College of Humanities and Social Sciences

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This collection contains ETD documents from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

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Capobianco, Edward Jesse; Capobianco, Edward Jesse; Keith, Sally
These poems are scripts for their own creation. They do not necessarily share a singular speaker or addressee, but together they create an I and a Thou that are sometimes explicit, sometimes implicit, and sometimes blurred with other self/other pairs in particular poems. The poems are interested in the death of the death of God, in the impossibility of memory, and in the possibility of a de-commodified communication. The poems are interested in the body as a birthed thing, in the spiral pattern of its growth, and in its memory. Associative dream-thinking and what Hannah Arendt calls the internal senses (here, in particular, the sense of taste) become a kind of logic by which the poems can proceed. These poems play with what can be covered up, what can be uncovered, and how the distance between the two can be collapsed into a flat field.
1866 Post Roads Act: Federal Preemption and Deregulation of the United States Telegraph Industry
(2015) Honsowetz, Aaron Michael; Honsowetz, Aaron Michael; Nye, John V.C.
The 1866 Post Roads Act benefited United States consumers by using federal
3,000 Years of Skeletal Trauma: Analysis of Accidental and Interpersonal Injuries from the Development of Early Social Complexity to Spanish Colonization IN Lambayeque, Peru (2800 BCE-1750 CE)
Snell, Lucy; Snell, Lucy; Klaus, Haagen
The results of all forms of skeletal trauma in a diachronic sequence of 3,100 skeletal individuals from Lambayeque, Peru present insight into social, political, ideological, and environmental changes in pre-Hispanic and postcontact era. These native peoples lived and died between 2800 BCE-1750CE – from the dawn of early social complexity to the rise of large-scale states and the era of Spanish colonization. Through analysis of skeletal trauma prevalence between pre-Hispanic and postcontact era along with analysis of sex differentiation and cut mark prevalence allows for the presentation of a holistic trauma study. This work quantified bone fractures, blunt force injuries, interpersonal trauma, activity based injuries, and sharp force trauma. Prevalence differences were evaluated using odds ratio analyses comparing trauma across the Formative era, development of pre-Hispanic states, and the Colonial period. Our results lead us to reject all but one of the hypotheses. The only exception involves evidence of large-scale late pre-Hispanic sacrificial violence. The near lack of accident-related injuries and other skeletal trauma likely reflects the minimally hazardous regional topography, influence of structural violence, and use of sacrifice in a social hierarchy. The rarity of interpersonal injuries speaks to mechanisms besides institutionalized violence to integrate peoples in the states of late prehistory. Following Spanish conquest, trauma declines in the Lambayeque skeletal record. While many lines of evidence describe embedded patterns of Colonial-era violence (labor extraction, structural violence, racism, coercive socioecoomic structures), these forces evidently only very rarely broke bones.
43.16
Boss, Christopher; Boss, Christopher; Brkic, Courtney
Clive Fischer-Kersey is an elite runner who qualifies for the Olympic Games in the 400m sprint. This novel explores the psychological and social pressures that contribute to the life of a world-class athlete.
“#7 I Will Follow On:” Tracing Cultural Continuity through the Oneida Hymn Singing Tradition
Carmi, Marissa; Carmi, Marissa; Anderson, Eric
This thesis analyzes the long-standing tradition of Christian hymn singing by the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin as a form of “everyday resistance.” A term used by James C. Scott in Weapons of the Weak to describe small-scale, informal, and covert acts initiated by lower classes in opposition to an established authority, “everyday resistance” is applied, here, for the preservation of Oneida values and culture that Christian hymn singing enabled. Although this effect might appear paradoxical, the overall goal of this thesis is to dismantle the binary that distinguishes Native Americans from Christianity and to suggest that the Christianity practiced by Oneida people, in particular, can be understood as a promise and commitment to the Oneida community and its well-being. This thesis positions itself, then, within the larger project to depict the Native American identity as a dynamic one through its emphasis on Native adaptability as a strategy of Native resistance.
A (Hair) Work of Memory: Mattanna Fairchild’s Decorative Memorial Works in the Post War South
Clark, Lauren; Clark, Lauren; Van Horn, Jennifer
In the latter half of the 1860s Mattanna Fairchild created a large memorial hair wreath, composed of the hair of those Confederate soldiers who fell during the Battle of Raymond, Mississippi, which happened on her family property. A large decorative piece, which remained in the familial home until 2014, the wreath is densely laden with symbolism. Mattanna's fancy work served to showcase the ideals of the Old South and her beloved Confederacy, the passing of which she mourned alongside the dead. This thesis will argue that memorial handiworks, such as Mattanna Fairchild's massive hair wreath, were part of the same movement among Southern women of the late nineteenth century that saw the erection of Confederate monuments across the nation. These works helped to construct social concepts of race and gender as they related to being “Southern” and aided in making those ideals more palatable to the North, by showcasing white southerners’ gentility and Southern women’s domestic piety.
