Digital Commons Network^™

Big Brother, Othello, And Dogs That Don't Bark: The Use Of Literary Allusion In Federal Appellate Opinions, Kristin B. Gerdy

Faculty Scholarship

Unlike a fish, in the words of Justice Elena Kagan, a literary5 allusion is not “a discrete thing that possesses physical form”6 distinguishable from other expressive devices. Instead, literary allusions can take many forms, be used for many purposes, and have various effects on the reading audience. If the most basic form of a fish is the common goldfish in a bowl, then the most basic judicial literary allusion is a reference to a well-known story in a judicial opinion that is used to make a comparison in a reader’s mind. But just as there are many types of fish …

Autonomy And Precautions In The Law Of Armed Conflict, Eric Talbot Jensen

Faculty Scholarship

Already a controversial topic, legal debate and broader discussions concerning the amount of human control required in the employment of autonomous weapons—including autonomous cyber capabilities—continues. These discussions, particularly those taking place among States that are Parties to the 1980 Certain Conventional Weapons Convention, reveal a complete lack of consensus on the requirement of human control and serve to distract from the more important question with respect to autonomy in armed conflict: under what conditions could autonomous weapons “select” and “attack” targets in a manner that complies with the law of armed conflict (LOAC).

This article analyzes the specific LOAC rules …

The Freedom Of Speech-Conduct, John Fee

Faculty Scholarship

Part I sets up the fundamental tension between the Supreme Court's celebrated line of decisions recognizing expressive conduct as speech and its reasons for refusing to recognize all forms of communicative behavior as speech, showing that both sets of motivating concerns are valid (even if misunderstood). Part II explores the traditional method of resolving this tension by measuring the expressiveness individual behavior, concluding that none of the various tests and criteria the Court has used can sensibly reconcile the competing concerns of Part I. Parts III, IV, and V propose and develop an alternative state-action-based approach for assigning levels of …

First Amendment Traditionalism, Marc O. Degirolami

Scholarly Articles

Traditionalist constitutional interpretation takes political and cultural practices of long age and duration as constituting the presumptive meaning of the text. This Essay probes traditionalism's conceptual and normative foundations. It focuses on the Supreme Court's traditionalist interpretation of the First Amendment to understand the distinctive justifications for traditionalism and the relationship between traditionalism and originalism. The first part of the Essay identifies and describes traditionalism in some of the Court's Speech and Religion Clause jurisprudence, highlighting its salience in the Court's recent Establishment Clause doctrine.

Part II develops two justfications for traditionalism: "interpretive" and "democratic-populist." The interpretive justification is that …

Encouraging Entrepreneurship And Innovation Through Regulatory Democratization, Seth C. Oranburg

Scholarly Articles

Law and economics scholars agree that business regulations have a disproportionately negative impact on entrepreneurship and innovation. It would be a significant problem indeed if the very nature of regulation inhibits this kind of growth and creativity. This view of the problem suggests that the only way to increase innovation would be to decrease regulation.

Yet this view is too general. When examined more closely, all regulations are not created equal. Regulations can be formulated as rules or standards, and they can be simple or complex. Moreover, some rules are easily understood by computers and are thus suitable for automated …

Blasting Reproach And All-Pervading Light: Frederick Douglass’S Aspirational American Exceptionalism, Lucy Williams

Faculty Scholarship

Some scholars critique American exceptionalism as a proud, uncritical orientation. In this article, however, I argue that Frederick Douglass, an outspoken social critic, qualifies as an American exceptionalist thinker. I first identify and theorize two modes of exceptionalist rhetoric: accomplished exceptionalism, which is self-celebratory and largely uncritical, and aspirational exceptionalism, which is self-critical and reflective. I then provide a close reading of “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July” to show how Douglass employs aspirational rhetorical techniques. Finally, I discuss the benefits of reading Douglass as an exceptionalist thinker and suggest that his aspirational rhetoric activates reflective and …

Perceived Enablers And Barriers To The Implementation Of Pbis In A Rural Elementary School, Katherine Mechele Woodall

Theses and Dissertations

Embedded within the 1990 amendment of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was a mandate stipulating all school systems incorporate some form of PBIS. Elected officials thought it was necessary to implement positive behavior intervention and supports (PBIS) into school systems behavior plans due to the ever-increasing number of students with mild to severe behavioral issues. Behavior issues include truancy, verbal and physical abuse of teachers and peers, and depression, to name a few. These behavior issues negatively impact a student’s ability to make satisfactory academic progress as well as negatively impacting the learning of their peers.

