Critical and Cultural Studies Commons^™

On Unity Experiences: A Review, Wilcox, Sally

Journal of Conscious Evolution

Unity is both complex and elegant which in itself reflects the Universe. Experiencing unity is examined philosophically as a natural human desire for reasoned reality. From a spiritual perspective it may be the return to our original divine essence. From a neuroscientific view, it may be neurocorrelates in the brain resonating with an electrical field. And from a physics perspective, it may be particle entanglement and spin-wave directionality. The debate is broad and deep. The prevailing western framework for exploring such a topic is rational cognitivism, and intersects several disciplines including; cognitive science, consciousness studies, neuroscience, philosophy, phenomenology, psychology and …

An Exploration Of Powerful Power Of Thought Experiences, Martin, Jeffery

Journal of Conscious Evolution

This study explored participant’s assumptions regarding power of thought and analyzed examples they provided of powerful power of thought experiences. The method used was intuitive inquiry, which allows for both traditional and transpersonal research techniques to be employed. Each of the four participants produced an initial two page (aprox.) reflection, read each others reflections, and then produced a second two page reflection paper. Clarifying questions were then asked, and the final coding and analysis completed. Six strong themes between all study participants were uncovered: belief that it can work, complexity, guidance, unity, choice, and release. A shared cosmology was observed …

The Holographic Principle Of Mind And The Evolution Of Consciousness, Germine, Mark

Journal of Conscious Evolution

The Holographic Principle holds the information in any region of space and time exists on the surface of that region. Layers of the holographic, universal “now” go from the inception of the universe to the present. Universal Consciousness is the timeless source of actuality and mentality. Information is experience, and the expansion of the “now” leads to higher and higher orders of experience in the Universe, with various levels of consciousness emerging from experience. The brain consists of a nested hierarchy of surfaces which range from the most elementary field though the neuron, neural group, and the whole brain. Evidence …

The Construction Of Reality In "Waking Life" And "Dreaming Life", Krippner, Stanley

Journal of Conscious Evolution

Shamans were the first dreamworkers and the first to ask traditional philosophical questions. They used (and still use) altered states of consciousness to travel into "dreamtime," obtaining power and knowledge to help and heal members of their communities -- the social group that awarded them shamanic status. In psychological terms, shamans regulate their attention to obtain information not available to their peers, using it to reduce stress and improve the living conditions of members of their society.

Over the centuries, Western scientists and philosophers have dismissed shamanic "journeying" as fanciful at best, and delusional at worst. Julian Silverman (1967) postulated …

The Dramaturgy Of Drag, Sydney M. Paluch

CLAMANTIS: The MALS Journal

n/a

Peoplehood Beyond The State:Rebellion In A South Asian Borderland, Radhika Moral

CLAMANTIS: The MALS Journal

n/a

Toward A Theology Of Transformation: Destroying The Sycamore Tree Of White Supremacy, Hannah Kathleen Griggs

Celebration of Learning

Black liberation theologians come to terms with white supremacy by collectively remembering the story of the Exodus and Jesus' crucifixion--affirming God's preference for freedom and in-the-world salvation. The particular history of white American Christianity requires a different story to provide the foundation for our social memory. As white American Christians, we have certain blind spots—blind spots created by historical and social privileges that have given white people unequal access to power and resources. The story of Zacchaeus has the potential to help reframe white Christianity’s conception of race relations in the United States, shifting from a reconciliation paradigm to a …

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Com 3076 (International Communication), Allison Hahn

Open Educational Resources

This course examines issues related to the internationalization of media and communication. Topics include a comparison of information rich and information poor countries, an analysis of global media, trends in communication technology, the role of English as a world language, U.S. influences on world cultures, and international perceptions of the United States.

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Com 3060 (Media Analysis And Criticism), Riann Subijanto

Open Educational Resources

In contemporary society, the media, including the Internet, television, smart phones, radio, magazines, movies, music, newspapers, and books, saturate our everyday lives to an extent unprecedented in human history. Their effects are wide-ranging and transformative, including affecting our perception of reality, influencing how and what we think about, and framing our understanding of the world around us. Yet, due to their pervasiveness, rarely do we seriously consider the media and the issues they raise. This course will introduce you to the seminal theories in media studies. By considering these different approaches, we will situate the media in a broader historical, …

Hackers And The Dark Net: A Look Into Hacking And The Deep Web, Danielle Lefrancois, Christina Reilly, Russell Munn, Andy Strasel, Jess Garcia, Lindsey Chiles

James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ)

The dark web is notorious for the illicit activities it facilitates, including human trafficking, narcotics and weapons sales, and illegally obtained information transfers. In order to combat this constant, invisible threat to security, governments and experts have called for tougher legislation and increased surveillance. But on the opposite end of all this crime and villainy lie persecuted groups who use the dark web and the anonymity it affords to protect themselves from retaliation. This article uses Atavist’s digital storytelling medium to explore how hackers “hack” the web, ethical questions surrounding the dark web, and policy solutions to cyber security.