A Behavioral Study of Face Symmetry and Trustworthiness
Dupuis, Lauren; Dupuis, Lauren; Thompson, James
First impressions can play an important role in how we judge and interact with other people. Humans often rely on rapid judgments of personality traits and qualities, such as trustworthiness, based on physical features such as someone’s face. Similarly, perceptions of the attractiveness are often made quickly and based on facial features. A common contributor to ratings of trustworthiness and attractiveness is facial symmetry: we tend to find faces that are more symmetrical to be both attractive and trustworthy. There is also evidence of differences between males and females in the use of cues such as symmetry in judgments of faces. This thesis aimed to describe the interactions between face symmetry and the perception of trustworthiness and attractiveness, as well as possible contributions of sex differences in the use of these cues. In this study I created a task to determine the contribution of symmetry to judgments of trustworthiness and attractiveness. The study utilized an online experiment environment, Millisecond. The experiment assessed trustworthiness and attractiveness among faces in a judgment task. Due to technical difficulties we could not collect data from the trustworthiness ratings. However, I did find evidence for differences in the reliance on face symmetry for judgments of attractiveness between males and females. This behavioral research contributes to our understanding of human perception and could potentially be applied to jury selection, among other uses.
A Behavioral Study of Friendship and Social Networks
Webster, Alexia; Webster, Alexia; Thompson, Jim
This current study aimed to explore the association between friendship and social networks by analyzing the possible linkage of two well-known phenomenons, Homophily and Triadic Closure. Previous research supports social networks being learned through triadic closures. Humans are more inclined to associate a stronger bond between novel individuals (B and C) if we are aware of a common friend both share (A). Research also suggests that humans tend to strongly associate those who look similar to them as being closer in social networks – homophily. This two-part study examined the linkage of these theories by creating a triadic closure task involving a paradigm designed with similar and non-similar face shape(s). The study utilized an online experiment environment, Millisecond. Part one assessed similarity and non-similarity among face in a judgement task. In part two, participants were randomly assigned to either a control or rating triadic closure task. The results of these tests were analyzed using a series of ANOVAs, and trends compared. The results of this study are hypothesized to support that humans associate a closer social network among individuals that possess similar face shapes. This research contributes to our understanding of homophilic characteristics as a determinate for social networks.
A Brief Peer Gatekeeper Suicide Prevention Training: Preliminary Examination and Individual Factors that Influence Outcomes
(2017) Rallis, Bethany; Rallis, Bethany; Esposito-Smythers, Christianne
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students. Despite the availability of mental health resources on college campuses, less than half of college students who are contemplating suicide seek professional help. Suicidal students are more likely to reach out to their peers for help but peers are generally not equipped with the skills needed to provide appropriate assistance. Thus, training students to serve as peer gatekeepers (i.e., recognize suicide warning signs, appropriately respond to concerns, refer suicidal youth to appropriate care) in suicide prevention efforts on college campuses holds great promise. The purpose of this dissertation project, funded by the GMU Center for the Advancement of Well-Being, was to: test the preliminary efficacy of a brief peer suicide gatekeeper training program (Mason Cares) through a joint collaboration between the Psychology Department and Counseling and Psychological Services (Aim1); and examine characteristics that predict effective peer gatekeeping behavior (Aim 2).
A Case Study Analysis: How Sweet Briar College Prevailed Over Institutional Closure
Ennis, Amanda Ray; Ennis, Amanda Ray; Arminio, Jan
This qualitative case study was conducted in order to better understand how grassroots efforts and campus culture influenced the decision to reverse the closing of Sweet Briar College in 2015. This study allowed for an in-depth analysis of how Sweet Briar College was saved, provided data for other small institutions that face the potential of closing, and offered examples of successful grassroots efforts. Using interviews and document review as data sources, four categories emerged from the findings: a culture of empowerment and responsibility, wide social network, sustained activism, and legal influences. The culture of empowerment and responsibility, together with the wide social network of Sweet Briar College’s alumnae are the categories that revealed and supported the influence that grassroots efforts and campus culture had on the saving of Sweet Briar College. This study suggests that the campus culture before the closing announcement at Sweet Briar College created an atmosphere among students and alumnae that supported grassroots efforts and sustained activism, which when paired with the legal proceedings surrounding this case were the ultimate contributors in the decision to reverse Sweet Briar College’s closing.
