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- Genre: Masters Thesis
- Genre: Scores
- Creators: Arizona State University
Description
This thesis explores the ways two contemporary artists engage the archive to challenge ideas calcified through visual culture. Steven Yazzie and Lorna Simpson respond to constructions of history through art making strategies and practices. Yazzie's photogravure Tsosido Sweep Dancer (2009) presents a carefully constructed image of a ceremony drawing on symbols of Indianness to provoke a critical dialogue that questions the role of the American Indian stereotype in the United States imaginary. Simpson's Counting (1991) is a multilayered work that juxtaposes text and image to address the capriciousness of memory, power and other issues found at the intersection of race and gender. These photography-based works draw on the histories of ethnographic and criminal photography to deconstruct the same knowledge that photography helped to construct. Throughout the thesis I examine the relationship of the photographic archive to colonial histories by considering whose history is represented through photography. These thoughtful and challenging artworks contribute to a growing body of work that proposes new narratives drawing on embodied knowledge and experience to create a counter-archive.
ContributorsWaitoller, Lekha Hileman (Author) / Malagamba-Ansótegui, Amelia (Thesis advisor) / Lineberry, Heather S (Committee member) / Mesch, Ulrike C (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Bisexuality is a unique kind of sexual identity, as a gray area between heterosexuality and homosexuality. The piece You made up the Story and I Played with all the Parts explores bisexuality as a lived artistic experience based on my sexual journey within a society that advocates heterosexuality. The piece includes movement phrases and text derived from conversations with intimate partners, characters based on former partners, storytelling, a 1950s-style sex education video parody, and audience participation via dialogue. The creation of movement and dialogue manipulated heteronormative social stigmas into a canny social acceptance of bisexuality. The multifaceted nature of the piece provokes viewers to consider how sexuality is constructed socially through my own interpretation. As a result, the work suggests that bisexuality is a legitimate sexual identity and represents a culture within American society.
ContributorsBedford, Crystal (Author) / Corey, Frederick (Thesis advisor) / Dove, Simon (Thesis advisor) / Jackson, Naomi (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Research has shown that the ability to smell is the most direct sense an individual can experience. With every breath a person takes, the brain recognizes thousands of molecules and makes connections with our memories to determine their composition. With the amount of research looking into how and why we smell, researchers still have little understanding of how the nose and brain process an aroma, and how emotional and physical behavior is impacted. This research focused on the affects smell has on a caregiver in a simulated Emergency Department setting located in the SimET of Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona. The study asked each participant to care for a programmed mannequin, or "patient", while performing simple computer-based tasks, including memory and recall, multi-tasking, and mood-mapping to gauge physical and mental performance. Three different aromatic environments were then introduced through diffusion and indirect inhalation near the participants' task space: 1) a control (no smell), 2) an odor (simulated dirty feet), and 3) an aroma (one of four true essential oils plus a current odor-eliminating compound used in many U.S. Emergency Departments). This study was meant to produce a stressful environment by leading the caregiver to stay in constant movement throughout the study through timed tasks, uncooperative equipment, and a needy "patient". The goal of this research was to determine if smells, and of what form of pleasantness and repulsiveness, can have an effect on the physical and mental performance of emergency caregivers. Findings from this study indicated that the "odor eliminating" method currently used in typical Emergency Departments, coffee grounds, is more problematic than helpful, and the introduction of true essential oils may not only reduce stress, but increase efficiency and, in turn, job satisfaction.
ContributorsClark, Carina M (Author) / Bernardi, Jose (Thesis advisor) / Heywood, William (Committee member) / Watts, Richard (Committee member) / Rosso, Rachel (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Japanese literature of the Heian Era (794-1185) abounds with references to musical instruments and episodes of performance. This thesis provides some insight into that music by translating sections of the "Wakana II" (Spring Shoots II) chapter of the early 11th-century novel Genji monogatari (The Tale of Genji). It explains the musical references and shows how, in the context of the novel, musical performance, musical teaching, and interpersonal relationships were inextricably intertwined. Detailed appendices provide background on traditional Japanese musical instruments, musical theory, and related subjects.
