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FUNNY FEMINISM: REBELLIOUS HUMOR IN CONTEMPORARY WOMEN’S LITERATURE
No full textThis thesis argues for humor in literature as a device to engage people, in particular women and gender minorities, with communal and intersectional feminist critique. This engagement serves to empower women and others marginalized or oppressed under heteropatriarchy through a sense of shared community espousing feminist ideals. I posit that feminist praxis not only benefits from, but needs humor for survival. To this end, I examine humor used to mock or subvert patriarchal, misogynistic, and gender-stereotyped thinking. The works I analyze comically break out of restrictive gender stereotypes in ways that affirm a rebellious feminist consciousness. I center women’s humor as the most fertile ground for fostering this rebellion, and aim to show the success (as well as some missteps) of works written by women and largely focused on female characters. I investigate intersections of gender (identity and expression), race, sexuality, and class. While gender remains the driving force throughout, I include these other social categories as necessary frameworks for the multidimensionality of feminist thought which recognizes the impact these intersections have on gendered experience. All of the books included in this thesis center stories of women who in someway utilize humor to challenge harmful hegemonic narratives of gender and offer a means of feminist community and rebellion
THE UNDERWATER VOCAL REPERTOIRE OF THE NORTH AMERICAN RIVER OTTER (LONTRA CANADENSIS)
No full textAs growing anthropogenic noise pollution influences aquatic species\u27 behavior and survival, it is crucial to identify what specific marine ecology aspects are affected by human activity. One keystone species of great interest is the otter, specifically the North American river otter whose ecological role is evident in the watersheds they call home. This study provides the first quantitative assessment of the underwater vocalizations of North American river otters, Lontra Canadensis (Schreber 1777), and examines the behavioral contexts within which these vocalizations are produced. Three captive North American river otters\u27 vocal behavior was captured using a hydrophone in conjunction with a handheld recorder. Stationed outside the otters\u27 enclosure was a video camera to verify otter positions inside or outside the water. Vocalizations were aurally assessed before analysis through Raven Pro in conjunction with video data of the otter activity during vocal production. The use of vocal communication above and below the water exemplifies the extent of otters\u27 behavioral and social flexibility. There were ten vocalization bouts recorded where all three otters were underwater. These calls were composed of quick successions of low-frequency grunts with harmonics ranging from 50 to 600 Hz. Underwater grunts had a mean duration of 0.13 seconds for a total vocalization bout length of 1.12 seconds on average. These results are consistent with the minimal previous literature on underwater vocalizations of the giant otter, a related member of the subfamily Lutrinae
LOVE BUGS?: AN EXAMINATION OF AVERSION TOWARDS INSECTS WITH SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE BUTTERFLY
No full textInsects tend to evoke feelings of fear or disgust and this thesis aims to examine potential reasons for such emotions. Fear itself is a complex neurobiological process, but it can be measured and reduced with proper efforts. Insects themselves, while plentiful, tend to evoke certain reactions due to several prevailing theories. One asserts that individuals tend to dichotomize insects into “good” or “bad” categories, while another claims that knowledge or the lack thereof may be at play. Insects also tend to be associated with contamination, suggesting that whether the insect is indoors or outdoors may play a role in determining how it is viewed. Curiously, these theories evaporate when the butterfly is considered, with prior evidence suggesting that individuals may forget that the butterfly is even an insect at all. Using this knowledge as a framework, I developed a survey to test the hypotheses of dichotomization and location, as well as testing whether or not those factors applied strongly to the butterfly, which appeared in the survey as both with wings and with the wings having been digitally removed. This survey also utilized an open-response question where participants could describe an experience they had with insects that stands out in their memory. Participants were gathered from New College of Florida and 49 provided data for analysis, with 42 providing answers to the open-response. Overall, it was found that whether an insect is deemed “good” or “bad” plays significantly into how it is publicly perceived. Butterflies were also the most positively ranked insect in the survey, but the wingless butterflies were significantly more negatively ranked, suggesting that knowledge may also be a key factor in how insects are perceived. Curiously, location did not have a significant effect on perception, suggesting that it either may not be a factor, or that the locations pictured were emotionally evocative enough for an effect to be found. The findings of this study confirm prior suspicions that perceptions of insects are determined by several factors, including whether public perception of the insect is positive or negative, as well as what kind of knowledge is extant in the public eye regarding the insect. This gives several angles to examine fears of insects from, bringing new life to fields that aim to reduce fear and educate others, not just for their own benefit, but for the benefit of the world around them as well