Yet, despite …

Keep Teaching Science! Successful Strategies To Adapt K–12 Science Experiences For Distance Learning, Wested, Jeanne Norris

Institute for School Partnership: Research & Publications

Webinar: The sudden shift to distance and hybrid learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic has created a need to identify virtual and at-home science experiences that ensure students keep learning science in meaningful ways. Anchored in the vision of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and A Framework for K-12 Science Education, a new NextGenScience resource highlights ways materials designed for in-person NGSS learning can be adapted for virtual or at-home settings while maintaining or enhancing best practices.

Shifting Courses: Achieving Equity In High School Stem, 100kin10, Jeanne Norris

Institute for School Partnership: Research & Publications

Strategies to achieve science equity through high school course offerings, supporting teachers to facilitate active and applied STEM learning, and creating systems to ensure equitable teaching and learning with examples from mySci.

Altered Speech: A Case-Study Of Identity-Driven Speech In A Dissociative Identity Disorder System, Sarah Domin

Scripps Senior Theses

The field of sociolinguistics has long been interested in how speech differs across groups. These studies have been focused on how demographic factors like class, race, and geographical region alter speech patterns. However, more recently, the agency of individuals to use language as a tool to construct a certain identity or persona has been highlighted (e.g., Podesva 2007; Eckert 1989; Eckert 2008). These studies are limited due to the nature of their methods, relying on either one individual with a limited scope of characteristics or on a larger group of people with many different variables at play other than identity. …

The (En)Tangled Web They Weave: Stakeholder Perceptions Of The Large Whale Take Reduction Plan Process, Kimberly P. Ohnemus

Open Access Master's Theses

Negotiated rulemaking is a decision-making process that has been integrated into U.S. regulatory processes within the last three decades. Amendments to the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1994 mandated the creation of Take Reduction Teams, stakeholder committees that use negotiated rulemaking to develop regulations to reduce marine mammal interactions with commercial fishing operations. The largest and least successful of these teams is the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team (ALWTRT), which is tasked with developing regulatory measures to protect the highly endangered North Atlantic right whale, as well as other large whale species. This study used semi-structured interviews with members …

Identifying Opioid Withdrawal Using Wearable Biosensors, Ethan Kulman

Open Access Master's Theses

Wearable biosensors can be used to monitor opioid use, a problem of dire societal consequence given the current opioid epidemic in the US. Such surveillance can prompt interventions that promote behavioral change. Prior work has focused on the use of wearable biosensor data to detect opioid use. In this work, we present a method that uses machine learning to identify opioid withdrawal using data collected with a wearable biosensor. Our method involves developing a set of machine-learning classifiers, and then evaluating those classifiers using unseen test data. An analysis of the best performing model produced a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) …

Analysis Of Missing Data In Marine Dissolved Oxygen Time Series Using Dynamic Linear Models, Shajratul Alam

Open Access Master's Theses

The marine ecosystems cannot survive without dissolved oxygen (DO). Low oxygen events (hypoxia) in the ocean cause stress on the benthic community and, hampers their growth rate initiating mortality. To monitor the concentration of oxygen, different water quality monitoring sites have been established across the globe. The Narragansett Bay fixed-site water quality monitoring network (NBFWQMN) is a facility that regularly measures oxygen level as well as other important water parameters (temperature, salinity, pH level, and Chlorophyll) at different locations of Narragansett Bay (NB). Missing observation is a common phenomenon for this times-series dataset and, can occur for various reasons. In …

Rhetorical Leadership In Organizational Conflict And Change: Case Studies Of Antiracist Preaching, Steven Tramel Gaines

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

This study investigates how leaders call for change while also caring for their organizations. The theoretical framework comes from the interdisciplinary study of a type of religious communication called prophetic rhetoric, developed by scholars of communication, English, and homiletics. That framework is used here in the analyses of speeches and public letters by leaders who challenge ideologies and practices shaped by and contributing to racial injustice. More specifically, this dissertation studies how audiences white fragility leads to constrained prophetic rhetoric that is a communication strategy inviting change without destroying organizations or being expelled from them. From analyses of such rhetoric …

Using Transactional Distance Theory To Explore The Experiences Of Community College Students In Online Developmental Courses, Brian Gerber

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The number of community college students taking online courses has steadily increased, which includes students enrolling in online developmental courses. Community colleges have largely embraced online learning in order to improve student access, but many difficulties (e.g. low passing rates, high withdrawal rates) have been discovered in the area of online learning. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of community college students in online developmental courses. The research question that guided this study was: 1.Using Transactional Distance Theory, what is the experience of community college students in online developmental courses?Data was collected using phenomenological …

