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2018-2019 Course Development Grants For Uf Graduate Students, Diedre Houchen

Center for the Study of Race & Race Relations: Lectures and Events

No abstract provided.

How Culture Affects Doing Business In The Global Economy, Mingming Pan, Ndem Tazifor, Benjamin Widner, Chrstina Medina, Carl Enomoto

Economics Faculty Publications

While several studies have examined the effects of culture on economic growth,
/="/">economic development, foreign direct investment, and the formation of joint ventures, few if any have analyzed the effects of culture on specific aspects of doing business such as starting a business, dealing with construction permits, registering property, obtaining credit, enforcing contracts, and resolving insolvency. Using different cultural variables, this study found that the emphasize individuals placed on religion, leisure time, family, the environment, nationality, prostitution, gender roles, power distance, individualism, and uncertainty avoidance, had significant effects on different business activities. Due to the complex nature of culture, …

The Force Of Absent Things: Hiv/Aids, Pepfar Vietnam, And The Afterlife Of Aid, Alfred Montoya

Sociology & Anthropology Faculty Research

This article examines emerging strategies employed by nongovernmental organizations working in HIV/AIDS prevention and control in Vietnam that have been put to work in the recent past in the context of precipitous declines in US funding for such work through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). These strategies foreground specific personalities in an instrumentalization of experience, expert knowledges, and identity in a delicate balance between projecting strength and indicating urgent need. These strategies are played out in the realm of social media, facilitated through information communications technologies (ICTs) that are quickly restructuring forms of sociality and the tradecraft …

Networked Human, Network’S Human: Humans In Networks Inter-Asia, E. Kerr, Connor Graham, Alfred Montoya

Sociology & Anthropology Faculty Research

This special issue explores the conceptions of the human that emerge out of the form and the design of information and communications technologies (ICTs). Geographically, our focus compares two countries with a relatively high level of ICT penetration—South Korea and Singapore—and two countries with a relatively low level—India and Vietnam. In each country we see how different forms of the human emerge, in part out of the ways in which technological infrastructure develop and intertwine with social order. In this introduction we reflect on the long genealogy of “human” and “humanity” and the more recent history of ICTs in Asia.

“One More Way To Sell New Orleans”: Airbnb And The Commodification Of Authenticity Through Local Emotional Labor, Ian Spangler

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

Since 2014, Airbnb has been the poster-child for an impassioned debate over how to best regulate short-term home rentals (STR’s) in New Orleans, Louisiana. As critical perspectives toward on-demand economic practice become increasingly common, it is important to understand how the impacts of STR platforms like Airbnb extend beyond the realm of what is traditionally conceptualized as the economic (i.e., pressure on housing markets). In this thesis, I explore the ways in which Airbnb recalibrates the spatial and temporal rhythms of everyday neighborhood life for people external to the formal trappings of an STR contract. Drawing in particular on theories …

Wild Abandon: Postwar Literature Between Ecology And Authenticity, Alexander F. Menrisky

Theses and Dissertations--English

Wild Abandon traces a literary and cultural history of late twentieth-century appeals to dissolution, the moment at which a text seems to erase its subject’s sense of selfhood in natural environs. I argue that such appeals arose in response to a prominent yet overlooked interaction between discourses of ecology and authenticity following the rise and fall of the American New Left in the 1960s and 70s. This conjunction inspired certain intellectuals and activists to celebrate the ecological concept of interconnectivity as the most authentic basis of subjectivity in political, philosophical, spiritual, and literary writings. As I argue, dissolution represents a …

Meeting At The Threshold: Slavery’S Influence On Hospitality And Black Personhood In Late-Antebellum American Literature, Rebecca Wiltberger Wiggins