HOLDING ONE’S OWN: THE IMPACT OF BODY AWARENESS ON THE EXPERIENCE OF EMBODIMENT & THE NEURAL CORRELATES OF EMBODIMENT INTEGRITY IN THE FACE OF MULTIMODAL MISMATCH
No full textA unified experience of oneself in the world is contingent on aspects of embodiment such as body ownership and the sense of agency. This thesis aimed to investigate a) the neural correlates of this bodily-self consciousness as impacted by differential levels of body awareness, and b) how body awareness is connected to a heightened experience of embodiment. Self-reports were used to assess subjects’ extent of body connection, qualities of embodied experience, and frequency of activity related to body awareness. These surveys were the basis for establishing creating an independent variable for participant grouping: high vs. low body-aware. Participants’ cortical activity in parietal and motor areas were measured via functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) during a multimodal integration task, which manipulated the congruence of visuomotor signals in order to challenge the sense of agency. Thus, cortical activation was measured during three experimental conditions: congruent, incongruent, and eyes-closed multimodal integration. I hypothesized that high and low body-aware groups would show differences in activation of the inferior parietal lobe during incongruent conditions. The concurrent evidence did not support this hypothesis. However, exploratory analyses revealed that the high body aware group had significantly higher primary motor cortex activity overall, and particularly during the incongruent task. Additionally, the frequency of body awareness related activities was significantly correlated with posterior parietal cortex activation. These results have implications for furthering the understanding of neural mechanisms of bodily-self consciousness, as well as use of body awareness in clinical practice
IMPACTS OF THE DIET AND BEHAVIOR OF HEMIDACTYLUS MABOUIA ON FLORIDA’S NATIVE AND INVASIVE SPECIES
No full textHemidactylus mabouia, the tropical house gecko, is an exotic reptile species introduced to Florida in the late 1980s to early 1990s. Little is known about its behavior and impact on Florida’s herpetofauna. In this study, I examine the foraging behavior of wild H. mabouia on the campus of New College of Florida, and perform gut content analysis in order to identify niche overlap with native and invasive species, including Anolis carolinensis, A. sagrei, and Osteopilus septentrionalis. Data from two previous gut content studies were also used in the niche overlap analysis (Meshaka 2000, Meshaka 2004). H. mabouia was found to be spending most of its time foraging for prey as opposed to displaying territorial behaviors, and showed a high niche overlap with A. carolinensis across multiple locales, and O. septentrionalis on the NCF campus
EVERYDAY ACTIVISM FOR EVERYDAY PEOPLE: TRANSFORMATIVE PRACTICES OF SELF-CARE, CULTIVATING RELATIONSHIPS, AND COLLECTIVE CARE
No full textMuch of the visible effort done on the social justice front focuses on policies, consciousness-raising, and organizing protests. This thesis moves away from these strategies and towards practices rooted in Transformative Justice, exploring everyday activism at the individual, interpersonal, and organizational levels. Chapter 1 begins by examining the concept of self-care as a tool for reifying gendered norms around health and beauty, and as an agent of neoliberalism. This chapter then utilizes a transformative lens to redefine selfcare as a way to take part in everyday activism at the individual level. The focal point of Chapter 2 is transformative relationships as an interactional form of everyday activism. I identify emotional literacy, vulnerability, empathy, and the principles of adrienne maree brown’s Liberated Relationships as necessary skills for engagement in this practice. Finally, Chapter 3 explores the organizational level of everyday activism, turning to mutual aid and Healing Justice as alternatives that fill the gaps left by policy work as a strategy for activism and charities as a means of providing aid to communities. I argue that the practices covered throughout this thesis can be done on a daily basis to create small resistances in everyday life that, as an increasing number of people begin to adopt these practices, has potential to create the cultural shifts that can transform the current world into the world we want to live in
