"In general terms, the purposes of this study were two in number: (1) to suggest whether unique mental factors as identified by methods of factor analysis are correlated with success in usual school learning situations and (2) to suggest whether it is possible to design instructional materials in a way which would suit the learner's mental ability profile"--Introduction. / Typescript. / "June, 1967." / "Submitted to the Graduate School of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy." / Advisor: E. D. Nichols, Professor Directing Dissertation. / Includes bibliographical references.

Research in pediatric medical art therapy is comprised largely of case studies. The motivation for this study was to contribute quantitative data to the literature on art therapy with children who experienced hospitalization and medical treatment. The study question focused on the efficacy of art therapy in reducing the anxiety of hospitalized pediatric patients. To address this issue, a subgroup of pediatric patients was selected; a single subject research design was initiated with a homogenous group of 6 to 9 year-old female patients hospitalized for treatment of sickle cell disease. In addition to extensive qualitative narrative, three instruments were utilized: (a) an Anxiety Behavior Schedule, (b) the Children's Health Locus of Control Scale, and (c) the Children's Hope Scale. The intervention phase of the study included art therapy interventions designed to familiarize subjects' with the hospital environment, provide opportunities for control and expression, and respond to subjects' established cognitive structures regarding their medical condition and treatment. The results of the study support the efficacy of art therapy in two very important ways: First, all of the subjects demonstrated reduced externality of locus of control following art therapy intervention. Second, the observable anxiety data on subject 2 definitively confirmed reduction in anxiety due to art therapy intervention, with statistical significance established at the .05 level. Finally, one subject's subsequent hospitalization provided the opportunity to collect follow-up data; this data confirmed that the reduction in anxiety behaviors resulting from the art therapy protocol was sustained over time. Extensive qualitative narratives of the subjects' experiences were provided. Implications for future practice and further research are discussed. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Art Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Fall Semester 2003. / Date of Defense: November 10, 2003. / Pediatrics, Arts In Medicine, Psychological Well-Being, Sickle Cell Disease, Art Therapy, Pediatric Patients / Includes bibliographical references. / Marcia L. Rosal, Professor Directing Dissertation; Nick Mazza, Outside Committee Member; Betty Jo Troeger, Committee Member; Tom Anderson, Committee Member.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the use of art as a pedagogical tool with pre-service art teachers in a graduate-level art education class. A curriculum was developed focusing on educational social justice theories and their application in regard to gender inequity and diversity issues. The goal was to lead students to engage in more self-directed learning and to become more pro-active in their society. The results indicate the value of using art making to help students explore, investigate, and examine self and self in relation to society. In addition, they shed light on transformational moments in the art making process when students’ awareness of self and social justice issues was heightened and democratic ideas were reinforced. The results have implications for classroom practice as well as enhancing the quality of art education by incorporating social justice concerns in art education for individual and community developments. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Art Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester 2017. / July 7, 2017. / Educational Democracy, Practitioner research, Pre-service art teacher, Social justice Art, Social justice education, Students-centered curriculum / Includes bibliographical references. / Sara Shields, Professor Directing Dissertation; Tamara Bertrand Jones, University Representative; Ayesha Khurshid, Committee Member; Jeff Broome, Committee Member; Ann Rowson, Committee Member.

Museum education and art therapy collaborations have emerged to work together to achieve simultaneous education and therapeutic goals for adolescent populations (Peacock, 2012). There is a need for research in the area of improving the services and quality of lives of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). This study explored the responses of adolescents with high functioning autism (HFA) as they engaged in therapeutic art experiences in the museum setting. Four adolescents ages 13-17 participated in two hour-long sessions twice weekly over the course of ten weeks. They created thematic exhibitions with artist statements that were displayed in a university-based art museum in an exhibition titled My Own Expression. A thematic analysis identified four themes that emerged to describe the therapeutic benefits of utilizing the museum as a space for art therapy sessions with this population. Participant responses indicated four areas of development that occurred across the cases: cognitive and language development, adolescent identity development, socioemotional development, and sensory and affect regulation development. Keywords: art therapy, art museum education, high functioning autism (HFA), joint attention, cognitive and language development, socioemotional development, sensory regulation / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Art Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2018. / April 2, 2018. / Art museum education, Art therapy, High functioning Autism (HFA), joint attention, sensory regulation, socioemotional development / Includes bibliographical references. / David E. Gussak, Professor Directing Dissertation; Holly Hanessian, University Representative; Pat Villeneuve, Committee Member; Barbara Parker-Bell, Committee Member; Ann Rowson-Love, Committee Member.

