This dissertation studies ethnographically how ordinary heterosexual people habitually and with the best intentions make homosexuals or LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-gendered/trans-sexual) people invisible in their daily and ordinary communication processes in Japanese communities in both Oisawa, Japan and Western Massachusetts, U.S.A. This study raises a general question: what are the scenes and communication practices in and through which homosexuality becomes invisible or irrelevant to identification of the self? The main conceptual frames used are those of stigma theory by Ervin Goffman (1963), ethnography of communication by Dell Hymes 1972, 1974), cultural communication by Donal Carbaugh (1989, 1990, 1996, 2001, 2002, cf. 2003, 2005), and coordinated management of meaning by Vernon Cronen 1994). The methodology involves a variety of data including field observations, various forms of textual data, as well as interviews in each Japanese community in Japan and the U.S.A. In five chapters, different aspects of communicative practices and processes as well as associated cultural premises are explicated, delineated, and analyzed. In each case, both intended and unintended functions of the communication are explored. First, a communicative style of “being ordinary” (futuu) is explored, in and through which ordinary heterosexuals habitually enact a complete lack of awareness of homosexuals. This practice involves actions of “not seeing, not hearing, and not saying” (mizaru, kikazaru, iwazaru ) that are enacted individually. When multiple interlocutors enact the actions in collaboration, the communicative practices constitute an event of “pretending nothing happened” (nakatta koto ni suru ), making LGBT identities communicationally invisible. Second, while addressing the Japanese cultural emphases on silence and indirect and ambiguous communication practices, a direct and open mode of Japanese communication practice is examined. This communication practice is called “speaking straightforwardly” (massugu yuu/hakkiri iu), in and through which the speaker expresses candid and sincere thoughts and feelings in accordance with common sense. The recipient of such communication often enacts “being open and receptive” (sunao), that involves listening silently without being defensive or becoming upset. These communicative practices actively and explicitly discourage and at times prohibit discourse about LGBT identities and orientation. Third, cultural premises regarding social and emotional selves associated with the communicative practices of being ordinary and speaking straightforwardly are explicated and analyzed. The dialectic interplay between the two selves becomes salient as the two communication practices are enacted, and it creates tension and human drama. Although ideally speaking an interlocutor has to be always in dialogue with the two selves, one self becomes more salient, as expressed in the communication process, than the other, depending on the situation. These two conflicting selves play a key role in legitimating the heterosexual understanding of what constitutes ordinary personhood, which often marginalizes LGBT identities and orientations as unimportant. Fourth, speaking straightforwardly as a silencing form of communication renders LGBT identities as frightening and cultivates gut-level discomfort against “homosexuals,” without knowing any of them personally. This silencing communication involves cultural conceptualization of human nature, human sexuality, and homosexuality. The family and intimate communication practices function as the gatekeeper, in which the interlocutors express openly and candidly their perceptions and gut-level discomfort about LGBT identities and their implications in society in terms of achieving mundane happiness. This ensures invisibility of LGBT identities, since parents wish for their children nothing but to be able to pursue mundane happiness. Fifth, an analysis of the Japanese heterosexual male-centered lovemaking scenes in ero-manga provides some possible sources of misunderstandings between males, females, and male homosexuals. In particular the analyses seek to identify and examine the intersection between the ero-manga representations and communicative practices of talking about sexuality. Many males often project their own male sense of sexuality on their female counterparts, while trying to please their female counterparts. In the males' communication practices of talking about male “homosexuals,” they project their sense of male sexuality on them. Thus, they express the gut-level discomfort that gay people may aggressively and sexually attack them. These analyses suggest a deeper examination of a gut-level discomfort with “homosexuals” as a communicationally cultivated feeling as opposed to an innate one. This study concludes with a summary of findings about communication generally and Japanese cultural communication practices specifically. It will also expand Goffman's framework of stigma, further develop the framework by discussing three additional categories, discuss the indiscernible power of heterosexual people, point out our communicative (in)actions that stigmatize, marginalize, and dehumanize homosexuals, and make suggestions for minimizing such negative effects.

