Digital Commons Network^™

The Song Of The Thrush: Christian Animism And The Global Crisis Today, Mark I. Wallace

Religion Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Mapping Africana Religions: Transnationalism, Globalization, And Diaspora, S. A. Khabeer, Yvonne Patricia Chireau, P. C. Johnson

Religion Faculty Works

This work is from the edited proceedings of a 2013 symposium at Northwestern University, organized around the question of how to theorize the study of Africana religions across wide expanses of time and space. An international body of scholars representing the fields of history, religious studies, anthropology, American studies, sociology, African studies, classics, and African American studies gathered in a two-day event to consider the past, present, and future of their shared commitment to understanding the religions of African and african-descended people. Scholars discuss the challenges of and opportunities for the study of Africana religions from ancient to modern times, …

How Movies Think: Cavell On Film As A Medium Of Art, Richard Thomas Eldridge

Philosophy Faculty Works

Stanley Cavell’s writing about movies, from the more theoretical and general The World Viewed (1971) to the later works on specific genres (Pursuits of Happiness, Contesting Tears), has a unifying theme: some movies as (successful) art investigate conditions of accomplished selfhood and interest in experience in medium-specific ways. This claim is explained and defended by explicating the details of the medium-specificity of the moving photographic image (and its history of uses) and by focusing on Michael Verhoeven’s film The Nasty Girl (1990). Though the very ideas of accomplished selfhood and interest in experience naturally prompt some suspicion in a commercialized, …

The Mechanical Aspirations Of Written Things In Sterne's Tristram Shandy, Maxwell Harrison Cohn

Honors Papers

Of the many devices and doodads Laurence Sterne describes in Tristram Shandy (1759-67), the most surprising remains the machinery of Tristram Shandy itself. I use Sterne's frequent descriptions of Tristram Shandy as a machine to question how texts behave as (faulty and outdated) technologies in this eighteenth-century text. I look at Agostino Ramelli's book wheel--a sixteenth century device which allows its user to quickly cross-reference various texts--to illustrate the latent challenges in Sterne's book-machine metaphor. My essay suggests that Sterne's various registers of literary allusion signal moments in which the book realizes its potential, but also its limitations, as a …

Minds, Bodies, And Political Selves: Embodying Pro-Choice Activism, Samantha Leah Aisen

Honors Papers

The abortion debate in the United States is a contentious social issue. Within the past three years, legislators introduced abortion related restrictions in unprecedented quantities. Pro-choice activist organizations and individuals are responding to this influx of targeted legislation. My thesis is an ethnographic study of pro-choice activist habitus and the cultural capital shared among activists. I explore political activists' and clinic escorts'; shared rhetorical tactics and personal preferences regarding key pro-choice issues. First I discuss and analyze how gender inequality and gender identity is present in activists'; political abortion discourse and personal life choices. Second, I explore activist political and …

Anomie: Concept, Theory, Research Promise, Max Coleman

Honors Papers

The term anomie has declined in the sociology literature. Apart from brief mentions, it has not featured in the American Sociological Review for sixteen years. Moreover, the term has narrowed and is now used almost exclusively to discuss deviance. This project explores Durkheim's original use of the term, and whether modifications of his work--by Merton, Parsons, and others--are useful or muddling. We also present critiques of the term, evaluating them in light of Durkheim's intentions. Possible explanations for the decline of anomie theory are given, including academic explanations (e.g., classical sociology was replaced by newer theories like symbolic interactionism) and …

Staging Theseus: The Mythological Image Of The Prince In The Comedia Of The Spanish Golden Age, Whitaker R. Jordan

Theses and Dissertations--Hispanic Studies

This dissertation uses the seventeenth-century Spanish plays which employ an array of mythological stories of Theseus to analyze the Early Modern ideology of the Prince. The consideration of the different rulers in these plays highlights different aspects of these sovereigns such as their honor, prudence, valor, and self-control. Many of these princes fall well short of the ideal explained in the comedia and in the writings of the arbitristas. By employing the hylomorphic theory in which everything can exist in either its matter or its form, it is shown that in order to have the form of a prince, …

Max Scheler's Critical Theory: The Idea Of Critical Phenomenology, Eric J. Mohr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work explores the way core elements of phenomenology map on to the critical theory program in order to demonstrate phenomenology's relevance for ideology critique. "Critical phenomenology" means putting the findings of phenomenology to work for the sake of social critique. I argue that phenomenology gains a critical edge precisely where many critical theorists suggest phenomenology withdraws from a critical function: on the basis of their theory of intuition. While Adorno takes phenomenological intuition to be another version of identity philosophy, he overlooks the significance of the way in which phenomenological givenness is incommensurable with, and at best only symbolized …