Theses and Dissertations--English

In my dissertation, I argue that both white and black authors of the late-1850s and early-1860s used scenes of race-centered hospitality in their narratives to combat the pervasive stereotypes of black inferiority that flourished under the influence of chattel slavery. The wide-spread scenes of hospitality in antebellum literature—including shared meals, entertaining overnight guests, and business meetings in personal homes—are too inextricably bound to contemporary discussions of blackness and whiteness to be ignored. In arguing for the humanizing effects of playing host or guest as a black person, my project joins the work of literary scholars from William L. Andrews to …

Itexts: Techxtual Poetics, Authorship And Re-Wreaders In 21St-Century Spanish Literature, Joshua M. Hoekstra

Theses and Dissertations--Hispanic Studies

In 2007, Nuria Azancot published an article in the magazine El Cultural in which she identified a burgeoning group of Spanish writers that she referred to as the “Nocilla Generation.” The catalyst behind the article was a literary reunion that took place weeks before in Seville and brought together authors from all parts of Spain to talk about the status and future of writing. She described them as “transgressors” and “bloggers” who hybridized literary genres and held a revolutionary approach to the literary that was clearly marked by the Internet. Numerous articles and dissertations have since highlighted the impact that …

All That Glitters Is Not Gold: Theories Of Noblesse Oblige In Carolingian Francia, Megan R. Perry

Theses and Dissertations--History

This thesis argues that conceptions of commerce in the Carolingian era were intertwined with the discourse of ethics, and that concepts of the Carolingian ‘economy’ may be profitably illuminated by consideration of pre-modern ethical and social categories. I explore a pre-modern pattern of personhood that framed persons in terms of political rôles, and exchange in terms of the interactions of those rôles. In moral letters addressed to counts and kings, ethical counsel about greed for each lay rôle was grounded in particular geographic spaces and historical moments, creating a rich valence of specific meanings for greed and charity. I examine …

The Free Exercise Clause, Minority Faiths, And The Possibility Of Religious Independence After Rawlsian Liberalism, David Charles Scott

Theses and Dissertations--Philosophy

The conversation to which my dissertation belongs is that which preoccupied John Rawls in Political Liberalism, namely: (1) how it is possible that a religiously and morally pluralistic culture like ours lives cooperatively from one generation to the next, and (2) The extent to which religious or moral convictions are appropriate bases for political action. My three-essay dissertation is about aspects of this investigation that affect minority or non-mainstream religious and cultural groups, since legal institutions, and theoretical models of them (such as Rawls’s and Ronald Dworkin’s) are in many ways ill-suited to accommodate their ways of life. In the …

Determining Millennial Food Buying Preferences: Based On Product Marketing With “Buzzwords”, Victoria N. Hamilton

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

This research focuses on the importance on the Millennial Generation and their perceptions of food buzzwords. Since the Millennial Generation is the largest group purchasing and preparing their own foods, the food industry is becoming dependent on their buying preferences. A survey reflected the participants’ demographics and their buying preferences based on a series of food buzzwords when they are purchasing foods. Results show the Millennial Generation prefers “local” buzzwords. As the Millennial Generation continues to purchase foods for themselves and their families, it can be expected their choices will encourage others to do the same based on their family …

Evaluating Homophily And Inclusion In Kentucky Secondary Agriculture Classrooms Through Social Distance Scales, Ashley C. Austin

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

This quantitative study considers homophily and inclusion in the secondary agriculture classroom. This study uses social identity and homophily theories to examine classroom culture and how homophily and inclusion impact it. The study aims to use demographic questions and homophily scales to determine whether homophily is occurring in the secondary agriculture classroom and to what extent. This study also uses social distance scales to determine the breaking point or how willing seniors in an agriculture class are to include new students based on the bi-variables of Race, Sexuality, and Social subgroup. The results indicate that homophily and in-group mentality is …

Medium To Long Term Impacts On Former Participants Of The Shoulder To Shoulder Global Brigades To Ecuador, Craig Borie

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

Medium to Long Term Impacts on Former Participants of the Shoulder to Shoulder Global Brigades to Ecuador. International service learning and voluntourism programs in global health evoke benefits for both community and the intervener. While it is clear that the Shoulder to Shoulder Global program at the University of Kentucky provides a service to an economically resource poor community in Santo Domingo, Ecuador, what is unclear is the impact these interprofessional experiences have on the participants that travel with the four times a year health brigades. This study proposes to answer the question of what are the educational, personal and …

Three Essays On College Earnings Premium And China’S Higher Education Expansion, Chenxu Hu

Theses and Dissertations--Economics

My dissertation consists of three essays that study the college premium in China and how it has been affected by China’s higher education expansion.

