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Are Aquinas And Whitehead Metaphorical And Analogical All The Way Down?, Robert Masson

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

The paper argues from the perspective of a significant strand of interpretation of Aquinas and from insights in cognitive linguistics that a fruitful dialogue between Whitehead and Thomism needs to take into account that metaphysics and talk about God are metaphorical and analogical all the way down. Cognitive linguistics provides an explanatory scheme for explaining how Aquinas’s tectonic use of analogy shifts the ground of our conventional fields of meanings to create space to conceptualize what otherwise would be beyond grasp and to make inferences possible that otherwise would be unthinkable. The essay concludes with a question, admittedly from a …

Towards A More Indigenous African Catholicism: Insights From Lonergan's Notion Of Culture, Joseph Ogbonnaya

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Social Grace And The Mission Of The Church, Robert M. Doran

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Writing Against The Ethos Of Individualism : A Study In Contemporary Multiethnic American Fiction, Manahari Adhikari

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Drawing from existential philosophy, neuroscience, and social psychology, in Writing Against the Ethos of Individualism: A Study in Contemporary Multiethnic American Fiction, I investigate the representation of the self in fictions by Bharati Mukherjee, Leslie Marmon Silko, Maxine Hong Kingston, Sandra Cisneros, and Toni Morrison. I argue that these writers imagine the lives of their fictional characters in terms of the phenomenology of existence and reveal how subjective experiences and personal relationships influence who these characters are and who they become. In imagining a self's authentic ontology in relation to others, multiethnic writers not only write against the dominant narratives …

"I'M Sorry For The Mistakes I'M About To Make" : Interaction, Social Status And Emotion In The Indonesian Efl Classroom, Francesca Pase

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This paper explores the relationship between language, culture, and emotion in the Indonesian English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom. It does this by focusing on the Indonesian concept of malu, an emotional response often translated as "shame." Malu is a complex emotional construct that determines appropriate behavior and is activated situationally, often as a way of indicating respect. By investigating how students and teachers navigate the application of the communicative approach of language acquisition in the presence of malu, we are able to gain insights into the world of the Indonesian English learner. This study was conducted in the …

Elementary And Middle School Second Language Learning Program Models And Pronunciation Achievement, Monica Elaine Ploger

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

There is increased interest in adding second language programming before high school, including Foreign Language in the Elementary Schools (FLES) and dual language (DL) programs. Research shows many benefits of learning a second language in elementary and middle school programs, such as allowing more time to develop fluency and fostering positive attitudes toward cultural diversity prior to the crucial age of 10 (Curtain & Pesola, 1994). However, no one has compared these program types based upon phonology, which is easier to learn before puberty. While prior literature provides studies of the target Spanish sounds, including vowels and the trilled /r/, …

Can Motivation Facilitate L1 English-L2 Spanish Learners' Acquisition Of L2 Phonology?, Marion Rebecca Gibney-Desmaison

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Phonology is one of the most difficult aspects of a second language (L2) for learners to fully acquire, yet pronunciation of sounds that are similar across languages is rarely addressed in L2 Spanish classes. If two sounds are very similar between two languages, they are actually more difficult for learners to differentiate. How does learner motivation affect the acquisition of L2 sounds that are similar to the first language (L1)?;The present study investigates the connection between student motivation toward learning a foreign language and student L2 accent production. Ten L1 English-L2 Spanish learners from two different (fourth- and fifth-semester) Spanish …

Conceptual Metaphors In Ayn Rand's "Philosophy: Who Needs It", Ilya Startsev

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This thesis analyzes metaphorical constructions in Ayn Rand's speech and essay "Philosophy: Who Needs It." Metaphors as condensed analogies and Lakovian conceptual metaphors play an important role in constructing Objectivist worldview and reframing the audience's views. Rand identifies philosophy by using three metaphors: Mind Is Computer, Life Is A Battle, and the novel Philosophy Is War. The frames derived from the metaphorical constructions are intercompared through some Objectivist non-fiction to show a consistent worldview. Rand's rhetoric is also known to influence movement conservatives, and this connection is found through conceptual metaphors Capitalism Is God's Will and the Strict Father morality.

