Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Clamor: Malefica, Protest, And The Occult Economy In Early Modern England, Charles Mock

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis attempts to figure witchcraft practices within a larger economic context whereby cursing and maleficent acts in general might be read as a means of political protest against the political and economic destabilization of comrights. By reading cursing and prophecy as epistemological weaponry, the thesis establishes a theory of early modern terror that corresponds to the effects of these tactics on local and national levels. Readings of traditional witchcraft literature and Shakespeare's Macbeth will hopefully allow for an understanding of witchcraft that is heavily concerned over the nature of agency within the period, particularly with regard to the ways …

Close Encounters, Martin Anthony Arnold

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract: The expressiveness of the human figure is the syntax and vocabulary that I use to explore the things that make us human. In coming to really know an individual, we not only gain insights into our own psychological make-up, but we may extrapolate our findings to the broader human condition. Although intimately concerned with highlighting the characteristics that make my subjects distinctive, I am equally determined to examine those traits underscoring our commonality, that bind us all into a human family. I look for fresh ways to pull back the curtain of privacy and allow viewers to intrude on …

Bindweed And Fire, Joshua Lee Davis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bindweed and Fire is a collection of poems in three sections. The first two sections, Drought and Watermarks, contain short metrical lyrics built around images of fire and water. Sabbath, the third section is a long free-verse poetic sequence in three voices. In ekphrastic poems rich with private symbolism, the first voice attempts to refract through the prism of visual art the relationship between a father and son. Providing a counterpoint to the first, the second voice seeks to qualify, correct, and comment on the private symbolism. The third voice tries to give a wider view of the everyday lives …

The Cost Of Kinship: Southern Literary Families And The Capitalist Machine, Joshua Sean Lundy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the thematic role of families and the familial in the literature of the Southern Renaissance. Whereas a number of scholars have come at this matter from a strictly cultural perspective, this analysis utilizes an economic framework. Following the example set by Karl Marx, Freidrich Engels, Gilles Deleuze, and Felix Guattari, I attempt to formulate an understanding of the southern family not as an independent and singular social organism, but, rather, as a mechanism for the distribution of capital, firmly embedded within modern capitalism's expansive network of production, consumption, and exchange. My argument …

Masculinity In Comparative Black Literatures, Latoya Renee Jefferson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project examines the ways in which Black men in Africa and throughout the African Diaspora define themselves as gendered beings in their fiction and drama beginning with Richard Wright's publication of Native Son in 1940 to Mariama Ba's So Long a Letter published 1980. Black men created a transnational dialectic concerning their masculinity which involved the creation and criticism of several types of masculinity. In Chapters 1 and 2, I discuss the theoretical and the historical framework for this project. In Chapter 3, I discuss the first type of Black masculinity which was based in opposition to Euro-American stereotypes …

From Country To Country Club: The Landscapes Of Walker Percy, Joyce Garrett Butterworth

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

When Walker Percy emerged on the literary scene in 1961, the American landscape had begun to transform in new and dramatic ways. As more and more Americans moved from city centers to suburban developments, Percy found that, in more ways than one, the center would not hold. This American cultural transformation was well underway when Percy wrote The Moviegoer, perhaps the first novel from the American South to have as its subject matter a suburban dilemma. Challenging, as Percy does, traditional notions of southern place and community, this thesis seeks to discover in Percy's body of work whether the rise …

Between God And Man: Community's Place In Virtue, Practical Reason, And Transcendent Good, Jordan Herz Davis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Talbot Brewer's Retrieval of Ethics and Robert Adams's Finite and Infinite Goods present distinct theories in ethics and metaethics. Brewer begins with the fundamental ethical perspective of the practical deliberator who experiences his practical deliberations as a continuous, unified, and constantly revised activity which begins with inchoate intimations of goodness and proceeds better or worse to understand and pursue the goodness which pervades his evaluative outlook. From this Brewer aims to account for how we achieve excellence in practical deliberation and arrive at a more tenable and self-consistent evaluative outlook which informs our ethical deliberations. Alternately, Adams begins in the …

The Modern Ontological Argument: In Which The Position Of Alvin Plantinga Is Refuted, Zachary Green Crownover

