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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

The Origins Of Three Meroitic Bronze Oil Lamps In The Museum Of Fine Arts, Boston, Stephanie Joan Sakoutis Jun 2009

The Origins Of Three Meroitic Bronze Oil Lamps In The Museum Of Fine Arts, Boston, Stephanie Joan Sakoutis

Art and Design Theses

This thesis discusses three bronze oil lamps found in the ancient city of Meroë, in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Scholars have considered the lamps to be imported from Hellenistic Egypt, but careful examination has revealed that the lamps were not imported. The lamps were locally made in Meroë; the materials and technology needed to create bronze lamps were available to Meroitic craftsmen.


The Good Cut: The Barbershop In The African American Literary Tradition, Terry Sinclair Bozeman May 2009

The Good Cut: The Barbershop In The African American Literary Tradition, Terry Sinclair Bozeman

English Dissertations

Few African American males do not have at least one memory of a barbershop. The barbershop is a space that finds a home in virtually every community in which you find Black males. To some degree, virtually all genres and periods of African American literary expression have situated the barbershop as a mediating space in the formulation of a Black masculine identity. The barbershop as mediating space allows Black males the opportunity to view themselves and also critique the ways in which they are gazed upon by the literary imagination. African American authors, through the use of the barbershop, bring …


An Incompatibility Between Intentionalism And Multiple Authorship In Film, Steven Christopher Hager May 2009

An Incompatibility Between Intentionalism And Multiple Authorship In Film, Steven Christopher Hager

Philosophy Theses

The multiple authorship view for film is the claim that multiple authors exist for almost any given film. This view is a recent development in opposition to the longstanding single authorship view which holds that there is only one author for every film, usually the director. One of the most often-cited reasons in support of the multiple authorship claim is that multiple authorship views more successfully explain the following fact about filmmaking better than single authorship views: filmmakers’ intentions sometimes conflict with each other during the production of a film. However, since multiple authorship views cannot adequately explain how a …


A Small Place In Georgia: Yeoman Cultural Persistance, Terrence Lee Kersey May 2009

A Small Place In Georgia: Yeoman Cultural Persistance, Terrence Lee Kersey

History Theses

In antebellum Upcounty Georgia, the Southern yeomanry developed a society independent of the planter class. Many of the studies of the pre-Civil War Southern yeomanry describe a class that is living within the cracks of a planter-dominated society, using, and subject to those institutions that served the planter class. Yet in Forsyth County, a yeomanry-dominated society created and nurtured institutions that met their class needs, not parasitically using those developed by the planter class for their own needs.


The Role Of Afterlife Myths In Plato's Moral Arguments, Daniel William Issler May 2009

The Role Of Afterlife Myths In Plato's Moral Arguments, Daniel William Issler

Philosophy Theses

I will address the issue of Plato’s use of myths concerning the afterlife in the context of the ethical arguments of the Gorgias, Phaedo and Republic, and I will contend that while the arguments in each dialogue are aimed at convincing the rational part of the self, the myths are aimed at persuading the non-rational part of the self. In support of this interpretation, I will examine Plato’s views on the relation between the different parts of the soul and the relationship that poetry and myth have to philosophy. I will argue that Plato’s use of myth is a legitimate …


The Proper Metric Of Justice In Justice As Fairness, Charles Benjamin Carmichael May 2009

The Proper Metric Of Justice In Justice As Fairness, Charles Benjamin Carmichael

Philosophy Theses

I explore the problem of using primary goods as the index for determining the least-advantaged members in a society in Rawls’s theory of justice. I look at the problems presented to Rawls by Amartya Sen and his capabilities approach. I discuss the solutions to Sen’s problems given by Norman Daniels, who argues that primary goods are able to take capabilities into account. Finally, I supplement Daniels, arguing that the parameters Rawls uses to define his theory limit Sen’s objection and that primary goods are the appropriate metric of justice in Rawls’s theory.


