Thesis (M.F.A.)--University of North Texas, May, 2009. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis examines _The Desert Music_ by Steve Reich in the context of the composer's artistic perspective and advocates studying the subjective listening experience as a tool for musical analysis. Challenging conventional approaches in musicology and music theory, this work examines how a specific analytical approach in turn shapes the values assigned to that work. Systematic documentation of the author's listening experience is presented as an application of this premise and as a template to use in subsequent investigations of how other listeners respond to the work. The author concludes, mirroring the ideas implied in _The Desert Music_ itself, that instead of suppressing individual responses as opinions too myriad and divergent to be relevant, we should recognize that these reactions are products of shared cultural experience and that discussing them collectively may lead to powerful revelations about artistic meaning that may not emerge any other way.

On April 1, 1976, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak entered into a partnership agreement to found Apple Computer. In the decade that followed, Apple experienced remarkable growth and success, as Jobs catapulted Apple to the Fortune 500 list of top‐flight companies faster than any other company in history. Under direction of Jobs, Apple, an idea that started in a garage, transformed into a major force in the computer industry of the 1980s. Though Jobs' leadership undoubtedly influenced Apple’s success during this time, in 1995, he was forced to resign, when conflicts mounted at the executive level. Using Kenneth Burke’s theory of identification and the dramatistic process, this thesis examines Jobs’ discourse through a series of interviews and textual artifacts. First, I provide a framework for Jobs' acceptance and rejection of the social order at Apple, and then consider the ways in which Jobs identified with employee and consumer audiences on the basis of division. Analysis shows that Jobs identified with individual empowerment, but valued separation and exclusivity. Jobs' preference to create identification through division, therefore, established the foundation for new identifications to emerge. The findings of this study suggest that division has significant implications for creating unity. / Graduation date: 2012

Den här uppsatsen tar en närmare blick på karismatiskt ledarskap vilket ofta sägs vara en personlig egenskap som vissa föds med. Det sägs att personer som Gandhi, Barack Obama och Olof Palme har haft denna egenskap. En egenskap som får folk att följa ledaren oavsett uppoffringen för följaren, och som gör vad än ledaren vill att de skall göra. Arbetet vill problematisera synen på karisma som en personlig egenskap. Med hjälp av karismaforskningens fader, Max Weber, tillsammans med annan forskning om ledarskap och karisma formar denna uppsats en modell för att förstå karismatiskt ledarskap. Denna modell består av tre delar; Ledaren, Följarna och relationer samt Situationen. Denna modell används sedan för att med hjälp av Steve Jobs, känd bland annat för att ha varit karismatisk, visa att karismatiskt ledarskap inte är en personlig egenskap. Utan att den består av dessa tre delar och växer under en process för att bli starkare. / This Bachelor thesis takes a closer look at the charismatic leadership that often is claimed to be a trait that some people are born with. It is often said that people like Gandhi, Barack Obama and Olof Palme had this particular trait. A trait that would make people follow the leader willingly despite themselves and cater to his or her every whim. This thesis aims to problematize this and see if charisma as a personal trait really is true. With the help of the father of charisma, Max Weber, and research about leadership and charisma, this paper draws a model and tries to understand if charismatic leadership is more depended on these three components; The leader, the followers and the situation. This model is then applied to Steve Jobs, famous to be a charismatic person, and his career to try to show that charisma is not a personal trait. The thesis concludes that charisma is built on these three components and that charisma is a part of a process, which makes it come alive and grow.

Behind the Scenes of The Steve Taylor Story: A Documentary is the written companion to a 39-minute documentary film entitled, The Steve Taylor Story. The film explores the controversial career of Christian musician Steve Taylor. It also chronicles the ideology of the Christian subculture in America through the hegemony of the dominant Christian culture and Steve's actions in opposition to it.