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this work, I set out to accomplish three tasks. First, I hope to educate those who may be unfamiliar with the philosophy of religion, by presenting to them rough outlines of positions commonly assumed by logically minded spokespersons for atheism and theism, respectively. Second, I introduce and explicate the work of Alvin Plantinga—a prominent proponent of theistic belief—and in such a way that it may be clearly understood even by those without prior experience of modal logic. Finally, I adopt a polemical stance against Plantinga, and reach the following conclusion: Contrary to Plantinga's assertions, and given the modal framework …

Problems With Truth: Scope, Mixing, And Truth Pluralism, Christopher Dyer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this paper, I will be taking up the debate between monistic and pluralistic inflationary theories of truth. Truth monism claims that there is one explanatory story which accounts for the truth of all and only true propositions. There seem to be, however, certain domains of discourse wherein monistic theories fail. If monistic theories cannot provide an explanation for how all true propositions are true, then they would not be adequate theories of truth. Truth pluralism is motivated to avoid the scope problem. The pluralist sees that there are as many truth properties as there are domains of discourse. A …

Staging Sodomy: Deviance And Devotion On The Early English Stage, Bobby Ellis Pelts

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an examination of the multivalent category of sodomy in late medieval works of and about biblical drama: A Tretise of Miraclis Pleyinge, the York Joseph's Trouble About Mary and the N-Town Passion plays. Because the Tretise of Miraclis Pleyinge invokes charges of sodomy in its attack on biblical drama, this work argues that the medieval stage is particularly hospitable to exploring the queer moments of Christian theology. Focusing on the sodomitic relationships of Christ's life as they are revealed in York's Joseph's Trouble and the N-Town Passion sequences, this thesis argues that these plays problematize Christ's legendary …

Two Trains Running: Capture And Escape In The Racialized Train Cars Of The Jim Crow South, 1893-1930, Raleigh Mixon Robinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The role of the railroad in the modern American experience—and its role in making that experience modern—cannot be overstated. This thesis proposes to tell one of many possible railroad stories. By focusing on the historical and cultural relevance of a series of bodies in transit, I examine the implementation of railroad segregation law and the response by African-American performers. The thesis begins at the end of the nineteenth century with the Homer Plessy test case and continues across three decades, meeting along the way novelists Charles Chesnutt and James Weldon Johnson and musicians W. C. Handy, Henry "Ragtime Texas" Thomas, …

Perfect Harmony: The Myth Of Tupelo's Industrial Tranquility, Wendy D. Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite a vast amount of research on Southern labor in the 1930s, historians paid little attention to Northeast Mississippi. This predominantly rural area, though, boasted some of the largest garment factories of the period. Local businessmen established a cotton mill and three clothing manufacturing companies in Tupelo, the seat of Lee County. Town boosters boasted of harmonious relations between workers and management at each of the industrial facilities. In the spring of 1937, however, the cotton mill hands undertook a sit-down strike. Five days later, the women in the Tupelo Garment Company tried to initiate a strike. Both efforts failed. …

Place, Race, And Religion In The Local Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Community And Movement Of Memphis, Tennessee, Amy Catherine Ulmer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study observes the role of place in the local LGBT community and movement of Memphis, Tennessee. I gathered information from fifteen interviews, including LGBT Memphians, activists, preachers, and public figures to show what aspects of place have been the most significant in shaping the nature of the local movement, which has been growing since the early 2000s. I suggest that the conservatism, race, and religiosity of Memphis have played the most significant role. The first chapter demonstrates how LGBTs operate within a city that maintains pockets of openness, but remains largely LGBT-unfriendly according to interviewees. The second chapter observes …

Liminal Space, Sara Beth Truman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Liminal Space is an installation that records time between my son's removal from my life and present day. These pieces are the manifestation of hope and loss; they tell the story of my experience of motherhood. They track time through the repetition of form and have become a physical expression of the days that have elapsed in my life since I last saw my son. Liminal space is defined as the space in-between a boundary or a threshold. In this work, I pose the questions: Can liminal space be crossed? How large can this space become? In anthropology, liminality is …

Nothing Less Than An Activist: Marge Baroni, Catholicism, And The Natchez, Mississippi Civil Rights Movement, Eva Elizabeth Walton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a religious and social history of the life of Natchez, Mississippi Catholic activist Marjorie R. Baroni (1924-1986). The study examines Baroni's Catholic faith-driven activism as a counter-narrative to the dominant Protestant narratives of religious motivations in the greater civil rights movement. In analyzing Baroni's story as a lived theological drama, I offer Baroni as a vessel for studying often overlooked Catholic influences in the movement: (1) The activist Catholic faith promoted by Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement (2) The effects of the more inclusive decrees of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) on the Catholic Church …

