This study examined the effectiveness of a researcher-designed, computer-based, interactive listening guide system for use by instructors of music appreciation courses. The system was designed to control audio compact discs and present coordinated graphic displays describing musical events as they were heard. Its effectiveness was examined by comparing student outcomes of two subject groups, one exposed to the interactive system in one section of a music appreciation course and another exposed to traditional materials (audio compact disc player, textbook, and writing on the board) in another section of the course. In the first part of the study (“instructional effectiveness”), outcomes were quiz scores and attitudes toward instruction; in a second part of the study; in a second part of the study (“transfer of learning”), outcomes were the quality of student-generated listening guides based on music of their own choice and attitude toward this activity. Results indicated that although there was a marked difference in the reporting of enjoyment of the instructional experience between treatment and control groups, there was no significant difference in any of the product outcomes, such as quizzes or student-generated listening guides. Additional opportunities to examine and compare the effects of the two different modes of instruction over longer periods of exposure is one of nine recommendations for further research reached as a result of this study.

The purpose of the study was to compare two methods for teaching guitar to fifth- and sixth-grade students: one based on the tonal learning sequence of the Kodaly method, the other on the traditional note learning sequence found in standard guitar method books. The null hypothesis was that there would be no significant differences on difference scores or attitude ratings by group, sex, grade, or years of experience. Lessons were designed to teach music reading for guitar to fifth- and sixth-grade students. Note sequences were traditional for the control group, Kodaly-based for the treatment group. The lessons were delivered to intact classes over a five-week period in the spring of 1992. A pre/posttest design was used for data collection. Reading tests, attitude scales, and a student profile were researcher-designed. Listening tests were adapted from Music Achievement Test (Colwell, 1968 & 1970). No significant differences were found on difference scores by group or grade, but significant differences were found by sex and years of experience. There was also a significant interaction between group and sex. When the data were divided by sex there were significant differences between the groups, favoring females in the control group and males in the treatment group. There were no significant differences on attitude rating differences by group, grade, or years of experience, but there were significant differences by sex. No significant interactions were found. The Kodaly sequence worked as well as the traditional sequence for teaching music reading for the guitar. The treatment group had 11% more males than the control group; males scored significantly lower than females. Additionally, the treatment group had 14% more students with no musical experience; students with less experience scored significantly lower than students with more experience. Despite this unequal composition, there were no significant differences between the groups. More research is needed to discover if there would be significant differences between the groups if they are evenly matched by sex and by years of experience. In addition, the finding that the control treatment favored females and the experimental treatment favored males needs to be examined further.

The purpose of this study was to explore and expose racial stereotypes of African Americans in the mass media. The research was conducted as a historical analysis using historical artifacts from as early as 1619. These historical artifacts include journal articles, books, websites, research papers, and films that are both explanation pieces and examples of black stereotypes. All of the historical artifacts were found through Internet search engines and article databases including the University of the Pacific's library database. Other materials given to pinpoint information for this study were also given by University of the Pacific professors. All of the information was examined and synthesized into this study. In order to expose and uncover past and contemporary African American stereotypes, the historical information collected for this study was organized. The results revealed three categories: (1) the initial stereotypes that blackface created, (2) the extent to which initial racial stereotypes affect today's status of African American depictions and, (3) the occurrences of blackface in today's contemporary media. This historical analysis provides a rich background to past stereotypes of African Americans as well as develops a framework for critiquing the status of black stereotypes in today's contemporary media. The analysis of the historical artifacts found that the initial depiction of blackface (one of the original forms of African American stereotypes) is not necessarily a thing of the past. In addition this study concluded that the initial stereotypes of African Americans have not only influenced the African American depictions of today but also that in many ways the portrayals are the same and just “packaged” differently.

Previous research has shown that face-to-face social support groups are effective in alleviating distress among patients coping with chronic illnesses. No research has focused on the effectiveness of social support groups on the internet. This study assessed the value of online support groups for dialysis patients afflicted with chronic kidney disease. Three dialysis patients who had access to a computer and the internet participated in an online support group devoted to dialysis patients and their family members for 3 to 5 weeks. Results indicated that the participants' knowledge of kidney disease did not improve over the 6-week intervention. Results did not yield clear evidence to support the hypotheses that online support groups decrease depression and learned helplessness. However, results of this study demonstrated that the 3 dialysis patients in this study maintained use of the online support group throughout the duration of the project by providing instructions and weekly prompts.

