Digital Commons Network^™

The Bronx Cocked Back And Smoking Multifarious Prose Performance, Alex Avila

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The Bronx Cocked Back And Smoking is a collection of multifarious prose performances recounting the historical, personal, social, political and cultural constructs of a city birthed by violence. This body of work is accompanied by video, audio, photography, and theatre performance texts. St. Mary’s Housing project, in the Bronx, is the foundation where most of this literary work takes place. The modern day Griot (storyteller) is a Poet, guiding his audience through the social inequalities and disparities that plague St. Mary’s community. The Poet shares personal traumatic insights while simultaneously utilizing writing as a form of survival to the conditions …

Is Inclusion The Key To Addressing The Issue Of Marginalization Of Children With Mental Disabilities In Egypt?, Nour El-Zouhairy

Theses and Dissertations

Children with mental disabilities have always been discriminated against and were often considered among the minority groups that experienced marginalization in many societies throughout history. Ableism is one form of discrimination, which is the discrimination against people with disabilities because of the type of disability they have. Like in most societies, in Egypt, the problem is compounded, as children not only experience ableism, but also adultism. This thesis will investigate those combined modes of discrimination against children with mental disabilities. The educational system is regarded as part and parcel of the society as a whole, and they are both interconnected …

Tourism And Ethnicity In Insular Southeast Asia: Eating, Praying, Loving And Beyond, Kathleen M. Adams

Anthropology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The late 20th century landscape of tourism and ethnicity studies in insular Southeast Asia has tended to emphasize a set of dominant themes, including ethnic commoditization in tourism and tourist arts; the politics of touristic ethnicity; tourism and cultural development; and the performative dimension of inter- and intra-ethnic touristic encounters. How have these earlier research themes transformed in our current era of intensified neoliberalism, cyber-connectivity and mobility? This article draws from the title of the blockbuster 2010 film Eat Pray Love (partially set in Bali) to highlight several emergent 21st century themes that bear relevance for our understanding of the …

The Bronze Captive: American Identity Within The Mary Jemison Monument, Alissa Michelle Frese

Theses and Dissertations

Beginning with the first European colonists in the New World, captivity has been means of cultural exchange between whites and Native Americans. The narratives recounting the captives’ experiences became popular literature which inspired visual artists who reinterpreted the tales to coincide with their cultural needs. In the early twentieth century, progressive reformer, William Pryor Letchworth, hired artist Henry Kirke Bush-Brown to create a sculpture of captive Mary Jemison who, instead of returning to her natal culture, chose to stay among the Seneca becoming fully assimilated. Aligning with their progressive values, their perception of her character is reflected in the Mary …

A Semi-Automated Algorithm For Segmenting The Hippocampus In Patient And Control Populations, Nathan Mckay Muncy

Theses and Dissertations

Calculating hippocampal volume from Magnetic Resonance (MR) images is an essential task in many studies of neurocognition in healthy and diseased populations. The `gold standard' method involves hand tracing, which is accurate but laborious, requiring expertly trained researchers and significant amounts of time. As such, segmenting large datasets with the standard method is impractical. Current automated pipelines are inaccurate at hippocampal demarcation and volumetry. We developed a semi-automated hippocampal segmentation pipeline based on the Advanced Normalization Tools (ANTs) suite of programs to segment the hippocampus. We applied the semi-automated segmentation pipeline to 70 participant scans (26 female) from groups that …

“Love” Across The Strait: Cross-Border Marriage Between Chinese Women And Taiwanese Men, Paoyi Huang

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

While cases of cross-border marriage involving “foreign brides” from Southeast Asian countries have been well-documented in Taiwan, little has been known about Chinese women married to Taiwanese men because of cultural and ethnic proximity. Given the complicated historical and political conditions between Taiwan and China, however, Chinese female marriage migrants constitute a very distinct social group. This dissertation is a qualitative investigation of the emergence and expansion of cross-border marriage between Chinese women and Taiwanese men. Unlike previous scholars who focus on the exploitative nature of the so-called “mail-order bride” (MOB) phenomenon, or solely emphasize aspects of commodification in cross-border …

Sources Of Dignity For Persons: Capacities, Friendship, Love And Subjectivity, Matthew Nevius

Masters Theses

Many people seem to understand the term 'dignity' as applying to all human persons regardless of their race, creed, sex, or religious beliefs. As to what the concept 'dignity' means is a difficult and complex problem. Is the concept 'dignity' an empty concept, void of meaning? What does it mean when we say that this or that person has dignity? Most of the current philosophical literature has very little to say as to what dignity is. I will argue that what we need to find is a concept of dignity that accounts for both the infinite and the irreplaceable value …

