This study was an exploration into how seniors who participate in art workshops at the senior center experienced and made sense of their art museum visitations. In light of the rapidly increasing aging population in most countries around the world and the corollary notion that their well-being would be a global benchmark for civilized living (Kinsella & Phillips, 2005), the arts and creativity have been gaining momentum as a model for healthy and purposeful aging (Cohen, 2000, 2001; Hanna, 2013; Hanna & Perlstein, 2008). Despite the efforts to make art museums accessible to senior citizens, little empirical evidence and literature can be found that address the museum experiences of older adults, especially those who are considered to be receptive to visiting art museums, based on characteristics of the art exhibition. This study fills that critical gap through the use of phenomenological research methods that incorporate observations, in-depth interviews, a focus group, and document analysis techniques. The research site was selected by conducting evaluations using Serrell's (2006) Framework for Assessing Excellence in Exhibitions from a Visitor-Centered Perspective to identify characteristics of six art exhibitions. The exhibition chosen was rated excellent regarding its levels of achievement for all criteria: comfortable, engaging, reinforcing, and meaningful. The museum fieldtrip was set up to take participants to see the selected art exhibition. The fieldwork contributed a comprehensive perspective of not only experience but also motivation and reflection dimensions of the museum visitation that seniors constructed through the dynamic interaction of personal, sociocultural, and physical contexts. The data from the observation field notes, transcriptions of in-depth interviews and the focus group, and document review were analyzed by using phenomenology data analysis methods and emerging themes were presented in the form of composite descriptions. The results of the data analysis showed that participants were infused by a spirit of inquiry and had a need for being social. Older age-related needs and life-learned wisdom played a key part in shaping seniors' museum experiences emotionally and intellectually. The essence and shared meaning of this group of seniors' art museum visitation experiences culminated in seven key findings: seniors perceived themselves as curiosity-driven museum visitors with older age-related needs and values; sociocultural circumstances played a key part in seniors' art museum visit motivations; seniors constructed their museum experiences on their interests in art with a touch of life-learned wisdom; not only physical but also communication and attitude accessibilities are crucial to older museum visitors; seniors preferred personal interactions in order to maintain social connections; sociable experiences made seniors' meaningful museum experiences memorable; and the art museum visitation cultivated seniors' senses of purpose in terms of staying creative. To make contributions to the current paradigm for creative aging, the findings put forward knowledge that conveys practical ways for art museums and senior centers to work together on making arts and creativity services. These services can dynamically play an important role in building an effective ecosystem of leisure activities for promoting active lifestyles and social well-being among senior citizens. The findings of this study were used to develop seven recommendations that revolve around how art museums and senior centers can foster older visitors' meaningful and memorable museum experiences and collaborate on constructing and sustaining a full cycle of arts experiences and creativity engagement, from passive observation to active participation, not only in but also across communities. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Art Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester 2015. / December 2, 2015. / art museum, arts participation, creative aging, exhibition evaluation, museum education, museum experience / Includes bibliographical references. / Pat Villeneuve, Professor Directing Dissertation; Anne Barrett, University Representative; David Gussak, Committee Member; Theresa Van Lith, Committee Member.

The purpose of this collective case study was to examine the different musical, social, and pedagogical factors that affected how piano repertoire is selected and programmed for the undergraduate degree recital. Additionally, this study investigated the existence of what is deemed “standard repertoire” for the piano, and the possible reasons why these works are performed more often than others. The research was guided by a three-part framework of inquiry that examined the recital planning process from a student and professor perspective. Additional focus was placed on the social dynamics of the collegiate private piano lesson, and the relationship that developed between professor and student. The data for this collective case study were obtained through a descriptive analysis of piano recital programs, a listening analysis of past student recital recordings, and semi-structured interviews with piano majors and professors (N=7) at a large Southeastern public university. Student case study participants were chosen through a purposive sampling method, and interviews were transcribed manually. Transcripts were then coded using a three-part process that analyzed individual and cross-case themes. These interview transcripts were used to craft case study participant profiles. The transcription and coding process yielded eight salient main themes regarding piano repertoire selection that emerged from a cross-case analysis: making connections within the repertoire; influence of the university curriculum; satisfaction through effective performance order; the audience experience; collaborative learning model/choice with set conditions; freshman year: the vital foundation; standard repertoire as “functional repertoire”; and “filling the gaps.” These themes were used to address the original research questions. In addition, themes unique to each case study participant were also discussed. Based on these individual and cross-case themes, it was suggested that further research is needed investigating the repertoire selection process in a variety of different pedagogical settings, such as the non-major student or graduate piano student. It was also suggested that additional research is needed to determine how a work achieves “standard repertoire” status, both for piano and other music fields. Finally, further research is needed investigating the role of the audience as active listeners and participants within the context of the collegiate piano recital. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester 2016. / May 13, 2016. / Collegiate piano lesson, Piano, Piano pedagogy, Piano recital, Recital program, Repertoire / Includes bibliographical references. / Alice-Ann Darrow, Professor Directing Dissertation; James Mathes, University Representative; David Kalhous, Committee Member; Sara Scott Shields, Committee Member; Kimberly VanWeelden, Committee Member.

