American University

Such Is The Heart Circling Home

2013-05-09T00:00:00Z

Such Is The Heart Circling Home Yearwood, Stacia Cyrene Like Aeschylus, the first Greek tragedian to expand the number of characters in a play to allow for conflict, Such is the Heart Circling Home charts the lives of those who both run headlong into conflict or observe it quietly from the sidelines. Within these pages, survival is surveyed as an art and the survivors set into two groups: those who stay vigilantly tethered to safety and don't die and those who understand vulnerability as the antidote to death and come back to life. Such is the Heart Circling Home pairs the erotic draw and unfathomable violence of the world, conflates faith with submission, maps the scope of loss and explores the struggle to come to terms with identity after one has been disquieted or uprooted. Such is the Heart Circling Home paints the miracle of darkness -- affirming that that is the way. Degree awarded: M.F.A. Literature. American University

DAS FREIE WORT? THE STRUCTURING OF EAST AND WEST GERMAN PRESS CULTURE DURING THE AMERICAN AND SOVIET OCCUPATIONS

2013-05-09T00:00:00Z

DAS FREIE WORT? THE STRUCTURING OF EAST AND WEST GERMAN PRESS CULTURE DURING THE AMERICAN AND SOVIET OCCUPATIONS Williams, Robert John This dissertation charts a course that begins with U.S. and Soviet wartime propaganda programs and ends with the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Its focus rests on the interplay between the newspaper policies of the occupation powers, the coverage of news in each zone of occupation, the personalities that coordinated and created newspaper contents, and popular German responses to the postwar press by considering four publications born of the occupation era: the Red Army's Tägliche Rundschau, the U.S.-run Die Neue Zeitung, the American-licensed Frankfurter Rundschau, and the Socialist Unity Party's (SED) Neues Deutschland. It assesses the participation of Germans in the reconstruction of their media by considering both those who were active in the postwar press and those who read and interacted with the press. It argues that popular German participation was an inherently political act, one that eventually led to the creation of a shared political life in the West that came not just from above, but also through interaction with the printed word. In addition, this study analyzes the imposition of structures on the development press cultures in the two German republics, including the SED-led sovietization of the press and the reactive and defensive use of information media by the United States during the early cold war. Degree awarded: Ph.D. History. American University

Do Spirits Have a Place at the Negotiating Table?

2013-05-09T00:00:00Z

Do Spirits Have a Place at the Negotiating Table? Wolgamuth, Erin In recent decades the field of conflict resolution has increasingly acknowledged culture, worldview, and localized peace-building mechanisms, as integral components of conflict analysis and practice techniques. Nonmaterial beings, like spirits, comprise a significant component of many global worldviews but have not yet been analyzed as a phenomenon by the conflict resolution field. The research question explored in this paper is whether spirits could contribute to conflict resolution as actors in their own right. Content analysis is used to explore cases from Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Mozambique, the United States, and Sri Lanka. I will demonstrate ultimately that spirits should be regarded as actors, much as humans are, in conflict contexts where they have relevant influence. Degree awarded: M.A. School of International Service. American University

Tidewatchers

2013-05-09T00:00:00Z

Tidewatchers White, Carolyn Tidewatchers is an original work of fiction that explores those bonds of blood capable of enduring death. Set on an island in the tidewater region of Virginia, the novel follows the Loops, a family isolated first by their reputation and then by the death of Wavy Loop, the novel's twelve-year old narrator. What begins as a chronicle of Wavy's coming of age in a place on the verge of change becomes an examination of grief as the Loops mourn the life Wavy will never live and Wavy observes the lives she fears she has ruined with her death. Incorporating elements of the fantastic, Tidewatchers tells a story about adolescence, sisterhood, and loss; in doing so, it seeks to reveal the miraculous in what too often appears mundane: family. Degree awarded: M.F.A. Literature. American University

The Impact of Implementation Intentions in a Worksite Pedometer Challenge

2013-05-09T00:00:00Z

The Impact of Implementation Intentions in a Worksite Pedometer Challenge Tasman, Leah The prevalence of sedentary lifestyles has led to progressively more unhealthy individuals, which contributes to an unproductive workforce. To address these issues and the related expenditures due to healthcare and lost productivity, workplace health promotion programs have acknowledged the capacity of various physical activity interventions including pedometer-based walking programs. Employing an implementation intention approach to these programs and delivering these planning messages through email has potential to strengthen health promotion programs. The purpose of this study is to determine the impact that email-delivered implementation intentions have on physical activity behaviors of participants in a worksite pedometer program. Fifty-six employees at American University who participated in a six-week pedometer challenge were part of a randomized controlled experiment in which intervention group participants received planning emails that featured implementation intentions over the course of the challenge as well as six-weeks post challenge. The results of the study demonstrated a significantly greater increase in walking among intervention group participants during the pedometer program. It was concluded that the use of implementation intention emails may increase adherence to walking in association with a worksite pedometer challenge and that health promotion practitioners should include this approach when designing programs to increase physical activity. Degree awarded: M.S. School of Education, Teaching and Health. American University

