Department of Social Sciences & Historical Studies
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Item Online fandom communities and queer identity formation: An autoethnography(Aug-23) Buchanan, Kaylee 1997-; Bones, Paul; Williams, James; Beins, Agatha“Online fandom communities'' (OFCs) operate across different social media platforms with the common characteristics of anonymity, internet dialect, and subcultural ideals. Using an autoethnographic approach, this thesis examines the effect of online fandom communities on queer identification. These characteristics can operate as a safe space for queer peers to engage with the art they admire and with people who share their experiences. This has been the experience of the author who, as a queer woman on the cusp of the Millennial and Gen. Z generations, has been engaged with fandom in different forms for over 10 years.Item Replacing identity: Evangelical Christianity's role in identity creation and restoration(Aug-23) Cohoon, Wesley Don 1978-; Gullion, Jessica; Sahlin, Claire L.; Williams, James; Sadri, MahmoudPeople understand themselves by the roles that they play in society. These roles are developed by both the individual and the confirmation of their communities. Due to this interconnectedness, identities, biographies, and histories are constantly changing. The problem is understanding the difference between successful identity reconfiguration and the community’s role in confirming identity. This three-article dissertation explores how identities are impacted after experiencing a damaging experience by examining Evangelical Christianity’s role in identity creation and restoration. The articles specifically deal with the role stigma has on identity. The findings indicate that a primary function of Evangelical Christianity is redeeming “spoiled” identities. The articles utilize autoethnography and phenomenology to capture first-person accounts and experiences of stigma management and identity transformation. The articles find that Evangelical Christianity is one way that allows people to engage in identity repair and reconstruction.Item Virtual funerals: A dramaturgical analysis of participants’ experiences(Aug-23) Toombs, Elizabeth 1993-; Sadri, Mahmoud; Williams, James; Gullion, Jessica; Donal KeyIn 2020 virtual funerals became a widely utilized format for conducting funeral services as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. To better understand the phenomenon of virtual funerals, this study explores the experiences of virtual funeral participants. It analyzes the positive and negative effects of it while elucidating participants’ self-impressions and those of others during the service. The sociological theory of Dramaturgy was applied to the data, and a typology of participants’ experiences was derived. The findings suggest a varying degree of technology-based limitations and opportunities that attend virtual funerals. Perceptions of practicality and authenticity are salient features of the experience.Item Confidence divide: An examination of the rural communities attitudes concerning education(Dec-22) Grant-Panting, Alexis; Sadri, Mahmoud; Williams, JamesThe US education institutions faced political attacks on almost every aspect of their systems from K-12 to the university. Most notably regarding curriculum, school choice, after higher education, and openness to various viewpoints (Laloggia 2019). Furthermore, the coronavirus pandemic highlighted the actual dimensions of inequality in America, particularly as it relates to rural communities and the ways in which they struggle with high unemployment, financial and resource access, constraints impacting low-income families, and the challenges of education. The education institutions play a vital role in community development and success. However, despite the challenges that rural communities face few scholars have examined rural communities’ attitudes regarding these institutions. This highlights the pressing need to examine American attitudes in this regard. Utilizing data from the GSS 1972-2020 this quantitative study investigates the differences in rural and urban communities’ confidence in U.S education institutions, and other factors that may contribute to their confidence levels.Item The wages of fear: How gender, ideology, and symbolic threat influenced the voting behaviors of white southern women in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections(Dec-22) Hinton, Stanley Joe 1960-; Williams, James; Bones, Paul; Sadri, MahmoudABSTRACT STANLEY J. HINTON THE WAGES OF FEAR: HOW RACE, IDEOLOGY, AND SYMBOLIC THREAT INFLUENCED THE VOTING BEHAVIORS OF WHITE SOUTHERN WOMEN IN THE 2016 AND 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS DECEMBER 2022 The purpose of this thesis is to determine whether gender, ideology, and symbolic threat predict the voting behaviors of white southern women; whether these decisions influence political affiliation of partners/spouses/family; and whether threat is weaponized to influence voting behaviors. This study uses three sources of data: the 2016 ANES Time Series Study, the 2020 Time Series study, and a third source consisting of systematic analysis by CPOST in 2021 of those who stormed the U. S. Capitol on 6 January, included to further explore the role of symbolic threat. Multinomial logistic regression is used to model the relationship between the independent