The Importance Of Preaching For The Transformation Of Christians In Korea, Ho Jung Lee

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Korean Christians have had a problem with the transformation of their values and life-styles following their conversion. This thesis project will attempt to prove that one of the most important factors in the transformation of new believers, is biblical preaching. It will further attempt to show that much of the preaching in Korea is non-Christocentric, and this is especially ineffective in transformation. To produce transformation in new believers, churches need Christocentric preaching. This thesis project will explore Christocentric preaching’s historical background, principles, and importance. This project will also present the advantage, need, and importance of doctrinal expository preaching, especially in …

The Price Of Cosmopolitanism: Globalization, Class Structure, And Language Endangerment In Shanghai, Fang Xu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Over the last two decades, Shanghai has experienced an unprecedented transformation, as China’s economic globalization and urban expansion have increased rapidly. Looking beyond statistics and architectural spectacles, I examine a seemingly personal choice in Shanghai, speaking Putonghua Mandarin, the official language, or the Shanghai dialect. This study contextualizes the contested urban linguistic space, and illustrates the political, social, and cultural conditions in this China’s globalizing city.

Through archival research, fifty in-depth interviews, two hundred and fifty survey questionnaires, and ethnographic fieldwork in Shanghai in the fall and winter of 2013, I document the impact of three sets of state policies …

Windows On The World: The Aesthetics Of Difference In Neoliberal New York, Nicholas Gamso

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation seeks to refine critical methods for interpreting global cities and their cultures, charting an aesthetic history of neoliberal New York — from the 1929 regional plan to the present. Surveying a range of literature, art criticism, and planning discourse, I argue that the global has served as the dominant motif of spatial production and political power during this watershed era. I trace this argument through analyses of midcentury planning’s global spatial imaginings, gentrification and imperial metaphor, transnational encounter in World literature, and the city’s contemporary waste and recourse imaginaries. While I follow the Marxist account of the New …

A Means To An End: Articulations Of Diasporic Blackness, Class And Survival Among Female Afro-Caribbean Service Workers In New York City, Christine A. Pinnock

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines the oral histories and personal narratives of Afro-Caribbean women who migrated to New York from 1961-2008 and explores how they articulate and negotiate multiple identities surrounding diasporic Blackness, class, and gender. This dissertation studies Afro-Caribbean women in the spaces they live namely, the Northeast Bronx, New York City, and Westchester and takes an interdisciplinary approach to theorize Afro-Caribbean women's experiences. Based on ethnographic research conducted over two and a half years, this study explores the challenges of Afro-Caribbean women working in the service sector who perform as: domestics, healthcare workers, retail workers, and food service workers and …

Toward An Aesthetics Of Adaptation In Empirical Research, Marion Behrens, Christian Kell, Pascal Nicklas

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In their article "Toward an Aesthetics of Adaptation in Empirical Research" Marion Behrens, Christian Kell, and Pascal Nicklas discuss the requirements and potential of empirical research into the reception of adaptations: adaptation is one key strategy in the creation of literature and art in general. The creative process and product of adaptation has its counter-part on the side of reception. Empirical research into the aesthetics of adaptation aims at the experimental elucidation of the physiological background and the establishment of a model describing the perceptual underpinnings of the act of seeing an adaptation as adaptation. This implies evolutionary biological reasoning …

Displaced Human Skeletal Remains In Predynastic Period, Sarah Marei

Theses and Dissertations

Numerous burials dating to the Predynastic Period have been documented as containing bodies that appear to have been deliberately manipulated in a variety of ways. Among the practices noted is a deliberate rearrangement of skeletons. To date, these burials have received little scholarly attention and are most frequently attributed to looting or post-depositional disturbance, despite the evidence potentially pointing to an ancient and discontinued funerary ritual. Recent discoveries made in Predynastic cemeteries have revealed additional cases that reaffirm the presence of peculiar funerary practices taking place during that period. This thesis examines burials from the Predynastic cemeteries of Naqada, Gerza, …

Traveling Sounds: Cairean Independent Music Landscape., Ewelina Trzpis

Theses and Dissertations

The central aim of this thesis is to identify the ways in which transnational experiences of independent music artists influence their artistic performance and music production. Additionally, this work is focused on the reemergence of independent music followed by attempts at identifying the term through the discursive formations shaping its present meaning among Egyptian musicians and culturally engaged participants. This research also describes developing infrastructure of the Cairean independent music scene including detailed mapping of the 'stages' available to the independent music artists.

