My thesis starts by looking at Lenin's interpretation of Marxism. The Leninist ideas of a tangible reality, the rejection of social democratic compromise and the importance of social responsibility as well as personal responsibility for political action. These ideas that facilitated the 1917 Bolshevik revolution in Russia can be paralleled to the ideas later used by anti-government activists. I examine the sociopolitical environment of the Soviet Union following Stalin's death in 1953. With Khrushchev's denunciation of Stalin a new era began across the Eastern Bloc. Using Václav Havel and his interpretation of Jan Patočka's phenomenology I create a wide schema for what is, and ultimately what creates a political "dissident." Phenomenology examines the way individuals interpret first person experiences, and what meaning they then apply to those experiences. Arguably the tyrannical environment of the Eastern Bloc shaped its own opposition. I then present the work of several Russian "dissidents" to first show the truly Leninist roots of their work, and then illustrate that this "dissidence" is not a national movement, rather it was shaped by oppression. Thus "dissidents" are forced to politically act because they have learned to from their own history. The foundations of the Bolshevik revolution necessitated radical political action because of an overwhelming social responsibility. The concept of a world unified proletariat revolution can be modernized to a concept of a world wide dissident movement against tyranny. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Russian and East European Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. / Spring Semester, 2011. / March 23, 2011. / Dissidence, Leninism, Marxism, Vaclav Havel, Binary Categories / Includes bibliographical references. / Nina Efimov, Professor Directing Thesis; Lisa Wakamiya, Committee Member; Jonathan Grant, Committee Member.

Over the last few years the military aspect of German unification has received positive media coverage, which has prompted some to apply the term Armee der Einheit (Armed Forces of Unity) to describe the Bundeswehr of today. However, there are others who have argued that this term is inappropriate, as the process that occurred between the two militaries was a one-sided procedure that almost entirely favored the Bundeswehr (West German armed forces). After the NVA (East German armed forces) was dissolved, only a limited number of its personnel was taken over into the West German military and an even smaller amount eventually became permanent Bundeswehr soldiers. Furthermore, the process did not occur without some form of sacrifice placed upon most of the NVA personnel. As a result, there are a variety of interpretations on the dissolution of the NVA and the integration of its personnel into the Bundeswehr. Thus, one of the main challenges to understanding the event is to analyze how and why divergent interpretations have been derived, which in turn will help in the comprehension of the overall unification event as well as the open issues that continue to have a psychological impact on the former East Germans. / A Thesis Submitted to the Program in Russian and East European Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Masters of Arts. / Spring Semester, 2005. / March 29, 2005. / National Volksarmee, German Unification, East German Military / Includes bibliographical references. / Nathan Stoltzfus, Professor Directing Thesis; Ljubisa S. Adamovich, Committee Member; James P. Jones, Committee Member.

This thesis explores the life stories of four Chinese and Taiwanese immigrants in Tallahassee by collecting detailed narratives. There are three aspects that this thesis focused on: 1) motivations for emigration from their home countries to the United States and changes in their socioeconomic status afterwards; 2) cultural, political, and religious shifts of identity after immigration; and 3) the religious conversion of three of them and the roles that the Chinese Church plays in their daily lives. Narrative analysis of an ethnographic method used with this study. The findings of this project suggest that there were various factors motivating my participants to immigrate to the U.S. and all of them have experienced upward mobility. However, they have also encountered structural social inequalities that cannot be solved by individual actors. In terms of the shifts in their identities, the narratives collected from the participants show that there is a complex relation between their cultural identities and citizenship. Further, Christianity and the Chinese Church also play important roles in three of the participants’ lives, which offer them a different perspective discussing their identities. Overall, this thesis has filled a gap in the academic literature; no scholars have previously explored this immigrant group in Tallahassee. additionally, I provided information for future anthropological studies that relate to diasporic immigrants’ lives in the U.S. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Anthropology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. / Spring Semester 2018. / April 17, 2018. / Chinese Americans, Narratives, Oral History, Taiwanese Americans / Includes bibliographical references. / Kristin L. Dowell, Professor Directing Thesis; Sabra G. Thorner, Committee Member; Vincent Joos, Committee Member.

Thesis (M.Div.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong. / Bibliography: leaves 130-136.

[No abstract available] / Arts, Faculty of / Philosophy, Department of / Graduate

[No abstract available] / Arts, Faculty of / Philosophy, Department of / Graduate

[No abstract available] / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

[No abstract available] / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

This thesis explores the relationship of the confrontation at Ocean Hill-Brownsville and the change away from New Deal liberalism and toward separatism. Through historicizing this issue, I also critiquethe changing nature of professionalism, the push for community control and decentralization of schools, and how these ideas influence democracy in education. Various people involved in the confrontation during the summer and fall of 1968 represent the particular positions of each side of the issue. Further, these two sides are also personified in the AFT (American Federatino of Teachers)and the advocates of community control and decentralization. Through my examination, I attemtp to locate the importance of the experiment in community control in the Ocean Hill-Brownsville district under the greater context of American liberalism. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Humanities in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. / Fall Semester, 2008. / August 21, 2008. / Professionalism, Liberalism, Decentralization, Democracy, Community Control, Neoliberalism / Includes bibliographical references. / Dennis Moore, Professor Directing Thesis; Susan Wood, Committee Member; Neil Jumonville, Committee Member.

When Sherman Dudley's black barber character, Raspberry Snow, took to the stage in 1910, his pre-promoted "shiftless" personality fulfilled American audiences' conditioned, pejorative expectations for blackness. A closer look at the storyline, however, suggests Dudley fashioned Snow's predictability to be an example of the opportunity for subversion of power that exists for stereotyped individuals. Embodying the surface attributes of the stereotype designed to confine them, a number of American performing personae escape persecution, and even profit by lulling their "audiences" (read: adversaries) into believing all is well. Quite often, performing the stereotype is as simple as donning a notably "black" hairstyle, or presuming the supposedly docile attributes associated with black barbers. Moreover, there is strong evidence to suggest that since at least the early nineteenth century, storytellers both black and white have contributed to the promotion of this powerful secret. Black hairstyles and barbers that subvert racist intentions are a recurring theme throughout American lore, and their inclusion in tales by Dan Emmett and Herman Melville resurface in later works by Charles Chesnutt and Sherman Dudley. This paper traces a lineage of characters who successfully subvert an imposed power structure, and whose messages continue to recycle themselves in modern-day performances that suggest black and white are not as far apart as conventional wisdom would have us believe. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of American and Florida Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. / Spring Semester, 2005. / February 28, 2005. / Sherman Dudley, Barbershop, Passing, Benito Cereno, Shine, Toba, Toasts, Hip Hop, Shock Wig, Minstrelsy, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Topsy, Babo, Chesnutt, T.D. Rice, Jim Crow, Espn, Ada Walker, Melville, Dan Emmett, Stereotypes, Barbers, Hairstyles / Includes bibliographical references. / William T. Lhamon, Professor Directing Thesis; Leon Anderson, Committee Member; Sally Sommer, Committee Member.