variables and the nominal dependent variable. Using models for politics, religiosity, demographics, threat, and all measures combined, the research reveals that white Southern women are responsible for the selection of political candidates for their families and symbolic threat controls the selection of political candidates by targeting family values.Item The impact personal religious adherence on emerging America adults' use of illegal drugs(Dec-23) Ombati, Josiah 1976-; Sadri, Mahmoud; Williams, James; Yang, Philip Q; Bones, PaulEmerging adulthood is defined as a stage of the life course, characterized by many changes and unique demographic shifts. Among these, one notices a steady rise in use of drugs among certain sections of this population. Despite this situation, little is known about personal religious adherence as a possible mitigating factor. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine the impact of personal religious adherence on use of illegal drugs among emerging American adults. Data were analyzed from the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). The sample consisted of 14,226 emerging adults aged 18-25 representing weighted N=33,732,492 I used four indicators of religiosity (embedded in the following items: “Number of religious services attended past year,” “My personal religious beliefs are important,” “My religious beliefs shape my decisions, “and “It is important that my friends share my religious beliefs'‘) to create a personal religious adherence factor scale. Indicators of religiosity and personal religious adherence factor scale were separately analyzed with regards to past year’s use of hallucinogens and marijuana and the probability of having ever used selected illegal drugs. Results showed that personal religious adherence was inversely and significantly related to the past year use of hallucinogens and marijuana, and the same held true for the probability of having ever used selected drugs. Additionally, all indicators of religiosity were inversely associated with past year use of hallucinogens and marijuana. However, there were mixed results for the impact of indicators of religiosity on the probability of having ever used selected illegal drugs. Although most indicators of religiosity were found to be inversely correlated with use of the rest of the drugs, religious beliefs, and personal decisions to use Heroin, LSD and salvia were positively correlated. These findings should be considered by public health educators and drug prevention specialists when developing and implementing interventions for hallucinogens, marijuana, heroin, LSD, salvia, psilocybin, and ecstasy. Incorporating religiosity in prevention efforts may assist in reducing the use of these drugs.Item An inferno of anxiety: How narratives surrounding the North Texas fires of 1860 ignited paranoia and distrust in Texas prior to secession(May-23) Hustoft, Stefanie 01/26/1997-; Blosser, Jacob; Parker, James; Van Erve, WouterThe purpose of this thesis was to examine the impact of the 1860 North Texas fires on Texas’ decision to secede. This research project looks at the various factors of these events. Chapter one looks at the environment of North Texas and how the dry conditions combined with white settlement practices created conditions that helped the summer fires spread. This chapter also analyzes Donald E. Reynolds’ prairie match, which claims that the North Texas fires of 1860 were caused by matches combusting from the summer heat. Chapter two looks at the animosity Texans had against northerners. A specific focus of this section is Texans’ assumption that all northerners were abolitionists who wanted to harm southerners and take away their slaves. The third chapter analyzes Texas coverage of the North Texas fires and how the narratives were manipulated to accuse abolitionists of setting fires across the region. The chapter also introduces how other southern states influenced Texas to secede during the state convention of 1861.Item San Antonio, Bexar County, and the Texas Rangers: The struggle of prohibition enforcement(May-23) Febre, Matthew David 10/17/1995-; Landdeck, Katherine S; Van Erve, Wouter; Parker, JamesThe purpose of this study was to examine the enforcement of Prohibition in San Antonio, Texas, both before nationwide implementation and through Governor Pat Neff’s Ranger occupation of the city between September 1923 to January 1925. Due to the challenges of Prohibition enforcement, Governor Neff, during his second term, created a new company of the famed Texas Rangers to police Prohibition within San Antonio with mixed results. This year-and-a-half-long enforcement campaign ended with the court case Neff vs. Elgin and the election of Governor Miriam Ferguson. Major primary sources of this thesis include various newspaper articles primarily from San Antonio, letters from Governor Neff and Rangers from San Antonio, including Captain Berkhead C. Baldwin, and court documents from Neff vs. Elgin. While Neff’s occupation of San Antonio successfully enforced vice laws, the campaign proved difficult to maintain because of the unprofessionalism, uncooperativeness, and violent methods of the Texas Rangers.Item An inferno of anxiety: How narratives surrounding the North Texas fires of 1860 ignited paranoia and distrust in Texas prior to secession(May-23) Hustoft, Stefanie 01/26/1997-; Blosser, Jacob; Parker, James; Van