Matching Items (80)
Description
Tobias Smollett was an eighteenth-century surgeon, writer, novelist, and editor. He was a Scotsman who sought his fortune in south Briton. Throughout his life and career he experienced many of the cultural and political influences that helped to shape the British identity. His youth as a Lowland Scot, student and apprentice, and naval surgeon enabled him to embrace this new identity. His involvement in nearly every aspect of the publishing process in London enabled him to shape, define, and encourage this identity. His legacy, through his works and his life story, illustrates the different ways in which the United Kingdom and its inhabitants have been perceived throughout the centuries. As a prominent man of his time and an enduring literary figure to this day, Smollett offers an ideal prism through which to view the formation of the British identity.
ContributorsKeough, Megan (Author) / Warnicke, Retha (Thesis advisor) / Szuter, Christine (Committee member) / Wright, Kent (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
This thesis addresses the concept of "silence" in Vercors' 1943 novel on resistance in occupied France, The Silence of the Sea, contesting the arguments of scholars who designate silent resistance as expressly "female" and applicable only to women. Although women in France were supposed to be apolitical and removed from activities such as public debates and direct warfare, an examination of allegorical and historical female figures, together with male and female interpretations of those figures, suggests that men and women in France understood patriotism, and especially female patriotism, through a conceptual framework that was informed by and manifested itself in female images of the French Republic. My study on the gendered applications of female images focuses upon the French use of female allegorical figures, and resistance symbols such as the Lorraine Cross, to denote opposition to the Prussian/German acquisition of lands that the French people perceived as French, exploring commonalities between images from the Franco-Prussian War and World War II. Utilizing images relating to the republican values of liberty, equality, and fraternity, including Marianne, the female allegory of the people's Republic, and Joan of Arc, a historical character who became a female allegorical figure, this thesis argues that female allegories of republican resistance to tyranny were combined with resistance to Prussia (Germany) during the "Terrible Year" of 1870-1871. Furthermore, these images combined masculine militant elements, with perceived feminine qualities such as purity and saintly endurance, giving rise to divergent interpretations of female imagery among men and women, and a perceived association between women and silent, indirect resistance. Bourgeois men applied the militant aspects of female images to real women in abstract form. However, with the German annexation of Alsace-Lorraine, resistance techniques and symbols that had been gendered feminine gained precedence and became associated with men as well as women. Recent scholars have utilized the masculine/feminine dichotomy in French female allegories to classify World War II-era resistance as either "active" or "passive," failing to consider the conflation of the masculine/temporal and feminine/spiritual spheres in Vercors' novel and in documents such as "Advice to the Occupied."
ContributorsStevenson, Julia (Author) / Thompson, Victoria (Thesis advisor) / Fuchs, Rachel (Committee member) / Wright, Kent (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
This thesis will examine how the Middle Ages are historically interpreted and portrayed in the United States. In order to keep this study within reasonable bounds, the research will exclude films, television, novels, and other forms of media that rely on the Pre-Modern period of European history for entertainment purposes. This thesis will narrow its focus on museums, non-profit organizations, and other institutions, examining their methods of research and interpretation, the levels of historical accuracy or authenticity they hold themselves to, and their levels of success. This thesis ultimately hopes to prove that the medieval period offers the same level of public interest as popular periods of American history.
This focus on reenactment serves to illustrate the need for an American audience to form a simulated connection to a historical period for which they inherently lack geographic or cultural memory. The utilization of hyperreality as described by Umberto Eco lends itself readily to this historic period, and plays to the American desire for total mimetic immersion and escapism. After examining the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s exhibition of medieval history as high art and culture, the thesis focuses on historical reenactment, as it offers a greater level of visitor interaction, first by analyzing R.G. Collingwood’s definition of “reenactment” and it’s relation to the modern application in order to establish it as a veritable academic practice.
The focus of the thesis then turns to the historical interpretation/reenactment program identified here as historical performance, which uses trained actors in controlled museum conditions to present historically accurate demonstrations meant to bring the artifacts on display to simulated life. Beginning with the template first established by the Royal Armories Museum in the United Kingdom, a comparative study utilizing research and interviews highlights the interpretative methods of the Frazier History Museum, and those of the Higgins Armory Museum. By comparing both museum’s methods, a possible template for successfully educating the American public about the European Middle Ages; while a closer examination of the Frazier Museum’s survival compared to the Higgins Armory’s termination may illustrate what future institutions must do or avoid to thrive.
This focus on reenactment serves to illustrate the need for an American audience to form a simulated connection to a historical period for which they inherently lack geographic or cultural memory. The utilization of hyperreality as described by Umberto Eco lends itself readily to this historic period, and plays to the American desire for total mimetic immersion and escapism. After examining the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s exhibition of medieval history as high art and culture, the thesis focuses on historical reenactment, as it offers a greater level of visitor interaction, first by analyzing R.G. Collingwood’s definition of “reenactment” and it’s relation to the modern application in order to establish it as a veritable academic practice.