The study focused on testing a web-based parenting course called FosterParentCollege.com (FPC) Culturally Competent Parenting for parents who were fostering or adopting children transracially. Transracial parenting means parents who have adopted or are fostering a child of a different race than themselves. It is important for parents who are foster or adopting transracially to learn about resources when it comes to culturally competent parenting due to the positive impact culturally competent parenting has on children. Research study findings have indicated that transracial children who receive racial-ethnic socialization (a type of culturally competent parenting) demonstrate positive outcomes such as better self-esteem and psychological adjustment. This study utilized a mixed methods pre-test post-test treatment and control group design. The purpose was to determine if there was a difference in parent scores on openness to cultural receptivity after completing the course in comparison to parents taking the control course. Additionally, parents who participated in the treatment course completed two-month follow-up interviews to assess if they self-reported applying techniques learned from the culturally competent parenting course. Results of the study indicated that parents enrolled in the treatment course had significantly higher scores for openness to cultural receptivity after completing the course than before. Themes identified in the qualitative interviews indicated parents’ efforts to learn more about cultural competency. Implications and limitations are discussed. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Family and Child Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2018. / March 20, 2018. / Child welfare, Cultural competence, Foster care, Parent-child relations, Transracial adoption, Web-based training / Includes bibliographical references. / Lenore McWey, Professor Directing Dissertation; Angela Canto, University Representative; Melinda Gonzales-Backen, Committee Member; Ming Cui, Committee Member.

This dissertation examines early Enochic literature, namely the Astronomical Book and the Book of the Watchers, in the context of traditions concerning Greco-Roman culture heroes and the debates about the origins of civilization during the Hellenistic age. I argue that the emphasis on the spread of antediluvian knowledge in both these works should be understood as a Jewish response to debates about the origins of cultural knowledge essential to Hellenistic civilization, especially astronomy and metallurgy. Chapter one surveys recent scholarship on the Astronomical Book and Watchers. Recent interpretations of Watchers have read the violence in the text as part of a program of resistance to Greek imperial hegemony, while similar readings for the Astronomical Book have not gained much support. While the resistance reading is a leading model for understanding early Enochic literature, there is an important dimension that has not been extensively explored for interpreting this body of literature, namely the debates surrounding the origins of cultural knowledge during the Hellenistic age. There was a robust discourse in the Hellenistic age about the origins of civilization and types of knowledge, such as astronomy and writing, that were widespread throughout the known world. On the one hand, Greek authors, including Herodotus and Diodorus, give evidence that some Greeks were seeking the origins of civilization in the cultures conquered by Alexander. On the other hand, native writers felt a nostalgia for the past and a time when their respective culture’s held greater power and prestige, causing them to focus on the greatness of their community earlier in history. Thus, in light of both these circumstances there developed a competition among native communities to appear to be the oldest culture and the source of popular knowledge essential for Hellenistic civilization. Chapter three turns to the early Enochic literature by examining the importance of astronomy and writing in both the Astronomical Book and Watchers. Both of these texts emphasize that legitimate knowledge of the heavens was given to the Jewish antediluvian figure of Enoch and that this knowledge was written down by Enoch. I argue that the choice of Enoch is meant to place the origins of astronomy, which was increasingly seen as a byword for antiquity generally, in a Jewish figure. In turn, a written tradition connected to this astronomical data would imply that all Hellenistic understanding about the movements of the heavenly bodies is because of the Jewish people and their preservation of this written knowledge down through the centuries. In addition, Watchers claims that an illegitimate form of astronomical knowledge was given to humanity by the fallen watchers. I argue that the depiction of the watchers is meant to parody accounts of antediluvian culture heroes in other traditions, most especially the Babylonians. Chapter four explores the role of violence in Watchers, and its connection to the origins of metallurgy in making weapons. I argue that the text seeks to account for the violence of the Hellenistic period by claiming that this violence was a result of wicked forms of cultural knowledge given in the antediluvian period. The text seeks to undercut claims made by rival cultures to the origins of metallurgy by arguing that these origins are wicked. Chapter five summarizes the main results of the project. I argue that reading early Enochic literature in the context of the Hellenistic debates over the origins of civilization provides a way to understand the Book of Watchers and the Astronomical Book together. Furthermore it makes the aims of these works similar to contemporary Jewish and non-Jewish works from the 2nd and 3rd centuries BCE. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Religion in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2018. / April 9, 2018. / Apocalyptic Literature, Enoch, Technology / Includes bibliographical references. / Matthew Goff, Professor Directing Dissertation; Trevor Luke, University Representative; David Levenson, Committee Member; Nicole Kelley, Committee Member.

