<p>Technology has allowed nearly instantaneous communication around the globe and this study examines how cultural transmission occurs through the consumption of television and film. Anime, a term used to refer to a genre of animation that is of Japanese origin, has become immensely popular in North America and has come to simultaneously come to signify a commodifled Japanese youth culture. However, the spectrum of Japanese animation is restricted and controversial anime that includes offensive themes, violent, sexual or illicit material are not televised, or publicized except when associated with negative behaviour. The Otaku are labeled as a socially deviant subculture that is individualistic and amoral. Their struggle for autonomy is represented by their production, circulation and consumption of manga and anime, despite the insistence of the dominant Japanese and North American cultural discourses. This study will examine how publicly circulating definitions, media review, historical relations and censorship have affected the portrayal of otaku subculture in Japan and internationally.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

Immigrant Latino parents are invested in their children and have an authentic interest in assisting their children to acquire an education and to succeed in school, but many parents face socioeconomic, language, and cultural barriers. This qualitative study looked at a group of immigrant Latino parents whose children attend a high school that is composed of predominantly Caucasian students from well-educated, middle-to-upper-class backgrounds. The parents are involved in a program developed by the researcher and her colleague. The purpose of this study was to investigate the cultural beliefs and values of the program participants, the educational beliefs and values of the program participants, and the socioeconomic considerations of the parents. The study included a questionnaire, a focus group session, observations, and relevant documents pertaining to the program.

This inquiry focuses on creative nonfiction essay writing and its pedagogy, operating under the conceit that this category of literature possesses rich potential to render fruitful study of nonverbal communication. Creative Nonfiction pedagogy can be enriched and analysis of this genre broadened if somewhat familiar aspects of these texts are considered through the interdisciplinary lens of interpersonal and nonverbal communication. Through critical review of existing creative nonfiction pedagogy and close examination of the role of nonverbal communication in the essays of David Foster Wallace, this document aims to open possibilities through an interdisciplinary study of essay writing in order to contribute to the scholarship and knowledge available to professionals responsible for craft instruction, criticism and analysis of creative nonfiction literature.

It seems that all forms of pain, quotidian and monumental, are catalogued in the same muted and inaccessible space in our memory. In my installation Wiped Clean, I question whether human capacity to externalize physical trauma is aided by a the physical design of our institutions. I examine the architectures and structural mechanisms that mediate traumatic and intimate experiences with our bodies, and explore the potential of self-formation within these conditions.

This thesis explores the design integration of an animal shelter into an existing school in an at-risk neighborhood. The connection between at-risk students and homeless animals is valuable to the design. A large central courtyard located within Martin Luther King Middle School serves as a connection between both students and animals. Because the animal shelter is located in a central location within the school, students and animals have a greater ability to form a connection necessary for the program to work. This thesis is about the interaction between both animals and students through the process of design.

This Thesis explores the question; Is a children’s museum a playground or a museum? Through research and visits to children’s museums I feel that many are playgrounds. They are also visually stimulating to children, but not to the guardians who bring them there. In most cases the exhibits are permanent and there is little change to the atmosphere of the space on a regular basis. An old warehouse located on North Boulevard was chosen to house this project idea of a children’s art museum. The scenario is that The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the Children’s Museum of Richmond would have a joint venture in creating a the Children’s Art Museum of Richmond. Thebuildings’ close proximity to these two museums make it an excellent choice for both institutions. There are interactive changing exhibits, a studio that continues the learning experience from the exhibit, and a gallery to display artwork that was created in the studio spaces. Through these three core spaces I hope to create a continuous interactive learning experience in this children’s art museum.

In the late 1960s a group of women became interested in forming a chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) in Richmond. These women, led by Zelda Nordlinger and Holt Carlton, followed a pragmatic, big-tent approach to women’s activism. This ideological and tactical openness defies traditional historical labels as these women fluidly moved through organizations and tactics in order to gain a stronger local following. Richmond’s NOW chapter, while staying attuned to the national organization’s platform, remained relatively autonomous and parochial in its tactics and pursuits. Further, Richmond NOW showed a marked change around 1974 with an influx of newer women into the organization. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) struggle provided the local movement with new prominence. With the interjection of new blood the chapter saw a shift in its tactics and policy. The newer cohort of women maintained a belief in a pragmatic, big-tent approach; however, they interpreted it differently. The chapter became more procedural and organizationally based. It also narrowed its focus and tactics, seeing the first generation’s free-wheeling style as a hindrance to organizational success. The different political experiences of these two cohorts led to different visions of Richmond’s NOW chapter.

This thesis examines the life and musical career of James "Polk" Miller of Richmond Virginia, a Confederate veteran, and successful pharmacist. Miller claimed to offer the only authentic version of antebellum slave music, and was renowned as a convincing "negro delineator." In his focus on race, performance, and authenticity, Miller straddled a number of cultural currents linking him to his nineteenth century predecessors as well as the cultural milieu of the twentieth century. About the turn of the century, he added a black quartet to his act in order to more fully capture his conception of the "authentic" slave music of his youth, a decision that ultimately led to his failure as a stage performer. Audiences' receptions of Miller's quartet illuminate the dynamic way in which performance and race intersected in the early twentieth century.

For millennia, furniture design has emulated architecture. In Western design, furniture has taken the structural conventions suggestive of a "little building" or an aedicule. This thesis will present close examination of the development of aedicular design through the ages with a chronological study of exemplary case pieces in the permanent collection at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

California contemporary artist Barbara Kruger created the colossal, three-dimensional work "Picture This" as part of the winning outdoor park design "Imperfect Utopia" (1986-1997) held by the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh. Situated in the landscape outside the museum’s original building designed by Edward Durell Stone, 80-foot-tall letters inscribe Kruger’s phrase "Picture This." The letters are embedded with quotations, historical markers, cultural figures, as well as elements pertaining to North Carolina’s history and environment. This thesis proposes that "Picture This" functions as Kruger’s conceptual critique of museums; more specifically, it critiques their traditional utopian goals and simulacral stature. This thesis will demonstrate that Kruger’s phrase "Picture This" functions as a dialogue with the museum and the state. By drawing parallels between Kruger’s work and French philosopher Jean Baudrillard’s theory of simulation, this study will elucidate alternative readings of "Picture This" as well as foreground its impact on Kruger’s oeuvre.