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Articles 5371 - 5400 of 8611

Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

A Crack In Everything, Jeffrey Hoffman Jan 2012

A Crack In Everything, Jeffrey Hoffman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Contained herein is a close examination of self-awareness and self-portraiture as it applies to the works of artist Jeffrey Hoffman. Water, frozen into various forms and combined with natural elements of wood, slowly melt over an indeterminable amount of time, each droplet documented as the process transforms the elements. Through this process, we see change. We see time. We see truth. This documentation of change and time through natural elements is where the artwork comes full circle. Working with new media to explore man's interconnectivity to life, energy, and the cosmos, he produces time based installations, photographs, videos, and sculptures …

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The Immaculate Condemnation, Corey Robertson Jan 2012

The Immaculate Condemnation, Corey Robertson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My work is a continuously evolving self portrait formulated by a combination of past experiences and influences. The Immaculate Condemnation body of work is a cathartic reaction that confronts Catholic Sin and rebels against gender conformity. As both a confirmed Catholic and transgender woman, I speak from an authentic voice that seeks open conversation regarding these topics. I also hope to demystify the transsexual body for the non-transgendered viewer. Additionally, I use allegoric imagery to communicate my interpretation of beauty, power, horror, and sex. I combine performance, photography, sculpture, video, audio, and graphic design to execute my installations. I intentionally …

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The Happiest Place On Earth - The Microbudget Model As A Means To An American National Cinema, John Goshorn Jan 2012

The Happiest Place On Earth - The Microbudget Model As A Means To An American National Cinema, John Goshorn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Happiest Place on Earth is a feature-length film written, directed, and produced by John Goshorn as part of the requirements for earning a Master of Fine Arts in Film & Digital Media from the University of Central Florida. The project aims to challenge existing conventions of the American fiction film on multiple levels – aesthetic, narrative, technical, and industrial – while dealing with a distinctly American subject and target audience. These challenges were both facilitated and necessitated by the limited resources available to the production team and the academic context of the production. This thesis is a record of …

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The Politics Of Slavery And Secession In Antebellum Florida, 1845-1861, Michael Paul Mcconville Jan 2012

The Politics Of Slavery And Secession In Antebellum Florida, 1845-1861, Michael Paul Mcconville

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The political history of antebellum Florida has long been overlooked in southern historiography. Florida was a state for just sixteen years before secession set it apart from the rest of the Union, but Florida’s road to secession was as unique as any of its southern counterparts. From the territorial days in the early nineteenth century, Florida’s political culture centered on the development and protection of slavery throughout the state. The bank wars in the pre-statehood and early statehood periods reflected differing views on how best to support the spread of the plantation economy, and the sectional strife of the 1850s …

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A Blue Flower: The Development Of A Personal Documentary, Nils Taranger Jan 2012

A Blue Flower: The Development Of A Personal Documentary, Nils Taranger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A Blue Flower is a feature-length documentary film by Nils Taranger, made as part of the requirements for earning a Master of Fine Arts in Entrepreneurial Digital Cinema from the University of Central Florida. The film focuses on the director’s journey to find healing, both physically and emotionally. Following the guidelines of UCF’s program, Nils produced the film on a microbudget (under $50,000) level. The majority of filming took place in Florida with only a one or two person crew. This thesis is a record of the film’s progression from development to picture lock, in preparation for distribution

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The Colonial Legacy Of Environmental Degradation In Nigeria's Niger River Delta, Joseph England Jan 2012

The Colonial Legacy Of Environmental Degradation In Nigeria's Niger River Delta, Joseph England

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nigeria’s petroleum industry is the lynchpin of its economy. While oil has been the source of immense wealth for the nation, that wealth has come at a cost. Nigeria’s main oilproducing region of the Niger River Delta has experienced tremendous environmental degradation as a result of decades of oil exploration and production. Although there have been numerous historical works on Nigeria’s oil industry, there have been no in-depth analyses of the historical roots of environmental degradation over the full range of time from the colonial period to the present. This thesis contends that the environmental degradation of Nigeria’s oil producing …

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Experiencing The World Of Franklin: The Making Of An Immersive And Interactive Historical Exhibit, Daniel Joseph Webster Jan 2012

Experiencing The World Of Franklin: The Making Of An Immersive And Interactive Historical Exhibit, Daniel Joseph Webster

