Poetic Acts: Performance in Nineteenth-Century American Women's Poetry, 1840-1880

My dissertation explores representations of performance (theatrical, oratorical, domestic, and social) in works by canonical poets Emily Dickinson and Sarah Piatt, popular performers Fanny Kemble and Adah Menken, and Spiritualist trance lecturer Achsa Sprague. I consider the work of women poets within the context of a highly performative mid-nineteenth-century American culture - one rich not only in traditional forms such as drama, oratory, sermons and musical performances, but also emerging and developing forms like the revival, public lecture, literary and dramatic recitations, breeches performances, and spiritualist demonstrations. Along with new forms came new media, technologies, and venues for public performance, as well as novel opportunities for women to participate. The prevalence of performance, and the power of its rhetorical techniques and strategies to both inspire and influence audiences, had a profound effect on female writers and their own creative acts. My approach applies current work in several disciplines - cultural studies, theater history, performance theory, feminist theory, American oratory, and literary studies - to a genre and period combination largely ignored by scholars. Focusing on the period 1840 to 1880, I develop careful analyses of many poems while situating them within developments in mid-century performance culture, from changes in the gender and class standing of audiences, ideas about performance's intended purpose (didactic instruction, sympathetic connection, cathartic entertainment, or impassioned social action), and new technologies and media for its expression, advertising, and distribution. I argue that reading for performance, as subject matter and setting, encourages us to engage more directly with performative aspects of the work itself, particularly as they help to expose tensions within contemporary discourses. A performance reading allows us to historicize and theorize at once, with implications not only for studies of mid-century women's poetry, but also the poetic form and related considerations of lyric subjectivity and sociality

General Education and Special Education Teachers\u27 Attitudes and Comfort Levels in Having Appropriate Conversations with Special Needs Students: A Causal-Comparative Study

The purpose of this quantitative, causal-comparative study is to determine if there is a difference in special education and general education teachers’ attitudes and comfort level in teaching sex education. Students with intellectual disabilities need a sex education curriculum that can be extended if needed to ensure that they understand and are able to apply their knowledge to personal situations if they arise. The study’s sample includes high school and middle school special education and general education teachers. The sample was taken from participants who volunteered to take the survey via a link posted on social media account. A Microsoft Office 365 survey tool was posted on social media account via an IRB approved post; this survey included the TACS attitude and comfort scale questions as well as demographic questions. The results collected were sorted into the five attitudes and comfort level factors. A MANOVA was used to analyze resulting data. There was a statistically significant difference between the teachers on the combined dependent variables, F(2, 68) = 9.712, p \u3c .05; Wilks = .778; partial n2 = .222, indicating a large effect size. Therefore, the researcher rejected the null hypothesis

Music, Race, and Gender in the Original Series of Star Trek (1966-69).

The original television series STAR TREK (1966–69) enacted the social turmoil of the American sixties, as long-existing power structures struggled with progressive ideas, illuminating charged social and political tensions. Though this science fiction program aspired to a liberal stance, championing core tenets of the Civil Rights and Women’s Movements, it nevertheless reinforced the dominant position of the white, heterosexual male in the United States’ social hierarchy. STAR TREK was what Michel Foucault called rupture or break, simultaneously promoting social change while protecting old power structures. This dissertation performs two tasks. First, it explores the pragmatics of soundtrack production within the series using primary source material from archives across the United States, including the collections of series’ creator Gene Roddenberry and series’ composers Alexander Courage, Fred Steiner, Gerald Fried, Jerry Fielding, Sol Kaplan, and George Duning. Through extant interviews, letters, sketch scores, cue sheets, and contracts, this dissertation reveals the roles of several key figures as well as the processes they imagined and implemented in creating STAR TREK’s soundscape and musical score. Understanding the means by which the soundtrack was integrated into the show not only provides new insight into the television production practices of the sixties and the politics of representation present in the administration of STAR TREK, but also exposes the ideological foundations of the series’ treatment of identity and difference. The second portion of this dissertation demonstrates how STAR TREK’s conflicting social stances resonate through its soundtrack, especially regarding race and gender. Women, though given essential roles on the ENTERPRISE, were routinely reduced to mere romantic interests through coded musical cues; aliens and non-white humans, though treated with respect and given command positions, were often scored with orientalist music that marked them as “other.” Inspired by foundational scholarship in race and post-colonial theory, feminist and queer theory, screen musicology, musicological studies of difference, and musical semiotics, this dissertation interrogates the ways in which STAR TREK’s conflicting ideologies are revealed through its scoring of its multi-ethnic and multi-gendered crew, its many and (somewhat) varied aliens, and its leading men, Captain James T. Kirk and Lieutenant Commander Spock.PhDMusic: MusicologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/113404/1/jgetman_1.pd

American Music in Wind Band Repertoire: the Importance and Need for Heritage Preservation

For an instrumental conductor in a music education program, repertoire selection is an important step while preparing for a concert program. Choosing quality music that represents varied genres, styles, and historical periods helps to create a stimulating concert for the listeners and a well-balanced musical preparation for the player. Performing music from other countries is essential and should be balanced with American music, specifically folk songs and marches. The purpose of this thesis is to show the placement and benefit, according to composers and arrangers, of utilizing American music within the music classroom, specifically in the choice of wind band repertoire. This qualitative study features five interviews with modern composers and arrangers, musical analysis of two scores, and the compilation of a repertoire database for American folk songs and marches. The three main research questions that guided this process were: 1) what is the accessibility of folk songs and marches in wind band repertoire, 2) why is the heritage of these categories important in the modern-day classroom, and 3) what musical elements contribute to traditional American music. Triangulation of the data helped demonstrate that distinguishing elements found in marches and folk songs are indicators of the musical heritage of the United States. The interviewees outlined musical components that are found in works defined as American music, how pieces belong to this category and notable past composers. The musical analyses outlined two chosen works, Shenandoah and The Stars and Stripes Forever, which includes detailed information about melody, accompaniment, form, articulation, and other performance practices employed in North American folk songs and marches. A reference database of folk songs and marches is included as a tool for educators to utilize when programming specifically for these categories of music

