Texas A&M International University: Research Information Online (RIO)
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The Survival of the Feminine Figure Through the Reconciliation of Nature and Logos
Get PDFThis work focuses on analyzing and questioning the role two feminine protagonists play in a phallogocentric social system depicted within two novels. The research will explore the narrative and outcome experienced by Doña Bárbara and Janie Crawford, from Rómulo Gallegos’ Doña Bárbara and Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, in a post-colonial twentieth-century American continent. Hélène Cixous’ concept of feminine writing, which roots from her essay “The Laugh of the Medusa” and her book The Newly Born Woman will be the philosophical lens and medium of analysis for both Doña Bárbara and Their Eyes Were Watching God. Both women are raised in a phallogocentric society in which the feminine voice and experience is neglected. For both women to fully develop a voice of their own, they must experience a journey of hardships and repression without ever having access to education. They demonstrate strength as they face adversities, injustice and mistreatment. Yet, they eventually free themselves from the same oppressive systems that once enslaved them. Through a detailed description of two different sociocultural circumstances, both Doña Bárbara and Their Eyes Were Watching God present a public realm foregrounded on patriarchal-hierarchical values in which men have the positions of power and speech which gives them the privilege of assigning meaning to their world, culture and society. This phallogocentric social structure is based on the repression, and silence, of the feminine figure’s voice and the experience of those labelled as part of the feminine. Here, voice is much more than speech, but the experience of Janie and Doña Bárbara as they live in society through the label of “Woman.” The first chapter explores a dialectic between Plato, Jacques Derrida and Hélène Cixous that clarifies the genealogy and meaning of both the neologism phallogocentrism and the method of feminine writing. Chapter two discusses the feminization of barbarism through the character of Doña Bárbara; thus, the oppression of a feminine figure who for the phallogocentric man is the definition of non-logos or barbarism. Chapter three covers Janie Crawford’s life-story as an insurgent of a phallogocentric social system, and specifically analyses the way Jody Starks’ oppressive voice and presence is the basis of the androcentric establishment of the public realm in the town of Eatonville
Discursos sobre inmigración a partir de la serie televisiva Los Simpson: el caso de los episodios 151 y 441
No full textEl presente artículo pretende evidenciar los discursos sobre inmigración en la serie televisiva Los Simpson, a partir de un análisis de discurso efectuado a dos episodios que abordan el tema a profundidad, el 151 y el 441. Su relevancia radica en la importancia que la serie, como producción de referencia y culto, ha consolidado. Esto basado en los recursos de forma y fondo que se desprenden de ser una serie animada, por un lado, y el medio que la transmite, es decir, la televisión por otro. Por ende, se asume que el debate presente a partir de discursos sobre inmigración goza de una alta recepción y potencial influencia
The Vita Activa as a Literary Lens for George Orwell\u27s 1984
Get PDFThis study explicates Hannah Arendt’s social theory and political studies and applies them as literary lens for George Orwell’s iconic dystopian novel 1984. The thesis focuses on Hannah Arendt’s The Human Condition (1958) and The Origins of Totalitarianism (1968). The Human Condition provides Arendt’s comprehensive delineation of the vita activa and its supporting social components. It explains different social components how they work interdependently to culminate in a free and public life: the vita activa. While her work stresses that democracy is not a perfect system, it is the system that best respects humanity’s attribute of plurality. The Origins of Totalitarianism follows the rise of fascist governments. Arendt’s study illustrates why totalitarian governing systems are detrimental to society, and how they work to destroy democracy. The Origins of Totalitarianism identifies and explains the concept of mass man. The idea of mass man gives rise to three societal components: the masses, the elite, and the mob which work to destroy democracy and exploit humanity’s plurality. When the machinations of totalitarian governments are accurately executed, they lead to the dismantling of society, democracy, and the vita activa. The United States has not fallen victim to fascist movements; however, it is far from immune. This thesis proposes that a vaccination against totalitarian rule lies within dystopian literature. The contention of this study is that dystopian fiction should be interpreted as the commentary and critique of politics, politicians, and political machines that it is. The examination George Orwell’s iconic dystopian novel 1984 (1950) showcases the destruction of society, democracy, and the vita activa through the struggles of his protagonist, Winston Smith; a depiction of a society under totalitarian rule. This examination of Arendt’s political and social philosophy as literary theory provides an informed analysis of a society gone awry. While Arendt’s works do not explicitly warn American societies against the dangers of totalitarian governments, she identifies, defines, and describes what it looks like to live in a society where totalitarianism is allowed to flourish. This examination of 1984 attempts to identify elements of a fascist government in hopes that readers will recognize the warning signs and act to protect, uphold, and sustain democracy
