Monstrous Mouths, Im/mature Lips: Orality and the Queering of Age and Gender in Contemporary Horror

This dissertation analyzes representations of the mouth in the horror genre. I focus on contemporary iterations of well-known figures of horror defined by monstrous uses of the mouth, including the female rape avenger and the act of spitting in I Spit on Your Grave (2010), the blood-drinking vampire in Let Me In (2010), the voice of the slasher horror Final Girl in the television series Scream Queens, and the bite of the Zombie Mouth Fleshlight. I propose the term horr/orality to describe how the mouth provides a vantage point for exploring how identitiesin particular, age and genderare enacted through the body in horror. Applying Freudian psychoanalysis, queer theory, and critical feminist theory, I argue that horrors monstrous mouths shift between binary registers of age. Monstrous mouths often present a form of orality that is excessive, out-of-control, and equated to a childlike/immature state prior to the internalization of social law. However, as monstrous oral bodies are brought under control, they shift into a state coded as adult and mature. This adult identity is linked to, and also subverts, the figure of the mother and her role in taming and training the bodies of her children within the normative family unit. In all, these monstrous mouths work to de-essentialize age and gender identity by presenting them as being performed through the oral body and showing that, based on how the mouth is used (in an im/mature manner), the body is capable of oscillating between and performing across age/gender binaries

Strategic Vulnerability: An Analysis of Physical Geography, Environmental, and Material Components of Force Structure

The selection of a military recruitment method has historically been based on material capabilities and military objectives. Recruitment strategies range from coercively conscripting soldiers to encouraging volunteer enlistments. Historically, states around the globe have used large conscripted armies to wage war when they become fully mobilized for protracted military engagements against another state. However, the occurrence of war is by its very nature a rare occurrence in the international system. This begs the question of what types of military recruitment states are using as a function of choice rather than necessity.;Existing literature on the selection of force structure is far more complex than existing historical models would imply. A range of factors including material capabilities, geopolitical conditions, foreign policy objectives, and institutional characteristics have all been proposed as potential explanations for the adoption of military manpower systems. These factors reflect the wide degree of variation among states in their choice of recruitment strategy. Existing case literature implies that states with similar geographic and socio-economic conditions may cluster around a given recruitment method. However, much of the realist scholarship in international relations implies a strong emphasis on power or security maximization, thus implying a more uniform policy calculus. However, there has been little theoretical or empirical research in political science or geography to date that effectively addresses this crucial policy area.;This study explores the relationship between physical geography, environmental factors, and force structure in order to investigate a small portion of the classical geopolitics literature. In order to investigate the problem of recruitment strategy, this study must develop a metric for comparison. Geographic Information Science (GIS) is used to develop an Index of Strategic Vulnerability for all states in the international system. This measure is composed of geographic and environmental variables including elevation, area, precipitation, and temperature. Data generated in the GIS are used to conduct duration models to examine the effects of geographic and environmental variables on the length of militarized interstate disputes. The results of this analysis indicate that increasingly difficult geographic and environmental conditions produce significantly longer conflicts. These finding provide empirical support for the existing case literature that claims geography and environmental factors matter in the conduct of war.;Next, the geographic and environmental data are used with political and institutional control variables to empirically evaluate the relationship between force structure and the operational conditions. Statistical analysis is used to empirically test the impacts of geographic and environmental variables have on force structure. Results indicate that geographic factor of size increases the probability that a state will use conscription. The only environmental factor to achieve significance was a state\u27s annual level of precipitation which favored the use of volunteer forces. These findings indicate that there is a tremendous amount of variation in terms of geographic and environmental conditions that states face. This also means that the adoption of military manpower policies in the international system is a reflection of these operational conditions

