Thesis (M.A.). / Written for the Dept. of English. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2008/03/12). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität zu Köln, 1982. / Series statement supplied from cover p. [1] and spine. Includes bibliographical references (p. 278-286).

Uneducated working-class individuals in the United States are dying from suicide, drug overdose, and alcoholic-related liver disease at unprecedented rates; a phenomenon economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton describe as deaths of despair. This paper focuses on deaths of despair in the Appalachian region, where mortality rates from these types of deaths are disproportionately higher than the rest of the country. Marxism and intersectionality are two philosophical frameworks that I will apply to Appalachian despair to test the adequacy of their explanatory power. By placing Marxism and intersectionality in the context of the data surrounding deaths of despair, I can test their capability to accurately diagnose and understand this health issue.

Many states and municipalities are using climate forecasts and vulnerability analyses to prepare comprehensive frameworks designed to guide adaptation actions (Hamin, 2012). The responsibility for facilitating the development and adoption of these frameworks, also known as climate adaptation plans, often lies with planning practitioners. However, if planning is understood to be the organization of hope and its language that of the future (Baum, 1997), planning practitioners must consider how to effectively uphold these disciplinary concepts when addressing climate change—an issue with the propensity to stimulate fear and despair for a future marked by uncertainty. Developing and implementing adaptation policies and practices designed to increase community resilience in the face of a changing climate require negotiating a balance between pessimistic feelings that climate change is already underway and won’t be stopped and optimistic feelings that actions taken now will matter. Employing qualitative research methods informed by grounded theory, this research examines a set of state-level climate change adaptation plans to identify the key elements within and their implications for negotiating the despair and hope associated with climate change. Research methods from the field of narratology provide a basis for understanding these elements as components of a narrative. Findings suggest that state-level adaptation plans, understood as narratives, are comprised of elements that can be employed to balance the despair and hope associated with climate change. These findings support research emerging from the field of planning theory, which suggests that persuasive narratives may have relevance in mobilizing action on climate-related issues. Informed by research from diverse fields of inquiry, recommendations that guide the use of select elements in adaptation plans were developed to aid in overcoming the barriers that uncertainty, fear and despair play in limiting effective action on climate change.

My thesis examines existential questioning as a method towards becoming pedagogical. I argue that a pedagogy of existential questioning, as an experience of a distinctive moment characterized by growing uncertainty, is the complete opposite of what we understand the role of pedagogy in the culture of learning to be. As a result, existential questioning is uncomfortable and often unbearable. I argue through Heideggerean and Sartrean questioning, that it is precisely this feeling of discomfort that signals the beginning of becoming pedagogical. I then proceed to articulate the process of existential questioning as hopeful, developing my concept of “hopeful despair” and “desperate hope” to argue for the ambiguous and pedagogical nature of hope. I proceed to look at ways in which existential questioning can be “played” in higher education, and the ways in which the uncomfortable work of becoming pedagogical can in fact be full of wonder, gratification and utter delight.

My thesis examines existential questioning as a method towards becoming pedagogical. I argue that a pedagogy of existential questioning, as an experience of a distinctive moment characterized by growing uncertainty, is the complete opposite of what we understand the role of pedagogy in the culture of learning to be. As a result, existential questioning is uncomfortable and often unbearable. I argue through Heideggerean and Sartrean questioning, that it is precisely this feeling of discomfort that signals the beginning of becoming pedagogical. I then proceed to articulate the process of existential questioning as hopeful, developing my concept of “hopeful despair” and “desperate hope” to argue for the ambiguous and pedagogical nature of hope. I proceed to look at ways in which existential questioning can be “played” in higher education, and the ways in which the uncomfortable work of becoming pedagogical can in fact be full of wonder, gratification and utter delight.

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 124-136). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2008. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-123). Also available online in ProQuest, free to University of Oregon users.

Mémoire (M.Ps.)--Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, 2000. / Document électronique également accessible en format PDF. CaQCU