Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Inventing Laughter: Comedic Writing Practices And The Limits Of Pedagogical Power, Daniel Liddle

All Theses

This thesis conducts an examination of the writing methods used by stand-up comedians using the lens of the rhetorical canon of invention. The study applies the theories of Thomas Rickert, Diane Davis, Ann Berthoff, and Janice Lauer in order to define the relationship between humor and epistemology, and to consider how this comedic-epistemic perspective can inform pedagogical practices in the composition classroom. This study relies mainly on the rhetorical analysis of 'How To' books on writing comedy, the methodologies of schools of comedy, as well as biographies by/about comedians in order to discuss the relationship between comedians and their 'material.' …

Bad Rhetoric: Towards A Punk Rock Pedagogy, Michael Utley

All Theses

This research is an analysis of early 1980s American hardcore through the lens of rhetorical theory in an effort to learn lesson from punk rock that can be applied to composition pedagogy. It relies heavily on the Kenneth Burke's Language as Symbolic Action and A Rhetoric of Motives, Lloyd Bitzer's The Rhetorical Situation and Michel Foucault's Discourse on Language. The theories are applied the genre of punk rock in an effort to expose the rhetorical strategies employed by the movement to actively question and resist the dominant norms and values of the era. Two case studies are presented - an …

Methods For Producing Stereoscopic Imagery, Matias Volonte

All Theses

This paper describes methodologies for creating computer graphics stereoscopic imagery. This thesis details the positive and negative aspects for producing and post-producing stereoscopic imagery using different stereoscopic tools provided by Autodesk Maya and The Foundry Nuke. Also, in order to increase efficiency and decrease production time, Python tools were developed both for Maya and Nuke. Finally, the methodology proposed in this paper is fully functional and can be adopted by any production.

From Confederate Expatriates To New South Neo-Filibusters: Major Edward A. Burke And The Americas, Michael Powers

All Theses

The traditional historiography of the American South presents the New South creed as a vision emphasizing national reconciliation based upon the advancement of Southern commerce and industry. In addition, scholars broadly define New South spokesmen as men who came to maturity after the Civil War and did not involve themselves in state or national politics. An examination of Major Edward Austin Burke, however, reveals that at least one pivotal New South booster was a Confederate veteran and leading political figure; it also suggests the presence of an international component inherent in the New South paradigm of the 1880s. It is …

A Lacanian Perspective On Literature, Translation And The Reader's (Inter-)Subjectivity : Read My Text And Tell Me Who You Are, On Yee, Franziska Cheng

Lingnan Theses

My purpose in this research is to raise some theoretical issues in the study of literature and translation. One dominating attribute of a piece of literary text is its poetic linguistic features, e.g. ambiguity, irony, contradictions and linguistic tension. However, these traits of literary texts are theorized by Julia Kristeva as the manifestation of the drive’s dismantling of what Jacques Lacan characterizes as the Symbolic, hence an almost schizophrenic collection of disruptions of the relation between the signifiers and the signifieds. I intend to push this argument further into the realm of translation, arguing that even though it is impossible …

The Experiences Of Music Therapists With Mental Illness Working With Clients With Similar Diagnoses, Adam Makofske

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This phenomenological research study examined music therapists’ experiences of working with clients when both are diagnosed with a mental illness. The following research questions were addressed:

What is the experience like for music therapists with psychiatric illnesses to treat clients who have the same or similar diagnoses? What are the specific challenges regarding the therapeutic dynamics in this unique situation?

How is the countertransference defined, experienced and handled by the music therapist, including the specific role of the music and its impact on the therapy process?

