Graduate Theses and Dissertations
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- 2019-12-29T14:48:21-05:00
- Research on children’s exposure to interparental domestic violence (CEDV) has mostly examined the association between CEDV and children’s externalizing and internalizing problems, with less emphasis on CEDV’s impact on physical health outcomes. However, research has shown that CEDV has the potential to negatively influence youth development and adjustment, as represented by physical health symptoms. Emerging research suggests that CEDV impacts youth differently depending on the characteristics of the physical violence and the extent to which the DV is rooted in coercive control. However, this CEDV complexity has not been examined within the physical health outcome literature. To address these gaps, this study applied Holden’s CEDV taxonomy, the dose-response relationship, and coercive control to test the association between young adults’ retrospective accounts of CEDV on their current physical health symptoms. The data for this study comes from phase two of the Young Adult Live and Learn project. The participants were 147 young adults (ages 18-25), including a DV-exposed sample (n = 94) and a comparison sample of non-DV-exposed young adults (n = 53). Participants completed an anonymous online survey on exposure to father-perpetrated DV against their mothers during their childhood and adolescence. Descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations, a t-test, and a hierarchical linear regression were conducted to examine whether CEDV was associated with young adults’ physical health symptoms and whether assessing frequency of physical violence and coercive control contributed to the association. The findings were inconsistent with previous studies such that there were not any associations between CEDV and young adults’ physical health symptoms. Neither the frequency of exposure to physical violence nor the frequency of exposure to coercive control during childhood were associated with physical health symptoms in young adulthood. These findings have implications for the study of CEDV’s impact into young adulthood, including that interventions should continue focusing on psychosocial outcomes versus physical health outcomes during this developmental period., coercive control, domestic violence, domestic violence exposure, physical health, author
- 2019-03-08T18:01:43-05:00
- Methane is responsible for at least 10% of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States alone, and although not the most abundant, it is one of the most dangerously potent greenhouse gases. Methanogens are microbial organisms that require a corrinoid cofactor to synthesize methane. Previous work in bacteria has demonstrated that corrinoid mediated processes, such as methyl transfers, are directly influenced by the structure of the corrinoid cofactor1; 2; 3. Individual organisms show bias or preference for one structure over another, with the sole difference being the lower ligand attached to the corrin ring4. Most organisms have a "preferred" corrinoid structure, and when this structure is not available, are forced to use an alternative corrinoid. In some cases, the alternative corrinoid can slow down the organisms metabolic process, while in other cases, the alternative corrinoid cannot be used at all. Availability of corrinoids and their precursors have serious implications on microbial metabolism, and the ability of a microbe to occupy its niche5. In methanogenesis, the corrinoid enzyme complex involved in the methyl transfer varies based on the carbon starting material: In the acetate and CO2 pathways, the methyl group of methyl-tetrahydramethanopterin (methyl-H4SPT) is transferred to an 8-subunit transmembrane protein. Subunit A contains the corrinoid prosthetic group. In the methanol conversion pathway, the corrinoid cofactor is part of a cytoplasmic enzyme complex. Unlike most organisms requiring corrinoid cofactors, methanogens can synthesize their own lower bases. However, if there are other lower bases present in the environment, they will use those instead. Due to the importance of corrinoid structure to microbial metabolism, we believe that corrinoid structure in methanogens could affect methanogenesis. Synthetic lower bases could affect the ability of the corrinoid cofactor to properly bind to its enzyme/protein complex, thus affecting the ability for the remaining two steps of the methanogenesis pathway to occur. Finding a way to slow methane production has potential applications in the agricultural industry, which could lower our contributions to global warming., Methanogen, Corrinoid, Methanogenesis, author
- 2019-05-17T10:22:09-04:00
- Scholars examining conflict studies have explored multiple explanations for causes of terrorism. The Horn of Africa shares the devastating effects of domestic and international terrorist attacks. Remarkably little is known about sub-regional factors and conditions which results in terror attacks within this region. What scholars have overlooked is how grievance and opportunity relate to terrorism. In addition, despite numerous counterterrorism funding why do we still observe a rise of terrorism in the Horn of Africa? Motivated by the Horn of Africa, this study posits that three factors when combined increase the likelihood of a terrorist attack: heavy-handed counterterrorism policies, irredentist claims and the marginalization of groups. I utilize a qualitative approach to test these hypotheses. The findings should assist existing scholarship adopting a broader view of causes of terrorism including sub-regional factors in the analysis and study of terrorism in Africa., author
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Classifying Building Usages: A Machine Learning Approach on Building Extractions
- 2018-10-11T13:40:57-04:00