This qualitative study, which examines media representation issues of China’s Zhuang people and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous region, is based on a content analysis of the People’s Daily, the official media organ of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Using the Zhuang and Guangxi as a case study, I investigate CCP strategies of social control within the People’s Daily, advancing scholarship on the authoritarian utilization of media and minority-majority relations. My study features primary research as I provide quantitative data to support my qualitative analysis, concluding that the CCP, within the People’s Daily, strategically prescribes correct ideology and conduct through 1) distortion of reality through projections of power, and disproportionate representation of certain topical categories within the People’s Daily (Chapter Five), 2) distraction from sensitive topics through the displacement, or redirection, of readership’s attention (Chapter Five), and 3) prescription and modeling of correct behavior (Chapter Six). These strategies, I argue, are similar to the Chinese dynastic official texts used to instruct imperial women on how to behave. I not demonstrate in my study the CCP’s strategies in using media to shape thought and maintain social control over the Zhuang and Guangxi, but also explore Zhuang responses to the CCP’s disseminated messages (Chapter Seven). For the content analysis which serves as the basis of my study, I, along with statisticians at Florida State University’s Survey Research Laboratory, categorized all articles published in the People’s Daily from 1990-2015 with the keyword Zhuangzu (Zhuang nationality) into nineteen categories. The five largest were Local Politics and Policy, Development, Culture, Elections, and Interactions with Foreigners. Each category is illustrated in a figure which shows the shifting focuses of the CCP over time. Through my original research, using the data retrieved from the People’s Daily, I construct a periodization in representation of the Zhuang and Guangxi, which I have chosen to organize by phases: “Phase One: Post-Tiananmen Restructuring (1990-1992),” “Phase Two: Deng’s Economic Developments Take Root and Bear Fruit (1992-2001),” “Phase Three: New Millennium, New Problems (1999-2006),” and “Phase Four: China’s Global Debut (2005-2015).” With this periodization, I provide a framework by which to understand twenty-five years of political and economic developments for the Zhuang and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, as I explore the dynamics of the CCP’s use of the People’s Daily for social control. Then, I analyze in depth two phenomena found within the People’s Daily which apply specifically to the Zhuang people. The first is my comparative study between dynastic and modern texts, in which I relate Chinese imperial strategies of control over women and the CCP strategies of control over the Zhuang. I draw parallels between the use of exemplary citizens in official texts to model appropriate behavior, observing how dynastic women and modern Zhuang, each periphery peoples, were ‘managed’ and represented in similar ways by their respective central authorities. Finally, I further investigate the use of tourism as economic development, and culture as a commodity, at the urging of the CCP, among the Zhuang. After the previous chapters in which I focus heavily on the unidirectional dissemination of state messages, within this chapter, I illustrate the Zhuang expression of ethnic identity and agency in the context of ethno-tourism, while drawing comparisons with present day Native Americans within the United States, and their experiences at historic reconstruction sites. The figures I provide, along with the periodization in which I interpret these figures, will prove to be a valuable resource for historians, anthropologists, and social scientists alike, advancing scholarship on the Zhuang as well as the CCP use of strategies within the People’s Daily as a mechanism of social control. My comparative analysis of the use of “Exemplary People” in dynastic and present day texts is an extension of this periodization, in that it offers a deeper analysis of the People’s Daily and its functions, while demonstrating the continuity of the Chinese central government’s strategy of modeling correct behavior within state-sanctioned texts. My exploration of ethno-tourism offers a look at the reception of government-issued media, as I shift my focus away from the source of the unidirectional messages, analyzing instead the responses of the supposedly passive recipients. Ultimately, my study is one of intersecting discourses and narratives as the Chinese state, and the society which it endeavors to mold by use of the media, together negotiate a mutual future. / A Thesis submitted to the Program in Asian Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. / Summer Semester 2016. / May 31, 2016. / Chinese Communist Party, Chinese ethnicity, Chinese minorities, Social Control, The People's Daily, Zhuang / Includes bibliographical references. / Annika Culver, Professor Directing Thesis; Andrew Frank, Committee Member; Jonathan Grant, Committee Member.