The A Priori Nature Of The Political: Democracy And Scientific Method In Thomas Hobbes, Patrick Craig

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation provides a treatment of Hobbes's politics in light of his conception of scientific method. The scholarship devoted to these two components of Hobbes's thought, that is his account of scientific method and his political philosophy, have largely existed in isolation from one another. Reading his politics through the lens of his account of scientific method, I bring two bodies of research on Hobbes together, and in so doing, offer a unique account of his political philosophy. When Hobbes's political philosophy is approached in the way I suggest, what one finds is not a simple defense of authoritarian absolutism, …

The Influence Of Loving-Kindness Meditation On Everyday Experiences Of Being Angry: An Empirical Phenomenological Study, Ibrahim I. Kurdieh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Loving-Kindness meditation is a Buddhist practice than involves sending and receiving mental wishes of well-being and happiness in order to cultivate positive feeling states and relieve suffering. This qualitative study examines the effects of Loving-Kindness meditation on everyday experiences of being angry. It uses participants' accounts to create a systematic structural description of how Loving-Kindness meditation affects anger. Participants in this study were asked to provide written narratives of an incident when practicing Loving-Kindness meditation helped them cope with feelings of anger. Each of the five participants was interviewed in order to further elaborate their written narratives. These accounts were …

¡Peligro! Si Usted No Entiende La Etiqueta, Busque A Alguien Para Que Se La Explique A Usted En Detalle: The Need For International And Domestic Implementation Of Bilingual Pesticide Labeling To Enhance Protection Of Migrant Farmworkers In Florida, Vanessa Calcano Thomas

Florida A & M University Law Review

No abstract provided.

On V. Stiviano, Donald Sterling's Companion: Exploring Whiteness As Property, Imani Jackson

Florida A & M University Law Review

Much maligned billionaire and former Clippers owner Donald Sterling ignited national race relations discourse after his companion, V. Stiviano, was connected to the leak of a conversation in which Sterling made anti-black comments. This author posits that Sterling's command that his companion Stiviano disassociate with people of color, particularly black people, is covertly and overtly racist. Covert racism is implicit in the nature of their conversation.

This paper will focus on Stiviano's identity and the violence white men inflicted upon her because of her race and the circumstances surrounding her relationship with Sterling. This author contends that Stiviano attempted to …

Outlook Magazine, Spring 2014

Outlook Magazine

No abstract provided.

China's Modern Martyrs: From Mao To Now, Anthony E. Clark

History Faculty Scholarship

Series for Catholic World Report

Lands Council, Karuk Tribe, And The Great Environmental Divide In The Ninth Circuit, Michael C. Blumm, Maggie Hall

Natural Resources Journal

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the nation’s largest appellate court, with jurisdiction over 15 judicial districts and 61 million people—almost 20 percent of the nation’s population—spans from Alaska to Arizona, from Montana to Hawaii. The Ninth Circuit has a reputation for being an environmentally sensitive court, but the court is as diverse as the terrain over which it has jurisdiction. Due to its size, the court’s en banc reviews do not include all 29 judges but instead only panels of 11. Thus, Ninth Circuit en banc panels can reflect the kind of diversity of opinion they aim to reduce. …

Pilot Study: Affect Of Power Posing On Ot Student Performance When Implementing Interventions, Aimee Abel, Brittney Barelman

Occupational Therapy Capstones

Objectives. This pilot study used a quasi-experimental repeated measures design to explore the affect of power posing on Occupational Therapy student performance when conducting interventions with clients. The study was conducted in an attempt to determine an effective strategy used to enhance student therapist performance to support occupational adaptation in school and during the transition to entry-level clinician.