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis involves the creation of a historically-themed museum element. The element, titled “Improving Community,” is a virtual interactive game that allows players to explore certain realities of colonial American life. Within the game, players are presented with a number of civic-related issues that existed throughout the eighteenth century, and they are then given options to improve the situation. Interactivity and immersion are key features of the game, and they have been incorporated so that players may engage with the past and assume a more active role in the process of historical reconstruction. Research for the games draws mostly upon …

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Vox Populi-Vox Belli: A Historical Study Of Southern Ante Bellum Public Attitudes And Motivations Toward Secession, Julian Boyden Jan 2012

Vox Populi-Vox Belli: A Historical Study Of Southern Ante Bellum Public Attitudes And Motivations Toward Secession, Julian Boyden

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines why the south seceded in 1860 as opposed to any other time in the 19th century and what changed the mentalité of the people in the period 1857-1860. The underlying issue in southern politics and the issue of secession was clearly slavery and slavery rested on the economics of cotton. Yet slavery and cotton do not explain why the South seceded in 1860 and not at other times in the preceding seventy years. 1807 saw the outlawing of the international slave trade and 1819 saw Congress pass the Slave Trade Act interdicting the ships involved. In 1828 …

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The Amish Farm In Transition: The Amish Response To Modernization In Northern Indiana, 1900-1920, Amy Grover Jan 2012

The Amish Farm In Transition: The Amish Response To Modernization In Northern Indiana, 1900-1920, Amy Grover

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the responses of Amish agrarians in northern Indiana to the mechanization and modernization of rural life in the early twentieth century. This period was marked by a shift towards agribusiness as well as the increased usage of farm machines. In addition to the increased emphasis on farm efficiency, reformers sought to modernize or update rural life. Within the context of these transformations, the Amish maintained their identity by exploring the necessity and the consequences of adapting to life in the modern world. Their responses to modernization defined not only their cultural boundaries in the modern world but …

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The Extension Of Imperial Authority Under Diocletian And The Tetrarchy, 285-305ce, Joshua Petitt Jan 2012

The Extension Of Imperial Authority Under Diocletian And The Tetrarchy, 285-305ce, Joshua Petitt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite a vast amount of research on Late Antiquity, little attention has been paid to certain figures that prove to be influential during this time. The focus of historians on Constantine I, the first Roman Emperor to allegedly convert to Christianity, has often come at the cost of ignoring Constantine's predecessor, Diocletian, sometimes known as the "Second Father of the Roman Empire". The success of Constantine's empire has often been attributed to the work and reforms of Diocletian, but there have been very few studies of the man beyond simple biography. This work will attempt to view three of Diocletian's …

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Confrontational Christianity: Contextual Theology And Its Radicalization Of The South African Anti-Apartheid Church Struggle, Miguel Rodriguez Jan 2012

Confrontational Christianity: Contextual Theology And Its Radicalization Of The South African Anti-Apartheid Church Struggle, Miguel Rodriguez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper is intended to analyze the contributions of Contextual Theology and Contextual theologians to dismantling the South African apartheid system. It is intended to demonstrate that the South African churches failed to effectively politicize and radicalize to confront the government until the advent of Contextual Theology in South Africa. Contextual Theology provided the Christian clergy the theological justification to unite with anti-apartheid organizations. Its very concept of working with the poor and oppressed helped the churches gain favor with the black masses that were mostly Christian. Its borrowing from Marxist philosophy appealed to anti-apartheid organizations. Additionally, Contextual theologians, who …

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The Sacrament Of Violence: Myth And War In C.S. Lewis's Ransom Trilogy, Tanya Engelhardt Jan 2012

The Sacrament Of Violence: Myth And War In C.S. Lewis's Ransom Trilogy, Tanya Engelhardt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My primary aim for this study is to illuminate the Ransom trilogy's inherent psychological and spiritual themes, as well as demonstrate how these themes clarify Lewis's philosophical and political goals for the text. Specifically, by investigating Lewis's mythic imagery and suffering motifs in light of psychoanalytic and theological literary criticisms, I elucidate the reasoning behind Lewis's unique—and at times, horrific—portrayal of fear, violence, and death. I also investigate how Lewis integrates his theology with the horrors of personal and intrapersonal suffering, as well as how he utilizes imagination and myth to explicate the practical (or political) implications of his theodicy. …