A Case Study Examining the Explicit Method of Critical Thinking Instruction in a Community College English Classroom
(2014-05) Alwine, Stacey; Alwine, Stacey; O'Connor, John
This case study explores the effects of an intervention lesson plan using the explicit method of critical thinking instruction. It has been shown that the explicit method of critical thinking instruction yields better learning results (Marin & Halpern, 2011). However, other studies have not investigated critical thinking abilities within the community college English classroom over a continuum--as a process with several products. The purpose of this study is to apply the explicit method of critical thinking instruction to my College Composition II class in hopes of improving students' critical thinking abilities and to discover what critical thinking learning looks like over a continuum. The methods for collecting data for this study will be qualitative using a case study methodology. The results of the study can be used to help other English instructors build lessons around critical thinking, specifically using the explicit method of instruction.
A Case Study of Community Colleges that Require Academic Advising
(2015) Thimblin, Alison L.; Thimblin, Alison L.; Lester, Jaime R.
As community colleges shift their focus from access to success, academic advising is being recognized as a process that is influential on student success. Interventions including elements of prescriptive, developmental and intrusive advising have been put in place at a number of community colleges, with success measured in terms of retention. Community colleges are faced with resource challenges and many find it difficult to incorporate academic advising successfully. This dissertation is a case study of very large, multi-campus community colleges that require advising, in an effort to describe how the institutions are able to require advising and the challenges the institutions face to make this requirement successful. Data was obtained from interviews, observations, and documents and was analyzed using the organizational theory of Bolman and Deal. The findings are relevant to community colleges.
A Challenge to the Cause: Smallpox Inoculation in the Era of American Independence, 1764-1781
(2014-05) Weir, Jeffrey Michael; Weir, Jeffrey Michael; Scully, Randolph
This dissertation examines how smallpox inoculation helped shape the character of the American Revolution from the first rumblings of colonial discontent in 1764 until the British surrender at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781. First used in the colonies in 1721, inoculation was a life-saving but controversial procedure. Although many historians have explored the effects of smallpox on the Revolutionary cause, few have explained the threats engendered by the use of inoculation itself on the patriot movement.
A Comparative Case Study on the Effectiveness of a Multisensory Instructional Method for Learning Musical Expression
(2014) Lapple, Jennifer; Lapple, Jennifer; Billingham, Lisa A.
This study sought to investigate the perceptions of five undergraduate students and their private teachers using the Multisensory Music Making (MSMM) approach for teaching and learning musical expression. Musicians interacted with a combination of visual and auditory stimuli to inspire new concepts about the music they were learning. Through this approach, musicians learned to connect with music on a deeper level and to expand their range of emotional and expressive performing. The MSMM approach employs three methods for playing expressively, which include: (1) Artistic Representation; (2) Aural Modeling; and (3) Improvisatory Storytelling. These methods were intended to help musicians play more expressively in relation to several musical components.
A Comparative Study of Attitudes, Perceptions, and satisfaction of Faculty at NVCC and GMU
(2013) Carter, Russ McHenry; Carter, Russ McHenry; Scimecca, Joseph A.
yourwords your words.
A Comprehensive Computational Model of Sustained Attention
(2016) Gartenberg, Daniel; Gartenberg, Daniel; Trafton, Greg
The vigilance decrement is the decline in performance over time that characterizes tasks requiring sustained attention. Resource Theory proposes that the vigilance decrement is due to information processing assets that become depleted with use. Resource theorists must thus identify these assets and the process of how resources are depleted and replenished. The Microlapse Theory of Fatigue (MTF) identifies the resource that is depleted when performing a sustained attention task as the central executive attentional network. The depletion of the central executive network resource results in microlapses or brief gaps in attention that prevent the perception and processing of information. The MTF can explain various effects in the sustained attention literature regarding how resources are depleted. However, the MTF alone cannot explain the event rate effect or the motivation effect because it does not include replenishment mechanisms that can occur during a sustained attention task. To better understand the process of replenishment, participants were assigned to varying event rate and external motivation conditions in a novel paradigm that could measure the perceptual processing of a trial over time. These stages of processing included when participants looked at the first stimulus, looked at the second stimulus, and responded. In Experiment 1, it was found that the vigilance decrement was more severe for faster event rates, consistent with Resource Theory and counter to the MTF. In Experiment 2, the event rate effect was replicated, but unexpectedly, external motivation did not impact the vigilance decrement. In both experiments it was found that for the stages of processing that involved looking at the stimuli, more slowing was found as event rate increased. Additionally, more slowing was detected earlier in the processing of a trial than later. These results supported the process of microlapses inducing the vigilance decrement due to not having enough time to perceive, encode, and respond to stimuli, as described by the MTF. It was interpreted that the interaction between time-on-task and event rate was due to opportunistic breaks that occurred more frequently in slower event rate conditions. The finding that more slowing occurred earlier in processing was interpreted as evidence for internal rewards related to learning impacting the speed of processing a trial. To explain these findings, I propose the Microlapse Theory of Fatigue with Replenishment (MTFR) a process model similar to MTF, but that includes additional replenishment mechanisms related to opportunistic rest periods and internal rewards. The Microlapse Theory of Fatigue with Replenishment (MTFR) closely correlates to the empirical data and is an important step forward in the effort to build a comprehensive model of sustained attention.
