Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Public Muse In Congress: The Punctuation Of American Federal Arts Policy, Elizabeth Deichmann

Dissertations

In 1989, American federal arts policy changed suddenly and drastically when the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) gained unprecedented attention in Congress for controversial grant awards that supported two visual artists. Prior to this, federal arts policy was an insulated subsystem run by experts applying high art aesthetic standards to grantmaking. Informed by punctuated-equilibrium theory (PET), this investigation of congressional rhetoric shows that Republican policy entrepreneurs during this time effectively set a new, more negative tone about federal arts policy by harnessing conservative culture wars messages. The change in tone preceded federal arts policy’s arrival on the broader congressional …

Exemplary Senior Navy Female Leadership: A Study Of How Navy Female Leaders Use The Grit Characteristics Courage, Conscientiousness, Long-Term Goals, Resilience, And Excellence Versus Perfection To Create Extraordinary Results Within Their Organizations, Cache' Hapner

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to identify and describe how exemplary senior Navy female leaders used five principles associated with grit (courage, conscientiousness, long-term goals, resilience, and excellence versus perfection) to accomplish extraordinary results in their organizations.

Methodology: This qualitative study used a phenomenological method to describe how eight senior Navy female leaders use five characteristics of grit to accomplish extraordinary results in their organizations. Respondents were purposively chosen. The researcher collected data through interviews, transcripts, and artifacts that were triangulated and coded for themes using NVivo software.

Findings: Exemplary senior Navy female leaders use …

An Inferentially Robust Look At Two Competing Explanations For The Surge In Unauthorized Migration From Central America, Nick Santos

Dissertations

The last 8 years have seen a dramatic increase in the flow of Central American apprehensions by the U.S. Border Patrol. Explanations for this surge in apprehensions have been split between two leading hypotheses. Most academic scholars, immigrant advocates, progressive media outlets, and human rights organizations identify poverty and violence (the Poverty and Violence Hypothesis) in Central America as the primary triggers responsible. In contrast, while most government officials, conservative think tanks, and the agencies that work in the immigration and border enforcement realm admit poverty and violence may underlie some decisions to migrate, they instead blame lax U.S. immigration …

Role Of Municipal Governance In Stabilizing Mature Inner Suburbs: A Study Of Five St. Louis Municipalities 1970-2015, Napoleon Williams Iii

Dissertations

This study explores the role of municipal governance in municipal-level stabilization of inner suburbs in St. Louis County, Missouri. The data, from 1970 to 2015, include a robust collection of official government archives collected from five municipalities in St. Louis County, historical documents, city-state-national statistical data, and related materials. Interviews of 25 stakeholders were conducted and data were analyzed based on the community power structure framework.

I outline five mature St. Louis inner suburbs’ evolution in municipal-level conditions from 1970 to 2015, and I detail the role each suburbs’ municipal governance played in the evolution of municipal-level conditions. I conclude, …

Non-Traditional Church Involvement As A Life-Course Turning Point: Qualitative Interviews With Religious Offenders, William Hunter Holt

Dissertations

This research project conducted and then analyzed qualitative interviews from former and current addicts and criminal offenders who are voluntarily participating in the Christian faith at the same non-traditional, Protestant church. An abridged case study of this church is also provided for background and context. Life-course theory and grounded theory are utilized.

Both the offenders and this church were chosen in an attempt to better understand how the offenders’ involvement at this house of worship, along with their faith in general, have impacted them. Obtaining the perspectives of the offender is essential for three reasons. First, qualitative research conducted in …

Against The Wind: A Study On Aviation As A Female Career Choice, Bonnie Gagliardo

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study is to identify and describe the educational and social experiences that sparked the interest of female pilots as young women to pursue a career in aviation.

Methodology: This qualitative phenomenological study utilized semi- structured interviews to explore the lived experiences of female pilots, to understand if there were common social and educational factors which influenced them to become interested in aviation. Using convenience sampling, eleven pilots who hold a Federal Aviation Administration Commercial or Airline Transport Pilot’s License were selected to participate in this study.

Findings: The findings from this …

G.I. Jane Fem Etran Goes Corporate: An Exploration Of Post-9/11 Female Combat Veterans Transitioning To A Civilian Career, Tumona Austin

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this multiple-case study was to explore the experiences of post- 9/11 female combat veterans transitioning from military service to civilian careers, using the Schlossberg transition model factors of situation, self, social support, and strategies.

Methodology: This multiple-case study identified and interviewed post-9/11 female combat veterans transitioning from active-duty to civilian career. Respondents were purposively chosen based on specific criteria and expert panel recommendations.