In person, phenomenological interviews were conducted with three participants, each self-identified as having been …

The Silent Arms Race: The Role Of The Supercomputer During The Cold War, 1947-1963, David Warren Kirsch

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

One of the central features of the Cold War is the "Arms Race." The United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist republics vied for supremacy over the globe for a fifty-year period in which there were several arms races; atomic weapons, thermonuclear weapons and various kinds of conventional weapons. However, there is another arms race that goes unsung during this period of history and that is in the area of supercomputing. The other types of arms races are taken for granted by historians and others, but the technological competition between the superpowers would have been impossible without the historically …

Onward And Upward: Characteristics Of African American Senior Student Affairs Officers, Marteze Deon Hammonds

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The journey of African American student affairs professionals has evolved throughout the history of higher education and student affairs. This study examined the career profiles of ten African American Senior Student Affairs Officers (SSAOs) at predominately White institutions (PWIs) throughout the United States. By using the curriculum vitae and a survey, this research found that the career profile of African American SSAOs at PWI's were African Americans who had earned a terminal degree, averaged eight career moves over 18 years and were involved in national associations where they published and presented. These SSAOs were active in their communities and willing …

The Inclusion Of The Nature Of Science And Its Elements In Recent Popular Science Writing For Adults And Young Adults, Feng Jiang

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to examine the inclusion of nature of science (NOS) in popular science writing to determine whether it could serve supplementary resource for teaching NOS. Four groups of documents published from 2001 to 2010 were included in the analysis: Scientific American, Discover magazine, winners of the Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books, and books listed in National Science Teacher Association's (NSTA) Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12.

First, computer analysis was performed to categorize passages in the selected documents based on their inclusions of NOS. Then, follow-up human analysis was conducted to assess the frequency, …

The Contradictory Nature Of Natural Mothering: A Discursive Analysis, Britni Lee Ayers

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In our contemporary sociopolitical rhetoric breastfeeding is something that is natural and something women ought to do because breast is best. The problem with this contemporary discourse of breastfeeding and motherhood is that the dominant medical, political, technological, and patriarchal discourses surrounding breastfeeding have merged to create an highly unattainable definition of what it means to be a "good mother" (Blum 1993). Moreover, upon a close examination, the most pressing political and Social debates of today surrounding the welfare reform, women's employment, reproductive technologies, and abortion, among many others, construct distinctions between "good mothers" and "bad mothers." However, there has …

The Effects Of Body Modifications And Dress On Perceived Professionalism And Competency Of A Female Model, Ashley Donell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Through the norms of a society, people must meet certain expectations in order to survive and provide for their family. For example, job expectations driven by human judgment on appearance creates a norm that society must follow. The question is how much appearance attributes such as dress and hair color effect others' interpretation of who a person may be? The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between specific appearance and body modifications (dress and hair color) of a young female professional and perceived competency level as determined by a convenience sample of students in selected senior level …

Taak In Sutik (I Want To Return), Jose Lopez Bribiesca

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this film is to have four descendants of the Maya tell their stories and through them, explain four difficult concepts facing the 21st century contemporary Maya:

* How do Mayan languages influence a worldview different than the westernized, globalized worldview?

* How do the media, especially through movies, portray the Maya and other indigenous groups unfairly?

* How have the descendants of the Maya coped with adapting to modernity while keeping their traditions intact?

* How will the four protagonists ensure the protection of their language and their culture when they return home?

A Way Out: The History Of The Outing Program From The Haskell Institute To The Phoenix Indian School, Alexandria L. Gough

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

From the earliest years of the United States, its leaders wrestled with the perceived need to assimilate Indian peoples into American society. Many believed that Indians in their "natural" condition were cultural primitives incapable of taking part in national life. However, with proper guidance they could be elevated to a level of civilization that would allow them to join the national family. After the conclusion of the Indian Wars in the 1880's, the United States government began to address the continued "Indian" problem by establishing Indian boarding schools. Indian children attended school to learn to behave as white, Christian and …

Book Review Of Leading God’S People: Wisdom From The Early Church For Today, By Beeley, C.A. (2010), Stan Patterson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

My Quest For Biblical Spirituality, Stan Patterson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Women Under National Socialism: The Case Study Of Melita Maschmann, Lynda Maureen Willett