ARISE AND ACTUALIZE: AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT A JEWISH SLEEP AWAY CAMP
No full textIn this thesis I explore the importance of summer camping to the American Jewish community. I draw upon my own personal experiences at Habonim Dror Camp Tavor in Michigan, as well as exploring the history of American Jewish summer camping. Through a thick description of Habonim Dror Camp Tavor I provide insight on gender dynamics in the American Jewish summer camp community, as well as the impact of summer camps on Jewish peoplehood
A Close Reading of Alejo Carpentier’s The Kingdom of This World: Violence, Memory and a Uniquely American Representations of History
No full textThis thesis is a reading of Alejo Carpentier’s 1949 novel The Kingdom of This World. Chapter one, divided in two parts, will be focusing on the representation of violence through the configuration of different perspectives and voices. The first part will examine the representation of slaves’ bodies as sites of violence; the second part will examine the generalization of violence, articulating the parallels between social revolts and natural illnesses. The second chapter focuses on the representation of memory: how memory aids in the formation of identity through storytelling and the emergence of slaves’ religion; and how memory manifests as haunting. For this chapter, Marianne Hirsch’s definition of “postmemory” is adapted to anchor the analysis of the key topics. This reading and analysis allows us to see how Carpentier creates through this novel a new and uniquely American representation of the history of the Haitian Revolution
LONELINESS AND VIDEO GAME BEHAVIORS OF ADULTS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
No full textThe purpose of this research was to learn more about the interactions between loneliness, social interaction, behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic, and video game use in an effort to approach affordable and accessible remedies to mental health issues caused by self-quarantining and social isolation. In early 2021, 147 adult participants were measured on their subjective loneliness, the average amount of time they socially interacted in person and online, how much of an impact COVID-19 had on their social lives, and their video game behaviors. Participants were asked if they played video games, if they played video games online, and how much voice, video, and text chat they used when playing online games. A negative correlation was found between loneliness and in-person social interaction, and between loneliness and online social interaction. There was no significant correlation found between loneliness and use of voice, video, or text chat, however, there was an indication of a positive (though nonsignificant) correlation between loneliness and voice chat usage. This study has affirmed important points about loneliness and social interaction and has also opened up research to new questions regarding treatment of loneliness, specifically in the domain of video games
THE ROLE OF SYMBIODINIACEAE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF CASSIOPEA XAMACHANA UNDER A CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIO
No full textThere is an expanding body of knowledge surrounding the cnidarian-algae symbiosis which seeks to explore the intricacies of this relationship and deepen the understanding of the role algal thermotolerance plays in the success and longevity of the relationship. The adaptive bleaching hypothesis informs this line of research in that the it proposes that the ability of a host cnidarian to uptake a more thermotolerant species of algae than what it might naturally be in symbiosis with would afford the host more resistance to heat stress in the event of increasing seawater temperatures. In this study, Cassiopea xamachana polyps were used to observe the viability of three different Symbiodiniaceae as thermotolerant symbionts. This host species was used because of its ability to act as a model organism for this relationship. This study was designed to determine if two thermotolerant stains of Symbiodiniaceae, S. necroappetens and S. pilosum, would be able to establish successful symbiosis within C. xamachana. The specific strain of S. microadriaticum used is a known thermotolerant symbiont for C. xamachana and was used in this study to explore the role of time in the efficiency of symbiosis between the two species. The time needed to experience strobilation was observed in polyps from a light-free environment with an established symbiosis and compared to polyps that were newly infected. At the end of the observation period, it was determined that S. necroappetens and S. pilosum were not suitable symbiotic partners for C. xamachana. It was also determined that established infections of S. microadriaticum were significantly more effective in triggering strobilation than newer infections