In the first essay, I utilize the high education expansion as exogenous source to estimate the college premium. The rapidly changing access to college provides a rare opportunity to estimate a local treatment effect (LATE) of college education on earnings by utilizing the drastic increase in college admission rate in 1999. I also utilize the yearly admission rate as an instrumental variable for the endogenous college education. Using China Household Income Project 2013, the two IV …

“Listening With An Attitude”: The Role Of Attitude On Native And Non-Native Intergroup Communication, Aidah N. Aljuran

Theses and Dissertations--Linguistics

People tend to draw their own conclusions about similarities and differences between who they are and the “other.” Having perceptions of being similar to the in-group and being different from the out-group “satisfies psychological needs” (Robbins & Krueger, 2005). Based on this social perception, individuals show communication variations as a way of expressing their identities (Giles 1973). This study implements quantitative and qualitative methods in order to examine the attitude of native speakers (NSs), as well as the potential impact of these attitudes on their communication with non-native speakers (NNSs). The potential impact of NSs’ interactions on NNSs’ interactions was …

Increasing Inclusion: The Pursuit Of Racial Diversity In Three Historically White Universities In Kentucky, Michigan, And Ontario From 2000 To 2012, David J. Luke

Theses and Dissertations--Sociology

The University of Kentucky (UK) and University of Michigan (UM) present very different patterns in terms of black student enrollments and completions from 2000 to 2012 because of a structural explanation, a qualitative explanation, and a statistical explanation. Unfortunately, the patterns at the University of Western Ontario (UWO) are partial due to a lack of data.

First, the structural explanation is that UK, as a university in the state of Kentucky, was under a mandate from the U.S. Department of Education to desegregate because they were in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The Kentucky Council on …

The Influence Of Life Domains On Adolescent And Adult Offending: Testing An Extension Of Agnew’S General Theory, Joseph Mark Calvert

Theses and Dissertations--Sociology

More than a decade has passed since Agnew (2005) introduced his General Theory of Crime and Delinquency (GTCD). Despite this interval, GTCD remains a relatively untested theory. Drawing on previous testing efforts, the current research provides a systematic assessment of Agnew's theoretical propositions. It also provides only the second empirical examination of Cochran's (2015) extension of GTCD, which incorporates religion as a sixth distinct life domain. Nested negative binomial regression modeling and Poisson regression modeling are used to assess the effects of life domains on several diverse forms of self-reported criminal behavior at two distinct stages of development: adolescence and …

Social Support, Relationship Quality, And Self-Care Behaviors In Patients With Heart Failure, Majdi Mohammad Rababa

Theses and Dissertations--Nursing

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the associations among social support, gender, relationship quality, and self-care behaviors in patients with heart failure (HF). Specific aims were to: 1) compare the psychometric properties of the 12-item and the 9-item European Heart Failure Self-Care Behavior Scale (EHFScBS) when used to measure self-care behaviors in patients with HF in the United States; 2) determine whether gender moderated the association between perceived social support and daily sodium intake in patients with HF; and 3) determine whether a patient’s gender and relationship with the primary family caregiver (spousal or non-spousal) moderated the association …

Conceptualizing The Prevention Of Human Trafficking: Survivors Perspectives, Jessica James Donohue-Dioh