“At War For Oppa And Identity”: Competitive Performativity Among Korean-Pop Fandoms, Brittany Tinaliga

Master's Projects and Capstones

Literature surrounding K-Pop is mostly focused on the reactionary, participatory, promotional, consumer and identity-forming roles of the Korean-Pop fandom. However, this research sheds a light on the dark side of the K-Pop fandom and the structures that sustain it: namely toxic practices and values. The study determines what practices and beliefs are at the core of competitive performativity and subsequently toxic fan conduct among international Korean-Pop fans and whether fans engage in reflexivity regarding these practices. To address this gap, this study incorporates a multi-methods approach, including CDA analysis, online corpus analysis, qualitative and quantitative data. The results reveal that …

Learning Culture: Cultural Relationship In Masked Lanterns, Yuxuan Ding

Graduate School of Art Theses

Culture shock, or culture conflict, is the unfamiliarity or disorientation an individual experiences after encountering a culture different than their own. To better understand the people around us who share a different culture and the way of life it creates, we need to first respect and understand their culture. In general, Chinese culture stresses that individuals must see themselves as part of a larger group for the benefit of society, while American culture stresses the importance of individualism.

Based on my experiences in graphic design, I decided to further my studies in a studio art context to understand how the …

Currents Of Consumption: How National Narratives Of Japanese Cuisine Collide With Localized Forms Of Sushi In Northern California, John Ostermiller

Master's Projects and Capstones

This paper examines how national narratives of Japanese cuisine collide with the expectations, preferences, and perceptions of American consumers (particularly Northern California). The global economy has benefited the circulation of positive images of Japan managed by the Japanese government, but the commercialization of Japanese cuisine is also at odds with government efforts. In Japan, sushi is often synonymous with nigirizushi: sliced seafood and a daub of wasabi atop vinegared rice. As part of Japan’s washoku tradition, this singular image of sushi (allegedly) reflects the deepest essence of Japanese cultural sensibilities tied to simplicity, perfection, and nature. But in America, consumers’ …

Media Literacy Policy In Flanders – Belgium: From Parliamentary Discussions To Public Policy, Leo Van Audenhove, Hadewijch Vanwynsberghe, Ilse Mariën

Journal of Media Literacy Education

The discussion on media literacy in Flanders starts in the Flemish Parliament in 2006. It will take until 2013 before the Flemish Government will set up the Knowledge Center for Media Literacy—Mediawijs. Flanders is therefore rather late in establishing a dedicated institute for media literacy. The same can be said for developing a formal policy framework in relation to media literacy. This article starts with a theoretical discussion of three major trends in the current media literacy debate. The article moves on to describe and analyze Flanders media literacy policy debates and policy formulation. It highlights the development and remit …

Poverty, Literacy, And Social Transformation: An Interdisciplinary Exploration Of The Digital Divide, Amy J. Bach, Todd Wolfson, Jessica K. Crowell

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Harnessing scholarship focused on literacy and poverty, in this article we aim to complicate the common understanding of the digital divide. First, we argue that the dominant literature on the digital divide misses broader connections between technological exclusion and broader forms of economic and social exclusion. Accordingly, and following recent qualitative research on the digital divide, we believe future scholarship must examine the complicated relationships between poverty, inequality, and the digital divide and we look to poverty scholarship to understand the complicated and shifting nature of poverty. Finally, we make the case that scholars and practitioners focused on digital literacy …

Race In Romance: Racialized Femininity And Intimacy Between Asian Female And Non-Asian Male, Minju Kim

Media and Cultural Studies Honors Projects

The film “Racing Romance” is a study of Asian female and non-Asian male intimacy. The film is based on an understanding that intimacy, desire and love are critical parts of one’s self-identification, while these desires are inevitably influenced by the historical and social contexts of race to varying degrees. There has been a limited academic interest in the female agency of Asian women in interracial intimacy. Too often, interracial marriages and relationships are simply celebrated as part of multiculturalism or anti-racism, without getting proper attention to the subtleties of racial and gendered dynamics that influence both members of the relationship. …

Traversing Transdisciplinary Pathways: Suturing Knowledges In Search Of Elucidation, João Rosa

Journal of Cape Verdean Studies

No abstract provided.

