Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Asexuality And Demisexuality: Clinical Implications Of Sexual Identity, Michael Scott Fiorini

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

This paper considers demisexuality as an identity and sexual orientation for use by psychologists using historical, sociological, and psychological perspectives. It discusses the clinical implications of demisexuality as an identity and orientation distinct from asexuality. The paper discusses applications and limitations of defining and identifying demisexuality in a clinical population and it's social, scientific, and contextual significance. The paper compares what can be observed with existing diagnostic guidelines present in the DSM-5 for the identification of Female Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder (FSIAD) and Male Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (MHSDD). The paper proposes guidelines for the diagnosis and the ethical clinical treatment …

Examining Experience, Role, And Lgbtq Identity In Department Chairs, Ashton B. Clouse

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

LGBTQ rights have progressed tremendously in recent times, not long ago LGBTQ individuals could be arrested simply for being themselves. Though many rights have been won, the fight for equity continues. This is especially true in the field of education, many think of higher education as a pathway to equity, but in reality it can serve to solidify societal inequities. Campus climate studies of LGBTQ faculty members in higher education show that climate is most impactful at the departmental level (Nichols & Scott, 2005), others highlight the importance of department chairs in fostering climate within their departments (Bystydzienski et al., …

People And Place: A Journey Through Film, Tourism, And Heritage, Sarah Beals

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Old Tucson Studios is a theme park where film, tourism, and heritage all converge through the American Western genre. During national social change, Westerns increase in number to reflect national values and identity. Westerns that ally with landscapes and people are potentially the most powerful storytelling tool in mainstream media. My research shows that this paring of people and place creates a prevailing image in the audience’s memory. The results suggest that the current image of the West comes from films made between 1951-1970, despite there being newer Westerns. John Wayne and saguaro cactus are enduring images with historic, cultural, …

“Because We Are Catholic”: Music As A Bridge Between Identities Within The Catholic Community Of South India, Johnathan Theodore Travis Rhodes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I argue that the music of the Catholic Church of South India, which draws from Indian and Western music genres, functions as a cultural bridge allowing the worshiper to express a distinctively Catholic identity without distancing themselves from their Hindu roots. This cultural connection reinterprets Karnatak musical styles, practices, and traditions as distinctively Catholic rather than Indian or Hindu. Thus, Indian cultures are recontextualized within a Catholic paradigm, as these practices are regarded as Catholic regardless of their historical, cultural, or religious origin. These identities, Indian and Catholic, are not in tension with one another, but instead, …

A Phenomenological Exploration Of Korean Adoptees’ Multiple Minority Identities, Jared Utley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since the end of the Korean War, Korean children have been placed for international adoption due to their marginalized status in South Korea. In the United States, Korean children have predominantly been adopted to White families through transracial adoption (Bergquist, 2003; Lee, 2003). Transracial adoption describes the process of children being placed in a home where there are racial differences with one or both adoptive parents. Through international transracial adoption, Korean adoptees may undergo events that impact the salience and development of multiple minority identities, including: racial, ethnic, cultural, and as an adoptee. These experiences may be shaped by interactions …

China's Lost Face And The Two Koreas: The Effects Of Culture And Identity On Chinese Foreign Policy, Kang Kyu Lee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the question of why China responded particularly harshly to pro-U.S. military actions taken by South Korea, when this nation was identified as a friend to China, while responding less harshly to similar pro-U.S. military actions taken by Japan, who was not identified as a friend. My argument is that these divergent responses were caused by China’s different expectations, according to whether different nations had a perceived identity as a friend or a rival. China’s behaviors are essentially based on its own proclaimed identity and on the perceived identities of others. China has advanced the proclaimed identity of …

Whose Community Museum Is It? Collaboration Strategies And Identity Affirmation In The Amache Museum, Ting-Chun (Regina) Huang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Amache Museum is a preservation project that has multiple communities involved in preserving Amache history. It represents Japanese American as well as American history and is owned and maintained by the Amache Preservation Society (APS), which is comprised of local Granada High School students. By approaching the Amache Museum as a community museum and noticing its distinct collaborative strategy, this thesis investigates the community collaborations and the identity affirmations within the museum, and addresses the question of whose community museum the Amache Museum represents. My research explores the overlapping conceptual models of the Amache Museum: community museum and ecomuseum, …