Erve, WouterThe purpose of this thesis was to examine the impact of the 1860 North Texas fires on Texas’ decision to secede. This research project looks at the various factors of these events. Chapter one looks at the environment of North Texas and how the dry conditions combined with white settlement practices created conditions that helped the summer fires spread. This chapter also analyzes Donald E. Reynolds’ prairie match, which claims that the North Texas fires of 1860 were caused by matches combusting from the summer heat. Chapter two looks at the animosity Texans had against northerners. A specific focus of this section is Texans’ assumption that all northerners were abolitionists who wanted to harm southerners and take away their slaves. The third chapter analyzes Texas coverage of the North Texas fires and how the narratives were manipulated to accuse abolitionists of setting fires across the region. The chapter also introduces how other southern states influenced Texas to secede during the state convention of 1861.Item Motherhood: Examining the social well-being and social support of mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic(May-23) Holmes, Sonya Kay 1984-; Bones, Paul; Gullion, Jessica S; Kelly-Ricks, NilaMothers have had an immense responsibility for the protection of children for centuries and this responsibility has grown with the occurrence of catastrophic world events such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and health pandemics such as Covid-19. Covid-19 (C-19P) is a fatal virus that has infected more than 101 million individuals and has resulted in the death of more than 2.18 million people as of 2021 (Koutsakos et al., 2021). The complications of the virus have proven to be deadly. When not deadly, individuals are still at risk of adverse effects of the virus, both directly and indirectly. Mothers having to manage through a health crisis, such as C-19P, has revealed some of the negative effects related to motherhood, which includes concerns about their health and well-being. Research reveals the C-19P virus posing not only threats to one’s physical health, but also one’s mental health (including fear of death or becoming ill), loosing family members because of the illness, loosing livelihood including employment and income, and being socially excluded from family and friends (Ghebreyesus 2020). The long standing physical and mental consequences present increasing concerns to this public health crisis. The uncertainties of the virus have resulted in elevated mental and behavioral health conditions including anxiety, depression, substance use, trauma, and stress (Czeisler et al., 2020).Item Trust in doctors: Is there a black-white difference?(1/1/2012) Guffey, Thomas; Yang, Philip Q.; Williams, James L.; Gullion, Jessica Smartt, 1972-Previous research has not been consistent in providing evidence on whether there is a significant difference between African Americans and white Americans in trust in doctors. This study uses data from the 2002 General Social Survey and ordinary least squares regression to reexamine this issue. It was expected that blacks are less likely to trust their doctors than whites either before or after controlling for other predictors of trust. The results of the study support this hypothesis and confirm previous reports that blacks are less likely to trust their doctors than whites. The implications of the findings are discussed.Item 4-F: The forgotten unfit of the American military in World War II(1/1/2013) Smith, Tiffany Leigh; Landdeck, Katherine Sharp; Travis, Paul D.; Presnall, BarbaraThis research explores how different segments of American society understood, interpreted, and responded to militarily rejected men, classified as 4-F by the Selective Service System during the Second World War. The first area of this study explores the military's intent and meaning in the creation and use of a 4-F classification. The second section is dedicated to an in depth examination of African American rejection rates. As the only minority group in America kept statistically separate by the U.S. Armed Forces and the Selective Service System, special consideration is given to the circumstances and contributing factors influencing the higher rejection of black men. In contrast to official institutional understandings of 4-F, the third section discusses the social stigma and response to 4-F men on the American home front from the general public, business, and vocal politicians. The fourth section details the intimate implications of military rejection and its associative effects on dating and family life. The fifth and final section is dedicated to how and why some 4-F men sought military reclassification out of 4-F. This thesis seeks to broaden the space in the historical narrative for non-combatant men during WWII and re-examine the complex social dynamics of the U.S. home front.Item Identifying the moral sense: Case studies in resistance to tyranny(1/1/2013) Armor, Sara Christine; Hoye, Timothy; Presnall, Barbara; Belfiglio, ValentineThis study focuses on four individuals who resisted tyranny under Hitler during National Socialism. These four resisters: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Sophie Scholl, Karel Čapek, and Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, were selected based on their varying backgrounds. It is the purpose of this study to identify a