Cape Verdean Counter Cultural Hip-Hop(S) & The Mobilization Of The Culture Of Radical Memory: Public Pedagogy For Liberation Or Continued Colonial Enslavement, Ricardo D. Rosa

Journal of Cape Verdean Studies

The paper traces the possibilities and limitations of transnational Cape Verdean Hip-Hop’s mobilization of the culture of radical memory for the disruption of racialized transnational capitalism and neocolonialism. One of the most common reference points, both in the symbolic formations of popular culture and emerging scholarly texts is the focus on CV Hip-Hop’s embrace of the life and work of Amilcar Cabral. Undoubtedly, Cape Verdean Hip-Hop Culture(s) & Cape Verdean youth counter-culture(s), more broadly, continues to serve as the most vital space for the (re)mobilization and (re)invigoration of Cabral’s thought, yet, much more is unfolding in these spaces. The paper …

Reading In Cape Verde: Instructional Practices And Teacher Attitudes, David Almeida

Journal of Cape Verdean Studies

Given that no extensive study on reading instruction and reading attitudes has been carried out country-wide in The Republic of Cabo Verde, (a ten island archipelago off the western coast of Africa), educational practitioners and policy makers in that nation are left with a dearth of accurate information when making decisions surrounding these constructs in the classroom, in the universities, or in the policy rooms of that nation. In a 2007 article, Commeyras & Inyega published research on reading instruction in Kenya and encouraged researchers to follow their example, i.e. to locate all pertinent literature and to conduct a review …

Breaking Their Silence On Intimate Partner Violence: Discussions With Cape Verdean Women, Dawna M. Thomas

Journal of Cape Verdean Studies

Family/intimate partner violence is a serious social problem, with women and children victimized at profoundly higher rates than adult males. Although the domestic violence community has worked tirelessly to develop programs to reach culturally diverse women, Cape Verdean women continue to be underserved and misunderstood. The Cape Verdean Women’s Project was a qualitative study with women who shared their experiences with intimate partner violence. A feminist theoretical framework offers a foundation for examining the Cape Verdean women’s experiences with intimate partner violence and for developing recommendations for working with the community to develop intervention and prevention strategies. This article presents …

Amjambo Africa! (May 2018), Kathreen Harrison

Amjambo Africa!

Welcome to Amjambo Africa! Welcome to Amjambo Africa! We are Maine’s free newspaper for and about New Mainers from Sub-Saharan Africa.

Amjambo Africa! is here to help New Mainers thrive and to help Maine welcome and benefit from our new neighbors.

Amjambo Africa! will serve as a conduit of information for newcomers as they navigate life in Maine.

Amjambo Africa! will include background articles about Africa so those from Maine can understand why newcomers have arrived here.

Amjambo Africa! will profile successful New Mainers from Sub-Saharan Africa in order to give hope to those newly arrived as well as make …

Human Development, Economic Policy And Income Inequality In Cabo Verde, João Monteiro

Journal of Cape Verdean Studies

By most accounts, Cabo Verde is making tremendous achievements economically, politically, and socially. Forty years after becoming independent, it finds itself consistently among the highest performers on human development scales anywhere in Africa. This paper is a reflection on Cabo Verde’s development and economic growth as it relates to questions of income and resource distribution. Specifically, it considers the challenge of inequality in the distribution of income and the possibility that present inequality trends may be related to economic policy-making over that last twenty-five years. It draws on government reports and United Nations and World Bank documents to capture the …

Representação E Comportamento Politico Na Perspetiva Do Género Em Cabo Verde, Roselma Évora

Journal of Cape Verdean Studies

O artigo apresenta um retrato da representação politica por sexo em Cabo Verde após a abertura politica feita em 1991. Ainda que a democracia tenha permitido trazer a participação das mulheres nas esferas de decisão do país, as evidências indicam uma profunda desigualdade de representação das mulheres no processo de decisão do arquipélago. Para compreendermos esse retrato tomamos em conta as dimensões institucionais e culturais, considerando tais dimensões determinantes para entendermos o desequilíbrio de representação daquele país.

