<p> There comes a time in any culture where the introduction of new technologies affect the role of known traditional systems of making or producing. The act of producing cloth is among one of many traditions affected by new technologies. </p><p> It is apparent that since the advent of the Industrial Revolution, technologies have gone through many changes. All traditional methods of manufacturing goods and objects have been mechanized and become mass-produced. This has had a profound impact not only on American culture, but global culture and economies. As an artist who has discovered a passion for the process of making itself, and esteems the value of the handmade object, I have become increasingly aware that the handmade tradition is quickly being eliminated from our lives. Therefore, in my work I address these issues. I depict the impact of technology on tradition and consider the role of craft by combining digitally produced and manufactured cloth pieces with handmade elements. This is done using the tools and materials for the production of cloth as the subject matter of this body of work to discuss the loss of the tradition of the handmade in our culture.</p><p> In this body of work I bring to the forefront of our attention the fact that the tradition of the handmade, in this instance the hand-woven object, is disappearing through the technical advances seen in digitally designed and manufactured cloth.</p><p>

Although Moroccan female-initiated migration to Europe has captured the attention of scholars in various fields of study, the majority of these studies have focused on macro-level analysis of resettlement and integration patterns. These studies, however, have bypassed the subtle impact of the socio-cultural junction between Islamic ideals and Western values. The interchange of the socio-cultural values resulting from Moroccan female immigration to Spain have complicated the Moroccan system of honor and marriage, which has played a crucial part in defining gender roles, space, production and reproduction. Using participant observation, semi-structured interviews, oral histories, and focus groups, this study aims to examine the effects immigration to Spain have on honor and marriage for Moroccan immigrant women.

Gender inequality is a pervasive global phenomenon, particularly in parliamentary representation and the political realm as a whole. Previous scholarship looked for explanations in the countries' national development levels, political regimes and electoral systems. Some scholars searched for answers at the domestic level within societies' religious and cultural value systems. This dissertation departs from prior research by looking beyond the national domestic level into individual party-level explanations for women's political leadership, broadly defined to include their station within parties' decision-making inner structures. A core assumption in this thesis is that political institutions, mainly political parties, are the main vehicles - forklifts -- for women's ascendance to political leadership. This dissertation attempts to identify what party-level characteristics enhance or impede women's leadership in political parties, and how these characteristics vary across different parties. The theory advanced in this dissertation is that party-level characteristics, especially their religiosities and secularisms, influence women's chances in assuming leadership positions within parties' inner structures. I argue that the root of the problematic of women's leadership lies in party variation in religiosity, which can explain variation in women's shares in parties' executive and legislative bodies. This is premised on a multivocal understanding of religions implying that there is a continuum of multiple religiosities and secularisms. Religiosity of political parties refers to the religious components on their political platforms or the extent to which religion penetrates their political agendas. The core argument in this dissertation is that as religiosity in party platforms increases women's leadership is more likely to fall. This implies that in parties with more extensive religious goals women's leadership is likely to prove stunted. It is my contention that parties with extremist religiosity are less accommodating to women's demands for leadership than parties with more secular and civil platforms. The theory of party variation in religiosity and women's leadership is explored in-depth and tested in Lebanon as a single country case-study. Political parties are the unit of analysis and women's leadership in political parties is the main dependent variable. Female nominations for national parliamentary and local municipal councils are other dependent variables. Other party-level characteristics are explored as explanatory variables besides religiosity, notably, institutionalization as indicated by democratic procedures in leadership transitions and decentralized decision-making, pluralism in religious affiliation of members, and the size of female membership.

This thesis explores the uncharted territory of relational subjectivity in modern Chinese literature. As a model of identity that positions the self in a web of social interaction, emotional connectivity, relational subjectivity suggests that the self is continually partial, open, and constantly "under construction." Lacking an autonomous "closed system," subjects remain open to exchange and to becoming agents of co-created meaning. Through readings of the fiction, essays, and poetry of Lu Xun, Ye Shaojun, Shen Congwen, Bing Xin, Xiao Hong, and Eileen Chang, I investigate the ways these writers manipulated narrative structure, texture and voice to present a discourse of openness, receptivity, and tolerance for difference. My investigation uncovers a wider range of subjectivities and relational yearning than was previously recognized for this era. Chinese writers also linked the discourse of relational subjectivity with a more generalized epistemological openness characterized by neutral visual attentiveness and acts of listening. This study reflects a growing interest in locating forms of sociality in the modern Chinese context. As such, my work furthers the theoretical discourse for examining self-other relationships, especially those shaped by multiple-perspectivism, non-hierarchy and horizontal ways of seeing. Finally, this research offers possibilities for locating an alternative beginning for modern Chinese conceptualizations of self in community.

