In the years between 1950 and 1965, three significant developments in American culture left women struggling to merge the housewife archetype of the Cold War era with changing attitudes toward sexuality. Because of these cultural shifts, the developments that dominate the research presented here are; first, the changing elements in the lives of the women who pass through the halls of academia during this time of societal flux; second, the impact of the development of the birth control pill; and third, the impact of the publications of Playboy magazine and Sex and the Single Girl. These developments mark a shift from an age of idealism that permeated the consciousness of postwar Americans to an age of realism concerning American sexuality.

This thesis analyzes why people volunteer in two counties of East Tennessee. The study describes the concept of volunteering and its positive impact upon society on a regional and national level. The characteristics of people who volunteer, why people choose to volunteer, and the significance of their volunteering were assessed through a survey questionnaire. The survey questionnaire was administered in Carter County (Elizabethton) and Washington County (Johnson City) Tennessee to 13 charitable and non-charitable agencies that utilize volunteers aged 18 years and over. Out of 243 survey questionnaires distributed in Elizabethton and Johnson City, Tennessee, 124 individuals responded. Data collected in the areas were analyzed to determine how the region related to national profiles of those who volunteer. The data collected revealed reasons why people in this section of the mountains of East Tennessee volunteer and helped identify the characteristics of those who volunteer.

In an effort to make Appalachia a more acceptable and productive region to the rest of the country, the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) was created in 1965. This agency continued some of the efforts began by other redevelopment agencies, such as the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), and the Area Redevelopment Agency (ARA). What was not in the original plan, however, was keeping an enormously rich existent culture alive. Having effected tremendous advancement in infrastructure, followed by continued industrial growth and health, social, and educational reform, Appalachia continues to experience the repercussions of those changes on the cultural level. Using personal interviews with volunteers who are older-generation, native Appalachians, regarding their experiences of life before, during, and after the ARC was introduced, this thesis explores the significance of cultural preservation, not only for rural Appalachians, but also for other groups threatened by cultural extinction.

The purpose of this interdisciplinary study was to examine the behavior of two artificial neural networks cross-wired based on the synesthesia cross-wiring hypothesis. Motivation for the study was derived from the study of psychology, robotics, and artificial neural networks, with perceivable application in the domain of mobile autonomous robotics where sensor fusion is a current research topic. This model of synesthetic sensor fusion does not exhibit synesthetic responses. However, it was observed that cross-wiring two independent networks does not change the functionality of the individual networks, but allows the inputs to one network to partially determine the outputs of the other network in some cases. Specifically, there are measurable influences of network A on network B, and yet network B retains its ability to respond independently.

The 2014 Ebola outbreak, mostly affecting Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, is the largest ever recorded. The Ebola response encountered resistance in some affected communities, where some residents accused relief agencies from the Global North of denigrating local cultures. This thesis examines mainstream Western media and health experts’ representation of culture in the Ebola-affected region and employed Foucauldian analysis of discursive power to discuss the impact of such a representation on the concerned communities. Through a content analysis of selected journal and news articles by Western scholars and media and official reports by some relief agencies involved with the Ebola response, the study discovers evidence of culture bias. There was a use of significantly negative words in describing aspects of culture in the Ebola-affected region. Western media and health experts also largely associated the epidemic with African “backwardness.”

What makes for a just society constitutes one of the most intensely debated subject among political philosophers. There are many theorists striving to identify principles of justice and each believes his/hers theory to be the best. The literature on this subject is much too voluminous to be canvassed in its entirety here. I will, however, examine the stances and arguments of three key schools of thought shaping the modern discussion of social justice: libertarianism (particularly Robert Nozick and Milton and Rose Friedman), liberal egalitarianism (John Rawls and Ronald Dworkin), and socialism (Karl Marx and John Roemer). Each of these schools articulate sharply contrasting views. These differences create an intriguing debate about what the most just society would look like.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.