ContributorsBotway, Lloyd (Author) / Creamer, John (Thesis advisor) / Chambers, Anthony (Committee member) / Solis, Theodore (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The indigenous communities of Chiapas, Mexico, have long manifested resistance to oppression and discrimination. This study centers on the analysis of Chiapas: el fin del silencio (1998) by Alberto Turok, connecting the work of the photographer to the problems faced by indigenous people in the region, such as inequality and marginalization. Race, class, gender, and globalization, in addition to the emergence of the Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN), are essential factors to the discourse of resistance. EZLN, an armed indigenous group in Chiapas, led by its famed leader, Subcomandante Marcos, clearly opposed the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In examining resistance, ritual, and performance, the photography of Turok serves as testimony of the struggles of indigenous people and the relevance it has for a diverse Mexican society.
ContributorsArizmendi, Aaron (Author) / Foster, David W (Thesis advisor) / Tompkins, Cynthia (Committee member) / Rosales, Jesus (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Measuring the success of a transportation project as it is envisioned in the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) and is detailed in an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is not part of any current planning process, for a post construction analysis may have political consequences for the project participants, would incur additional costs, and may be difficult to define in terms of scope. With local, state and federal budgets shrinking, funding sources are demanding that the performance of a project be evaluated and project stakeholders be held accountable. The Transportation Research Board (TRB) developed a framework that allows transportation agencies to customize their reporting so that a project's performance can be measured. In the case of the Red Mountain Freeway, the selected performance measure allows for comparing the population forecasts, the traffic volumes, and the project costs defined in the final EIS to actual population growth, actual average annual daily traffic (ADT), and actual project costs obtained from census data, the City of Mesa, and contractor bids, respectively. The results show that population projections for both Maricopa County and the City of Mesa are within less than half a percent of the actual annual population growth. The traffic analysis proved more difficult due to inconsistencies within the EIS documents, variations in the local arterials used to produce traffic volume, and in the projection time-spans. The comparison for the total increase in traffic volume generated a difference of 11.34 percent and 89.30 percent. An adjusted traffic volume equal to all local arterials and US 60 resulted in a difference of 40 percent between the projected and actual ADT values. As for the project cost comparison, not only were the costs within the individual documents inconsistent, but they were underestimated by as much as 75 percent. Evaluating the goals as described in an EIS document using the performance measure guidelines provided by the TRB may provide the tool that can help promote conflict resolution for political issues that arise, streamline the planning process, and measure the performance of the transportation system, so that lessons learned can be applied to future projects.
ContributorsKizior, Angelika (Author) / Golub, Aaron (Thesis advisor) / Kuby, Michael (Committee member) / Wentz, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
New works for the bass clarinet as a solo instrument are uncommon. In the interest of expanding the repertoire of the bass clarinet, three new works for bass clarinet were commissioned from three different composers, all with different instrumentations. The resulting works are Industrial Strength for bass clarinet and piano by Kenji Bunch; Dark Embers for two bass clarinets by Theresa Martin; and Shovelhead for bass clarinet and interactive electronics by Steven Snowden. Although all three works feature the bass clarinet, they are all very different and pose unique challenges to the performer. To accompany these pieces, and as an aid to future performers, a performance practice guide has been included with recommendations for individuals who wish to perform these works. Included in the guide are recommended fingerings, practice techniques, and possible adjustments to the bass clarinet parts designed in collaboration with the composers that make the works more technically accessible. Accompanying this guide are full scores of all three works, a recording of them performed by the author, and a chart that contains recommended altissimo fingerings.