In The Name Of God, Sharon Mccusker Apr 2009

In The Name Of God, Sharon Mccusker

Art and Design Theses

This exhibition is a direct response to my own religious upbringing. I chose to explore the oppression upon women, gays and people of color by religious intolerance. The Church dictates social and political mores that affect our society and culture and the way we are treated and governed. The use of the bible and conservative belief structures to defend the ill manner in which we are treated should not be ordained in today’s social construct. In the Name of god addresses issues from the Inquisition to the current war for control over women’s bodies and our reproductive systems. By revisiting …


The Moral Reality Of War: Defensive Force And Just War Theory, Maj Robert E. Underwood Iii Apr 2009

The Moral Reality Of War: Defensive Force And Just War Theory, Maj Robert E. Underwood Iii

Philosophy Theses

The permissible use of defensive force is a central tenet of the traditional legal and philosophical justification for war and its practice. Just War Theory holds a nation’s right to resist aggressive attack with defensive force as the clearest example of a just cause for war. Just War Theory also stipulates norms for warfare derived from a conception of defensive force asserted to be consistent with the moral reality of war. Recently, these aspects of Just War Theory have been criticized. David Rodin has challenged the status of national defense as an uncontroversial just cause. Jeff McMahan has charged that …


Absent Characters As Proximate Cause In Twentieth Century American Drama, Sarah Emily Morrow Apr 2009

Absent Characters As Proximate Cause In Twentieth Century American Drama, Sarah Emily Morrow

English Theses

This thesis explores the status of a specific subset of absent characters within twentieth century American drama. By borrowing the term “proximate cause” from tort law and illuminating its intricacies through David Hume’s A Treatise of Human Nature, this thesis re-appropriates proximate cause for literary studies. Rather than focus on characters whose existence remains the subject of critical debate, this set of absent characters presumably exists but never appear onstage. Despite their non-appearance onstage, however, these absent characters nonetheless have a profound effect upon the action that occurs during their respective plays. Highlighting the various ways in which these characters …


El Reguetón: Análisis Del Léxico De La Música De Los Reguetoneros Puertorriqueños, Ashley Elizabeth Wood Apr 2009

El Reguetón: Análisis Del Léxico De La Música De Los Reguetoneros Puertorriqueños, Ashley Elizabeth Wood

World Languages and Cultures Theses

This paper examines the linguistic qualities of reggaeton in order to determine to which extent the music represents the speech of the urban residents of Puerto Rico. The lyrics of this music are analyzed in order to see if they are used only within the context of reggaeton or if they are part of the Puerto Rican lexicon in general. The political context of Puerto Rico with respect to the United States is taken in to consideration with the formation of Anglicisms and the use of English. The paper summarizes the current knowledge of the Puerto Rican lexicon as well …


The Red Tent A Case Study For Feminist Midrash, Karen Flagg Apr 2009

The Red Tent A Case Study For Feminist Midrash, Karen Flagg

Religious Studies Theses

This thesis puts forth the argument that two contrasting models of modern feminist midrash evolved in the late nineteenth century. Both models successfully bridge Jewish tradition and modern experience. The Red Tent serves as a primary text and a case study in this discussion of modern feminist midrash.


I Remember..., Jessica Scott-Felder Apr 2009

I Remember..., Jessica Scott-Felder

Art and Design Theses

I Remember…, a series of drawings, is based on personal social experiences starting from the age of thirteen. This series begins with a memory of the first time I had to speak to a room full of people and the unexpected events of that followed. My own relationship with one of the primary subjects, the chair refers to memories of being raised in a home where certain furnishings were “off-limits.” Even more important is the presence of a cryptic narrative, fractured and dreamlike, similar to the style of writing created by Alain Robbe-Grillet. It has been a lifetime goal to …


Consumer Goods?, Matt Sigmon Apr 2009

Consumer Goods?, Matt Sigmon

Art and Design Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to extrapolate through research the conceptual underpinnings of a body of artwork created by Matt Sigmon. The thesis explains the work in relation to art historical references to readymade art and the dilemmas that arise when fine art is compared to consumer commodities.