The focus of the thesis then turns to the historical interpretation/reenactment program identified here as historical performance, which uses trained actors in controlled museum conditions to present historically accurate demonstrations meant to bring the artifacts on display to simulated life. Beginning with the template first established by the Royal Armories Museum in the United Kingdom, a comparative study utilizing research and interviews highlights the interpretative methods of the Frazier History Museum, and those of the Higgins Armory Museum. By comparing both museum’s methods, a possible template for successfully educating the American public about the European Middle Ages; while a closer examination of the Frazier Museum’s survival compared to the Higgins Armory’s termination may illustrate what future institutions must do or avoid to thrive.
ContributorsHatch, Ryan R (Author) / Wright, Kent (Thesis advisor) / Warnicke, Retha M. (Committee member) / Fixico, Donald L. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
There is a disconnect between the way people are taught to find success and happiness, and the results observed. Society teaches us that success will lead to happiness. Instead, it is argued that success is engrained in happiness. Case studies of four, established, successful people: Jack Ma, Elon Musk, Ricardo Semler, and William Gore, have been conducted in order to observe an apparent pattern. This data, coupled with the data from Michael Boehringer's story, is used to formulate a solution to the proposed problem. Each case study is designed to observe characteristics of the individuals that allow them to be successful and exhibit traits of happiness. Happiness will be analyzed in terms of passion and desire to perform consistently. Someone who does what they love, paired with the ability to perform on a regular basis, is considered to be a happy person. The data indicates that there is an observable pattern within the results. From this pattern, certain traits have been highlighted and used to formulate guidelines that will aid someone falling short of success and happiness in their lives. The results indicate that there are simple questions that can guide people to a happier life. Three basic questions are defined: is it something you love, can you see yourself doing this every day and does it add value? If someone can answer yes to all three requirements, the person will be able to find happiness, with success following. These guidelines can be taken and applied to those struggling with unhappiness and failure. By creating such a formula, the youth can be taught a new way of thinking that will help to eliminate these issues, that many people are facing.
ContributorsBoehringer, Michael Alexander (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Department of Management (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
This project seeks to investigate the ways in which the W.P. Carey School of Business, at Arizona State University, can improve student retention and engagement efforts. The analysis is being completed through an audit of the business school's current efforts towards student engagement, an examination of the internal and external environments of business schools across the nation, and a review of scholarly data/research on student retention risk factors and methods for improving engagement. The study highlights what exactly contributes to the success of the W.P. Carey School of Business, concluding with recommendations for how its engagement and retention efforts can be further improved to continue to serve students at a nationally ranked level.
ContributorsStinger, Rio W. (Author) / Hillman, Amy (Thesis director) / Mader, Michael (Committee member) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
The purpose of our research was to develop recommendations and/or strategies for Company A's data center group in the context of the server CPU chip industry. We used data collected from the International Data Corporation (IDC) that was provided by our team coaches, and data that is accessible on the internet. As the server CPU industry expands and transitions to cloud computing, Company A's Data Center Group will need to expand their server CPU chip product mix to meet new demands of the cloud industry and to maintain high market share. Company A boasts leading performance with their x86 server chips and 95% market segment share. The cloud industry is dominated by seven companies Company A calls "The Super 7." These seven companies include: Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu. In the long run, the growing market share of the Super 7 could give them substantial buying power over Company A, which could lead to discounts and margin compression for Company A's main growth engine. Additionally, in the long-run, the substantial growth of the Super 7 could fuel the development of their own design teams and work towards making their own server chips internally, which would be detrimental to Company A's data center revenue. We first researched the server industry and key terminology relevant to our project. We narrowed our scope by focusing most on the cloud computing aspect of the server industry. We then researched what Company A has already been doing in the context of cloud computing and what they are currently doing to address the problem. Next, using our market analysis, we identified key areas we think Company A's data center group should focus on. Using the information available to us, we developed our strategies and recommendations that we think will help Company A's Data Center Group position themselves well in an extremely fast growing cloud computing industry.
