American Studies Commons^™

“I Stand For Sovereignty”: Reading Portia In Shakespeare’S The Merchant Of Venice, Deborah Van Pelt

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Portia serves as a complex and often underestimated character in William Shakespeare's controversial comedy The Merchant of Venice. Using the critical methodologies of New Historicism and feminism, this thesis explores Portia's representation of Elizabeth Tudor, Queen of England from 1558 to 1603. Striking similarities exist between character and Queen, including physical description, suitors, marriage issues, and rhetoric. In addition, the tripartite marriage at the play's conclusion among Portia, Bassanio, and Antonio represents the relationship Elizabeth Tudor formed between her merchant class and her aristocracy. Shylock serves as a representation of a generic or perhaps Catholic threat to England during …

Teacher Self-Efficacy And The Civic Knowledge Of Secondary Social Studies Teachers In A Large Urban School District: A Policy Study, Dennis Holt

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This policy study contributed to an understanding of the types of professional growth activities that improve teacher self-confidence to teach challenging subjects and helped determine the future allocation of resources relative to teaching secondary social studies in Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS), the eighth largest school district in the United States. An important implication and result of this study consisted of a change in HCPS secondary social studies professional development policy from an emphasis on promoting literacy strategies, or reading in the content area, to a focus on improving social studies teacher content knowledge. Additionally, the study describes the culture …

Development And Validation Of A Web-Based Module To Teach Metacognitive Learning Strategies To Students In Higher Education, Oma B. Singh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study used a design based-research (DBR) methodology to examine how an Instructional Systematic Design (ISD) process such as ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation) can be employed to develop a web-based module to teach metacognitive learning strategies to students in higher education. The goal of the study was twofold: (a) to examine the use of a systematic ISD process, ADDIE, to develop a web-based module that would be considered valid and effective, and (b) to use the design-based research (DBR) methodology to create relevant outcomes for practitioners in the field of IT while adding to the body of IT …

Gender Trouble In Northern Ireland: An Examination Of Gender And Bodies Within The 1970s And 1980s Provisional Irish Republican Army In Northern Ireland, Jennifer Earles

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With this thesis, I will utilize both feminist and queer theory to highlight the gendered and bodily tactics used by the women of the 1970s/1980s Provisional Irish Republican Army. I will explore how women can both manipulate gender and use their bodies as a response to gender, ethnic, class, and colonial power relations and conflict discourses, the limitations of these approaches, and how these actions can work to reconfigure political movements, local cultures, and create a space for social change and a future beyond conflict which includes women. My methods will include a feminist content analysis of interviews, written records, …

The Coldest Crucible - Arctic Exploration In American Culture, Portland Museum Of Art, Michael F. Robinson

Osher Map Library Exhibition Catalogs

The Coldest Crucible - Arctic Exploration in American Culture.

March 14, 2009 to June 21, 2009

In the late 1800s, “Arctic fever” swept the nation as dozens of American expeditions sailed north to find a sea route to Asia and, ultimately, to stand at the North Pole. This exhibition paints a new portrait of these polar voyagers by placing them within the tempests of American cultural life.

In collaboration with the Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education, University of Southern Maine.

Artistic Liberty And Slave Imagery: "Mark Twain's Illustrator," E. W. Kemble, Turns To Harriet Beecher Stowe, Adam Sonstegard

English Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Family Affairs Newsletter 2009-03-01, Jean Vermette

Family Affairs newsletter (2004-2016)

FAMILY AFFAIRS was a free, twice-a-month, social activities newsletter for the GLBTQI (gay/lesbian/bisexual/trans/queer/intersex) community, sent out around the 1st and 15th of each month. It covered the State of Maine only. The list was begun and maintained for many years by Jean Vermette in Bangor, and later operated by Zack Paakkonen of Portland. Over the years it evolved from a social activities newsletter into a business directory, classified ad service, and community bulletin board.

Modulation Of Asic1a Function By Sigma-1 Receptors: Physiological And Pathophysiological Implications, Yelenis Herrera

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Acid-sensing ion channels (ASIC) are a class of ligand gated plasma membrane ion channels that are activated by low extracellular pH. During ischemia, ASIC1a are activated and contribute to the demise of neurons. Pharmacological block of ASIC1a provides neuroprotection at delayed time points. However, no endogenous receptors have been implicated in the modulation of ASIC1a activity. The hypothesis presented is that sigma receptor activation inhibits ASIC1a function and ASIC1a-induced [Ca²?]i elevations during acidosis and ischemia, which may be a mechanism by which sigma ligands provide neuroprotection following stroke. This hypothesis is based on the following observations: First, sigma receptors regulate …