Negotiated Identity Of Teachers Of English As A Foreign Language (Efl): A Sociocultural Perspective, Nesma Hossam Eldin Abdel Fattah

Theses and Dissertations

Many studies have investigated the sociocultural aspects of professional identities of EFL teachers in different contexts. However, a limited amount of research has been conducted on the negotiation of teachers’ identities particularly in the Arab world and in Egypt. The current study investigates the factors that contribute to forming and negotiating the sociocultural aspects of the professional identity of six experienced and six novice Egyptian teachers of English as a second language (EFL). The study is conducted in two English language programs, one in a private university and the other in a public university context. Interviews and classroom observations were …

Parenting In Egypt: Recommendations For A Parenting Program For Upper And Middle Class Egyptians, Amira Ragy Saad Hanna

Theses and Dissertations

Parenting is key for the healthy development of children. It is a complex role that requires a great deal of support. Parenting or parent education programs are good tools for supporting parents but they are not widely available in Egypt, and the ones that are available may not be culturally sensitive to the Egyptian context. In order to develop an effective parenting program, an assessment of parenting training and support needs was conducted. An online survey was administered to parents (n = 255, 47% completion rate) of children aged 0 to 12 to assess their knowledge of child development, their …

The Right To Self-Determination In South Sudan: A Critique, Hoda Medhat Elmeligy

Theses and Dissertations

South Sudan, a new independent state is born in 2011 thanks to the implementation of the right to self-determination. In the case of South Sudan, the right to self-determination evolved gradually until it reached remedial secession that was the only option available to Southerners after the failure of several attempts. Yet, after secession a new type of failure appeared emphasizing how the right to self-determination is deemed as a flawed right. Remedial secession did not remedy South Sudan and failed to respect human rights. A new kind of oppression appears that triggers a failed South Sudan. The thesis will propose …

Protection Denied: Palestinian Refugees From Syria And The Protection Gap Theory, Maya Abu-Ajamieh

Theses and Dissertations

Since the adoption of the United Nations resolution 181 (II) “partition plan” in 1948 and United Nations has shouldered the Palestinian issue. Subsequently, five million Palestinian refugees are under the direct care of UNRWA, the only entity in the world dedicated to one particular group of refugees. Moreover, Palestinian refugees are excluded from the 1951 Refugee Convention as well as UNHCR Statute due to the fact that they have an agency all to their own. While this might be a blessing in theory, it is argued that this has denied Palestinian refugees protection that is awarded to all other refugees …

The Will Of God And Its Intervention In Human Life As Expressed In The Profane Literature From The Old Kingdom To The End Of The New Kingdom, Aisha El Ghazzawy

Theses and Dissertations

The “will of god” and how it intervenes in the lives of the people is a very problematic issue. There is a never-ending debate over predestination and fate versus free will. When does the one end and the other start, if they do co-exist. This debate about fate and free will, is also taking place among Egyptologists concerning ancient Egyptian beliefs. The “will of god” is featured in various ancient Egyptian didactic and literary texts. These texts contain words and phrases, which directly or indirectly express the “will of god”. This thesis will study a selection of words that express …

Mummy Portraits: Investigating Regional Variations, Maryan Ragheb Sobhy Ragheb

Theses and Dissertations

In Roman Egypt, a new form of funerary art known as "mummy portraits" emerged. As a development from the earlier funerary masks common in Pharaonic and Ptolemaic Egypt, mummy portraits, images of the deceased painted on wooden panels and inset into the mummy wrappings over the face, became a growing trend from the early 1st century AD and continued to be popular for the next 200 years. Even though scholars have adopted various approaches in studying mummy portraits stylistically in terms of hair, clothing, and jewelry styles for chronological sequencing, little stylistic analysis has been carried out to attribute specific …

Understanding College Students’ Exam Process In A General Chemistry Course, Angela Willson

Masters Theses

The main way most college chemistry courses assess what a student has learned is through a summative exam. After introductory science courses, such as general chemistry, many students cite poor teaching and disappointing grades in these courses as a reason for dropping out of STEM programs. There has been a lack of qualitative research on students’ experiences of the complete process of taking an exam from start to finish, or the exam process, which includes preparing for an exam, taking an exam, receiving feedback, and responding to feedback after the exam has been graded.