The Importance Of Being Oscar: A Performance Studies Inquiry Of Wilde's Literary Women, Sydney Nicole Lanier Apr 2009

The Importance Of Being Oscar: A Performance Studies Inquiry Of Wilde's Literary Women, Sydney Nicole Lanier

English Theses

The plays of Oscar Wilde hold more than just sharp wit and likable characters; they also contain examinations of aspects of the playwright's own personality and explorations of possible life choices. Through the use of Performance Studies theory, this thesis seeks to shed light on how Wilde saw himself versus how he presented himself at different points in his life. The texts analyzed within are Wilde's 1891 dramatic religious retelling, Salomé, and his 1894 domestic comedy, The Importance of Being Ernest. Within each are clues to the interior desires of their author: Salomé offers an investigation of a strong female …


"Nam-Shub Versus The Big Other: Revising The Language That Binds Us In Philip K. Dick, Neal Stephenson, Samuel R. Delany, And Chuck Palahniuk", Jason Michael Embry Apr 2009

"Nam-Shub Versus The Big Other: Revising The Language That Binds Us In Philip K. Dick, Neal Stephenson, Samuel R. Delany, And Chuck Palahniuk", Jason Michael Embry

English Dissertations

Within the science fiction genre, utopian as well as dystopian experiments have found equal representation. This balanced treatment of two diametrically opposed social constructs results from a focus on the future for which this particular genre is well known. Philip K. Dick’s VALIS, Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash, Samuel R. Delany’s Babel-17, and Chuck Palahniuk’s Lullaby, more aptly characterized as speculative fiction because of its use of magic against scientific social subjugation, each tackle dystopian qualities of contemporary society by analyzing the power that language possesses in the formation of the self and propagation of ideology. The utopian goals of these …


The Myths Of The Self-Made-Man: Cowboys, Salesmen And Pirates In Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie And Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman, Camille Gros Apr 2009

The Myths Of The Self-Made-Man: Cowboys, Salesmen And Pirates In Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie And Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman, Camille Gros

English Theses

Most books written about American drama concern definitions of masculinity, the American dream, and the family in a society that encourages people to surpass their competences and limits. American playwrights of the twentieth century reveal the anxiety and insecurity of men who do not rise up to the standards of the American dream. In concentrating on these themes, most critics have analyzed the main characters and plots but have left aside hints about other myths. This study aims to analyse the extended use of the cowboy, of salesman, and of pirate in Tennessee Williams’s The Glass Menagerie and Arthur Miller’s …


Reflection: The Structure Of Memory, Etienne Jackson Apr 2009

Reflection: The Structure Of Memory, Etienne Jackson

Art and Design Theses

The research and body of work collected in this document address the relationship of my memories to specific physical visual forms. These representations form the basis of how the mind structures relationships between specific objects and memories. Through reflection associations are created that activate the mind to recall these memories via mnemonic visual references. These mnemonic references are objects of familiarity that create a concrete relationship between form and memory experiences.


Let's Exchange The Experience, Jesse Creede Hinshaw Apr 2009

Let's Exchange The Experience, Jesse Creede Hinshaw

Art and Design Theses

The purpose of this study is to attain an understanding of my work for the viewer as well as myself. These works on paper are visual documents illustrating my ideas and opinions about media and its desire for control. Through research, critical thinking, experience, and exposure to media (both wanted and unwanted) I have created imagery that I feel is exemplary of our forced relationship with advertising. In order to accomplish this I studied my influences, and the origin of my current work. Reading upon realization of those influences further informed the work. Every conceivable influence was studied and analyzed, …


Motivating Emotional Content, Benjamin Sheredos Apr 2009

Motivating Emotional Content, Benjamin Sheredos

Philosophy Theses

Among philosophers of the emotions, it is common to view emotional content as purely descriptive – that is, belief-like or perception-like. I argue that this is a mistake. The intentionality of the emotions cannot be understood in isolation from their motivational character, and emotional content is also inherently directive – that is, desire-like. This view’s strength is its ability to explain a class of emotional behaviors that I argue, the common view fails to explain adequately. I claim that it is already implicit in leading theories of emotion elicitation in cognitive psychology – “appraisal theories.” The result is a deeper …