Graduate Masters Theses

The case study of Melita Maschmann shows that despite the deep manipulation and gender discrimination she was subject to in her youth by National Socialism Maschmann made her own free choices as an adult and chose to zealously absorb its political ideology. The general assumption is that National Socialism, and fascism, were male dominated political ideologies in which women played a passive role, such as that professed by Gertrude Scholtz-Klink. However, many women found National Socialism appealing and became active supporters of its ideals. The purpose of this paper is to explore that appeal and analyze why certain women such …

Content Of Sexual Assault Prevention Programs: What Evidence Could Change College Women's Minds?, Abigail Lee Moser

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sexual assault is a serious health issue for college women. Unfortunately, the results of previous research revealed that intervention programs designed for women have been largely ineffective at changing women's attitudes, knowledge, and victimization concerning sexual assault. The purpose of the present investigation was to identify forms of persuasive evidence that women report as having changed their attitudes, knowledge, and behavior concerning sexual assault. Focus groups were used to identify common themes college women use to explain their understandings of these topics. These focus groups discussed how close family members impacted their behaviors concerning sexual assault, how they gained their …

At West Lake, Morning Postcard, After Visiting Tiantai Mountain, Alan Soldofsky

Faculty Publications, English and Comparative Literature

No abstract provided.

Ein Kurzer Brief Humboldts An Den Hofmarschall, Reinhard Andress

Modern Languages and Literatures: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The collections of the Lilly Library at Indiana University contain a short, hitherto unpublished letter written by Alexander von Humboldt to a Lord Chamberlain of the Prussian Court. The letter appears here for the first time with some explanations regarding its historical context.

Wobble, Said The Hedgehog, Mary Elder

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

My thesis is called "Wobble, Said the Hedgehog." However, there are also things in it that are neither hedgehogs nor wobbly. These include, but are not limited to, the body, kingship, Catholicism, cats, mice, betrayal between friends, jam, alcohol, badgers, love and the military. There is less actual discussion of sex than one might expect. For the purposes of describing my project as an assembled whole, however, this prospectus will attempt to transcend "badgers" as a summary. (This is not to say that "badgers" isn't a useful signifier. It should be referred to almost as often as "Catholicism.")

II. Image …

Religious Revitalization Among Bulgarians During And After The Communist Time, Dr. Velislav Altanov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Money Painting And The Duplicitous Multiple: The Interdependence Of American Copyright Legislation And Artistic Production, Jaclyn N. Siemers

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

In this thesis I investigate the interworking and influences of the United States’ federal copyright legislation, specifically its relationship to the history of artistic production from the late nineteenth-century to the present. A detailed analysis of the evolving copyright statute, the social and legal impact of the multiple (including the counterfeit copy), and the progressive recurrence of representational money paintings will reveal the mutually dependent relationship of copyright legislation and artistic production. The progression of styles in America art—nineteenth-century trompe l’oeil illusionism, mid-century Abstract Expressionism, Pop art, and contemporary appropriation art—provides an illustrated roadmap of the complex relationship between the …

A Classical Journey In A Contemporary World: Directing Naomi Iizuka's Anon(Ymous), Maria Chiara Pipino

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis paper is on the directorial journey that led to the production of Anon(ymous), by Naomi Iizuka, at the University Theatre in spring 2012. The following chapters will discuss the birth and evolution of the production, the approach to the script from the director's point of view and the creative process.

Remembering Arkansas Debate: The Use Of Collective Memory In Analyzing The Role Of Intercollegiate Debate At The University Of Arkansas, Barry John Regan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As one of the most successful organizations on campus for nearly a century, the University of Arkansas debate team created many memories and stories from their time in competition. According to the framework of collective memory, the production and dissemination of these stories is what connects the past, present, and future of a debate team together.

