Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2005. / Title from title screen. Gabriel Kuperminc, committee chair; James Emshoff, Julia Perilla, Lisa Armistead, committee members. Electronic text (129 p. : ill.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed July 25, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 111-119).

Universiẗat, Diss., 2004--Bielefeld.

Canada’s Prairie cities are an exciting context for understanding cultural growth and diversification of urban spaces because more and more Aboriginal peoples are identifying and experiencing their lives in the urban realm. At the same time though, urban spaces are also a source for serious cultural and socio-economic challenges for Aboriginal peoples. With the sustained pattern of growth in the urban Aboriginal population experienced in Canada’s Prairie cities today, there is a need for Aboriginal involvement and participation in creating policies and programs for urban Aboriginal peoples. I explore how the city of Edmonton is engaging with Aboriginal peoples and organizations in the city to enable their rights, needs and aspirations in city planning processes. The thesis engages the concept of “Aboriginality” to explore how Aboriginal cultures can be enabled by urban planning processes to develop and manifest their values and identities in the city so that urban spaces can shift toward decolonized places. Knowledge learned from the research can be used to inform municipalities across Canada on how they can emphasize their Aboriginal heritage as a civic strength for inclusive urban planning in Canada. Engaging Aboriginal peoples and their perspectives in ideas of place-making and civic future seeking will also add more depth to the diversity discourse in mainstream Canada. To explore the research questions, the thesis uses Edmonton as a case study. Interviews involving Aboriginal citizens, Aboriginal organizations, and municipal officials are used as a method for collecting the data needed for the research. Findings reveal that the City of Edmonton is willing to engage with Aboriginal peoples to integrate their perspectives and cultures in the mainstream of urban life. However, the process is still developing and much more complicated in terms of how different Aboriginal peoples want to be engaged in city planning and associated policy. Citizens express a general fondness for Edmonton and its many opportunities that can improve people’s lives. However, though on the surface the city overflows with promises for opportunity and success, underneath the surface, some Aboriginal peoples experience subtle barriers that diminish their capacity to engage and succeed in the socio-economic spheres of the life in Edmonton. Negative stereotypes persist to discriminate against and exclude Aboriginal peoples as viable constituents of the citizenry of Edmonton. Aboriginal organizations in the city are playing a fundamental role in addressing the acute social pressures that Aboriginals face. These organizations also serve to create a collective Aboriginal voice that stands to challenge the negative stereotypes in addition to fostering a non-judgmental space for healing from the impacts of intergenerational trauma. The thesis concludes with the point that Aboriginal engagement is an important platform for raising civic literacy on Aboriginal history and its intersection with city planning and development processes in Edmonton. It engages notions of the city’s identity and begins a transformation of the systemic bureaucracies that presume universal citizenship in the public domain.

abstract: Understanding the customer experience, which requires a thorough knowledge of all touchpoints that can result from the way that a product is marketed, sold, and used has recently been identified as a research priority by the Marketing Science Institute. Although recent research has examined some aspects of the customer experience, research has yet to examine the way in which the full spectrum of touchpoint experiences may drive particular marketing performance metrics. Significant challenges to this line of research are the complex network of relationships that competing firms have forged with channel partners, the relationships that focal customers have with other customers in social networks and user communities, and the relationships that customers have with the brand and with channel partners. To address these challenges, this paper examined the customer experience and its effects on loyalty and commitment through three research projects conducted in the consumer aviation market. The first and second studies examined these touchpoint experiences using archival data supplied by an avionics manufacturer. Results from these studies showed the importance of the customer experience in accounting for customer loyalty. The final study examined the role of identity in shaping the customer experience among aircraft owners through a series of depth interviews. Results from these interviews illustrated the importance of identity in shaping the customer experience, and provided insights into how individuals attempt to use their consumption experiences to reinforce a sense of identity / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Business Administration 2011