Gothic Cathedral As Theology And Literature, Mary E. Wilson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There is a tendency in modern times for life to be divided into strictly separated categories-our music is divided into bins at the record store according to sometimes arbitrary genre distinctions, courses offered by one university department often cannot be counted towards a degree in another department, and students from middle school through college are outraged when they learn that "spelling counts" in a history paper. These distinctions, which are second nature to us even in childhood, were not as numerous or as strict in the medieval European understanding of life. Even when there were systems of division, such as …

Predicting The Medical Management Requirements Of Large Scale Mass Casualty Events Using Computer Simulation, Scott A. Zuerlein

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent events throughout the world and in the US lend support to the belief that another terrorist attack on the US is likely, perhaps probable. Given the potential for large numbers of casualties to be produced by a blast using conventional explosives, it is imperative that health systems across the nation consider the risks in their jurisdictions and take steps to better prepare for the possibility of an attack. Computer modeling and simulation offers a viable and useful methodology to better prepare an organization or system to respond to a large scale event. The real question, given the shortage, and …

Hamilton, Weston A. - Collector (Sc 118), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 118. Militia drill meeting notice scheduled in Russellville, Kentucky, 1818; slave bill of sale, Logan County, Kentucky, 1860; a young woman’s letter to a friend, 1875; letter written by Kate Bosher, 1910; and letter written by Cale Young Rice, 1926, regarding biographical data, with a postscript by Alice Hegan Rice.

Nichols, John Fair, Jr., 1935-1998 (Sc 1864), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1864. Paper: "The Grand: The Beginning of an End" written by John F. Nichols detailing the history of the Grand Theater in Owensboro, Kentucky, 1904-1934.

The Role Of Neuroinflammation In Regulating The Age-Related Decline In Neurogenesis, Adam D. Bachstetter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Adult neurogenesis, is a lifelong process by which relatively few cells are added into two restricted regions of the brain. Integration of the cells into the existing neuronal circulatory, with the unique properties involved in the maturation of these cells, is possibly critical to the acquisition and retrieval of new memories. With the chronological aging of the organism a process of cellular senescence occurs throughout the body; a portion of which is independent of primary alterations to the stem cells; instead, it appears to be dependent on the environment where the cells reside, and is in part regulated by inflammation. …

Multi-Functional Composite Materials For Catalysis And Chemical Mechanical Planarization, Cecil A. Coutinho

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Composite materials formed from two or more functionally different materials offer a versatile avenue to create a tailored material with well defined traits. Within this dissertation research, multi-functional composites were synthesized based on organic and inorganic materials. The functionally of these composites was experimentally tested and a semi-empirical model describing the sedimentation behavior of these particles was developed.

This first objective involved the fabrication of microcomposites consisting of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles confined within porous, microgels of a thermo-responsive polymer for use in the photocatalytic treatment of wastewater. TiO₂ has been shown to be an excellent photocatalyst …

Family Affairs Newsletter Poll 2009-02-21, Jean Vermette

Family Affairs newsletter (2004-2016)

FAMILY AFFAIRS was a free, twice-a-month, social activities newsletter for the GLBTQI (gay/lesbian/bisexual/trans/queer/intersex) community, sent out around the 1st and 15th of each month. It covered the State of Maine only. The list was begun and maintained for many years by Jean Vermette in Bangor, and later operated by Zack Paakkonen of Portland. Over the years it evolved from a social activities newsletter into a business directory, classified ad service, and community bulletin board.

End-To-End Available Bandwidth Estimation And Monitoring, Cesar Dario Guerrero Santander

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Available Bandwidth Estimation Techniques and Tools (ABETTs) have recently been envisioned as a supporting mechanism in areas such as compliance of service level agreements, network management, traffic engineering and real-time resource provisioning, flow and congestion control, construction of overlay networks, fast detection of failures and network attacks, and admission control. However, it is unknown whether current ABETTs can run efficiently in any type of network, under different network conditions, and whether they can provide accurate available bandwidth estimates at the timescales needed by these applications.

This dissertation investigates techniques and tools able to provide accurate, low overhead, reliable, and fast …

Mammoth Cave Churches (Fa 479), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 479. Interviews conducted by Laura Harper Lee about social change in churches in the Mammoth Cave area. Includes question list and 14 recorded interviews conducted between 1988 and 1991.

Inositol Phospholipid And Tyrosine Phosphorylation Signaling In The Biology Of Hematopoietic Stem Cells, Amy L. Hazen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Blood cells are continuously produced throughout our lifetime by a rare pluripotent cell that primarily resides in the adult bone marrow. This hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) must maintain a careful balance between self-renewal, differentiation and apoptosis in order to support hematopoiesis for such a long duration. Understanding the mechanism of balance between these fates is crucial to our understanding and clinical application of these cells.

