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<p> Over the last one hundred years, F. Scott Fitzgerald&rsquo;s <i> The Great Gatsby</i> has become one of the most popular American novels in the literary canon. Though thousands of critical articles have circulated concerning one of American&rsquo;s greatest tragic heroes, Jay Gatsby, it is the object of his desire that is often neglected. By applying the theories of feminist thinker Simone de Beauvoir, it can be shown that Daisy&rsquo;s status as mutable anti-heroine is representative of the patriarchal ideologies of the novel&rsquo;s time. Equally ripe for analysis is Daisy&rsquo;s film legacy, as four major motion pictures have been adapted for the big screen. In this project, I argue that Daisy represents the treacherous dichotomies often imposed on women, whether through idolatry, illusion, commodification, or slavery. I also seek to prove that Daisy is part and parcel of the American New Woman and how this further distorts America&rsquo;s identification with her. The ability to identify with characters is compulsory, which is perhaps why the story of Jay Gatsby has been adopted as a telling of the American Dream. As a contrast, however, the women in <i>The Great Gatsby</i> are difficult to identify with. If Daisy Buchanan is confined to a strict set of misshapen stereotypes, and we as Americans celebrate this novel as one of our Greats, how do we time and time again read women in the Great American Narrative?</p>

<p> The purpose of this project was to locate a potential funding source and write a grant to implement a support group for women who have experienced pregnancy loss at the Mariposa Women and Family Center, Orange County, California. An extensive literature review regarding the theoretical frameworks surrounding pregnancy loss was performed in order to gain knowledge of prevalent risk factors among women after miscarriage. Pregnancy loss commonly occurs in 14%-20% of clinically recognized pregnancies during the first 20 weeks of gestation and it can cause psychological distress such as depression, anxiety, extended grief, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Women receive minimal emotional support from medical professionals, partners, and family members leaving them to cope in silence. If funded, this program would help provide awareness surrounding pregnancy loss and most importantly support women in managing their grief as they come to make meaning of their loss. Actual submission of this grant was not a requirement for this project.</p>

<p> Low levels of self-esteem have been supported by research as a predisposing factor to a number of negative outcomes. Female youth approaching adolescence have been supported as demonstrating the greatest risk for low levels of self-esteem. Low levels of self-esteem in adolescent females as indicated by previous research often manifests itself in devastating physical, mental, and social health issues such as depression, dating violence, substance use, as well as others. The purpose of this project was to write a grant proposal to potentially seek funds for a psychoeducation group focusing on the prevention of low levels of self-esteem. The groups are focused on identifying risk factors and engaging protective ones. The grant writer selected The Ueberroth Family Foundation as a potential funding source for the proposed project. The actual submission and/or funding of this grant were not a requirement for the successful completion of this project.</p>

<p> Both her feminine subjectivity and extensive time frame (ranging from 1914-1974), make the works of Ana&iuml;s Nin an important example of the depth and range of self-exploration, perhaps more so than in previous writers. Nin was committed to a creative process inclusive of psyche, the body and aesthetics derived from her own life experiences. This analysis of the mythic tropes that permeate Nin&rsquo;s literary diaries and fiction demonstrates the ways in which Nin created a mythic style of her own, which contrasts with the aesthetics of T.S. Eliot&rsquo;s mythic method. In fact, as a late Modernist, Nin particularly emphasized what this dissertation will call earth mother consciousness as a response to the wasteland of her time, and as a way to create a connection between literature and life. Thus, a better understanding of Nin&rsquo;s literary achievements emerges through a study of a mythic perspective, which helps to secure Nin&rsquo;s belonging in the literary canon. </p><p> This archetypal analysis shows myth playing a fluid role that reveals psyche in the process of writing a continuously changing sense of self into a personal myth of her own, revealing the extensive possibilities of an opulent feminine psyche. The literary diary, for Nin, is a genre that with its traces of the trickstar/trickster archetype, among others, reveals a mercurial, yet particular understanding of an internalized and embodied experience as a writer. Keywords: Ana&iuml;s Nin, modernism, mythology, literary diaries, women&rsquo;s studies, feminism, personal myth, archetypes, trickstar, trickster, Jung, self-life writing.</p>

<p> This dissertation discusses the roles of oracular priestesses and Goddesses in Krete and Greece. The appointment of oracular priestesses to the service of a particular Goddess such as Gaia or Athena is reviewed. In addition, this study demonstrates the extent to which the worship of Goddesses, led by oracular priestesses, was a pre-eminent aspect of religion in ancient Krete and Greece. Various types of conduits and methods used to receive oracular messages are also considered, including trees, baetyls, the inhalation of gaseous vapors, the chewing of laurel leaves, and the possible use of bees and snakes.</p><p> This dissertation also considers the implications that feminist archaeology brings to the interpretation of evidence regarding oracular priestess and Goddess traditions in Krete at the Temple-Palace of Knossos, and in mainland Greece at the oracular sites of Delphi and Dodona. An interdisciplinary methodology is employed, drawing on archaeology, mythology, archaeomythology, and feminist spiritual hermeneutics in the academic field of women&rsquo;s spirituality. </p><p> To facilitate this study, a set of characteristics is specified for determining which figurines can plausibly be considered oracular priestesses and/or Goddesses. The set of characteristics which distinguish a Goddess from an ordinary woman or girl include (1) ritual or sacred &ldquo;find contexts&rdquo;; (2) the presence of worshippers or adorants; (3) symbolic attributes of divinity, especially those which are representative of the female in local cultural context and perhaps also in cross-cultural contexts; (4) gestures of divinity, in local and/or cross-cultural contexts; and (5) larger relative size. Priestesses are distinguished by (1) typical gestures of adoration or offering of votives; (2) typical attributes in cultural context and/or cross-cultural contexts; (3) the study of epigraphy (where possible); and/or (4) prosopography. The characteristics which distinguish oracular priestesses from other kinds of priestesses include the priestess&rsquo; interactions with trees, baetyls, bees, birds, and snakes, or inhaling gaseous vapors.</p>