauma and loss, which must be understood in order to foster the recovery process. This paper draws on the literature, my experience as a social work intern at the United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI), and my …

Heber Doust Curtis And The Island Universe Theory, Hyrum Austin Somers

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

The beginning of the twentieth century was a time a great change and development within American astronomy. The period is rife with astronomers, both men and women, who advanced the discipline. However, few historians have looked at the lives of these astronomers. When an astronomer is chosen for closer study, they tend to be one who contributed to the astronomical discipline with a significant discovery. Unfortunately, those astronomers whose careers did not climax with discovery have a tendency to be forgotten by historians, even though their lives and research have affected our modern understanding. This thesis looks at one such …