Findings: Examination of case-study interview data and artifacts from the 3 post-9/11 female combat veterans indicated nine major findings:

1. The factor of situation clearly outweighed the other Schlossberg factors in impact.

2. …

Three Essays On The Impacts Of China’S Monetary Policy, Shen Chen

Dissertations

China has experienced high speed of economic growth, trying to catch up with the developed countries. Monetary policy has played a more and more important role in China. This dissertation studies the impacts of China's monetary policy on China's housing market, stock market, and China's economic growth.

The first essay examines macroeconomic determinants of China's housing price by constructing a VAR model. Granger Causality tests, impulse response functions and variance decompositions are used to analyze the impacts of macroeconomic factors on the housing price. By using the monthly data from 2005 to 2015, the results show that a contractionary monetary …

The Catholic Church And Its Impact On Public Policy In Contemporary Democracies, Dawid Tatarczyk

Dissertations

The overarching aim of this dissertation was to examine the extent to which the Catholic Church is still a significant public policy actor in 35 economically developed democracies. The research design used in this project draws on three distinct approaches, each addressing a different puzzle but when integrated together they provide an answer to the main question. Taken together these three approaches show that the Catholic Church continues to be an important political institution with considerable influence even in economically developed democracies.

The rational choice institutionalism paradigm is used to explain the political behavior of the Catholic Church. The paradigm …

Choral Theatre, Albert Joseph Wolfe Jr.

Dissertations

Jamaica gained its independence from Great Britain in 1962, after some 300 years of colonization. Prior to Independence, the standard arts education curriculum was decidedly British and Western European. That which was labeled Caribbean or Jamaican “folk” by the British was deemed inferior and was not taught, demonstrated, or performed in formal settings. Thus, generations of Jamaicans never observed or imagined a Caribbean aesthetic in the visual and performing arts. Instead, pre-Independence Jamaicans were taught British and Western European music and performed it the “British” way.

Today, Jamaicans boast a number of artistic developments that are instantly recognized across the …

The Growing Women’S Political Activism In Africa 1990-2010: An Explanatory Analysis Of Institutions And Contexts, Sylivia Juta

Dissertations

Women all over the world face significant social, cultural, political, and economic barriers that prevent them from obtaining leadership positions. Africa is no exception. However, in the past four decades, Africa has shown a remarkable increase in the number of women gaining political leadership positions, in particular as representatives in parliaments. Due to this remarkable increase in the number of women in parliament in africa, there is a dearth of literature exploring this phenomenon more systematically. Most studies on women’s representation focus on the context of developed countries. The few studies on the African continent are mostly single case studies …

Leadership Loss Within Independently-Controlled Protestant Churches: Protecting Against Leadership Turmoil And Turnover, Daniel L. Rundhaug

Dissertations

Throughout leadership research, limited focus has been given to the highest levels within independently controlled Protestant churches. Specifically, what accounts for the quality of relationship that exists between the senior pastor (recognized as the CEO of the organization) and the governing board to which he or she is responsible? This study examines the leadership relationship issue through the lens of a complementary leadership approach using Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory with transformational leadership and transactional leadership theories. In addition, several other questions were asked to identify potential other independent variables that contribute to the quality of the relationship between the two …

Telling Their Own Story: How Student Newspapers Reported Campus Unrest, 1962-1970, Kaylene Dial Armstrong

Dissertations

The work of student journalists often appears as a source in the footnotes when researchers tell the story of perhaps the most significant period in the history of higher education in the United States – the student protest era throughout the 1960s and early 1970s. Yet researchers and historians have ignored the student press itself during this same time period. This dissertation considers how the student reporters and editors did their job during major protests that occurred between 1962 and 1970, and tells not only the story of reporting protest but the individual stories of the student journalists.

The key …

How Politics, Economics, And Technology Influence Evaluation Requirements For Federally Funded Projects: A Historical Study Of The Elementary And Secondary Education Act From 1965 To 2005, Maxine R. Eversley-Gilling

Dissertations

Program evaluation does not take place in a vacuum. Its context is the interaction of political, economic, and technological developments that influenced the formation of federal policies for mandated evaluation requirements. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 established policies to provide “financial assistance to local educational agencies serving areas with concentrations of children from low-income families to expand and improve their educational program” (Public Law 89-10—Apr. 11, 1965). This legislation also had another consequence: it helped drive the establishment of educational program evaluation and the field of evaluation as a profession.

The purpose of this study is …

The Perceived Economic, Social, And Cultural Impacts Of Gaming On A Michigan Indian Tribe, Maureen Elizabeth Myers

Dissertations

The economic, social and cultural effect of tribal gaming on a Michigan Indian tribe is the focus of this study. Twelve individuals, identified as knowledgeable informants, were interviewed on how the tribal community has been impacted by the successful gaming operations and whether the nature of the gaming enterprises was an important factor.

During the interview process, the members of the community defined the changes in their lives resulting from the large amount of income that was benefiting this previously impoverished community. The participants were asked to describe, in their own words, important changes that had occurred in their personal, …