Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Sacramento, Marlena Fitzpatrick

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Inspired by entertaining, opinionated voices with debatable, controversial messages I wrote "Sacramento." EVA RIVERA, a 32 year old Honduran poet is captured and incarcerated by the "Maduros Guerrilla" due to her controversial political activism through a network called "Las Hijas Del Maiz." After being held captive, tortured and raped, she miraculously escapes. She manages to return home, gather her belongings and cross the border, all the way to New York via Canada. FATHER MARTIN RODRIGUEZ, a 35 year old Chilean Catholic Priest has disgraced his faith by keeping a promise he made his brother on his death bed: he will …

Principles Of Thomas Pynchon's Literary Realities, Ira Anthony Walker

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Thomas Pynchon's literature is unique in subject and style. Postmodern by definition, Pynchon illustrates physics as a societal metaphor; Guy Debord's text The Society of the Spectacle suggests that these societal, literary, metaphors constitute and/or lead to a Spectacle. Through the analysis of an unpublished text: Minstrel Island, an early written short story: "Entropy," and a short novel: The Crying of Lot 49 the reader is capable of seeing a developing theme of physics as metaphor constituting multiple Spectacles. The narrative devices offered by Thomas Pynchon become Spectacular in nature and reflect the characteristics and environment of the tumultuous 1960s …

Fan Commitment And Its Transformation Into Communitas Through The Process Of Proxemic Exchange, Arthur Alexander Aguirre

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Live performances are comprised of various elements that scholars have utilized to understand the artist-fan relationship as well as the relationship among the fans themselves. In this study, I look at fandom in independent, or “indie” music and utilize my findings to creation a foundation for the understanding of fan commitment. I then argue that when a fan of a particular artist attends a live performance by that artist, they inherently engage in a proxemic exchange with the artist as well as the fans around them. This proxemic exchange is driven by fan commitment and facilitates the creation of communitas …

El Esposo Del Mar Y Otros Relatos, Silvana Ayala Pelaez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Libro de cuentos que va del realismo a lo fantástico, explorando la acepción de la realidad desde diferentes ángulos. Dividido en tres secciones: realidad, realidad trastocada e i-realidad. Las historias son en su mayoría no-lineales y con narradores predominantemente masculinos, ya que buscan encontrar lo mágico que yace latente entre las diferentes capas de realidad. Se utiliza en varias la técnica del narrador testigo.

Incorporating Sustainability Into Urban Infrastructures: The Tension Between Bio-Cultural Aspects And Environmental Considerations, Shane Epting

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The following arguments focus on how to think about sustainability as it relates to technology and the non-human world within an anthropocentric framework. We end up with a picture showing that humankind needs to change the ways in which we look at anthropocentric concerns. Secondly, the discussion that leads up to the final picture details the urgency that guides the thinking behind the implementation of sustainability. Because, as the West learns to live in an entirely new sense that is consistent with holding humankind's desire for existence as a permanent situation, one finds that this notion must be paramount for …

The Mind And Metaphysics Of Agency, Gareth Fuller

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In this thesis, I try to spell out what it is to be a human agent. I start by defending an account of agency which I call the cognitive account. The cognitive account of agency holds that there are certain mental capabilities that are required to determine what is an action of the agent and what is not. This then leads into a discussion of intentionality, where I defend a functionalist account of intentional realism. After this I discuss how actions and events are individuated leading into a discussion of what it is to do something intentionally. This relies heavily …

La Taquillera, Hector Hugo Montero

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Esta es la historia de una obsesión. Del amor por el cine y sus historias, los seres que de él se derivan y multiplican. Es el amor que una mujer siente po una clase de música, actores y películas de México.

Building Kites, David Brian Anderson

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This collection of short stories focuses on the struggles of people living in the suburbs as they try to forge emotional connections against a backdrop of malaise and uncertainty.

Tom Regan And The Problem Of Conflicting Rights, Jeanine Campsall

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

N/A

Era[C]Ing Diversity: A Critical Rhetorical Approach To Race And The New Citizen, Theresa Donovan

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Era[c]ing Diversity is guided by a broad question of inquiry regarding the formation and reformation of subjectivity through the filling out of "blank" forms such as the application for naturalization. This dissertation examines how the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service uses and distributes race, and how subjects participate in the social reproduction of the dominant ideology to create a society where individuals think: I am White; He/she is Black, or Asian, or Native American etc. Era[c]ing Diversity examines how the N-400 constructs the new citizen and the ways that permanent legal residents of Mexican origin disrupt or reify this construct. …

Preperations On A Graduate Viola Recital, Julia Gutierrez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The intention of this paper is to discuss three works of the viola repertoire and their specific performance practices and musical aspects. The paper discusses the historical background of the pieces, harmonic and form structure, and suggested performance practices for each work.

Choque Cultural In Higher Education: The Lived Experiences Of Two Transnational Doctoral Students On The U.S. Mexico Border, Lyn Mckinley

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study seeks to develop a deeper understanding of the experience of transnational students in higher education in a U.S. public university. The setting for the study is the U.S.-Mexico border between Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and El Paso, Texas. While numerous studies examine the experience of transnational K-12 populations in U.S. schools, there is limited research on students in advanced levels of higher education in this context.