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A Case Of Double Conciousness Americo-Liberians And Indigenous Liberian Relations 1840-1930, Genesys Santana Jan 2012

A Case Of Double Conciousness Americo-Liberians And Indigenous Liberian Relations 1840-1930, Genesys Santana

HIM 1990-2015

This study argues that the formation of Americo-Liberian identity overwhelmingly relied on White American middle class cultural values despite the founders' criticisms and rejection of racial oppression and slavery. Americo-Liberians' previous participation in a culture that downgrades African heritage fostered the internalization of Western notions of civilization and African inferiority that led them to establish an oppressive regime similar to the one they had escaped from, and even enslaved the indigenous population, which they considered "uncivilized." The study thus investigates how formerly oppressed and enslaved blacks became oppressors and enslavers of other black people in the name of a "civilizing …

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Genetic Engineering As Literary Praxis: A Study In Contemporary Literature, Taylor Evans Jan 2012

Genetic Engineering As Literary Praxis: A Study In Contemporary Literature, Taylor Evans

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis considers the understudied issue of genetic engineering as it has been deployed in the literature of the late 20th century. With reference to the concept of the enlightened gender hybridity of Cyborg theory and an eye to ecocritical implications, I read four texts: Joan Slonczewski's 1986 science fiction novel A Door Into Ocean, Octavia Butler's science fiction trilogy Lilith's Brood – originally released between 1987 and 1989 as Xenogenesis – Simon Mawer's 1997 literary novel Mendel's Dwarf, and the first two books in Margaret Atwood's speculative fiction MaddAddam series: 2003's Oryx and Crake and 2009's The Year Of …

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Renovations And Other Stories, Amanda Rene Lager Jan 2012

Renovations And Other Stories, Amanda Rene Lager

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Renovations and Other Stories is a linked collection of ten fiction stories that examines the ways by which women renew or restore themselves. The collection is set in the imaginary city of St. Clair, South Carolina, a town balancing historical accuracy with the sensational tourist industry; Carolinians who trace their ancestries back to the American Revolution with suburban newcomers; and the notion of cherishing the past with moving forward. Many of the characters struggle with identity, whether it is regional or feminine individuality. The protagonists must challenge self-image when faced with situations that make them reconsider their places in their …

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Finding Sundays: A Collection Of Stories, Tamra Artelia Martin Jan 2012

Finding Sundays: A Collection Of Stories, Tamra Artelia Martin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Finding Sundays: A Collection of Stories is a collection that explores the lives of people in the fictional town of Hickory Springs, Virginia. The title story "Finding Sundays" follows the life of Deacon Taylor and connects him to the characters around him in the proceeding pieces. These stories explore the lives of Deacon, his family, and his childhood friend, Sandra. The focus of this collection is not meant to be about spirituality or religion in general, although these exist as themes in the background of the stories. Instead, it is meant to look at how the lives of people connected …

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Escape Artist, Alejandro Mujica Jan 2012

Escape Artist, Alejandro Mujica

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My thesis, Escape Artist, is a composite novel written as a fictitious memoir, similar in style to Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried, that describes my experiences between the years 2001 and 2011. During that time I went through Marine Corps Boot Camp, became a military police officer, patrolled Yuma, AZ, was sent to Iraq for a sevenmonth tour as a security detail just before the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and made it back home four years later. The novel also looks into my struggles with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms, how they affected the people around me, and what …

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The Bed As Object And Metaphor, Heather Comparetto Jan 2012

The Bed As Object And Metaphor, Heather Comparetto

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This series of work explores the nature of the bed as object and metaphor. The bed is an object where an action, such as thinking and laying awake takes place. In a metaphorical sense, the bed in my work represents moods and emotions that are psychologically tied to the bed. In this body of work I explore the relationship between the person and the bed. The bed represents not only an intimate space, but also a hiding place of retreat and self-imposed alienation. This series pulls from personal experience, influences such as Alison Brady and Sophie Callie, and select films …

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Soviet And Eastern European Reactions To American Exhibitions: Cultural Exchange And The Cold War, 1961-1976, Jennie Edith Miller Jan 2012

Soviet And Eastern European Reactions To American Exhibitions: Cultural Exchange And The Cold War, 1961-1976, Jennie Edith Miller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

