Inspired by the plays and performance art pieces of many Latina/o and African American artists who seek to resurrect indigenous beliefs as a method of political resistance, this thesis seeks to imagine possibilities for male individuals of Anglo descent and/or entrenched in a Judeo-Christian religious context to participate in challenging the violences of colonialism. Essentially, this is a thesis about religious redress. Therefore, I will explore theoretical precedents for redress set by artists of color, such as Cherríe Moraga and August Wilson, in the Americas. To bring this into an Anglo context, I will research British playwright Jez Butterworth's Jerusalem as a text that situates its protagonist Johnny Rooster Bryon in a Celtic/Germanic mythological context. I seek to understand Rooster's actions in the play as a strategy to rectify the violences against indigenous beings that contemporary English society has forgotten and exploited. I will also research two of Erik Ehn's Saint Plays to examine how he deploys Catholic characters and their sacrifices in relationship to Native Americans. / A Thesis submitted to the School of Theatre in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. / Spring Semester, 2015. / April 3, 2015. / Includes bibliographical references. / Nia Witherspoon, Professor Co-Directing Thesis; Mary Karen Dahl, Professor Co-Directing Thesis; Elizabeth Osborne, Committee Member; George McConnell, Committee Member.

The WISC-III, Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT) and Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Revised (CELF-R) were administered to groups of volunteer and referred Native American students who attended the Page Unified School District. The volunteer sample was randomly selected from all Native Americans attending first grade. The referred group included students ranging in age from six to eleven years who had previously been identified for a speech/language and/or comprehensive evaluation. The purpose of the study was to determine if the development of local norms was necessary to accurately identify students who may be eligible for special education services. A comparison of the groups' score means and standard deviations for each of the tests is provided. In addition, correlations between the measures provide tentative evidence of how intelligence, achievement, and language skill correspond to one another for a discrete sample of Native Americans. The results substantiated research with other Native American groups with regard to the Wechsler intelligence scales. Both groups obtained Verbal IQ scores significantly below the normative mean. The Performance IQ scores earned by the volunteer subjects were slightly higher and their Full Scale IQ scores were just below the normative average. In contrast, the referred group obtained Performance IQ scores below and Full Scale IQ scores significantly below the normative mean. On the WIAT, the volunteer group obtained scores comparable to the normative group, whereas, the referred group indicated significant areas of need in math and reading. Both groups obtained scores significantly below the mean on the CELF-R. The volunteer group's scores on the CELF-R indicated better receptive as compared to expressive language skills but the referred group's scores were depressed on both areas. These findings suggested that the volunteer sample's score profile reflected the normal developmental trend for language acquisition more closely than the score profile of the referred group.

