American Studies Commons^™

Tribal Gaming And The Political Contributions Strategies Of Native American Tribes In Minnesota, Thomas Sorenson

Political Science Theses and Capstones

The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act has made a big impact on tribal-state relations since it was enacted in 1988 by the federal government. Tribes have started to make campaign contributions to state and federal politicians to help try to mold lawmakers to vote for Tribal interests. My research looks at Minnesota tribes and their campaign contributions to House members during the 2005 election, and whether these lawmakers voted for tribal issues during their term. For control variables I also gathered a variety of information related to legislative districts. What my analysis has shown is that the tribes in Minnesota donate …

Lakewood Farm: The Private Zoo That The Public Loved, Geoffrey D. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

Lakewood Farm:  The Private Zoo That the Public Loved is an article concerning the private zoo in Holland, Michigan, that was owned by Chicago coal merchant George Fulmer Getz and helped form the Illionois based Brookfiekd Zoo and John Ball Zoo of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Wolves And The Wolf Myth In American Literature, Cara Erdheim

English Faculty Publications

Book review by Cara Erdheim:

Robisch, S. K. Wolves and the Wolf Myth in American Literature. Reno, Nevada: Uniiversity of Nevada Press, 2009.

[Introduction To] America On The Eve Of The Civil War, Edward L. Ayers, Carolyn R. Martin

Bookshelf

The scholarship and public history the sixteen historians had created over their careers made this plan seem at least feasible. Their collective body of work embraces everything from politics to literature, from industrial slavery to African American art, from women's reform efforts to racial ideologies, from military history to the history of memory. Some of them worked at museums and libraries while others taught at universities and colleges across the nations. They belonged to no particular school of interpretation, and quite a few had never met one another.

The historians, whatever their backgrounds, shared a sense of responsibility for opening …

Uncoverings: The Research Papers Of The American Quilt Study Group, Volume 31 (2010), Laurel Horton, Virginia Gunn, Anita B. Loscalzo, Nao Nomura, Pamela Weeks, Jonathan Gregory, Jane Przybysz

Uncoverings Journal

Preface by Laurel Horton

McCall's Role in the Early Twentieth-Century Quilt Revival by Virginia Gunn

Prussian Blue: The Development of a Colorant and Its Use in Textiles Anita B. Loscalzo

The Development of Quiltmaking in Japan since the 1970s by Nao Nomura

"One Foot Square, Quilted and Bound": A Study of Potholder Quilts by Pamela Weeks

Wrapped in Meanings: Quilts for Families of Soldiers Killed in the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars by Jonathan Gregory

Bay Area Beginnings: The American Quilt Study Group and the Twentieth-Century California Fiber Art Movement by Jane Przybysz

Contributors

Index

Writing Southern Race Relations: Stories Ellen Douglas Was Brave Enough To Tell, Suzanne W. Jones

English Faculty Publications

When Ellen Douglas started writing, she drew inspiration from the way William Faulkner and other southern writers whom she admired, like Eudora Welty, depicted southern places. Douglas planted all of her fiction firmly in the region of Mississippi that she knew best; her Homochitto is modeled of Natchez, where she was born, and her Philippi on Greenville, where she lived with her husband and their children. But Douglas reacted against the gothic and mythic elements in Faulkner's work and used as her first literary models the great nineteenth-century realists: Dostoevsky, Flaubert, James, and Tolstoy. She admired Eudora Welty, but found …

The Heart Is A Strange Muscle, Laura Browder

English Faculty Publications

Rachel’s beeper went off just as her back began growing numb, jammed against the pieces of broken and discarded furniture in the storage room. A second later, Bobby’s went off too. She unwrapped her legs from around his sweaty back, pulled herself up to a sitting position, and groped through the jumble of clothing.

Invisible Dread, From Twisted: The Dreadlock Chronicles, Bertram D. Ashe

English Faculty Publications

This excerpt traces the issues and process surrounding the dreadlocking of an Afri­can-American professor's hair. The personal history leading up to the decision to grow locks is briefly addressed, as is the experience of getting twisted for the first time and some reactions to the new hairstyle. Twisted discusses issues of cultural authenticity and academic nonconformity. It examines dreadlocks as a pathway to explore black identity, but in opposing ways: the act of locking ones hair does dis­play unconventional blackness - but it also participates in a preexisting black style. To what extent, the excerpt asks, can the adoption of …

Introduction To A New History Of The Sermon : The Nineteenth Century, Robert Ellison

English Faculty Research

This is the introduction to A New History of the Sermon:The Nineteenth Century, a collection of essays I edited for Brill Academic Publishers. It discusses the concept and history of "rhetorical criticism," and seeks to lay a foundation for the rhetorical study of the Anglo-American pulpit.