correlating motive within all four individuals that transcends their age, background, culture, and gender. An explanation of why these four people resisted Hitler can be explained by Francis Hutcheson and the moral sense. Also, our admiration for these individuals will also be addressed in Adam Smith’s philosophy of sympathy. It is the intent of this study to look within the Scottish Enlightenment philosophy of Francis Hutcheson and Adam Smith, for a better understanding of why people risked their lives for humanity.Item Radical women of Texas during the Great Depression: An overview of communism and labor union activities(1/1/2013) Hise, Jaclyn; Travis, Paul D.; Landdeck, Katherine Sharp; Presnall, Barbara A.Emma Tenayuca, Charlotte Graham, and Rebecca Taylor are representative of the diversity of agitators within the Texas labor movements in the 1930's as activists fighting for the conditions and rights of workers. While all three were involved in union organizing, which sought effective workers' rights, only Tenayuca joined the Communist Party to accomplish these aspirations. During the same span of years in Texas, Graham and Taylor organized workers for the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, but for several contributing factors both chose not to join the Communist Party. While both unions and the Communist Party attempted to aid workers during the 1930's as evinced by Tenayuca, neither Taylor nor Graham chose to join in communist activities. While each of these women agitated for similar goals conceptions as to how best to pursue those goals distinguish their experiences from 1930-1938 in Texas.Item The myth of Warren Court activism(1/1/2013) Johnson, Megan F.; Kessler, Mark; Robb, Jeffrey; Travis, Paul D.Judicial activism and the Warren Court became synonymous, in the 1980's, with the rise of originalism. However, the first time the term, judicial activism, was employed it was applied to the Hughes Court. This thesis compares the two Courts to determine if the originalist labeling of the Warren Court as an activist court is appropriate. The evidence presented in this thesis demonstrates that judicial activism is a term that fails to capture the inherent complexities found in the interpretation of constitutional law when applied to either Court. It further suggests that originalism, as a jurisprudential theory, would be capable of producing the same type of results oriented decisions that originalists accused the Warren Court rendering.Item On the Side-lines: How New Asian Indian Immigrants Come to Terms with Racialization(1/1/2013) Koshy, Kavitha; Yang, Philip Q.; Zottarelli, Lisa K.; Williams, James L.; Yancey, George A.; Keating, AnaLouise, 1961-Given the pervasiveness of racialization in U.S. life, this research is aimed at uncovering the racialized structural-level processes and interpersonal encounters that make new nonwhite immigrant groups such as Asian Indians more aware of how race operates in U.S. life. Although the racialized experiences of nonwhite immigrants in the United States have been written about extensively, most research on Asian Indian immigrant experiences in the U.S. tends to focus on ethnic adaptation, with only a cursory look at racialization processes. While a growing literature in the last fifteen years has attested to South Asian "racial ambiguity" and resistance to being "raced," there is little in-depth qualitative evidence of how South Asians or Asian Indians in particular racially identify or avoid racialization. Additionally, with a focus on the racialization experiences of post-1985 Asian Indian immigrants, this study throws light on immigrant worker racialization under conditions of accelerated globalization, characteristic of the last two decades. Twenty-three in-depth interviews were conducted with both men and women of Asian Indian origin who entered the United States after 1985, and are currently residing in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The data collected uncovers a) the ebbs and flows of the paradoxical experience of "racialized otherness" and "racialized inclusion;" b) a crisis of understanding when the interpretation of racialized experiences and emerging racial (or non-racial) identities do not align with the actual experience of U.S. style racialization and deliberate racialized actions (choices, decisions, racial positioning, etc.); c) two ideal types ("disidentifier" and "relational") emerge, that depict two ends of a spectrum that represents how the participants approached their racial ambiguity in the U.S.; and d) racialization is exacerbated by contextual factors such as geographical location (the U.S. South or Texas), location in the global occupational structure, "post-race" and "flat world" perspectives, and U.S. racial politics, immigration policies, and growing nativism. The study findings as a whole allow us to frame theoretical propositions that undergird nonwhite immigrant racialization in the United States.Item A Phenomenological study of racial identity development of Black-White mixed-race Children in the United States(Texas Woman s University, 1/1/2013) Furdge, Cherly Gary; Yang, Philip Q.; Grant, Kizuwanda; Rose, Katherine K.; Marshall, LindaThis study examines how black-white mixed-race children develop their racial identity and how black-white parents of mixed-race children help their children with developing their racial identity. For