After the signing of the Cultural Exchange Agreement in 1958, exhibitions of culture and technology were exchanged between the Soviet Union and the United States. These exhibitions continued to be exchanged well into the 1980s. This paper focuses on comment books from seven of these cultural exchange exhibitions, five in the Soviet Union and two in Eastern Europe, in the years between 1961 and 1976. The public nature of the comment books and the way they were treated by visitors made them a space for expressions of popular opinions over the issues of public policy and ideology. As such, they …

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Engaging And Enacting Writing In First-Year Composition: Re-Imagining Student Self-Efficacy In Writing, Mary L. Tripp Jan 2012

Engaging And Enacting Writing In First-Year Composition: Re-Imagining Student Self-Efficacy In Writing, Mary L. Tripp

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

According to educational theory, learning to write necessitates self-belief that one is capable of performing required tasks. This belief is called self-efficacy, a component of human agency. Students who enter First-Year Composition (FYC), are often unaware of the writing challenges that lie ahead, and many educational psychologists posit that self-efficacy beliefs are the most important factor in meeting these writing challenges. While socio-cognitive theory shapes views of self-efficacy in education literature, to date, measures of self-efficacy in writing have focused only on the individual cognitive beliefs as they influence writing performance outcomes. However, current research in writing studies as well …

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Perceptions Of Life And Death Through The Metaphor Of Paint: Construction And Deconstruction Of Form, Nannette Cherry Jan 2012

Perceptions Of Life And Death Through The Metaphor Of Paint: Construction And Deconstruction Of Form, Nannette Cherry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper will explore classical and contemporary methods of painting applied to the portrait. It will emphasize the metaphor of paint as flesh and the connotations of the breakdown of the painted form that stands in for flesh as it relates to our preoccupations with our own mortality. Borrowing from influences like Lucian Freud, Jenny Saville, and Francis Bacon, the artwork explores the creation of a form that is physical and confrontational, and is intended to provoke a psychological response in the viewer. This series of figuration bases its processes on traditional methods, while borrowing from modern art devices to …

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Placing Birds On A Dynamic Evolutionary Map: Using Digital Tools To Update The Evolutionary Metaphor Of The "Tree Of Life", Sonia Stephens Jan 2012

Placing Birds On A Dynamic Evolutionary Map: Using Digital Tools To Update The Evolutionary Metaphor Of The "Tree Of Life", Sonia Stephens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation describes and presents a new type of interactive visualization for communicating about evolutionary biology, the dynamic evolutionary map. This web-based tool utilizes a novel map-based metaphor to visualize evolution, rather than the traditional "tree of life." The dissertation begins with an analysis of the conceptual affordances of the traditional tree of life as the dominant metaphor for evolution. Next, theories from digital media, visualization, and cognitive science research are synthesized to support the assertion that digital media tools can extend the types of visual metaphors we use in science communication in order to overcome conceptual limitations of traditional …

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The Many Pedagogies Of Memoir: A Study Of The Promise Of Teaching Memoir In College Composition, Melissa Lee Jan 2012

The Many Pedagogies Of Memoir: A Study Of The Promise Of Teaching Memoir In College Composition, Melissa Lee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the promise and problems of memoir in the pedagogy and practices of teaching memoir in college composition. I interviewed three University of Central Florida instructors who value memoir in composition, and who at the time of this study, were mandated to teach memoir in their composition courses. The interviews focus on three main points of interest: (1) the instructors’ motivations behind their teaching of memoir, (2) how these instructors see memoir functioning in their classes, and (3) what these instructors hope their students will gain in the process of writing the memoir essay. By analyzing these interviews, …

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Writing For Change And Changing Writing: Service Learning, First-Year Composition And Writing About Writing, Vanessa Rae Bormann Jan 2012

Writing For Change And Changing Writing: Service Learning, First-Year Composition And Writing About Writing, Vanessa Rae Bormann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Through a piloted model of curriculum designed for ENC 1101 this teacher-research study investigated how service-learning can shape the experiences of both teachers and students in the first-year composition classroom. The research aimed to determine the ways in which enhancement occurred for students and teachers through evaluation of student coursework, a post-semester student focus group and a faculty interview. Focusing on the impacts of this curriculum on a part-time teacher, this study also aimed to bring to light some of the challenges inherent in service-learning within FYC, while offering ways to mediate those challenges in both course design and departmental …