Role Drills in the Learning of Mathmematical Concepts

The use of math drills is effective in the teaching of mathematical skills (Baroody. Bajwa. & Eiland. 2009; Bums, 2005; Cates, 2005; Gallagher, 2006; Hopkins & Egeberg, 2009; Kumar, 1971; McKenna, Hollingsworth, & Barnes, 2005; Toppino, Cohen, Davis, & Moors, 2009; Woodward, 2006). However, as Gallagher (2006) stated, the perceived incompatibility with discovery learning, its mechanical features and making children like automatons resulted in the use of drilling to be tossed aside in favor of more problem-based learning or the use of manipulatives in instruction. The purpose of this study is to see how math drills can be integrated into a classroom to aid in the learning of mathematical concepts while reinforcing the basic skins needed to succeed in mathematics. I administered several math drills throughout a semester. I collected data on scores students received on various math drills and from a game about fractions. I also document my experience through journal reflection. I found that drilling can be used a supplementary instructional tool that can advance both the learning of math concepts and skills

Implementing Group Interactions to Encourage Peer Teaching, Social Relationships, and Collaborative Problem Solving in Mathematics Classroom

Cooperative learning is a pedagogical practice that has attracted much attention because of a large body of research that indicates students gain both academically and socially when they have the opportunities to interact with others to accomplish shared goals (Johnson & Johnson, 2002). I implemented a self-study focusing on small group interactions into everyday lessons throughout student teaching. The participants of my study were unfamiliar with group work, but had positive perceptions of group work. By encouraging an active involvement in mathematics, I was able to increase the presence of peer teaching, social relationships among students, and collaborative problem solving in the classroom. Through surveys, observation, teacher journals and video analysis, I learned that collaborative learning, when introduced effectively and implemented properly, could prompt students\u27 mathematical understanding and promote learning communities in mathematics classrooms

The Relationship between Children’s Gendered Toys and Display of Prosocial Behaviors

Despite the growing awareness of gender stereotypes, companies such as Disney and toy makers still create their products based on gender (Auster & Mansback 2012).Stereotypical feminine toys include dolls and similar toys which reinforce domestic oriented behavior, whereas the male toys included action figures, weapons, and vehicles which may elicit a different type of behavior. Although there is a category labeled for both boys and girls, the toys still presented more male-coded features (Auster & Mansback 2012). The masculine toys continue to reinforce stereotypes based on gender. However, another research showed that boys who watched Disney programs display less stereotypical behavior (Bussey &Bandura, 1999). Disney princesses are often portrayed to be attractive, docile and display prosocial behavior, who get rewarded for this behavior (England et al., 2011). Having exposure and being rewarded for more feminine behaviors further reinforces girls in consuming this media, while changing masculine behaviors displayed by boys. With gender labeling and identifying starting as early as 18-24 months (Todd et al., 2018) and reaching its prime around 3-6 years old (Ruble & Martin, 1998), the present study aims to examine how gendered toys affect children’s display of prosocial behaviors. More than 60 children were assessed in their verbal indication and physical selection of a favorite from a toy box consisting of gendered toys. Furthermore, teachers were asked to rate these children in the classrooms, using Social Competence and Behavioral Evaluation (SCBE, LaFrenier, 1995) to report children’s prosocial versus oppositional behaviors. We expect children who select female-coded toys will be more empathetic, nurturing, and willing to help others. On the contrary, those who select the male-coded toys will tend to be more aggressive and less in tune to the emotions of others. Detailed results and implications will be discussed at the conference

WAGES-Classroom Board Game

WAGES-Classroom is a board game and facilitated discussion that demonstrates how gender biases accumulate over time to negatively impact women in the workplace. The goal of WAGES-Classroom is to introduce students to core constructs regarding unconscious bias, social disparities, and intersectionality in a non-threatening way and to motivate action to address gender bias in everyday interactions and workplaces. Access to downloadable files have been temporarily restricted. Contact [email protected] if you have questions

It\u27s all in the lens: Differences in views on obesity prevention between advocates and policy makers

Background: Intervention strategies to reduce obesity include policy and environmental changes that are designed to provide opportunities, support, and cues to help people develop healthier behaviors. Policy changes at the state level are one way to influence access, social norms, and opportunities for better nutrition and increased physical activity among the population. Methods: Ten states were selected for a broad variance in obesity rates and number of enacted obesity prevention policies during the years of 2006–2009. Within the selected states, a purely qualitative study of attitudes of childhood obesity policy using semistructured telephone interviews was conducted. Interviews were conducted with state policy makers who serve on public health committees. A set of six states that had more than eight childhood obesity policies enacted were selected for subsequent qualitative interviews with a convenience sample of well-established advocates. Results: Policy makers in states where there was more childhood obesity policy action believed in the evidence behind obesity policy proposals. Policy makers also varied in the perception of obesity as a constituent priority. The major differences between advocates and policy makers included a disconnect in information dissemination, opposition, and effectiveness of these policies. Conclusions: The findings from this study show differences in perceptions among policy makers in states with a greater number of obesity prevention bills enacted. There are differences among policy makers and advocates regarding the role and effectiveness of state policy on obesity prevention. This presents an opportunity for researchers and practitioners to improve communication and translation of evidence to policy makers, particularly in states with low legislation