Wind turbines are getting bigger to extract more power from wind. In the past decade, the wind turbines heights increased up to 135 m (Enercon E126, 7.5MW capacity). Many wind turbines are constructed in earthquake prone and high velocity wind regions. The taller wind turbine structures are more susceptible to high loading events such as high intensity earthquake and high velocity wind such as hurricane wind. Wind turbines are not catered for a particular type of high loading events. The same wind turbine could be installed in earthquake prone regions as well as high velocity wind regions. Though, these high loading events could impart comparable loading magnitude, the nature and the characteristics of these loads are different. The failure of one turbine in the wind farm could disrupt the operation of an entire wind farm. This makes it imperative to evaluate performance of the wind turbine towers under the action of high loading events. The objective of the present study is to evaluate the performance of the wind turbine tower for earthquake and high velocity wind loading events. The performance was evaluated by probabilistic approach by employing fragility analysis. For earthquake fragility analysis four displacement based limit states: a) global buckling b) yielding c) permanent deformation d) foundation overturning were defined. The wind fragility analysis was performed by defining three limit states: a) global buckling b) yielding, c) foundation overturning. The demand data, as required for fragility analysis, comes from the full scale nonlinear analysis by applying earthquake and wind loads. The capacity data comes from the pushover analysis by applying loads along the different directions. Few studies in the recent past include creating the simplified wind turbine model, and analyzing the particular type of response. In the present study, a full scale model of a wind turbine tower based on Vestas 1.65 MW was created with details such as door and cable opening at the bottom. The height of the tower was 80 m. The nacelle and rotor were simplified as concentrated mass at the top of the tower. The finite element model comprises of shell and solid elements for main body of the structure, the point mass elements for nacelle and rotor assembly. The turbine model was validated for geometric, engineering and dynamic properties. The seismic loadings were applied as earthquake accelerations availed from PEER (Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research) center database. The earthquake loads were the time history acceleration records in orthogonal directions. The preliminary analysis performed by applying original earthquake loads did not fail the turbine tower. The earthquake records were scaled by the factor of 2.5 so as to fail the structure. The near and far fault acceleration loadings were applied at the base of the wind turbine tower. The wind loadings were applied as wind fields generated by TURBSIM for various mean wind velocities. The wind loads were applied with the attack angles of 0 and 30 degrees with respect to the rotor axis. In the case of near fault earthquake loading, the maximum magnitude for the response spectral acceleration in the present study was 1.715 g. When the response spectral acceleration reaches to 1.715 g, the exceedance probability for global buckling was found to be 5.7%. The exceedance probability for yielding was found to be 68%. The exceedance probability for permanent deformation was found to be 26.4%, whereas the exceedance probability for foundation overturning was found to be 99.4%. In case of far fault loading, the maximum magnitude of spectral acceleration was 0.57 g. When the response spectral acceleration reaches this value the exceedance probability was found to be 0% for global buckling, 0.4% for yielding, 0.25 % for permanent deformation and 10.8% for foundation overturning limit state. For both the near and far fault loading, the foundation overturning was found to be the most critical limit state. This foundation was not designed for an earthquake prone region. The analysis was performed by improving the foundation by increasing the width from 15 m to 16.56 m. The exceedance probability rendering to failure was found to be reduced significantly. In the case of high velocity wind, the maximum mean wind velocity was 70 m/s. In case of 0 degree wind direction, the exceedance probability for all the three limit states were found to be 0% even when the mean wind velocity reaches to the maximum value of 70 m/s. In case of 30 degree wind direction, when the mean wind velocity reaches to 70 m/s, the exceedance probability for global buckling was found to 0%, the exceedance probability for yielding was found to be 88%, the exceedance probability for foundation overturning was found to be 100%. This foundation also was adopted from a hazard-free region and shown to be susceptible to failure. The exceedance probability leading to the failure was found to be reduced when the foundation was improved by increasing the width from 15 m to 16.56 m. For the wind turbine studied in this research, it could be concluded that the foundation overturning is the most critical limit state, and needs a due consideration while designing the wind turbine tower system. In case of earthquake, the near fault earthquake loading is the most detrimental to the stability of the wind turbine structures. The first mode failure governs the safety and satiability of the wind turbine structures. The 30 degree wind direction loading is more critical wind direction compared to 0 degree wind direction loading. Repeating the analysis for different wind turbine types, capacities and sizes would give more data, and more comprehensive conclusion could be drawn. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2015. / April 16, 2015. / earthquake, far fault, fragility, near faul, tower, wind turbine / Includes bibliographical references. / Sungmoon Jung, Professor Directing Dissertation; Zhiyong (Richard) Liang, University Representative; Michelle Rambo-Roddenberry, Committee Member; Jerry Wekezer, Committee Member.

Alexander Pushkin, the father of Modern Russian literature, has influenced every great contemporary Russian writer. His timeless poetry and insightful prose solidify him as a leading voice in Russian culture. During his lifetime, Pushkin dealt with racism and discrimination because his African great-grandfather, Abram Gannibal. In combating negative framing of his identity and his ancestry, Pushkin reveals a defense and reclamation of self seldom seen in contemporaries of his day. In asserting ownership over his ancestry, he takes back his narrative and dignity. Through his literary works, Pushkin shows how he navigated his blackness in a world that sought to undermine it. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. / Spring Semester 2018. / April 23, 2018. / Abram Gannibal, Alexander Pushkin, Black, Blackness, Gannibal, Pushkin / Includes bibliographical references. / Lisa Ryoko Wakamiya, Professor Directing Thesis; Robert Romanchuk, Committee Member; Nina Efimov, Committee Member.

