Racial identifications are continually influenced by and constructed through one’s environment. Building on Jean Baudrillard’s “The Precession of Simulacra” and Gaston Bachelard’s The Poetics of Space, this thesis argues that houses and clothing are the material objects that allow characters Birdie Lee from Danzy Senna’s Caucasia and Helga Crane from Nella Larsen’s Quicksand to construct their mixed race identities. Birdie Lee’s childhood home is the place where she develops a mixed race identity. When she leaves that home, she is forced to take on simulacra in order to pass for white. Without a stable childhood or adult home, Helga Crane’s wardrobe becomes the space where she unconsciously develops a mixed race identity. Her clothing choices allow her to simulate an entirely black identity that masks her mixed race heritage. Ultimately, the fates of Birdie and Helga are determined by whether or not they can occupy a space that is accepting of their mixed race identities. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

The focus of this essay is a discussion of Libby Larsen's relationship with American vernacular musical expression in her piano chamber music works. This essay examines three works that are representative of the wide range of influences in her piano chamber music: Holy Roller for Alto Saxophone and Piano; Barn Dances for Flute, Clarinet, and Piano; and Trio for Piano and Strings for Violin, Cello, and Piano. They are inspired, respectively, by three different genres of American music: gospel, Western square dance, and jazz. In so doing, this essay discusses Larsen's use of musical quotations, idiomatic harmonic elements, and patterns of rhythm and melody drawn from these varied aspects of American culture. It is essential for musicians to understand how to play varying genres, and this essay offers suggestions on how to play the three different genres of gospel, Western square dance, and jazz within the context of Larsen's music. This essay will hopefully bring these works, and Larsen's larger body of works, to the greater attention of the musical community and introduce them to a wider audience.

Le présent mémoire s'intéresse aux représentations de la colère dans la littérature des femmes africaines-américaines du 20e siècle. Il cherche à comprendre de quelles manières cette émotion taboue et honteuse investit Passing de Nella Larsen, Sula de Toni Monison et Push de Sapphire, trois œuvres écrites à différentes époques-clés de l'histoire littéraire noire états-unienne au féminin (les années 1920 et la Renaissance de Harlem; les années 1970 et l'émergence du féminisme noir et de sa critique littéraire; les années 1990 et la consécration institutionnelle des black women's studies). Il s'agit de voir comment, dans ces romans où prédominent des enjeux liés aux oppressions de sexe, de race et de classe, la colère joue le rôle de moteur textuel, d'émotion-source : elle dirige les actions et propos des personnages, dirige les intrigues, dirige l'écriture. Elle semble ainsi constituer une impulsion, un paradigme traversant la tradition littéraire féministe noire. L'étude d'un corpus diachronique permet d'entrevoir une évolution singulière : le passage d'une colère nommée et thématisée à une colère-discours. La colère constituant une émotion du désordre et du spectaculaire, j'analyse les stratégies narratives qui permettent de faire surgir l'excès et le théâtral dans les œuvres à l'étude. Ma réflexion se décline en quatre temps. Je me penche dans un premier chapitre sur les articulations entre rapports d'oppression et colère. J'interroge les liens entre sexe et colère, puis entre race et colère, pour enfin présenter les fondements théoriques du féminisme noir et les écrits de féministes noires sur la question. Les trois autres chapitres sont consacrés aux romans analysés : le deuxième traite de Passing et de la colère qui prend possession de l'intrigue grâce à quelques stratégies du double; le troisième montre que la colère, dans Sula, se manifeste selon deux mouvements simultanés (une transmission entre plusieurs générations de personnages et un détournement dans la narration) et par le recours à la métaphore du feu; le quatrième s'intéresse à Push et à son esthétique de l'excès, laquelle imprègne à la fois les corps des protagonistes et la narration. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : colère, excès, violence, littérature afro-américaine, littérature américaine, féminisme noir, Nella Larsen, Toni Morrison, Sapphire.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 1997. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 180-195).

This thesis studies numerical methods for integrating the master equations describing Markov chain models of cardiac ion channels. Such models describe the time evolution of the probability that ion channels are in a particular state. Numerical simulations of such models are often computationally demanding because many solvers require relatively small time steps to ensure numerical stability. The aim of this project is to analyse selected Markov chains and develop more efficient and accurate solvers. We separate a Markov chain model into fast and slow time-scales based on the speed of transitions between states. Eliminating the fast transitions, we find an asymptotic reduction of zeroth-order and first-order in a small parameter describing the time-scales separation. We apply the theory to a Markov chain model of the fast sodium channel INa. We consider several variants for classifying some transitions as fast in order to find reduced systems that yield a good accuracy. However, the time step size is still restricted by numerical instabilities. We adapt the Rush-Larsen technique originally developed for gate models. Assuming that a transition matrix can be considered constant during each time step, we solve the Markov chain model analytically. The solution provides a recipe for a stable exponential solver, which we call "Matrix Rush-Larsen" (MRL). Using operator splitting we design an even more flexible "hybrid" method that combines the MRL with other solvers. The resulting improvement in stability allows a large increase in the time step size. In some models, we obtain reasonably accurate results 27 times faster using a hybrid method than with the forward Euler method, even with the maximal time step allowed by the stability constraint. Finally, we extend the cardiac simulation package BeatBox by the developed exponential solvers. We upgrade a format of "ionic" modules which describe a cardiac cell, in order to allow for a specific definition of Markov chain models. We also modify a particular integrator for ionic modules to include the MRL and the hybrid method. To test the functionality of the code, we have converted a number of cellular models into the ionic format. The documented code is available in the official BeatBox package distribution.

