Sociology of Culture Commons^™

Examining The Sociocultural Experiences Of Cherokee Nation Citizens In Athletic Competition And Sport, Michael Dewayne Merrie

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the sociocultural experiences of Cherokee adults in athletic competition and sport. Specifically, following a qualitative design, fifteen participants were interviewed about their personal experiences in athletic competition and sport while growing up in rural Oklahoma. Interviews were open-ended and followed a semi-structured script of questions with additional probes. Once completed, the recorded interviews were transcribed and data were analyzed. The data revealed six axial codes and three selective codes. Cherokee culture, psychoSocial identity, and athletic competition were the three major selective codes discovered in this study. Qualitative analyses revealed that participants have …

Selling College: Student Recruitment And Education Reform Rhetoric In The Age Of Privatization, Paige Marie Hermansen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the success of for-profit colleges and universities (FPCUs) as a socio-cultural phenomenon that hinges on distinct public discursive strains and neoliberal rhetorics. This project examines the role of language in creating and sustaining particular discourses of higher education and how those discourses are reinforced and reflected in channels of discourse like documentary films and advertisements.

In the context of shifting demands on and representations of higher education, this project critiques the evolving rhetoric of American education and the shift toward a wider acceptance of privatization efforts, as well as the effect this shift has had on prospective …

Movements, Music, And Meaning: A Comparative Analysis Of Cultural Narratives In Vietnam Era And Post-9/11 Anti-War Music, Jonathan Nathaniel Redman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the presence of widely circulating cultural narratives in the lyrics of approximately eighty anti-war songs from the Vietnam and post-9/11 eras. Unlike prior movements and music research, this thesis privileges culture over movements and views movements as cultural antennae both picking up on trends and cultural narratives, and broadcasting their own altered cultural meanings back into the “cultural airways.” It sees music as a cultural medium which acquires cultural meanings from its surroundings, alters those meanings, synthesizes new ones, and perpetuates old ones. Drawing on comparative and narrative analysis approaches informed by grounded theory techniques, this thesis …