Representations Of Mainstream And Marginalized Subjects In The Work Of Diane Arbus, Grace Short

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

This thesis considers the photographs of the twentieth-century photographer, Diane Arbus. In America during the 1950s and 60s, Arbus photographed both marginalized and mainstream subjects including dwarfs, giants, transvestites, nudists, debutants, socialites, and celebrities. At one point in her career, she expressed an interest in family portraiture and, indeed, a number of her images depict families.

Scholars who have written about Arbus, such as Susan Sontag, Carol Armstrong, Anthony W. Lee, and John Pultz, have formulated theories about Arbus’s motivations, although their findings focus on individual features of her work. Sontag argued that Arbus exploited her unorthodox sitters whereas Armstrong …

Spiritual Transformation At Austin Christian Church, David Hooper

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This project was designed to meet a need at the Austin Christian Church (ACC) for enhancing the spiritual formation of new converts to Christianity by providing clear direction for mentors seeking to disciple others into the image of Christ. The scope of this project is focused directly on taking the first steps toward a deliberate pathway for spiritual formation by establishing the foundational principles. The apostle Paul’s pastoral theology provides the theological rationale for the project. Theosis, the theologically rich description of the Christian transformative process, also informs the theological foundation for the project. Drawing on the work of Richard …

Venezuela: Oil And Madness. Politics, Propaganda, And Realities Of The Chavista Era, Alvaro E. De Prat

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis is an interdisciplinary exploration of Venezuela’s political paradoxes and their consequences during the Chavista years. On a concrete level, in this work I propose how the manner in which Hugo Chávez implemented his at first apparently benign redistributive politics in fact precipitated the country's current humanitarian crisis and what I will argue are the times of starkest inequality in modern Venezuelan history. Integral to this, although on a more philosophical level, here I also offer a theory of how and why Chávez’s representations might have been so misinterpreted.

The list of eminent political thinkers who have vouched for …

Evaluating “Discovery Bible Study” In An Evangelism Program At African Christian College, Floyd Vidler

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

The problem addressed in this project emerges from my understanding of evangelism. For me evangelism must include proclamation, discipleship, a reliance on the Holy Spirit, and the utilization of small groups. I see DBS as accomplishing these goals, and the problem of this work was to demonstrate whether this is true in the context of African Christian College and the surrounding area.

I used a method called participatory action research. I made it my goal to learn all that I could about DBS and then share this material in a classroom setting with my students at ACC. We then participated …

The Curated Chronicles Of The American Family: An Ideological Analysis Of The Love Taza Blog, Elizabeth Radley

Master's Theses

Named one of the top ten influencers of parenting by Forbes, Naomi Davis of the family-lifestyle Blog, Love Taza has transformed her family chronicles into a successful Internet business with an extensive following ("Top Influencers of 2017: Parenting"). This thesis examines the content of Love Taza to understand what messages Naomi communicates to her readers and how her readers may be receiving those messages. Using a sample of 600 posts from 2012-2017, a quantitative analysis was conducted to determine the type of content being presented. According to the findings, the majority of the posts included sponsored content and the most …

The Postmodern Indian: Representation And The Films Of Sherman Alexie, Tara P. Mccrink Burcham

Dissertations

For hundreds of years, Native Americans have been characters in American media. For most of those years, whites determined the way in which Native Americans were represented. First in print, radio, silent movies and later talkies and television, representations of Native Americans have included being uneducated sidekicks, savages, noble savages seeking to steal white women, drunken idiots, or hilarious jesters all for the entertainment of viewers. This troublesome history of negative depictions of Native Americans is the reason this research is directed at the films by Native American writer and filmmaker Sherman Alexie. This research is a qualitative analysis of …

Dove’S “Real Beauty” Campaign: A Critical Analysis Of An Integrated Communications Campaign That Sought To Change Fat Stigma, Taylor Georgeson

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

My Capstone project analyzed Dove’s “Real Beauty” integrated communications campaign to determine whether it succeeded in its original goals and to see what it could demonstrate for the future of campaigns and branding. The campaign sought to make women feel comfortable in their own skin, and since 2004 it has launched dramatic billboards and short videos to get the attention of women of all ages and share empowering messages and images with them.

I created a survey that asked questions similar to what Dove originally asked women in 2004 when it began its campaign. My goal was to see what …