- This paper considers methods to infer building usage from the geographic and geometric spatial distribution of building extractions. Focusing on Knox County, TN, a Random Forest (RF) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) were used to classify a polygonized building map developed from a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) based upon remote sensing imagery. The resulting classification metrics of nine building usages are then compared to the RF and SVM building usage classification of Knox County’s LiDAR building footprints and CNN building extractions with removal of false positives. It is shown that the raw CNN building extractions have acceptable building usage classification accuracies. This result is a useful addition to our understanding of building usage because the best remote sensing data (LiDAR building footprints) are not always accessible and completing tedious editing work (CNN building extractions with removal of false positives) is not feasible. Using the methods developed here, the effect of increasing CNN building detection training data for Knox County for testing on Knox County is also investigated. This case study assists in the process of examining if training a model on all Knox County CNN building detections can classify building usages in the similar urban-rural geographic location of Hamilton County, TN. ArcMap and R programming are utilized in gathering the data to conduct the machine learning algorithms while the building usage is defined by CoreLogic Parcel Land - Use codes., Building Usage, Land-Use, building extractions, building footprints, supervised learning, classification, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), remote sensing imagery, CoreLogic, LiDAR, Random Forest (RF), Support Vector Machine (SVM), author
- 2019-02-15T07:57:52-05:00
- In 1905, Catholic Bishop Thomas Sebastian Byrne of Nashville, Tennessee announced that the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament would open an academy and industrial school for black girls in a recently purchased mansion formerly inhabited by wealthy white Nashville banker Samuel J. Keith. Keith and hundreds of white Nashvillians protested the move, but Bishop Byrne and his collaborators refused to give up their plan and established Immaculate Mother Academy. Many black Nashvillians supported the new school, seeing Byrne’s efforts as a challenge to racial prejudice. This study tells the story of the establishment of the first stable black Catholic institutions in Nashville and their reception by white and black Nashvillians. The history of Immaculate Mother Academy shows the complex interconnection of race, religion, segregation, education, and urbanization in Nashville in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The school’s establishment was one step towards remedying the double bind in which black Catholics found themselves—required as Catholics by the Catholic bishops to educate their children in Catholic schools, they found the doors of most Catholic schools closed to black students. The school’s founding took place at a time of serious discussion in Nashville and throughout the U.S. of models of black education and dispute as to whether black students should be denied avenues to higher education. It likewise took place at a time of rapid demographic change in the city of Nashville, as the city center was changed by the expansion of railroads, industry, and the advent of electric streetcars while segregation became more pronounced. This study demonstrates that while anti-black prejudice trumped anti-Catholicism as a motivating factor for white Nashvillians such as Keith, Catholic efforts in the face of such prejudice served as an invitation to black leaders to consider the merits of the Catholic position, and to see Catholics as allies in challenging racial prejudice. The school once successfully established was painted by some white Nashvillians as doing good service in the training of future servants, but by many black Nashvillians as offering black students an opportunity for academic learning and musical education as well as industrial training., Diocese of Nashville, Black Catholics, Mother Mary Katharine Drexel, Bishop Thomas Sebastian Byrne, Immaculate Mother Academy
- 2018-10-14T18:06:48-04:00
- Phenomenology, in its etymological sense, is the activity of giving an account of the way things appear. Thus, a phenomenology of time attempts to account for the way things appear to us as temporal or how we experience time. Alfred Schnittke’s Piano Quartet lends itself well to phenomenological analysis due to the anachronistic placement of Gustav Mahler’s unfinished, G-minor scherzo sketch into the subjective, intentional realm of time-consciousness. Schnittke’s meticulous manipulation of Mahler’s theme intentionally creates multi-dimensional objects in time and sound that suggest both small- and large-scale circular-patterns of memory, a musical epitaph for both Mahler and himself. In order to identify intentionality in Schnittke’s realization of Mahler’s unfinished sketch, the Piano Quartet is explored through the philosophical lens of affect theory, defined as an impingement or extrusion of a momentary or sometimes more sustained state of relation.1 Specifically, this thesis explores how Schnittke intentionally manipulates both time and space to create these momentary or sustained states of relation. I begin by providing a brief account of biographical information over Mahler’s Piano Quartet (and sketch), the relationship between Schnittke and Mahler, and Schnittke’s background. I then reviewing three texts that investigate Schnittke’s Piano Quartet, and define and codify the analytical concepts utilized in this analysis. I provide an analysis of Schnittke’s Piano Quartet utilizing modern analytical techniques that reveal the intentionality and central structure of experience, including Schenkerian and Contour analysis. Finally, I summarize my findings by establishing a narrative for future endeavors in the melding of musical analysis and philosophy. 1 Marie Thompson and Ian Biddle, Sound, Music, Affect: Theorizing Sonic Experience (New York: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2013), 6., Music, Music Analysis, Music Theory, Phenomenology, Consciousness, Alfred Schnittke, author
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"But That's Where My Books Are!": Adults Who Read Young Adult Literature
- 2019-04-12T18:28:05-04:00
