Collaborative authoring and the virtual problem of context in writing courses

Since the 1980s, the field of rhetoric and composition has embraced the idea of collaborative writing as a means of generating new knowledge, troubling traditional conceptions of the author, and repositioning power within the student-teacher hierarchy. Authors such as David Bleich, Kenneth Bruffee, and Andrea Lunsford and Lisa Ede have written about, and advocated for, teachers' engagement with collaboration in the composition classroom. Yet in discussions of collaborative writing, scholars have tended to ignore an important element: the limitations placed upon student agency by the institutional context in which students write. We can ask students to work together in the classroom, but limitations on their choice of collaborators, their time together, and their ability to determine the outcome of their work result in an unproductive simulacrum of collaboration in which students write together but do not engage deeply with each other in the ways scholars describe. Ignoring the fact that classroom collaborative writing is embedded in different fields of power than writing done by scholars working outside institutional limitations results in a conception of collaborative writing as little more than an element of pedagogy, one that can be added to a syllabus without significantly changing the structure, goals, or ideology of the course. Rather than approaching collaborative writing as a means of pushing against the limits of institutional writing, the context in which collaboration takes place is naturalized. As a result, the assessment and disciplinary structures of the academy, the physical division of the student body into class sections, and the tools available to support (or undercut) collaborative work vanish in the scholarship. To counter this trend, I explore how the denial of context and the resulting disconnection between theory (the claims for collaborative writing) and practice (the twenty-first-century composition classroom) promote not collaboration, but a simulacrum of collaboration: academic work that mimics the appearance of true collaboration while failing to enact the liberatory possibility of working with other writers. This project explores collaborative theory on three levels: the personal, in which collaborative writing is illustrated via specific business, public, and academic contexts; the pedagogical, in which current collaborative theory and practice is deployed and analyzed to understand its limitations; and the disciplinary, in which current collaborative theory and practice is questioned, critiqued, and remediated to propose an alternative collaborative classroom praxis. The structure of the dissertation, which uses interchapters to draw connections between larger theoretical issues and my ethnographic research, interviews, and analysis, reflects these three strands as a means of illustrating the interdependence of the personal, pedagogical, and disciplinary conceptions of and engagements with collaborative writing

An investigation of the speech and drama curriculum in the community colleges, junior colleges, and vocational and technical schools in North Carolina

The author was interested in the speech and drama curriculums in the community colleges, junior colleges and vocational and technical schools in North Carolina. Three different questionnaires were designed as a means of investigating these programs: Questionnaire I for the Deans, Questionnaire II for the teachers of speech, and Questionnaire III for the teachers of drama. Returns on the questionnaires are as follows: Questionnaire I, 79%; Questionnaire II, 69%; and Questionnaire III, 61%. Questionnaires returned by the Deans indicated that a majority include speech and drama as part of their curriculum and all rated speech and drama very high on an opinion scale. Only the community colleges plan to add several courses in speech or drama in the immediate future. Speech and drama were listed in departments such as English, fine arts, humanities, business, forestry, and general studies. None of the speech teachers indicated that they had a Master's degree in speech. Many had taken only undergraduate courses in speech and some had taken no speech courses since high school. Only five of the respondents belong to professional speech organizations. Eleven of the colleges offer more than one speech course in their curriculum and nine participate in extra curricular speech activities

Effects of a multiple schedule on interactions of multiple responses with children

Although most past work on the understanding and control of behavior has concentrated on stimuli and responses in isolation from the behavioral stream, trends in research incorporating study of multiple responses and temporally distal stimulus input are evident. Studies combining the use of humans, "natural," everyday responses, and momentary analyses of response interactions have not been conducted. This investigation sought to systematically investigate and extend the behavioral stream approach in experimental, theoretical, and applied areas. Specific areas of interest were the effects of noncontiguous stimulus input on immediate responding, interactions of multiple responses, and symptom-response, substitution. A group contingency was applied to the desirable response of conjoint in-seat and attending. The undesirable responses monitored were out-of-seat, aggressive and/or complaining behavior, and non-task related talking. Stereotyped responding was also monitored, as was the response of looking at cue lights accompanying a multiple schedule. The multiple schedule was used to assess effects of immediate and distal stimulus input on responding and response interactions. The first experimental phase consisted of a baseline of an equal MULT VI VI. The second phase was a shift to MULT VI EXT. A recovery of baseline, with an equal MULT VI VI, was attempted in the third phase