Mfa12 (Mfa 2012), Sam Fox School Of Design & Visual Arts, Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Buzz Spector, Patricia Olynyk, Ifeoma Ugonnwa Anyaeji, Je Baker, Natalie Baldeon, E. Thurston Belmer, Lauren Cardenas, Megan Sue Collins, Adrian Cox, Maya Durham, Erin Falker, Jieun Kim, Howard Krohn, Robert Long, Marie Bannerot Mcinerney, Nikki Mcmahan, Michael T. Meier, Katie Millitzer, Reid G. Norris, Kathleen Perniciaro, Emily Squires, Jamie Presson Wells, Whitney Lorene Wood, Andrew Woodard, Kelly K. Wright

Books and Monographs

Catalogue of a culminating student exhibition held at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum May 4-Aug. 6, 2012. Contents include Introduction / Buzz Spector -- Think, make, show and tell / Patricia Olynyk -- Ifeoma Ugonnwa Anyaeji -- J.E. Baker / Elissa Yukiko Weichbrodt -- Natalie Baldeon / Emily Hanson -- As in a turning gear : E. Thurston Belmer / Rickey Laurentiis -- Lauren Cardenas / Nicholas Tamarkin -- Megan Sue Collins / Catherine Chiodo -- Adrian Cox -- Maya Durham / Dolly Laninga -- Erin Falker / Melissa Olson -- St. Louis dreamscape : Jieun Kim / Caitlin …

Serializing The Middle Ages: Television And The (Re)Production Of Pop Culture Medievalisms, Sara Mcclendon Knight

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In his now canonical "Dreaming the Middle Ages," Umberto Eco famously quips that "it seems that people like the Middle Ages" (61). Eco's apt sentiment still strikes a resonant chord some twenty years after its publication; there is indeed something about the Middle Ages that continues to fascinate our postmodern society. One of the most tangible ways this interest manifests itself is through our media. This project explores some of the ways that representations of the medieval past function within present-day reimaginings in the media. More specifically, television's obvious visual textuality, widespread popularity, and virtually untapped scholarly potential offer an …

The Queen Of The Household: Mothers, Other Mothers, And Female Genealogy On The Plantation In Postslavery Women's Fiction, Correna Catlett Merricks

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In many ways, the plantation defined the U.S. South because it was the primary site of production, and therefore income, for prominent southerners. In addition to being a site of production, the plantation created a complex series of connected relationships that was imagined by the plantocracy to be a large family unit. It functioned according to a specific hierarchical model that was primarily based on a patriarchal understanding of genealogy. Yet Kate Chopin's "Désirée's Baby" and "La Belle Zoraïde," Pauline Hopkins's Contending Forces, Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, Julia Peterkin's Scarlet Sister Mary, Eudora Welty's Delta Wedding, …

Mississippi Breakdown: A New Look At The Mississippi Old Time Fiddle Music Traditions, Joseph Jamison Hollister

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This is a cultural study that focuses on the fiddle music of Mississippi. It includes both Anglo and African American roots. Also, the white blues fiddle traditions of Mississippi are examined and analyzed.

"Show Me An Angel, And I'Ll Paint You A Lie," Gustave Courbet, The Man And His Myths Behind The Revolution, Shanna Goodwin

Phi Kappa Phi Research Symposium (Archived)

Excerpt: "This presentation will look into his works and examine if he really did try to understand the working-class. It will go beyond the name and into the heart of the man behind the revolution."

Telling The Truth As Wpa, Beth Daniell

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

After reflecting upon students, a writing program administrator looks hard at two other challenging situations and questions the truthfulness of her approaches to each.

Back Matter

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

No abstract provided.

Happenings Fall/Winter 2012, Women's Center, Wright State University

Women’s Center Newsletter

A two page newsletter created by the Wright State Women's Center documenting the current affairs of the Women's Center as well as other happenings on campus.

This issue contains a calendar of events, quotes from current interns at the Women's Center, and other related news.