The effect of cause-related marketing on firm value: a look at Fortune’s most admired all-stars
No full textCompanies are increasing their use of cause-related marketing as a means of communicating their commitment to corporate social responsibility while accomplishing their strategic goals. Although prior studies suggest that consumers react positively to cause-related marketing programs, understanding of their impact on financial performance remains limited. To address this gap, the authors employ an event study to examine the effects of cause-related marketing announcements on shareholder value using a sample of firms that appeared on Fortune’s Most Admired All-Star list between 2005 and 2017. Study results show that announcement of these initiatives results in a significant loss of shareholder value. These losses are most pronounced for firms making monetary-only contributions, in comparison to those that make in-kind donations. In addition, the negative effects are mitigated for firms that have stronger reputations, have greater resource slack, and operate in more dynamic industries. Moreover, low-reputation and low-slack firms benefit most from in-kind contributions
Out-of-sample equity premium prediction in the presence of structural breaks
No full textThis study comprehensively investigates the uncertainty on parameter instability and model selection when forecasting the equity premium out-of-sample. We employ the robust optimal weights methodology proposed in Pesaran et al. (2013) to construct out-of-sample forecasts in the presence of possible structural breaks. While we find that parameter instability alone cannot fully explain the weak predictive performance of many variables considered in Goyal and Welch (2008), our empirical results show that some models, particularly the one with the stock market variance, can consistently generate superior statistical and economic gains relative to the historical mean benchmark and other competitors when estimated by the robust optimal weights. Furthermore, we discover that the stock market variance seems to be more powerful when forecasting the equity premium during periods of financial crisis
Improving alpine summertime streamflow simulations by the incorporation of evapotranspiration data
No full textOver the last decade, autocalibration routines have become commonplace in watershed modeling. This approach is most often used to simulate a streamflow at a basin\u27s outlet. In alpine settings, spring/early summer snowmelt is by far the dominant signal in this system. Therefore, there is great potential for a modeled watershed to underperform during other times of the year. This tendency has been noted in many prior studies. In this work, the Soil andWater Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was auto-calibrated with the SUFI-2 routine. A mountainous watershed from Idaho was examined (Upper North Fork). In this study, this basin was calibrated using three estimates of evapotranspiration (ET): Moderate Resolution Imagining Spectrometer (MODIS), Simplified Surface Energy Balance, and Global Land Evaporation: the Amsterdam Model. The MODIS product in particular, had the greatest utility in helping to constrain SWAT parameters that have a high sensitivity to ET. Streamflow simulations that utilize these ET parameter values have improved recessional and summertime streamflow performances during calibration (2007 to 2011) and validation (2012 to 2014) periods. Streamflow performance was monitored with standard objective metrics (Bias and Nash Sutcliffe coefficients) that quantified overall, recessional, and summertime peak flows. This approach yielded dramatic enhancements for all three observations. These results demonstrate the utility of this approach for improving watershed modeling fidelity outside the main snowmelt season
The effect of R & D and the control-ownership wedge on firm value: Evidence from Korean Chaebol Firms
Get PDFCases have been reported in which research and development (R & D) investment, the core activity for a firm\u27s sustainable growth, deteriorate rather than increase firm value. This study illuminates the cause of such cases in terms of the control-ownership wedge. How expensed and capitalized R & D affect firm value are examined separately for cases in which the wedge is high and low. In an analysis of Korean chaebol firms, when the wedge is high, significant negative relationships appear between expensed R & D and firm value, while no significant relationship appears between capitalized R & D and firm value. When the wedge is low, expensed R & D does not show any significant relationship with firm value, while capitalized R & D shows significant positive relationships with firm value. This confirms, first, that in cases of high wedge, suboptimal R & D decisions are made, in which the manager can discretionally determine investment targets or projects. Second, this indicates that even in cases of low wedge, the positive relationship between R & D and firm value does not appear in expensed R & D. This study suggests that investors and regulatory authorities should pay close attention to the initial stage of R & D in firms with high control-ownership wedges for sustainable economic growth