The purpose of this study is to provide an in-depth perspective of the experiences of two transnational doctoral students enrolled at the doctoral level at a U.S. university on the U.S.-Mexico border. The …

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words: Integrating Sequential Narratives Into An English Language Learner's Curriculum, Cira Michelle Montoya

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The following thesis aims to explore the subject of using comics in the classroom, particularly with English Language Learner (ELL) students. Do the images, vocabulary, and contextual cues found within comics and graphic novels positively affect language comprehension and writing skills of ELL students when these texts are integrated into a tailored curriculum? Within my research I have composed an extensive literature review comprised of two major sections. The first section aims to highlight the use of comics to assist struggling readers, again focusing on ELL students. The second section compiles a list of comics and graphic novels I reviewed …

Hombre Cero, Julio César Pérez Méndez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Hombre Cero es una tragicomedia protagonizada por una mujer con rostro de payaso y un hombre sin personalidad. Ambos, junto a un par de indigentes llamados Clocló y Silla Coja, se ven envueltos en una serie de aventuras en las que la violencia política y el arte contemporáneo juegan un rol principal.

Río Que Teme Al Mar, Juan Pablo Roman Alvarado

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Río que teme al mar es una novela de formación, que narra el viaje iniciático de tres personajes: David, Francisco y Violeta, estudiantes universitarios que deciden dejar sus carreras para vivir y aprender a través de las experiencias que tendrán viajando como mochileros y artesanos vagabundos por cuatro de los países de Suramérica: Colombia, Ecuador, Perú y Bolivia. La novela plantea el viaje como una especie de rito de pasaje a la adultez, en el que los personajes deben abandonar la comodidad de su casa para emanciparse y hacerse verdaderos dueños de su vida, es decir, para ganarse el derecho …

Kandinsky's Nonrepresentational Art: Finding Meaning Through Aesthetic Experience, Kandice Nikkole Diaz

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The art world is not one in which much scholarship has been conducted from a communication perspective. As such, this study attempts to add to the very little body of work that exists in the realms of both art and visual rhetoric. Abstract art, such as that of Wassily Kandinsky, is full of meaning despite the fact that it is nonobjective, and therefore considered meaningless. Using a rhetorical method, I argue that by examining the artwork of Wassily Kandinsky in certain contexts, it is possible to discover the meaning embedded in his abstract paintings, in particular his Compositions and Improvisations.

Pacto Por La Cultura: The Power And Possibility Of Cultural Activism In Ciudad Juárez, Kerry Doyle

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This paper is a qualitative study of Movimiento Pacto por la Cultura , a group of cultural activists that operate in the hyper-violent reality of 21st century Ciudad Juárez. This work looks at Pacto as a case study to explore the possibilities of culture as a tool of activism in a particular time and place, exploring in the ways in which economic development policies, deficiencies in infrastructure, and rising violence both effect and can be affected by cultural processes. Through analysis of the group's original documents and qualitative interviews with organizational members, the paper documents both the successes of the …

Swimming In Static, Sahalie Saecker Hashim

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In this novel, two young adults exist simultaneously in separate worlds. Torn apart by perception, culture, and socioeconomic differences, these individuals come to learn what it means to see the world, and understand one another through extraordinary experiences.

Segundo Barrio: Rich, Poor, Or Both?, Julie Anne Krill

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This manuscript describes an exploratory study which was undertaken in Segundo Barrio; a historic neighborhood in El Paso, Texas. The purpose of the study was to identify formal and informal sources of social support through the perceptions of female residents in different stages of life. This community, while economically disadvantaged, has unique characteristics and resources and the researcher was interested in seeing how different age groups perceive them.

Guiding Research Questions:

What sources of social support do residents of Segundo Barrio identify as key sources of support within their neighborhood, Greater El Paso, and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua?

* Social …

The Exploratory Value Of Agent-Based Models In Social Science, Ricardo Andress Rivera

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

N/A

Al Cuerpo Lo Que Pida, Lucia Sanchez-Llorente

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Al cuerpo lo que pida, is a novel that addresses the old topic of disloyalty in contemporary Mexico City society. It narrates in first person the inner-conflict of the protagonist, Mercedes Santamaria, who tries to lead a double life. On one hand she is in love with her husband, Fernando, and on the other hand, she is incapable of stopping her impulses with other men, which puts her marriage in jeopardy. She turns to her late grandmother, as an alter ego, for advice.

