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The Neoslave Narrative Project: A Study of Select Texts and Contexts from 1971 to 2023
No full textThe relatively new field of civil rights literary studies investigates the role of literature in understanding and challenging the single-story narrative of the struggle for civil rights. Julie Armstrong’s The Cambridge Companion to American Civil Rights Literature (2015) features essays on fiction, films, plays, and poetry that engage in some way with the standard chronology of the civil rights movement, 1954-1965. Although neoslave narratives have generated a substantial amount of scholarship, critics have yet to consider these texts as civil rights literature. My study examines three neoslave narratives within the field of civil rights: Ernest Gaines’s The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1971), Alex Haley’s Roots: The Saga of an American Family (1976), and Octavia Butler’s Kindred (1979). I also examine each text’s adaptation: the made-for-television version of The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974), both miniseries versions of Roots (1977; 2016), both the graphic novel (2017) and Hulu television series (2022) based on Kindred. Neoslave narratives challenge the consensus narrative of the civil rights movement in two primary ways: extending the standard chronology and creating a bottom-up people’s history. When reading neoslave narratives as civil rights literature, these novels aid in the shaping of what Scot French calls “social memory.” My interest in the civil rights movement in the American popular imagination puts me in conversation with both historians and literary critics as well as scholars and consumers of popular culture.Ph.D
Sterol And Galactolipid Composition of the Lichen Photobiont Genus Trebouxia Compared with a Potential Host Lichen in the Genus Usnea
No full textLichens are a diverse group of cosmopolitan fungi that are notable for their close symbiotic relationship with single-celled photosynthetic organisms. These symbionts are typically chlorophyte algae, though some groups host cyanobacteria, which provide the fungal component with photosynthesized nutrients. This relationship is so close that the fungus cannot grow properly without its symbiote, and as a result biochemical analysis of lichens typically looks at both the fungal and algal components together. Understanding these organisms separately and identifying the nature of their symbiosis helps us understand both lichens and symbiosis better, and while the fungus’s reliance on its algal partner complicates this goal, there are ways around it, particularly if we focus on the algal component. Using unialgal cultures of Trebouxia, a common chlorophyte algae symbiote genus which can grow in media without a fungal component, this study identifies the sterols and galactolipids found in isolated Trebouxia erici and Trebouxia excentrica algae and compares them to those of wild Usnea lichens in middle Tennessee, using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis to identify the sterol lipids and positive-ion electrospray/mass spectrometry to identify galactolipids. Trebouxia species are a broadly used lichen symbiont typically found in species of Usnea lichen, which allows us to distinguish which sterol structures in the whole lichen samples are synthesized by the algae and which by the fungus. While there is evidence in the literature that symbiosis changes the metabolism of algae, which could potentially affect sterol synthesis, eliminating the sterols synthesized by the algae from the sterols of the lichen leaves sterols that are either synthesized by the fungus or require its presence to form in the algae. This allows for separate biochemical analysis of these closely paired organisms - for example whole lichen samples contain ergosta-5,8,22E-trien-3β-ol (lichesterol) and 24-methylcholesta-5,7,22E-trien-3β-ol (ergosterol), common lichen sterols, but these are not present in unialgal samples, connecting their synthesis to the fungal symbiont. The greatest percentage of sterols found in algal samples, however, are also found in whole lichen samples in smaller proportions relative to the fungal sterols. These sterols, 24-ethylcholesta-5,22E-dien-3β-ol (stigmasterol) and 24-methylcholest-5en-3β-ol (campesterol), are synthesized by algal symbiont species regardless of the presence of a fungal partner, so are of algal origin. Galactolipids are only found in chloroplasts, which the fungal component of lichens lacks completely, but these lipids are compared between 2 species within an algal genus and between cultured and lichenized algal samples as a lipid type known to belong only to the algal partner. This serves as a baseline for lipid