An Examination Of Teaching And Cognitive Presence In An Online Community Of Inquiry, Jennie J. Asher

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This comparative case study utilizes the lens of the Community of Inquiry framework to provide a holistic view of the dynamics of interactions in two class sections of a graduate-level online course. Relationships between teaching and cognitive presence are examined through content analysis of student and instructor contributions in both the discussion board and material outside of the discussion board, as well as through participant perceptions using the CoI survey and interviews. Content analysis data revealed that students in both groups had similar levels and types of teaching presence, while the instructors had very different levels and types of teaching …

International Student Engagement And Deep Approaches To Learning, Christine Fiorite

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

In the context of internationalization of higher education, the examination and understanding of international student experiences is increasingly important. Student engagement is a lens through which to examine a variety of beneficial student experiences on campus. Student engagement represents student behaviors and institutional practices, which are associated with desirable outcomes in college such as persistence, learning, and development (Kuh, 2004).;The purpose of this study was to identify and examine the engagement of international students both as a unique group and in relationship to domestic students. This study examined and compared the levels of engagement of international and domestic students as …

Son Ngoc Thanh, The United States, And The Transformation Of Cambodia, Matthew Jagel

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The Khmer Rouge period of Cambodia's history is one of the most scrutinized in studies of modern Southeast Asia. What has yet to be examined in sufficient detail is the period leading up to Democratic Kampuchea and the key players of that era, aside from Cambodia's King (later Prince) Norodom Sihanouk. The story of Son Ngoc Thanh, one of Cambodia's modern heroes, has yet to be told in detail, and will be a goal of this project. This is not a traditional biography, but instead a study of how Cambodian nationalism grew during the twilight of French colonialism and faced …

The Organization Of Indigenous Resistance To Neoliberal Extractive Industry Development In The Cordillera Of The Northern Philippines, Robert Bulanda

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Over the past half-century, the Philippines has experienced great social changes as social movements have arisen in response to the national government's aggressive implementation of neoliberal development policies. The recent history of the Philippines features an illustrious culture of mass-based organization, as local populations protest national development strategies that promote rapid economic growth and integration into world markets at the expense of local social and environmental concerns. Specifically, an anti-large scale mining social movement in the Philippines has developed in reaction to the liberalization of the national mining industry with the Mining Act of 1995, which opened the country's rich …

Factors That Affect The Development Of Writing Competence In Fifth-Grade Students, Ellen D. Weinstein-Blackman

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation explores writing instruction in fifth-grade classrooms, focusing on the attitudes and behaviors of student writers of differing abilities and their teachers' activities during written language instruction. Assessment of student writing, classroom observations, and interviews with students and teachers showed that above-average, average, and struggling writers have different perceptions about the skills necessary to master the writing process and that their views differed from those of their teachers. While teachers attempted to model composing, editing, revising, and publishing for their students, it was challenging for fifth-grade students to integrate these skills to create high-quality writing products. Writers of different …

Family And School Activation Of Cultural Capital In The Individualized Education Plan (Iep) Process, Christine Nelson

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examines the interactions between parents and school teams in the IEP process.

Pedagogical Beliefs Of Bilingual Teachers About Technology Integration, Manuel Cuauhtemoc Martinez Castro

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examines the pedagogical beliefs of a group of bilingual teachers, and how those beliefs shape their decisions regarding the extent to which they will integrate technology in their academic work. It also explores how unfavorable conditions affect such efforts. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) include clear expectations for students, teachers, and K-12 schools regarding technology skills and use, as well as hardware and infrastructure requirements. However, many barriers to technology integration persist in schools serving low-income communities and make those goals difficult to accomplish. Some of those barriers are related to teachers' pedagogical beliefs. Ten bilingual teachers …

Poetry As Rhetorical Deliberation In The Work Of Mary Oliver : The Necessity To Actively Observe, Jennifer Altman