The purpose of this study was to explore how three international cruise lines restored their reputation after the 2002 Norwalk virus incidents. The research was conducted as a case study using semi-structured interviews. Six individuals were interviewed. These included public relations representatives for three international cruise lines, the Center for Disease Control, a ship's Internet Manager and a ship's Cruise Director. All interviews were taped, subsequently transcribed, and analyzed for content and themes. Quotes were examined in terms of content and grouped according to similarity of themes. The results revealed five categories. These included How Public Relations Differs on Land vs. at Sea, The Main Objective During a Public Relations Crisis, The Extent to Which the Situation was Handled, Terrorism and Whether the Cruise Lines were Treated Fairly. Similarities existed between the groups of respondents. Specifically, the public relations representatives responded similarly to questions relating to the main objective during a crisis and whether the cruise lines were treated fairly. Additionally, the respondents differed in their views of public relations on land vs. at sea. The goal of this project was to look at the reputation management of international cruise lines since the 2002 Norwalk-like virus outbreaks. The research was intended to address the perspective held by the public relations departments within each studied organization. In conclusion, analysis suggests there was an agreement among the subjects researched regarding the effect this public relations crisis has had on the industry. Conflicting views existed among the subjects in question regarding public relations on land vs. at sea. Communicating to the public and the media honestly, accurately, and in a timely manner were found to be essential aspects in managing the reputation of international cruise lines following an industry crisis.

No description available.

In 1847, Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1817-1898) published an Urdu text, listing and describing all notable monuments of Delhi entitled Asar-ul-Sanadid. His work so impressed British scholars in Delhi that he was invited to join the Asiatic Society and write a second, improved edition for translation into English. Unfortunately the translation was never written. Sir Sayyid was one of many local Indian scholars producing architectural and archaeological histories of the Subcontinent in the nineteenth-century. Yet their names are generally unknown, and their research lost in obscurity. Early twentieth-century western scholarship paid them little attention and an image formed which saw nineteenth-century historiography only serving an Orientalist vision of Indian art and archaeology. It is only in recent decades that this belief has been contested, and new studies have included a greater variety of sources. This thesis attempts to do the same by presenting translated portions of the Asar and analysing it within the context of its production; pre-colonial Indian histories and contemporary Indian and British scholarship in order to form a more complete picture of nineteenth century historical discourse in India.

Le but de ce document est d’offrir une analyse détaillée de trois fugues et d’une pièce pour orchestre de chambre, pièces composées entre 2013 et 2014 et qui constituent le sommet d’une démarche compositionnelle visant la gradation de difficulté d’écriture et d’exécution. Leur analyse comprend : une explication détaillée de leur position dans l’album, une explication du ou des concepts qui les sous-tendent en plus d’une analyse des différentes sections de toutes les pièces. / The purpose of this document is to offer a detailed analysis of three fugues and a piece for orchestra, all of which were composed between 2013 and 2014, and who constitutes the summit of a compositionnal approach that was based on a gradation of difficulty in performance and writing. This analysis includes : A detailed explanation of the place these pieces occupy among the album, an explanation of the concept or concepts that underlayed these compositions and a detailed analyses of every section of every composition. / The purpose of this document is to offer a detailed analysis of three fugues and a piece for orchestra, all of which were composed between 2013 and 2014, and who constitutes the summit of a compositionnal approach that was based on a gradation of difficulty in performance and writing. This analysis includes : A detailed explanation of the place these pieces occupy among the album, an explanation of the concept or concepts that underlayed these compositions and a detailed analyses of every section of every composition.