- This narrative instrumental case study seeks to understand why adults (age 30+) read young adult literature (YAL) and how adults engage with the genre. Additionally, this study seeks to interpret how the genre influences adult identities. Though YAL is typically written by adults for adolescents age 12-18 (Cart, 2008; Cole, 2009), the adult readers in this study preferred reading YAL more than other genres of literature. Using both reader response theory and socio-emotional conceptualizations of reading engagement and identity as theoretical and analytical frameworks, the aim of this study is to understand why adult participants preferred this genre, and what, if anything, they gained from reading YAL. Specifically seeking to understand: ● What are the rationales adults (age 30+) provide for reading YAL? ● In what ways do adults (age 30+) engage with YAL? ● How does the genre of YAL influence adult reader identities? This qualitative study draws on both narrative inquiry (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000) and instrumental case study (Stake, 2006), and employs adult participants’ narratives about their experiences reading YAL to elaborate on the greater phenomenon of adults who read YAL for pleasure. The findings of this study suggest the adults engage with YAL through characters, situations, and worlds, utilizing YAL as a simulation tool to insert themselves into the given worlds or situations presented in YAL texts. Additionally, adults in this study cited YAL texts they read as influential on their behaviors, actions, feelings, and intentions, which is indicative of the dynamic, socially constructed nature of identity, rather than a developmental or essentialized construct of identity as the literature purports., Keywords: adult literacy, young adult literature, engagement, narrative inquiry, identity
- 2018-10-10T17:04:43-04:00
- This thesis project examines the collective memory of Katyń from the midst of the Second World War to the late twentieth century. Katyń serves as the collective name for the series of mass executions of over 20,000 Polish soldiers, army officers, policemen, and various members of the Polish intelligentsia by the NKVD that took place throughout remote sites in the Soviet Union during the early months of the Second World War. From the discovery of the mass graves in the Katyń Forest by German forces in 1943, Katyń has been shrouded in contentions, secrecy, and processes of attempts to unveil the historical truth of the perpetrators of the mass executions. For nearly five decades, many scholars of Katyń argue that the “truth” of the mass executions remained hidden. While this claim is not entirely incorrect as the Soviet and Polish states’ sponsored versions of the truth of the crime’s perpetrators appeared “hidden,” this school of thought is disingenuous and problematic in its approach in examining contemporaries’ understanding and perceptions of Katyń throughout the latter portion of the twentieth century. This thesis project argues that to better understand what Katyń was and has been, we must examine the representations of Katyń from the discovery of the mass graves by German forces in the Katyń Forest in 1943 to the release of Katyń documents by the Soviet Union in 1990. This thesis project examines selected representations of Katyń made by the German and Soviet governments during the Second World War, Polish émigrés living within the United States and Great Britain during the post-war period, and Poles living within the Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa (PRL) and present-day Poland. Katyń has represented a myriad of meanings in the collective memories of states and societies throughout time. The understanding, representations, “truth,” and narratives surrounding Katyń have undoubtedly been influenced by the politics of memory at every stage of the Katyń story., Katyn, collective memory, representations, postwar memory, Poland, Polish diaspora, author
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"Education is the Key to Every Door: Narratives of Immigrant Adult Basic Education Learners
- 2019-05-14T23:57:30-04:00
- Adult Basic Education (ABE) is a broad concept that aims at educating adults with low education. Immigrant ABE learners comprise a significant portion of the adult learners’ population who seek education through enrolling in ABE programs. These learners have experienced different learning environments due to their social life process and are motivated to make changes in their social status for a better life. Therefore, it is critical to understand their learning needs through their learning and educational experiences in order to develop an inclusive ABE learning environment. The purpose of this narrative study was to understand immigrant ABE learners’ experience in an ABE setting from a post-critical lens. The three research questions that guided this study were “How do immigrant ABE learners describe their educational experience prior to their enrollment in ABE?”, “How do immigrant ABE learners describe their learning experiences?”, and “How do immigrant ABE learners describe the role of education in changing their life situations?” The study was conducted in an ABE organization that offered HiSet preparation classes. The research data were collected through two sets of interviews with six immigrant ABE learners. Another source of the study data was the researcher’s field notes. While each participant’s process inspired certain key observation about their learning experiences, five themes were generated regarding their shared perspectives toward learning and education. They all experienced interrupted educational processes, held low socioeconomic status both in their home countries and in the US, perceived literacy in terms of learning English, had different learning experiences in different learning environments, and advocated the transformative power of education. The findings of this study suggest that the immigrant ABE learners seek to get educated in order to change their social status in terms of having a high income job and support their communities. Learning English would significantly facilitate this process for them, as it empowers them to communicate effectively in the American context., Immigrant Adult Learners Adult Basic Education Postcritical research Adult Learning
- 2018-10-09T13:03:31-04:00
- When the English teachers at Creswell High School were presented with data that exposed their students’ of color underachievement per English Language Arts standardized state test scores, the teachers were tasked with creating a literacy initiative to increase students’ performance. Using Action Research and Autoethnographic methods, this study seeks to explore Black students’ perceptions of Creswell Reads, a ‘one book, one school’ summer reading program, along with their personal literacy identities both in and out of school. I helped to implement this literacy program before I realized that many American classrooms, including mine, were ostracizing students of color yet wondering why these same students were underachieving per standardized test scores. As a result, this inquiry also parallels my racial awakening to the exploration of how to make a local school’s literacy initiative—one I had a hand in making—more student centered and racially conscious and to present those findings to Creswell High School’s literacy team., author
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