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This master's thesis examines the poetry of Mary Oliver in the light of rhetorical deliberation as sketched out by Bryan Garsten. Oliver's work exemplifies what a private, instead of public, deliberative process could look like. The methodology used is that set forth by Jacqueline Jones Royster and Gesa E. Kirsch whose feminist approach uses four different deliberative strategies---globalization, social circulation, strategic contemplation, and critical imagination---that encourage looking at women's work as broadly as possible. Applied together to Oliver's work, Garsten's theory of rhetorical deliberation and Royster and Kirsch's methodology reveal that Oliver's poetry encourages readers to engage in close observations …

Geog 140: Introduction To Human Geography—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Inquiry Portfolio, Katherine Nashleanas

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Large lecture classes of 100 students or more present unique challenges to both teaching and learning. The common method of “delivery” by instructors is lecture, often augmented by a set of Power Point slides; and, while the research literature shows that this is the more traditional way of teaching, increasingly it is becoming apparent that this method of instruction often does not reach students in the way we hope and often assume (Harvard Magazine 2015). Most of the students populating these classes are born of the Digital Age and have different expectations for learning, requiring new approaches in the classroom …

Arab 102: First-Year Arabic Language—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Abla Hasan

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Goals of the class are derived from goals nationally recognized and agreed upon for low intermediate Arabic learners .This systematic consistency with the nationally recognized standards -albeit can be more challenging- insures students' ability to pursue national major programs in Arabic or their ability to compete for national grants, scholarships and study abroad programs. The standers adopted by ACTFL and STARTALK equally consider the linguistic as well as the cultural content of teaching Arabic. These standers known as the five C's are: Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Community. The cultural content of learning Arabic is part of the international and …

Span 202: Intermediate Spanish Ii (Focus On Literature & Culture)—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Kelly Kingsbury Brunetto

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

During Spring 2015 I undertook a curricular revision of UNL's fourth-semester Spanish course (SPAN202) with the objective of improving the materials to help the course better achieve its stated goal of moving students "away from knowledge about the language and expertise in using isolated skills into a practical and fluid use of the language in which [they] synthesize [their] isolated skills." As it existed at the time, in theory SPAN202 focuses on synthesis and helping students negotiate higher levels of discourse, but in practice it tended to get bogged down in a comprehensive grammar review. In reality, some grammar topics …

Teac 921b: Seminar In Literacy Studies (Special Topics: Schooling And The Multilingual Mind)—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Theresa Catalano

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This portfolio will document the creation and implementation of a new doctoral seminar in my department. This introductory course to multilingualism and schooling (TEAC 921B) will cover topics related to teaching and learning in the multilingual classroom. The key goals for creating this portfolio are to aid me in creating this new doctoral seminar that reflects and builds on departmental goals for graduate students. In particular I would like to document and address the implementation of two new activities to my teaching ; a language study/journal, and the creation of a documentary film. I foresee using this course portfolio as …

Hindu-Christian Relations In The Everyday Life Of North Indian Pentecostals, Julia Kuhlin

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

OVER the last few decades, Hindu-Christian relations in India appear to have taken a new worrying turn. Since 1998 violent attacks against Christians in India have increased significantly, and there are no signs of decline. Pentecostal and Pentecostal-like groups have been afflicted to a greater extent by this recent development and are disproportionately targeted in attacks in comparison to other Christians.1 Considering the explosion of academic studies on Pentecostalism worldwide, it is striking that so little attention has been paid to the contemporary situation of Indian Pentecostals. In particular, there is a notable lack of studies dealing with Indian Pentecostals’ …

Special Glasses, Matthew Gavin Frank

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Critique And Transformation: On The Hypothetical Nature Of Ecosystem Service Value And Its Neo-Marxist, Liberal And Pragmatist Criticisms, Andony P. Melathopoulos, Alex Stoner

Journal Articles

Ecosystem service valuation (ESV) attempts to transform the opposition of human economic necessity and ecological conservation by valuing the latter in terms of the services rendered by the former. However, despite a number of ESV-inspired sustainability initiatives since the 1990s, global ecological degradation continues to accelerate. This suggests that ESV has fallen far short of its goals of sustainable social transformation—a failure which has generated considerable criticism. This paper reviews three prominent lines of ESV criticism: 1) the neo-Marxist criticism, which emphasizes the “fictitious” character of ecosystem commodities; 2) the liberal criticism through Friedrich Hayek's concept “scientistic objectivism”; and 3) …