Theses and Dissertations--Social Work

The following study seeks to conceptualize the prevention of human trafficking from the perspective of survivors. The study design was informed through a Public Health Framework and the application of Postmodernism, Social Constructionist Theory, Ecological Perspective and Empowerment Perspective. An integrative mixed-method, participatory research design was applied, namely Concept Mapping. Data was collected over approximately two-months, and included 35 survivors of human trafficking from 4 different states. Data collected from survivors resulted in a statement set (N = 108) and a 10-Cluster Final solution depicting the ways in which survivors conceptualized prevention. Additional outputs provide insight as to survivors’ perspectives …

Vitamin D Works Through The Lipid Droplet Protein Plin2 To Augment Mitochondrial Function In Skeletal Muscle, David M. Schnell

Theses and Dissertations--Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences

Vitamin D has been connected with increased intramyocellular lipid (IMCL) mitochondrial function in skeletal muscle. It is also shown to prevent lipotoxicity in several tissues, but this has not yet been examined in skeletal muscle. Perilipin 2 (PLIN2), a lipid droplet protein upregulated with vitamin D treatment, is integral to managing IMCL capacity and lipid oxidation in skeletal muscle. Increased lipid storage and oxidation is associated with increased tolerance to a hyperlipidic environment and resistance to lipotoxicity. Therefore, I hypothesized that vitamin D increases β-oxidation and lipid turnover though a PLIN2 mediated mechanism, thereby preventing lipotoxicity.

This hypothesis was divided …

The Application Of Spectral And Cross-Spectral Analysis To Social Sciences Data, Matthew James Vowels

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

The primary goal of this paper is to demonstrate the application of a relatively esoteric and interdisciplinary technique, called spectral analysis, to dyadic social sciences data. Spectral analysis is an analytical and statistical technique, commonly used in engineering, that allows times series data to be analyzed for the presence of significant regular/periodic fluctuations/oscillations. These periodic fluctuations are reflected in the frequency domain as amplitude or energy peaks at certain frequencies. Furthermore, a Magnitude Squared Coherence analysis may be used to interrogate more than one time series concurrently in order to establish the degree of frequency domain correlation between the two …

“Dad, Do You Want To Play With Me?” The Impact Of Fathers Who Make Time For Play, Michael S. Sitton

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

With an increase in the pace of life in the United States, there comes a recognition of the importance of prioritizing time, especially for fathers. Of the two-thirds of children who live with their father, only a percentage of them have fathers who report regular play time with their children. However, literature in the field does not explain specifically whether or not this play between father and child influences the child’s later risk taking behaviors in high school. Using data from the 2003 Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), waves 3, 4, and 6, this quantitative study sought to …

The Association Between Smartphone Use And Emotional Intelligence On Romantic Relationship Satisfaction Among Young Adults, Ellen Kaiser

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

This study bridges the gap in the literature about the association between smartphone use and emotional intelligence on romantic relationship satisfaction. A sample of 161 undergraduate students between the ages of 18 and 26 at the University of Kentucky were recruited to complete an online survey about their smartphone usage, emotional intelligence, and romantic relationship satisfaction. Associations between smartphone usage and emotional intelligence, smartphone usage and romantic relationship satisfaction, and emotional intelligence and romantic relationship satisfaction were found. Specifically, productive smartphone usage was found to be positively associated with romantic relationship satisfaction, while problem smartphone usage was found to be …

Analyzing Attitudes Toward Stayover Relationships Among Emerging Adults, Keiara A. Marsh

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

This study bridges the gap in literature in regards to emerging adults ages 18 to 25 and their attitudes toward relationship formation, specifically towards the acceptability of stayover relationships. By using a factorial vignette to manipulate dimensions of number of nights, reason, and gender, the attitudes of emerging adults were indicated to be acceptable. Open responses were obtained to analyze how emerging adults are categorizing the academic term of stayovers. The study found that emerging adults were more likely to find 1-2 nights as acceptable when compared to stayovers that occur every night. Qualitative analysis of results showed that respondents …

A Genetically-Informed Study Of The Predictors And The Development Of Delinquency, Albert J. Ksinan

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

Although the rates of delinquent behavior have been decreasing since the 1990s, adolescent delinquent behavior continues to take a great toll on society as well as on perpetrators themselves. In this way, it is essential to understand the process of delinquency development. The current dissertation is comprised of three studies that analyzed the predictors and the development of delinquency using genetically-informed designs. The sample used for all studies comes from the Add Health dataset, a nationally-representative data on adolescents followed across 14 years.