I first reconstruct the history of debate at universities, beginning with development of debate at the University of Cambridge and University of Oxford. I then detail the history of debate and argumentation at American universities, including the first intercollegiate debate in 1881. I then …

The Journey Narrative: The Trope Of Women's Mobility And Travel In Contemporary Arab Women's Literary Narratives, Banan Al-Daraiseh

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the trope of women's journey and the various kinds of movement and travel it includes employed and represented by three contemporary Arab women literary writers, Ghada Samman, Ahdaf Soueif, and Leila Aboulela in their literary narratives as well as travelogue in the case of Samman. The primary texts analyzed in this study are Samman's Beirut 75 and The Body Is a Traveling Suitcase, Soueif's In the Eye of the Sun, and Aboulela's The Translator and Minaret. These texts demonstrate how the journey trope becomes a fresh narrative strategy used by Arab women writers that …

The Regime Legitimacy Of One-China: How The Vatican Can Make China Whole Again, Jonathan David Bradley

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Currently, the sovereign state of Vatican City does not formally recognize the People's Republic of China. Nor does the Vatican recognize the Chinese Communist Party as the legitimate regime over China. Instead the Vatican recognizes the Republic of China on the island of Taiwan. There are 23 countries in the world who share the Vatican's legitimization of the Republic of Taiwan. The largest concentration of those countries is in heavily Catholic Central America. This thesis looks at the dynamics of the Sino-Vatican relationship in three areas: political tension management of the Chinese people by the CCP, improved relations between the …

Captivity, Adoption, Marriage And Identity: Native American Children In Mormon Homes, 1847-1900., Michael Kay Bennion

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Indigenes of North America's Great Basin developed a way of life based on the available resources the Basin provided. Their culture and customs provided a stable means of understanding and interacting with nature and men. Their myths elaborated on expectations, hopes, and fears, in real and metaphorical ways, as evidenced by stories of the trickster Coyote. As Great Basin bands contacted Europeans, they adjusted their resource gathering based on new technologies, such as horses and guns, as well as their myths to cope with change. This process entailed some adjustment in their perceptions of the world around them and …

Popular Perceptions Of The Relationship Between Religious And Ethnic Identities: A Comparative Study Of Ethnodoxy In Contemporary Russia And Beyond, David M. Barry

Dissertations

The relationship between religion and ethnicity is well documented. However, previous studies have usually approached the relationship by focusing on the converging of two 'objective' social categories, religion and ethnicity. In doing so, the subjectivity, or the actor's own understanding of the interplay between religion and ethnicity is typically neglected. This study fills this gap by exploring popular perceptions of group identities and the affiliation with imagined ethno-religious communities. To accomplish this, the concept of ethnodoxy, first developed by Vyacheslav Karpov and Elena Lisovskaya, is applied that captures the belief that affiliation to an ethnic group's dominant religion is essential …

Stephen C. Rowan And The U.S. Navy: Sixty Years Of Service, Cynthia M. Zemke

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis is a career biography, and chronicles the life and service of Stephen Clegg Rowan, an officer in the United States Navy, and his role in the larger picture of American naval history. The author has utilized mainly primary sources, including a journal kept by Rowan himself (transcribed from a microfilm copy of a handwritten journal, 900+ pages), and the Official Records of the United States military branches that were kept during the course of the Civil War. Rowan's wartime experiences and the contributions he made during the Second Seminole War, the Mexican War, and the Civil War form …

Prayer, Sacrifice, And Service: Themes In The Mormon Folk Narrative Tradition, Jake D. Vane

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The primary objective of this study was to increase understanding about members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by researching how prayer, sacrifice, and service operate in the lives of Latter-day Saints. I studied and analyzed these values and themes by interviewing Latter-day Saints and collecting stories of their personal experiences. I also researched these themes in Mormon history. The academic field of Mormon folklore has often studied topics that offer a slightly improved understanding of Mormons. My approach was to help focus Mormon folklore studies on the core values of this religious group—values that significantly broaden …