Faith and family in the Antebellum Piedmont South

This dissertation examines the cultural and religious dynamics of the North Carolina Piedmont's non-planter social order. I look in depth at the modernizing elements of antebellum religion, particularly the sensibility of liberality that accompanied institutional development, how church disciplinary procedures adapted to changing social reality, and the formation of middle class style nuclear families under the aegis of evangelical prescription. In addition to using denominational records, I utilize four diaries of ordinary Piedmont residents in extended explorations of how individuals enacted in their private lives the public lessons of evangelicalism. I conclude that an evangelical ethic developed that existed alongside the dominant planter ideology, and that ethic formed the basis for both unity, and dissent, in the late antebellum period

An uneasy peace: the struggle for civil rights and economic justice in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 1960-1969

This dissertation provides an innovative expansion of the historiography of Upper South locations during the Black Freedom Struggle and the War on Poverty of the 1960s. This study asserts that racial attitudes in Winston-Salem were superficially cordial and accommodating among the elites of both classes, with both sides invested in presenting a positive image of the city to the outside world. This tradition had its roots in the peculiar form of slavery practiced by the communitarian Moravians and was carried forward by New South industrialists and financiers. This dissertation demonstrates that at various moments in history, the less-privileged classes within the African American community revolted against the elites of both races to foment much more rapid change than was previously thought possible. "An Uneasy Peace" is concerned as well with the opinions and emotions of southern whites as they came to terms with the reality that their world was forever changing. This study examined hundreds of “letters to the editor” of local newspapers which provided contemporary opinions of events that occurred locally in Winston-Salem as well as elsewhere in the civil rights movement. These sources provide insights from people across lines of race, class, gender, and generation in a way not previously seen in any local movement study. “An Uneasy Peace” goes beyond the usual simplistic view of the struggle for civil rights as a straightforward battle between good and evil to probe the historical complexities and “gray areas” of various race-based issues and ideologies

The hammered dulcimer in the Southern Appalachian old time string band music of North Carolina, Southwest Virginia, and West Virginia

The hammered dulcimer, although present since early in American history, has within the past few decades encountered a resurgence of popularity with some players performing the traditional Appalachian string band music known as Old Time. Although present in small pockets in areas such as West Virginia and Randolph and Guilford counties in North Carolina for well over 100 years, the instrument was mostly unknown to the general population. Although not commonly considered historically authentic by the Old Time community, the hammered dulcimer has been a part of the rural American soundscape for over two centuries. The relative popularity of the instrument, however, waned around the turn of the twentieth century as pianos and guitars became more commonplace. The instrument nearly died out of common usage until the latter part of the folk revival during the 1970s and 1980s when dulcimer construction and playing experienced a rebirth. The instrument underwent significant changes that made it more portable and better in tune. Old Time music festivals have played an important role in the pedagogy of the genre. Competitions and "jam" sessions at these festivals strengthened the Old Time community by providing a social outlet for learning repertoire and style. However, hammered dulcimer players were sometimes excluded from these events. The result of this study showed that hammered dulcimer players learned the Old Time music repertoire separate from the Old Time establishment and perform the genre in bands created outside of the festival experience. Dulcimer players also formed their own instrument-specific festivals that featured classes and performances solely for mountain and hammered dulcimers. These players continue to be a part of the Old Time community. However, their experience differed greatly from more common instruments in the genre such as fiddle, banjo, and guitar