Commodifying Scarcity: Society, Struggle, And Spectacle In World Of Warcraft, Kevin Moberly

English Faculty Publications

Overrun by monsters and tyrants, and ravaged by fanaticism, excess, and greed, World of Warcraft offers players a chance to struggle metaphorically against that which oppresses them: the excesses of late capitalism as they are represented by the game’s spectacular antagonisms. In order to take advantage of this opportunity, however, players must employ the very thing through which their oppression is manifested. Interpellated into the game as fetishized images, players must construct themselves and function in accordance with the limitations imposed upon them by the race and class of their characters. Players, as such, are incorporated into World of Warcraft’s …

Exile In The Gramola: A Jewinican (Re)Collection, Roberto Alejandro Santos

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Exile in the Gramola: A Jewinican (Re)Collection is a poetic attempt at navigating the multicultural landscapes of the ethnic hybrid. It is a collection of poetry that aims to reveal how we ourselves become acculturated in the process acculturating others, and which also aims at promoting opportunities of cross-cultural dialogue, cross-cultural negotiation, cross-cultural overstanding, and cross-cultural endorsement.

Through the themes of exile, divorce, familial separation, and the mixing of the cultural movements of hip-hop and bachata, Exile reaches beyond ideas of ethnicity and cultural norms in order to reveal the hardships we share in our only commonality--our humanity.

Contents, Tom Mack, Ph.D.

The Oswald Review: An International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Criticism in the Discipline of English

No abstract provided.

The Oswald Review Undergraduate Research And Criticism In The Discipline Of English: Volume 12 Fall 2010

The Oswald Review: An International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Criticism in the Discipline of English

No abstract provided.

Front Matter, Tom Mack, Ph.D.

The Oswald Review: An International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Criticism in the Discipline of English

No abstract provided.

Cultural Reclamations In Helena Viramontes’ “The Moths”, Ashley Denney

The Oswald Review: An International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Criticism in the Discipline of English

No abstract provided.

Timeless Feminist Resistance Defying Dominant Discourses In Sor Juana’S“Hombres Necios” And Margaret Atwood’S “A Women’S Issue”, Erin Elizabeth

The Oswald Review: An International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Criticism in the Discipline of English

No abstract provided.

Back Matter, Tom Mack, Ph.D.

The Oswald Review: An International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Criticism in the Discipline of English

No abstract provided.

‘Evil Against Evil’: The Parabolic Structure And Thematics Of William Friedkin's The Exorcist, Larrie Dudenhoeffer

Faculty Articles

This essay examines and deconstructs three sets of antagonisms in William Friedkin's The Exorcist (1973). It argues that the film describes its own narrative conflicts as a thematics of ‘evil against evil,’ so as to de-ethicize the moral violence of those metaphysical dogmatisms that compete over the ‘souls’ of others. It then re-couches the one-sidedness of scientific and religious orthodoxies, which damage in similar ways Regan MacNeil, one of the film's main characters, as another variation of this thematics. Finally, this essay suggests that The Exorcist surveys certain sociopolitical tensions, thus commenting, in its video and theatrical re-releases, ‘timelessly’ on …

Forget Burial: Illness, Narrative, And The Reclamation Of Disease, Marty Melissa Fink

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Through a theoretical and archival analysis of HIV/AIDS literature, this dissertation argues that the AIDS crisis is not an isolated incident that is now "over," but a striking culmination of a long history of understanding illness through narratives of queer sexual decline and national outsiderhood. Literary representations of HIV/AIDS can be read as a means of resistance to the stigmatization of people of color, women, immigrants, and queers, debunking the narratives that vilify these subjects as threats to national security and health. In drawing connections between illness, history, and the African diaspora, my work adopts a queer theoretical approach to …

Facilitators And Obstacles Of Intercultural Business Communication For American Companies In China: Lessons Learned From The Ups Case, Hongmei Gao, Penelope Prime

Faculty Articles

This article analyzes how the execution of business strategy for global enterprises is shaped by the dual challenges of communicating in a different national culture and working in a changing economic environment. The article develops a framework from the UPS case in China to illustrate the key components of strategy for US companies operating businesses in China. The article proposes that Chinese-American communication effectiveness can be achieved through overcoming five obstacles: cultural multiplicity, relationship/ task orientation, time concept, business style difference, and language use, while utilizing five facilitators:pragmatism, gender equality, English, American pop culture, and a "big country mentality."

Identifying The Relationship Between Network Governance And Community Action Program Participation, Angelique M. Goliday

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The relevant literature consistently suggests that understanding citizen participation in community action programs is needed to maximize network governance efforts. Yet, there is no empirical evidence demonstrating a relationship between levels of network governance (NG) and citizen participation rates. The purpose of this study was to determine the degree to which levels of NG is correlated with levels of citizen participation in community action agency (CAA) programs, and whether variations in NG or variations over time in average income level is more strongly related to participation. The research was guided by the integrative model of democracy, which emphasizes citizen participation …

My Name And My Face, Stuart Ewen

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Film Review: Masculinity & Interracial Intimacy In 'Star Trek' And 'Gran Torino', Adrienne D. Davis

