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- All Subjects: feminism
- Creators: Department of Psychology
- Creators: Department of English
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- Resource Type: Text
Description
This thesis examines contemporary cinematic adaptations of the Ovidian Pygmalion story. The films Blade Runner (1981), Lars and the Real Girl (2007), Ruby Sparks (2012), and Her (2013) are analyzed. This thesis seeks to understand why this particular myth is so resonant in today's popular culture and what this relevance reveals about modern society. The roles of female subjugation, sexualization, and relationship with technology will be major areas of concern. Research includes film criticism, Ovidian scholarship, and new advances in computer technology.
ContributorsStory, Sara Katherine (Author) / Corse, Taylor (Thesis director) / Ellis, Lawrence (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The Undoing Project is an ongoing educational feminist YouTube channel that serves as an introduction to feminism and feminist theory. The objective for this project is to present feminist theory and feminist ideology in an accessible and entertaining way. Through this project I sought to accomplish three goals: to challenge the negative image of feminism, bridge the gap between the language of academia and the public, and to acknowledge and unlearn ingrained prejudices. The videos focus on theory, history, legislation, current events, and pop culture. The initial project consists of ten videos addressing the feminist wave models, a brief history of the feminist movement, and discussions of concepts like hegemony, intersectionality, masculinity, femininity, and race.
ContributorsBuchholtz, Kaylee Marie (Author) / Brian, Jennifer (Thesis director) / Grzanka, Patrick (Committee member) / Brouwer, Dan (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / College of Public Service and Community Solutions (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Studies have shown that arts programs have a positive impact on students' abilities to achieve academic success, showcase creativity, and stay focused inside and outside of the classroom. However, as school funding drops, arts programs are often the first to be cut from school curricula. Rather than drop art completely, general education teachers have the opportunity to integrate arts instruction with other content areas in their classrooms. Traditional fraction lessons and Music-infused fraction lessons were administered to two classes of fourth-grade students. The two types of lessons were presented over two separate days in each classroom. Mathematics worksheets and attitudinal surveys were administered to each student in each classroom after each lesson to gauge their understanding of the mathematics content as well as their self-perceived understanding, enjoyment and learning related to the lessons. Students in both classes were found to achieve significantly higher mean scores on the traditional fraction lesson than the music-infused fraction lesson. Lower scores in the music-infused fraction lesson may have been due to the additional component of music for students unfamiliar with music principles. Students tended to express satisfaction for both lessons. In future studies, it would be recommended to spend additional lesson instruction time on the principles of music in order help students reach deeper understanding of the music-infused fraction lesson. Other recommendations include using colorful visuals and interactive activities to establish both fraction and music concepts.
ContributorsGerrish, Julie Kathryn (Author) / Zambo, Ronald (Thesis director) / Hutchins, Catherine (Committee member) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
A growing number of jobs in the US require a college degree or technical education, and the wage difference between jobs requiring a high school diploma and a college education has increased to over $17,000 per year. Enrollment levels in postsecondary education have been rising for at least the past decade, and this paper attempts to tease out how much of the increasing enrollment is due to changes in the demand by companies for workers. A Bartik Instrument, which is a measure of local area labor demand, for each county in the US was constructed from 2007 to 2014, and using multivariate linear regression the effect of changing labor demand on local postsecondary education enrollment rates was examined. A small positive effect was found, but the effect size in relation to the total change in enrollment levels was diminutive. From the start to the end of the recession (2007 to 2010), Bartik Instrument calculated unemployment increased from 5.3% nationally to 8.2%. This level of labor demand contraction would lead to a 0.42% increase in enrollment between 2008 and 2011. The true enrollment increase over this period was 7.6%, so the model calculated 5.5% of the enrollment increase was based on the changes in labor demand.
ContributorsHerder, Daniel Steven (Author) / Dillon, Eleanor (Thesis director) / Schoellman, Todd (Committee member) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
This project explores the promise and peril of networked self-portraits, focusing on comparisons between artists Andy Warhol and Cindy Sherman, celebrity and reality star Kim Kardashian, Democratic presidential candidate and former first lady Hillary Clinton, and artists Rafia Santana and Alexandra Marzella. I defined selfies as networked self-portraits using a front-facing camera. My introduction is more or less a literature review of photographic theory and art history texts, but all the significant themes brought up in that are relevant to the rest of my arguments. The arguments draw from feminist visual theory including Laura Mulvey, art history texts, as well as critical race theorists like Franz Fanon. While I chose four artists in my examination, I used them as a jumping off point to talk about how identity can be networked and what it means for small slices of life to be photographed and spread via social media. I decided to include feminist visual theory to inform my exploration of female bodies, especially how mediation sets up normative behaviors and representations. I used race theory to talk about visibility of people of color, especially in contrast to the white artists I talked about in my thesis. By way of Kardashian and Clinton, I explored the idea of celebrity and visual culture, as well as motherhood and what femininity could look like in the 21st century. I tend not to make any sweeping conclusions about the best way to network femininity using selfies, but rather explore the different challenges that women face when they place historically-policed bodies into what could be a digital utopia online.