Assessing Perception of Risk of Sexual Assault at a Border Region University
Get PDFIt is important to recognize the sociological contexts for understanding why sexual assault is an ongoing problem in society. There are important implications for major institutions with regards to sexual assault reporting and victimization. The stigma associated with victimization, marginalized populations who feel blamed for their victimization, and outdated attitudes about sexual assault all affect reporting and policy. This research will conduct a study on resources, reporting, and perceived personal safety and the effect of risk associated with sexual assault on college and university campuses. By using data that was collected through a survey, information was collected from a border region university about sexual assault, sexual misconduct, reporting procedures, student’s knowledge of resources, and student’s perception on safety at their university. This study will focus primarily on risk reduction through information dissemination and encouraging the reporting of sexual assault. Quantitative research was conducted to evaluate if reporting sexual assault incidents and available resources would increase or decrease the student’s perceived personal risks on college and university campuses. Independent variables included resources, reporting, and personal safety on college and university campuses. The dependent variable is college students’ perceived risk of sexual assault. The control variables are age, race, gender, sexual preference, and relationship status. From an applied point of view, results may potentially lead to a change in how colleges and universities inform students who have been sexually assaulted about available resources, and create more long-term educational programs that will prioritize the increase of campus awareness of sexual victimization. From an academic point of view, the results of this study inform the sociological conversation with regards to the impact of marginalized statuses (e.g. females and males) and stigmatized statuses (e.g., homosexual orientation and heterosexual orientation) on the risk of sexual assault victimization, and how these same statuses reduce or increase the impact of knowledge, resources, and reporting practices in relation to sexual assault victimization. Ultimately, this study seeks to empower people in marginalized, and in stigmatized statuses whether these discounted social positions are in terms of religious preference, sexual orientation, political views, age, gender, and social class
Destroying Tricommutativity of a 3-Cube Using the Symmetric Functor
Get PDFIn the following thesis, in pursuit of a Master’s degree in Mathematics at Texas A &M International University (TAMIU), Laredo, Texas, we provide a modicum of background and introductory material to motivate the search for, and demonstrate examples of a satisfactory example of a tricommutative 3-cube whose tricommutativity can be “destroyed” through the employ of the symmetric square functor SP2. The successful identification of a counter example of such a 3-cube is done using projection maps on inverse limit systems and through the consideration of commutative diagrams of symmetric powers of spaces of weight 2ω2 . A previous counterexample of destroyed tricommutativity involving the Vietoris hyperspace operator, also known as the exponential functor, was previously demonstrated through the work of Mr. R. Montemayor, and this work extends the result in a topological context to the case of the symmetric functor. The existence of both such cases was proven by Dr. D. K. Milovich in other previous work. Much of the background draws from the previous literature of the advisor to the author, Dr. D. K. Milovich, the text and papers of L. Heindorf, L. Shapiro
Trabajo, subjetividades juveniles y cultura digital. Algunas experiencias de jóvenes de Tijuana
Get PDFEn este artículo reviso y reflexiono las consecuencias de la incorporación de las tecnologías comunicativas en las dinámicas juveniles que comprenden algunos escenarios laborales. De manera particular, con base en algunas historias de jóvenes de Tijuana sobre usos de internet y tecnologías comunicativas, desarrollo dos casos que hacen referencia a las figuras actuales de gestores de contenidos en redes sociodigitales y productores de video en YouTube, para analizar las articulaciones sociales, culturales y económicas que conforman dichos usos, e indagar las experiencias respecto a resolución de necesidades y alcances en términos de mejora de las condiciones de vid