My goal in this exploratory study …

Participation, Empowerment And Capacity Building: Exploring Young People's Perspectives On The Services Provided To Them By A Grassroots Ngo In Sub-Saharan Africa, Je Morgan

Plymouth Institute of Education

This paper explores young people's perspectives on the services that were provided to them by one NGO in sub-Saharan Africa. Semi-structured interviews and discussion groups were carried out with 71 young people, aged between 10 and 18 years old, who lived and worked on the street. Volunteer facilitators (n = 26) who run the groups and who had either previously lived on their street themselves or who lived in the ‘informal slum areas’ also took part in the discussions. A number of challenges and tensions became apparent from discussions including issues around capacity building, empowerment, participation and the depoliticised nature …

Examining Teachers' Perceptions Of The United States Social Class System, Tracy M. Stevenson-Olson

Dissertations

As the number of school aged children living in poverty increases, the inherent inequities within the United States class system continue to grow. Teacher perceptions regarding the United States social class system are examined through focus group interviews with four teachers in an urban high school. A critical qualitative methodology was used to explore how the participants make sense of the complex social class system and how they perceive the impact of social class within the school context. The findings include two overarching themes that influenced these teachers’ perceptions and interpretations of social class; their own personal narrative /identity construction …

Combating School Truancy: Current Practices And Recommendations For Improvement, Paige E. Mcnulty

Dissertations

School truancy poses a significant problem for the U.S. educational system and our society. Truant students suffer negative effects not only in their education, but also in their potential future financial earnings and even their life expectancy. Despite the recognition of the problem in the United States, efforts to curb truancy have proben largely ineffective.

As exploratory case study, which consisted of semi-structured interviews with five participants - four principals and one district superintendent - examined the perceptions of current truancy intervention programs and ways to improve them. The most common practice for combating truancy involved the employment of truancy …

A Divided Community: The Ethics And Politics Of Activist Research, Christopher Anthony Loperena

Publications and Research

In this article, I draw upon over two years of fieldwork in a Garifuna community in Tela Bay, Honduras, to explore the ethical and political contradictions bound up with activist-oriented ethnographic research. The rise of tourism as a means of national development and a driver of local economic desires has fractured communal politics in Triunfo de la Cruz, particularly around questions pertaining to land tenure and territorial belonging. I analyze the challenges of doing politically engaged anthropology in such a context. My open collaboration with land rights activists and ongoing support for the struggle to defend Garifuna collective property rights …

Is It Possible To Uncover Evidence Of A Gender Revolution Within Food Studies And Professional Culinary Literature, Mary Farrell

Dublin Gastronomy Symposium

This paper considers the relationship between the domestic and professional culinary world to uncover the myriad of complexities within this world for women, and the possibility of uncovering a gender revolution within the literature

Quiet Revolutions: Food Security And Power In West Belfast, 1969-1998, Diarmuid Cawley

Dublin Gastronomy Symposium

This paper addresses the issue of food security during conflict in the context of a bitterly divided Belfast. Considerable attention has been paid to the main aspects of the conflict in Northern Ireland,yet the normalised issues surrounding food have been given little credence. This paper seeks to address that.

Alternative Food Movements In Modern-Day America, Ariel Knoebel

Dublin Gastronomy Symposium

This paper seeks to redefine the foodspace as a theatre of valuable labour and explore the relationships between community, values and personal identity amond food producers and consumers who seek out alternative methods of food provisioning.

An Indigenous Slow Food Revolution: Agriculture On The West African Savanna, Stephen Wooten

Dublin Gastronomy Symposium

The emergence of agriculture is viewed as one of the most important and consequential developments in human history. Revolution has been the term most commonly used to describe this transition.

Special Issue: Pedagogy In Theory And Practice In Laban Studies, Teresa L. Heiland

Journal of Movement Arts Literacy Archive (2013-2019)

This article, by the editor, introduces a Special Issue on pedagogy using Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) and notation. The author parallels Rudolf Laban’s approach to artistic inquiry, which he called a “thought round,” to critical pedagogy, which emerged in the latter half of the 20th century. Theoretical background on the topic of pedagogical theory and practice regarding dance-based dance literacy using reflexivity is explored. LMA, Labanotation, Kinetography Laban, and Motif Notation are discussed in relation to Five Standards of Literacy Pedagogy. The author introduces three articles featured in this special issue that focus on theoretical, philosophical, and epistemological perspectives on …