Digital Commons Network^™

Teaching In The Shadow Of Sekou: Reflective Practice, Culturally Relevant And Student-Centered Pedagogy And The Research To Performance Method, Brian Gregory Lewis

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Teaching in the Shadow of Sekou: Reflective Practice, Culturally Relevant and Student-Centered Pedagogy and the Research to Performance Method

By

Brian Lewis

Adviser: Bethany Rogers

I seek to bring the literature of critical pedagogues, reflective practitioners in education and student-centered teachers to bear on a critical examination of my own teaching methods. I reflect on and analyze my past professional teaching and educational experiences, focusing primarily on utilizing Sekou Sundiata's Research to Performance Method to teach a course on Sekou Sundiata and the Black Arts Movement at the New School in New York City. Through my teacher self-study, I attempt …

From Backlash To Mobilization: Muslim American Prayer Spaces In Post-9/11 New York, George E. Melissinos

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This paper argues that Muslim Americans mobilized against the threat of backlash post-9/11 through the creation of new prayer spaces and maintenance of prayer spaces already in existence before the terrorist attacks. I suggest that the successful mobilization of prayer spaces continues to provide a mechanism of support and unity against backlash for Muslim Americans in New York City since the events of September 11, 2001. I also explore how ineffective mobilization efforts, such as demonstrated by the Park51 project, fail to protect the Muslim American community against backlash.

An Examination Of Western Representation Of The Muslim Brotherhood Through Various Media Outlets, Popular Literature And How Has Recent History And Outside Influences Affected The Viewpoint Presented To The Public?, Lynn Andrew Perkins

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In depth study of Western media's coverage of the rise to power of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt after the fall of former president Hosni Mubarak in February 2011. Not only using key events between the West/ United States and the Middle East over the last 40 years to show how current events are reported but also investigating where and how the media receives their information to report. The outside and internal influences put upon western media are also under investigation in this paper and how those influences insure that their own interests supersede that of complete and accurate reporting …

The Politics Of Statutory Interpretation, Margaret H. Lemos

Notre Dame Law Review

In a new book, Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts, Justice Antonin Scalia and Bryan Garner describe and defend the textualist methodology for which Justice Scalia is famous. For Scalia and Garner, the normative appeal of textualism lies in its objectivity: by focusing on text, context, and canons of construction, textualism offers protection against ideological judging—a way to separate law from politics. Yet, as Scalia and Garner well know, textualism is widely regarded as a politically conservative methodology. The charge of conservative bias is more common than it is concrete, but it reflects the notion that textualism narrows the …

Law Is Discourse. Discourse Is Rhetoric. Therefore, Law Is Rhetoric. A Rhetorical Analysis Of The Responsibility To Protect, Dina El-Kassaby

Theses and Dissertations

It is estimated that the yearly cost of containing and responding to conflict worldwide is nearly US$10 trillion. Meanwhile, the level of global peace and security is on the steady decline and gross violations of human rights and massive loss of human life are not yet an issue of the past. As such, contemporary international legal doctrines like The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) have emerged in an effort to prevent and react to global conflict. This thesis performs an atypical study of R2P by performing a rhetorical analysis of the doctrine through the lens of Orientalism and post-colonial theory. In …

Film Censorship In Egypt: Power And Subject-Making, Sara El Adl

Theses and Dissertations

This study’s focus is censorship on film in Egypt from 1971 onwards; when the first sign of incorporating religion as a source of law appeared with the addition of article 2, which states that “Islamic Shari’a is a main source of legislation.” Film is the most culturally powerful artistic medium in the Egyptian society due its mass consumption and has, from its point of introduction, served as a mirror into Egyptian politics and morality. Foucault’s mission of understanding how “subjectivity” forms and the power relations/modes that bring it about is a lens through which this project intends to examine the …

Nubians And Development: 1960-2014, Samantha Allen

Theses and Dissertations

From the Aswan dams of the early twentieth century to the ambitious "Toshka" project of today, Egyptian Nubians have watched their former land transform under the rubrics of progress, modernization, and development for over one hundred years. While these mega-projects position themselves as necessary for the greater Egyptian good, their tangible effect on the ground is less clear. For Nubians who lost their homes, lands, and traditional livelihood due to resettlement, the price of development is even higher, posing important questions about the real value of these schemes. This thesis project offers a critical look at the concept of development, …