Method. Second year occupational therapy students (n = 10) from the University of North Dakota at the Casper, WY site and practicing clinicians (n = 10) from the community of Casper participated in the study. The student therapists conducted two interventions on …

Education Rights And The New Due Process, Areto A. Imoukuede

Journal Publications

This Article argues for a human dignity-based, due process clause analysis to recognize the fundamental duty of government to provide high quality, public education. Access to public education is a fundamental duty, or positive fundamental right because education is a basic human need and a constituent part of all democratic rights. In The Fifth Freedom, I argued that there is a fundamental duty under the U.S. Constitution to provide public education and that the reason a fundamental right to public education has not been recognized is because of a profound confusion regarding fundamental rights as duties.' The Court is biased …

Transmural Heterogeneity Of Cellular Level Cardiac Contractile Properties In Aging And Heart Failure, Premi Haynes

Theses and Dissertations--Physiology

The left ventricle of the heart relaxes when it fills with blood and contracts to eject blood into circulation to meet the body’s metabolic demands. Dysfunction in either relaxation or contraction of the left ventricle can lead to heart failure. Transmural heterogeneity is thought to contribute to normal ventricular wall motion but it is not well understood how transmural modifications affect the failing left ventricle. The overall hypothesis of this dissertation is that normal left ventricles exhibit transmural heterogeneity in cellular level contractile properties and with aging and heart failure there are region-specific changes in cellular level contractile mechanisms.

Age …

Toward A Kairos Of Library Instruction, Emily Drabinski

Brooklyn Library Faculty Publications

Information literacy instruction in libraries is organized by the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards. Currently under revision, these Standards define a set of external, abstract learning objectives that have been productive of a teaching role for librarians. Simultaneously, the Standards have generated a substantial critical literature that contests the objectives as a “Procrustean bed” that distracts from the particular teaching and learning contexts. This paper offers an alternative organizing heuristic for instruction in libraries. Kairos is an ancient Greek theory of time married to measure. Used by both Plato and the Sophists to understand the emergence of truth from context,kairos …

A Longer Spoon: A Novel, Elizabeth Macdonald

HIM 1990-2015

The intent of this thesis is to create a novel-length narrative based around a premise conceived in a workshop setting. The novel, while containing elements of fantasy, will be character-driven and feature psychological character development as its primary goal. Lawrence Caligny, a young cook newly instated at a castle, is coerced by his mother, an infamous witch named Mallory, to concoct a sleeping potion for the country’s crown prince, beckoning comparison to the "Sleeping Beauty" fairy tale. As Lawrence prepares for his opportunity, he unwittingly befriends the prince and his sister and stumbles across an assassination plot. Being thoroughly inept …

Life Cycle Dynamics Of The Harmful Bloom Forming Macroalgae Ulva Spp. In Narragansett Bay, Ri, Elaine Potter

Open Access Master's Theses

Macroalgal blooms occur worldwide and have the potential to cause severe ecological and economic damage. Narragansett Bay, RI is a eutrophic system that experiences summer macroalgal blooms composed mostly of Ulva compressa and Ulva rigida. All Ulva species have isomorphic, biphasic life cycles, and the relative contribution of the haploid and diploid life history stages to bloom formation is poorly understood. In this study, we used flow cytometry to assess ploidy levels of U. compressa and U. rigida populations from five sites in Narragansett Bay, RI, USA. Both haploid gametophytes and diploid sporophytes were present for both species. Sites …

Inner-Peace And Physical Health: Peace Of Mind And Physical Health Among Rhode Island Older Adults, Thupten Tendhar

Open Access Master's Theses

The number of older adults increases globally year after year at an unprecedented rate, and so does their healthcare expenditure. This trend is similar in Rhode Island. The proportion of older adults relative to the general population is rising sharply in this smallest state in the US. The quality of later life and well-being of the older adults remains questionable for many, due to the increasing chronic disease burden associated with advanced age.

The purpose of this research was to study the relationship between inner-peace and physical health, with the aim of developing a clearer picture to improve the health …

Evaluation Of A Topless Bottom-Trawl Design For Fish Capture In The Summer Flounder Fishery, Meghan P. Gahm

Open Access Master's Theses

One of the major threats to sea turtles is the incidental capture as bycatch in marine commercial trawl fisheries. A gear-based approach has been suggested to reduce sea turtle bycatch levels in the summer flounder fishery (Paralicthys dentatus). Previous conservation experiments using a turtle excluder device (TED) in the summer flounder fishery resulted in a significant loss of the target species summer flounder, about 35% on average. A topless-trawl design was proposed as an alternative gear design to mitigate sea turtle bycatch. Previous testing showed that a topless-trawl with a headrope length of 48.7 m (160 ft) was …

Biological Indicators For Assessing Freshwater Wetland Condition In Rhode Island, Thomas E. Kutcher