"Traditioning" Blackness: A Theo-Ethical Analysis Of Black Identity In Black Theological Discourse, Ben Sanders Iii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The emergence of James Cone's black liberation theology in the late-1960s and early 1970s marked both a radical challenge to and a historical transformation of the fields of religious and theological studies. Building on Cone's work, black theological discourse has developed a rich tradition of religious and academic inquiry characterized by its commitment to interpreting Christianity in particular, and religious experience more broadly, from the vantage point of oppressed black people. This dissertation shows that James Cone developed a particular understanding of black identity in his early works and, furthermore, that various scholars have critically engaged this conception of black …

The Dynamics Of Community Museums And Their Communities: Museo De Las Americas' Spanish Happy Hour Fostering Social Inclusion For The Latino And Denver Metro Area Communities, Maritza Hernandez-Bravo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many museums are now aspiring to collaborate and engage with Latino communities and the community as a whole. Due to Museo de las Americas status as a community museum, I predicted that I would find a collaborative effort already occurring between the institution and their community, which can aid in creating a sense of social inclusion by being committed to including diverse voices by having clarity of purpose that makes sense both within the context of the community and the institution itself. I used staff, volunteer and visitor interviews and observations of the program to evaluate the degree of collaboration …

Same Same But Different: The Self-Portraiture Of A Vietnam War Adoptee And The Poststructural Language Of Alterity, Joie Norby Lê

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the journey of a Vietnam War adoptee and the multitude of experiences that influenced her alterity. Through the development of a poststructuralist conceptual framework, the author reveals a philosophy of difference realized by philosophers such as Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, Jean-François Lyotard, and Jacques Derrida. Using the method of self-portraiture, the author illustrates how this philosophy of difference was shaped as a result of her experiences and how those experiences have informed her engagement or disengagement throughout her K-12 and post-secondary education, her work as a student, and her beliefs as an educator. The study focuses upon …

Tracing An American Yoga: Identity And Cross-Cultural Transaction, Christa Schwind

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation looks at the creative identity of an American yoga, both rooted in its Indic origins and radically transformed in its U.S. manifestations. It traces the broad historical transactions of yoga in terms of East and West, Secular and Religious, authenticity and idealized conception, as well as provides a critical historical genealogy of Anusara and Sridaiva yoga. Furthermore, the project relates yoga to the identity, power, and knowledge dynamics of pre-modern, modern, and postmodern histories and interpretations of yoga and Tantra, multiple theoretical discourses, and the embodied practices of individuals within Indian and American contexts.

I argue that there …

A Divine Round Trip: The Literary And Christological Function Of The Descent/Ascent Leitmotif In The Gospel Of John, Susan Elizabeth Humble

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The thesis of this dissertation is that the Descent/Ascent Leitmotif, which includes the language of not only descending and ascending, but also going, coming, and being sent, performs a significant literary and christological function in the Gospel of John. The Evangelist's Descent/Ascent Leitmotif becomes the Gospel's organizing principal, drawing together a constellation of verbs and a number of themes, including Jesus-Son's origin, identity, relationship to God, authority, signs and works, life, and glory.

In the introductory chapter, after providing a layout of the dissertation, the discussion turns to the spacial dimensions and christological importance of the vertical and horizontal depictions …

Thuggin' With The Oldies: Successful Professionals Who Continue To Listen To Gangsta Rap And The Professional Identity Conflict That Arises, Tarhonda Thomas Mckee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The rise of explicit rap music in the 1990's brought with it a challenge that has not been seen until today: what becomes of listeners who, once past their adolescent years, become responsible, successful adults yet choose to keep explicit rap music in their lives? This thesis examined that question to find that some high-achieving adults continue to listen to the controversial form of music, while simultaneously separating themselves from the images associated with the music. Furthermore, their musical tastes can present a conflict with their professional images which may cause them to conceal their preference for explicit rap music, …

Searching For Truth(Iness): Mapping The Religio-Political Landscape And Identity Of Christian Emerging Adults Through A Reception Study Of The Colbert Report, Jill Elizabeth Dierberg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Utilizing textual analysis and in-depth interviews of self-identified Christian participants ages 18-35 (n=20), this dissertation explores the way Comedy Central's The Colbert Report portrays Christianity, how young Christian viewers negotiate their religio-political identity in relation to the show, and what this negotiation says about the religio-political landscape of Christian emerging adults (19-29) (Arnett, 2004) in the United States. I conclude that The Colbert Report provides a contextual occasion for critical religio-political reflection, and that Christian emerging adults of myriad Christian subcultures negotiate their religio-political identity in relation to The Colbert Report to varying degrees as they select differing reference points …

