Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Band At Little Rock Central High School Before, During, And After Integration In 1957-1958, Brandon Earl Robinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the history of the Little Rock Central High School band before, during, and after integration in 1957-1958. A review of related literature in the areas of civil rights, Brown v. Board of Education, integration of schools, integration of Little Rock Central High School, and integration of school music programs provided the rationale for this study. Based on the related literature, research questions for this study included: What was the history of the Central Band before, during, and after integration in 1957-1958? Who was the first African American in the Central band? When …

Eleven Criminals: Stories, Brendan Steffen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This is a work of fiction about criminality and masculinity. It explores all kinds of crimes, both real and imagined.

Silk Road: A Novel, Elizabeth Mckay Mcfadden

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Silk Road: A Novel

That Spanified League: The Elizabethan Catholic Community And Resistance To The Jesuits, Thomas Ridgedell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Historians have devoted much attention to Catholics in Elizabethan England at a time when tensions ran high between the Catholic Church and the English state. The current dissertation deals with perceptions of the Jesuits among the Catholic community in the Elizabethan Age. Numerous primary sources, both printed and manuscript, written by the Jesuits, their supporters, and their opponents were consulted in the writing of this dissertation. Additionally, the observations and research of other historians have been included to show how the current study differs from past scholarship on the Catholic community in Elizabethan England. Previous studies of the Elizabethan Catholics …

Exploring Acculturation And Intercultural Identity Building Of International Students At The University Of Mississippi, Rachael Clare Walker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Southern Bestsellers In The Twenty-First Century, Jodie Free

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the concept of bestsellers in the twenty-first century, with a particular focus on six novels written by contemporary southern authors. These novels are analyzed through the lens of social consciousness, with attention to how they reflect current social issues, and how they engage with and subvert cultural and literary stereotypes. Bestsellers are books that are widely read, shared and discussed, often because they connect to concerns about identity; this study speculates on the influence of bestsellers on national and regional reader identity, specifically race, gender and class. Chapter I explores feminine roles in Lee Smith's The Last …

When The Counterculture Picked Up A Southern Twang: A Cultural Analysis Of Late Sixties And Early Seventies Country Rock Movement, Xiang Xu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My thesis is a cultural analysis of California-based country-rock movement in the late sixties and early seventies. Country rock is a hybrid music genre emerged during this period. Musicians active in the country-rock movement were mostly counterculture hippies, and they adopted country music to serve their own ends. There is no unified ideological thinking in this movement. Some musicians were political while others were not. Music critics generally agree that country rock was a cultural reaction to the cynicism and rootlessness of youth culture in the late sixties and early seventies. The counterculture looked to country music for inspiration because …

Dis Connect, Bradley Scott Luke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Explaining The Decline In Fertility Rates In Post-War Italy, Susanna Rychlak

Honors Theses

The aim of this thesis is to examine the decline in fertility rate in post-war Italy and identify its causes. Fertility rate in Italy dropped dramatically across 1970-2010 in a stark departure from the nation's previous reproductive patterns. This has led to an increasingly aging population, and holds important implications for Italy's future. This study demonstrates that there has been a meaningful shift in cultural values that has led to fertility decline in Italy since 1970. In order to provide historical context for the importance of this cultural shift, the thesis first presents the Italian culture and familial structure of …

A Yen Saved Is A Yen Earned: Deconstructing The Japanese Savings Rate, James Smith

Honors Theses

Since the 1990s, Japan's savings rate has been in decline. In this thesis, I posit two theories to explain this phenomenon. The first, the Demographics Theory, states that the savings rate is declining due to Japan's aging population, but that this effect is less than in countries with similar demographics. The second, the Employment Theory, states that the savings rate is declining due to a decrease in the number of permanent employees in the Japanese economy. To test these theories, multiple regressions are run using data obtained from governmental agencies and the World Bank. The results for the Demographics Theory …

The Chamberlain Estate Or: How Investors Will Learn To Stop Worrying And Give Me Money To Make My Movie, Connor King

Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to have developed a competent pre-production packet for a feature length indie movie set in the South that would pique the interest of potential investors, while having ascertained the knowledge and skill set to fully realize the script as a leader of the project. Methods to achieve this goal include working on movie sets from all angles to gain first hand experience—from directing to holding sound equipment—and researching the market potential from films of a similar genre to see if this venture is worthwhile financially for myself and other stakeholders. After working on sets …

Glimpse, Daria Katherina Schwartz

Honors Theses

This thesis is a compilation of poetry that I have written about moments that people let me in to their life. It is a work of creative non-fiction.

