Browsing by Subject "Sam Houston State University"
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Item Economic Restructuring in the Northeast: A Replication and Extension(2017-03-29) Grant, Kaitlin; Theodori, Gene; Fortunato, Michael; Douglas, KarenThis study examines economic restructuring in the northeastern United States from 1990-2010 in counties of twelve northeastern states. Building upon a previous study by Kreahling, Smith, and Luloff (1996), the purpose of this study is to determine the changing effects on employment, poverty, and population within each county due to the economic restructuring within northeast counties. It is hypothesized that those counties that have continued the transition into professional and service--related occupations have had increases in population and employment and a decrease in poverty. Furthermore, this study surveyed county leaders to gain their perspective on changes to their county’s economic structure over the last twenty years. It is hypothesized that local county leaders’ answers on the survey will be parallel to the census data results when it relates to changes in poverty, employment, and populationItem Factors contributing to academic resilience of former homeless high school students: A phenomenological study(2017-04-19) Hart, Linda M.; Nichter, Mary S.; Sullivan, Jeffrey M.; Li, Chi-SIngHomelessness is an increasing epidemic afflicting the United States. Of the millions of homeless in the United States, over two million are children (National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2009; Slesnick, Dashora, Letcher, Erden, & Serocivh, 2009). It is reported that over 1.2 million of homeless students are enrolled in public schools (National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth, 2014). Researchers have demonstrated that homeless students score significantly lower than normally housed students (Buckner, 2008; Hendricks & Barkley, 2011, & Obradović, et al., 2009), and homeless students are at risk of developmental delays at a rate of four times their peers (Holgersson-Shorter, 2010). Despite the overwhelming odds against them, some homeless students are personally resilient and thrive in the face of adversity, achieving academic excellence, resulting in academic resilience. Theoretical framework for my phenomenological study included the self-efficay (Bandura, 1977, 1987, & 1989) and self-determination theories. Participants in my study were identified as homeless while attending high school, achieved academic resilience, and they are all currently attending universities. My study focused on motivating factors contributing to academic resilience in my participants. Interviews and sandtray therapy sessions were conducted, resulting in five emerging themes from the transcripts and photos of the processed sandtrays; (a) isolation, (b) confusion, (c) faith, (d) determination, and (e) academic achievement. Although the homeless population faces many challenges, homeless youth face additionally challenges, including poor academic achievement (Toro, Dworksky, & Fowler, 2007; Hardy, 2009). The participants in my study overcame the obstacles due to the emerging resiliency and motivating factors. Vast research conducted on homelessness was concerning challenges and low academic achievement among the population. The lack of research concerning high achieving homeless students limited the ability to provide a deeper understanding of the phenomenon. Each of my participants went unidentified as homeless until their senior year of high school. It is imperative that school officials; including teachers, school counselors, administrators, and district personnel be more efficient in identifying homeless students. An in-depth study of homeless high school students may reveal necessary implications for school officials regarding the needs and identification factors of homeless students.Item Geosocial Dating Apps and the Romantic Lives of Young Gay and Bisexual Men(2017-04-18) Arthur, Tim W.; Douglas, Karen; Cabaniss, Emily; Constance, DouglasThis study explores the role of geosocial dating applications in the romantic lives of young gay and bisexual men. Technology is rapidly changing the way individuals seek romantic and sexual partners. Due to social stigma surrounding homosexuality, virtual mediums have been popular among the LGBT community since their inception. Young gay and bisexual men are among the most likely to use virtual dating mediums. Ten one-on-one, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with participants ranging in age from twenty-three to twenty-nine years old. Using a quasi-inductive, grounded theory approach, transcripts of the interviews were analyzed and coded for relevant themes. Erving Goffman’s theories on the presentation of self, stigma, and the interaction order, combined with the conceptualization of dating apps as partner markets, provided the theoretical framework for data analysis and discussion. Findings suggest that geosocial dating apps offer users a mixed bag of benefits and challenges. Men are able to interact with one another while retaining control over the release of identifying information. However, the ability to withhold or mask personal details about themselves can also create interactional challenges and impediments to relationship formation and retention.Item March 2018 Texas Digital Library Forum(Texas Digital Lirary, 2018-03-21) Park, Kristi; Mumma, Courtney; DeForest, LeaPresentation for the March 2018 Texas Digital Library (TDL) Forum. This TDL Forum featured Kristi Park providing an update on TDL staffing as well as a services update on OJS, Vireo and the Hyku pilot project. Laura McElfresh gave an update on the DSpace Education Working Group. Courtney Mumma discussed upcoming conferences and events where TDL will be the keynote. Lea DeForest spoke about upcoming TDL events including TCDL, a TLA meet-up and the March Metadata Mixer.Item Of Pyrates and Picaros: The Literary Lineage of Charles Johnson’s A General History of the Pyrates(2017-11-13) Morris, Adam R.; Payton, Jason M.Charles Johnson’s A General History of the Pyrates is a text that exists at the nexus of Atlantic history, Atlantic literary studies, and oceanic studies. Though the study of Johnson’s work has most often been the province of historians, this thesis establishes the need to reconsider it as a literary artifact and explores its literary legacy and lineage through the use of material history and genre theories. The initial chapter examines the evolution of A General History in transnational and transatlantic contexts, with an emphasis on its material history. This approach affords the opportunity to examine how changes to the text serve the rhetorical purposes of girding Johnson’s credibility with his audience and of emphasizing the critical socio-political themes in the text, namely European culpability in the rise and perpetuation of piracy, and how these changes reflect a fluctuation in eighteenth-century concerns with piracy. Chapters two and three maintain a generic focus. Chapter two establishes the work as a piece of literature with divinable characteristics belonging to many genres and specifically acknowledges the picaresque novel’s influence on the text, noting that the work borrowed from the Spanish literary tradition and that some figures in the text, Bartholomew Roberts in particular, function as English picaros. Chapter three focuses on the text’s distinct political commentary and Johnson’s mobilization of the English picaro as a vessel of criticism. The socio-political criticism evident in the English picaro female pirate narratives—those of Mary Read (and Anne Bonny, to a lesser extent)—is the manifestation, illustration, and extension of criticisms introduced in the preface and introduction, both of which mark the text as a critique of English/European imperial practices and inefficiencies. A close reading of Johnson’s text reveals a nuanced view of eighteenth-century piracy. Ultimately, Johnson leverages the picaresque and other fictional elements for the sake of socio-political criticism and satire and argues that the scourge of piracy is a byproduct of the structural and administrative shortcomings of the European state at large, emphasizing the English role in the incubation of piracy.