A Spatial Inquiry Of The U.S. Opioid Epidemic And Geodemographic Segmentation Systems, Ryan Baxter Hanson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The objective of this dissertation research was to explore the use of geodemographic segmentation as a socioeconomic variable to spatially analyze opioid related mortalities and hospital discharges. Opioid data were investigated by three ICD-10 classifications: heroin, other opioids, and other synthetic narcotics. Demographic and spatial characteristics of opioid mortality were examined using data from the Centers for Disease Controls (CDC) National Vital Statistics System mortality (NVSS-M) multiple causes of death dataset via the WONDER database for the year 2017. This was followed by a literature review of previous research that investigated the use of geodemographic segmentation systems in health research.Spatial …

A Comparative Study Of Young Children's Risk-Taking Behavior In China And U.S.: A Multiple-Group Path Analysis, Jun Hao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Risk-taking is inevitable, uncertain, and essential in early childhood. Researchers suggest four important factors that influence young childrens risk-taking behavior, namely, childrens temperament of sensation seeking, parents perception of risk, parental supervision, and society. However, there has been little effort to examine how the four factors collectively impact young childrens risk-taking behavior. The purpose of this study was to understand (1) what role the three factors (childrens sensation seeking, parents risk perception, and parental supervision) play in childrens risk-taking behavior; and (2) how their relations vary by society. The current study proposed a model (Figure 1) derived from Sandseters (2010) …

Inorganic Materials For Local Drug Delivery, Michael Anthony Harris

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Orthopedic infections, including periprosthetic joint infections and osteomyelitis, are debilitating complications that greatly increase mortality rates and expenditure of healthcare resources. Treatment protocols include surgical debridement of infected tissue, removal of any foreign implants, and several weeks of systemic antibiotic therapy, yet recurrence rates remain high. Local antibiotic delivery systems augment traditional therapy techniques by increasing antibiotic concentrations at the site of infection to levels that are unachievable by IV or oral delivery, thereby improving bacterial clearance rates. Current clinical products are commonly prepared at the surgeons direction, with only limited data and anecdotal reports guiding antibiotic choice and loading. …

Emporium By Aldo Lpez-Gaviln: A Declaration Of Unity, Dawson Andrew Hull

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Cuban pianist and composer Aldo Lpez-Gaviln is known for excelling in both classical and jazz worlds. He stands not only between two musical worlds, but also between Cuba and the United States, in the midst of their turbulent relationship. In 2017, he wrote and premiered his first piano concerto, Emporium, stating that the purpose of the work is to unify the world. He fosters this unity through the combination of music from different cultures and styles, including classical, Cuban, and jazz, and through the emphasis on musical unity seen in the form of work. The tensions between the United States …

Women's Experiences With Leadership Development In An Outdoor-Based Experiential Training Program, Maria Del Socorro Hubbard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Outdoor-based experiential training (OBET) programs are a popular option for leadership development. However, few qualitative studies have explored the structural and textural factors within these programs that contribute to the leadership development of businesswomen who participate in them. This qualitative phenomenological study used a constructivist epistemology to explore the experiences of a sample of women who, during 2018 and 2019, participated in a five-day OBET program for leadership development sponsored by their employer. Gender schema theory served as a theoretical framework to consider the research questions: 1) How do women experience leadership development in an OBET program? 2) What experiences …

Sing It First: The Pedagogy Of Wycliffe Gordon, Thomas Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

ABSTRACTJohnson Jr., Thomas E., DMA. The University of Memphis. August 2020. Sing It First: The Pedagogy of Wycliffe Gordon. Major Professor: John Mueller, DMA.This document presents the pedagogical techniques and materials recommended by trombonist Wycliffe Gordon. Gordon is an internationally renowned performer, composer, arranger, and educator. He has recorded twenty-one albums as a leader and eight albums as a co-leader. Gordon has received numerous awards including Trombonist of the Year and Best Trombone from the Jazz Journalists Association and Downbeat Magazine respectively. Gordon is a veteran member of the Wynton Marsalis Septet and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. He is …

Incomplete: Evaluating Current Complete Streets Practice And Presenting A Toolkit For Practitioners, Samuel W. Jordan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Complete Streets is an urban planning paradigm that seeks to utilize streetscapes as holistic space and not merely as a means for conveyance. This paradigm seeks to provide equitable access for all street users across all modes of transportation, improving urban livability and reducing reliance on car ownership. In the first chapter of this dissertation, we compare the primary benefits of Complete Streets valued by practitioners with the secondary benefits promised by academics and Complete Streets advocates, and suggest a methodology for empirically quantifying spatiotemporal outcomes of infrastructure projects. In the second chapter, we review literature related to Complete Streets …

Faculty Members Attitudes And Self-Reported Actions Towards Accessibility In Online Higher Education., Habibah Khan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Due to an increasing number of students gaining access to online courses, online education is quickly becoming more prevalent within the learning paradigm. In order to accommodate students with disabilities (SWD), a need arised to create an inclusive learningenvironment which allows all learners to feel comfortable in their learning without feeling any prejudice. Federal laws were passed to protect SWD and thus, educational models were developed to create an inclusive learning environment especially SWD. Amongst one of the models developed to create an inclusive learning environment is the universal design for learning (UDL). However, despite the existence of UDL research …