This dissertation considers foodways as a vital symbolic and material force in the arts of Mexico’s volatile postrevolutionary reconstruction (1920 – 1960). Although Mexican food history has stood at the forefront of a growing food studies movement, the field has been slow to appropriate image-based methodologies. Likewise, art history has been hesitant to embrace the historical performativity and materiality of foodways. This project thus seeks to fill a gap at the margins of food studies and art history, particularly at the nexus of indigeneity and urbanization. The dissertation traces the shifting relationships between art and food during a period of rampant modernization, in which the rise of modern cookery through electrical appliances and industrial foodstuffs converged and clashed with the nation’s growing nostalgia for its pre-Columbian heritage. The book focuses on three case studies of artistic production and alimentary consumption—Tina Modotti and pulque, Carlos E. González and mole poblano, and Rufino Tamayo and watermelon—that highlight the various ways in which visual renderings of food were used to frame indigenous culture as both the foundation of and a threat to the modern state. Each case study engages the convergence of racial imaginaries, artistic production, and foodways to show how conflictive attitudes toward indigenous heritage and bodies were made manifest through images of food and foodways. Therefore, this project demonstrates how seemingly innocuous images of foodstuffs and consumption became implicated in a broader visual, experiential, and commercial battle over the definition of nationalist attitudes toward indigeneity. The manuscript consists of five chapters and an appendix. Chapter 1, “Introduction,” surveys Mexican food and art histories and establishes my intersectional framework. Chapter 2, “Nursing the Nation: Pulque and the Indigenous Body in Tina Modotti’s Baby Nursing,” argues that Tina Modotti’s celebrated photograph Baby Nursing (1926) invokes the problematic consumption of pulque, an indigenous fermented beverage, as a metonym for nationalist ideologies that simultaneously celebrate and rebuke indigenous lifeways. Chapter 3, “The ‘Spirit of Mexico’: Consuming Heritage in Café de Tacuba,” demonstrates how an iconic but previously unstudied painting depicting the mythic invention of mole poblano, commissioned for Mexico City’s famous Café de Tacuba (1946), negotiates modern consumption by evoking colonial production. Chapter 4, “Mister Watermelon/Señor Sandía: Fruitful Anxieties in the Work of Rufino Tamayo,” argues that Rufino Tamayo’s still life mural Naturaleza muerta (1954), commissioned for the Sanborns department store café, mediated the state’s aggressive removal of fruteros [informal fruit vendors] by acting as both an icon of Anglophone modernity and a visual celebration of Mexican tropicalia. Chapter 5, “The Colonial in the Contemporary: On the State of Mexican Gastronomy,” presents the book’s conclusions while engaging in a critique of Mexico’s contemporary gastronomic movement and its reliance upon colonial aesthetics to veil Mexico City’s socio-economic fragmentation. The Appendix catalogues recipes for pulque, mole poblano, and watermelon-based dishes, all of which have been compiled from nineteenth- and twentieth-century cookbooks and manuscripts. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Art History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester 2018. / April 30, 2018. / Art, Consumption, Cooking, Foodways, Mexico, Nationalism / Includes bibliographical references. / Michael Carrasco, Professor Directing Dissertation; Robinson Herrera, University Representative; Paul Niell, Committee Member; Karen Bearor, Committee Member.

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This thesis is concerned with the variations which occur in the electroencephalograms, eye-movements, and neck-muscle potentials of three species, the pigeon, rat, and chicken during prolonged recording under normal conditions, under conditions in which the animals were fatigued, and after drugs had been administered. While the recordings from the rat showed the two stages of deep sleep typical of animals, no distinctive ’’sleep” patterns were observed in the records from birds except after Nembutal had been given. The results seem to support the idea that birds do not sleep. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)