Twentieth-century American literature incorporates interracial and biracial themes that bring to light the often unnamed and unrecognized biracial identities of many Americans. Unfortunately, despite the potential value for a deeper understanding of the construction of race, these themes have seldom been seriously considered in the context of reevaluating the nature of the system that creates racial labels and categories until the recent emergence of postmodern critical theories. This thesis examines the black-white interracial themes and biracial protagonists in Nella Larsen's Quicksand (1928) and Danzy Senna's Caucasia (1998) in order to explore the texts' representations of systems of hegemonic power that create racial labels and categories. I discuss the binary sociopolitical construction of race in the United States (blackwhite) and the complexity of biracial identities as a foundation for my examination of literary representations of biracial subjectivity, racial passing, primitive exoticism, and the intersections between race, class and gender. I conclude that a study of the interracial theme in literature is a dive into the chasm between margin and center, the enunciative split between the binary racial signifiers black and white. Therefore, representations of biracial subjectivity provide a unique vantage point for surveillance of the complexities of the human struggle to gain and maintain power.

No description available.

Master of Music / Department of Music / Patricia Thompson / This report contains biographical, historical, and analytical commentary on the following composers and their pieces for soprano voice: Henry Purcell and The Blessed Virgin's Expostulation; Franz Schubert and Gesänge aus Wilhelm Meister, Op. 62, D. 877; Jacques Offenbach and Les oiseaux dans la charmille, from Les Contes d'Hoffmann; Libby Larsen and Try Me, Good King: Last Words of the Wives of Henry VIII; Charles Gounod and Ah! Je veux vivre, from Roméo et Juliette. These selections, unified by the theme of tragedy in various forms of love, were presented in a graduate recital in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Music in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy degree.

Esta dissertação apresenta uma leitura do romance Passing, com o foco na caracterização e enredo a partir da perspectiva de duas questões inter-relacionadas. Primeiro, a leitura examina a questão da maternidade e a questão da raça na caracterização de duas protagonistas, considerando que ambas as questões sustentam uma importância histórica no contexto de vida das mulheres negras daquele período, como os biógrafos de autores testemunham. Segundo, a leitura enfatiza as correlações de enredo e desejo como uma forma de entender o que está em jogo na narrativa. O romance foi publicado em 1929 pela escritora Afro-Americana Nella Larsen durante o movimento estético e cultural chamado Harlem Renaissance, um movimento cujo apogeu na década de 20 do século passado causou um crescimento da consciência social e o surgimento da literatura moderna Afro-Americana. Em uma década, o tema ‘passing’ constituiu um dos tópicos privilegiados em vários romances por escritores Afro-Americanos. Minha análise se sustenta a partir de diferentes fontes: relações entre mãe/filha a partir de Marianne Hirsch e Nancy J. Chodorow; a questão da raça e conflitos de ‘passing’ a partir de Thadious M. Davis, Elaine K. Ginsberg e Martha J. Cutter, assim como enredo e desejo de Peter Brooks. Na interligação de elementos biográficos, psicológicos, culturais e literários, minha leitura apresenta como a novela dramatiza o conflito insolúvel de raça divida – branca e preta – que destaca as lutas e dificuldades dos personagens quando enfrentando o vazio do pertencimento que acompanha a experiência de ‘passing’. / The thesis presents a reading of the novel Passing, with a focus on characterization and plot from the perspective of two interrelated issues. First, the reading examines the question of motherhood and the question of race in the characterization of the two major female protagonists, considering that both questions bear historical importance in the context of black women’s lives of the period, as the author’s biographers testify. Second, the reading highlights the connections of plot and desire as a way of understanding what is at stake in the narrative design. The novel was published in 1929 by the Afro-American writer Nella Larsen during the cultural and aesthetic movement called the Harlem Renaissance, a movement whose heyday in the 20´s in the last century brought about the uplifting of racial consciousness and the emergence of modern Afro-American literature. In the decade, the theme of ‘passing’ constituted one of the privileged topics in several novels by Afro-American writers. My analysis draws support from different sources: mother/daughter relationships from Marianne Hirsch and Nancy J. Chodorow; the question of race and ensuing conflicts of ‘passing’ from Thadious M. Davis, Elaine K. Ginsberg and Martha J. Cutter; and plot and desire from Peter Brooks. In the interweaving of biographical, psychological, cultural and literary elements, my reading shows how the novel dramatizes the insoluble conflict of the racial divide – white and black - which underlies the characters´ struggles and difficulties when facing the void in belongingness that attends the experience of passing.

The intention of this thesis is to describe the process of putting together a performance of a lecture recital on the song cycle Try Me, Good King: Last words of the wives of Henry VIII by modern composer Libby Larsen, and to conduct an in depth exploration of the characters of the first five wives of King Henry VIII of England. Each wife’s character will be investigated in relation to their roles in this song cycle which draws its’ text from the final words of these five women. Each wife’s character will be investigated from three perspectives, that of history, that of Libby Larsen, my own perspective (Morgan Tingle). The ultimate result will be a solid developed character for each wife that is the culmination of my studies portrayed by myself, soprano Morgan Tingle, in the final lecture recital.