This dissertation focuses on the living arrangements of multi-generational households among ten biggest immigrant groups in the United States. Specifically, it examines whether the husband’s or the wife’s older parents were more likely to be present. Co-residence patterns were taken as a proxy that reflected relative decision-making power in the family. A number of factors hypothesized to be associated with the outcome were examined to explore the effect of immigration on gender role ideology and gender relations in the post-1965 immigrant family. More than 102,000 multi-generational households from the 2000 U.S. Census were included in the analyses. Results suggested that while there were positive signs for women’s increasing status and relative decision-making power, the influence of original sending culture where immigrants have come from proved to be strong and persistent. Those from more patriarchal sending cultures, represented by India, Korea, and China, were more likely to have the husband’s parents co-residing; while those from less patriarchal sending cultures, represented by Jamaica, Cuba, and El Salvador, were more likely to have the wife’s parents present in the household. These findings illustrate the complex nature of gender relations in the immigrant family whereby the effect of assimilation is found in some domains, while the influence of sending culture is enduring or even reinforced in other domains. Results of this research contribute to the better understanding of the diversity of changes in gender relations that accompany immigration.

Studies of workplace resistance tend to focus on research subjects as workers - reifying the notion of the ideal worker, disconnected from families and communities. This simplification of workers' experiences and their motivations lays the foundation for another: the idea that workers' actions can be easily and categorically understood either as accommodations of management interests or as resistance to those interests. Taking these two issues together, this dissertation considers the extent to which a more complete account of individuals' lives and interests might refashion our conceptualization of resistance. Focusing on workplace resistance, this multi-case study considers two central questions. First, what counts as resistance, and to what degree is the distinction between resistance and accommodation a useful distinction? Second, when considering the contours of everyday workplace resistance, in what ways does a multidimensional consideration of individuals' experiences as both workers and members of families and communities shape our understanding of power relations? The dissertation concludes by considering the potential positive or negative impacts of a broad - and contextualized - understanding of workplace resistance.

Family history of alcoholism (FHA) is posited to convey its risk on problematic drinking, in part, though how individuals react to stressful situations. Research thus far, however, has found equivocal results, with some studies concluding that FHA is associated with heightened stress-reactivity whereas others have found FHA associated with blunted stress-reactivity. In addition, the preponderance of this research has been conducted using laboratory-based paradigms, thus raising questions about the ecological validity of their findings. The purpose of the current study was to further clarify the association between FHA and affective reactions to two types of stress (social and academic stress) using an ecologically valid, micro-longitudinal research design. Participants were 1,606 undergraduate students (54% women) who completed a baseline survey, including questions related to both maternal and paternal alcohol use, and who subsequently completed a 30-day daily diary in which they reporting on their daily social and academic stress and affective states. Results showed a weaker positive association between social stress and anxiety among individuals with more paternal FHA symptoms, consistent with a blunted stress-reactivity perspective. The current study is the first to use an ecologically valid approach to investigate stress-reactivity in individuals with and without FHA. The results add to the current literature, providing a direction for future research to continue to clarify the nature FHA and stress-reactivity in order to understand the risk incurred by FHA.

The successful development of children in the early childhood years is facilitated by positive interrelationships within the child's ecosystem. This ecosystem is composed of the family and home environment, and the schools, child care centers, and teachers involved with the child's education and care. However, the educational literature reports conflicts between teachers and parents over the education and guidance of children in the United States throughout this century. The misunderstanding and confusion surrounding the different perspectives of teachers and parents can be problematic for the child's growth and development, and can jeopardize communication between the school and the home. Clarification of the similarities and differences between the teacher and parent roles will add to our understanding of these multiple perspectives, as they influence the child, and will suggest ways to improve teacher preparation with regard to parent and family communication. One direct way of getting data on the complementary and conflicting aspects of the parenting and teaching roles is to study women who experience them simultaneously, that is who teach their own child in an early childhood classroom. This study uses phenomenological interview data and a developmental assessment of self-knowledge to gather more information concerning the complex dynamics of the teacher and mother roles. The data collection proceeded in three parts. First, a written questionnaire designed to assess self-knowledge level of teacher/mothers was administered. Second, in-depth interviews were conducted with ten of the survey respondents, all of whom taught their own child in an early childhood group setting. The interview protocol focused on each participant's personal background as a teacher and a mother, her experience as a 'teacher called mommy', and the importance and meaning of that experience to her as a teacher and as a mother. The interviews were transcribed and edited into a profile of each participant. Profiles were coded for common themes and issues across participants. The third phase involved sharing the themes in a Focus Group session with the interview participants. They considered the relevance and salience of the themes in light of their own experiences and made recommendations for teachers, parents, administrators, and future 'teachers called mommy'. The findings point to common themes within the experience of the 'teacher called mommy', and indicate a range of experiences within each theme. Developmental analysis of the self-knowledge levels of the participants is used to group the responses within each of the themes, and provides a helpful model for understanding the variations within each theme. Recommendations suggest strategies to facilitate parent and teacher communication in general, and more specifically to supporting the simultaneous dual role situation of 'teacher called mommy'.