A Content Analysis of Social Media Campaigns in the 2016 US Presidential Election
(2020) Peter Susko
This dissertation analyzed the social media posts of the 2016 United States presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Study one, utilizing the Extended Parallel Process Model, looked at the different fear appeal tactics in the candidates’ social media posts. Study two, using the Image Repair Theory, isolated instances where both candidates went through a crisis and analyzed their responses on social media. This author found that both candidates used various tactics under the fear appeal model. The author did not find conclusive evidence on image repair tactics used via social media. This dissertation is the first application of EPPM in a political communication context. The dissertation also adds onto the rich background of Image Repair Theory, bringing the theory into the age of social media.
A critique of testimonies and an art of surviving: Rwandanese genocidal rape survivors, incest and stranger rape survivors
(2008-06-06T13:35:23Z) Gless, Kathleen M.E.; Gless, Kathleen M.E.
This thesis explores and critiques the ways in which testimonies of genocidal rape, incest and stranger rape, affect and are affected by community surviving practices. This thesis is written to continue discussions of subjectivity and feminism. This includes issues of sexual violence and the ethics involved in bearing witness for the individual survivor and her/his community. Within these critiques I begin to explore what it will take to create a safe space within practices of surviving. Testimony is a discourse that helps us better understand sexual violence and practices of surviving sexual violence. Testimonies confront and challenge what it means to survive and what it means to pick up the pieces in the aftermath of sexual violence. An art of surviving must recognize a fundamental need to share experience without suggesting what that shared experience must be. We are all responsible for sexual violence. We are also responsible for the burden survivors carry as we call upon her/him to bear witness to the experience of rape.
A Cultural and Political Economy of Web 2.0
(2010-06-15T14:32:26Z) Gehl, Robert W.; Gehl, Robert W.; Gusterson, Hugh
In this dissertation, I explore Web 2.0, an umbrella term for Web-based software and services such as blogs, wikis, social networking, and media sharing sites. This range of Web sites is complex, but is tied together by one key feature: the users of these sites and services are expected to produce the content included in them. That is, users write and comment upon blogs, produce the material in wikis, make connections with one another in social networks, and produce videos in media sharing sites. This has two implications. First, the increase of user-led media production has led to proclamations that mass media, hierarchy, and authority are dead, and that we are entering into a time of democratic media production. Second, this mode of media production relies on users to supply what was traditionally paid labor. To illuminate this, I explore the popular media discourses which have defined Web 2.0 as a progressive, democratic development in media production. I consider the pleasures that users derive from these sites. I then examine the technical structure of Web 2.0. Despite the arguments that present Web 2.0 as a mass appropriation of the means of media production, I have found that Web 2.0 site owners have been able to exploit users' desires to create content and control media production. Site owners do this by deploying a dichotomous structure. In a typical Web 2.0 site, there is a surface, where users are free to produce content and make affective connections, and there is a hidden depth, where new media capitalists convert user-generated content into exchange-values. Web 2.0 sites seek to hide exploitation of free user labor by limiting access to this depth. This dichotomous structure is made clearer if it is compared to the one Web 2.0 site where users have largely taken control of the products of their labor: Wikipedia. Unlike many other sites, Wikipedia allows users to see into and determine the legal, technical, and cultural depths of that site. I conclude by pointing to the different cultural formations made possible by eliminating the barrier between surface and depth in Web software architecture.
A Curriculum Structured Design for Educating Adults in Detecting Deception and Eliciting Information
(2013-08) McManus, Barry Leroy; McManus, Barry Leroy; Muir, Star
ABSTRACT

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