From previous studies, we know Src homology 2 domain containing 5' inositol phosphatase 1 (SHIP) plays an important role in HSC homeostasis and function. Most interestingly SHIP impacts HSC homing to the bone marrow niche. …

Adiposity, Stress, And Stigmatization: A Biopsychosocial Approach To Cardiovascular Disease Prediction, Kristi E. White

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to use a biopsychosocial approach to investigate the role of body image concerns and appearance-related evaluation stress in the relationship between adiposity and cardiovascular reactivity and recovery. Participants included 106 Caucasian female undergraduates at the University of South Florida. The laboratory procedure consisted of resting baseline, speech preparation and delivery, and recovery phases. Participants also completed a variety of body image questionnaires. To manipulate appearance-related evaluation stress, participants were randomly assigned to present their speech to a video camera or an audio recorder. Overall adiposity was measured as body mass index (BMI) and …

Prevalence Of Client Violence Against Social Work Students And Its Effects On Fear Of Future Violence, Occupational Commitment, And Career Withdrawal Intentions, Pamela Myatt Criss

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Social work literature has documented that social workers may be the victims of client violence. However, to date, no studies have documented the nationwide prevalence of client violence towards social work students. This study examined direct and indirect incidents of physical assault, threats of physical harm, verbal abuse, threats of lawsuit, and property damage. The randomly selected national sample of social work students were selected from the National Association of Social Workers (N = 595).

Findings revealed that 41.7% of social work students directly experienced client violence during their practicum. The highest rate of the violence reported by students was …

Schmitt, Kimberly Anne (Fa 360), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 360. Oral history interview conducted by Kimberly Schmitt with Dr. Carlton Jackson on February 10, 1988. Schmitt’s interview focuses on Dr. Jackson’s experiences as detailed in his 1984 publication Hounds of the Road: A History of the Greyhound Bus Company.

Ross, Michelle Ann (Lowe) And Mark Brown, B. 1976 (Fa 357), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 357. Oral history interview conducted on 10 February 2001 by Michelle Ross and Mark Brown with Taylor W. Douglas, touching on his memories of traveling with his family to the Mammoth Cave area in January 1925 to catch a glimpse of trapped cave explorer Floyd Collins.

The Daily Show: Journalism’S Jester, Mark R. Mccarthy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The social meaning of television news has been under transformation since the successes of cable news in the final years of the previous century. In their attempts to preserve viewership and to remain relevant, traditional broadcast news outlets increasingly emulate the conventions of cable news. Instead of retaining audiences, the result has been declining news content and a continued loss of viewers. Amid these industry transformations, the concept of “journalist” continues to undergo change. This evolution of the news allows for a decidedly unique response to news programming in The Daily Show With Jon Stewart. Though advertised as a half-hour …

Ellis, James Tandy, 1868-1942 (Sc 110), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 110. Letters, 1897-1939 (16 items), written to James Tandy Ellis, poet, humorist, columnist, and lecturer of Ghent, Kentucky. Also includes Ellis' poems and writings, 1891 (5); printed items; clippings; commissions as Assistant Adjutant and Adjutant General of Kentucky; and miscellaneous items.

Examining A Multidimensional Model Of Attitudinal Commitment, Kyle W. Groff

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Attitudinal commitment (AOC) to the organization is consistently viewed as the most desirable form of organizational commitment due to its consistently positive relationship with many desirable workplace outcomes. Though researchers tend to overlap considerably with their definitions of attitudinal commitment, consensus on how to define and operationalize this form of organizational commitment has yet to be reached. Recently, Jaussi (2007) proposed a multidimensional model of AOC that borrows from the various conceptualizations of AOC in an attempt to form an all encompassing scale. The current study examined the utility of using a multidimensional measure of AOC by examining the unique …

Spence, Ruth Potts, 1894-1988 (Sc 1840), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 1840. Letters from Alice Hegan Rice (4), Cale Young Rice (13) and Laban Lacy Rice (1) to Ruth Potts Spence, who met the Rices at Camp Nakanawa in Mayland, Tennessee and maintained a friendship with the couple. The letters discuss writing, current events, family matters, and grief.

Dread Scott, Danielle Siembieda

SWITCH

In October 2008, artist Dread Scott talked to San José State University students about his artwork, including his series on Hurricane Katrina titled “Never Forget, Never Forgive: They Left Us to Die.” The accompanying video is unavailable.

Angle, Dennis Paul (Fa 369), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 369. Paper: "Odis Blanton: The Story of a Country Musician" written by Angle for a Western Kentucky University folk studies class.

Peach, Jewell (Fa 355), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 355. Paper: "Folklore in Film" written by Jewell Peach for a Western Kentucky University folk studies class.

Schmitt, Kimberly (Fa 362), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 362. Interview with Nancy Baird, former Kentucky History Specialist in the Department of Library Special Collections at WKU, conducted by Kimberly Schmitt on 27 January 1988. The interview focuses on Baird’s 1977 publication, Tradition and Progress: A History of Hummel Industries Incorporated. Based out of Cincinnati, Ohio, Hummel Industries is renowned for its stone-related services, masonry, and concrete repair.