The rise of college symbols and mascots related to the American landscape directly correlates with the rapid changes stemming from industrialization and urbanization occurring in American culture between the late-nineteenth century and first decades of the twentieth century. The loss of national identity attributed to the closing of the western frontier had a devastating effect on young white males in particular. The ensuing cultural crisis brought about by the wanton extirpation of wildlife and destruction of the natural environment led directly to the preservationist movement of the turn-of-the century. In the face of unparalleled immigration, fitness and the back-to-nature movement were believed to be instrumental in helping white American men avoid committing "race suicide." Nurtured by the teachings and philosophies of conservationists and preservationists, young white college men formed the first football teams and adopted symbols of the American landscape as a means of team identity. Because iconography makes for a powerful tool of identity and solidarity, students and college officials were likewise intrigued. Eager to quell unruly student behavior, college administrators—who had a more than contentious relationship with the student body throughout the late-nineteenth century—gladly assented. The profits soon realized from college sports and the pageantry surrounding it proved irresistible to colleges across the land. Consequently, by the early decades of the late-nineteenth century, numerous American college athletic teams began using mascots related to the American landscape and school colors to foment group solidarity. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester 2018. / November 2, 2018. / 20th century American history, education, iconography, sports / Includes bibliographical references. / Andrew Frank, Professor Directing Dissertation; Robert Crew, University Representative; Jonathan Grant, Committee Member; Jennifer Koslow, Committee Member; Edward Gray, Committee Member.

Community mural projects exist in a medium of high visual payoff, illustrating desired subject matter meant to serve a specific audience. While the result is indeed an important element, it is not the only point of emphasis. This dissertation focused on the community mural experience from the planning and installation phases, completed by youth volunteers at a teen center. Designed and executed through the lens of creative placemaking, this dissertation research relies on visual and narrative data. The findings highlight the importance of an inclusive interactive culture during community mural dialogues. As the researcher and facilitator, I enlisted participant feedback for both the pilot and primary mural projects, and led the transformation of both efforts onto their respective walls in the center. I used a visual journal to document the research. My arts based findings are centered on visual vignettes and artistic renderings made in response to the finished mural projects. In translating the impact and value of collaboration through art making, I argue in favor of involving the participant voice in all phases of the creative process. In addition to providing a workbook for initiating similar hands-on opportunities, I focus on the potential of executing murals with people rather than for them. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Art Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education. / Fall Semester 2018. / November 8, 2018. / Aesthetic Identity, Arts Based Community Engagement, Community Engagement, Community Murals, Creative Placemaking, Empowerment / Includes bibliographical references. / Sara S. Shields, Professor Directing Dissertation; Stephen Tripodi, University Representative; Pat Villeneuve, Committee Member; Jeff Broome, Committee Member.

This research investigates how arts based research methods contribute to the development of a positive disability identity for a person living with invisible disabilities through the act of un/covering. Through the theoretical framework of critical disability studies, the intersection of identity, embodiment and agency are explored via narrative and visual methods of inquiry including reflexive journaling, drawing, watercolor and sculpture. The heuristic process of arts based reflexivity is then used as a means to create a comprehensive portrait of the disability experience. This study concludes with research implications that address teacher preparedness and the need for critical awareness in relation to complex concepts of critical disability studies such as performativity, vulnerability, the transitioning nature of identity. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Art Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester 2018. / November 15, 2018. / Art Education, Arts Based Research, Disability Studies, Identity Development, Invisible Disabilities, Un/covering / Includes bibliographical references. / Rachel Fendler, Professor Directing Dissertation; Jim Dawkins, University Representative; Sara Scott Shields, Committee Member; Jeff Broome, Committee Member; Skip Horack, Committee Member.

The culture of the Pacific Northwest is formed by and around its natural environment. Cultural descriptions of the region usually highlight its spectacular scenery, its rich natural resources, and the connection that many residents feel with the land. Often, this connection takes on a spiritual quality, prompting some to identify a culture of nature religion in the region: a culture in which participants consider the natural world sacred, ordering their lives around its protection and conceptualizing their own welfare as inextricably tied to that of the environment. This thesis attempts to chronicle the development of such a culture of eco-spirituality from European exploration to present, locating today's reality firmly in a historical context. I argue that the region's history as a last frontier, dependence on natural resource extraction, and relative lack of institutional religious presence paved the way for a fusion of environmentalist activism and New Age spirituality in the 1980s. As spiritual concern infused environmentalism with ideological power, political battles intensified, publicity increased, and a new culture of eco-spirituality emerged to stamp itself indelibly on the face of the Pacific Northwest. / A Thesis submitted to the Program of American and Florida Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. / Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2009. / Date of Defense: August 11, 2009. / 1980s, Environmentalism, Shibley, New Age, Environment, Nature Spirituality, Religion, Region, Washington, Oregon, Pacific Northwest / Includes bibliographical references. / Amanda Porterfield, Professor Directing Thesis; John Corrigan, Committee Member; Neil Jumonville, Committee Member.