The first study modeled the longitudinal development of delinquency in three adolescent cohorts: early, middle, and late …

Identifying Perceived Risks To Environmental Pollutants And Needs For Risk Communication In A Rural Appalachian Community, Elizabeth H. Travis

Theses and Dissertations--Nutrition and Food Systems

The goal of this study is to determine issues rural Appalachian residents consider most important, their perceived environmental health risk, and how community engagement can potentially improve those issues. The University of Kentucky Superfund Research Center held the Appalachian Community Health and Well-being Forum at the Letcher County Cooperative Extension Office in Eastern Kentucky. A four-member panel consisted of two local health officials, a nutrition expert, and a federal scientist; answered questions from community members. The expert panel and audience members shared concerns, success stories, and highlighted efforts to promote health in the region. Community members completed a questionnaire collecting …

Exploring Factors Facilitating Sexual Self-Disclosure For Women, Caitlin Marie Grasson

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

Sexual Self-Disclosure is an important part of a relationship, however, often times, women do not feel it is appropriate to engage in. Specifically, many women do not disclose their sexual preferences, or what acts they do or do not find satisfying, with their partner. This lack of sexual self-disclosure keeps women from being able to have their own sexual needs met. This phenomenological study aimed to understand the factors that facilitate sexual self-disclosure for women in relationships. The participants (n=8) were women between the age of 24-30 who were in a committed sexual relationship for more than three months, but …

Pathways From Religiosity To Couple’S Satisfaction Through Relational Virtues And Equality In Two Cultures, Ilya A. Okhotnikov

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

To explore relational processes of couple’s satisfaction this study drew on the relational spirituality framework (Mahoney, 2010) in order to test a relational religiosity model to evaluate the effects of public, private, ideological, intellectual, and experiential religiosity that were mediated by relational virtues of commitment, sacrifice, forgiveness, and sanctification and relational equality on couple’s satisfaction in two cultures. Data for this component used convenience samples of English-speaking respondents (hereafter American sample; n = 1,529) and Russian-speaking respondents (hereafter Russian sample; n = 529). Results provided evidence to partially support relational religiosity model; specifically commitment, while a statistically significant intervening element, …

Perception Of Retained Kindergarten And First Grade Students: A Qualitative Study, Tina Mollett

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

This qualitative study focuses on the experiences of 11 school-aged children who were retained during either their Kindergarten or 1st grade years. By using a semi-structured interview, the author examined these children’s beliefs about the reasons why they were retained through exploration of their memories, feelings, and outcomes associated with the experiences. Children were also encouraged to reflect on aspects of the experiences they wished had gone differently and to offer advice to other children who may be preparing for retention experiences. The results indicated that there is evidence of some resiliency; however, children generally experienced a wide variety of …

Incarcerating The Accused: Reforming Bail For The Pretrial Detention Of Juveniles And Youths Aged Eighteen To Twenty-One, Leigha A. Weiss

Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development

(Excerpt)

This note addresses the injustice of pretrial detention on juveniles, minors, and youths aged eighteen to twenty-one, in New York State. This note will address juveniles, aged eighteen to twenty-one, who are subject to criminal proceedings in adult criminal court and incarceration in adult criminal facilities as well as juveniles or minors below the age of criminal responsibility who are subject to juvenile delinquency proceedings and incarceration in juvenile detention facilities. So many youths are in unnecessary detentions under horrific conditions in adults and juvenile correctional facilities across the country. Serious bail reform is long overdue to provide humane …