Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1973. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Bowling Green State University, 2006. / Document formatted into pages; contains xi, 211 p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 1987. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 187-192). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center.

This thesis conducts a history of flash mob performance in India, asking how the form has evolved over a 12-year period from its first emergence in 2003. Due to its rhizomatic appearance worldwide and its close association with internet technologies and digital culture, the flash mob has typically been treated as a ‘global’ phenomenon, and theories of flash mob performance derived from Euro-American contexts are frequently glossed as generic. However, this thesis asks what a close history of the genre in India can reveal, both in terms of the performance practice itself, and as a reflection of the specific cultural moment in which it emerged. It offers an examination of the processes of adaptation and remix underway as a ‘global’ performance practice has been re-interpreted and re-enacted from this specific, local and historical perspective, and it argues that these processes demonstrate one of the ways in which performance, particularly in a digital sphere, can operate to effect a ‘politics of forgetting’ in globalising India. To do so, the thesis employs an interdisciplinary approach combining ethnographic and archival research, and draws on literature and theory from both performance studies and social sciences. The flash mob form is shown to have emerged in two distinct waves, marked by aesthetic and formal shifts which I relate to the evolving mediascape of the internet during this period. In its second wave, the genre has become spectacularised for an online video context and ‘Bollywoodised’ within an Indian context, reflecting broader practices of hybridity as well as cultural tensions surrounding national identity in globalising India. The thesis positions flash mob performance in this context as a social media practice engaged in symbolic, representational discourses which perform place and identity within a global sphere.

This thesis argues that clubs and associations provided a major arena for masculine social life in the period from 1800 to 1914. Using a range of sources from life writings and administrative records to photographs, drawings and buildings, the thesis presents a detailed picture of club life in the two provincial cities of Manchester and Liverpool. Examining the ways in which middle-class men wrote about associational culture, decorated their club houses and behaved in the company of other club men, the work highlights the complex and varied roles clubs and associations played in shaping masculinities. Club culture offered men the opportunity for homosocial friendship and fellowship, a respite from work but also access to business networks and political contacts. Above all, associational life allowed middle-class men to express their different tastes and identities, highlighting the diversity of masculine cultures in nineteenth-century provincial cities. The thesis explores the ways in which masculinity was constructed as a relationship between men in the context of the club, and reveals how the identity of the club man intertwined with his role at work and in the family. It argues that the function of the club shifted over the course of the male lifecycle, determined by a man's position as the head of a household and business. However masculine behaviour within the all-male association was also governed by its own codes of self-control; club life had no place for those men who drank too much, or failed in business. The buildings of nineteenth-century provincial club houses form an important part of this study. The work shows how the interiors of club buildings were decorated and arranged as a significant setting for male social life, and functioned as places where men could articulate and express their different identities via activities such as dining and smoking. The thesis also reveals how the architectural styles of the club buildings functioned as an outward expression of middle-class identity. By unpacking the different social, political and cultural influences which shaped the appearance of these institutions, it is argued that middle-class masculine culture in Manchester and Liverpool was diverse, fiercely independent and distinctive from the metropolis. Clubs and associations were not simply peripheral spheres for masculine social life, but major arenas in their own right.

When a school experiences a sudden change in demographics the impact can be difficult to comprehend. Effective professional development is essential in order for teachers to comprehend the changes and facilitate school improvement. This research explores the perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors of middle class teachers in a town which experienced a dramatic shift in the demographics of students; many middle class students left the school and many students who qualified for free and reduced lunch moved in. The teachers who experienced this demographic shift struggled to understand the changes developing in their school. In order to develop knowledge of the frameworks of poverty, the teachers participated in a two-year professional development process known as professional learning communities (PLC). The first year of PLC training concentrated on the frameworks of poverty and the second year of the research study concentrated on improving instruction. Throughout the two-year case study, a triangulation approach of consisting of interviews, observations, and document analysis was utilized to determine what changes occurred in the perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors of teachers. The findings of the research study determined that while the perception of poverty was relatively quick to change, developing a change in the attitudes and behaviors of teachers took much longer. Changes in teacher attitude and behavior to poverty were evident in the second year of the PLC process. The findings of the research study also determined that the PLC process provided a sustained format of professional development that allowed experienced teachers the opportunity to share experiences and learn from each other. Based on the findings of this study, a recommendation was made that the PLC process be considered as a viable professional development tool to train teachers on the impact and frameworks of poverty due to the detrimental impact poverty has on student achievement. Through a sustained effort in training, the perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors of teachers can be changed to identify and meet the needs of students. It is the recommendation of this study that the PLC process be used to change how teachers teach students of poverty.

No description available.

Thesis (M.A.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2005. / Bibliography: leaves 206-220.

This study is about daily experiences of housewives. It aims to reveal to what extend middle and lower middle class women are different as well as similar to each other. This class comparative analysis is based on their attitudes and feelings about being a housewife, employment, housework, child care, daily routine, housekeeping, and division of labour at home. The study also discusses the factors affecting women&rsquo / s attitudes towards housework such as technology and use of paid domestic service. In order to shed light upon the experiences of housewives, qualitative method is used by in-depth interviews with 14 middle class and 14 lower middle class housewives living in Ankara. In this study class is determined by taking into consideration the place of residence, monthly income and occupation of the husband.

Zugl.: Hamburg, Univ., Diss., 2005