Recognition Of Speech In Multi-Talker Babble By Individuals With Hearing Loss

The purpose of this study was to determine the speech recognition abilities of individuals with hearing loss using multi-talker babble as a competing stimulus. Twenty-six young adults participated, 15 in the normal hearing group (mean age of 21.9 years) and 11 in the hearing loss group (mean age of 22.2 years). The participants with normal hearing (0-20 dB HL) had a high frequency pure tone average (HFPTA) of 5 dB HL in both ears, while the participants in the hearing loss group had an HFPTA of 13 dB HL in the right ear and 25 dB HL in the left ear. There was a significant difference in the hearing level of the two groups. Each group listened to words from an audio file and then repeated the words back to the researchers. Four-person multi-talker babble background noise was presented at signal-to-noise ratios of +15 dB, +5 dB, 0 dB and -5 dB. The results demonstrated that participants with normal hearing and participants with hearing loss had decreased speech recognition scores as the multi-talker babble interfered more with the target words; however, data revealed no statistical difference between the hearing loss group and the normal hearing group. In general, the results suggest that less favorable signal-to-noise ratios will affect an individual’s ability to recognize speech in noise, but mild hearing loss does not affect word recognition to any greater degree. A qualitative analysis of the types of error trends demonstrated that phoneme voicing does not contribute to speech recognition. However, the type of speech errors (e.g., substitutions, omission), the phonemes in error and the manner-of-articulation errors made by the participants increased as background noise interfered more

Korean Ethnic Identity in the United States 1900-1945

Although Koreans and Korean Americans are ubiquitous in contemporary American society, the migration of Koreans to the United States did not begin until long after other East Asians (Japanese and Chinese) were brought to Hawaii and the West Coast. In 1900 only 31 Koreans were in the entire United States, but by 1910 over 4,000 had come. These fIrst Koreans corning to America differed from Chinese and Japanese immigrant workers primarily in that they were Christians, and many of the early Koreans also came as families instead of single men. As their numbers increased, the Koreans set up communities in Hawaii and eventually California, which replicated many aspects of Korean society. When Korea was annexed by Japan in 1910 emigration slowed, and Korean nationalist organizations were established in Hawaii and the mainland United States. The leaders of some of these organizations would eventually convince the U.S. government to restore ethnic recognition to Koreans

Teaching in Times of Changing Administrations and Stringent Budgets

This paper explores the organizational and administrative changes occurring at Columbus State University as a result of changes in the University System of Georgia occurring from a progression and degree completion emphasis. Developments in this paper focus on changes at the departmental level to promote and enhance student learning in the context of reduced financial support. These efforts include the use of mentoring, peer tutoring, and improved pedagogical techniques in the online and traditional in-class settings for both undergraduate and graduate education. The goal of this paper is to highlight best practices and lessons learned for other institutions facing similar challenges. The changing nature of higher education across the country is something that departments and institutions must adapt in order to remain relevant. The materials outlined in this article represent initial efforts of the Columbus State University Department of Political Science and Public Administration to address many of the changes being implemented in the University System of Georgia. These trends highlight best practices while using technology and learning experiences to maximize faculty productivity as they meet increasing challenges related to student success and a changing institutional mission

Jet-Based 3D Printing of Biological Constricts

Organ printing is the layer-by-layer bottom-up fabrication of complex cellular organization of native tissues or organs by bioprinting multiple cell types and other biomaterials at designated positions. The rising success rate of transplants has resulted in a critical need for more tissues and organs. Approximately 95,000 people are on the waiting list for new organs in the U.S. alone, and some die every day waiting for transplants. Integrated with a better understanding of multicellular self-assembly, bioprinting-based organ printing provides a promising solution to the problem of organ donor shortage. While some major challenges in bioprinting are biological such as endothelialization, vascularization, and accelerated tissue maturation, there is a critical need to create scale-up technologies for the robotic fabrication of hollow three-dimensional (3D) vascular constructs for use as the first step toward organ printing. Both inkjet- and laser- based bioprinting technologies have been explored as enabling bioprinting technologies, and complex constructs such as 3D vascular and vascular-like constructs have been successfully fabricated.Mechanical Engineerin