The Lucky Bilingual: Ethnography Of Factors Influencing Code-Switching Among The Nubian Community In Southern Egypt, Syonara Tomoum

Theses and Dissertations

The sociolinguistic aspect of code-switching has received attention of many scholars in the field of linguistics. This study builds on previous research and investigates the factors influencing code-switching amongst a bilingual Arabic and Nubian community of Nubians in Southern Egypt. Using Grosjean's (1982) model of factors influencing language choice, factors causing Nubian-Arabic bilinguals to speak one language over the other are investigated. Rouchdi (1991) suggested that Nubians are going through a language shift from Nubian to Arabic although she did not address the phenomenon of code-switching; this study looked at code-switching as an important factor in the language's tenuous survival …

Overcoming The Anxiety Of Speaking Arabic As A Foreign Language From Students' Perspectives: A Qualitative Case Study, Sarah Abou El-Goukh

Theses and Dissertations

This exploratory study was designed to investigate the role of students' perceptions on decreasing speaking anxiety within the Arabic as a foreign language classroom in the target language country. Qualitative methods were used in the research project. Qualitative instruments included: pre and post questionnaires, pre and post semi-structured interviews, and observation. Seven participants took part in the study; they were studying Modern Standard Arabic in an intensive program in Morocco. The results showed that students' perceptions and their suggestions had an impact on the learning process of the students and the importance to take into consideration students suggestions and to …

Representation Of The Muslim Brotherhood In Contemporary Egyptian Newspapers, Sara Abouelmaaty Mogahed Youssef

Theses and Dissertations

This is a qualitative exploratory study that examines the representation of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) in contemporary Egyptian newspapers. It aims to reveal the linguistic features that contribute to the construction of a positive or negative image of the MB in the data. The study uses the Discourse Historical Approach (DHA) in analyzing its data. This approach mainly looks at representation strategies, in particular, nomination, predication and argumentation strategies, which are primarily manifested through lexical choices. The data for the study consist of 18 articles from two Egyptian newspapers, Al-Hurryya wa Al-Adala "Freedom and Justice" and Al-Wattan "The Homeland". The …

Navigating Difference: Development And Implementation Of A Successful Cultural Competency Training For Extension And Outreach Professionals, Mary Y. Deen, Louise A. Parker, Laura Griner Hill, Melynda Huskey, Anna P. Whitehall

Journal of Extension

As our world becomes more interconnected on international, domestic, and personal levels, our need to be more culturally competent increases (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2007; Ting-Toomey, 1999). Recognizing this need, Washington State University Extension sought to increase skills of its personnel by developing a set of cultural competencies and training curriculum. This article describes the process of creating, implementing, and evaluating the training. Examples are offered to show how WSU Extension addressed quality standards for successful implementation of diversity training models as outlined by Bendick et al. (2001), serving as guidelines for other Extension organizations with similar goals.

Green Vs. Sustainable: Analyzing And Expanding Leed (Leadership In Energy And Environmental Design), Sonay Aykan

Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the possibility of including new socio-economic indicators in green building rating systems in order to promote innovative practices in the building planning, design, construction and operations by introducing a broader definition of sustainability in the building industry. It provides a comparative analysis of the frameworks, indicators and measurement methods of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), which is a voluntary green building rating system, and the reporting guidelines of Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) by examining several selected socio-economic indicators from GRI and questioning the possibility of introducing similar indicators (credits) in LEED. By doing so, it …

Extracting Product Development Intelligence From Web Reviews, Ismail Artun Yagci

Dissertations

Product development managers are constantly challenged to learn what the consumer product experience really is, and to learn specifically how the product is performing in the field. Traditionally, they have utilized methods such as prototype testing, customer quality monitoring instruments, field testing methods with sample customers, and independent assessment companies. These methods are limited in that (i) the number of customer evaluations is small, and (ii) the methods are driven by a restrictive structured format. Today the web has created a new source of product intelligence; these are unsolicited reviews from actual product users that are posted across hundreds of …

Svmaud: Using Textual Information To Predict The Audience Level Of Written Works Using Support Vector Machines, Todd Will