During the end of the nineteenth century, breach of promise laws, which had protected unmarried but engaged women for centuries during their vulnerable engagement period, began to come under public scrutiny. The demonization of this legal protection coincided with increased legal agency in other areas of married life for women, but in most historical and critical discussions of this era, breach of promise, also nicknamed Heartbalm, has been overlooked, and the purpose of this dissertation is to examine canonical and non-canonical literature from this period and recontextualize these works in light of breach of promise's historical impact on courting and unmarried couples. Both men and women writers from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century picked up on the dramatic potential of these lawsuits at a time when the definition of marriage was transitioning from a relationship based on fixed economic gender roles established in the nineteenth century to a relationship of companionship and emotional connection. For many young people, the breach of promise suit insinuated that women sought marriage purely out of financial gain and stability, and as such, women were often branded gold diggers, or worse, for their emotional disconnect with their lovers. By bringing together American literature, cultural and legal histories and headlines from The New York Times, this dissertation also informs readers about the serious social activism at work in what might otherwise appear to be insignificant stories about family conflicts over marriage and family finances. The works of William Dean Howells, Edith Wharton, Anita Loos, Margaret Deland and others benefit from putting their texts alongside newspaper headlines and case studies from their era because breach of promise was often a covert force in those stories and only careful reading of the texts brings out the complexity of the characters' pre-marriage anxieties. In the films of the 1930s, however, heartbalm was demonized to the point where it now appeared ridiculous, and in 1935, the law was rescinded in a number of states across the country, and effectively dead. As a protection available for young women, however, its absence led to an increase in unmarried women without any legal tool available to hold an absconding lover responsible for his unfulfilled commitments. Though the study ends with this observation, the 1935 arguments mark a complete reversal from the ideology expressed by nineteenth century lawmakers who enforced heartbalm and defended its existence, and as such, this study traces that reversal, and the accompanying changes in social expectations for courting couples as enacted on the pages of American literature and in early American films.

In recent years, patient-centredness has become a central focus in improving health care quality. In 2010, the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) launched a four-year action plan aimed at transforming Canada’s health care through a framework aimed at creating a culture of patient-centred care, accountability and responsibility. Several of Canada’s provincial governments proceeded to launch patient-centred action plans, including the Government of Ontario’s “Patients First” framework, which prioritizes patient engagement and increased transparency. As an example of how organizations are putting these values into practice, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO)’s transparency initiative, which aims to make more physician-specific information available to the public in order to help patients make informed decisions about their health care, was examined. This thesis asks how physicians and members of the public feel that the transparency initiative aligns with the CPSO’s public interest mandate. Using discourse analysis, 226 responses by physicians, members of the public and organizations on a discussion forum in the Policy Consultations section of the CPSO’s website were analyzed in order to identify the main themes in arguments for or against increased transparency. The results show that physicians and members of the public tended to differ in their views on the purposes and probable outcomes of the CPSO’s transparency initiative. The majority of physicians worried about patients’ ability to accurately understand and utilize the information being provided to them, and the negative impact that this might have on individual physicians and on the physician-patient relationship more broadly. Most members of the public had a more positive outlook on the potential for transparency to build public trust, help patients become informed and engaged decision-makers and improve patient safety.

With millions invested in educational technology, what is its impact on student achievement and engagement? This question formed the basis for a review of the current literature on the impact of iPads and other instructional technology on student academic growth and motivation in public schools. The research supports technology’s positive impact on student achievement and engagement, but more research is needed in order to better understand how iPad use impacts students in the early elementary mathematics classroom. This dissertation study examines the effects of an iPad-based math intervention, as compared to a traditional paper-pencil approach, on second graders’ achievement and engagement in mathematics. The students were assigned to treatment and control groups in matched pairs based on sex and pre-test scores. Then students engaged in a four-week math intervention, using either the iPad or paper-pencil. At the end of each intervention, students completed quantitative posttests given by their classroom teachers. Students then switched treatment and control groups for a second four-week math intervention. Quantitative pre-post assessments include Bridges math unit tests, easyCBM math tests, and a Likert-scale engagement measure. After the two interventions were completed, qualitative focus group data were collected from the teachers involved in the study, giving a more complete view of student engagement. With finite intervention time and resources, schools need to know how to best improve student achievement and engagement in mathematics. This study fills a documented research gap and will help inform school decisions regarding instructional technology in the early elementary math classroom.