The Black Consciousness philosophy with its focus on black solidarity, the exclusion of whites from the black struggle for liberation, being consciously black and black self-determination, amongst some of the principles espoused by the Black Consciousness philosophy may prima-facie seem to be advocating a parochial politics of race or even a racially exclusionist politics obsessed with cultural authenticity and racial peculiarity. Black Consciousness from such an optic may seem to be more in line with other race centred systems such as apartheid based on white superiority as opposed to a politics that rejects a race centred approach to political life. Certain readings of Black Consciousness reflect the philosophy as espousing a more regressive as opposed to a progressive liberatory politics. Furthermore, Black Consciousness with its focus on race its critics will argue is not in line with a politics of non-racialism which seeks a total rejection of race. However, such an understanding of non-racialism is a very limited and unsophisticated one as it entails a rejection of race without first engaging with the concrete reality of race, while also assuming that a rejection of race entails integration. Indeed, it may be a great goal to attain a society in which race does not matter and in which it is not a determining factor in the life of any individual. Yet, to not see race when race has had and continues to have a profound impact on South African society, especially the poor black majority, may serve to be more regressive than progressive. In a society where inequality manifests along racial lines a hastily sought integration may not serve to attain the desired outcome of a genuine non-racial society. Equality thus becomes a central perquisite to make possible the attainment of a non-racial society unhindered by the limitations of white superiority and black inferiority. With the persistence of inequality accompanied by white domination and acquiescing blacks a non-racial society will serve to be an illusion. Biko, through his articulation of the Black Consciousness philosophy sought the attainment of a radical egalitarianism; this from the Black Consciousness optic being the condition upon which a non-racial politics and society could be forged. Black Consciousness has the ability to create a truly non-racial subject, its sophisticated conception of race which conceives of race as being consciously contrived can serve to illustrate the implicit non-racial outlook of the Black Consciousness philosophy. Through the project of Black Consciousness the end goal could indeed be perceived as being a radical egalitarian non-racial society. The overall tenor is that Black Consciousness complements non-racialism more than it contradicts it.

Book Summary: Massively popular for the past century, country music has often been associated with political and social conservatism. While such figures as George Wallace, Richard Nixon, and Ted Cruz have embraced and even laid claim to this musical genre over the years, country performers have long expressed bold and progressive positions on a variety of public issues, whether through song lyrics, activism, or performance style.Bringing together a wide spectrum of cultural critics, The Honky Tonk on the Left takes on this conservative stereotype and reveals how progressive thought has permeated country music from its beginnings to the present day. The original essays in this collection analyze how diverse performers, including Fiddlin’ John Carson, Webb Pierce, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, O. B. McClinton, Garth Brooks, and Uncle Tupelo, have taken on such issues as government policies, gender roles, civil rights, prison reform, and labor unrest. Taking notice of the wrongs in their eras, these musicians worked to address them in song and action, often with strong support from fans.In addition to the volume editor, this collection includes work by Gregory N. Reish, Peter La Chapelle, Stephanie Vander Wel, Charles L. Hughes, Ted Olson, Nadine Hubbs, Stephanie Shonekan, Stephen A. King, P. Renee Foster, Tressie McMillan Cottom, Travis D. Stimeling, and Jonathan Silverman.

Visual artist Frank Stella (b. 1936) said about his work, “What you see is what you see.” A member of the visual art movement known as minimalism, he is famed for his repeating black -stripe paintings. There are noticeable parallels between the concept of these visual works and Steve Reich’s (b. 1936) minimalist music, particularly Nagoya Marimbas (1994). This Honors thesis will explore the roots of minimalism in the visual arts and music, Reich’s compositional voice, the repetitive rhythmic components of minimalist music, and the challenges of arranging a percussion piece for a flute ensemble leading up to the final arrangement, Nagoya Flutes.

Review of Legends of Old-Time Music: Fifty Years of County Records

This qualitative case study explored the philosophy of servant-leadership in the context of sport, specifically from the perspective of an athletic leader, or servant-athlete. The primary purpose of the research was to identify traits of a servant-athlete—who for the purpose of this case study was Canadian professional basketball player Steve Nash—with the secondary purpose being to look at some formative childhood experiences, which may have shaped the servant-athlete’s leadership style. The primary method of data collection was an academic interview, with other sources of media being used to triangulate the findings. Findings suggested that the servant-athlete would be a team player, who leads by building relationships, practicing compassion, empathy, and self-awareness, and ultimately serving the needs of his teammates. It was found that childhood experiences with service—particularly related to the parents—played a large role in influencing the servant-athlete’s leadership philosophy. Rich commentary from the academic interview spoke to the themes identified, and provided evidence of servant-leadership being a viable leadership philosophy in sport. / Graduate / 0515 / 0534 / 0575 / 0384 / airritch@hotmail.com