Dissertations

Information retrieval systems should seek to match resources with the reading ability of the individual user; similarly, an author must choose vocabulary and sentence structures appropriate for his or her audience. Traditional readability formulas, including the popular Flesch-Kincaid Reading Age and the Dale-Chall Reading Ease Score, rely on numerical representations of text characteristics, including syllable counts and sentence lengths, to suggest audience level of resources. However, the author’s chosen vocabulary, sentence structure, and even the page formatting can alter the predicted audience level by several levels, especially in the case of digital library resources. For these reasons, the performance of …

Social Boundaries And Cultural Identity In Costa Rica: Implications For The Well-Being Of Nicaraguan Immigrants, Marisa L. Prosser

Doctoral Dissertations

This research explores immigrant adaptation and well-being in Costa Rica where the growing number of Nicaraguan immigrants has been challenging concepts of national and personal identity among immigrants and the host population. In this context of a perceived immigration crisis, nationality has become the most frequently invoked basis for the differences in character and culture that many Costa Ricans perceive to exist between Nicaraguan immigrants and themselves. This research builds upon existing scholarship suggesting that a strong sense of identification with one’s country of origin protects against a variety of stressors faced by immigrants, particularly when it forms part of …

Ethnic Change In Slovakia Between 1773 And 1910, Michele N. Richardson, Dr. Samuel Otterstrom

Journal of Undergraduate Research

At the end of World War I, the Treaty of Trianon divided the former Austro-Hungarian Empire into multiple autonomous states including Czechoslovakia. Hungarians vociferously decried the southern border around the Slovak portion of this state, which became the independent Slovak Republic in 1993, claiming that it bisected an ethnically homogeneous Hungarian area between two political states. Conversely, proponents of the 1918 border argued that the dominant Hungarian presence in southern Slovakia was merely the result of Magyarization, a government policy aimed at suppressing minorities and forcefully assimilating them into Magyar (ethnic Hungarian) culture. Unfortunately, at this time nobody definitively knew …

Popular Culture And Philosophy: Rules Of Engagement, John E. Huss

Philosophy Faculty Research

The exploration of popular culture topics by academic philosophers for non-academic audiences has given rise to a distinctive genre of philosophical writing. Edited volumes with titles such as Black Sabbath and Philosophy or Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy contain chapters by multiple philosophical authors that attempt to bring philosophy to popular audiences. Two dominant models have emerged in the genre. On the pedagogical model, authors use popular culture examples to teach the reader philosophy. The end is to promote philosophical literacy, defined as acquaintance with the key problems, ideas, and figures in the history of philosophy. In contrast, on …

Using Latent Semantic Analysis To Detect Non-Cognitive Variables Of Academic Performance, Daniel Richard Aalderks

Theses

This thesis explores the possibilities of using latent semantic analysis to detect evidence of intrapersonal personality variables in post-secondary student essays. Determining student achievement based on non-cognitive variables is a complex process. Automated essay scoring tools are already in use today in grading and evaluating student texts based on cognitive domain traits, but at this time are not utilized to analyze non-cognitive domains such as personality. Could such tools be configured to detect non-cognitive variables in student essays? Key concepts in this proposal—personality traits, latent semantic analysis, automated essay evaluation, and online cinema reviews—are explored followed by a literature review …

Class Notes, Georgia Southern University

Arts & Humanities: News & Publications (2009-2023)

No abstract provided.

Health Literacy And Children Language Brokers: How Bilingual Children And Spanish-Speaking Parents Navigate The Medical Setting, Luz Maria Carreno

Research on the Hill (Salt Lake City)

Significance: Patients’ health literacy, or ability to comprehend and understand health information, influences their health status, knowledge about medical care and conditions, and hospitalization and adherence rate (Andrus, & Roth, 2002). Low- English proficiency patients are especially at risk, given they must overcome English and health literacy barriers. Background: Oftentimes, children of patients with limited English language skills will language broker, or translate cultural and linguistic information for their parents (Morales & Hanson, 2005). This paper 1) analyzed health literacy levels of children who language broker and 2) sought to understand how parents and children combine their knowledge, as the …

January 30, 2014: Triezenberg Article Accepted, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

