This thesis is an investigation of genealogical inquiry, but rather than interpreting genealogical activity first and foremost as a branch of history, I analyse genealogy as a form of semi-autobiographical narrative about the self. Instead of viewing the use of archives primarily as a marker of historical scholarship, I investigate the archive as a shared space or horizon in which stories about the self and one’s descent are enacted, a theatrical space in which the ‘narratability’ of the self and of others is exposed. The thesis is divided into three chapters. The first chapter provides a ‘heritagraphical’ overview of genealogical knowledge where I argue that the pre-war history of genealogy is worth investigating; genealogy is a diverse cultural practice with its own history, historical agents and situated communities. The second chapter, ‘Archivization of Genealogical Knowledge’, explores the development of genealogy in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by investigating the circulation of genealogical knowledge in the public sphere of antiquarian print culture, gender and genealogy, the connections between eugenics, genealogy and archives, and the influence of the American diaspora upon the production and consumption of genealogy within Britain. The third chapter, ‘Narrating the Genealogical Self’, develops the metaphor of the archive as a theatre of self-identity by exploring several texts, including A Family Record (1932), Roots (1976) and the television programmes, Who Do You Think You Are? and Motherland: A Genetic Journey. In doing so, ‘the archive’ is expanded to not only include the traditional notion of an institutional repository of written documentary sources, but also more recent conceptions of the archive as a body of immutable biological code, as the consignation of unique hidden traces, or as the compilation of autobiographical memory. I conclude by arguing that genealogy can represent a desire for semi-autobiographical narrative through which the self is revealed as both a unified self and as a ‘unique existent’. This is how archives disclose to us who we are. In this way, this thesis demonstrates that archives have another function than that of providing tangible evidence of business transactions; they have an ontological function of being necessary ‘other’ evidentiary witnesses, revealing the narratability of who we are as unique historical beings, who, nevertheless, do not stand alone.

Thesis (M.A.)--Cincinnati Christian University, 2005. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-125).

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Computer Science, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 55-58).

Thesis (M.A.)--Cincinnati Christian University, 2005. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-125).

Thesis (M.A.)--Rowan University, 2006. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Aberdeen University, 2009. / Title from web page (viewed on Mar. 26, 2010). Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

As interest in family history research increases, greater numbers of amateurs are participating in genealogy. However, finding sources that provide useful information on individuals in genealogical research is often an overwhelming task, even for experts. Many tools assist genealogists in their work, including many computer-based systems. Prior to this work, recommender systems had not yet been applied to genealogy, though their ability to navigate patterns in large amounts of data holds great promise for the genealogical domain. We create the Family History Source Recommender System to mimic human behavior in locating sources of genealogical information. The recommender system is seeded with existing source data from the FamilySearch database. The typical recommender systems algorithms are not designed for family history work, so we adjust them to fit the problem. In particular, recommendations are created for deceased individuals, with multiple users being able to consume the same recommendations. Additionally, our similarity computation takes into account as much information about individuals as possible in order to create connections that would otherwise not exist. We use offline n-fold cross-validation to validate the results. The system provides results with high accuracy.

This thesis engages with the feminist argument that women need to create a culture of the female and rediscover female genealogy. The misogynistic, theological and philosophical narratives on Woman are deconstructed. Using the metaphor of divining as a tool for searching for a source the author seeks to discover the source of Woman, one not bound by male definition and control. In removing the stigma of Woman as 'misbegotten male' and cause of 'original sin' Woman's sexuality and spirituality are recognised. Female sex is acknowledged and the difference reframed so that male sex no longer holds the dominant position. Woman becomes Divine, and it is a divinity that signifies her earthly interactions in her spiritual, social and personal life. After the divining a female genealogy is created and the divine is drawn out in woman. The writing and analyses of Virginia Woolf and Luce Irigaray are drawn on to establish the basis of the research methodology. Creativity, myths, story, poetry, fiction and feminist analysis are used to find the woman hidden in traditional patriarchal rendering of history. This thesis is both a historical and autobiographical research taken within the context of the author's cultural influences. It is a transdisciplinary research within a set framework, concentrating on women's sexual and spiritual specificity. Greek and Celtic history, Wicca, Christianity and Buddhism are included, with an inclusive but not in-depth analysis of these traditions. The underlying theme of this thesis is women's disconnection from each other. In the author's personal story it concerns her mother, sister and herself. In the collective story it is about women's loss of their female genealogy and connection to their women's history. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of the Black Power Movement and black cultural nationalism on the surge of interest in black genealogy that arose in the 1970s and the Black Genealogy Movement that was birthed from this interest. It will also explore the activism of black genealogy groups as and extension of the activism of the Black Power Movement. The Black Genealogy Movement arose from individuals coming together to research, not only their own family histories, but also the stories of black societies, churches, schools, traditions, business and neighborhoods. They used their findings to contribute to the larger black cultural identity.