Caring Work: Opening A Space Of Possibility For Exploring Transnational Feminist Solidarity Between Privileged And Marginalized Women, Beverly Romero Natividad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Neoliberalism, through its emphasis on personal responsibility and individual freedom in accelerating economic development globally, has only pushed women further into the margin of society. Structural adjustment programs (SAPs), which impose state budget cuts on healthcare and welfare programs, particularly have kept poor women and women of color in poverty and generally, have exploited women's labor. However, in this age of neoliberalism, women's solidarity becomes more significant. Because neoliberalism is founded on individualism, its downfall rests on alliance-building. Against this backdrop, I explore the possibility of fostering transnational feminist solidarity between privileged and marginalized women engaged in formal caring work. …

Filmmaker, Lawyer, Indian Chief: The Negotiation Of Identity In An Indigenous Film Festival, William Lempert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since colonial contact, indigenous peoples have been predominantly represented by community outsiders. As a result, native peoples have rarely had a primary, or even collaborative role, in the production of these representations. However, in the last two decades, there has been an unprecedented proliferation of indigenous created films and the festivals that feature them. The Denver Indigenous Arts and Film Festival is an annual festival that exclusively showcases films made by and with indigenous peoples. The festival’s 2009 theme of “Telling Our Stories” emphasized cultural control of representation and the transmission of traditional knowledge.

In this thesis, I show that …

Jean Toomer And Carl Van Vechten: Identity, Exploitation, And The Harlem Renaissance, Phil Shaw

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Jean Toomer's Cane is considered one of the literary achievements of the Harlem Renaissance, though the many of his philosophical ideas which inspired it are dismissed. Inversely, Carl Van Vechten's influence as an advocate and patron of African American art is foundational though his Nigger Heaven is dismissed. However, there are commonalities in each authors identity positioning and subsequent exploitation of the black Harlem Renaissance ethos. Further, their utilization of Gurdjieffian principles of objectivity and primitivist images of blacks links and explains, in part, how their identities contributed to the ideas expressed in the novels.

Virgil Ortiz: American Indian Artist, Representational Trickster, And Identity Shapeshifter, Noell Ross Jackson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study opens the door for a re-thinking of how discourse shapes American Indian representation and identity. As such, contemporary American Indian artist, Virgil Ortiz, his art, and the discourse surrounding both art and artist are examined to reveal the strategies and tactics employed in his constitution of a politics of representation that broaden the spectrum of considerations of American Indian identity. Critical invention is the orientation through which two methodological approaches are intertextually applied. A critical rhetorical approach is employed to analyze both the vernacular discourse produced by Ortiz and the dominant discourse constructed by the dominant culture. Sorrells …

Communicating Queer Identities Through Personal Narrative And Intersectional Reflexivity, Richard G. Jones, Jr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is currently a lack of intersubjective research involving human participants and conceptual frameworks that include queer theory. Queer theory's poststructuralist epistemology tends toward desubjectification, problematizing research that relies on participants' self-reports of lived experience. The author proposes that the interdisciplinary nature of Communication Studies, which is situated within the humanities and social sciences, leaves communication scholars well poised to contribute to ongoing metatheoretical and metamethodological conversations regarding queer theory and intersubjective research, particularly in relation to cultures and identities. To contribute to this scholarly conversation, the author utilizes the deconstructionist lens of queer theory to contextualize communication, employs personal …

Religio-Political Groups And The Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process, Catherine Ruth Orsborn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a quagmire of interests working against one another. In this paper, I explore the specific role of religio-political groups in the conflict. I particularly examine the ideological political and religious foundations of Gush Emunim and Hamas, paying much attention to the question of why they are attractive to people in our current era. I argue that these groups are continuously effective in opposing the current quest for a peaceful resolution to the conflict, and that they continue to grow as the result of an identity crisis brought about by factors related to globalization and the failure …

Negotiating Toleration: Engagement, Enforcement, And The Politics Of Recognition, Matthew S. Weinert

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Toleration and Identity: Foundations in Early Modern Thought by Ingrid Creppell. New York: Routledge, 2003. 212pp.

and

How the Idea of Religious Toleration Came to the West by Perez Zagorin. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003. 371pp.