Unsettle Me, Lanie King Anderson

Honors Theses

This book is about my journey of faith in Jesus Christ during my undergraduate studies at the University of Mississippi. I read memoirs about others' spiritual journeys and studied their writing styles and storytelling methods before beginning my own memoir about my moments of spiritual unsettledness in school. I am convinced that the college experience, if whole-heartedly embraced, changes people. As a student, I have grown personally, cognitively, socially, and culturally in four years, such a short time for such change and growth. But I have especially grown spiritually because of my experiences in college. Questions have arisen about my …

Physicians, Patients, And Poets, Mary Ball Markow

Honors Theses

I examined the works of William Carlos Williams, Peter Pereira, Rafael Campo, Tory Dent, Lucia Perillo, and John Rybicki to gain a better understanding of the field of medicine. I selected these authors based upon their varied experiences with illness, disease, and loss. Their prose and poetry illuminate the nature of medicine and provide insight into human nature as well. The thesis has been edited for the SMBHC Thesis Repository to protect the copyright interests of some authors and publishers. The table of contents has been edited to reflect the changes.

Microcosm: Bachelor Of Fine Arts, Painting, Lauren Banquer

Honors Theses

Microcosm is the amalgamation of my interests in biology, chemistry, and art. I am inspired by my collection of objects from nature, particularly my entomological collection, and use the inherent shapes and patterns to create abstracted images drawing exclusively from life renderings, observations, and scientific research. Using a variety of different textures and techniques, mainly encaustic medium, I explore different applications of this medium to represent a sense of the object that I observe while painting. By painting on small wooden panels, I hope to recreate a sense of my small, intimate objects while also keeping a natural feel. Each …

Disaster, Displacement, And Voluntourism: Helping Narratives Of College Student Volunteers In Post-Katrina New Orleans, Mary Elizabeth Smithson

Honors Theses

This thesis is an ethnographic study of volunteer tourists' motivations for contributing to the ongoing recovery of the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans, LA. While it has been nearly a decade since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005, there is still much work to be done. The urgency that once accompanied the chaotic environment of a post-disaster landscape does not exist anymore. In effect, the strategies for recuperating from the hurricane's impacts mirror this shift from an urgent disaster state to a stabilized recovery state. Instead of issuing direct relief to people, recovery efforts are presently focused …

Plátano Power: Understanding The Rise Of Dominicans In Major League Baseball, Patrick Fields

Honors Theses

Over the last decade, baseball players from the Dominican Republic have had an astounding presence in the top professional league in the U.S.: Major League Baseball. Just last season (2013), over 10% of MLB players hailed from this tiny, dusty, and poor Caribbean nation, and even the most casual baseball fan is sure to recognize some of the country's greats. This begs an often asked question: Why are so many Dominicans in MLB? Combining historical accounts, contemporary ethnographic material, and primary data, this study elucidates the reasons that are driving and sustaining the Dominicanization of MLB. These are the historic …

An Examination Of The K-12 Black-White Achievement Gap In Mississippi, Timothy O. Abram Ii

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the disparities in educational outcomes of black and white students throughout the state of Mississippi and investigates the steps that other states have taken to close the black-white achievement gap. White students outperform black students in every single measure of academic output, specifically the proficiency and passing rate on the state standardized test, the Mississippi Curriculum Test, the four subject area test (Algebra I, US History, Biology I, and English II), graduation and dropout rates, and the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) examinations. This research focuses on the historical environment which produced the current educational inequities …

Mary Elizabeth Braddon's Aurora Floyd Revisited: An Experiment In Neovictorianism, Vivian Walker Lang

Honors Theses

My thesis is a combination of analysis and creativity. It is an exploration in the literary genre Neovictorianism, and specifically it explores a two-year period in the life of Aurora Floyd. Aurora Floyd is the protagonist of Mary Elizabeth Braddon's novel, Aurora Floyd. While many of the major themes, characters, and literary elements stem from Braddon's work, the following pages are my original work and have accumulated over the past year and a half of my time as an honors student.

Performance Enhancing Drugs In America's Pastime, William A. Hodges

Honors Theses

Over the last couple of decades, steroids use has been a part of baseball. The goal of steroid users is to gain a physical advantage over other players in the league by taking these drugs. The drugs have a variety of different effects to benefit baseball players. Along with the benefits, steroids have many health risks. The history of steroids in baseball, although relatively recent, is still vast and is still being written. The MLB has worked hard to determine the proper action to deal with steroids. The first part of the thesis is to look into what steroids are …

Big T-Shirts And Running Shorts: A Female Uniform And Southern Womanhood On The Ole Miss Campus, Abigail Abide