variation between algal sample groups, as well as providing galactolipid data for a group of green algae. This study finds a common monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG) with an 18:3/16:4 sn-1/sn-2 fatty acyl structure shared by algae across all groups, symbiotic or cultured. T. erici algal groups also shared all their smaller percentage MGDG and digalactosyldiacylglycerol (DGDG) molecules. T. excentrica showed only the 18:3/16:4 MGDG found in both algal groups and a set of 3 DGDG molecules, of which one was not shared by the T. erici lines - an 18:2/16:2 DGDG. Only 2 galactolipids were identified in the Usnea lichen samples, the 18:3/16:4 shared by all algal groups and an 18:3/18:3 DGDG shared by both T. erici lines. This study shows the lipid profiles of T. erici culture lines 911 and 912 are highly similar, with identical galactolipids and only small differences in sterol composition, while T. excentrica has a distinct sterol profile with sitosterol and lacks an unidentified C29 sterol found in both algal groups examined here. T. excentrica also has fewer galactolipids overall compared to T. erici and contains an 18:2/16:2 DGDG not found in any other sample groups. Comparison with whole Usnea lichen samples confirms the presence of lichesterol, ergosterol, and an unidentified C28 sterol in the fungal Usnea that are absent in all algal sample groups.M.S
Agency and Trauma in Syrian Refugee Literature for Children and Young Adults
No full textABSTRACT
The Arab Spring of 2010 sparked a Syrian revolution that unfortunately turned into a civil war, in which the Syrian government, ruled by the autocratic al-Assad family for decades, crushed any democratic civic movement under the disguise of fighting Islamist terrorists. After more than a decade of conflict, Syria is fragmented into pieces and suffers from famines, diseases, and a collapsed economy. As historian David W. Lesch explains, an estimated $300 billion “will be needed to reconstruct the country,” and “about five hundred thousand Syrians have been killed in the war, with over half of the population either internally or externally displaced” (180). This is the socio-political background for the autobiographies, (journalistic) biographies, fictionalized novels, graphic works, and picture books that address the Syrian war. This dissertation investigates how agency affects trauma for the protagonists in the literature, specifically texts aimed at children and young adults. Research questions include: What actions are the characters taking to increase their agency? How does trauma affect their daily lives? How are the children and young adults supported by the grownups? And what about their situation makes agency particularly important as a coping strategy? The theoretical framework for my analysis is trauma theory and some interdisciplinary approaches in regards to agency.
Both trauma theory and interdisciplinary approaches to children’s agency have become major topics in literary fields of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Additionally, trauma studies and approaches focused on agency display strong connections to children’s refugee literature, which was slowly developing at the same time, with works published after WWII. The connectedness of children and young adults to their parents, caregivers, and community at large is the lens I am applying regarding agency as it is reflected in children’s literature. This is a lens that includes in its perspective a positive attitude towards children and young adults with a focus on their capabilities, resourcefulness, resilience, and self-determination and also an optimistic viewpoint on children within their families and communities and their interactions with adults and the adult world. My understandings of agency within Syrian refugee literature for children and young adults rely, for example, on children’s literature concepts from Marah Gubar and Richard Flynn, modern psychological viewpoints from Bessel van der Kolk, and sociological studies from Frederica Cavazonni and others. This interdisciplinary approach demonstrates that agency exerts a powerful and positive effect on trauma, mitigating some of trauma’s devastating (long-term) consequences.Ph.D
Geulah
No full textFor my Honors Thesis Project, I created a World War II Christian Historical Fiction short story. Originally for this project, I had intended to create a Christian Historical Fiction novella, but due to unexpected personal matters, I revised my thesis project from doing a full novella to writing a short story. The experiences that I learned from this project taught me the necessity of planning for contingencies and how vital proper time management it for the success of a more substantial project of this scale.