Studying Rape Through A Theorectical Lens: The Development Of A Serial Rape Model Using Fbi Data, Brooke Smith

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The current study assessed whether there is an empirical foundation for different theories of rape including the feminist, evolutionary, social disorganization, psychopathy, and rapist type theories. Using a data set from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on serial rapists collected in the early 1990's, the study included two phases. The first phase assessed whether FBI data supported the previously mentioned theories of rape by analyzing associations between individual variables that are thought to support each theory. Support was demonstrated for the evolutionary and psychopathy theories. Using MPlus statistical software to accommodate the multi-level nature of the data, the second …

The Relationship Between Divided Government And Real Per Capita Gross State Product, Adrian Christopher Villasenor

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This paper analyzes the relationship between divided government and real per capita gross state product in U.S. states using a panel study of data from all of the contiguous U.S. states, except Nebraska, for the period of 1990 to 2007. Some literature can be found on the relationship between divided government and economic growth at the national level. There is a lack of study of this relationship at the state level. Real per capita gross state product is the dependent variable in this study. Divided government, partisan control of the governor's office, partisan control of the state legislature, combined federal …

Hybrid Interactive Rhetorical Engagements In Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (Mmorpgs): Examining The Role Of Rhetors And Audiences In Generative Rhetorical Discourses, Yowei Kang

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The dissertation explores the emerging rhetorical practices in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) in general and World of Warcraft (WoW) game in particular. The study applies Kenneth Burke's rhetorical theories and concepts to examine the persuasive processes employed by both game designers and players at various stages of their gameplay experiences. The author argues that the analysis of these interactive rhetorical discourses during gameplay helps rhetorical scholars to understand the emerging rhetorical practices where the rhetors and the audiences collaborate to co-generate their hybrid intensive rhetorical engagement (H.I.R.E.).

On the basis of the gaming sessions captured by the researcher …

Alcohol Production And Consumption Throughout U.S. History, And More Particularly In El Paso, Texas, As It Relates To Social Norms Theory, Jennifer Matthews

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This thesis traces the history of alcohol production and consumption throughout U.S. history by following the course of the four major periods of relative equilibrium in social norms that the country has experienced. It uses this socio-historiography as a platform to understand how national trends in alcohol production and consumption were experienced along the border in El Paso, Texas, in a very unique fashion. The thesis aspires to augment El Paso's pride and sense of identity by building on knowledge of local history, customs, and norms.

Phronesis Through Praxis: Cultivating The Habit Of A Rhetorical Disposition In Positive Deviance Action Research, Lucia Dura

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Positive deviance is an asset-based, community-driven, problem-solving approach to social change premised on the idea that in every community there are certain individuals or groups whose uncommon behaviors and strategies enable them to find better solutions to problems than their peers, while having access to the same resources and facing similar or worse challenges (www.positivedeviance.org). Positive deviance has been used in over 40 countries to address issues as diverse as productivity in the workplace, infection and disease prevention, education, and child trafficking. This dissertation situates positive deviance within the areas of social change and change studies in the discipline of …

Problematizing Executive Prerogative In Locke And Rousseau, Benjamin Joseph Gutierrez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The organization of this paper is composed of three main sections. The first section intensively analyzes the discourses of John Locke. Thoroughly combing through Locke's reasoning the concept six fundamental principles of executive prerogative are derived. This provides a basis for comparison and understanding.The second section investigates Jean-Jacques Rousseau's works as an alternative proposal to the static principles of Locke. In order to effectively gain insight on executive prerogative, the basis and purpose of proper governments must be thoroughly addressed. Through Rousseau's various works three tenets for proper governance are built. The factors that position Rousseau to advocate for executive …

Thomas Jefferson In Nairobi: The United States, Kenya, And The Democratization Debate, Cullen Haskins

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This work is an intellectual history focussing on the ideas surrounding the implimentaiton of democratic systems in Africa, and specifically Kenya, at the end of the cold war. Taking the constitutional change to multi-party politics in Kenya in late 1991 as its fulcrum, this work examines the ideas about democracy put forth by politcians and policy-making cirlces in the United States and Kenya during this period. The work begins with an examination of the attitudes toward democracy in Africa as expressed at the U.S. congressional hearings on aid to Africa in 1991, and ends with an afterward looking at the …

Literatura Y Política En La Crónica Modernistas De Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera, Azucena Hernandez-Ramirez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

En esta tesis propongo abordar algunas crónicas del escritor modernista Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera (1859-1895) como un espacio discursivo altamente ideologizado en el que se articulan literatura y política. Quiero demostrar que la labor periodística de Gutiérrez Nájera, ejemplificada en la crónica modernista, está ligada aún a la función política romántica previa a la autonomización de las letras, en la que el escritor pone su pluma al servicio de la formación de ciudadanos. En su caso, la crónica modernista funge como un dispositivo disciplinario, si bien ya no legitimado en el proceso de construcción de la nación, sí autorizado por el …

The Border Mural In The Electronic Age: Xican@ Literacy As Rhetorical Agency, José Angel Maldonado

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Border Mural in the Electronic Age is a project that responds to blanket statements, not only about a people's literacy (or illiteracy), but to the ways in which we define and measure literacy in the electronic age. In this study, literacy is located on the US-México border, and this specific location serves as the social, political, and economic grounds on which to study the types of literacies used by the local population. A cultural ecology approach is necessary when studying niche literacies, and in today's world, traditional literacies coexist among emergent forms of literacy most likely attributed to technological …