abstract: The Arizona Interfaith Alliance for Worker Justice (AIAWJ) was a mediating structure for those who wanted to be civically engaged in the labor movement and other coalitions in Phoenix, Arizona. It not only served its constituents, but it integrated, educated, and empowered them. Due to lack of funding the AIAWJ closed in the summer of 2016. Many community members from marginalized neighborhoods, other concerned citizens, students, myself, and others participated in their first and only civic engagement opportunities through this organization and were subsequently left with no connections, a barrier to being civically engaged. Through interviews and secondary data research, the relationship between people, mediating structures, and civic engagement activity are examined. The key findings support existing research that emphasizes the importance of mediating structures when it comes to civic engagement. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Interdisciplinary Studies 2016

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / A proposta da nossa pesquisa à analisar a relaÃÃo de sustentaÃÃo recÃproca entre filosofia e literatura em Sartre por via da leitura dos textos filosÃficos e das obras de ficÃÃo A nÃusea e O muro, observando no pensamento de juventude de Sartre a predominÃncia da questÃo Ãtica. Relacionando filosofia e literatura, almejamos, desta forma, esclarecer as correspondÃncias e os entrelaces dos questionamentos Ãticos que unem o plano teÃrico e a investigaÃÃo sobre a concretude da vida humana, ambos, instrumentos interdependentes de um projeto filosÃfico-literÃrio de fundo Ãtico. Observaremos tambÃm as condiÃÃes Ãticas do compromisso histÃrico que se estabelece por via do engajamento do escritor: compromisso recÃproco assumido entre o escritor e o leitor a partir da liberdade situada.

En tant que journaliste réflexif, Albert Camus a engagé un questionnement sur l'essence du journalisme et sur la conduite des praticiens de l'information. Cette thèse propose d'étudier la conception de l'éthique de la presse dans l'oeuvre de l'auteur entre théorie et pratique. L'analyse d'un corpus de presse, constitué principalement de ses écrits dans les journaux Alger Républicain, Le Soir Républicain, Combat et L'Express (1938-1958), a été étayée par l'étude d'un corpus complémentaire comportant ses essais, ses oeuvres de fiction et ses écrits de circonstances (1935-1960) ayant trait au journalisme. Afin de situer la pensée de l'auteur et sa conduite dans le cadre des institutions sociales et des situations dans lesquelles il se meut, l'approche biographique a été croisée avec la technique de l'analyse du discours et l'oeuvre de l'auteur et son vécu ont été mis en tension. Dans un premier temps, un panorama des principes, valeurs et règles de l éthique journalistique préconisée par l'auteur a été dressé. Dans un second temps, l'oeuvre d'Albert Camus ayant été marquée par les conflits qui ont traversé son époque, notamment la Seconde Guerre mondiale et le conflit franco-algérien, une étude fine de son engagement pour la paix du point de vue de la pratique éthique a été développée. Cette étape a eu pour objectif de cerner et de caractériser les pratiques éditoriales et les modes d'engagement de l'auteur en faveur de la paix et de rendre compte de la structure et du fonctionnement de dispositif journalistique qu'il a mobilisé face à la guerre / As a reflexive journalist, Albert Camus had started a questioning on the essence of journalism and on the journalist's behavior. This thesis proposes to study the conception of press ethics in the author's work between theory and practice. An analysis of a press corpus which was formed mainly by his writings in newspapers such as, Alger Républicain, Le Soir Républicain, Combat et L'Express (1938-1958). This analysis had been supported by the studying of a complementary corpus including his essays, his works of fiction and his circumstances writings (1935-1960) concerning journalism. In order to place the author's thought and his behavior within the context of the social institutions and the situations in which he moved, not only biographical approach was crossed with the speech analysis technics but also the author's work and his real-life had been highlighted. To start, a panorama of principles, values and rules of the journalistic ethic advocated by the author was drawn. After that, in view of the conflicts that had marked Albert Camus' work because they went through his time (World War II and the French-Algerian conflict), a fine study of his commitment for peace had been developed from the point of view of the ethic practice. This stage had two goals; the first was to define and to characterize the editorials practices and the author's commitment methods for peace. The second was to report about the journalistic device that had been mobilized by him