Women’S Health Priorities And Interventions, Marleen Temmerman, Rajat Khosla, Laura Laski, Zoe Mathews, Lale Say

Obstetrics and Gynaecology, East Africa

Over the past decades, governments have taken steps towards improving women’s health in line with commitments made in key international summits. Progress has been made in reducing maternal mortality,1 which accelerated with the launch of the United Nations secretary general’s Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health in 2010. Use of maternal healthcare and family planning has increased in some countries.2 Progress has also been seen on two determinants of women’s health—school enrolment rates for girls and political participation of women—but not for others such as gender based violence.3

However, societies are still failing women in relation to health, especially …

Precarious Existence And Capitalism: A Permanent State Of Exception, Tayyab Mahmud

Faculty Articles

The contemporary neoliberal era is marked by an exponential expansion of contingent and precarious labor markets. In this context, the construct of precarity emerged to signify labor conditions of permanent insecurity and precariousness. Coming at the heels of the era of Keynesian welfare, precarity is mostly seen as an exception to the normal trajectory of capitalist formations. The basic argument of this paper is that under capitalism, for the working classes precarious existence is the norm rather than the exception. Precarity is the outcome not only of insecurities of labor markets but also of capital’s capture and colonization of life …

When Oppressed Women Attack: Female-Enacted Violence Through Minority American Female Playwrights' Works, Kate Busselle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As an Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors, theatrical violence is something that has always captivated me. When a female combat instructor once told me that even though I throw a great punch I will never be able to use it because women are always on the receiving end of violence in theatre, I wondered if this was truly the case. After a thorough exploration of several works with theatrical violence, I am glad to say that it is not the case. When most scholars examine violence in theatre, the focus is either male-centric or specifically on …

Built For Boyhood?: A Proposal For Reducing The Amount Of Gender Bias In The Advertising Of Children's Toys On Television, Nareissa L. Smith

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

While the last half-century has seen a dramatic increase in the number of US women in the workforce, women remain under represented in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields. For years, researchers and social commentators have tried to explain the persistence of this gender gap. Some have even argued that genetic differences explain women's inability to excel in the hard sciences. This Article asserts that the impact of socialization on children's educational and occupational choices has been greatly underestimated. Specifically, the toys that are marketed to boys teach spatial skills that prepare boys for STEM careers. Conversely, the toys …

Three Studies Examining Nonprofessional Investors' Decision Making, Anis Triki

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three studies exploring nonprofessional investors' decision making. Technological advancements witnessed by the capital markets in recent years have caused significant changes to the dissemination and use of information, particularly by nonprofessional investors. Among these developments is the growth of social media that allows anyone to post information upon which others may rely and the availability of DAs that assist decision makers in evaluating the quality of information reported by an organization. The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the benefits of using DAs that are capable assessing the quality of information reported to capital market …

Classroom Modifications With Improved Acoustics Modeled For Cehic, A School For The Deaf, In Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, Polwatte Krishantha Silva

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this study was to model a typical classroom in a school for the Deaf inKelaniya,Sri Lanka. Intense effort by teachers provides intervention for students with significant hearing impairment. The school is an oral school, and the philosophy is to utilize the residual hearing of each student through the use of high-powered hearing aids. Like many schools inSri Lanka, the Centre for Education of Hearing-Impaired Children (CEHIC) has many classrooms that have both high ambient noise with long reverberation times. Both noise and reverberation interfere with the sound signal, the teacher’s voice, and provide a poor learning environment …

July 4, 1865: A Nation In Search Of Itself, Sorn A. Jessen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The eighty-ninth anniversary of the declaration of American independence from Britain, on July 4, 1865, caught the nation at a critical time in its history. The great national crisis of civil war was over, but the nation had not yet re-united. The thesis argues that in the aftermath of the Civil War, American nationalism could not be reconstituted on neither an ethnic nor a civic model. Rather, on the eighty-ninth anniversary of Independence, the course of American Nationalism fell out along lines decreed by historical memory. The narrative construction of the past in the present constituted the only common thread …