Scholarship@WashULaw

Race has long been a central object of political reflection. The salience of racial difference remains hotly debated, figuring in both “utopian” and “dystopian” visions of America’s political future. If race is a primary configuration of “difference” and inequality in the nation, then intimacy between the races is often construed as either a bellwether of equality and political utopia or a re-inscribing of political dominance, typically represented as sexual predation by men against women. Quite expectedly, these political fantasies and fears are often played out at the multiplex, and we can see them in stark relief in two recent films …

Queer Appalachia: Toward Geographies Of Possibility, Mathias J. Detamore

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Stereotypes about Appalachia abound through dubious and reductive representations of the ‘hillbilly’ icon. Sexuality and how it functions in Appalachia is usually cast from the outside as wild, violent, bestial, incestuous and generally base. Movies such as Deliverance and television shows such as The Beverly Hillbillies and The Dukes of Hazard render images of Appalachian sexuality as hyper-sexual, both naive and violent. These images of Appalachian sexual ignorance and violence that permeate popular culture have had problematic and reductive implications for rural gay/trans Appalachian folk. Mainstream gay culture has often used the perceived meanings of these images to circumscribe and …

The Role Of The Teacher Librarian Engaged In Collaboration With A Classroom Teacher During Implementation Of A Pilot Iowa Core Curriculum Unit, Mary Beth Janssen

Graduate Research Papers

This action research study was a mixed methods investigation of a previously taught Native American unit modified to include Iowa Core Curriculum (ICC) content and 21^st Century Learning standards, planned and implemented via a collaborative effort between a rural school district K-12 teacher librarian (TL) and a 5^th grade classroom social studies teacher. The two research questions being investigated asked what TL-led collaborative looks like during implementation of an ICC unit and who benefits from an ICC unit led by a TL in collaborative with a classroom teacher written interview, field notes of the TL and classroom teacher, …

Gothic Representations: History, Literature, And Film, Daniel Gould

All Student Theses and Dissertations

Gothic storytelling has come a long way since the publication of Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto in 1764. This short novel created the standard motifs and tropes that will forever be associated with the genre-the destitute castle, the foreboding atmosphere, supernatural or inexplicable events, omens, prophecies, heroes, villains, and of course, a deteriorating world facilitated by the unconscious evils within hwnanity causing the complete destabilization of society.

This paper will examine the evolution of Gothic fiction and how it has been represented from its romantic heritage and Victorian upbringing to the American Gothic traditions of the nineteenth century and …

Workplace Nutrition And Exercise Climate: Scale Development And Preliminary Model, Joseph J. Mazzola

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Obesity is a major concern in the United States and has a multitude of negative physical and mental health consequences. Proper nutrition and exercise are important elements to initiating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Since most people spend a large amount of their time working, it is important that organizations create an atmosphere that is conducive to employees being able to eat healthy diets and exercise regularly. The social and environmental climate in terms of health was examined through the construct of a Workplace Nutrition and Exercise Climate (WNEC), defined here as the situational, social, and environmental factors within an …

An Exploratory Study Of The Intrapersonal, Socio-Cultural, And Behavioral Factors That Influence Hiv Risk Behaviors Among Ethnic Subgroups Of Black Heterosexual Men: The Intersection Of The Beliefs And Perceptions Of Black Women, Shalewa Noel-Thomas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Twenty five years after AIDS was first scientifically described, the disease continues to take its toll on the human population. HIV/AIDS disproportionately affects marginalized groups such as poor, underserved, minority populations. In the United States, Blacks become infected with and die from HIV/AIDS more than any other ethnic or racial group. Despite a vast body of literature on HIV/AIDS, little research has focused on black heterosexual men and even fewer studies have explored the context of risk among subgroups of black men.

Using qualitative research methods and a socio-ecological framework, this study explored the intrapersonal, socio-cultural, and behavioral factors that …

Constraining Basin Geometry And Fault Kinematics On The Santo Tomás Segment Of The Agua Blanca Fault Through A Combined Geophysical And Structural Study, Adam Springer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Agua Blanca fault is a major transverse structure of northern Baja California, extending more than 120km east from the Punta Banda ridge near the city of Ensenada to the San Matais Pass in central Baja. Through much of its eastern extent slip on this fault appears to be pure strike slip, however, at the Valle de Santo Tomás the fault makes a ~25°; change in orientation, which coincides with the formation of extensional basins on the fault. Recent evidence of the independent movement of the Baja Micro-plate relative to a stable Southern California Black leads to several possible hypotheses …

Heat Stress Evaluation Of Protective Clothing Ensembles, Amanda Lee Pease

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Clothing directly affects the level of heat stress exposure. Useful measures to express the thermal characteristics are WBGT (wet bulb globe temperature) clothing adjustment factor (CAF) or apparent total evaporative resistance (R_e,T,_a). The CAF is assigned through laboratory wear trials following a heat stress protocol in which the air temperature and humidity are progressively increased until the participant clearly loses the ability to maintain thermal equilibrium. The critical condition is the point of thermal transition and from these conditions both the CAF and Re,T,a are computed. The first objective of this study is to compare the …