Defending Noe's Enactive Theory Of Perception, Lucas Allen Keefer Apr 2009

Defending Noe's Enactive Theory Of Perception, Lucas Allen Keefer

Philosophy Theses

Theories of perception can broadly be divided into two groups: orthodox and heterodox theories (Noë & Thompson, 2002). Orthodox theories of perception consider perception as a neurological process, i.e. as a phenomenon which can be explained solely in terms of intracranial facts. Heterodox views expand this scope, maintaining that an understanding of perception must include extracranial facts, or facts about the environment in which a perceiver is situated (ibid.). This thesis will attempt to defend a particular exemplar of this heterodox approach, namely the enactive theory of perception proposed by Alva Noë. The thesis has two primary goals. First, I …


Teleosemantics, Externalism, And The Content Of Theoretical Concepts, Daniel C. Burnston Apr 2009

Teleosemantics, Externalism, And The Content Of Theoretical Concepts, Daniel C. Burnston

Philosophy Theses

In several works, Ruth Millikan (1998a, 2000, 2006) has developed a ‘teleosemantic’ theory of concepts. Millikan’s theory has three explicit desiderata for concepts: wide scope, non-descriptionist content, and naturalism. I contend that Millikan’s theory cannot fulfill all of these desiderata simultaneously. Theoretical concepts, such as those of chemistry and physics, fall under Millikan’s intended scope, but I will argue that her theory cannot account for these concepts in a way that is compatible with both non-descriptionism and naturalism. In these cases, Millikan’s view is subject to the traditional ‘indeterminacy problem’ for teleosemantic theories. This leaves the content of theoretical concepts …


If Animals Could Talk, Matthew Moore Apr 2009

If Animals Could Talk, Matthew Moore

Art and Design Theses

This paper is an investigation of the ideas and philosophies that have played a role in the creation of my thesis exhibition entitled If Animals Could Talk. While my research into the subject of animals and more specifically human/animal interaction has covered a wide spectrum, this paper focuses on several texts including, “Why Look at Animals,” by John Berger and “Simulation and Simulacra” by Jean Baudrillard as being influential in the development of my artwork. This paper also analyzes the work of several artists dealing with human/animal relations. Those artists include Sanna Kannisto, Neeta Madahar and Douglas Gordon.


Trashures, Clarissa Pimentel Brandao Apr 2009

Trashures, Clarissa Pimentel Brandao

Art and Design Theses

Trashures celebrates my debut in the sustainable world and is my public statement of change. It is essentially provocative, informative and educational and serves three major fronts. First, Trashures aims to raise awareness among visual artists. Second, it seeks to introduce and explore the use of agri-pulp papers in Graphic Design, as a viable commercial solution. Third, it culminates in an invitation to visual artists to search for sustainable solutions. Trashures is about transformations. It highlights the transformation of passive materials into active ones, or the transformation of waste into either papers or as subject matter, as a sustainable way …


Information: Moving Forward With New Media Through Experiments In Digital And Video Art., Benjmain James Worley Apr 2009

Information: Moving Forward With New Media Through Experiments In Digital And Video Art., Benjmain James Worley

Art and Design Theses

My art is an experimental exploration of new media using images and sounds, combined with technology to communicate messages both random and intentional. This thesis will document a contemporary method of creating art with computers, which results in disorganized images from the unique point of view of a dyslexic artist. This study will explain how art is randomized information and explain the didactic processes of my art. The concept of the work is to present old media in a new context and show how information is accumulated into a new understanding. Historically, my art builds on the Dadaist movement. Humor, …


A Critic In Her Own Right: Taking Virginia Woolf's Literary Criticism Seriously, Yvonne Nicole Richter Apr 2009

A Critic In Her Own Right: Taking Virginia Woolf's Literary Criticism Seriously, Yvonne Nicole Richter