Honors Theses

This thesis attempts to understand why white female sorority members wear oversized t-shirts as a uniform to their classes and how this outfit affects the construction of white southern womanhood on the Ole Miss campus. In this exploration, I have interview male and female, black and white, undergraduates. I also used an online survey that I separated by sex. I have found that oversized t-shirts are related to ideas of social status, sexuality, class, constructions of ideas about the female body, and southern identity with in the Greek community. These ideas intensely affect the daily lives of Ole Miss students …

Beyond Pederasty: Finding Models For Adult Male Homosexuality In Classical Athens, Kaitlyn Elizabeth Barnes

Honors Theses

Modern discourse on homosexuality in Classical Athens has been dominated by the discussion of pederasty, a homoerotic relationship between a younger boy and an older man. Scholars base their work on a huge body of ancient evidence, especially vase imagery and textual sources. Little has been said about how Athenians viewed non-pederastic erotic relationships between adult male peers. I have considered this question, attempting to set aside the pederastic framework which scholars have used almost exclusively. To narrow the range of ancient evidence, I have looked closely at the development of two pairs — Achilles and Patroclus and Harmodius and …

The Fabric Dock: Reeling In The Right Brand For A Sea-Inspired Sewing Shop, Katie Elaine Lee

Honors Theses

Creating a brand for a company can require much time, research, and ingenuity. When The Fabric Dock in Wiggins, Mississippi, opened in April 2013, I began work as their graphic designer and gained valuable experience that has taught me everything from learning to gather strong research for color and typefaces to being able to communicate with the people on the production end. Since I was dealing with a new business, I was able to start from nothing to create exactly what I felt would be the perfect fit for this sea- inspired sewing shop. I spent days conversing with the …

Nostalgia And The Myth Of Old Russia: Russian Emigres In Interwar Paris And Their Legacy In Contemporary Russia, Brad Gordon

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Suffering And Coping In The Novels Of Anne Tyler, Camden Story Hastings

Honors Theses

Through an exploration of the causes of the characters' suffering and their mechanisms for coping, this thesis shows that by developing the perseverance necessary to navigate ordinary, everyday obstacles, Tyler's characters cope with extraordinary circumstances causing them pain. They also realize that victories in the little things lead to discoveries about themselves and the sources of their distress. The six novels discussed here include The Accidental Tourist, Saint Maybe, The Beginner's Goodbye, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, Ladder of Years, and Breathing Lessons. Nine major characters from these six novels are explored and, while various causes lead to their individual …

The Reality Of Utopian And Dystopian Fiction: Thomas More's Utopia And Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, Casey Holliday

Honors Theses

The purpose of this research is to explore the different methods that Thomas More's Utopia and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale utilize to create a compliant population, while also situating each in their appropriate historical context to draw on the authorial intentions. Different commonalities of the various definitions of utopia and dystopia are explored to form a framework to work within, and the two works are analyzed in relation to political theories set forth by Michel Foucault: the power over life and death in Utopia and the deployment of sexuality in The Handmaid's Tale. Both are used to enforce subjugation, …

In Another Day: The Historical And Cultural Relevance Of Gone With The Wind, Cody Rentz

Honors Theses

Although it was a massive success in its time and won a Pulitzer Prize, critics today tend to discard Gone with the Wind as a piece of low-quality, racist, historically inaccurate literature. However, the novel, through no intent of its author, parallels the Great Depression in many ways, a fact that likely contributed to its popularity. As such, the novel can be a useful tool in studying the culture of the 1930s. To study the cultural connections, I began by reading the novel, watching the film, and speculating as to the connections to Depression-era culture. I then researched the author, …

Atkins, Gail And Gwen Demeter Interview About Silver Circle, Gail Atkins, Gwen Demeter, Rose Norman, B. Leaf Cronewrite

Queer Mississippi (Complete Collection)

Rose Norman and B. Leaf Cronewrite (Mary Ann Hopper) interviewed Gwen Demeter and Gail Atkins at Womonwrites on Saturday, October 13, 2013. Despite serious memory problems from diabetic dementia, Gail Atkins did participate in this interview, though Gwen does most of the talking.

This is not a comprehensive transcript but several sections of the interview have been transcribed. The full audio interview is in the repository at Duke University.

This interview is referenced in the article "Silver Circle Sanctuary: Beginnings and Legacy" by B. Leaf Cronewrite in Sinister Wisdom No. 98: Landykes of the South.

Fall 2013 Newsletter Of The Sarah Isom Center, Theresa Starkey, Susan R. Grayzel

Isom Report

The official newsletter of the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies.

The View From Ventress - 2013, University Of Mississippi. College Of Liberal Arts

Liberal Arts Newsletters

Cover Story: College Commits to Service