Open Access Master's Theses

There is a growing need to identify assessment methods that can provide managers and researchers with a relative indication of wetland condition. Biological indicators (bioindicators) are considered to be the most effective and precise indicators of environmental condition. This study focuses on the development of bioindicators based on the concept of species conservatism, or intolerance to human disturbance. In theory, the aggregate conservatism of a species assemblage should indicate the environmental quality of a natural area. In the first part of this study, I applied the conservatism concept to adult Odonata composition to create a novel bioindicator for open-canopy wetland …

Investigation Of Genes Contributing To Whole Plant Senescence In Soybean (Glycine Max), Robert Almeida

Open Access Master's Theses

Plant senescence is a genetically determined developmental program characterized by systematic degradative processes that involves activation of new gene activity and down-regulation of other genes that ultimately leads to cell, tissue, organ and whole plant death. Elucidating senescence regulatory pathways and participating genes will allow for the development of strategies to improve crop yields and also curtail post-harvest losses. Three genes are known to be primary regulators of senescence in soybean; namely, g, D1, and D2. In double and triple mutant combinations these genes confer an evergreen leaf and seed phenotype. The double mutation ggd1d1d2d2 shows an …

Assessment Of Food Safety Handling Practices At Farmers’ Markets In Rhode Island, Elizabeth Gran Vandeputte

Open Access Master's Theses

From 2001 to 2010, foodborne illness outbreaks increased in the US and 17% of the outbreaks were from produce. High-risk, whole produce at farmers’ markets present unique challenges to food safety practices in regards to temperature controls, potable water, and exposure to contaminants. Use of a Smartphone application decreases behavior change in those being observed as they are unaware of the observation taking place. The purpose of this descriptive study was to use direct observations to identify unsafe food handling practices among high-risk produce vendors at Rhode Island farmers’ markets. This study used a Smartphone application as a tool for …

College Students Perceptions Of Environmentally Conscious Eating Behaviors: A Formative Evaluation, Victorine Shores

Open Access Master's Theses

Objective: This study was a formative evaluation of modules related to Green Eating. Perceptions of the motivational value of the modules were assessed.

Design: This study was a cross-sectional study using secondary data.

Participants: 224 college students.

Intervention: Participants completed one of three online modules. Participants established a goal for the module they viewed and determined their self-efficacy (SE) in meeting their goal.

Main Outcomes: Motivational value was assessed using the Instructional Materials Motivation Survey (IMMS); IMMS scores were compared between modules. Goal congruency (relationship to module topic) and SE were compared between modules.

Analysis …

Effects Of Introduced Green Iguanas (Iguana Iguana) On Tropical Plant Communities Through Seed Dispersal And Germination, Jhoset A. Burgos-Rodriguez

Open Access Master's Theses

Despite the importance of dispersal and germination for plant life cycles and population dynamics, the effects of reptiles are often overlooked because herbivory is relatively rare in reptiles. Green Iguanas (Iguana iguana) enhance seed germination in some plant species in xeric habitats in its native range, but no studies have been conducted on introduced populations, such as in Puerto Rico. Because Green Iguanas can be abundant where they have been introduced, they have the potential to affect plant communities by dispersing and germinating seeds. In summer 2013, a total of 258 Green Iguana scat samples were collected in …

A Comparison Of The Development Of The Lateral Line Canal Pores In Two Species Of Cichlid Fishes With Functionally Distinct Canal Morphologies, Lauren E. Carter

Open Access Master's Theses

The cranial lateral line system (LL) is composed of a series of bony, pored canals that are integrated within a conserved subset of dermatocranial bones. Neuromast receptor organs are located in the canals between positions of adjacent canal pores, which link the fluid within the canals to the fluid of the external environment. Among species the lateral line canals can be narrow, narrow with widened tubules, widened, branched, or reduced. The goal of this project was to examine ontogenetic trends in size and shape of canal pores within and between two cichlid species, Aulonocara stuartgranti (widened canals) and Tramitichromis sp …

Collision Free Path Planning Of An Object Using Multiple Robot Manipulators, Drew P. Davis

Open Access Master's Theses

This thesis presents two algorithms for the path planning of multiple manipulator systems attempting to transform a single object without the need for a closed form inverse kinematic solution for a specific manipulator. The first algorithm is a dual quaternion Jacobian based numerical inverse kinematic method. The Jacobian is formulated to transform the change in joint space of the manipulator to the change in dual quaternion transformation space of the manipulator's end effector. Joint space solutions are found that satisfy both the position and orientation of the end effector. The second algorithm is an adaptation of the sampling-based rapidly-exploring dense …