This study investigates the relationship between Palestinian Women's Movement(s) (PWMs) and the Palestinian Nationalist Movement (PNM). A closer look at the descriptive research about (PWMs) indicates that both movements have generally been perceived as one entity by some Palestinian activists as well as scholars who have explored Palestinian nationalism. Here, we address questions about the nature of women's activism in Palestine and seek to assess to what extent this organizing and mobilization form a social movement, particularly questions that focus on important factors such as faction dynamics, funding dynamics, perceptions and relationships issues, leadership features and religion dynamics. Taking into consideration the specificity of women's movements in a nation that has survived military occupation for over five decades under military occupation, this research draws on a number of theories, including resource mobilization and resource dependence as well as political opportunity theories. The research is rooted in extensive interviews with former and current women activists, in addition to chief executive officers (CEOs) of Palestinian women's movement organizations located in the West Bank, Palestine. Moreover, the researcher utilizes thematic analysis. This study is among very few that seek to shed light on women's activism in Palestine "West Bank and East Jerusalem" through the eyes of a Palestinian-born man who was raised therein and is an integral part of the cultural and academic fabric of that land.

This study examines the relationship of women's bodies to their speech in English virgin martyr legends of the tenth to fifteenth centuries. It identifies and traces a long tradition connecting women's virginal bodies to powerful, fruitful speech that begins with late classical writers. This tradition gives rise to the eloquent virgin martyrs of Aelfric's Lives of Saints, the Katherine Group, and Chaucer's Second Nun's Tale, and is one the fifteenth century mystic and contemplative Margery Kempe draws upon to authorize her unconventional performance of sanctity in her Book. Far from portraying them as a source of sin or pollution, English virgin martyr legends portray women's bodies as enabling their speech by serving as a dwelling place for God's Word, providing access to his revelation, and becoming the text the virgin martyr interprets for her audience in a lesson in spiritual reading practices.

This study explores help seeking patterns of Black women in Black churches. The intent of the study, is to examine use of a historically vital component of the Black community and to ascertain its role in the support system of a population. The theory of shared functions is used to look at the utilization of different support systems, and to understand the role of the church as a bureaucratic institution with primary characteristics and functions. The data was collected over a six month period, at six Black churches in the Essex County area of New Jersey. The information is derived from a questionnaire administered to 196 women. In the analysis of the data, participants are grouped by socioeconomic status and size of church they attend. The hypotheses are: (1) The lower the socioeconomic status of the church member, the more likely the minister will be selected for help. (2) members of smaller churches are more likely to select the minister as a vehicle for help, than those in larger churches. (3) The minister is more likely to be selected for help with concerns classified as non-uniform. (4) The more active a woman is in church life, the more likely she is to choose the minister as a help source. The findings confirm, women classified as low income and those active in church life, utilize their pastor more than other women in the study. The findings do not confirm, hypothesis 2 and 3, but show that women from large churches utilize the minister more than women in smaller churches and that the minister is selected as a help source in a range of concerns. The data highlights, that women see the minister as the primary source for help and that for many, the pastor is as important, as the relative or professional counselor in seeking assistance. The implications of this study suggest the profession of social work, seek avenues of collaboration with local ministers to offer support and information on the concerns members bring. The findings also suggest the profession find ways to accurately access client's church involvement and support from the religious community.

<p> <i>Furnishing Gender</i> is a collection of furniture and objects of the home that have been deliberately altered to explore and expose pervasive aspects of toxic masculinity. The work within examines aspects of rape culture, queer culture, and hetero-normal constructs that link our realities to the lies of masculinity and gender difference. It is my intent that the viewer become uncomfortable and my hope that they not shy away from this discomfort, but accept the exhibition&rsquo;s challenge to be vulnerable, genuine, and to engage in conversations that confront the conventions of traditional gender roles and biases.</p><p>

<p> This narrative inquiry explores stories of forgiveness among adult women who forgave their mothers after difficult relationships and are now doing well in their lives. The author addresses a lack of in-depth qualitative research exploring this topic and contributes to an understanding of forgiveness as a potential factor in an individual&rsquo;s ability to do well. In this study, forgiveness is understood as a personal choice, regardless of whether there has been a restoration of the relationship. Two participants gave an initial interview, which was followed up by two validation interviews. The author analyzed the interview data using a holistic-content and categorical-content analysis method to produce two individual narratives and one common themes narrative. Seven common themes were co-constructed: (a) revisiting mom&rsquo;s past and finding empathy doing so; (b) revisiting one&rsquo;s own past and finding empathy doing so; (c) standing up for one&rsquo;s self and finding self-empowerment; (d) a fracture in the relationship and separation; (e) reflecting and owning responsibility; (f) acceptance, forgiveness, and empathy moving forward; and, (g) finding gratitude and love. The findings add to the literature on lived experience of difficult childhoods and journeys toward forgiveness. Key findings are about empathy for self and others and may suggest that the literature on forgiveness has room to expand into this area of consideration. The findings may also be relevant as a consideration related to enduring anger or trauma.</p><p>

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