Modeling Dialogue Structures, Rebecca D. Rees, Dr. Deryle Lonsdale

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Within every human being lies the desire and the power to communicate—both to decide what to say and when to say it, and to unravel the meaning in someone else’s message. And dialogue is our fundamental tool of communication. Even a writer must take into account their intended audience and the most successful way to convey their “monologue”; my paper, for example, even if put away on some forgotten library shelf, will complete the communicative exchange (which I began when I started writing) the moment a reader picks it up, dusts it off, and opens the cover. The message will …

A Multimedia Collection Of Spanish Dialectical Variations, Jonathan Whiting, Dr. Orlando Alba

Journal of Undergraduate Research

At least twenty countries on three different continents recognize Spanish as an official language and this doesn’t include countries like the United States that still have a sizeable Spanish-speaking population. With so much ethnic and geographic diversity in the Spanish-speaking world, it is only natural to expect a great deal of linguistic diversity as well.

Linguistics And Law: An Assessment Of Linguistic Contributions In The Courtroom, Jordan Toone, Dr. Cynthia Hallen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Linguistics has provided critical and clarifying evidence in the courtroom for decades. Not only have linguists and linguistic theory assisted the upholding of U.S. law but both have provided professional expertise in disputes throughout the world. The exciting correlation between linguistics and law has long been developing, while the assessment and evaluation of the relationship is in its infant stage and is yet to be fully established in professional research and publication.

The Language And The Law: Trademark Dilution Online, David Stankiewicz, Dr. William Eggington

Journal of Undergraduate Research

One of the most important areas of legal dispute today is internet trademark law. This has become an increasingly greater concern as more and more web pages grab for consumer attention. Many legal questions remain unanswered, and perhaps the most important of these is “Do we apply the old laws directly to cyberspace?” This question became a practical concern with “Kelley Blue Book v. Primdedia, Inc.”

The Quintessence Of Tian In Classical Chinese Literature, Richard Torgerson, Dr. David Honey

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Tian, commonly translated as Heaven, was the core of religious and political ideology during the beginning of the Zhou dynasty.ⁱ The Zhou dynasty (1027- 221 BC) was a period started and shaped by a belief in Tian, Tianming (the right to rule bestowed by Heaven), and the Tianzi (the emperor – or son of Heaven). But just what, or who, was Tian to the Chinese during the Zhou dynasty? During this study I examined five modern and five ancient scholars’ views concerning Tian. I utilized Classical Chinese texts and numerous translations, with a special focus on the Book of …

Dead Newspapers And Citizens’ Civic Engagement, Lee Shaker

Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations

Using data from the 2008 and 2009 Current Population Survey conducted by the United States Census, this article assesses the year-over-year change in the civic engagement of citizens in America’s largest metropolitan areas. Of special interest are Denver and Seattle, where the Rocky Mountain News and Seattle Post-Intelligencer closed during the intervening year. The data from the CPS indicate that civic engagement in Seattle and Denver dropped significantly from 2008 to 2009 – a decline that is not consistently replicated over the same time period in other major American cities that did not lose a newspaper. The analysis suggests that …

Writing & Linguistics News, Georgia Southern University

Writing & Linguistics News (2012-2022)

• Andrew Hudgins (Georgia Poetry Circuit poet) campus visit & reading

Cross-Cultural Communication In The Medical Setting, David M. Smith, Dr. Bill Eggington

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Communication between patients and physicians is perhaps the single most important issue in providing quality health care to a community. When segments of this community come from different cultural backgrounds and speak different languages, effective communication becomes more difficult. Over the last several years, Utah Valley has grown significantly more culturally and linguistically diverse. As a linguistics student with plans to attend medical school I wanted to research the current situation of cross-cultural care in the community and make suggestions for improvements in the future.

Trieste In Literary And Cultural Imagination: A Select Bibliography, Robert Ricks, Cinzia Noble

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Trieste is a charming port city on the Adriatic Sea in the northeast corner of Italy, home to nearly 300,000 and capital of the Friuli-Venezia-Giulia region. Though Trieste has ancient roots as the Roman settlement Tergeste, it was not until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when it became the most important port of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, that Trieste grew and flourished. Its advantageous location at the crossroads between Latin, Slavic, and German civilizations certainly favored its rise to greater regional importance and bred a peculiar cosmopolitan atmosphere that survives to this day.