Many Egyptians—hyphenated and not—have begun to publicly articulate their struggles with identity confusion, collectivist clash, and communication incapability; these (and similar) issues have, in fact, taken center-stage in both Arabic-language and bilingual (English/Arabic, Arabic/French, etc.) media outlets. The dissertation's two general purposes were, therefore, to: 1) Expand the dialogical model of acculturation (DM), and 2) Discover current cultural climates common among Christians in Egypt and in the diaspora—regardless of where they were born and raised. The general purposes were divided into three narrower goals, including: 1) An exploration of the acculturation strategies of Christian Egyptians, 2) An understanding of current attitudes, anxieties, and/or "dreams" held by Christian Egyptians (living in Egypt or the diaspora), as well as 3) A discovery of participants' manifestations of the dialogical model of acculturation through an examination of three communication dimensions (Identification, Cultural Orientation, and Communication Style). These goals were, in part, accomplished by asking three main research questions (one of them divided into two segments): RQ1—What are the acculturation strategies that Egyptian Christians in Egypt and the diaspora use to negotiate their identities? RQ2a—What are some of the positive (goals, wishes, desires, "dreams"), negative ("cultural anxieties," conflicts, tensions) and/or neutral issues in the lives of Christian Egyptians in Egypt and the diaspora? RQ2b—How do Christian Egyptians in Egypt and the diaspora negotiate any tensions or conflicts associated with their own desires and/or cultural anxieties? RQ3—How is the dialogical model of acculturation manifested in Christian Egyptians in Egypt and the diaspora with respect to the "three communication dimensions" (Identification, Cultural Orientation, and Communication Style)? The questions were investigated through descriptive questionnaires administered online, and qualitative interviews that were either administered online (synchronously and asynchronously) or conducted face-to-face and video-taped, while the review of online blogs from eight bloggers (one Coptic Orthodox, seven Egyptian Muslim) provided additional insights, achieving validity through corroboration and triangulation. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2010. / April 21, 2010. / Qualitative Research, Salon Marriage, Middle Eastern Studies, Ethnic Studies, Cultural Studies, Cultural Shift, Traditional Culture, Collectivism, High Context Communication, Communication Style, Culture Clash, Struggle, Americopt, Egyptian American, Bicultural, Immigrants, Diaspora, Christian Egyptian, Coptic, Copts, Egypt, Intercultural Communication, Communication, Cross-Cultural Communication, Culture, Identity, Acculturation, Blogs, Online Research, Online Interviews, Identification, Arab American, Hyphenated American, Dialogical Acculturation, Dialogical Model, Generational Struggle / Includes bibliographical references. / Felecia Jordan-Jackson, Professor Directing Dissertation; Stephen McDowell, Professor Directing Dissertation; Peter Garretson, University Representative; Davis Houck, 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.

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In two empirical articles, this dissertation investigates how a college organization of black men used the concept of brotherhood to foster personal social mobility among members. Both chapters take advantage of two years of fieldwork and interviews with group members. The first article (chapter 2) explores the process whereby a group of black men on a college campus used the concept of brotherhood to create their own emotion culture. In order to support their emotional and social needs without jeopardizing their manhood status, group leaders promoted brotherhood among their new recruits to encourage emotional expressiveness, vulnerability, and trust. By providing one another with support under the ideology of brotherhood, group members were able to construct an emotion culture to help group members cope with the discrimination they faced as socially mobile black men in predominantly white institutions. In the second article (chapter 3) I analyze how a group of collegiate black men came together as a brotherhood to adopt and present professional behaviors and styles in order to navigate professional settings. These behaviors were designed to evoke in potential employers, campus administrators, faculty, and other students images of positive black men that have been celebrated culturally. As a group of young black men with professional aspirations, group members sought to develop professional self-presentation strategies, and present these presentations to the broader community. Overall, this research shows how group members fostered personal social mobility by providing one another with support and teaching professional behaviors that benefited them during their time in college. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Sociology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2013. / June 11, 2013. / Black Men, College, Emotions, Gender, Race, Social Mobility / Includes bibliographical references. / Douglas Schrock, Professor Directing Dissertation; Patrick L. Mason, University Representative; Irene Padavic, Committee Member; John Reynolds, Committee Member.

This study used social engagement theory to examine the relationship between attending worship services and the trajectories of physical decline among Mexican American elders. Data for this study came from eight waves of the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly (H-EPESE), a representative panel study of Hispanic elders across five states conducted from 1992-2006. First, linear growth curve models were used to examine the cross-sectional and longitudinal association between attending worship services and physical limitations. Findings from this study highlighted the independent affect of attending worship services at baseline for reducing the onset and development of physical disability among Mexican American elders. Second, this dissertation explored if gender moderated the association between attending worship services and physical disability at baseline and over time. Findings from this dissertation suggest that the health benefit of attending worship services varies across gender. At baseline, attending worship services protected against health limitations among women but not for men. Over time, baseline attendance at worship services tended to benefit men more than women. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Sociology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2013. / May 31, 2013. / Heatlh, Race, Religion / Includes bibliographical references. / Jill Quadagno, Professor Directing Dissertation; Patrick Mason, University Representative; Amy Burdette, Committee Member; Koji Ueno, Committee Member.