ContributorsJurgenson, Alex (Co-author) / Nguyen, Duy (Co-author) / Kolder, Sean (Co-author) / Wang, Chenxi (Co-author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Hertzel, Michael (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / WPC Graduate Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Women dominate in terms of purchasing power and spending. They hold 60 percent of all US personal income, and those aged 50 years or older have a combined net worth of approximately $19 trillion. Of this group, women between 50 and 70 years old, in particular, are the biggest spenders (Barmann, 2014). More important than their spending power, however, is how satisfied (or dissatisfied) they are with their current purchases. Though women make 85 percent of all consumer purchases, 91 percent of women say, "...advertisers don't understand them," (Barmann, 2014). This makes sense, considering that 50 percent of the products marketed to men are actually purchased by women (Barmann, 2014). Successfully targeting women, especially Baby Boomers (women between 52 and 70 years old), would be a lucrative endeavor, and to better understand the unmet needs of that demographic, exploratory research was needed. In-depth interviews of Baby Boomer women reveals a problem that \u2014 even on a macro level \u2014 has gone unresolved, and has perhaps worsened, throughout written history: the Generation Gap (Bengtson, 1970). To illustrate the depth of the problem, there exist starkly different impressions of younger generations, namely Millennials (born between 1980 and 1995). According to The New Generation Gap by Neil Howe and William Strauss (1992), Baby Boomers view Millennials as unintelligent, entitled "pleasure beasts." In Millennials Rising, also by Howe and Strauss (2000), Millennials are characterized as a generation that is, "...beginning to manifest a wide array of positive social habits that older Americans no longer associate with youth, including a new focus on teamwork, achievement, modesty, and good conduct." These contradictory opinions further support the substantial misunderstanding between generations that surfaced during in-depth interviews. Using the results of in-depth interviews and follow-up questions for idea validation, this thesis presents a potential method for "closing the gap." The goal of this business offering is not to homogenize older and younger generations of women; the goal is to cultivate empathy and connection \u2014 Intergenerational Cohesion \u2014 between them.
ContributorsSeefus, Cole Hawk Gillette (Author) / Gray, Nancy (Thesis director) / Giard, Jacques (Committee member) / Department of Management (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
This thesis discusses the creation of a new brand of wine. We noticed new trends in packaging and wine labels from different wine producers, and decided to take a deeper look into the current state of the wine industry. We found millennials are growing consumers of wine, and being part of the millennial generation ourselves, we decided our own personal insight could be used in our research efforts to come up with a new concept for wine. Through primary and secondary research, we were able to find relevant trends in the wine industry in regards to millennials. The focus was to create a unique marketing plan for a new wine brand concept that would eventually be sold to an established winery or wine distributor. Key questions we wanted to answer with our primary and secondary research included: What consumer segment in the wine industry is the most attractive to enter? What are the current trends in regards to wine within this consumer segment? What are this consumer segment's preferences for branding in the wine industry? What are this segment's habits in regards to drinking at social occasions? Are there social constructs in regards to what container wine can be served in? What is the ideal container to pursue other than the standard wine bottle for this consumer segment? This paper aims to find related research to support our idea of creating a new brand of wine. We will discuss the background and related readings that we used to create our target market and branding idea, the methodology in which we conducted our surveys, and analyze the data from these surveys in order to finally conclude with our thesis recommendations for how to proceed with a marketing plan.
ContributorsSeeley, Carissa (Co-author) / Haagen, Jenna (Co-author) / St. Peter, Katie (Co-author) / Gray, Nancy (Thesis director) / Eaton, Kathryn (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
I Am Not A Millennial is an honors thesis project that combines research with a creative application to determine the best practices for companies and advertising agencies. The thesis consists of three main sections: an overview of what a millennial is, bursting the millennial hype bubble, and discussion of whether new targeting techniques, new ideas for content, or new ways of advertising are necessary to engage the Millennial consumer. The thesis will first look at the Millennial Generation to answer the question of "Who are they?" with the emphasis on removing the negative stereotypes from the Millennial generation. This section will be supported by the following section which will discuss the lack of statistical information that truly separates the Millennial generation from its predecessors. Finally, by presenting information on my experiences leading a student-run advertising non profit, case studies, and working within an account management department of an advertising agency, this thesis will present conclusions that advertising agencies and businesses need to develop targeting and content practices that focus in on consumers' interests and tell the story of "why" in order to connect with Millennials.
ContributorsCondo, Ashley Roelle (Author) / Ostrom, Amy (Thesis director) / Giles, Bret (Committee member) / Department of Management (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Technology both stimulates and is simultaneously stimulated by people and society. As a classic example, games have shaped and have been shaped by people's preferences. Today, online computer games are roaming everywhere, attracting and connecting players all over the world. However, at the same time, a lesser form of technology has emerged alongside of online computer games. It is known as trading card games (TCGs). Surprisingly, TCGs have been able to compete on same level as online computer games. Looking at my past experiences, I offered a theory that encompasses three forms of social interactions to explain for TCGs' success. The three types of interactions are: interaction of identities, interaction of interests, and interaction of influences. Interaction of identities is the constant interchange of player information and knowledge through different mediums. Interaction of interests involves the exchange and quality of the tangible and intangible. Interaction of influences deals with the fluid flow of communication and ideas that players use to change an outcome, however consciously or unconsciously done. Not one of these three factors of interactions act along; each is a part of a grand picture of interaction of interactions. Altogether, these factors explain, at least in part, the current popularity of trading card games as a relatively simple technology in a society with a plethora of technologically advanced entertainments and games such as virtual computer gaming. A web-based survey was devised to further examine the effects of the three forms of interactions have on online computer game and trading card game players. The results were consistent with the premises of the three-factor interaction theory.
ContributorsQin, Sheng (Author) / Eaton, John P. (Thesis director) / Olsen, G. Douglas (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05