ContributorsMiracle, Matthew (Author) / Spring, Robert (Thesis advisor) / Gardner, Joshua (Committee member) / Holbrook, Amy (Committee member) / Micklich, Albie (Committee member) / Rogers, Rodney (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
With various gaps remaining in business incubation literature, developing scales that capture the multi-dimensional constructs of the incubation process remains a necessity. While living and traveling within Brazil, this author journeyed within Brazil's well-developed incubation ecosystem in order to investigate the reproducibility and validity of scales whose authors propose measure the constructs that capture the process of business incubation which were defined in their options-driven theory of business incubation as "selection performance", "monitoring and business assistance intensity", and "resource munificence". Regression analysis resulted in the data suggesting that there is no statistically significant predictive ability of the Hackett and Dilts scales when used to predict incubatee outcomes from this study's sample of incubators. The results of the analysis between total score in each of the three constructs and incubatee outcomes suggested that when the total score within the construct of selection performance increases, there tends to be a decrease in incubatee outcomes where the incubatee was surviving and growing profitably at the time of its exit from the incubator. Also, there tends to be a decrease in incubatee outcomes where the incubatee was surviving and growing on a path toward profitability at the time of the incubator exit. The results show no predictive ability of the remaining two constructs of "monitoring and business assistance intensity" and "resource munificence" to capture business incubation performance. The item specific analysis of all correlating and inter-correlating variables for each of the dependent variables, resulting in several significant relationships, however, many demonstrate negative relationships which also run contrary to the relationships proposed by Hackett and Dilts. These results have challenged both the validity of the Hackett and Dilts scale as a tool for investigating the constructs of the incubation process, and the ability of the options-driven theory to explain and predict business incubation outcomes.
ContributorsBejarano, Thomas (Author) / Grossman, Gary (Thesis advisor) / Waissi, Gary (Committee member) / Parmentier, Mary Jane (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
The U.S. Army Medical Command has been testing a leadership based structure to increase the performance of delivering construction and facility services in its system of $600M of construction and 26 major hospital facilities in the U.S. The organizational requirement was to minimize the management and oversight of contractors and simultaneously increase project performance. The research proposes that a leadership based structure can supplement the perception, preplanning, and risk minimization capability of a contractor's project manager, thus increasing the project performance (on time, within budget, and meeting expectations) and decreasing client management requirement. The projects were delivered in a best value and low price environment. The major impact of this research was that proactive management by contractors was more effective than traditional management such as direction, control, and inspection by client's professional representatives. The results based on data collection and date analyses validated that a leadership based structure can increase the performance of an organization and reduce its management requirement.
ContributorsMalhotra, Neha (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean T. (Thesis advisor) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Committee member) / Badger, William (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010
Description
In the structural engineering industry, the design of structures typically follows a prescriptive approach in which engineers conform to a series of code requirements that stipulate the design process. Prescriptive design is tested, reliable, and understood by practically every structural engineer in the industry; however, in recent history a new method of design has started to gain traction among certain groups of engineers. Performance-based design is a reversal of the prescriptive approach in that it allows engineers to set performance goals and work to prove that their proposed designs meet the criteria they have established. To many, it is an opportunity for growth in the structural design industry. Currently, performance-based design is most commonly utilized in regions where seismic activity plays an important role in the design process. Due to its flexible nature, performance-based design has proven extremely useful when applied to unique structures such as high-rises, stadiums, and other community-centric designs. With a focus placed on performance objectives and not on current code prescriptions, engineers utilizing performance-based design are more adept to implement new materials, design processes, and construction methods, and can more efficiently design their structures to exist on a specific area of land. Despite these many cited benefits, performance-based design is still considered an uncommon practice in the broad view of structural design. In order to ensure that structural engineers have the proper tools to practice performance-based design in instances where they see fit, a coordinated effort will be required of the engineers themselves, the firms of which they are employed, the professional societies to which they belong, and the educators who are preparing their next generation. Performance-based design holds with it the opportunity to elevate the role of the structural engineer to which they are informed members of the community, where the structures they create not only perform according to design prescriptions, but also perform according to the needs of the owners, engineers, and society.
ContributorsMaurer, Cole (Author) / Hjelmstad, Keith (Thesis advisor) / Chatziefstratiou, Efthalia (Committee member) / Dusenberry, Donald (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021