English Theses

Considered mostly ancillary to her fiction, Virginia Woolf’s prolific career in literary criticism has rarely been studied in its entirety and in its own right. This study situates her in the common critical practices of her day and crystallizes basic tenets and a critical theory of sorts from her critical journalism published 1904–1928: the author argues that Woolf does not advocate a policing role for the critic, but rather that critics foster art in collaboration with readers and writers. Finally, this work discusses Woolf’s appeal to writers to invest all their energy in improving their skills in character portrayal to …


The Necessity Of Narrative: Personal Writing And Digital Spaces In The High School Composition Classroom, Catherine Coker Rumfelt Apr 2009

The Necessity Of Narrative: Personal Writing And Digital Spaces In The High School Composition Classroom, Catherine Coker Rumfelt

English Theses

In the late 1960s, personal narrative became popular in high school and college writing classrooms as the expressivist and process movements emerged. Since then, personal narrative has recently lost its significance and it is no longer in our writing curricula. In this paper, I discuss the necessity of teaching personal narrative in the secondary composition classroom as it serves an important role in argument. In addition, I will argue for the use of digital spaces to engage students in a critical conversation through narrative.


Changing Narratives, Changing Destiny: Myth, Ritual And Afrocentric Identity Construction At The National Rites Of Passage Institute, Michael Karlin Apr 2009

Changing Narratives, Changing Destiny: Myth, Ritual And Afrocentric Identity Construction At The National Rites Of Passage Institute, Michael Karlin

Religious Studies Theses

According to the National Rites of Passage Institute (NROPI), African Americans have lost their authentic identity, which has led to inauthentic, broken individuals and communities. In order to reverse these trends, according to NROPI, African Americans must rediscover their authentic identity through a rites of passage program that plucks them from a Eurocentric narrative and places them into an Afrocentric one. This thesis explores how NROPI is a religious response to adversity that takes on a decidedly American form of contemporary religiosity. I argue that by analyzing NROPI and other contemporary rites of passage programs through the lens of religious …


Nota: A Mark Or Sign, Claire Knob Paul Apr 2009

Nota: A Mark Or Sign, Claire Knob Paul

Art and Design Theses

“Nota” is a merging language of sound, instruction, and visual elements from the unique experience of performing on a wind instrument. I create improvisational drawings inspired by the nature of improvisational sound, performance, and the reflection of moment making. These works are tied to my interest in the human body and its endless variations. The anthropomorphic nature of these instruments ties closely to the human element of touch and breathing. As a focus for this experience, I create drawings that are inspired by the essence of communicating through touch what I am often trying to communicate though musical performance. The …


Raz And His Critics: A Defense Of Razian Authority, Jason Thomas Craig Apr 2009

Raz And His Critics: A Defense Of Razian Authority, Jason Thomas Craig

Philosophy Theses

Joseph Raz has developed a concept of authority based on the special relationship between reasons and action. While the view is very complex and subtle, it can be summed up by saying that authorities are authorities insofar as they can mediate between the reasons that happen to bind their subjects and the subjects’ actions. Authorities do this by providing special reasons via directives to their subjects. These special reasons are what Raz calls “protected reasons.” Protected reasons are both first-order reasons for action and second-order “exclusionary reasons” that exclude the subject from considering some reasons in the balance of reasons …


From Countrypolitan To Neotraditional: Gender, Race, Class, And Region In Female Country Music, 1980-1989, Dana C. Wiggins Apr 2009

From Countrypolitan To Neotraditional: Gender, Race, Class, And Region In Female Country Music, 1980-1989, Dana C. Wiggins

History Dissertations

During the 1980s, women in country music enjoyed unprecedented success in record sales, television, film, and on pop and country charts. For female performers, many of their achievements were due to their abilities to mold their images to mirror American norms and values, namely increasing political conservatism, the backlashes against feminism and the civil rights movement, celebrations of working and middle class life, and the rise of the South. This dissertation divides the 1980s into three distinct periods and then discusses the changing uses of gender, race, class, and region in female country music and links each to larger historical …