Survival Strategies of Homeless Men: Home, Scavenging, Work, and Welfare in Tokyo Japan

2013-05-09T00:00:00Z

Survival Strategies of Homeless Men: Home, Scavenging, Work, and Welfare in Tokyo Japan Wickens, Matthew Henry This dissertation is a story of men dealing with the challenges of poverty and homelessness in Tokyo, Japan. The homeless men I describe are mostly over fifty and face a daily struggle to secure the necessities of life. They live a few blocks from department stores selling luxury goods, which is ironic as Japan promoted itself as a classless society without poverty before the recession of 2008. This dissertation details how many men are resourceful and use a variety of strategies to survive and shows how Japanese society values older men who do not work. The dissertation revolves around the lives of the men in and around Ueno Park and focuses on two things: their homes, past and current, and their survival strategies. Discussing their homes includes how they became homeless and their relationship with their family. By home, I mean examining their current life in Ueno Park including how they built their home in the park. I discuss their relationships with their neighbors, fellow homeless men, and the authorities in the park. The hardships that many men experience, including health problems, facing death, loneliness, violence, and difficulties getting along with others show the difficulties in their lives.Survival strategies are crucial for homeless men. Their strategies include scavenging for aluminum cans, newspapers, magazines, cardboard, or copper wires: working a variety of jobs including those provided by welfare centers, a friend, or a coworker: and attending soup lines or applying for welfare. Since many of these strategies provide money, I examine common patterns of managing money. Some of the issues regarding money management that arose were not saving, living for the day, gambling, and living very frugally. Finally, the dissertation concludes by offering ideas for further research and policy recommendations for the Japanese government to improve the men's lives. I make several suggestions including the Ministry Health, Labour, and Welfare doing a better job of providing welfare for homeless men, giving them postcards so they can contact their families, and giving the men cash. Additionally, I propose a governmental agency to coordinate the various soup lines. Degree awarded: Ph.D. Anthropology. American University

The Accidental Children

2013-05-09T00:00:00Z

The Accidental Children Staggs, Marshal James The Accidental Children is an original work of fiction that explores the consequences of denial and conflict avoidance in the lives of two high school students who accidentally conceive a child on the eve of graduation. The novel deals with the relationship between family and ambition, and the problems created by unwillingness on the part of the characters to cope with and accept responsibility for their mistakes. When does self-absorption for the sake of following one's dreams begin to have a negative effect on friends and family? When does an unwillingness to be honest become detrimental to the stability of the family? Degree awarded: M.F.A. Literature. American University

ERG ANALYSIS REVEALS REDUCED FUNCTION IN ON-CENTER BIPOLAR CELLS OF GLUCOSE-TREATED ZEBRAFISH

2013-05-09T00:00:00Z

ERG ANALYSIS REVEALS REDUCED FUNCTION IN ON-CENTER BIPOLAR CELLS OF GLUCOSE-TREATED ZEBRAFISH Tanvir, Zaid Retinopathy is established as a consequence of diabetes mellitus in humans and has proven to lead to irreversible visual loss, often ending in blindness. Alterations in biochemical interactions in the retina due to chronic hyperglycemia can damage retinal vasculature leading to varying degrees of visual loss in diabetic individuals. This study proposes to further establish Danio rerio as an animal model for diabetic retinopathy. After inducing hyperglycemia in zebrafish through alternation between glucose-treated and normal water, retinal physiology was studied using ERGs to identify functional changes in the retinal tissues. Results revealed retinas exposed to hyperglycemia for 30 days had reduced b-wave activity in ERGs when compared to osmotic and water controls indicating reduced ON-center bipolar cell functionality. Reduced b-wave amplitudes were observed at peak absorption wavelengths for all four cone types. Reduced functionality in zebrafish retinas after hyperglycemia exposure supports their establishment as an animal model for diabetic retinopathy. Degree awarded: M.S. Biology. American University