Putting Multimedia Exhibits In The Palm Of Your Hand, Damecia Donahue, Rachael Clark

Library Scholarly Publications

Presentation given by Rachael Clark and Damecia Donahue in November of 2012 at the Michigan Library Association Annual Conference in Detroit, MI. The discussion revolved around topics related to libraries creating exhibits using their own collections and resources; this included the idea of incorporating multimedia tools and web applications to creatively and interactively provide access to library materials.

Pravda Told The Truth: Abm In The Soviet Press And Us-Russian Relations, 1966-1972, Ben Tigay

Wayne State University Theses

The destabilizing nature of anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems made it incumbent upon the United States and the Soviet Union to meet and diffuse tensions. Before ABM negotiations began in 1969, Pravda and Izvestiia established a clear public narrative on the topic. According to this narrative, the Soviet Union adhered to its Leninist Foreign Policy and struggled for peace against the warmongering, divided United States. During negotiations, Soviet diplomats used the same language as the newspapers. They asserted that the Soviet Union wanted peaceful coexistence with the United States, in accordance with its Leninist Foreign Policy. They also stressed the need …

The Venus "Shell-Over-Star" Hieroglyph And Maya Warfare: An Examination Of The Interpretation Of A Mayan Symbol, Claudia Ann Voit

Wayne State University Theses

For decades, Maya scholars have associated the Mayan ―Shell-Star‖ (also referred to as ―Star-War‖) hieroglyph with Maya warfare. Put forward by scholars such as Floyd Lounsbury and David Kelley, and later advanced by Linda Schele, David Freidel, Ian Graham, Peter Matthews, Anthony Aveni and others, there are now dozens of published articles and chapters relating the hieroglyph to Venus and warfare. Venus is one of the most notable celestial objects outside of the Sun and Moon and was highly visible to the inhabitants of the Maya world. The Dresden Codex (an astronomical almanac) contains important information about the planet Venus, …

Veronese's "Martyrdom Of St. Justina": The Promotion Of A Local Martyr Saint, Jonathan David Salvati

Wayne State University Theses

The altarpiece for the high altar of the Benedictine basilica of Santa Giustina in Padua, painted by Paolo Veronese around 1575, depicts the martyrdom of Justina, an Early Christian saint. While art historians often discuss late sixteenth-century images of martyrdom within the general historical context of the Counter-Reformation, St. Justina's increased prominence during this period was also connected to a more specific historical event: the Battle of Lepanto of 1571. The naval victory of the Catholic Holy League alliance over the Ottoman Turks on the saint's feast day (October 7th) increased the popularity of the saint's cult within the Venetian …

Codice Verbale E Codice Iconico Nel Riadattamento Della Divina Commedia - Fumetto Di Seymour Chwast, Emirjona Molla

Wayne State University Theses

This thesis takes a critical look at the way the semiotic code is treated by the author Seymour Chwast in his comic book the Divine Comedy. In the introduction I focused on examining parts of the communication which is based on verbal and non-verbal speech. The symbolic code belongs to the verbal speech which is analytical, conventional and arbitrary. The interpretation of the symbolic code depends also on the cultural unit. The iconic code on the other hand could be motivated or conventional depending on the way the message is brought up to the reader. The iconic code could need …

"The Gift Of The Moment": Walter Benjamin And Comics History, Austin Lewis St Peter

Wayne State University Theses

This essay is a historiographical critique of the ways that the major historical narratives in the emerging field of Comics Studies are employed. I argue that scholars in the field utilize historical origin narratives and medium definitions with the intent to stake out a space of privilege for their privileged selections - thereby playing into a politics of legitimation. The major critic whose work I utilize to critique the major historical narratives of the medium, and ultimately the way that they are utilized, is the Frankfurt School critic Walter Benjamin. Not only do I employ Benjamin's work to interpret and …

The Bbc And The Shaping Of British Identity From 1922 To 1945, Mallory Huard

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

There are few institutions in British history that have had such a massive role in shaping the daily lives of British citizens as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Although the BBC is only about eighty years old, an infant compared to an institution like the British monarchy, its contributions to national identity are practically unparalleled in the twentieth century. The scope of the Corporation in terms of its influence on British life is hard to imagine in a United States with multiple competing and politically-aimed networks. Robin Aitkin, a former BBC reporter and journalist says, “For many it is an …