Cette thèse examine l'impact de la collaboration avec des instrumentistes particuliers sur la composition de quatre œuvres électroacoustiques. Assumant un rôle plus important que celui de consultant ou conseiller, les interprètes ont influencé les décisions de l'auteur / compositeur dans le cadre de multiples ateliers et d'enregistrements de ceux-ci. Cette thèse examine ainsi comment les outils médiatiques de la musique électroacoustique affectent et enrichissent les relations personnelles : ces outils favorisent la transcription et la traduction, qui à la fois soulignent et transforment la spécificité du son. Le dialogue de la collaboration permet par la suite non seulement une réconciliation plus facile entre les éléments médiatisés et directs dans une oeuvre, mais aussi l'ouverture de son potentiel d'interprétation. En se servant d'une méthodologie qui fait appel à une pratique d'auto-réflexion et récursivité, cette thèse explore des sujets tels que : l'analyse du style personnel dans un cadre linguistique; l'importance du contact physique dans la collaboration et sa traduction incomplète sur support; et les défis de la préservation de la musique électroacoustique pour média ou interprète particulier. Des exemples de la création collaborative de quatre œuvres, racontés de manière personnelle, sont tressés parmi le récit plus théorique de cette thèse, imitant le va-et-vient de la recherche-création. / This dissertation examines the impact of collaboration with specific instrumental performers on the composition of four electroacoustic works. Acting as more than consultants or advisors, the performers influenced the author/composer's decision-making in multiple workshop situations and in the recordings of these meetings. This dissertation thus examines the ways in which the media tools of electroacoustic music affect and extend personal relationships: these tools encourage transcription and translation, activities that highlight and transform specificity. The dialogue of collaboration subsequently not only allows for an easier reconciliation between mediatized and live elements within a work, but also to an opening out of its interpretive potential. Using a methodology that involves recursive and self-reflexive practice, this dissertation explores topics such as: the analysis of personal style in the framework of language; the importance of eye-to-eye, physical contact in collaboration and its incomplete translation onto media; and the challenges of preserving performer- and media-specific electroacoustic music. Examples from the collaborative creation of four works, acting as personal accounts, are braided into the more theoretical narrative of this dissertation, reflecting mimetically the to and fro of research-creation.

Ce mémoire porte sur le rôle du geste musical dans le développement de styles musicaux devenus syncrétiques. Il s’attarde à définir dans le détail le style de guitare populaire assiko propre aux Bassa du Cameroun du Sud lequel est représenté internationalement par le guitariste et percussionniste traditionnel Atna Njock. Grâce à une approche dialogique et participative, les techniques du jeu assiko sont explorées et comparées à des exemples de jeu de guitare européenne, afro-américaines et africaines. Les influences qui définissent le jeu d’Atna découlent de la culture Bassa et de son histoire marquée par l’influence coloniale et missionnaire, mais sont aussi alimentées par la «philosophie» (voire la spiritualité) et le passé musical de l’artiste. L’approche participative fournit une perspective émique, c’est-à-dire interne à la culture, de la gestuelle et de la structure du jeu assiko même si nous confrontons les propos du musicien à notre propre regard analytique. La comparaison avec divers instruments de percussion auxquels Atna a été initié montre comment ceux-ci ont forgé son jeu guitaristique. Son rôle de « garant » de la tradition musicale Bassa influence son approche et se manifeste par une préoccupation particulière pour l’« authenticité » dans la reproduction des rythmes d’un « langage » musical donné. Ses liens avec la culture Bassa, s’expriment notamment par le biais de sa reproduction du style de jeu de son maître, Jean Bikoko « Aladin ». La contribution particulière d’Atna à la technique de guitare de Bikoko est comprise comme un ajout à la lignée ancestrale. Une analyse d’un morceau du répertoire assiko issu du plus récent album d’Atna illustre d’ailleurs comment son incorporation de styles « modernes » reproduit les processus traditionnels en intégrant des éléments culturels étrangers. / This master’s thesis is concerned with the role of musical gesture in the development of musical styles that have become syncretic. It seeks to define in detail the popular guitar style of assiko, particular to the Bassa of Southern Cameroon, as represented internationally by the guitarist and traditionally initiated percussionist, Atna Njock. Through a dialogic and participative approach, the techniques that underlie assiko guitar playing are explored by comparison with European, African American, and African examples. The influences that define Atna’s playing are contextualized within Bassa culture, with its troubled history of colonial and missionary influence, and elaborated by an account of his particular musical philosophy (or spirituality) and background. The participatory approach provides an emic perspective, meaning internal to the culture, of assiko playing technique and structure while subjecting the musician’s statements to our own analytical scrutiny. The comparison with the various percussion instruments on which Atna was initiated demonstrates how these instruments shaped his guitar playing. His role as “guarantor” of Bassa musical tradition underlies his approach to music, which manifests as a particular concern for “authenticity” in the reproduction of the rhythms of a given musical “language”. His connection to Bassa culture is ultimately expressed through his reproduction of the playing style of his master, originator of modern assiko, Jean Bikoko “Aladin”. Atna’s particular contribution to Bikoko’s guitar technique is conceived as adding to the ancestral lineage. An analysis of a current assiko piece from Atna’s most recent album demonstrates how his incorporation of “modern” styles reflects traditional processes of incorporating foreign cultural elements.