Objectives and Theoretical Framework This study addresses the social dynamics of associations between chronic inflammation and quality of life in older adults, as well the ability of social factors to cause inflammatory disease. It builds on growing evidence in sociological and clinical literatures that chronic inflammation has negative net effects on quality of life across the life course, as well as negative indirect effects via social mechanisms (Hamer and Chida 2011; Lal 2006; Marnell et al. 2005; Testa and Simonson 1996; Sprangers et al. 2000; Epel et al. 2004; Finch and Crimmins 2004; Willson et al. 2007). Biomarkers are used to capture inflammatory pathology, ensuring that people with rare inflammatory conditions are included and thus avoiding many of the challenges presented by the diagnosis data used in previous research (Mirowsky and Ross 1989; Mirowsky and Ross 2003; Crimmins and Seeman 2001). Using this more inclusive method for studying people with chronic inflammation, elaboration models are created to explore how social factors influence the consequences and causation of chronic inflammation. Methods and Data Sources Data from Wave I of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) are used to examine relationships between levels of the inflammatory biomarker C-reactive protein and two different sets of quality of life outcomes. Because many inflammatory diseases are present at birth, studying older adults can reveal long-term effects from living with chronic inflammation (Geronimus 1992). Quality of life is measured in two ways: self-ratings of satisfaction with life in general (happiness, enjoyment of life, and sadness), and self-ratings of satisfaction with intimate relationships (overall happiness, physical satisfaction, and emotional satisfaction). Three types of social factors are examined: structure variables (age, race, sex, income, education), sociomedical sequelae (disability, pain, diagnosis), and process factors (communication and social support, relationship participation). The unique role of each of these elements of social life is explored via mediation, moderation, and fundamental causation analyses. All analyses use ordinal logistic and ordinary least-squares regression techniques as theoretically and mathematically indicated. Findings reveal how chronic inflammation may entrench and even foster social inequality. Key Findings Bivariate models suggest that total effects of chronic inflammatory biomarker levels on quality of life are significant and negative, indicating that chronic inflammation can decrease satisfaction with life and relationships. However, effect significance varies somewhat depending on the measure used; the effects of chronic inflammation on quality of life may thus be sensitive to slight differences between domains of psychosocial experience. Each additional milligram per liter of C-reactive protein appears to reduce the odds of reporting high levels of quality of life between 7 and 10 percent for the following outcomes: overall happiness, happiness with intimate relationships, physical satisfaction with relationships, and emotional satisfaction with relationships. Including sociomedical, interactional, and sociodemographic variables reveals inconsistency in the effects of different social attributes and processes. Associations between emotional quality of life and chronic inflammation may be partially mediated by sociomedical sequelae and social relationship factors. Associations between relational quality of life and chronic inflammation appear to be partially mediated by social relationships, but not by sociomedical sequelae. In both cases, dynamics related to partner intimacy may play an important mediating role. Social structure factors do not appear to moderate overall associations between chronic inflammation and quality of life. However, these constructs do demonstrate consistent ability to predict both emotional and relational outcomes when incorporated into models containing C-reactive protein as the main predictor. Likewise, both social structure and relationship factors may play a role in causing chronic inflammation. Extant research and theory from both sociological and clinical disciplines support these findings, and recommend multiple strategies for further study. Significance and Future Directions Using biomarker data to measure inflammation status reveals important information about how chronic inflammation may impact psychosocial quality of life. Looking at a variety of quality of life outcomes in tandem suggests that several individual domains of emotional and relational quality of life may be especially vulnerable to detrimental effects from chronic inflammation, and that these negative effects occur through different social pathways. Emphasizing social structure and relationship factors that shape relationships between inflammation and different quality of life outcomes can illuminate specific ways that chronic inflammation may predispose people to psychosocial disadvantage and/or exacerbate existing social inequalities. Relational processes, especially those related to participation in and dynamics of intimate partnerships, may be more important than social structures in shaping the effects of chronic inflammation on quality of life. Likewise, further research is needed to explore how different social factors may fundamentally cause chronic inflammation. Future scholarship on these topics can contribute immensely to understanding of both social inequality and medical risk. Finally, effects of chronic inflammation are likely underestimated due to very small samples of people with extremely high C-reactive protein levels; more data on these individuals are thus needed. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Sociology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2013. / September 3, 2013. / Biosocial Research, Chronic Conditions, Inflammation, NSHAP, Quality of Life, Social Relationships / Includes bibliographical references. / Jill S. Quadango, Professor Directing Dissertation; Neil H. Charness, University Representative; Miles G. Taylor, Committee Member; John R. Taylor, Committee Member.