abstract: Gas Dynamic Virtual Nozzles (GDVN) produce microscopic flow-focused liquid jets and are widely used for sample delivery in serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) and time-resolved solution scattering. Recently, 2-photon polymerization (2PP) made it possible to produce 3D-printed GDVNs with submicron printing resolution. Comparing with hand- fabricated nozzles, reproducibility, and less developing effort, and similarity of the performance of different 3D printed nozzles are among the advantages of using 3D printing techniques to develop GDVN’s. Submicron printing resolution also makes it possible to easily improve GDVN performance by optimizing the design of nozzles. In this study, 3D printed nozzles were developed to achieve low liquid and gas flow rates and high liquid jet velocities. A double-pulsed nanosecond laser imaging system was used to perform Particle Tracking Velocimetry (PTV) in order to determine jet velocities and assess jet stability/reproducibility. The testing results of pure water jets focused with He sheath gas showed that some designs can easily achieve stable liquid jets with velocities of more than 80 m/s, with pure water flowing at 3 microliters/min, and helium sheath gas flowing at less than 5 mg/min respectively. A numerical simulation pipeline was also used to characterize the performance of different 3D printed GDVNs. The results highlight the potential of making reproducible GDVNs with minimum fabrication effort, that can meet the requirements of present and future SFX and time-resolved solution scattering research. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Mechanical Engineering 2020

acase@tulane.edu

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This is a contemporary examination of the challenges that religion provides to workers in the defense industry, and, in turn, less explicitly, to their families. The challenges of prophetic religion which give rise to workers' doubts about the fruits of their labor and whether they should remain in the industry are examined from four different angles: first, in a content analysis of pastoral letters concerning peacemaking promulgated by several Protestant denominations and the Roman Catholic Church in the United States in the 1980's; secondly, in the religious witness provided by significant religious leaders in the country, who challenged various forms of the defense industry in their local situations; thirdly, in the structural support offered by seven regional and national religious organizations which directly or indirectly help defense workers struggling with conscience; and in face-to-face interviews with defense workers in sixteen states. Broader implications for the triad are considered.

The purpose of this case study was to investigate from the communication perspective how persons chose or did not choose address forms when addressing their spouses and how the selection influenced the existing contexts. This study focused on two families with a particular interest on spousal addressing behavior. The approach of exploring the mutually influencing "reflexive" relationship between address forms and context is distinct from traditional linguistic and sociolinguistic approaches. Rather than mapping between address forms and social factors, this study attempted to explain why certain address forms were selected in spousal interaction among a host of options available and also in what way the address forms reconstructed the existing contexts. To illuminate and clarify the couples' addressing behavior, I also examined other sets of their communicative actions, e.g., the spouses' argument in Family One and the family's negotiation of family matters in Family Two. The linguistic and nonlinguistic actions together brought the nature of their communication patterns into a clear focus. To analyze the reflexive process between actions and the context, the research utilized the theory of the coordinated management of meaning (CMM). For interviewing, this study used circular questioning, developed by the systemic family therapy of the Milan Group, which shares many of the metatheoretical commitments of CMM theory. The analyses revealed that actions were reflexively related with the context: The spousal communication pattern in Family One was identified with slow "strange loops"; the pattern in Family Two was identified with "charmed loops." In Family One, strange loops were produced by the wife's oscillation between assertive self and nonassertive self, which was influenced by a reflexive effect from her husband. The charmed loops in Family Two, on the other hand, were the result of the younger family members' absolute giving in to the eldest member. The communication patterns of the two families also showed a reproduction of their existing context even when something new is brought in.