Humans And Nonhumans Becoming Political: Memphis Women's March Assemblages, Margaret Ann King

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

In this post-qualitative feminist study, object-interviews with women who participated in the Memphis Womens March (MWM) and nonhuman objects were used to explore the interconnections of the MWM and the women and the nonhuman objects, and the relational knowledge generated by the interconnections between humans (e.g., the women who marched, other marchers) and nonhumans (e.g., posters, banners, t-shirts, pink pussyhats, and/or photographs). This study is significant in two ways. First, this post-qualitative feminist study attends to the interconnections of the MWM and the women and the signs. Second, this study will contribute to current post-qualitative work by utilizing object-interviews to …

Examining Beliefs About The Use Of Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices When Planning Literacy Instruction, Latwayla L. Knowlton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationships between beliefs about the use of culturally responsive teaching practices when planning literacy instruction, reading course enrollment, and demographic factors among undergraduate K-6 elementary teacher candidates. Specifically, the study participants are K-6 elementary undergraduate teacher candidates attending a small, rural university within the Mid-south. The researcher sought to understand factors that may affect teacher candidates beliefs about the use of culturally responsive teaching practices as they begin making specific pedagogical adjustments to the classroom when planning literacy instruction. Data for this study was collected using a structured survey in …

Endogenous And Social Factors Influencing Infant Vocalizations As Fitness Signals, Helen L. Long

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

This dissertation evaluated the role of social and endogenous prelinguistic vocalizations as fitness signals in human development. It consists of three studies. The first investigated the reliability of listener judgments of the degree of infant vocal imitativeness in parent-infant vocal turn pairs as a measure of the saliency of potential vocal fitness signals. Participating listeners demonstrated moderate to high intra- and inter-rater agreement, suggesting vocal imitation has the potential to be used as a signal of fitness to caregivers in early development. The work also showed that vocal imitation in infancy is rare. The second study quantified the extent to …

Media And Music: A Qualitative Content Analysis Of The African American Educational Experience As Portrayed In Black-Produced Films, Songs And Print Publications, Christopher Jamel Major

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

African Americans have been treated unequally and unfairly by the media. This issue deserves national attention while stressing the need for more positive messages of African Americans. The intent of this study was to examine how Black produced films, Hip-Hop songs and magazines portray the African American high school educational experience. The theory that guides this paper is critical media literacy. Critical media literacy provides an opportunity to evaluate, understand and critically analyze all forms of media. A qualitative content analysis was used to determine how African Americans are depicted by Black producers, directors and writers. Central questions worth exploring …

501(C)(3) Educational Sustainability: A Quantitative Study Of Nonprofit Private School Financial Viability In Rural West Tennessee, Frank Turner Mcmeen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

ABSTRACTWith nearly 95 percent of West Tennesseans being employed yet those same rural 20 counties have one-fifth of their population living at poverty levels, nonprofit private schools face a challenge. Low unemployment and high levels of poverty indicate that many in rural West Tennessee are the working poor. Due to 23 percent of the residents being enrolled in TennCare, there is a greater indication that rural areas provide tremendous challenges to nonprofit private schools. With an aging, declining populace, and every county being more than 50 miles from an urban airport that transports passengers, industry becomes more difficult to recruit. …

How Preschool Teachers Use Book Sharing Strategies To Build Academic Language Skills, Lorraine Ann Meiners-Lovel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

AbstractMeiners-Lovel, Lorraine A. PhD. The University of Memphis. Preschool Teachers Use of Book Sharing Strategies to Build Academic Language Skills. May, 2020. Emily Thrush, PhD. ArrayIt is essential to understand the role of preschool teachers in the linguistic preparation of young children for kindergarten and elementary school. This understanding becomes even more important as more American preschoolers attend group care and public universal pre-kindergarten becomes more common. Children must master the variety of language known as the academic register, academic language, or school language in order to be academically successful. Preschool teachers need to understand the features of academic language …

Cultural Historical Activity Theory: A Framework For Writing Center Analyses, Donald Ray Moore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

From the recognized beginning of the laboratory movement in composition instruction, teachers have sought to employ new and more practical methods useful in developing student writing. Such trends continue today as new generations of students enter the academy and new challenges emerge. From such conditions, we might see how components within a system of activity work together to meet objectives and develop outcomes within the shared dialectic of an activity system. Individuals and groups increase the potential for contradiction identification, thus, opportunities for solutions increase through mediational activities. With this idea in mind, this dissertation reviews writing center-related scholarship from …