this study, racial identity development is the process by which one selects or identifies his/her racial category. Three research questions are explored: (1) How do black-white interracial couples assist their children with developing their racial identities? (2) How do children born to black-white parents develop their racial identities? (3) What are some of the challenges faced by black-white mixed-race children? This study included 36 participants: 12 biracial children who were raised by their biological parents and 12 black-white interracial couples who conceived a child together. In-depth interviews were conducted to collect data about how the parents assisted the children with developing their racial identity, how the children developed their racial identity, and what challenges are encountered by these children. The data collected for this study provide answers to all of the three research questions. The parent participants used four strategies to assist their children with their racial identity development: educating them about their culture, the "one drop rule", using their race to benefit them, and "see no race and hear no race." The adult children in this study chose either black or biracial as their racial identities because of their experiences, but none of them chose white as their racial identity. The adult children participants also reported challenges they experienced, including being rejected by family members, the object of prejudiced in school, and being made to feel invisible.Item A comparative analysis of information for international students provided by U.S. and Canadian universities.(Texas Woman s University, 1/1/2013) Singh, Arati; Gullion, Jessica Smartt, 1972-With a focus on socioeconomic issues considered important by the international students in the host nation, this study asks two research questions: How do United States and Canadian universities provide information on immigration policies that address the socioeconomic issues pertaining to international students? How are American and Canadian universities similar and different in the information they provide on immigration policies on socioeconomic issues pertaining to international students? Five universities each from U.S. and Canada that received most international students were purposively selected. A qualitative content analysis was conducted on the websites of the universities. The U.S. and Canadian universities are similar in the approach of presenting policies on employment and costs of education, and different in regard to the focus on immigration policies and international students' immigration status maintenance in the presentation of the policies. Despite presenting restrictive U.S. immigration policies, international students have selected the U.S. universities for their higher education. Conversely, the presentation of flexible Canadian immigration policies has seemingly helped in the enrollment of international students in the Canadian universitiesItem Plagues, paranoia, and Cold War blowback: The continuing national security risk of the Soviet-United States biological arms race(1/1/2014) Milmine, Alexis; Belfiglio, Valentine J.; Travis, Paul D.; Robb, JeffreyThe Cold War biological arms race is a site of contention within the geopolitical landscape under the theories of containment and mutually assured destruction. Rapid proliferation of biological weapons creates instability within the construction of biosecurity and is further complicated by the status of the Russian Federation and its stiffening of international relations with the United States. The thesis will analyze the impact of the Cold War biological arms race within national security policy, particularly in terms of terrorism and Russian movement into a new Cold War mentality, marked by the increasing lack of transparency. The analysis will highlight inefficiencies of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention between the United States and the Russian Federation to delineate the reasons needed for a foreign relations focus on bioterrorism by non-state actors and the influence of the Soviet Union on the current crisis of the global eradication of biological weapons.Item Is the red line only rhetoric?: Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs), Syria's civil war, the United States failed foreign policy and its unintended ramifications(1/1/2014) Milmine, Karen; Belfiglio, Valentine J.; Travis, Paul D.; Robb, JeffreyThe thesis evaluates Middle Eastern foreign policy of the George W. Bush and Obama administrations in the Syrian civil war and the utilization of chemical weapons in August 2013. The United States' response to the chemical attack on Damascus highlights an inability to deal with Middle East instability due to the Arab Spring's secular and religious conflict and long-term violent conflict further damages the American presence in this region. The thesis utilizes a historical analysis of the U.S. relationship with Syria, to highlight problematic foreign policy constructions under the Bush and Obama administrations, as well as analysis of its political ramifications. The evidence reveals erosion of the U.S. as moral arbiter of geopolitical conflicts due to "red line" rhetoric, wherein foreign policy is unable to respond to the Assad regime and Russian chemical weapons dealmaking isolates the U.S. from its role as negotiator in international conflicts.