In this thesis, I examine composition scholarship on the intersections of religious faith and writing pedagogy over the past twenty years, tracing the origins of compositionists' discomfort with religion and focusing on pedagogical approaches for working with religiously-committed students. In particular, I emphasize the way in which these approaches are...
This thesis is an exploration of writing from two communities of practice addressing different aspects of hypertext--an electronic medium used to link text, images, and other content such that it can be accessed by users non-sequentially. In particular, I examine multiple narratives of hypertext development and key theoretically oriented approaches...
In this thesis, I discuss the uses of two different forms of young adult novels for relaying messages about adolescence and femininity to adolescents from adult authors. I explore the traditional and organized quest narrative as written by Anne McCaffrey in her Harper Hall Trilogy with a young female hero....
Current estimates indicate that between one-third and one-half of women in the United States have at least one abortion in their lifetime, and that many women encounter socioeconomic, logistical, or social obstacles in the process of seeking care (Jones 2005, Guttmacher 2008). The purpose of this study is to critically...
This thesis is an exploration of literary representation of professors, specificially in Willa Cather's The Professor's House and Vladimir Nabokov's Pnin. I explicate the political unconscious of these texts by teasing out the tensions and ironies stemming from the conflict between the radical political consequences of the titular characters' scholarship...
Fort Yamhill, located in the eastern foothills of the Oregon Coast Range near modern day Grand Ronde, Oregon, was a U.S. Army post established in March 1856 as part of a three fort system to guard the newly established Coast Reservation and to provide a Union presence in the state...
Anne Frances Wysocki, a scholar in the field of new media and composition studies, has published many articles, book chapters, a textbook, and is a major contributor to a multi-authored collection titled Writing New Media: Theory and Applications for Expanding the Teaching of Composition. This thesis considers the five openings...
Traditionally, Renaissance studies have neglected or overlooked the contributions of early modern female poets, many of whom produced lively, engaging, and highly creative work despite the limitations imposed on them by a rigidly patriarchal society. In my thesis, I examine the life and work of Aemilia Lanyer, a 17th century...
Not only does the publication of Ovidian adaptations online increase public awareness of Ovid, but it also offers new material for research and pedagogical purposes. Consequently, in this thesis, I explore both the historical tradition of Ovidian adaptations, specifically adaptations of Ovid's Orpheus tale, and the modern presentation of Ovidian...
This ethnographic study examined some of the ways that global markets and the infrastructure of agribusiness affect local smallholder farmers in the Ten Rivers region who are transitioning toward more sustainable and traditional agricultural methods. The purpose of this research was to discover what barriers smallholder farmers face in developing...
Since the early twentieth century, manufacturers of toxic products have attempted
to discredit research linking their product with disease. At the same time they have manufactured their own science designed to minimize risks associated with their products. Much of this activity has been conducted by or through corporate attorneys, endeavors...
In this ethnographic study, I examine how women living in downstate Illinois decide to give birth at home. I view decision-making as a process that unfolds throughout pregnancy and continues into the postpartum period, contextualizing "choice" in a region where homebirth is a politically and socially marginalized practice. The methodology...
Since the 1952 Bolivian agrarian reform, farmer unions have sought to establish themselves as producers for regional markets. Development strategies led by the World Bank and IMF have largely jeopardized small farmers, and challenged farmers to meet market demands. At present, a new agrarian revolution is being implemented and is...
Literacy projects can lead to community empowerment, particularly when roundtable discussions initiate goals and students draw on their experiences and strengths to serve as "literacy ambassadors." In the two following linked manuscripts, I make my case for a literacy ambassador model of literacy service learning project that engages communities and...
Around the globe, an array of alternative agrifood movements has emerged largely in response to the ecological and socio-economic threat caused by industrialized agricultural processes. From organic agriculture, to Slow Food, Locavore, and the Food Sovereignty movement, people around the world are reasserting their right to healthy and culturally appropriate...
The purpose of this study is to ethnographically examine traditionally prescribed notions of sons and daughters in an Indian diasporic community located on Devon Avenue in Chicago. Informed by the association between "ideal" and "actual" family building patterns, this study situates reproductive behaviors and demographic outcomes in its local context...
This thesis explores the metaphor of hospice nurses as "midwives to the dying" by
applying philosophical inquiry to the field of hospice. I focus on the history of the
movements, their professional approaches to caregiving, and the core commitments of
both the modern midwifery and hospice movements. Although focused on...
This ethnographic research aims to discover the implications of the
commodification of production processes amongst the Ersu Tibetans of Sichuan,
China. This thesis examines the commodification of Ersu agriculture and ethnic
identity in the historical context of both China and the world-system. Ethnohistorical
and ethnoecological methodologies are utilized to answer...
This thesis examines the characterization of the femme fatale and the implications of this trope for late-Victorian gender and sexuality in the ghost stories of female aesthete Vernon Lee. In her treatment of the femme fatale figure, Lee both reinforces and complicates the image of the sexualized, often bestialized woman...
The following thesis explores the potential for autoethnography to serve as an enabling method for developing a grounded understanding of literacy, performance, gender and sexuality. As autoethnographic writing insists that even the seemingly most personal aspects of a researcher's character are deeply embedded in larger political and sociocultural narratives, this...