Separation of Alzheimer's disease biomarkers using a nanoparticle pseudostationary phase in capillary electrophoresis

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is the most common form of senile dementia and affects millions of people worldwide. Patients with AD suffer from progressive memory loss that is caused by the loss of neurons and synapses in the portions of the brain responsible for memory and cognitive ability. AD is characterized by the formation of senile plaques made mostly of the Amyloid Beta peptide and neurofibrillary tangles consisting of the Tau protein. The onset of AD seems to be correlated with changes in the concentrations of the Amyloid Beta peptides and the Tau protein. The relative concentrations of Aβ42 to Aβ40 and the total amount of Tau can be used as biomarkers for the early detection of AD. A fast, multianalyte analysis of these biomarkers could provide useful information in the diagnosis of the disease as well as a means of tracking disease progression. Capillary electrophoresis is a fast separations technique that allows for the separation of analyte based on the size to charge ratio. This technique coupled with laser-induced fluorescence is capable of picomolar limits of detection. This study focuses on a novel functionalized gold nanoparticle enhanced capillary electrophoresis technique for the separation and quantitation these Alzheimer's Disease biomarkers

An investigation of the feasibility of employing scores on tests of musical aptitude, academic achievement, intelligence, and selected psychomotor proficiencies as prognosticators of success in beginning instrumental music

It was the purpose of this study to investigate the possibility of using scores on tests of musical aptitude, academic achievement, intelligence, and selected psychomotor abilities as predictors of success in beginning instrumental music. The null hypothesis was that there would be no difference between the scores of successful and less successful beginning instrumental students on the above mentioned independent variables. The subjects were thirty-four beginning instrumental music students. The two groups of subjects--highly successful and less successful--were selected from the instrumental programs in the Greensboro City Schools. Each of the students was given a musical aptitude test and selected psychomotor tests. Scores for the intelligence and academic achievement tests were taken from the permanent records of the students. The data were analyzed through the use of a discriminant function analysis. It was found that the computed discriminant function equation was significant at the .05 level. The percentage of variability accounted for by using the discriminant function equation was found to be 37.2%. All the variables were found to make a unique contribution to the differentiation of groups; the more important variables seemed to be intelligence, musical aptitude, and academic achievement. Overall, 85% of the a priori group subjects were classified correctly by the use of the computed discriminant function equation

The vocal arrangements of Ed Smalle and Frank J. Black: seven performance editions of songs for male quartet made popular by The Revelers

Organized in 1925, The Revelers were an influential American popular musical act. Among the most successful artists performing on radio and recording during the late 1920s and 1930s, The Revelers—a quintet comprising four singers and a pianist—were integral both to the mainstreaming of jazz and to the promotion of American songwriters Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, and George Gershwin, among others. Their pioneering style influenced a generation of vocal groups, serving as a template for subsequent jazz-inflected acts including the Ink Spots, Comedian Harmonists, and The Boswell Sisters. The Revelers sold millions of records, conducted acclaimed international tours, and, due to their long-standing tenure on the NBC radio network, garnered a reputation as the world’s premier vocal ensemble. The purpose of this document is the preservation of select arrangements composed for The Revelers by Ed Smalle (1887–1968) and Frank J. Black (1898–1969) through the creation of modern performance editions. Seven editions of songs made popular by The Revelers were constructed using handwritten charts drawn from a recently discovered collection of scores that was once the property of the original group. The songs selected provide a cross-section of styles and suitably represent the creative output of Smalle and Black. The score collection is unique, containing the only extant copies of hundreds of historic, unpublished arrangements composed by Smalle and Black for The Revelers. The seven editions presented here are intended for performance and future publication

Review of Upbuilding Black Durham: Gender, Class, and Black Community Development in the Jim Crow South by Leslie Brown

This article is a review of the book Upbuilding Black Durham: Gender, Class, and Black Community Development in the Jim Crow South by Leslie Brown