The preface of this project is structured in a chronological fashion that follows from when I truly first began this endeavor to how it has changed to become the final product. It covers the approaches and procedure I took for the research and writing process required to create my thesis project
The Effect Cutting Weight Has on Bone Mineral Density in Male High School Wrestlers
No full textWeight-bearing physical activities can promote bone mineral density (BMD), but wrestlers who maintain dietary restrictions to compete in a lower weight class may be at risk for low BMD. The relationship between BMD and body mass index (BMI), percent body fat (%BF) and weight classes, respectively, in male high school wrestlers was investigated in this study. Existing data from 137 male wrestlers were analyzed. Body composition and BMD measurements were analyzed via DEXA Hologic Discovery, height was measured via Seca Stadiometer, and weight was measured via Seca Digital scale. There were no statistically significant relationships between BMD and weight class (χ2(12, N = 137) = 5.128a, p = .954), BMD and BMI (rpb = .103, n = 137, p = .231), or %BF and BMD (rpb= .007, n = 137, p = .934). Although current data did not show a significant relationship with BMD, further on a potential relationship between low BMI and low BMD is needed. It is also important coaches and wrestlers are educated on balancing nutritional needs and weight.M.S
The Impact of Caregiver-Child Relationships During Development on the Coming out Process, Perceived Support, and Mental Health in Sexual Minority Adults
No full textKEYWORDS: LGBT; sexual minority; attachment; closeness; perceived support; support; mental health; mental illness; coming out experience; caregiver-child relationship
Studying Differences in Computer Self-Efficacy Amongst Business Majors
No full textKEYWORDS: Self-Efficacy; Motivation for Selecting Major; Undergraduate Business Students; Technolog
Stress and Coping Strategies: A Cross-Cultural Study
No full textThis research study aims at examining the cross-cultural differences or similarities in the stress coping process between countries, with focus on, United States and Nigeria. More specifically, the study examines whether culture influences the relationship between perceived control and coping strategies. Participation in this survey will be restricted to people with either Nigerian or United States nationality who have also lived in their country of nationality for a minimum of 18 years. Participants will be required to respond to items from the Locus of Control scale, brief-COPE scale, the Mini-Makers Scale and the Values Survey Module. The outcome of this study could be useful for increasing the understanding of the impact of cultural environment on coping strategies. Organizations with diverse employees enlightened with how to help employees with coping.M.A
Student understanding of the limit definition of a derivative
No full textThe study of Calculus requires an understanding of the limit-definition of the derivative.
This study examined students’ concept images of functions, limits, and average rate of
change, and how these relate to the limit-definition of the derivative. Four Calculus II
students were given a task-based interview, and their responses were coded via a
framework. The results suggest that students tend to rely on graphical representations,
and that students require a symbolic understanding of average rate of change to be able to
have a conceptual understanding of the limit-definition of the derivative
Shiloh: Nonprofit, Church, and the Unserved City
No full textEspecially since the election of Donald J. Trump as president of the United States, scholars have attempted to understand white evangelicals in American society. Of particular interest is evangelicals’ understanding of race and the role it plays in their worldview. Scholars have studied white evangelicals’ theology as well as their movements to gain power and social acceptance as these relate to race. However, in conversation with scholars’ studies of white evangelical theology and power, this dissertation looks at evangelicals’ view of race through the lens of two of their most important social structures: the nonprofit and the church. By studying a particular nonprofit, Shiloh, and its relationship to a number of churches, including its larger, more generalized support structure of churches of Christ in the South, this text examines how both the nonprofit structure and the church structure allowed or did not allow believers to come into direct contact with the underserved population in New York City and the surrounding areas. That direct contact, or lack thereof, affected the theological worldview of and the ability for activism from evangelical Christians in a number of ways, which this dissertation also explores.
The dissertation examines Shiloh, a churches of Christ nonprofit begun as a summer camp in 1951 to evangelize the entire Northeastern United States. The chapters in the dissertation chronologically follow the nonprofit through the latter decades of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. As Shiloh progressed over time, evangelical participants realized the need for more intensive relationships with Black and Brown residents of New York City beyond the scope of a summer camp. Using 100 oral history interviews and approximately 2000 photographs and scanned documents from the history of the nonprofit, this dissertation intimately examines how white evangelicals entered into contact with Black and Brown residents of New York City and how this contact changed them. The dissertation also examines multiple churches associated with Shiloh over time and the structural inability of those churches to enter into relational contact with city residents, a conundrum that negatively affected Shiloh workers over time and that also kept church members’ theology from being less activist. That the churches were unable to address the needs of city residents but that a nonprofit was structurally able to do so provides the central argument of this dissertation: one significant barrier for evangelical understanding of racial inequity may be the historically wrought structure of church, a structure from which the majority of their worldview originates.Ph.D