ContributorsNorthfelt, Peter (Author) / Dove-Viebahn, Aviva (Thesis director) / Thornton, Leslie (Committee member) / Department of English (Contributor) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
I will be investigating the merit of participatory culture in online literary roleplaying. While looking at an affinity space within participatory culture, I will be examining the importance of narrative within a roleplay board, the value placed in writing ability and habitual participation, and the gaining of social capital within the affinity space of players through the scope of two forms of participatory culture: expressions and collaborative problem solving. I will also look at the limitations of literary roleplaying before talking about the potential of roleplaying to be used as a tool for students in the classroom. Throughout my investigation, I pool information from online roleplay forum boards as well as Tumblr blogs. Drawing from these examples, I hope to not only show the value and merit of online roleplaying as a form of literature, but also demonstrate its potential as a curriculum guide for educators.
ContributorsLacson, Therese (Author) / Lussier, Mark (Thesis director) / Daer, Alice (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Nations have a vital interest in creating a citizenry with certain attributes and beliefs and, since education contributes to the formation of children's national identity, government authorities can influence educational curricula to construct their ideal citizen. In this thesis, I study the educational systems of Pakistan and Arizona and explore the historical and conceptual origins of these entities' manipulation of curricula to construct a particular kind of citizen. I argue that an examination of the ethnic studies debate in Tucson, Arizona, in conjunction with Pakistan's history education policy, will illustrate that the educational systems in both these sites are developed to advance the interests of governing authorities. Resource material demonstrates that both educational systems endorse specific accounts of history, omitting information, perspectives, and beliefs. Eliminating or reimagining certain narratives of history alienates some students from identifying as citizens of the state, particularly when contributions of their ethnic, cultural, or religious groups are not included in the country's textbooks.
ContributorsFritcke, Emily Anne (Author) / Saikia, Yasmin (Thesis director) / Haines, Chad (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
The Walt Disney Company has been a worldwide phenomenon for over half a century. Disney's animated films in particular impact a large number of individuals around the world. The fact that they rerelease popular films every few years lends to the lasting influence these movies will hold in the lives of children to come. It is important to examine the messages Disney animated films can teach children in regards to women's roles, United States history, and racial difference. This essay examines these topics as they appear in Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, The Little Mermaid, Pocahontas, and The Lion King. Lastly, it examines the potential impact these films can leave on children and suggests ways in which adults can help children analyze what they see in the media.
ContributorsMonnig, Elizabeth Ann (Author) / Baker, Aaron (Thesis director) / Sandlin, Jennifer (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
During the time when contemporary feminism was gaining ground in the West, the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church promulgated the encyclical Mulieris Dignitatem (1988), articulating the Church's understanding of women to a culture in crisis. More than twenty-five years post-promulgation of the document, complex questions still linger on the international stage in the realm of femininity, motherhood, and the vocations of women in the world today. While several voices compete to answer these questions, the Catholic Church offers her expert understanding of woman \u2014 indeed, of the human person \u2014 rooted in over 2,000 years of Scripture and tradition \u2014 a comprehensive, life-giving anthropology at the service of Jesus Christ and humanity. In the face of a radically relativistic, ever-evolving culture that continuously presents new challenges and questions, we have the responsibility to assimilate St. John Paul II's teaching in Mulieris Dignitatem in order to cross new thresholds, to further a theology of femininity and "feminism" that all persons can embrace. This thesis examines these crucial issues through the lens of the Church's expertise, the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as well as the strengths and challenges of the encyclical, arriving at the conclusion that women bear the greater part in redeeming culture through a renewal of authentic femininity.
ContributorsOtlewski, Maggie Elizabeth (Author) / Strafaci, Christina (Thesis director) / Barker, David (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Several different queer feminist zines, along with the author's experiences in queer feminist zine making, are examined using the lens of J. Jack Halberstam's The Queer Art of Failure. Particular attention is paid to zines' unique composition from a variety of unexpected sources, and their subsequent ability to act as counterhegemonic documents. Queer feminist zine makers' critical engagement with the concept of community is also discussed.
ContributorsPruett, Jessica Lynn (Author) / Switzer, Heather (Thesis director) / Dove-Viebahn, Aviva (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor)
Created2014-05