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Florida's Paradox Of Progress: An Examination Of The Origins, Construction, And Impact Of The Tamiami Trail, Mark Schellhammer Jan 2012

Florida's Paradox Of Progress: An Examination Of The Origins, Construction, And Impact Of The Tamiami Trail, Mark Schellhammer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study illustrates the impact of the Tamiami Trail on the people and environment of South Florida through an examination of the road’s origins, construction and implementation. By exploring the motives behind building the highway, the subsequent assimilation of indigenous societies, the drastic population growth that occurred as a result of a propagated “Florida Dream”, and the environmental decline of the surrounding Everglades, this analysis reveals that the Tamiami Trail is viewed today through a much different context than that of the road’s builders and promoters in the early twentieth century. While construction projects that aim to prevent, or limit …

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White And Black Womanhoods And Their Representations In 1920s American Advertising, Lindsey L. Turnbull Jan 2012

White And Black Womanhoods And Their Representations In 1920s American Advertising, Lindsey L. Turnbull

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The 1920s represented a time of tension in America. Throughout the decade, marginalized groups created competing versions of a proper citizen. African-Americans sought to be included in the national fabric. Racism encouraged solidarity, but black Americans did not agree upon one method for coping with, and hopefully ending, antiblack racism. White women enjoyed new privileges and took on more roles in the public sphere. Reactionary groups like the Ku Klux Klan found these new voices unsettling and worrisome and celebrated a white, nativeborn, Protestant and male vision of the American citizen. Simultaneously, technological innovations allowed for advertising to flourish and …

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Between Words: Popular Culture And The Rise Of Print In Seventeenth Century England, Christie Schneck Jan 2012

Between Words: Popular Culture And The Rise Of Print In Seventeenth Century England, Christie Schneck

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Seventeenth century England was forced to come to terms with events such as the Civil War and the regicide of King Charles I, in the midst of contending with the cultural changes brought upon by print culture, the effects of which appeared throughout all aspects of English society. These changes helped form a relationship between print and oral culture, one of negotiation among the producers and regulators of work and the society consuming the works. The discussion of this negotiation has led to varying conclusions concerning the true impact of printed materials on English society and culture, all of which …

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Gender Bias In The Technical Disciplines, Jessica Lynn Campbell Jan 2012

Gender Bias In The Technical Disciplines, Jessica Lynn Campbell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates how women are affected by gender bias in the workplace. Despite the increasing numbers of women in the workforce, women are still under-represented and under-valued in workplaces, which, in part, is due to their gender stereotype. This study demonstrates how gender bias in the workplace has been proven to limit women in their careers and potential in their occupational roles. The media’s negative depiction of women in their gender stereotype reinforces and perpetuates this image as a cultural norm in society. Women both conform and are judged and evaluated according to their weak and submissive gender stereotype. …

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That's A Wrap! The Organizational Culture And Characteristics Of Successful Film Crews, Lisa C. Cook Jan 2012

That's A Wrap! The Organizational Culture And Characteristics Of Successful Film Crews, Lisa C. Cook

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study seeks to determine through survey research what characteristics film production crews possess that makes them so successful as an organization. The factors of age, gender, years of professional experience and education level were tested for their significance on how the respondents view their culture. Hofstede's six dimensions of organizational culture survey questions were rewritten to be applicable to the freelance film crew sample. The presentation of findings focuses on the resultant organizational profile of a film production crew, the workplace values of this group and the influence that the education level of the participants had on responses. The …

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Metaphoric Competence As A Means To Meta-Cognitive Awareness In First-Year Composition, David T. Dadurka Jan 2012

Metaphoric Competence As A Means To Meta-Cognitive Awareness In First-Year Composition, David T. Dadurka

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A growing body of writing research suggests college students’ and teachers’ conceptualizations of writing play an important role in learning to write and making the transition from secondary to post-secondary academic composition. First-year college writers are not blank slates; rather, they bring many assumptions and beliefs about academic writing to the first-year writing classroom from exposure to a wide range of literate practices throughout their lives. Metaphor acts as a way for scholars to trace students’ as well as their instructors’ assumptions and beliefs about writing. In this study, I contend that metaphor is a pathway to meta-cognitive awareness, mindfulness, …

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