The purpose of this study is to explore neoclassical elements present in Krenek’s George Washington Variations. By identifying the stylistic features associated with the eighteenth and twentieth centuries, the study will examine Krenek’s application of his neoclassical tendencies. Key neoclassical elements include musical form and structure, key relationships, melody and harmony, and chromaticism. Since at this time there is little research on Krenek’s piano works, and none on the George Washington Variations, the result of this examination provides pianists and instructors with historically constructive information about Krenek’s musical style, as well as a deeper understanding of Krenek’s Neoclassicism in his George Washington Variations.

New Orleans has been the subject of a narrative of exoticization throughout much of its history as an American space. The dominant trend in representation casts this city as a lush site of strangeness, intercultural confusion, enchantment, and, occasionally, an alternatively transformative or annihilative freedom. My project travels across genres and critical frameworks to explore the history and development of the narrative of New Orleans’ exoticism in literary and public discourse. The narrative’s evocative rhetoric, including the frequent appearance of the term “jungle,” and its emphasis on both charm and degeneracy encode larger doubts over the ability of the city to fit national ideals. These codes draw on a negative racial imaginary and manifest as sentiments of anxiety and desire over the crossing of nationally normative racial and sexual boundaries. Although the generative position of the narrative has gone largely unrecognized, it surfaces in multiple contexts and in concert with larger discursive trends, such as 19th century interests in racially exclusive American nationalism and 20th century fears of a racialized, sexualized other. This project pays particular attention to the articulations of the narrative in George Washington Cable’s novel The Grandissimes and in the New Orleans-based works of Tennessee Williams. It also explores challenges to the narrative offered by contemporary poets Brenda Marie Osbey and Joy Harjo. Additionally, it investigates the recycling of the narrative in contemporary political discourse. / text

I studied the nest-site selection of the Acadian Flycatcher (Empidonax virescens) in the George Washington National Forest of southwestern Virginia from early May through July 1996 and 1997. Data were collected from nine 30 ha study plots. I measured habitat features at 37 Acadian Flycatcher nests and compared them to 30 nonuse sites randomly selected within the vegetation types associated with nests. Because Acadian Flycatchers have a strong riparian habitat association for nest-site selection, nonuse sites were established along riparian corridors not occupied by nesting flycatchers. Data also were collected to determine relationships between microhabitat characteristics and nesting success of the Acadian Flycatcher. Nest-sites were associated with a more mature or climax community, as evident from the high percentage (75%) of nests in eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), a climax community tree species and the greater basal area found at nest-sites over nonuse sites. Nest-sites also had lower small stem density and ground cover than nonuse sites. Nest-sites were always found near streams, although I found no conclusive evidence that any stream characteristic influenced nest-site selection. Habitat features did not differ between successful and depredated nests. Brood parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater) was not a major factor in the reproductive success of Acadian Flycatchers (only a 2% parasitism rate); depredation accounted for the majority of nest failures. These results suggest that silviculture activities near riparian corridors could drastically reduce habitat availability and subsequently contribute to population declines of the Acadian Flycatcher. Future research should focus on determining the size of riparian buffer strips needed to retain this species along riparian corridors in the Appalachian Mountains. This strategy can be applied to the current downtown revitalization efforts by the City of Muncie. The ideas and general theories can also be applied by small Indiana towns which suffer from economic problems. A comprehensive plan that is tailored specifically for a downtown which account for the organization, design, economic, and promotion needs of downtown will set the course for successful commercial revitalization. / Department of Biology

No description available.

Thesis (M.A.)--The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2009. / Directed by Scott Romine; submitted to the Dept. of English. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed May 13, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 47-[i.e. 48]).

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2005. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xi, 278 p. : ill. (some col.), maps (some col.). Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 85-108).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1956. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 304-314).

abstract: Though some scholars have written about place and history, few have pursued the use of place theory in length in relation to the connections between race, religion, and national identity. Using the writings in the United States and Louisiana in the years surrounding the Louisiana Purchase, I explore place-making and othering processes. U.S. leaders influenced by the Second Great Awakening viewed New Orleans as un-American in its religion and seemingly ambiguous race relations. New Orleanian Catholics viewed the U.S. as an aggressively Protestant place that threatened the stability of the Catholic Church in the Louisiana Territory. Both Americans and New Orleanians constructed the place identities of the other in relation to events in Europe and the Caribbean, demonstrating that places are constructed in relation to one another. In order to elucidate these dynamics, I draw on place theory, literary analysis, and historical anthropology in analyzing the letters of W.C.C. Claiborne, the first U.S. governor of the Louisiana Territory, in conjunction with sermons of prominent Protestant ministers Samuel Hopkins and Jedidiah Morse, a letter written by Ursuline nun Sister Marie Therese de St. Xavior Farjon to Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington Cable's Reconstruction era novel The Grandissimes. All of these parties used the notion of place to create social fact that was bound up with debates about race and anti-Catholic sentiments. Furthermore, their treatments of place demonstrate concerns for creating, or resisting absorption by, a New Republic that was white and Protestant. Place theory proves useful in clarifying how Americans and New Orleanians viewed the Louisiana Purchase as well as the legacy of those ideas. It demonstrates the ways in which the U.S. defined itself in contradistinction to religious others. Limitations arise, however, depending on the types of sources historians use. While official government letters reveal much when put into the context of the trends in American religion at the turn of the nineteenth century, they are not as clearly illuminating as journals and novels. In these genres, authors provide richer detail from which historians can try to reconstruct senses of place. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Religious Studies 2011

The purpose of this manuscript is to explain Alexander Hamilton's idea that a national bank was essential for America's survival. Three key ingredients, clarified through the use of letters and documents, are used to understand the importance of Hamilton's objective: 1) Hamilton's relationship with George Washington, discussed in chapter one; 2) James Madison's and Thomas Jefferson's arguments against Hamilton's ideas, discussed in chapters two and three; and 3) Hamilton's proposal for the bank and his opinion in favor of its constitutionality, including the idea that the necessary and proper clause expands the authority of government, discussed in chapter four. The prosperity and stability America experienced after the national bank threw open its door is proof that Hamilton's initiatives were needed. While James Madison is considered the Father of the Constitution, Hamilton is most definitely it foremost interpreter.

George Washington's role in the American Revolution has not been lost in the mists of time, but most modern Americans have lost touch with his actual character and style because of the immense cultural changes that have transpired since the eighteenth century. However, by examining the duties of Washington throughout the Revolutionary War from four different perspectives a more holistic interpretation of Washington during America's fight for independence may be gained. This study examines the relationships Washington had with Congress as well as with his fellow officers and troops. Particular attention is paid to the manner in which Washington led the army, in addition to how he was perceived by his contemporaries at large. The goal of this thesis is to achieve a holistic interpretation of Washington's tenure as Commander-in-Chief, which will enable a better understanding of why Washington was and continues to be perceived as a symbol for American independence.